The Lions in the "Direct" category were awarded in Cannes on Monday evening. Two Swiss agencies were delighted to receive a total of three awards. Draftfcb/Lowe won with its work for Artesanos Camiseros: the agency picked up a Silver Lion in the "Clothing Footwear & Accessories" sub-category and a Bronze Award in the "Alternative Media" sub-category. Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett took home a Bronze Lion for Switzerland Tourism in the sub-category "Traffic Building".

Switzerland is clearly showing what it can do not only in football, but also in advertising. The Lions were awarded in the Lions Direct category at the 53rd International Advertising Festival in Cannes on Monday evening. One gold and two bronze Lions go to Switzerland! Gold: Ruf Lanz for the Mühlehalde home for the blind "Featuring Worldhits" The task was to generate donations for the Mühlehalde home for the blind in Zurich. In two sensational TV and cinema commercials, Ruf Lanz had the blind and elderly residents of the Mühlehalde home for the blind interpret two world hits by Stevie Wonder and Andrea Bocelli. What they lacked in vocal talent, they more than made up for in charm and passion. At the end came the conclusion: not all blind people can earn millions by singing. Thank you for your donation to PC account 80-21096-3. The result exceeded all expectations: the volume of donations rose by 64.7 % to 2.3 million francs. Bronze: OgilvyOne for Volvo with "Volvo Inscription "The "Volvo Inscription" mailing has already won silver at the German Dialog Marketing Prize (DDP). The external address launch mailing had the task of publicizing Volvo's new "Inscription" equipment line - Scottish leather and other fine materials. The effect of the mailing was convincing: 18 percent of the 15,000 recipients responded and sent back the enclosed piece of tartan. The target response rate was only 1.4 percent.Bronze: Lang Gysi Knoll for Swiss Post with "Emptying Post Boxes "The task was to make Swiss Express Post's business customers aware that not only parcels are delivered, but that post boxes are also emptied and their contents delivered. Lang Gysi Knoll relied on an optical illusion and had post office employees in the Bern region prepare post boxes in such a way that an image simulated the empty post box when the post box was opened and drew the customer's attention to the Swiss Express Post service.
 
The Grand Prix in the Direct category went to the "Need a Job?" campaign by the Belgian agency IDO Brussels on behalf of the business newspaper "De Tijd." The first prize in the Promotions category went to the US agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky from Miami for its "Fast" promotion for Volkswagen. This category has been awarded at the Advertising Festival since 2002. "Cannes Lions Direct" is an annual forum for creative, innovative approaches and solutions in the field of direct marketing and also a meeting place for direct marketing professionals from all over the world.Kathrin Fischer