Publicis campaign ‘changed the rules of engagement’

PUBLICIS CONSEIL has won its second Grand Prix of the week for ‘Three Words’, cre- ated in partnership with Axa. The campaign, which sets out to provide a solution for women ex- periencing domestic abuse, came out on top in Creative Business Transformation.

The work involved rewriting a clause in Axa home insurance policies so that instead of pro- viding emergency relocation for victims of ‘fire and flood’ it extended to cover ‘fire, flood and domestic violence’. The change meant that women who had no way of escaping abuse at home now had a genuine chance to rebuild their lives.

Jury President Jane Lin-Baden

France has mandatory home in- surance contracts, so Axa’s de- cision had huge societal impact, with the new phrase being added to 2.5 million contracts (retro- actively). Women who contact Axa get legal, financial and psy- chological support to help them relocate (with their children if necessary). They do not need to be named in the contract to benefit from support. Axa saw a 9% increase in contracts. Jury President Jane Lin-Baden, CEO APAC and member of the global management committee, Publicis Groupe, said: “The jury all loved this work. With just three tiny words, it changed the rules of engagement and refined the category.”

Lin-Baden said the Jury stuck very close to the intention of the category: “We looked through the lens of new creative ideas that are very core to the business and also bring transformative, sustainable change as a result.”

In terms of trends, she saw an evolution in purpose. “Purpose can be decorative but this year’s work brought purpose close to the core of the brand and business.” There was also a trend towards work which had “an impact on the entire business ecosystem. Creativity goes beyond advertis- ing. The most powerful work in this category impacted suppliers, legal, commercial and so on.” The Jury also awarded a Gold Lion to ‘Lucky Yatra’, a campaign by FCB India, Mumbai, on behalf of Indian Railways.