‘Piece of Me’ wins highest advertising award in Cannes

During the 71st advertising festival in Cannes, the campaign ‘Stukje Van Mij’ was awarded a Grand Prix, the main prize of Cannes Lions 2024. In addition to the highest jury prize, the campaign, which symbolizes KPN’s mission for a Better Internet, won three silver medals. The jury praised KPN for how it has encouraged Dutch society to look at the subject in a different way.

The campaign by KPN and Dentsu Creative Amsterdam was created in response to the more than 33,000 young people who have experienced their intimate photo or video being forwarded to someone else without their consent in the past six months. Singer/songwriter MEAU spoke to several victims and wrote the song ‘Stukje Van Mij’ based on their experiences in February of this year. Within three weeks, the song went viral, the accompanying video, made by Emma Branderhorst, was viewed and shared more than 33 million times and ‘Stukje Van Mij’ even overtook Beyoncé in the Spotify charts.

With this, KPN placed online shaming on the social agenda. And even better: the music video is now part of the curriculum at hundreds of schools in the Netherlands to talk to young people about the consequences of forwarding other people's intimate images. The campaign has already won awards (D&AD Pencils, Dutch Creativity Awards) and now also on the international main stage of advertising in Cannes.

"It is unprecedented what this campaign with MEAU has unleashed, from the kitchen table to the classroom. That is important, because attention for this sensitive subject is the first step towards a solution", responds Bartho Boer, Director Brand, Communication and CSR, pleasantly surprised. "As a company, we show that we dare to stick our necks out to make the internet a little better for everyone. The team behind this campaign has worked on this with great dedication and care in recent years. They deserve all the credit."

The Grand Prix award is a recognition of the creative strategy behind the idea and the execution of the campaign. It is the icing on the cake after three times a Silver Lion, in categories: ‘Health&Wellness’, ‘Entertainment Lions for Music’ and ‘Creative Strategy’.

Boris Nihom, CEO of Dentsu Creative Amsterdam: “Wow! This was the king category for us. And not just because the competition is fierce. In ‘creative strategy’ everything comes together for us: the insight, the idea and the approach behind this campaign. It is a huge honor that with the #beterinternet platform we have been able to inspire not only KPN and society, but now also the global industry.”

In 2018, KPN already won a Grand Prix with the advertising campaign Evert 45. Dave Frauenfelder, director Brand and Marcom: “KPN has already made many special advertisements in the past. The fact that this is now also happening with a campaign with such a social impact makes it perhaps the most beautiful.”