Source: AdAge
A campaign described by one jury president as a kind of “cure for paralysis” has won the Health Grand Prix for Good at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
“Blink to Speak” is an “eye language” created by TBWA/India for the NeuroGen Brain & Spine Institute and the nonprofit Asha Ek Hope Foundation to help people with paralysis communicate. NeuroGen and Asha Ek Hope, both based in Mumbai, say they distributed 10,000 copies of a guide to the language and made it available as an e-book.
“It’s creating a new language,” said Rajesh Mirchandani, jury president and chief communications officer at the United Nations Foundation, during a briefing with reporters to discuss the winning work. More important, he said, it transcends its particular origin and can be used around the world.
In Health & Wellness category, the Grand Prix went to “Corazón,” a 48-minute film about organ donation for Montefiore hospital by John X Hannes USA. A partnership with Tribeca Film Festival yielded four screenings there before the film became available online. It made its tagline, “Give Your Heart,” a more literal call to action by urging people to register with Donate Life America in under 15 seconds, starting by pressing their phones to their hearts.
“Corazón” was the work that clearly met the jury’s five criteria for a Grand Prix, according to Jury President R. John Fidelino: raising the profile of health and wellness, exploring how to push the category forward, technical precision, responsibility, and fusing health and wellness into everyday lives.
Getting the client, a health system, to commit to such an ambitious project was part of what impressed the jurors, said Fidelino, executive creative director at InterbrandHealth. “It shows that the client actually is able to improve or advance their reputation while calling attention to a significant health issue,” he said.
