Microsoft Advertising
Branding and sponsorship of Cannes Lions.

The five-day Cannes Lion festival, incorporating the prestigious Lions awards, is held yearly at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès in Cannes, France. Each June, around 15,000 registered delegates from 90 countries visit the Festival to celebrate the best of creativity in brand communication, discuss industry issues, and network with one another.

Microsoft’s sponsorship of Cannes Lions spanning over a decade provided an invaluable opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to the advertising industry, uncovering how the company helps brands realise the full potential of digital transformation. At the same time, it provided a unique backdrop to entertain and develop relationships with strategic partners, creative and media agencies and brand owners from around the world.

Bonsai was commissioned to create an identity for Microsoft’s sponsorship of the Festival and the roll-out of the identity across a comprehensive programme of marcoms.

Our vision was to develop an umbrella that could honour the creativity behind award-winning digital advertising and showcase the immense enabling power that Microsoft digital technologies brought to the table. We created a platform titled ‘Pioneering Creativology’, reinforcing the symbiotic relationship of creativity and technology while acknowledging that creativity and technology were genuinely converging for the first time.

Our role also involved production, execution and roll-out of all marcoms related to the event, from dressing up the front of the Congrès to all delegate pre, during and post-event communications and a range of event merchandise.