Cannes Lions Innovation Winners 2014

The Grand Prix winner for 2014 was the Megafaces Pavilion at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games. This pavilion placed an interesting twist on the casual selfie and used advanced technology to create larger than life 3D face monuments available for anyone to use. The participants simply scanned their photo in the 3D photo booth and their image later appeared on the large LED screen made of 11,000 actuators. This setup was created by JSC Megafon and was placed in many cities across Russia during the 2014 Winter Olympic games. The pavilion helped personalize the olympic experience. This project made history as the world's first 3D selfie. With people's widespread insistence on sharing their photos, this became a great way to spread the message of the 2014 Winter Olympics to large numbers of people. The Megafaces campaign also attracted a lot of media attention due to its one of a kind nature.

The Innovation Lion winners was the Points signs, the Fiat Live Store and Babolat Play. The Points sign was an interesting concept that turned street signs into advertising. Created by Breakfast New York, this sign's interconnectivity allows it to move and change its message based on who is around and where they have been. The fact that it can be self sustainable due to advertising payments and support from its creators makes the sign even more unique. I would have to say that the sign could make things a bit confusing if it continuously changes its message or doesn't convey the correct information when someone simply wants to know the street name and not where Ben&Jerry's is located. The Fiat live store seems really interesting, but a bit over the top. I feel that if someone is really looking to purchase a car, no matter how great technology is to recreate the experience, they would want to see the car and drive the car in person. The idea seems especially silly because it wouldn't really save any time or energy because the buyer would still need to visit the store to make a purchase. This campaign was created by Agenciaclick Isobar São Paulo, Brazil. Ogilvy France developed the Babolat Play initiative, the first tennis racket to connect a player's game to their phone via the racket. Every part of the game is recorded on the player's phone. The app collects data from games and develops an average pulse of the player's performance which combines different aspects the game. The app even allows users to compete with users around the world. This is an amazing concept that takes the increasing interconnectivity of our world to a new level.

All of the Innovation awards came from different parts of the world. The winning campaigns included Russia, the US, France, and Brazil. Each initiative differed in method, theme and technology. I feel that the Babolat Play racket helps bring people together through technology, while the Fiat Live Store helps nurture anti-socialism. The Megafaces is more similar to the Points sign in that they both engage users in new ways making ordinary experiences more personable.