OPINION18 June 2012

Independent Agency showcase demonstrates star power

Things are hotting up on the Cote d’Azur, both from a temperature perspective and in terms of a packed Cannes Lions schedule.

The festival proper kicked-off on Sunday, with the highlight for me being the Independent Agency showcase, hosted by TheNetworkOne, where I learnt about a football-themed campaign from Spain.

Carlos Holemans, founder and CEO of El Laboratorio, presented a case study about the ‘Dona tu estrella’ (Donate your star) campaign, which started by chance after a cock-up in the changing room of the Spanish national football team.

It was the team’s first game after winning the 2010 World Cup and Fernando Llorente was the only player among the Spaniards not to be sporting the world cup winners’ star on his shirt. That sparked a wonderful idea for a campaign for one of El Laboratorio’s clients, Save The Children.

The campaign launched with Llorente touring India, highlighting the work done by the charity and donating his star to Aarti, a young girl he met on the trip. The campaign gathered huge momentum and culminated a few weeks ago when Spain played their final warm up match for Euro 2012 – the entire Spanish team wore shirts without their stars, having donated them to the campaign, sparking millions of Spaniards to do the same and raise a fortune in the process.

There’s lots more to look forward to today, with sessions from the IPA, JWT and Contagious, as well as another evening of networking with creatives from Canada, planners from Portugal and Brazilian brand managers on the sunny roof terrace bar at Cannes Connect.

It’s a hard life!

@RESEARCH LIVE

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