Mumbai: The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity announced winners across seven key categories on the penultimate day of the festival, recognising work that demonstrated creativity’s ability to drive business transformation, measurable impact, cultural relevance and innovation.
The awards honoured campaigns across Creative Business Transformation, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy, Luxury, Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Commerce and Innovation Lions, while Greece secured its first-ever Grand Prix in the festival’s history and Canada claimed its second Grand Prix of the week.
Commenting on the winners, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “Our Jurors have awarded work that clearly demonstrates the effectiveness and transformative power of creativity in business. Congratulations to Greece for winning its first Grand Prix, an incredible achievement that sets the benchmark for global creative excellence.”
Greece Makes History in Creative Business Transformation
The Creative Business Transformation Lions received 152 entries and awarded seven Lions in total. Greece earned its first-ever Grand Prix with ‘The Wedding Rice’ for Wikifarmer by McCann Athens.
The campaign created a sustainable business model by enabling farmers to sell inedible rice to wedding planners, creating a new commercial opportunity while encouraging behavioural change.
Gugu Mthembu, Chief Marketing Officer, Telkom, South Africa and Jury President, said, “The Wedding Rice demonstrated how cultural insights can be the spark of both creativity and business transformation. The creativity lay in the strategy’s disarming simplicity – no new infrastructure, no complex strategy or significant go-to-market investment. The transformation came through repurposing a discarded product for new use and in turn unlocking a new revenue stream for their farming partners, ensuring their sustainability through a model that can be replicated and scaled beyond one market.”
AXA France Wins Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix
From 200 entries in the Creative Effectiveness Lions, the Grand Prix was awarded to ‘Three Words’ for AXA France by Publicis Conseil, Paris.
The campaign introduced a life-saving three-word clause into home insurance contracts for domestic abuse survivors and delivered both social and measurable business outcomes.
Bertille Toledano, CEO, BETC and Havas Creative Middle East; President, Havas Creative Network, said, “A Grand Prix should always feel personal. And this one resonates deeply with all of us. It is socially, culturally and personally relevant.”
Heineken Campaign Takes Creative Strategy Top Honour
The Creative Strategy Lions received 744 entries, with the Grand Prix awarded to ‘The Pub that Refused to Die’ for Heineken by LePub, Milan / Publicis Dublin.
The campaign transformed a local community story into a model enabling communities to collectively preserve local pubs.
Sarah Lemarié, Chief Strategy Officer, Publicis, said, “In Ireland, Guinness Country, the beating heart of small communities is the pub. ‘The Pub that Refused to Die’ is a social solution to a social problem that builds on Heineken’s expertise to arm communities to take over pubs collectively. It’s a brilliant cultural engagement strategy, that captured the national attention, and enabled Heineken to find its way into Irish people’s hearts and pints.”
Moncler Wins Luxury Lions Grand Prix
In the Luxury Lions category, ‘Warmer Together’ for Moncler by Wesayhi, Sliema claimed the Grand Prix.
Built around cinematic storytelling and emotional connection, the campaign explored themes of warmth and human relationships.
Pum Lefebure, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Design Army, said, “’Warmer Together’ earned the Grand Prix because it stripped luxury storytelling down to its most powerful truth: human connection. “Warmth was never about the outside. It was always about what was happening on the inside. Two chairs, two lifelong friends, and the bond between Al Pacino and Robert De Niro felt cinematic, honest, and emotionally unforgettable. It proved that simplicity, when deeply human, is the ultimate expression of luxury.”
Columbia Sportswear Leads Brand Experience & Activation
Among 1,561 entries, ‘Expedition Impossible’ for Columbia Sportswear by Adam&Eve\TBWA, London won the Brand Experience & Activation Grand Prix.
The campaign challenged flat-Earth believers with an open expedition challenge, generating global attention.
Rafael Pitanguy, Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer, VML, said, “The work managed to simultaneously return to the Award’s roots, while being firmly grounded in the present day. At its heart, this is a promotion. A brilliant promotion. The kind of work this category was originally built to celebrate. Yet it speaks directly to the world we live in today. It isn’t afraid to step into controversy and challenge irrationality. Most importantly, the audience wasn’t just watching the idea. They were helping bring it to life. This project is also impeccable in its craft, in a category where craft is often overlooked. The copywriting is flawless, every word carefully chosen, every comma exactly where it should be. Everything is delivered with clarity, simplicity and a relentless focus on the brand, which is essential in the only category at Cannes that begins with the word ‘Brand’. More than any other piece of work this year, this project proves that the best way to become timeless is by being timely. What looked like an ‘Expedition Impossible’ became a powerful reminder that facts still matter.”
AI Meets Fandom in Creative Commerce Winner
The Creative Commerce Grand Prix went to ‘Lucky Fan Index’ for Wisła Kraków Football Club by VML, Warsaw.
The AI-driven initiative combined fan engagement with commerce outcomes to deepen supporter relationships.
Phil Camarota, Chief Creative Officer, Flywheel, said, “The best Creative Commerce work doesn’t just deliver value – it completely reimagines what value can even mean. In the face of serious business challenges, this year’s Grand Prix innovatively used creativity and technology to engage their audience, inspiring purchase and loyalty in ways we’ve never seen. The commercial and creative success of this idea was unmatched in our category – which is why it now deservedly stands alone.”
adidas Wins Innovation Grand Prix
In Innovation Lions, adidas secured the Grand Prix with ‘Supernova Adaptive’ by TBWA\Canada.
The running shoe was designed with and inspired by the Down syndrome community to expand participation in sport.
Kazuhiro Shimura, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan, said, “We awarded the Grand Prix to ‘Supernova Adaptive’ not because adidas simply built a shoe, but because it expanded the possibility of running for people with Down syndrome and moved society forward. In the age of AI, creating is easier than ever, but creating change is not. Our Jury judged by one perspective: Innovation is a shift from Proof of Concept to Proof of Change.”
Regional Networks Recognised
The festival also announced Regional Network of the Year honours:
- Asia — Ogilvy
- Europe — TBWA Worldwide
- MENA — McCann
- Latin America — Ogilvy
- North America — Ogilvy
- Pacific — Leo
- Sub-Saharan Africa — Leo
The Cannes Lions Festival continues to recognise work that demonstrates creativity’s expanding role in shaping business outcomes, culture and innovation globally.
