The jury of one of the world’s most prestigious advertising festivals, the Cannes Lions, awarded two campaigns created in Peru to promote sustainable projects that help blind people and people who practice running.
Considered a land of endless gifts, mineral resources and a biological diversity that has generated innumerable studies and research, Peru is synonymous both with history and renewal. There is no doubt that the country has become globally renowned and appreciated for its age-old traditions, its iconic gastronomy and its evident multiculturalism.
It is no surprise that it is a nation embraced by vast natural reserves and a dozen world heritages recognised by Unesco. Furthermore, it is home to 84 of the entire world’s 117 life zones within its borders.
However, on this occasion we are not here to talk about the wonders of the Colca Canyon, Machu Picchu, the Nazca Lines, the Rainbow Mountains or the historic city of Cusco. Rather, we will celebrate and give credit to the gap and to the opening process that the country is facing in terms of adaptation, integration and accessibility. This is so impressive that (who would have thought it!) it has even managed to bring one of the most emblematic festivals in the audiovisual world to its feet by attracting the public and the jury of the Cannes Lions 2024.
What is the Cannes Lions?
This is a festival that has been rewarding the best and most talented in the advertising industry for more than seven decades. Naturally, we’re talking about Cannes Lions, an international event that, year after year, since the late 1940s, has never failed in rolling out the red carpet for talent, originality and creativity from around the world.
As one could imagine, its original inspiration is, obviously, the International Film Festival. The usual setting is the city in the south of France and more precisely the Festival and Congress Palace. It is, in other words, the annual rendezvous that brings together designers and publicists, marketing experts and public relations professionals. This is a stage for recognition and applause which, in its 71st edition, held last July, has not hesitated to place Peru at the top of a global and awarded stage, in a double victory.
The Latin American country has asserted its status as a role model through workshops and seminars, award ceremonies and gala closings, and the attendance of 11,000 delegates representing more than 90 countries. The country’s representatives returned home with several lion-shaped trophies, both silver and gold, under their arms. Thus, in the eyes of the advertising world, they managed to move the country from urban innovation to social contribution.
Lions with social content
The essence of the Cannes Lions can be summed up in these broad strokes: effective creativity, technological innovation, ad presentation, communication and sales strategy, branded entertainment. A list of well-deserved and well-earned designations to which, this year, a new one must be added: Peruvian identity and originality.
The jury of the Cannes Lions 2024 Festival evaluated 2,053 pieces submitted by 211 competitors and awarded 57 prizes. Among all of them, two Peruvian agencies finally received the ‘big’ prize in the Outdoor category.
This is the case for both The Cushioning Route campaign and its compatriot Sightwalks. In fact, to mention them both at Cannes Lions 2024 is to allude to talent and ingenuity, advertising, marketing, technology, development and growth, and fairness. This is because they are two initiatives that have broken with the traditional pattern to build something truly new and authentic.
But, most importantly, these commercials provide a voice to the reality of urban problems, in a version that is less inclusive, although they also find in the same approach the most pragmatic and effective response to overcome these difficulties. These are two undeniable traces of advertising skill that, to sum up, aim to improve the lives of citizens. If you want to know more about them, let’s go for it!
Sightwalks: tiles that illuminate
One of the award-winning projects, as mentioned earlier, is Sightwalks. What is remarkable here is the ability of its authors to innovate, on one hand, and the capacity to connect with the public, on the other. This is something that can be understood perfectly and without problems when getting to know the behind-the-scenes of this Peruvian campaign, sponsored by Circus Grey for Cemento Sol and the Municipality of Miraflores. In addition, it is possible to understand its foundations and ideas.
Conceived and designed to stand out in public places, Sightwalks is, essentially, an immersive experience brand. What’s its personal touch? Basically, the very powerful message it conveys; an image of strength, change and reinvention that won over the Cannes Lions 2024 jury. This is because, in the criteria that shape this project, both originality and execution make a step forward, combined in a creative way to make an impact in advertising campaigns.
An approach which, after all, has only helped to boost the influence of the country known for its chaufa rice. Even if, on this occasion, it is in the international sphere of advertising. But what exactly does this campaign propose?
The project, entitled Sightwalks that guide, is based on the implementation of a system of tactile tiles in the city. These tiles, which are perceptible by the touch of the feet, are intended to provide greater autonomy for the visually impaired. And to do so, they are clearly designed to facilitate greater mobility, providing a higher degree of accessibility along the way.
Given the statistics, it is not difficult to see how important this project could be, considering Peru’s own internal indices. According to the latest National Census, more than three million people in Peru have some kind of disability. How many of them are visually impaired, in accordance with this same barometer? Approximately 48 percent, nothing less, which makes this condition the most common one among Peruvians.
These disability numbers caught the interest of the National Union of the Blind of Peru (UNCP) and encouraged it to join the project, as did the Association Yo soy sus Ojos. These two organisations, however, agreed to identify the 10 most essential premises and services in the city of Lima. They first marked them all over the city and then created a signalling system designed to promote the independence of the more than 500,000 blind people living in the Peruvian capital.
Nowadays, for instance, the Sightwalks project, and its initiative Sightwalks that guide, is scattered all over Lima. This implies being able to learn about its theory and to test its practical version and installation in more than 75,000 m2 of special tiles. These include banks, pharmacies, health centres, shopping centres, beauty salons, warehouses, restaurants, hotels and other facilities providing accommodation.
The Cushioning Route: the campaign that roared in bronze
This Peruvian version of inclusive advertising, which won bronze at Cannes Lions 2024, made its mark in its own way. Promoted by Boost Brand Accelerator and sponsored by Nike Peru, The Cushioning Route is a perfect (and creative) sketch of how and as accessible as open spaces can and should be.
In order to understand the birth of this initiative, it is necessary to look back and start from running, a fast-growing practice in the streets and footpaths of Lima, which has gained thousands of followers and practitioners. It is an activity that is as healthy as controversial, although it may not seem so at first sight.
Bad asphalt, poorly lit areas, pavements with holes that threaten to injure people… Given this context, The Cushioning Route appears to be a saving option, without exaggeration. Why? Because its modus operandi offers practical solutions to a number of typical Peruvian urban problems. These are qualities that were, incidentally, reviewed at the Cannes Lions 2024.
Firstly, the project deals with those holes in the pavements that turn many Peruvian women into Swiss cheese. But the final goal of The Cushioning Route is to prevent women from spraining their ankles or suffering more serious injuries.
For this purpose, Nike implemented a functional, efficient and original solution, supported by the Municipality of Barranco. While taking advantage of the launch of its new footwear, designed exclusively for running, the organisation came up with the idea of filling the holes in the streets of Barranco in Peru. The brand did it with creativity, using a curious foam that emulates the same technology that is the hallmark of the brand.
How to promote creativity and its social impact
There is no doubt that both campaigns, The Cushioning Route and Sightwalks, speak for their own. Indeed, the two have already become a silent but eloquent testament to how Peru is able to address socio-urban challenges. This all happens while painting the environment with creativity and improving the quality of life of its citizens along the way.
This is further proof that both originality and talent are at home in Peru. These qualities, by the way, have helped the country to consolidate its international reputation, placing it among the best in the world. What’s the secret of its formula? Bringing out of the bag projects that are triumphs; triumphs that embody innovation, genius and efficiency.
In order to see how successful both projects have been so far, it is enough to take a critical and analytical glance at their beginnings and their trajectory. As a result, it is possible to see, in terms of original ideas and well-executed thinking, that will is power, and that power comes from believing and imagining.
This is useful when underlining the importance of implementing this type of proposals in order to build and achieve a more inclusive urban system, basically for today and now, as well as for the future and tomorrow.
