Thursday evening’s Cannes Lions show presented awards in the following categories: Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Creative Effectiveness Lions, Creative Strategy, Innovation Lions and Luxury Lions. 

Grand Prix winners are highlighted below.  

The Grand Prix in Creative Commerce was awarded to “The Lucky Fan Index” by VML Poland for client Wisa Kraków FC, a beleaguered football club that in the face of relegation (soccer speak for demoted to a lower league) needed a way to reenergize its fan base and financial support. 

The creative challenge was to harness fan superstition that their presence at matches brings luck, thereby upping attendance and ticket sales.   

The solution was the "Lucky Fan Index," brought to life on a digital platform and designed to measure individual fan luck. By cross-referencing historical attendance data with over 200 detailed game events, each fan received a personal luck score. The system is credited with re-engaging the fan base, leading to league-leading attendance and significant media coverage.  

The Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix went to "Three Words" for AXA France, by Publicis Conseil, Paris. The work, about domestic violence against women, was the winner of the Titanium Grand Prix at last year’s Lion’s Festival. It’s the first time that a Titanium Grand Prix Winner has gone on to win the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix, conferred on campaigns that deliver measurable, lasting impact. 

The Grand Prix for Creative Business Transformation went to ‘The Wedding Rice,” for Wikifarmer, by McCann Athens. It was the first-ever Grand Prix for Greece. With McCann’s help, digital marketing platform Wikifarmer created a sustainable business solution enabling farmers to sell inedible rice directly to wedding planners, delivering demonstratable commercial results and driving behavioral change. 

In Greece, rice thrown at weddings results in over 200 tons of edible rice being wasted every year. Simultaneously, up to 30% of harvested rice is rejected for not meeting aesthetic standards. The platform created a market for wedding rice, and 41 tons of it were sold in one year.  

The Grand Prix for Creative Strategy was awarded to "The Pub that Refused to Die’" for Heineken, by LePub Milan / Publicis Dublin. With pubs in Ireland failing across the country, the brand and the agencies devised a successful blueprint for a community-owned model for pub ownership.  

The Luxury Grand Prix went to "Warmer Together" for Moncler, by Wesayhi, Sliema. The work created a deep consumer connection through cinematic photography and short films, anchored in the brand's purpose of sharing love and warmth. 

The Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix went to "Expedition Impossible" for Columbia Sportswear, by Adam&Eve\TBWA, London. Columbia offered to give the company to anyone who could prove the earth was flat, making exploration an open challenge and generating widespread attention. 

The Innovation Lions Grand Prix went to  "Supernova Adaptive" for adidas, by TBWA\Canada, about the first performance running shoe inspired by and designed with the Down syndrome community. 

The following special awards were also presented:  

- Regional Network of the Year — Asia: Ogilvy 
- Regional Network of the Year — Europe: TBWA Worldwide 
- Regional Network of the Year — MENA: McCann 
- Regional Network of the Year — Latin America: Ogilvy 
- Regional Network of the Year — North America: Ogilvy 
- Regional Network of the Year — Pacific: Leo 
- Regional Network of the Year — Sub-Saharan Africa: Leo