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In 2020, Renault transformed a small French village into a haven for electric vehicle charging. “Village Electrique” by Publicis Conseil won the Outdoor Lion Grand Prix in 2021. Now the agency and automaker are back with another Grand Prix-winning campaign in the Creative Strategy category, based on the same concept.
Renault’s “Plug-Inn” expands rural charging stations all over France by connecting electric car drivers with private charging stations through an app. The campaign hopes to connect EV drivers with local communities in France to enable up to 475,000 additional electric charging points.
It’s kind of like an Airbnb for EV drivers as it links travelers with private charging stations in more remote regions, where finding a place to recharge is usually a bigger obstacle and sometimes a barrier to people going electric.
“This was creative strategy redefining the car category,” said Creative Strategy Lions jury president Amrita Randhawa, CEO of Publicis Groupe Singapore and Southeast Asia. “This was creative strategy that was opening up an entirely new revenue model for the brand. It was delivering real value, including monetary value, to its consumers. And it was solving an infrastructure problem that no one else had solved.”
Creative Strategy gold winners:
- M&M’s | “Spokescandies on Pause” by BBDO New York
- Reckitt and Ambitious About Autism | “Me, My Autism & I” by Havas London
- Grupo Estrategico Pae | “Morning After Island” by Ogilvy Honduras
- Partners Life | “The Last Performance” by Special Auckland
Creative Business Transformation Lions
After picking up a Design Grand Prix on Tuesday, Microsoft and McCann New York continued their winning ways with a Grand Prix win in the Creative Business Transformation category for “ADLaM—An Alphabet to Preserve a Culture.”
The campaign saw Microsoft transforming the alphabet of the language of the Fulani people of West Africa, called Pulaar, into a new digital version. The alphabet, known as ADLaM, is now available for use across the Microsoft 365 suite, desktop and mobile platforms, preserving an important culture while promoting literacy across West Africa.
Creative Business Transformation Lions jury president Justin Peyton, chief transformation officer, Wunderman Thompson APAC, said the campaign was transformational for both Microsoft and the communities that benefitted from the technology.