Telstra wins film prize but Aussie work lags globally

The Australian

22-06-2025

Telstra has been recognised among some of the world's best brands after its advertising campaigns scooped top awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Three recent campaigns from the telecommunications giant were recognised at the annual advertising awards festival, alongside global work for Apple, AXA, Budweiser, Dove and Vaseline.
The telco's Better on a Better Network campaign, which consisted of 26 stop-motion films, each just 15 seconds long, dominated the Film awards category winning a Grand Prix for film craft in addition to two golds and one bronze Lion.
Telstra's Christmas and business campaigns also picked up four more Lions, all in the film category. The plaudits extended to the creative companies behind the work, with Telstra's creative agency Bear Meets Eagle On Fire recognised as one of the top three independent agencies in the world, while production company Revolver won the Palme d'Or for film making, the first Australian production company to ever receive the award.
Telstra was the most highly-awarded Australian brand at this year's awards, an accolade that left Telstra chief marketing officer Brent Smart 'speechless'. Mr Smart had previously told The Australian that the brand's recent advertising activity aimed to get audiences to rethink Telstra.
'We've been working hard to give the brand more personality, to make the brand more humble, more personable and more likeable,' he told The Australian last year. 'A lot of people judge Telstra based on the brand it used to be, not the brand it is today. I believe, if you want to change how people feel about the brand, you need to change how the brand feels,' he said.
Telstra wasn't the only brand to win over the international judging panels, other local campaigns that picked up awards included Suncorp's Building a More Resilient Australia campaign by Leo Australia, Volkswagen RooBadge by DDB Australia, Coca-Cola's Meet me at the Coke Sign by Ogilvy Australia, Australian Lamb for Droga5 ANZ and the 36 Months campaign by independent agency SuperMassive, which lobbied the Australian Government to raise the minimum age for social media from 13 to 16.
In addition to awarding the best work from the past 12 months, the annual festival also provides a glimpse into the themes and trends that will dominate the year ahead with some well-needed laughs likely to be hitting our screens through the next wave of advertising and marketing.
'Humour is back,' according to Suncorp EGM of Brand & Customer Experience Mim Haysom, who was a judge in the creative data award category.
'There were a large number of entries using humour this year, and using it effectively to cut through and create an emotional connection with audiences,' she said. 'Perhaps a counter play to the serious issues we are all feeling globally, the significant presence of humour, being used to tackle both business and social challenges was a delight to have in the mix.'
Ms Haysom also said that while AI was a strong presence throughout the festival, featuring in 70 per cent of award case studies in the creative data category, its role and purpose was interrogated by the judges.
'We asked ourselves in the judging room, did AI serve as a genuine enabler for innovation and impact, or was it simply there for show? If you could remove the AI and the idea didn't stand on its own, it didn't make the cut,' she said.
In response to the pervasiveness of AI and technology, there was a strong push for work that showcased the best, and worst, of humanity, according to Revolver executive producer and partner Pip Smart, a judge in the film craft category. 'The jury room for film craft instinctively steered away this year from anything that felt too slick, post produced or AI driven,' Ms Smart said. 'As a group we were drawn to work that showed humanity – anything hand crafted, and where emotional or humorous elements stood out. Originality was key.'
She said work that was surprising, quirky and original caught the judges attention.
However, there was also a big push to go beyond the creative aesthetics and reward the work that works, which impacted another significant theme to dominate the festival, as judges looked to award work that delivered results for businesses.
Clerehan founder Esther Clerehan said for the Glass Lions category, which recognises work that creates change, the jury focus was firmly on the outcomes of the activity. 'The bottom line for the jury came down to impact. Brand alignment was also a recurring part of discussions but always the emphasis was on the impact of the work. Some work scored really well on creativity, but when the most weight is applied to the results, a clever idea can flounder if its case relies heavily on impressions and awareness,' said Ms Clerehan.
Ms Haysom agreed. 'Impact was a non-negotiable for our jury, and most of the cases reviewed had incredible impact for business, customers, or in the case of those who were recognised with Lions, they had impact on both business and customers with strong outcomes against tangible metrics.'
Impact was also a crucial theme for the creative strategy category jury, which included VML chief strategy officer Alison Tilling. She said the debut of the long-term brand platform award, while challenging to judge, provided a showcase of 'the greatest hits of advertising' with Dove's Real Beauty campaign scooping the Grand Prix.
'(Dove) has written the playbook for consistently fresh work off a single platform over the past 20 years,' Ms Tilling said. 'What does it say when a 20-year-old strategy wins? I think it should scream loud and clear that when you have a strong positioning or theme you play to it clearly but with a strong sense of what's happening in culture at that moment.'
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