CANNES, France—Another female-empowerment campaign has triumphed at Cannes, with the Media Grand Prix going to a fascinating Vodafone app from Y&R Istanbul that lets women in Turkey call for help simply by shaking their phones.
Instructions of how to find the app were embedded in videos specifically targeting women—a gender-specific approach designed so that men never get the message. More than 250,000 women have downloaded the app, Y&R says, or about 24 percent of all women in Turkey who use smartphones. It has been activated over 103,000 times.
"This is a proud win for us," said Y&R global chief creative officer Tony Granger. "Our agency in Istanbul took on a tough social issue that, given the nature of domestic violence, demanded innovative thinking. They came up with an idea that was a perfect melding of creativity with connectivity. We are proud to win this Lion, and even prouder that we have been able to help women in danger of being abused."
The campaign also won a gold Lion in the category. This is the fourth Grand Prix of the 2015 Cannes festival to go to a women-focused campaign. Three separate P&G campaigns for Always and Whisper scored Grand Prix—in PR and Glass, as well as the Health & Wellness portions of the Lions Health mini festival.
The U.S. won four gold Media Lions on Tuesday, led by three campaigns that have already won big in other categories: Leo Burnett and Starcom Mediavest Group's "Like a Girl" for P&G's Always; Grey and Grey Activation & PR's "The Gun Shop" for States United to Prevent Gun Violence; and The ALS Association's "Ice Bucket Challenge."
The fourth gold went to Wieden + Kennedy and Mindshare's "Risk Everything" for Nike.
See all the U.S. winners below.
—U.S. Media Lion Winners
• Procter & Gamble #LikeAGirl - Entrant Agency: Starcom Mediavest Group Chicago / Leo Burnett Toronto, Chicago, London / Holler London - Media Agency: Starcom Mediavest Group Chicago (gold, bronze)
• States United to Prevent Gun Violence, "The Gun Shop" - Entrant Agency: Grey New York / Grey Activation & PR New York (gold)
• The ALS Association, "The Ice Bucket Challenge" - Entrant Agency: The ALS Association Washington (gold)
• Nike "Risk Everything" - Entrant Agency: Wieden + Kennedy Portland - Media Agency: Mindshare Portland (gold)
• Unilever "Speak Beautiful" - Entrant Agency: Mindshare New York - Media Agency: Mindshare New York (silver)
• Taco Bell "Taco Bell Blackout" - Entrant Agency: DigitasLBi San Francisco (silver)
• DPA "Adoptable Trends" - Entrant Agency: Dieste Dallas (silver)
• Under Armour "I Will What I Want" - Entrant Agency: Droga5 New York - Media Agency: Optimum Sports New York (silver)
• The Clinton Foundation "Not There" - Entrant Agency: Droga5 New York (two bronzes)
• Allstate "Social Savvy Burglar" - Entrant Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago - Media Agency: Brand Networks New York (bronze)
• Allstate #SendBadLuck - Entrant Agency: Lapiz Chicago / Leo Burnett Chicago - Media Agency: Tapestry Chicago (bronze)
• McDonald's "Bluebird" - Entrant Agency: OMD New York / DDB Chicago / Leo Burnett Chicago - Media Agency: OMD New York (bronze)
• The Coca-Cola Company "Drinkable Advertising" - Entrant Agency: Ogilvy New York - Media Agency: Starcom Mediavest Group New York (bronze)
• Chevrolet "Technology & Stuff" - Entrant Agency: Commonwealth/McCann Detroit / Fleishman Hillard Detroit - Media Agency: Carat Detroit (bronze)
• Burger King "Proud Whopper" - Entrant Agency: David Miami - Media Agency: Horizon Media New York (bronze)