* This year the Cannes Agency of the Year award went to ALMAPBBDO of Brazil. In second place came Y&R New York and in third place, Wieden+Kennedy of the US. The Network of the Year award, given to the agency network that obtains the highest score for entries in the film, press, outdoor, radio, media, cyber, direct, promo, titanium and integrated sections was received by BBDO. DDB was the first runner-up and Y&R the second runner-up. The Independent Agency of the Year Award, which was started this year went to Jung Von Matt of Germany, while Wieden+Kennedy of US and Forsman & Bodenfors of Sweden were the first and second runners-up. The Media Agency of the Year award given to the agency with the highest score for entries in the media lions section was received by Leo Burnett Sydney with Fisher Portugal and Lew’LaraTBWA of Brazil the first and second runners-up. The coveted Advertiser of the Year trophy was presented to Unilever for their consistently ground-breaking campaigns and inspiring marketing.

* The increasing importance of social media can no longer be denied. At the Cannes Lions, many of the award winning works had used social media in one form or other. Best Buy’s Twelpforce (Bronze Lion, Crispin Porter + Bogusky) had an army of experts who give tech advice in tweet form. Nike Livestrong Foundation’s “Chalkbot” (Grand Prix Lion, Wieden+Kennedy) invited people to create messages of hope to be chalked by a robot-like device on the 2009 Tour de France roadway. People sent roughly 36,000 such messages via SMS, Twitter, Web banners, and a website at WearYellow.com. Volkswagen’s “The Fun Theory” campaign (Grand Prix, DDB Stockholm) added interactive sound effects to physical environments to encourage healthier behaviours. The most famous, “The Piano Staircase,” was turned into a video.

* The social media offensive could be seen off-stage also. The focal point of this year’s Cannes Lions Advertising Festival was the first-time appearance of Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive and founder of Facebook, who was also named Media Person of the Year. Addressing delegates at the festival, Zuckerberg said Facebook will reach 1 billion users in the future. Currently, membership is doubling every six months. ?It is almost a guarantee that it will happen. We are down to just four countries where we aren’t the leading social network. If we succeed there is a good chance of bringing this to a billion people. It will be interesting to see how it plays out,? he said.