Cannes Lions 2019 – The Future is Brand Activism

According to Philip Kotler, Brand Activism means brands that use their businesses to promote or impede society through social, political, economic or environmental reforms. I attended The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year and it was all about progressive brand activism that was nothing short of inspiring for young marketers like me.

Big and small brands at Cannes Lions followed one mantra : Stand up or Die! Where the biggest brands like Nike set precedent through the Colin Kaepernick led Dream Crazy campaign, other brands created positive change in their own ways that was just as inspiring.

One of my favorite examples is ‘The Last Issue Ever’, a brilliant campaign by a Polish magazine that bought porn magazines in Poland, just to shut them down. They won a Titanium and Glass Lions Grand Prix for their bold campaign that changed the way women are perceived in Poland. Get inspired here:

In her inspiring talk at the festival, agency founder Madonna Badger, showed us how ‘Sharing is activism’ through her campaign #NoKidsInCages, aimed at an in-your-face awareness about unfair immigration policies to make people uncomfortable enough to take action. 25 installations of mannequin children sleeping in blankets inside cages were placed in near media companies like CNN in New York City in the spring. A sample of the same was also installed at the Palais during the Cannes Lions festival, and it sure made us stop in shock, and then in awe.

Watch an example here:

Tony’s ChocoLonely, a Dutch Chocolate brand sells chocolate bars to abolish child slavery. In fact, their product was borne to raise awareness for child slavery. This mission resonates right into their design and packaging, and even the chocolate bar is cut into uneven shapes to represent the inequality in the industry towards this issue. They sell slave-free chocolate bars and they have been capturing audiences right in the feels, challenging the consumers to buy from them vs. chocolate giants worldwide.

In the 21st century and beyond, brands are all about purpose and this was echoed several times this year at Cannes. Jessie Macneil-Brown, Global Head of Activism, The Body Shop, talked about how brands will be left behind if they do not have a bigger purpose. 77% of Gen Z worldwide believe that ‘Doing Good’ should be a central part of running a business as quoted by Young Hee Lee, Global CMO of Samsung, during her talk at Cannes about this generation.

In the 21st century and beyond, brands are all about purpose and this was echoed several times this year at Cannes. Jessie Macneil-Brown, Global Head of Activism, The Body Shop, talked about how brands will be left behind if they do not have a bigger purpose. 77% of Gen Z worldwide believe that ‘Doing Good’ should be a central part of running a business as quoted by Young Hee Lee, Global CMO of Samsung, during her talk at Cannes about this generation.

What purpose does your brand stand for? Let me know in the comments how your organisation uses brand activism progressively!