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Cannes Advertising Festival Goes Viral

Traditionally reserved for awarding the best in television advertising, the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival awarded a Grand Prix for a viral online video, as well, as a cyber campaign. And a groundbreaking Japanese online effort for a clothing retailer won the most coveted creative prize of all, the Titanium Grand Prix.

What has happened to television advertising? It’s gone online and become interactive, that’s what.

A new advertising standard has launched itself and has broken through to prove itself as a worthy medium. Such a medium is giving online users something television can’t – an engaging experience.

The recipient of the Titanium Grand Prix, went to Projector Tokyo, a 4-year-old production boutique. Its creative director, Koichiro Tanaka, said the challenge was to “create a relevant, portable experience”. The end result combines user-generated media and the Uniqlo website with “a nonstop fusion of dance, sound, and viral video”. Available in a plethora of platforms, including catalogs, screensavers, ringtones, and customizable T-shirts, what is most noticeable is the site’s lack of a conventional 30-second commercial.

The impact of this crazy, online advertising revolution is that it’s successful. Not only is it engaging, fun and interactive, but it also gets the user to spend money.

Touted as the most prestigious honor in the industry, the Titanium Grand Prix represents the future of interactive advertising. Credit also goes to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, which regards itself as the world’s “only truly global meeting place” for those interested in creativity in communications, for validating the power of interactive media.