Sacré bleu, promos lift Cannes gloom

The humble Promo & Activation category came to the rescue of UK agency reputations last night at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity, when Grey London scooped the grand prix in an otherwise disappointing evening for the Brits.
Grey’s Lifepaint campaign for Volvo won two of the three gongs awarded to domestic agencies, picking up both the Grand Prix and a Silver. AKQA London scrapped on to the podium too, for its input on the “house of mamba” work for Nike Basketball China, which was led by its sister Shanghai office. It won the gold in the same category.
The Volvo campaign promoted a reflective safety spray designed to increase the visibility and safety of cyclists and others on the road at night. Invisible in the daytime, the spray glows brightly in the glare of headlights at night.
Meanwhile in the Direct Lions category, British hopes of a repetition of last year were dashed; although at least UK agencies picked up four bronzes – two for Saatchi & Saatchi’s work for Chelsea FC, and one each for Leo Burnett (Suffocation) and Grey London (Volvo Lifepaint, again).
However, UK direct marketing agencies trundled off empty-handed. Luckily, in other news, the sun is shining on the the Côte d’Azur, with temperatures set to reach 80 degrees.