Cannes Lions: PR winners 2022 /

BBDO Belgium has picked up the Grand Prix for PR – its second big win on behalf of sports retailer Decathlon, for a virtual cycling initiative that has reconnect a group of Belgian prison inmates with the outside world.

The campaign – The Breakaway – has already been awarded a GP in the Creative Strategy category, a win which recognised the close connection between its resounding success and the strategy the team behind the work put in place to support that. Today’s triumph in PR reflects the cut-through it achieved, resulting in around $1.4m of earned media for Decathlon and shining a light on the barriers to reintegrating former prisoners into society and opening up a national conversation about the role of prisons in the justice system.

To do this, the campaign gave six prison inmates something new to focus on: each was equipped with the kit required to start a structured training program in the virtual cycling platform of Zwift. Their impact of the training was tracked in a podcast that detailed the effects the exercise and sense of progress was having on their physical and mental wellbeing.

Judy John, PR jury president and global chief creative officer at Edelman, praised the campaign for being in tune with what people want now. She said ‘People are craving ideas that are modern in thought, expression and execution. When you look across Cannes and all the categories, they want utility, entertainment, education: there’s so much content that everything else, it’s getting lost’.

John also backed the ongoing relevance of her category in no uncertain terms. ‘We think that PR is the next trend – yes, you’re hearing it here first! The need to earn attention with ideas and creativity – there is so much content in the world right now and more content coming in, and it costs too much to buy your way in. That’s why all of the best work is now earned, because you need to compete in the world, you’re not just competing with advertising against brands.’

Gold Lions were awarded to:

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe / The BVG Hempticket – Come Home, Calm Down / Jung von Matt, Hamburg

Change the Ref / The Lost Class / Leo Burnett, Chicago

AHR – A Wine Region Needs Help for Rebuilding / #Flutwein – Our Worst Vintage / SevenOne AdFactory, Unterfohring

Women in Games / Gender Swap / BETC, Paris

Verizon / 9/12 – The Untold Story of Reconnecting New York / Verizon, New York

Vienna Tourist Board / Vienna Strips on OnlyFans / Jung von Matt Donau, Vienna