Ogilvy Wins Grand Prix for CeraVe’s 'Michael CeraVe' and JCDecaux’s 'Meet Marina Prieto'

On day three of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Ogilvy won two Grand Prix and three Gold Lions for creative ideas that had an unreasonable impact for some of the agency’s biggest brand partners. Additionally, Ogilvy’s global creative network won seven Silver and 11 Bronze for a total of 23 Lions, bringing the network’s total to 53 Lions throughout the Festival thus far.

The Grand Prix for Social & Influencer was awarded to “Michael CeraVe” for CeraVe created by WPP Onefluence, led by Ogilvy PR New York, in the Multi-Platform Social Campaign category. The campaign also won Gold Lions for Social & Influencer in the Innovative Use of Creators, Influencers or Celebrities category and for Media in the Innovative Use of Influencers/Creators category. "Michael CeraVe" was a first-of-its-kind immersive campaign that planted and spread a conspiracy, only to be debunked on America’s biggest advertising stage. The three-week campaign took people on a journey from “CeraVe, developed by Michael Cera” to the real product truth – that CeraVe is developed with dermatologists. The integrated campaign was intricately developed and executed across earned, paid and owned channels, including a sophisticated and layered social media and influencer strategy that culminated in a Super Bowl-aired TV commercial where Michael Cera’s outrageous claims were squashed once and for all by a boardroom of CeraVe dermatologists.

Charlotte Tansill, president of Ogilvy PR, Social & Influence, said, “What a thrill to receive this Cannes Lions Grand Prix, along with two Golds, for this elaborate conspiracy that we created together with CeraVe. By putting earned-first thinking at the forefront of this campaign, and ensuring PR, social and influencer worked in concert at every stage, we were able to drive an entirely new kind of Super Bowl experience that educated around a product truth while being wildly entertaining. Ogilvy is so grateful for the bravery and trust of our client partners, and to the many committed team members it took to pull off such an intricate story.”

The Grand Prix for Creative B2B was awarded to “Meet Marina Prieto” for JCDecaux by DAVID Madrid in the B2B Influencer Marketing category. After subway ad investment fell by 7% in 2023 in Madrid, Spain, JCDecaux was looking for a way to convince brands that OOH media space really worked. Enter Marina Prieto, the lovely 100-year-old grandma who was creating her own content, but with no audience to see it. Together, DAVID Madrid and JCDecaux repurposed her 54 Instagram posts for hundreds of OOH spaces – inviting curiosity about who this woman was, and in the process, growing her followers by more than 321%, doubling the brand’s media investment in OOH, and making Marina the face of the most successful B2B campaign the company has ever done.

DAVID Madrid also won a Gold Lion for Netflix’s “Alcaraz Signs” in Direct – Use of Broadcast. By taking the professional tennis tradition of match winners signing the camera lens and giving it a curious touch – dropping cryptic notes instead of his signature – tennis star Carlos Alcaraz used live TV channels around the world to advertise his new streaming content partnership with Netflix.

Saulo Rocha, chief creative officer, DAVID Madrid, said, “Our goal with this campaign with JCDecaux was to revive the magic of outdoor media and the strong impact it can have on consumers. People nowadays tend to ignore outdoor campaigns. With Marina, we got people to interact, take pictures of the media, and even spread those photos on social media, making this a truly viral moment on a very low budget. This also helped to change the perception around outdoor media spending and revive brands’ investment in OOH.”

A selection of Ogilvy’s Cannes contenders can be viewed on Ogilvy.com and on the agency’s social media channels. Keep up with Ogilvy and Cannes-related news throughout the Festival by following us on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook using the hashtag #OgilvyCannes.