CANNES, France—Wieden + Kennedy in Amsterdam picked up the Grand Prix in Creative Effectiveness here tonight for its remarkable Heineken campaign, which helped boost sales of the Dutch brewer's flagship beer by 5.3 percent in 2012.
W+K's "Legends" campaign for Heineken launched in early 2011 with the Gold Lion-winning spot "The Entrance" and continued later that year with "The Date." Also in 2011, the brand linked up with the UEFA Champions League, the world's most prestigious and high-profile club soccer competition, for an extensive sponsorship.
In 2012, Heineken orchestrated a successful tie-in with the James Bond movie Skyfall and also sponsored the 2012 London Olympics, with W+K's consistently top-notch creative propelling those partnerships to strong revenue gains for the brewer.
Along with the Grand Prix, the Creative Effectiveness jury handed out six other Lions. (Unlike most categories at the Cannes festival, this one does not hand out golds, silvers and bronzes—rather, they are simple called Creative Effectiveness Lions.)
The team of Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Digitas was the sole U.S. winner, taking home a Lion for their "Small Business Saturday" campaign for American Express. That same campaign won two Grand Prix at Cannes in 2012, in the Direct and Promo & Activation categories.
The other winners were: adam&eveDDB and Manning Gottlieb OMD in London for John Lewis; DDB New Zealand for Lion Nathan; Whybin\TBWA Sydney for Insurance Australia Group; Grey London for the British Heart Foundation; and Ogilvy & Mather Sydney for Coca-Cola.
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