The Foundation won the Social & Influencer Lions: Social Purpose category.
One year after the AI-generated Ricky Rick song was released Stronger Following its release, the song and campaign won the Silver Lion at the Cannes 2024 Awards.
Stronger It was released on Youth Day last year after Ricky Rick's death in February 2022.
The Cannes Lions Awards are a tribute to creative communications, advertising and related fields. The awards are considered the largest gathering of the advertising and creative communications industry.
AI born from Ricky's words
The Riky Rick Foundation, along with production company Audio Militia/Ganja Beatz, won a Silver Lion in the Social & Influencer Lions: Social Purpose category.
In one section of the song, Rikki's voice can be heard rapping, “But you know, the greatest loss in life isn't death. The greatest loss is what dies in your heart while you're still alive. So I wanted to remind you that you have to cherish the people close to you…”
“This award means a lot to us. Firstly, it means Riky is getting recognised on a global stage. Our work is resonating all over the world. There's a lot of work celebrating AI at Cannes so winning this award means a lot to us. It's great to be competing in that field and it's great to win something,” said Carl Willoughby, chief creative officer at ad agency TBWA. Citizen.
Stronger The song was recorded using AI from Rikie's words extracted from his social media posts, but more importantly, the song speaks about mental health wellbeing.
Ricky Rick, whose real name is Rikado Makhado, was a front man for MTN during their summer campaign and after his suicide, TBWA, who handled his account, decided to do something about him and mental health.
Rikie won in the Social & Influencer category, and Willoughby felt the award was an emotional one given the late musician's impact. “I think he had a huge impact on those around him and was a social icon, so this award was kind of tailor-made for him,” Willoughby said.
Related article: Ricky Rick's AI-generated song nominated for international award for mental health awareness
TBWA continues collaboration with the Ricky Rick Foundation
The campaign was recognised at several awards ceremonies last year, being nominated for a Webby Award and winning TBWA a Wood Pencil Award at the Design & Art Direction (D&AD Pencil) Awards.
“we, [Riky Rick] “Because of our ongoing partnership with the foundation, we treat them as one of our no-cost accounts,” Willoughby asserted.
A TBWA representative acknowledged that the time donated to the Foundation will contribute to improving the company's position on good governance and ecosystem around BEE.
“But that's not what motivates us to do this, it's because we know we can do something meaningful. That's what motivates us to continue working for the Ricky Rick Foundation. But for us as an agency, it gives everybody a sense of purpose. It gives us a sense that we're not just selling airtime or insurance or cars, but that we're doing something good using our different skill sets,” the CCO said.
TBWA wins Regional Network of the Year award
The award was the only one of its kind for South Africa, resulting in TBWA winning Regional Network of the Year.
The Cannes Lions Regional Network of the Year award is presented to the network that earns the most points across all finalists and winners across the region.
TBWA is a collective of 11,000 creative minds working across agencies in more than 40 countries.
“For me, this is my first Cannes as chief creative officer. It's my first time producing a full-scale production as chief creative officer. I wasn't there last year. For me, it's a huge positive recognition that I'm doing something right, but it's a positive recognition that the whole team, Hunt Lascaris, is doing something right,” Willoughby said.
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