Cannes Lions 2011: Promo, PR & Direct Lion winners

Romania took home a Grand Prix in each of the Promo & Activation and Direct categories at the first of the week’s awards ceremonies last night, as BV McCann Erickson’s American Rom for Kandia Dulce stood tall, also scoring a gold Lion. In addition, it was an emotional night for Ogilvy & Mather Argentina who was named Direct Agency of the Year – the first time an Argentine agency has won the coveted prize.

Ogilvy’s recognition was awarded for the five awards it bagged on the night in the Direct category, including two golds for its Friendship Machine, a giant vending machine for Coca-Cola, a silver Lion for its Spread the TED campaign which saw the agency recruit an army of taxi drivers to drive a message throughout Buenos Aires, and two bronze Lions, one of which was for PoolBall (featured in the latest issue of shots). A belated team from South America were on hand to accept their award (pictured).

Over in the PR category, it was Australia’s time to shine with the jury favouring Clemenger BBDO’s Break Up for National Australia Bank. The idea, ignited by Twitter and soon capturing the public and national media, encouraged people to break up with their banks and leave their dysfunctional relationships behind. It’s the second year running that an ad agency has beaten a PR firm to the feat.

New York as a city enjoyed a fine night on the whole, with TBWAChiatDay awarded two gold Lions for its Aids Awareness plan to Keep a Child Alive also in PR and JWT pulling off the same feat with a double gold win for Human Rights Watch, Burma. Droga5’s slice of the action came with a gold for Decoded with Bing and Jay-Z and Ogilvy & Mather kept the stakes high for the Big Apple with the same for its Watson for IBM.

Jung von Matt representing for Hamburg with a gold in PR as well as Promo & Activation for WWF Save As. Promo & Activation also saw Boulder’s 4th Amendment Wear receive scoop two golds for its Metallic Ink Underclothes creation. http://cargocollective.com/4thamendment The unique apparel addresses the issue of intrusive TSA X-ray scanners, allowing people the opportunity to protest without saying a word.

We’ll have more tomorrow morning with the Radio, Media and Outdoor Lions winners.

DIRECT LIONS WINNERS (pdf)

PROMO & ACTIVATION LIONS WINNERS (pdf)

PR LIONS WINNERS (pdf)