
Leo Burnett Taiwan achieved success at Spikes Asia and Cannes Lions in 2024, winning two Gold Spikes, two Bronze Spikes, one Gold Lion and two Silver Lions for ‘Paper Organs’.
This campaign broke taboos surrounding organ donation in Taiwan by using cultural beliefs to shift traditional attitudes towards organ donation.
We spoke with the Leo Burnett Taiwan team, including Hao Tseng, Creative Director & Digital Innovation Lead, Yuan Chuang, Creative Director and Chin Chin Chiang, Business Vice President, Client Services, to discover what drove the success of this campaign, how they leveraged cultural insights to craft a compelling narrative, the importance of cultural context behind this work and ensuring the Jury with their diverse backgrounds understood it, and more.
Paper Organs has achieved phenomenal success at Spikes Asia and Cannes Lions this year, winning 2 Gold Spikes, 2 Bronze Spikes, 1 Gold Lion and 2 Silver Lions. What sparked the idea for this campaign and what drove its success?
Chin Chin Chiang: Publicis Groupe Taiwan has a long-standing tradition of regularly inviting guest speakers to share on a variety of topics, helping expand the perspectives of our team. In 2022, we invited Chien-Yu Huang, an organ donation recipient who has made promoting organ donation his personal mission in Taiwan, to share his story. His journey deeply moved everyone in our account and creative teams and gave us greater insight into the challenges of promoting organ donation in Taiwan.
Hao Tseng: Absolutely. Huang’s talk inspired the Leo Burnett Taiwan team to consider how we could use creativity to help advocate for organ donation. I believe the success of the Paper Organs project stemmed from a shared passion and sense of mission among all our creatives and account team members after hearing his life story, uniting us in a commitment to promote organ donation in Taiwan.
江晶晶: Publicis Groupe Taiwan有一個行之有年的傳統,會例行性地邀請外部講師分享各種議題,拓展工作夥伴的視野,在2022年時我們邀請到了黃健予,一名在台灣以推廣器捐為個人職志的器官捐贈受贈者,來到李奧貝納分享他的器官捐贈故事,他個人的故事感動了我們業務團隊以及創意團隊的所有人,更讓我們理解了台灣器官捐贈推廣的困境。
曾繁皓: 是的,黃健予的演講內容,激起了李奧貝納台灣想要透過創意的力量,幫助器官捐贈推廣的想法,我想Paper Organ的成功,緣起是所有的創意組員以及業務同仁,在聽完毛哥個人生命故事後,都對想要在台灣推廣器官捐贈,有一致的熱情以及使命感。
Paper Organs LEO BURNETT TAIWAN, Taipei / TAIWAN ORGAN SHARING REGISTRY & PATIENT AUTONOMY PROMOTION CENTER / 2024
This is a very novel idea. How did you convince your client that this would work?
Yuan Chuang: We’d especially like to thank our client, the Taiwan Organ Sharing Registry and Patient Autonomy Promotion Center, for their collaboration. They don’t often work with creative agencies, so we took special care in preparing for this unique client relationship. In our first proposal, we anticipated some concerns they might have, such as the potential issue of avoiding deep connections with specific religions since they are a government-affiliated organisation. With that in mind, we intentionally gave the Paper Organs project a modern, artistic visual style to keep it neutral. Thanks to this approach, the initial proposal went smoothly, and we were pleasantly surprised by the openness to creative ideas within Government-affiliated non-profit organisations in Taiwan.
Chin Chin Chiang: Throughout the project, we were deeply hands-on and stood by our client in facing all stakeholders. For instance, the Paper Organs launch event was an art exhibition held at Taiwan’s largest organ donation hospital – National Taiwan University Hospital. This collaboration required extensive coordination with frontline doctors, social workers, and nurses at National Taiwan University Hospital, which was beyond what our client could accomplish alone. The Leo Burnett Taiwan team attended each meeting with the hospital, assisting in gaining their support. Our collective efforts ultimately led to a successful outcome.
莊智淵: 在這裡要特別感謝我們的客戶,台灣器捐中心的工作夥伴,他們平常其實並不常有跟創意代理商合作的經驗,針對這樣的特殊的客戶性質,我們也做了特別的準備,在第一次提案,就預先把客戶會擔心的狀況列出,如客戶可能會擔心由於是隸屬於政府部門,不能與宗教有深度連結,因此我們一開始就將Paper Organs的視覺設計定調為較為現代風格的藝術品,與特定宗教拉開距離,因此在第一次提案時就還算順利,同時發現台灣政府部門,對於創意idea的接受程度其實很大,很令我們驚喜。
江晶晶: 同時,在執行的環節每一個環節,我們都親力親為,與客戶站在同一線,面對所有的利益關係人,像是Paper Organs的發布,是在台灣器官捐贈執行量最大的台灣醫院舉行一個藝術展,這個展覽的合作,就並非客戶可能獨立執行,需要說服許多台大醫院的第一線的醫師、社工以及護理師才能啟動,因此,李奧貝納台灣的團隊,便在每一場與台大醫院的會議出席,幫忙客戶一起說服台大醫院,最後也有了好的成果。
How did you leverage cultural insights to craft a compelling narrative?
Hao Tseng: Ideas rooted in cultural insights are often the most resonant, especially in a society like Taiwan where folk beliefs play a strong role. So, we drew on the concept of the Joss Paper Burning ritual, a practice very familiar to the public with no barrier to understanding. This instantly made the idea relatable to Taiwanese people. By linking this custom with organ donation, we created a powerful contrast.
Yuan Chuang: Visually, we dramatised the presentation of Paper Organs by simulating the Joss Paper Burning ritual. This piqued the audience’s curiosity. For example, the main visual and opening scenes of related videos featured a heart being set on fire, capturing attention immediately and making a strong impression.
曾繁皓: 從文化觀察出發的idea,往往是最能引發共鳴的,尤其是在民間信仰盛行的台灣社會,因此,我們借用了民間信仰中Joss Paper Burning習俗的概念,這個習俗對台灣的社會大眾來說是非常熟悉,且沒有理解門檻的,讓台灣的社會大眾可以一眼看出我們想要的idea,也正是如此,將Joss Paper Burning這個習俗連接到器官捐贈議題,才會創造出巨大的反差感,讓我們得以用創意產出Paper Organs這樣特別的解決方案。
莊智淵: 同時,我們在視覺的執行上,也以模擬Joss Paper Burning儀式的方式,戲劇化的呈現Paper Organs的設計,讓觀眾產生好奇,像是Paper Organs的主視覺以及相關影片的開場,都以一顆正在被著火的心臟為主要視覺,在第一時間吸引觀眾的目光。
How important was the cultural context behind this work and how did you ensure the diverse Jury understood it?
Yuan Chuang: The cultural insight is the heart of Paper Organs. By incorporating the Joss Paper Burning ritual, we created an idea that the Taiwanese public could instantly understand. This tradition added a meaningful layer, offering comfort to the families of organ donors through the familiar act of ritual burning.
Hao Tseng: To convey this effectively, we included a brief introduction at the start of the case film, explaining the cultural context in Taiwan, where having incomplete body remains after death is a common taboo. This gave judges a quick grasp of the issue.
Interestingly, we discovered during regular discussions within Publicis Groupe APAC that this tradition of preserving the body intact isn’t unique to Taiwan. It’s prevalent across the Chinese cultural sphere, including places like China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and even Thailand. This commonality means judges from these regions may also have felt a strong connection to the Paper Organs concept.
莊智淵: 文化背景正是Paper Organs的精髓,因為他借用了Joss Paper Burning這個喪葬習俗,才能讓台灣的民眾能夠沒有門檻地理解,顯得這個idea這麼有力量,同時更真正地透過傳統燒化儀式,讓Paper Organs能夠寬慰器捐捐贈者家屬。
曾繁皓: 所以,我們在Casefilm中,也特別在影片開頭,就以短小的篇幅,簡介在台灣的喪葬習俗中,如果死後不能保留全屍,是一個普遍的文化禁忌這個重要的背景資料,確保評審能夠快速地理解狀況。
有趣的是,同時,我們也在Publicis Groupe APAC定期的討論會議中發現,偏好保留全屍的喪葬習俗,並非台灣獨有,而是在華人圈影響的範圍皆有,如中國、馬來西亞、越南甚至泰國,都有類似的習俗,相信在具有diversity的評審團中,肯定會有來自這些區域的評審對Paper Organs的idea感到共情。
How has entering Spikes Asia impacted your work over the years? E.g. Has it changed the way you pitch, does it help with benchmarking or critically analysing your work?
Hao Tseng: The Spikes Asia Awards archive has always been an essential source for tracking creative trends each year, shaping the standards of that year’s creative tastes. As a regional award that focuses on Asia, Spikes Asia often highlights creative works with deep local insights, encouraging our creative team to boldly incorporate cultural insights into our work, too.
Chin Chin Chiang: As someone in an account role, I don’t typically focus on creative awards. However, last year, Publicis Groupe Taiwan’s CEO Irene Chang served as a judge for Spikes Asia's Creative Effectiveness category. Many outstanding cases in this category directly showcased the connection between creativity and client performance, inspiring me to think differently about how to plan impactful campaigns that truly benefit our clients.
曾繁皓: Spikes Asia的獎項資料庫,一直都是我們參考當年創意趨勢的重要來源,也形塑對該年創意品味的指標,尤其是這種關注亞洲的區域型創意獎,往往能看到更多具備在地insight的創意作品被欣賞,也因此激勵了我們創意team,對於在創意中放入在地insight的勇氣。
江晶晶: 由於是擔綱業務角色,平常在工作上比較少關注創意獎項,但由於我們集團的CEO去年有擔任Spikes Asia Creative Effectiveness的評審,裡面很多精彩的案例,都更直接的說明了創意與客戶績效之間的關聯,也讓我對平日的工作上,對於如何企劃對客戶有幫助的傳播內容,有更多不一樣的思考。
What did this project teach you about the role of design in creative communications?
Yuan Chuang: We believe that good design is more crucial than ever in today’s media landscape, where attention spans are shorter. Important messages can be easily swiped past if they don’t capture attention immediately. The most challenging part of creating Paper Organs was designing the look of the organs themselves. From the start, we discussed with our paper artist partner that the design should avoid strong religious associations yet still evoke the feel of traditional Joss Paper items, while immediately drawing people’s attention.
Hao Tseng: Looking back, establishing the design style for Paper Organs was indeed a challenging task. Initially, we tried finding suitable references, but quickly realised there was nothing like Paper Organs anywhere in the world. We had to build it from scratch, focusing on visual appeal, functionality, and cultural relevance. We went through over 20 different prototypes before finalising the design. We’re delighted that the final look met our expectations and played a key role in the success of the project.
莊智淵: 我們認為好的Design,在當代的傳播環境中比以往更為重要,因為大家的注意力只會越來越短,很多很重要的訊息,如果沒有在第一時間內抓就消費者目光,就會被觀眾給滑掉,在Paper Organ的創作過程中,感到最困難的就是器官外觀的設計了,一開始我們就與合作的紙張藝術師談定,希望Paper Organs的外觀不能與任何宗教有過度明顯的連結,卻要讓人看起來與Joss Paper Burning物件有關,同時在第一時間吸引大家的關注。
曾繁皓: 回想起來,Paper Organs的Design風格設定,確實是一個有難度的任務,我們在一開始原本是想要找到合適的Reference,再開始工作,但很快地就遇到困難,因為在這之前,放眼整個世界,根本不存在Paper Organs這種物件,因此,我們必須從0開始,從觀賞性、實用性以及和文化的關聯性出發,設計出全世界第一批紙紮器官,中間約製作了20多次不同的prototype,才終於定案,也很開心最後的成果如我們的預期,Paper Organ的外觀設計,在這個案子中很稱職地扮演了關鍵的角色。
What advice would you give to others about working within cultural constraints?
Yuan Chuang: When explaining cultural context, aim for simplicity and clarity. It's helpful to explore multiple versions of the narrative, as there’s never just one way to convey a cultural fact.
Hao Tseng: If possible, take advantage of resources within an international network. Share your culturally-informed narrative with colleagues from different cultural backgrounds to see if they easily understand it or if it leads to any misunderstandings. Adjust as you go, since a good story should be able to transcend cultural boundaries.
莊智淵: 說明文化背景的的敘事力求簡單、清晰,並可以嘗試多個版本的可能性,因為同樣的一個文化事實,永遠不會只有一種說法。
曾繁皓: 以及,如果可以的話,能夠善用國際network的資源,直接把你的關於文化相關的背景敘事,給在其他文化、地理背景生長的同事看,看看大家是否能輕易理解?會不會產生什麼誤會?再邊做邊調整,畢竟,一個好的故事肯定是能夠跨越文化界線的。
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