Qantas just misses Grand Prix in Branded Content at Cannes

By David Blight | 24 June 2012
 
Qantas 'The Great Crusade'

Qantas has narrowly missed out on winning a Grand Prix for its 'The Great Crusade' push in the inaugural Branded Content and Entertainment category at Cannes, taking home a Gold.

In total, Australia won three Lions from seven entries in the shortlist, with work for Air New Zealand and Jacob’s Creek also winning gongs.

The Grand Prix was awarded to Chipotle’s ‘Cultivate Campaign’ by Creative Artists Agency Los Angeles. The campaign involved content creation across a range of touch points including events, music, games and film.

The Chipotle push had a significant social responsibility element, following a strong theme this year which saw many of the winners pushing a social agenda.

While the Chipotle push took the top award, the panel of jurors said the Qantas initiative by Wonder Sydney was a close contender for the Grand Prix.

Jury president and Big Fuel USA founder and chief creative officer Avi Savar said: “Some of the best work this week has come out of [Australia and New Zealand]. ‘The Great Crusade’ was a Grand Prix contender certainly. It’s a perfect example of tactical execution, with the ability to deliver a brand message and to drive audiences.

“It had a very strong storytelling element and use of humour, and it was able to drive an emotional connection.”

Australian jury member and Finch executive producer, Michael Hilliard, told AdNews: “The jury felt there was a tremendous amount of bravery from the Australian market, a great use of effective storytelling people wanted to watch.

“I was out of the room for the judging on ‘The Great Crusade’ because I worked on it, but everyone commented on the quality of the Australian work. Australia seems to have committed in a big way to branded content, which is largely due to the media companies learning how to set it up in the right way.”

Wonder founder Glen Condie told AdNews he was confident about ‘The Great Crusade’ from the moment of inception.

“When we made ‘The Great Crusade’ we were always confident it would be entertaining. It’s gratifying to win awards.

“The most important thing for us was getting the story right. We did not take the brand point of view then make the story, we built a story and had the brand fit into that.

“Australia is a forward thinking market when it comes to branded content. The US is far ahead of us, but Australia is pretty good. The thing I find strange is that comedy is rarely used in this category. Look at TV ads, and the bulk of them use humour, but there is not much comedy in branded entertainment. ‘The Great Crusade’ is funny, and that made it stand out.”

New Zealand won two Lions.

Australian Gold Lions:

Qantas, Wonder Sydney, ‘The Great Crusade’

Australian Bronze Lions:

Air New Zealand, Host Sydney, ‘The Kiwi Sceptics’
Premium Wine Brands – Jacob’s Creek, CumminsRoss Melbourne, ‘Open Up With Andre Agassi’

New Zealand Silver Lions:

Smirnoff, Special Group Auckland, ‘The Smirnoff Night Project’

New Zealand Bronze Lions:

Frucor Beverages, Colenso BBDO Auckland, ‘Skate Pinball’

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