Best in the world! Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’ via CumminsNitro Brisbane takes out inaugural Cannes PR Lions Grand Prix

Tourism’s Queensland  ‘Best Job in the World’ , via CumminsNitro Brisbane, has lived up to expectations, taking out the inaugural PR Lions Grand Prix on day two of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

CumminsNitro Brisbane is celebrating both the Grand Prix and two other Lions for ‘Best Job in the World’. The Grand Prix came in the best international PR campaign category, where it went head to head with Leo Burnett Sydney’s ‘Earth Hour’ which also picked up a PR Lion.

The ‘Best Job’ campaign, which received massive media coverageglobally, was also awarded a Lion in the categories travel, tourism andleisure, and for best use of internet, digital media and social media.

The list of Lions winners was one dominated by ad agencies with otherspicking up metal including Droga5 New York for its ‘The Great Schlep’work, part of the campaign to get Barack Obama into the White House.

Jury chairman Lord Tim Bell, chairman of Chime Communications, said ofthe Grand Prix winner: “It is an absolutely classic campaign, a singleminded idea, it captured the imagination of the world’s media, and forthat matter most of the people looking for a job. By a long way it wasthe best idea of all the ideas that we looked at.”

Lord Bell did not see the ad agency domination of the winners, ratherthan PR agencies, as an issue: “I think what’s important is the qualityof the work rather than where it emanates from. Also a fundamentaldifference is that in the public relations industry nearly all clientshave an in-house department whose job is to do public relations fortheir company. That isn’t true in the advertising industry, there arevery few clients making their own advertising.

“In any case the world is moving on from these narrow definitions intoa much broader marketing communications world where all channels areconsidered, and what everyone is interested in is efficiency andsuccess and good value, rather than some absurd obsession with aparticular discipline.”

Australian juror Naomi Parry, director at Black Communications, said ofthe Aussie Grand Prix win: “You have to try and not be an Australianwhen you’re going through the jury process but by day three it wascertainly clear that it was going to get Lions, and had the whiff of aGrand Prix. And as the Australian representative it got increasinglyexciting.

“It would have been nice to see some Australian PR companies in theLions. If you look at the process by which the entries are gathered thecompanies that are very in touch with the Cannes process are of coursethe advertising agencies and some of the big global PR companies.”

She added that “where you’re going to find gold in the PR world” isamong some of the smaller PR operators who as yet have not entered intoCannes, but “next year there’ll be huge excitement, because Australiawon”.

Australian PR Lions Winners:

*There is no gold, silver, bronze scale in the PR Lions.

Lion, Agency, Advertiser, Campaign

Grand Prix

CumminsNitro Brisbane

Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’

(best international PR campaign)

PR Lion

CumminsNitro Brisbane

Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’

(travel, tourism and leisure)

PR Lion

CumminsNitro Brisbane

Tourism Queensland ‘Best Job in the World’

(best use of internet, digital media and social media)

PR Lion

Leo Burnett Sydney

World Wildlife Fund for Nature ‘Earth Hour’

(best international PR campaign)