Refreshing the Media Lions for Cannes Lions 2023

To reflect the ever-changing Media industry and recognise the work that takes consumers on new journeys and new experiences, we've made some changes to the Media Lions, including a special focus on bold creativity from independent media agencies.

Rethink Toronto conducted an anonymous social experiment: to prove that when people think of ketchup, they think of Heinz. They asked people to simply “draw ketchup”, and sure enough, 97% of them drew the iconic Heinz Ketchup bottle. Then they turned those drawings into a global campaign, featuring them in high-impact out-of-home, newspaper print, in social, and in a :30s TV spot — even replacing the real bottle labels.

The campaign drew attention from news outlets across the globe, generating 127x publicity vs. initial investment. Heinz saw an immediate impact in sales with an increase of 10%. Spanning 18 countries from the UK, to Ireland, Greece, Germany, and Brazil Heinz saw their social engagement rate soar to 1495% above average. 97% of the participants in the campaign drew Heinz. And in Canada, where the brand has seen declines in brand affinity, Heinz reclaimed its status in the hearts and minds of Canadians.

The Times of India and local campaign group Political Shakti wanted to help address the issue of female underrepresentation in Indian State Parliaments.

So, they decided to turn WhatsApp — India's most popular messaging platform — into their biggest campaigning tool. Female party workers added their acknowledgments and credentials to their selfies, alongside the ask for a long-overdue nomination to contest the next state election. Then, in a large-scale, coordinated moment, male party leaders were bombarded with these ‘Nominate Me Selfies’ in the one place they couldn’t ignore: their phones.

As a result, the campaign was picked up across local and national media — and, crucially — a record number of female party workers were nominated to contest state elections, leading to a 25% increase in elected women.