Weber Shandwick & Clients Celebrate 25 Wins at 2019 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 

Weber Shandwick was one of the most awarded among participating PR agencies this year, and received three accolades as idea agency in the PR and Entertainment for Sport categories. The agency also received Lions for its PR contributions on 22 additional campaigns and was on 62 shortlists across 14 categories.

 

With client Ancestry, Weber Shandwick helped create Railroad Ties, a short-form documentary that used Ancestry’s unparalleled archives to bring individual historical records connected to the Underground Railroad to life as emotional stories of self-discovery – and helped a group of strangers realize their lost history and family connections. The film won a Bronze Lion in PR, Content-led Engagement & Marketing.

 

With our client Bud Light, 3PM Agency/Weber Shandwick won two Bronze Lions as lead creative agency in the Entertainment for Sport and PR categories for Victory Fridge – one in Sports Live Experience, and the other for Sponsorship & Brand Partnership. The campaign honored the Cleveland Browns and its underdog position in the National Football League (NFL) by creating special edition Bud Lights placed in locked fridges citywide. A Wi-Fi lock opened all fridges simultaneously for the fans when the team won its first game in 635 days during the 2018 season.

 

With clients Bud Light and Budweiser, 3PM Agency/Weber Shandwick was also recognized with wins for its PR contributions in two additional categories: Film and Brand Experience & Activation. The recognition in Cannes joins a series of celebrations for the agency’s relationship with AB InBev, which named 3PM Agency/Weber Shandwick its Agency of the Year for Creative Excellence in December 2018.

“Cannes remains our industry’s annual barometer – highlighting the creative excellence making a true impact, as well as many of the societal issues that we can help address,” said Gail Heimann, president, Weber Shandwick. “Weber Shandwick had a banner year at Cannes. And while I’m extremely proud of the medals we’re bringing home, I’m especially impressed with our teams who delivered work that won in such a wide range of categories, a testament to the ever-increasing breadth of the solutions we are delivering for our clients. As the issues we confront grow in complexity and size, so must our global collaboration and I’m immensely proud that Weber Shandwick had work in contention from so many geographies within our network this year.”

 

Weber Shandwick Also Represented with Jurors, Young Lions Competitors

Two Weber Shandwick executives served as PR jurors at the festival this year: Jenna Young, executive creative director of Weber Shandwick in the U.S. and Rachel Friend, CEO, UK & Ireland, Weber Shandwick. Young also participated in a roundtable session hosted by Brand Innovators, discussing brand purpose and cultural relevance.

 

The agency was also proud to participate in the annual Young Lions PR Competition again this year, which gives young talent an opportunity to compete against peers on an international stage. Senior Manager Nihan Ungor and Associate Burak Sarica represented Turkey in the competition.

Agency President Gail Heimann Drives Hard Industry Discussions

During the festival, Weber Shandwick President Gail Heimann moderated the panel, “Your data is biased, now what?” – drawing attention to the rising and complex issue of data bias, surfacing both the difficult realties of our reliance on data and the ways in which brands can more ethically collect and deploy it. Heimann was joined on stage by Adam Cutler, distinguished designer of AI Design and Cognitive Enterprises at IBM; Bonin Bough, founder and chief growth officer of Bonin Ventures; and Caroline Criado Perez, author of Invisible Women. Heimann has been an active Cannes participant in past years, serving on the 2018 Titanium jury, on the inaugural Glass Lions jury in 2015 and as president of the PR jury in 2012.