With the sun set on Cannes Lions for another year, the parties and meet-ups might be over, but we can continue to celebrate the great work. The killer campaigns that went home with awards and serve as a reminder of just what the industry is capable of.

At the PRCA’s 10 Top Digital Winners from Cannes Lions 2025 webinar, industry leaders shared their favourite, impactful campaigns from this year’s cohort. 

The campaigns show that creativity can be a tool for change and underline the importance of digital as both a brand-building tool and a means of growth. In a time where attention is sparse, using influence and digital to capture attention and earned media to extend the life of campaigns helps ideas live far longer than on initial impact.

From solving business problems to driving social impact and addressing real-world issues, this year’s award-winning campaigns show that creativity continues to be our industry’s greatest asset. 

The PRCA’s Top Digital Winners 

The Final Exam, Energy BBDO Chicago. Selected by Candace Kuss, Creative Brand Strategist

Video games are often blamed for causing gun violence. Flipping this   narrative on its head, gun-safety group Change the Ref created a video game called ‘The Final Exam’ that challenges this false narrative by educating players on life-saving gun legislation. The game immersed players in a school shooting survival scenario to raise awareness and advocate for lifesaving gun legislation, calling on senators to help change the law. 

Kuss shared that the campaign demonstrates the ability to use dramatisation to bring something to life. “Drama and shock value bring new attention to an ongoing politicised fight for common sense,” says Kuss. By tapping into video game culture, the campaign was able to shock officials to help them join the fight.

The campaign won Gold Lion in Media, Gold + Bronze in Entertainment for Gaming and Bronze in Digital Craft.

Act Like You Know’ for GoDaddy Airo by GoDaddy, Tempe, AZ, United States. Selected by Fiona Hughes, Creator Marketing and Creator Economy Expert

After an eight-year break from the Super Bowl, GoDaddy made a return to promote its new AI platform, GoDaddy Airo. The 30-second spot starred actor Walton Goggins playing exaggerated characters before revealing his real challenge, starting a small business. The spot was able to introduce its AI-powered tool with star power and humour to show how small businesses can grow their presence online.

“B2B doesn’t stand for business to boring,” says Hughes. She notes that while the campaign may not be groundbreaking in other categories, it is hugely innovative within the B2B space. The campaign shows that the line between B2B and consumer marketing is not as big as we think it is. “The tools and techniques that consumer marketers use can help elevate B2B,” adds Hughes. With smart, simple messaging, humour and AI at its heart, the campaign has all the ingredients of a winning campaign. 

The campaign won Cannes Lions in the Creative B2B category.

Camdon, Billy Boy by Innocean Berlin. Selected by Sophie Newman, Creative Director at M&C Saatchi Talk

1 in 3 teenagers report that they have been victims of non-consensual recording during sex. To combat this growing issue, German condom brand Billy Boy launched the Candom, a digital condom for smartphones, designed to protect users against the stealth recording of photos, videos and audio during sex. The camdom is a condom in the form of an app that users could download, locking the camera and mic of all devices present in the bedroom. The campaign was launched during Sexual Health Awareness Month, via the app, but also with influencers who were advocates for the issue and in key areas that reached students, such as university campuses. 

“This campaign really spoke about digital intimacy, allowing the brand world to extend beyond the physical and showcasing Billy Boy as protectors in all forms of intimacy,” says Newman. The campaign allowed Billy Boy to build on a real human insight, reframe privacy and solve a problem through tech. Building trust in an age where trust is at an all-time low, the campaign was emotionally empowering and created a conversation that speaks to women. “It led with the idea and allowed the tech to serve it,” added Newman, noting that the campaign’s cultural relevance and stunt-like nature led to huge earned first storytelling that maximised impact.

The campaign was shortlisted for a Titanium Lion. 

Caption with Intention, Chicago Hearing Society by FCB Chicago. Selected by Cordell Burke, Global Executive Creative Director at Up There, Everywhere

More than 430 million people rely on captioning to watch movies, but flaws in the system such as incorrect timing, a lack of tone or emotion and an inability to identify who is speaking, make them unfit for purpose. Chicago Hearing Society reinvented a 50 year old system of captioning, reimaging captions on screen as not just words but part of the cinematic experience. The captions use design to distinguish tone through type point, colour and style. The dynamic captions allow people to better understand the film and enhance the film experience. 

The campaign is a master class in inclusivity by design. “The campaign is a reminder to put ourselves in the audience's shoes because asking how something is experienced, not just delivered, can lead to game-changing ideas like the one here,” says Burke. The seamless blend of accessibility, craft and storytelling make accessibility feel designed not just functional. The campaign set a new industry standard that has been adopted by major studios, showing the importance of reshaping our approach.

The campaign won two Grand Prix honours in Design Lions and Digital Craft Lions.

Dove, Code My Crown by Edelman. Selected by Nicola Kemp, Editorial Director at Creativebrief

85% of Black gamers say they feel underrepresented in video games, specifically when it comes to the depiction of their hair textures. Dove collaborated with Open Source Afro Hair Library and a team of Black 3D artists, animators, and programmers to create ‘Code my Crown’ an open source tool to educate, inspire and train developers in how to create Black hairstyles in video games. Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty continues to raise the bar, successfully building relevance and brand loyalty through clarity and consistency.

“Inclusion is innovation,” says Kemp. “This is a really important reminder that if you can’t reflect your audience, you cannot connect with them.” The campaign punctures ‘go woke, go broke’ myths to underline that inclusion is, in fact, a winning strategy. Kemp also points to the way it uses AI as a tool for democratisation. Where Dove created open source code for gamers to use, the brand shows that true AI innovation is in wider progress for all. As part of Dove’s wider Real Beauty platform, the work shows the brand's commitment to change. “Consistency is the most underrated tool in marketing,” added Kemp.

The campaign won Silver in Media Lions and Silver in Design Lions.

Vaseline Verified, Vaseline by Ogilvy Singapore. Selected by Miranda Mitchell, Managing Director, Praytell UK and Non Executive Director at Don’t Panic London

Vaseline needed to stay relevant in a digital and social world flooded with beauty products and health or life hacks. As a legacy brand in the space, Vaseline decided to take on urban myths around their product, tapping into crowd-sourced beauty and health wisdom. The creative used science to “verify” consumers' creative product uses, such as putting Vaseline on eyelashes to help them grow longer or smothering it over spots. The brand verified the hacks that worked and unverified ones that didn't. Building on existing cultural conversations around the brand, the campaign sparked an entire movement rooted in User Generated Content (UGC). 

The campaign built traction through genuine insight and engaged with communities in existing conversations. Within the digital space, the campaign won big because it shows the power of digital and simply wouldn’t have been as effective on other channels. “They fully committed 100% to UGC and influencer, it wasn’t just a bolt-on,” says Mitchell, noting that there were multiple ways for influencers to get involved throughout the campaign to extend the conversation. Leaning on misinformation and debunking, the campaign built trust and brand love for Vaseline, underlining the power of digital.

The campaign won 9 Lions, including 2 x Grand Prix in Social and Creator and Health and Wellness. 

Preserved Promos, Ziploc by VML. Selected by Candace Kuss, Creative Brand Strategist

Ziploc is an American brand of reusable storage bags and containers that cares about preserving what matters. As food prices rise and more people are relying on discounts and coupons, Ziploc preserved expired coupons by giving them a second life to highlight Ziploc’s role in helping families make the most of their groceries. Shoppers could scan expired coupons and, in return, get extended offers on food purchases. With a mobile-first design, the process was seamless and user-friendly, allowing shoppers to save and reinforcing Ziploc’s ethos. 

The simple campaign was user-friendly. It used influencers as a distribution method to spread the message far and wide. The campaign shows an ‘Unsexy product using creativity to live up to its brand equity,’ explains Kuss. 

The campaign won Creative Commerce Grand Prix and Lions in Media, Direct, B2B.

Haaland Pay Back, Clash of Clans by DAVID New York. Selected by Danny Whatmough, Agency Co-MD at Red Consultancy and Shiny

Clash of Clans teamed up with Erling Haaland, one of the world's biggest footballers and a Clash of Clans fan since the age of 10, in a campaign that let gamers raid the village Haaland spent over a decade building in the game. The Payback Time Challenge engaged both fans and rivals in a time trial that turned millions of haters into Clash of Clans lovers. The campaign was advertised in towns and cities with the most Haaland haters, as players were invited to enter Haaland’s base and steal his resources. Capitalising on football fandom and Haaland’s genuine long-term love of the game, the campaign captured the imagination of audiences.

The campaign is an example of a brand creating a piece of entertainment and when that is done right, people don’t skip past. “Audiences don’t just want to be targeted, they want to be invited into a brand environment,” says Whatmough, adding that the campaign is: ‘Shareable, memorable, incredible engagement value.’ He added, “When fans participate, they do the distribution for you. And that leads to earned media in its purest form.” 

The campaign won Grand Prix in Entertainment Lions for Sport, Gold in Entertainment and Bronze in Entertainment Lions for Gaming.

SubReddit Hunt, U.S. Navy by VML Dallas. Selected by Kate Matlock, Managing Director, EMEA at Distillery

To navigate the depths of the ocean, the U.S. Navy needs the sharpest minds. In a recruitment campaign, the U.S. Navy created the SubReddit Hunt, a role-playing puzzle game on Reddit that challenges players to crack codes and complete directives. The campaign was created to find problem-solvers and uncover the next generation of recruits via an online challenge that shakes up the recruitment process. With over 80% of Gen Z consuming news and entertainment via digital platforms, the campaign sought to connect with audiences where they are. As well as building brand presence on platforms, the SubReddit Hunt was a real-time test of logic, strategy, and problem-solving. 

“Talent acquisition campaigns are hard, especially military,” says Matlock, adding: “Reddit is one of those channels we don’t think about enough.” By looking to online communities and creating a discourse that people wanted to engage in, the campaign found a unique way to connect with new audiences. Matching behaviour to skill to speed verification helped to find people who were genuinely compatible with military roles. The campaign shows that gamification has a real-world impact.

The campaign won a Social & Creator Gold Lion.