D&AD Awards Highlight South African Creative Talent Ahead Of Cannes 2026 Festival

What does Cannes 2026 hold in store for South African agencies (Image source: © Hello Partner Hello Partner

The recent D&AD Awards saw Accenture Song awarded the country’s only Pencil (Wood Pencil for Spatial Design) for its' client Allan Gray, for the campaign, A Seat at the Table at the D&AD Awards. The agency was the only South African agency to convert its shortlisted announcement.

The agency worked with partners TheWorkRoom and Bananas on the campaign. Both The WorkRoom and Bananas also had shortlisted announcements.

Apart from Allan Gray, the agency had shortlisted announcements for client The Philipstown WireCar Foundation for The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix.

Shortlisted in Sports Entertainment (Long Form Film), the Foundation The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix work included Giant Films, Carbon Films, Chocolate Tribe, and Pressure Cooker Studios, all of which also received shortlist announcements.

VML South Africa and Joe Public also boasted shortlist announcements. In particular, VML’s work for Vaseline Mntana ka Gogo was recognised under Media / Direct / Moving Image Craft.

The One Show and the D&AD

South Africa’s excellent conversion rate at The One Show also did not convert to the recent D&AD Awards.

Compared to the D&AD, the same campaigns did very well at The One Show.

The Philipstown WireCar Grand Prix winning Silver and Bronze, while VML’s Vaseline Verifiedcampaign (Unilever) was a global standout, winning 10 Gold Pencils.

Local production houses (like Giant Films) also saw their craft work translated into multiple Merit Awards for Storytelling, Use of Technology, and Film & Video for Good at The One Show.

One Show and Cannes

2024 saw Merit Awards and TBWA\Hunt Lascaris awarded two Graphite Pencils.

This was followed by a steady presence in 2025, 18 initial finalists that converted into four Gold Pencils, eight Silver Pencils, eight Bronze Pencils, and 48 Merits across the broader MEA. Looking strictly at purely localised South African agencies, the core haul featured two Bronze, three Silver, and 13 Merits.

This year saw South Africa deliver its most dominant performance yet, ranking #8 globally in the official One Show Country Rankings.

(Image created byAI)

D&AD and Cannes

In 2024, South African agencies secured a total of 8 D&AD Pencils (two Graphite and six Wood) along with 24 shortlisted entries. In 2025, The Odd Number secured a Wood Pencil for its Salvation Army.

The Red & Yellow Creative School of Business also secured a Wood Pencil at the D&AD New Blood Awards for the campaign Xbox: Never Logged Off.

South Africa's 2024 peak performance at the D&AD Awards was in stark contrast to its trajectory at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, with Cannes 2024 considered a historic low point for the local advertising sector.

The inverse is true for 2025. While there was a levelling off at the D&AD Awards, South Africa saw a significant comeback at Cannes with Ogilvy, Joe Public and Clockwork winning Lions, and the TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris duo of Paula Andropoulos & Kgomotso Makoto, winning a Young Lions Silver Medal.

This year also saw shortlisted entries drop from 24 to 10, compared to the One Show, where the country led the entire MEA region with 48 finalists, compared to 18 finalists in 2025.

Cannes 2026

When comparing the 2024 and 2025 The One Show and the D&AD Awards to correlate to Cannes 2024 and 2025 results, work that converted from regional One Show shortlists to finalists almost always found its way to a Cannes Lions jury box.

This could be because both festivals reward similar parameters of cultural impact. They also share overlapping jury pools.

Based on South Africa's successes so far, the prediction for the country would be that its creative output has broad international appeal this year.

The 73rd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will take place in Cannes, France, from June 22–26, 2026.

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