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The countdown is on. In less than a week, around 12,000 attendees, creatives and brands will decamp to the South of France, all hungry for inspiration—and a shot at the industry’s most coveted Lions..
As the spotlight shifts to the Croisette, agencies across Asia Pacific are buzzing with excitement. Campaign has asked agencies to share their picks of work that will regin supreme at the Festival. This week, Havas Ortega executive creative director Angie Tijam-Tohid spotlights the region’s Lion-worthy contenders—campaigns that fuse bold ideas with meaningful social impact. From Japan’s push for surname reform and Australia’s movement to protect young minds online, to Adidas’s moving portrait of yoga in rural China and the Philippines’ empowering KITA Initiative, these stories prove that creative storytelling can drive social change and unite communities.
Campaign: Sato 2531
Brand: Asuniwa
Cannes Lion category: Brand Experience & Activation, and PR
In Japan, where the law compels married couples to use one surname (affecting women 95% of the time), reform is difficult within the male-dominated (90%) legislature. A collaboration between the gender equality group Asuniwa and a Tohoku University professor yielded a dramatic projection: adherence to the current law could lead to 'Sato' becoming Japan's exclusive surname by 2531. This finding inspired a public awareness initiative involving 40 entities temporarily adopting the 'Sato' name. Asuniwa presented the data internationally, leading UN Women to recommend legislative change. Subsequently, a candidate supportive of surname reform was elected prime minister.
Tijam-Tohid says: "I find the use of projected data to tell this story compelling. It delivers a truly powerful message that shaping a nation’s future begins with restoring women’s right to their own identity. It’s moving. It’s cultural. It’s universal."
Campaign: 36 Months
Brand: 36 Months
Cannes Lion category: PR
The 36 Months campaign is an advocacy-led earned media movement driving legislative change. By mobilising parents, experts, and policymakers, Australia became the first country to raise the social media access age from 13 to 16.
Tijam-Tohid says: "Social media has become a weapon against the mind, especially the minds of young people. This is a milestone campaign that can impact not just one country but the global community; successfully creating a shield to protect the lives of children, our world’s next generation."
Campaign: Yoga Village
Brand: Adidas
Cannes Lion category: Print & Publishing, and Outdoor
Adidas' new brand platform, 'You Got This', aims to diffuse the pressure around sports so people can play with hope, joy, and freedom. In China, the purest embodiment of this is the story of Yugouliang, an impoverished village where elderly residents have transformed their lives through yoga. Rather than using the typically sleek look of sports advertising, the campaign shows these villagers in their natural setting, wearing their own clothes, in their own homes, doing their daily chores.
Tijam-Tohid says: "What makes this campaign so captivating is its unexpectedness. It beautifully documents the movements of the elderly villagers—these unconventional athletes, unstyled yet deeply arresting."
Campaign: The Kita Initiative
Brand: Spark! Philippines
Cannes Lion category: Media, Outdoor, Glass
The Philippine economy's lifeblood is powered by women. Over 60% of registered micro, small, and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are women-owned, fueling 40% of GDP and contributing to 63% of employment. But a search online for 'Entrepreneurs in the Philippines' resulted in a surprising discovery—not a single woman in sight. The injustice of this invisibility moved Spark Philippines, an organisation leading on gender equality and championing women’s economic empowerment, to launch The Kita Initiative.
They created the first-ever typeface made for women-owned businesses as a call to recognition. 'Kita', a Filipino word that means both 'seen' and 'earnings', was inspired by the butterfly sleeves of Filipinas’ national wear. By taking the typeface where it matters most, as signages for women-owned market stalls badly in need of visibility and those who never had signages to begin with, Kita has turned into a visual anthem for the unseen across the country.
Tijam-Tohid says: "A typeface that turned into a symbol of women’s empowerment. It has ignited a nationwide conversation about the real economic impact of women-owned businesses. With support pouring in from local and global brands, as well as various organisations, this movement for visibility is finally giving Filipina entrepreneurs the recognition they deserve."
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