J. Walter Thompson’s haul of 79 Lions across the network sees them rise from 13th Cannes network ranking last year to 7th this year

The J. Walter Thompson network has had an emphatic creative turn around this year at the Cannes Lions Festival.

J. Walter Thompson has been under performing over the past few years, however they enjoyed a very creditable performance this year with a total of 79 Lions – 60 more Lions than last year’s performance.

The network rose from a low 13th Network ranking last year to 7th overall this year. At Cannes Lions 2015 they only managed to win 19 Lions.

Of the 79 lions this year, the agency earned two Grand Prix, an Innovation Lion, a Product Design Lion (by Bangkok office), nine Gold Lions, 23 Silver Lions and 43 Bronze Lions alongside 122 shortlists.

It’s a great performance from the network’s Worldwide Chief Creative Officer and Aussie expatMatt Eastwood, who is just two years into the role. (Eastwood is pictured above on right with Bas Korsten, Chief Creative Officer of J. Walter Thompson, Amsterdam).

Leading the award tally for the agency was J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam’s “The Next Rembrandt,” which featured a 3D-printed painting made solely from data derived from Rembrandt’s 346 known paintings. Created out of a collaboration among ING Bank, J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam, Microsoft and advisors from TU Delft, The Mauritshuis and The Rembrandt House Museum, “The Next Rembrandt” is an inspiring collision between tech, data and art.

Created from deep, 18-month analysis of Rembrandt’s work, “The Next Rembrandt” portrait consists of 148 million pixels and is based on 168,263 fragments from Rembrandt’s portfolio. A facial-recognition algorithm learned Rembrandt’s techniques; pixel data helped the computer mimic brushstrokes; and an advanced 3D printer brought the painting to life using 13 layers of ink.

The campaign, which proved to be an awards-magnet at the Festival, winning two Grand Prix awards in the Creative Data and Cyber categories. “The Next Rembrandt” also landed several Gold Lions. J. Walter Thompson  Amsterdam won 17 Lions in total.

Other Gold-winning campaigns included:

J. Walter Thompson Colombia’s “The Last Mask,” a massive PR movement for the Natalia Ponce de León Foundation that rallied the country around preventing acid attacks against women, earned a Gold in PR.

Cohn & Jansen J. Walter Thompson’s “Purity Test” for Aqua Carpatica, an effort that gave Romanians the access and power to test the purity of the water in their homes, rivers and lakes, also earned a Gold in PR.

J. Walter Thompson San Jose’s “Second Scoreboard” for Teletica, Inamu, and Fedefutbol landed Gold Lions in Media and Creative Data. Inspired by statistics that domestic violence incidents increased during Costa Rica’s soccer matches, the campaign raised awareness of the issue by placing a second scoreboard beside the match’s score, showing in real time the number of domestic violence complaints being reported to the police.

“Comex Color Maps,” a campaign born from a joint collaboration between J. Walter Thompson Mexico and Mirum Mexico for paint brand Comex, took Gold in Cyber. With many of Mexico’s streets named after colors, the effort saw an opportunity to create a color catalog on Google Maps that represented the wide range of paint colors customers could find at Comex.

J. Walter Thompson Bangkok was also awarded a Product Design Lion for “Touchable Ink.” Created for Thai Samsung, “Touchable Ink” responded to the lack of affordable braille printers and created a special, more affordable ink that could be loaded into ink cartridges in home printers and transform them into braille printers.

Matt Eastwood, J. Walter Thompson Company’s Worldwide CCO, (right) said, “When I joined two years ago, I thought of J. Walter Thompson as a diamond in the rough, an incredible gem that needed some polishing. And I’m so proud and deeply honored to see the investment that we’ve placed in raising our creative bar be recognized in such a big way on Cannes’ global platform. The excitement within the network is magnetic and I am optimistic that this a sign of things to come.”

On Asia Pacific’s performance he added: “The great thing about our Cannes results this year is that it’s not just one office that’s performing well. The wins came from 23 offices around the globe, with Asia and Australia playing a major role in the success. The performance from Bangkok was definitely a stand out in our network – 6 Lions and 6 shortlists made them one of the most successful offices at J. Walter Thompson. Of course, I was also particularly proud of our Singapore office racking up 13 shortlists and a Bronze in Outdoor. It was an amazing result. I truly feel that J. Walter Thompson is back in the creative spotlight where it belongs.”

Tamara Ingram, J. Walter Thompson Company’s Worldwide Chief Executive Officer, added, “In my first Cannes Lions as CEO of J. Walter Thompson, I am amazed at the truly fantastic performance we’ve had this year. Matt has done an incredible job leading our creative growth. The big recognitions earned by our smaller offices across our network are a testament to the depth and breadth of our creative excellence. I am so proud of our teams and so excited to be able to witness this important milestone for our global community.”