Challenger at Cannes: Propelling Questions getting results
“How do we do more with less?”
It’s probably one of the most trite and difficult to answer questions out there, isn’t it? No doubt we’ve all been asked to do this and all suffered from the nervous breakdown that inevitably ensues afterwards.
From our research, we know that challengers are excellent at doing more with less - so much so that we wrote a book about it - A Beautiful Constraint. One of the key tenets of that book was the importance of setting yourself a Propelling Question - one that paired your Bold Ambition with your Significant Constraint in a way that forces you to explore the solution with the constraint in mind.
And at the recent Cannes’ Festival of Creativity, we saw a number of brands and organisations that had framed their challenges in the form of a Propelling Question - and had embraced their constraints to deliver exceptional results.
How do we accelerate the sale of electric cars, when we’re constrained by the charging infrastructure in France?
One of the biggest barriers to adoption of electric vehicles is “range anxiety” - the consumer perception that they will be left in the lurch; unable to get to their destination and nowhere near a charger.
Of course many electric car manufacturers have been ignoring this constraint - simply plugging ahead with the promotion of electric and hoping that infrastructure will eventually catch up.
But through setting themselves this Propelling Question, Renault have confronted the fact that just selling the cars isn’t enough - they have to provide the solution to range anxiety.
Their “can if” solution? An Airbnb-style app for charging, allowing them to mobilise the more that 680,000 private chargers in people’s homes around the country. This both alleviates the range anxiety concerns of potential buyers, but also allows individuals to monetize their chargers, which in turns makes the value exchange of installing a charger even better.
Grand Prix - Creative Strategy winner, Plug Inn - Renault / Publicis Conseil
How do we intervene in domestic violence when the victims are often unable to call for help?
A powerful initiative led by Chiel Worldwide for the Korean National Police Agnecy created a new tool to allow the victims of domestic violence to seek the help they need. After dialling 112 (the local emergency number), double tapping any number on their phones would alert the police that the victim was in danger, but could not speak. A message sent to the victim would contain a link to enable recording and tracking, as well as a surreptitious chat app disguised as a search engine.
It was only by adding this constraint to the brief - the inability of victims to call the police - that a solution that makes use of that constraint can be achieved.
Glass: The Lion for Change Grand Prix winner, Knock Knock - Korean National Police Agency / Cheil Worldwide
How do we show up in football stadiums, now that alcohol sponsorships are banned?
There’s nothing like the removal of an asset or medium you once relied upon to spur creativity. Brahma, one of the biggest beers in Brazil, suffered more than most when alcohol shirt sponsorships were banned. How to get Brahma associated with the nation’s top footballers again, when we can’t use our logo anymore?
Their “can if” solution which won them an effectiveness award in 2023 after a creative award in 2022, was to see the players themselves as canvases, and in partnership with a celebrity hairdresser, created the “foamy haircut” (appetising name, huh?) - a style that sponsored footballers could use that represented the look of a beer.
What’s your propelling question?
The next time you’re faced by a constraint that you just can’t get past, take some inspiration from these award winners that put their constraints front and centre of their thinking and found their own “can if” solutions.
Nick Geoghegan is a Strategy Director at eatbigfish.
