Berghs students win Grand Prix in Future Lions Competition

For the 15th year in a row, Berghs students have competed and won awards during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In the Future Lions competition, students are challenged to create progressive communication solutions for a more sustainable society.

This week, five Berghs students travelled to Cannes to receive the competition’s most prestigious award the “Grand Prix” together with students from Miami Ad School and Brother. The students’ campaigns “The Connected Bike Bell” and “Safety Noise” will be developed by Volvo Cars.

This year's brief from Volvo Cars asked students to use groundbreaking technology to protect people and make them feel more safe. With Forbes as a media partner, Volvo wanted to challenge the status quo with ideas that further inclusion and the creative application of technology. This year, over 500 schools from 80 countries competed. Eight of the nominated submissions were from Berghs.

One of the nominations from Berghs was chosen and shared the top spot with Miami Ad School and Brother for the Grand Prix award. The winning submission is called “The Connected Bike Bell”. The idea is to democratise the relationship between cyclists and car drivers in traffic and to improve safety on the road. Drivers and cyclists have the same rules, however the relationship between them is far from equal. The winning group is made up of Rebecka Rydgren, Sandra Alwan, Emil Sörensen, Albert Bäckman och Clara-Fanny Pagh, all studying the Art Direction/Copywriter program at Berghs.

“Volvo Cars will modernise the bell through technology and thereby set the standard for the entire car industry to make roads safer for bikers. Safety is essentially in Volvo Cars’ DNA which therefore feels like they can enable cyclists and drivers to be able to communicate on equal terms. After all, they have the same rules in traffic” says Albert Bäckman, copywriter.

“WOW! To be able to stand out with such a creative solution among thousands of talented students worldwide and also win the Grand Prix is quite an accomplishment! We’re proud that we continue to maintain a high international standard year after year,” says Camilla Wallander, CEO of Berghs School of Communication.

From left: Clara Pagh, Rebecka Rydgren, Emil Sörensen, Sandra Alwan & Albert Bäckman