The island nation of Tuvalu is located about halfway between Hawaii and Australia in the South Pacific Ocean.  

It comprises nine islands with a population of approximately 11,000. In two decades, the physical nation will no longer exist according to forecasters—it will be completely submerged due to climate change. 

And according to the United Nations Charter a country needs to have a physical land presence in order to be recognized as a sovereign state. 

What the country hopes will happen is that it will be the first nation to be recognized by most of the world as the first digital nation state, with a continuing presence on the world stage and the voting rights and other privileges conferred on physical nations.  

And an advertising campaign pushing for that recognition won the Dan Wieden Titanium Grand Prix at the final awards presentation at the Cannes Ad Festival Friday evening.  

Sydney-based agency The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song is the creative agency behind the campaign. Production house Collider, post-production house Massive Music and Thrive PR + Communications were also credited with working on the campaign.  

The campaign was launched at last November’s COP27 UN Climate Change conference in Egypt, where Tuvalu leaders made their case for formal recognition as the first digital sovereign state. Records of the country’s history, culture and more are being placed in the Metaverse. 

The launch of the campaign made headlines around the world, reaching 2.1 billion people, without any paid media.  

So far, nine nations have said they will recognize Tuvalu as a sovereign digital state.  

And it’s likely, forecasters say, that while Tuvalu may become the first digital nation, it won’t be the last.  

Three other campaigns won Titanium Lions including a Budweiser campaign from Wieden + Kennedy called “Bring Home The Bud,” and a Mastercard effort from McCann Poland called “Where To Settle.” The third winner was a campaign for Corona Extra Lime from Draftline Shanghai, David Bogata and David New York.