With the week-long Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity drawing to a close today, a number of Irish agencies and their clients have every reason to be happy, with no fewer than nine Cannes Lions awards on their way back to Ireland with a possible Titanium award also in the offing once tonight’s final award ceremony is completed.
Once again Heineken Ireland secured the most awards for two campaigns – “Pub Museums” and “Pub Succession”. In 2024 it scooped eight awards at Cannes, including four Golds and four Silver.
This year, Publicis Dublin, Thinkhouse and dentsu took home three Silver and two Bronze Lions for Heineken’s ‘Pub Succession’ campaign which launched a worldwide recruitment campaign to help one retiring Irish publican keep his family name above his pub door. The campaign was also shortlisted for a coveted Titanium Award which honours “groundbreaking work in branded communications” The winners will be announced later this evening.
The Silver Lions came in Outdoor, Media, Brand Experience & Activation (Pub Succession). The two Bronze Lions, meanwhile, came in the Direct (Pub Succession) and Media (Pub Museums) categories.
Meanwhile, Droga5 Dublin, itself no stranger to the winners podium in Cannes, also bagged a Silver (Media) and Bronze (Creative Strategy) for the agency’s powerful ‘The 26th Minute’ campaign for Samaritans Ireland. The 26th Minute was a hyper-targeted audio campaign that reached potential volunteers — specifically those who could listen for 26 minutes, the average call length — through podcast ads, live events, and sports broadcasts.
Elsewhere Folk VML was shortlisted in the Creative Commerce category for “The Ecosaver Mortgage’ campaign with Bank of Ireland. In the Cannes Young Lions competition, meanwhile, Fiona Peppard (Account Director, Wilson Hartnell) and Deirbhile Brennan (Account Manager, Wilson Hartnell) were shortlisted in the PR category.
Speaking about the success of its “Pub Succession” campaign, Fiona Curtin, marketing director, Heineken Ireland said: “From the west of Ireland to Times Square, the idea resonated because it was honest, human, and urgent — a story centered around publicans; those who make the pub industry in Ireland what it is. To be recognised with multiple awards at Cannes is a testament to the collaboration between our global and local Heineken® brand teams, and the real customer insight that powered this campaign.”
“The success at Cannes is a remarkable acknowledgment of how powerful creativity can be when driven by purpose,” adds Geraldine Jones, managing director, Publicis Dublin.
“This campaign was about more than marketing; it was about legacy, identity, and ensuring the heart of Ireland’s pub culture beats on. We’re proud to have developed an important campaign with such a rich and important message. It was a trojan effort by Heineken® Ireland and all of the brilliant partner agencies we worked with.”
“The Publicis Dublin philosophy is about creating work that ‘leaves a mark in the real world,” adds Ger Roe, board creative director, Publicis Dublin.
“This has been a long term project for ourselves and Heineken Ireland in terms of answering their two big business problems. Last year giving people a new reason to go to the pub with Pub Museums and this year with keeping pubs alive with Pub Succession, a platform that helps family pub owners find a successor to continue their family legacy keep family pubs within the local community,” he adds.
“So when the most distinguished and respected competition in the world award both campaigns with a total of seven Cannes Lions it really gives us unbelievable confidence around our platform for Heineken and the direction of travel. I’m incredibly proud of the Publicis Dublin team our Heineken Ireland client and all of the partners who collaborated to make it such a success,” Roe says.
