CumminsNitro wins Grand Prix in PR, Direct; Beacon Tokyo wins top Promo prize

By Eleftheria ParpisCANNES, FRANCE -- CumminsNitro in Brisbane, Australia, won the PR Lions Grand Prix and the Direct Lions Grand Prix at the Cannes festival on Monday night for its "Best Job in the World" campaign for Tourism Queensland. Beacon Communications in Tokyo won the Promo Grand Prix for its Yubari Resort campaign. The Queensland campaign promoted the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef with a contest seeking an "island caretaker" to blog about the destination for six months. It used online and offline media to solicit video applications for the job, which paid US$110,000. Lord Tim Bell, chairman of Chime Communications and jury chair of the inaugural PR Lions competition, said the campaign was chosen for the Grand Prix by a nearly unanimous decision. "It was very simple," he said. "It captured the imagination of the world's media and [all] the people looking for a job." With a budget of $1.2 million, the "Best Job in the World" campaign generated an estimated $100 million in media coverage and received nearly 35,000 applicants from 201 countries, according to the submission. "It's a highly contemporary campaign," Bell said. "We think it was terrific and by a long way the best idea of all the ideas we looked at." Direct Lions jury president David Sable, vice chairman and COO of Wunderman, praised the campaign's simplicity and deep consumer understanding. "The reason we chose it is because it began with the simplest, most basic DM placement of all -- a want ad. [It made] a clear offer, [provided] a very clear mechanism for response and began the best practice of relationship management," he said. "This thing snowballed from that little placement and created a phenomenon around the world."AFTER THE JUMP: Beacon takes the Promo Grand Prix. The Promo Lions Grand Prix was awarded to Beacon Communications, Tokyo, for campaign promoting Yubari City in Hokkaido, Japan, which had gone bankrupt in 2007. The work positioned the city as a place with "no money but love." Based on the insight that the city has the lowest divorce rate in the country, the promotion positioned Yubari as a destination for couples, generated $30 million toward alleviating the city's debt and increased the annual number of visitors by 10 percent, according to the submission. The PR Lions, which received 431 entries in its first year, awarded a total of 17 Lions and one Grand Prix. U.S. agencies won four statues: MS&L, New York, and Leo Burnett, Chicago, for the P&G "Protecting Futures" feminine hygiene program; Droga5, New York, for "The Great Schlep" for the Jewish Council for Education and Research; Ketchum and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, both San Francisco, for "Honey, Let's Lick the Problem" for Haagen-Dazs; and Taylor, New York, for "Guinness Rally" for Diageo-Guinness. In addition to the Grand Prix, the Direct jury awarded 11 gold, 12 silver and 26 bronze Lions. U.S. agencies won only two Lions in the competition: Droga5, New York, won a gold for "The Great Schlep"; and JWT, New York, won a bronze for "Unbreakable Kiss" for De Beers Diamonds. U.S. agencies did not receive a single award at the Promo Lions. The Promo jury, led by jury president William Rosen, president and CCO North America of Arc Worldwide, awarded 10 golds, 9 silvers and 24 bronzes. The honors in all three categories were presented at the first awards ceremony at the 56th International Advertising Festival on Monday night.

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CumminsNitro wins Grand Prix in PR, Direct; Beacon Tokyo wins top Promo prize

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