Dear Cannes Lions,
I met Phil Thomas, CEO of Ascential plc and Chair of Cannes Lions, a decade ago in New York City. He told me that he was creating a PR category at the Lions Festival of Creativity. Edelman Global Brand Officer, Jackie Cooper, and I went to the Festival in the summer of 2014 on a scouting mission. Our journey to Cannes made sense with our history - my father, Dan Edelman, was a pioneer in marketing PR, the creator of the media tour and always understood the value of creativity.
Phil’s visit was perfectly timed, because I had just delivered the outline of our next evolution for Edelman, in what I termed the Hamburg Principles. Through the work of the Edelman Trust Barometer, we saw that the world was changing, that geopolitical issues, misinformation, political polarization, mass-class divides, the inexorable decline of mainstream media, and fears of the pace of innovation were destabilizing society and impacting the traditional advertising and marketing models. We also recognized that classic ad agency partners, JWT, Y&R, Grey, and Wunderman, were disappearing.
I wanted Edelman to transform from a PR firm into a communications firm, with its own creative ideas and strategic insights, a fast content creator based on our social digital expertise, and advisor on societal issues. It was our time to make the case to clients for a different kind of partner based on the premise that Trust Drives Growth and Action Earns Trust.
The first few years at Cannes were deeply frustrating. I would walk out of the PR Lions ceremony steaming mad. Not only Edelman, but all the other PR firms were struggling for any real wins in the PR category, with ad agencies and digital firms taking the prizes. Our only award in the first years was a Grand Prix and a Gold Lion for Chipotle’s "The Scarecrow Campaign” where we did the PR for a film created by CAA.
We had to upgrade our team, expand our approach to tackling our clients’ briefs, and learn how to compete more effectively. We started to identify promising work months in advance and entered dynamic films to the jury. I took a walk in Cannes six years ago with Judy John, then at Leo Burnett, and told her of my ambition to make Edelman the partner for companies who wanted to make real change through earned-led communications. She joined the revolution as our Chief Creative Officer and was followed 18 months later by Brent Nelsen as Chief Strategy Officer. They had a supporting cast of the Ronge brothers, Mattias and Stefan, from Sweden, Manuel Frank from Germany, Taj Reid who rejoined us in 2019, Andrew Simon and Anthony Chelvanathan, from Canada and Tim Green in Asia. They have now been joined in EMEA by Marie Claire Maalouf in Dubai, Emma De La Fosse in London and many others.
We started to win awards. REI won the Titanium for its #OptOutside campaign in 2016, which we shared with Venebles Bell + Partners and Spark. Our Asics “Eternal Run” campaign, which won a Grand Prix at the height of COVID in 2021, was a metaphor for those trapped inside and needing inspiration. Our Vaseline “See My Skin” campaign in 2022 won a Gold Lion for solving an information desert issue for women of color seeking advice on skin conditions.
Tonight, we’ve scaled the ultimate mountain, awarded the Titanium Lion, for our "Move to Minus 15” campaign for DP World. This campaign has also been awarded a Gold Lion for the SDG Category and a Silver Lion in the B2B Category. We identified that our client could lead sustainable change in global supply chains, to challenge the standard temperature for freezing food that was accepted for 100 years. This year, for the first time, the coalition that DP World founded will ship food at a lower temperature of -15C instead of -18C – a change that will save 7 percent of total energy consumed by the sector. They have been joined by 24 leading companies, including 60 percent of the shipping industry. Thank you, DP World, for recognizing the strength in collaboration to drive real change. I want to thank all those who touched this work; they were tireless in their pursuit of excellence.
We were also awarded Gold Lions this week for Ikea "SHT", which seeks to rescind the sales tax on secondhand furniture in Canada, the Dove "Code My Crown” campaign, which has worked to create a blueprint for the gaming industry to better represent Black gamers and natural hairstyles in gaming, and Heineken "Bar Experience," which makes working behind the bar invaluable experience to starting a career in hospitality. Edelman leaves the 2024 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity with one Titanium Lion, four Gold Lions, six Silver Lions, five Bronze Lions and 43 shortlists. In addition, we were awarded several special awards by the Cannes Lions: Independent Agency of the Year for the Good Track (Edelman London), second place for Independent Network of the Year, and second place for Independent Agency of the Year (Edelman London). Here is a giant group hug to all who are responsible for the inspiring work.
This is a recognition that dreams do come true. The Edelman differentiators are clear: provocative ideas that deliver action, trust, and independence. Our Lions represent work from around the world and across numerous Lions categories. The blue thread is the meaningful change we create in people’s lives. These ideas are not just about a campaign; they drive both business and societal impact.
I turned 70 last week and this is the best birthday present I could ever imagine. We have spent 10 years challenging every stereotype about our firm and what we’re capable of. I am so proud of my 6,000 colleagues who bring their best to the game every day and am so appreciative of our clients who continue to challenge us with their hardest problems. We accept that challenge. This is just the beginning for Edelman. Thank you to Phil Thomas and the entire Cannes Lions team for encouraging us along this journey.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
