How a creative duo at Dig won a gold Young Lion at Cannes

For Casey Clarke and Zac Nairn, winning gold at Cannes meant committing to an idea they both thought could work and then executing it as fast as possible. 

Copywriter, Clarke, and art director, Nairn, at Dig Agency won Gold for Digital in the Young Lions for their work 'Little Learners League' at the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity. 

Nairn said the team’s brief was from Rocket Learning, an EdTech non-profit in India that provides a digital learning system for government-funded Anganwadi centres (day care centres).  

“The challenge they face is that because the publicly-run centres traditionally provided only nutrition, health and daycare services, parents don’t yet recognise Anganwadi as a reputable educational institution, nor do they see the value in regular attendance,” he said. 

What stood out in the briefing for the Australian creatives, said Clarke, was that the young mothers they were targeting had limited to no education themselves.  

“This meant they were likely unfamiliar with how an early education system works and what educational milestones their child should be reaching,” she said. 

“Because of this, we felt that we needed an idea that would not only create awareness about what the centres do but would also help families see the value of early learning.” 

The young team from Dig’s work ‘Little Learners League’, came about from identifying an existing motivation system that was already working well from some families in the organisation, said Clarke. 

“We found a way to evolve it and make it accessible and engaging for all parents, regardless of their education level or socio-economic status,” she said. 

Nairn said their work was to help parents of all backgrounds understand the importance of early education. 

“Put simply, we leveraged the cultural value of sport in India to create the world’s youngest esports league,” he said. 

The process at the festival was uncomfortable, partly because the two had a big night beforehand, said Nairn, and partly because participants are in a huge hall surrounded by their competitors. 

“You’re also looking over your shoulder to make sure nobody is stealing your ideas,” he said. 

Nairn said the process wasn’t unlike their usual procedure back home, except with less time and guidance. 

“Our time zone really didn’t work well with chatting to people in Australia about our ideas, so it was about committing to something we both thought could work and then executing as fast as possible,” said Nairn.

“Brazil brought a flag and draped it over their workstation which was intimidating.” 

For Clarke, it was the experience of working in the same room as their competition that was unnerving. 

“Imagine how strange you’d feel if you were down to the wire on a big pitch and the agency you were up against was just sitting across the table, making small talk with you about the weather,” she said. 

“Plus, I’ve never been good at whispering.” 

The experience of competing at Cannes, and, not to mention, winning a gold Young Lion, was as crazy and incredible as people say, said Clarke. 

She said the pair soaked up enough creativity and rosé to last them a lifetime.

“A special shoutout to all the big fish who took us under their wing for the week and included us in their antics, especially the ones who let us stick around when we showed up uninvited at events,” said Clarke. 

It was a surreal experience winning gold for Clarke, who isn’t sure it’s quite sunk in yet. 

“Going up on the big stage was an experience I’ll never forget,” she said. 

For Nairn, getting to leave Australia and be blown away from the enthusiasm and calibre of work from countries across the world was an intense experience. 

“Australia’s advertising industry can feel quite insular, especially at our level. We hadn’t seen or experienced that much from the outside world, you only see the highlight reel,” he said. 

“It kind of feels like you’re living in a hermit country and then go discover other places invented the internet.”

Winning gold was an added bonus that nobody expected, he said. 

“Most excitingly, David Droga touched my hand.”