I love awards shows. They never fail to inspire and they remind me why I got into this business in the first place – to use the strategies and tactics of advertising for good. Cannes Lions recently released their list of award-winning campaigns, and this year the winning entry for the Grand Prix for Good is an example of strategic insight and creative execution at its finest.

The challenge: More than 650,000 people around the world are diagnosed with leukemia and lymphoma every year. And for many of them, a marrow transplant is their only hope. Only about half find a match. That’s in large part because there aren’t nearly enough people on the Marrow Donor Registry. To make matters worse, it’s so complicated to sign up that it’s a wonder anyone’s registered at all.

The solution: To change registering as a marrow donor from something complex to simple and everyday.

Who would have thought an everyday action like cutting yourself and a slightly modified bandage box could be used to make such a difference in the lives of so many?

It’s the equivalent of Netflix envelopes, but in the form of a bandage box. It’s such a simple and elegant solution that it’s a wonder no one ever thought of it before. Which just goes to show, there are new ideas that are out there, waiting to be discovered.  You just have to look at the problem in a new light.  Ask different questions.  Find fresh synergies.  As someone at Cannes noted in this beautiful Slideshare presentation (slide 58), “If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.”