Kenyan agency wins first Cannes Lions Grand Prix in nation's history

Nairobi-based advertising agency The Partnership Africa has won Kenya’s first Cannes Lions Grand Prix by coming out tops in the Sustainable Development Goals category. 

The agency’s campaign for Kenyan dairy brand Too Good, titled ‘Paid Sick Leave for Cows’ won against 289 category entries from around the world.  

“The jury awarded the Grand Prix to a brilliantly simple idea that creates lasting systemic change,” commented Kazoo Sato, Jury President of the Sustainable Development Goals Lions jury panel, and Chief Creative Officer and CEO at Earth Centric Design in Tokyo, Japan. 

“It turns an apparent trade-off into shared value, for people, for business and for other species. It offers a replicable model for a more sustainable future.” 

Winners in the Sustainable Development Goals category must deliver work that goes beyond awareness. The jury panel asks three questions: does the campaign create real change, does it durably transform the underlying system, and does the impact last after the campaign ends? 

The ‘Paid Sick Leave for Cows’ campaign concept 

Kenya has the highest per capita milk consumption in SSA, with around 80% of milk production coming from smallholder farmers.  

One in four milk samples tests positive for antibiotics, because farmers cannot afford to stop production during the withdrawal period following a cow’s illness. That withdrawal period is the heart of the problem. When a cow receives antibiotics, its milk cannot be sold for several days to prevent contamination. Farmers then face a choice between following the rules and losing income, or selling milk that does not meet the standard. 

The economics make the responsible choice the expensive one. Raising market prices is not an option, so Too Good and The Partnership Agency have placed the problem not with farmer behaviour, but with the system around it. 

Inspired by the human sick leave model for workers, they decided to register cows as economic workers rather than livestock. The mechanism to register the ‘sick workers’ is deliberately low tech. Farmers apply for paid sick leave for a recovering cow via WhatsApp. Too Good then validates the request and compensates the lost income across the withdrawal period. 

Within eight months the model has returned $27,000 to farmers for milk they had to withhold. Farmer income stays fully protected as a result. The campaign connects labour rights and agriculture, and offers a different way to think about work and value within food systems. 

Culmination of years of believing 

“Winning a Cannes Lions Grand Prix is a rare privilege, but it’s never the result of one great idea or one great week. It’s the culmination of years of believing that creativity can solve real business and human problems, and having the courage to pursue that belief relentlessly,” Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at The Partnership Africa, Deepesh Jha, told The Kenyan Wall Street publication. 

“This recognition belongs to Megha [Dutta, Executive Creative Director] and her team that challenged each other, obsessed over every detail, refused to settle for the obvious and kept going long after most people would have stopped. Great work is rarely glamorous while you’re making it; it demands a coming together of technology, craft and an unwavering commitment to getting it right.” 

You can watch a YouTube video of the campaign here.