Cannes Day 2: Best Job In The World is best PR campaign in the world
Cummins Nitro this morning did the double with Tourism Queensland’s Best Job In The World promotion winning an almost unprecendented two grand prix at the Cannes Lions.
The agency picked up the top prize in the first ever PR Lions, and also won the Direct Lions grand prix.
The PR category received 431 entries and the jury awarded 17 Lions.
The second grand prix of the night for Cummins Nitro came after the agency beat 1365 other entries from around the globe in a category that saw 11 golds, 12 silvers and 26 bronzes trophies given out.
The agency’s founder Sean Cummins told Mumbrella: “This is pretty humbling. Apparently two grand prix for the same campaign has only been done once before. It’s Olympian in terms of its scale.
“There are a lot of show ponies in the Australian advertising industry who live and die by these things – they see it as a full stop. We just see it as a means.
“It’s a victory for the people who are not always talked about. And for me personally, I’m just proud of the team I’ve created.”
Referring to last week’s purchase of the Nitro Group by Sapient, he said: “The ownership is changing, but the management is not. They certainly feel excited that they are in bed with Cummins.”
The best job promotion launched at the beginning of this year. It featured a global hunt for a caretaker for the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef which generated huge publicity for Queensland and Australian tourism globally.
Meanwhile, it was also a stellar night for fledgling strategic agency The Hallway.
Formed by Jules Hall less than two years ago, it won a gold and a bronze Lion for its Zuji Beans promo, done in conjunction with agency Happy Soldiers.
Hall told Mumbrella: “The second campaign we ever did gets a Gold Lion. We’re absolutely stoked.”
However, he didn’t make the trip to Cannes. He said: ‘I’m sitting here on my frickin laptop in Bondi.”
He added: “What’s most exciting is that it’s a vindication for the way we are working and the type of work we are doing. We get our heads down and think hard about what we do. We’re absolutely stoked. This is going to be a springboard.
The agency’s current clients include travel brand Zuji, Jameson’s, Malibu, upmarket spirit and wine line Signe, Australian Jockey Club and Merivale.
Although The Hallway’s heritage is digital – Hall is ex NetX – it positions itself as a strategic communications agency that puts digital at the heart of what it does.
The Zuji Beans promotion involved selling 10c cans of beans around the country to demonstrate that they were helping people save for their holiday.
In other overnight news from Cannes:
- Australia’s media agencies have again been embarrassed by ad agencies getting more shortlistings in the Media Lions, reports Campaign Brief. OMD, Starcom, Media Contacts and Zenith Optimedia are the media agencies on the shortlist.
- BMF was among the other agencies celebrating in the Direct Lions category, with Gold, Silver and Bronze for its TED696 project, says Campaign Brief.
- TED696 also scored well in the Promo Lions, which were dominated by Australian agencies. Four ‘N Twenty Pies’ Magic salad Plates, by Clemenger BBDO Melbourne won two golds in that category.
- It looks like the Radio Lions will be thin pickings for Australia though, with just six shortlistings, including three for Whybin TBWA’s controversial Adults Surviving Child Abuse campaign.
- The Press Lions shortlist was also disappointing for Australia, with two campaigns from Saatchi & Saatchi and one from GPY&R the only Aussie reproesentatives.
- In outdoor, Saatchi & Saatchi gets seven shortlistings across three campaigns.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
Linkedin
Am I reading that correctly? One category – 11 gold, 12 silvers, 26 bronze for a total of 49 trophies. I sure hope the Olympic movement don’t follow suit. I suppose that puts people in one of two camps – those that enter because they hand out so many trophies that there is a good chance of a gong, and those that don’t because they hand out too many trophies.
User ID not verified.
You are reading it correctly, anon. But there again you don’t get 1365 people in the race at the Olympics.
If we stretch the analogy to breaking point (and let’s do that!), the grand prix goes to the winner of the final; golds made it onto the podium (which admittedly would be a bit crowded), while perahps the bronzes and silvers won their heats… you’ve got to be a bloody good athlete to get that far, after all.
But the point is, globally, there’s only one grand prix winner in each category. That’s the gold standrd. Hang on – if the grand prix is the gold standard, what does a Gold Lion equal – the silver standard?
I’ll stop now…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Tim – that’s why the Olympics have qualifying standards. Only the best get to turn up to the show, and then they have one winner. Seems to me there is an addiction to metal and medals!
User ID not verified.
I agree with Anon — too many gongs undermine the value of any award program. But then again, Cannes is all about making money from entry numbers. Handing out a stack of metal encourages more entries . . .
User ID not verified.
Tom – you forgot to mention the identity complex that Cannes has with its Titanium’s…
I think a airline loyalty analogy might be more apt… its not about first second or third, but a club of rare and exclusive campaigns done by people that work long hours and once in a while deserve some free champagne and finger food.
User ID not verified.
bother – I meant Tim..
User ID not verified.
Tim, I think there are 6 Australian entries shortlisted for radio, not 5 as reported. Meerkats have also been shortlisted for their Murdoch University of Technology spot (Public Services category).
Hi Jeremy,
Not to worry – with i and o so close together, I sometimes accidentally sign my own name that way…
And thanks for flagging that, Ralph – now updated.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
I love the quote from Cummins where he uses the phrases “this is pretty humbling ” and “it’s olympian in scale” in the same comment.
User ID not verified.
The last time I looked Cummins was not a PR agency – another classic example of people within the industry not understanding the difference between advertising and PR. Some how I can’t help thinking that if a PR agency entered an advertising category it wouldn’t stand a chance so why make allowances for an advertising campaign to be classed as a PR campaign?
User ID not verified.
Hi Jess,
ta for your comment. Without checking I’m not certain, but from memory, most of the jurors are from PR backgrounds. Certainly Naomi Parry, the Australian representative on the jury, is.
And Pete, if I was sitting in a restaurant with a couple of Grand Prix trophies on the table in front of me, I think I’d struggle to sound even slightly humble..
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
It’s a fantastic recognition for a fantastic campaign – go you Aussie good thing!
User ID not verified.
AD MAN LEARNS SECRET OF THE MEDIA
“PR is 100 times more effective but only 1% of the cost!!”, gasps breathless Ponytailed Creative
User ID not verified.
Hi Stu,
Or (and I’m just playing devil’s advocate here…) adman turns his hand to PR and shows every PR agency in the world how it’s done…
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Hi Tim
sorry i wasnt aware that every PR agency in the world had entered this inaugural ad-industry award
what about:
AD INDUSTRY AT THE CUTTING EDGE
Gives PR awards 20 years after first PR industry award
oops i guess you woudn’t read that headline in any ad revenue-reliant publication, would you? not even in the editorial?
I’d hope that most PR grads would know how to generate millions in free international media from a stunt like “live free on an Aussie tropical island for a year”
Let’s see an ad agency get gobs of free editorial for, say, a new plastic fencing product.
Next year I hope a PR firm gets briefed by God to promote the second coming of Christ. All they’ll need to do is run a couple of small classified ads….
User ID not verified.
I think you’ve answered your own point there, Stu, if you’re saying that it was easy to generate PR coverage around the idea of the dream job.
The brief wasn’t to PR the dream job.
The brief was to promote Queensland.
The (award-winning) solution was to come up with the dream job.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Hi Tim
no, no I was fully aware that the idea to offer a free year on a tropical island was the Spark of Amazing Genius that warrants international accolades and faux humility
I guess you’ve also answered one of my points too – this really IS all it takes to be regarded as a high achiever in the ad industry, isn’t it?
each year, thousands of PRs come up with truly innovative ways to achieve out-size publicity for far less glamorous clients peddling incredibly mundane products (and this is just product PR, as opposed to corporate issues management for example – which you will never read about)
this was a neat PR stunt but hardly a PR coup.
.
User ID not verified.
@Stu
Settle down there tiger… It’s just a hunk of metal, not the body of christ….
(plus they deserve it, whether they are a PR agency or not)
User ID not verified.
This was a really great PR stunt – good on them and credit where it’s due. I think Stu does make an interesting point though…
User ID not verified.
After all that is said and done, I still wish I had come up with Best Job in The World.
User ID not verified.
thanks for giving me the reality check Joel.
I must have been given a bum steer by the words “This is pretty humbling. Apparently two grand prix for the same campaign has only been done once before. It’s Olympian in terms of its scale”.
I realise now these words were spoken in utter humility – and not just on behalf of the man who spoke them, but on behalf of the people he created, I mean, who also work there.
User ID not verified.
Hi Stu,
I rather suspect that after most big ideas are executed, somebody says “But I could have done that” afterwards. But they didn’t.
Of all the tourism boards in all the world, nobody did. Yet all that PR was easy once someone thought of the idea.
But to try to take the conversation forward constructively, what are your favourite case studies that have provided outsize publicity for unglamorous clients?
Cheers,
Tim
Hi Tim
If you want to read campaign-specifics, there’s plenty of PR awards to choose from, both domestic and international
Eg:
http://www.pria.com.au/aboutus.....s/l/layout
http://www.ipra.org/archiveawards.asp
but the key difference between PR and advertising is precisely the reason why the best PR firms are less likely to enter ad industry PR awards:
the best PR campaigns in the world never receive ‘publicity’ as campaigns because it is against their creator’s interest, for obvious reasons
that’s the whole point of excellent strategic PR – it’s a sometimes subtle but always unseen influence
books such as David Salter’s “the media we deserve” seek to document this and often carry case studies and examples
User ID not verified.
Thabnks for the link to the PRIA archives, Stu.
I was wondering if you could think of any examples yourself?
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
hi Tim
of course, there are plenty. i assume that you want purely retail-oriented examples, and with a simple publicity focus rather than issues management?
if so, here are 2 that spring to mind:
CMC Markets CFD (Contracts for Difference) 2008 campaign (agency unknown) – achieving significant editorial coverage of the merits of a highly leveraged equity derivatives product during the GFC was a counter-intuitive coup
I also like Honner Media’s Lifewise campaign for IFSA – very surprising levels of coverage given how stale the topic of Life Insurance is
User ID not verified.
what a great campaign!
User ID not verified.