Cannes Chimera Heads To Seattle To Mentor Creators Of Eight Projects From Diverse Countries In Fight Against Extreme Poverty

NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The selection process of the third Cannes Chimera global communications challenge, set by the Cannes Chimera Initiative, has now concluded with eight different projects from diverse countries around the world chosen to each receive a prize of up to US$100,000.

In 2013, 900 ideas from 79 countries were received in response to the brief "Help Lead the Fight Against Extreme Poverty." The entries went through a vigorous judging process by the Cannes Chimera, comprised of the Cannes Lions 2013 Grand Prix winners: Javier Campopiano, CCO, DraftFCB NY; Paco Conde, ECD, Ogilvy & Mather Sao Paulo; Nick Docherty, Global Planning director, Wieden + Kennedy, Amsterdam; Chris Garbutt, CCO, Ogilvy & Mather Paris; Eric Grunbaum, ECD, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Los Angeles; Sandrine Huijgen, Global Communications Director, Heineken; Merlee Jayme, CCO, DDB DM9JAYMESYFU Makati City; Tham Khai Meng, WW CCO/Chairman, Ogilvy & Mather; John Mescall, ECD, McCann Melbourne; Adrian Mills, Business Director, McCann Melbourne; Benjamin Palmer, ECD, The Barbarian Group, New York; PJ Pereira, CCO, Pereira & O'Dell San Francisco; Anselmo Ramos, CCO, Ogilvy & Mather Sao Paulo; Alexander Schill, CCO, Serviceplan Munich; Tom Tagholm, former Creative Director, 4Creative, and Darre Vandijk, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather Amsterdam.

"The creative community takes great satisfaction in helping to solve problems, especially real-world problems, which, like extreme poverty, challenge the greater good," Ogilvy's Tham said. "It was a great honor for all of us and our companies to be Grand Prix winners in Cannes. It is an even greater honor to take part in Cannes Chimera's fight against extreme poverty and to improve the lives of millions around the world."

The winning projects selected by these members of the 2013 Cannes Chimera are:

• The Share Exchange by Dentsu, Young & Rubicam, Singapore
  Facebook users become media owners by allowing brands to buy their personal Facebook space.
• Good Cents by Joe Public, South Africa
  Devising a 'Good Cents' button at the bottom of all online bank statements allows users to round their bank balance and donate a surplus of cents to a dedicated fund with just one click.
• The GAP index by venturethree, United Kingdom
  The Global Anti-Poverty index (GAP), the first global measure of people living in extreme poverty carried on major media outlets around the world, decreases in response to development programs, economic progress and other positive factors, or increases in response to war, crop failure or other catastrophic events.
• The Act Button by Naked Communications, Australia
  In partnership with a major online news provider, the Act Button can be activated after an extreme poverty news story, allowing users to share positive solutions that could play a role in changing the outcome of a particular news story.
• $1.25 cube experience by JWT, Israel
  Create a pay-to-enter multi-sensory experience cube to involve people in the Western World in the life struggle of people living in extreme poverty.
• Gamers VS Poverty by DFCB Digital, The Philippines
  Gamers for Poverty will provide users with in-game content information based on extreme poverty; so by changing their view of the world, gamers can be heroes inside and outside the game world.
• One Two Five by PHD International, United Kingdom
  Create an internationally recognisable code, #125, to signal extreme poverty, which has the ability to transcend language and borders much like the numbers 911 or 999 signal emergency.
• We See Women by Vital Voices Global Partnership, USA
  As 70% of extreme poverty sufferers are women and girls, by harnessing Big Data, this project aims to distribute perception-changing stories about women into places where women are marginalised and where mass communication channels don't reach.

McCann's Mescall said, "Like most people in our industry, I'm utterly convinced that the passionate application of creativity can change just about anything for the better. And what better way to apply our creativity than to be involved in such a much-needed project." 

Barbarian Group's Palmer added, "Cannes Chimera is a rare thing in the advertising industry - a program that gets the best of the industry to do something that has real world-changing implications for social good."

Each winner will take part in a unique mentoring workshop in March with the Cannes Chimera, who will help take the ideas to a new level. Each winner is invited to come back to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with a proposal for further funding of up to US$1 million to implement the idea.

The Cannes Chimera Initiative, launched by the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which brings together the global advertising and communications industry, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic foundation, issues a competitive brief to the creative community each year, with the next brief to be launched at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in June 2014.

About the Cannes Chimera Initiative
This partnership inspires and activates the creative community to help solve the world's most urgent global health and development problems. Each year, the initiative challenges the world's creative talent to develop ground-breaking communications approaches that motivate global audiences to support change and take actions that address a unique development issue, through a competitive creative brief. Winners of the competition are eligible to apply for an up to US$1M US grant from The Gates Foundation to execute their idea.To learn more about the Cannes Chimera, please visit http://www.canneslions.com/chimera

About Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The International Festival of Creativity, also known as Cannes Lions, is the world's leading celebration of creativity in communications. Founded in 1954, the Festival takes place every June in Cannes, France. As the most prestigious international annual advertising and communications awards, over 35,500 entries from all over the world are showcased and judged at the Festival. Winning companies receive the highly coveted Lion trophy honouring the most creative film, print, outdoor, interactive, radio, design, sales promotion & activation, film craft and integrated, branded content & entertainment advertising, as well as the best media, direct marketing, PR, titanium and creative effectiveness ideas. The Festival is also the only truly global meeting place for advertisers, advertising and communication professionals.  Close to 12,000 delegates from 95 countries attend seven days of exhibitions, screenings, as well as high-profile seminars, workshops, forums and master classes presented by renowned worldwide industry leaders. As the networking and learning opportunity of the year, Cannes Lions is the must-attend event for anyone involved in brand communication. www.canneslions.com

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. For more information, visit: www.gatesfoundation.org

About Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is one of the largest marketing communications companies in the world. It was named both the Cannes Lions Network of the Year and the EFFIEs World's Most Effective Agency Network for two consecutive years, 2012 and 2013. The company is comprised of industry leading units in the following disciplines: advertising; public relations and public affairs; branding and identity; shopper and retail marketing; health care communications; direct, digital, promotion and relationship marketing; consulting, research and analytics; branded content and entertainment; and specialist communications. O&M services Fortune Global 500 companies as well as local businesses through its network of more than 500 offices in 126 countries. It is a WPP company (NASDAQ: WPPGY). For more information, visit http://www.ogilvy.com/, or follow Ogilvy on Twitter at @Ogilvy and on Facebook.com/Ogilvy. 

SOURCE Ogilvy & Mather