• Powerful speech due to be given on the day of his assassination recreated by  The Times, Ireland Edition
• The campaign generated one billion media impressions globally

JFK Unsilenced, the unique historical project spearheaded by The Times, Ireland Edition, has won a Grand Prix, along with Gold, Silver and Bronze awards at Cannes Festival of Creativity 2018. The awards, known as Cannes Lions, are recognised globally as the ultimate achievement in creativity - this is the first time an Irish entry has won a Grand Prix at the prestigious annual Cannes event.

JFK Unsilenced was commissioned as part of the redesign of The Times, Ireland Edition earlier this year, underpinning the title’s core objective of providing readers with quality Irish content, debate and analysis but also highlighting The Times, Ireland Edition’s role as a leading innovator in the digital space.

A cohesive marketing strategy drove awareness of this fascinating historical project and included Out-Of-Home advertisements, a radio campaign, press ads, digital display, social media and video, encouraging consumers to log into www.thetimes.ie to hear this very special speech.

It’s estimated that the campaign generated more than one billion media impressions globally.

The groundbreaking JFK Unsilenced uses cutting edge voice recognition software to recreate the speech that President John F. Kennedy was due to deliver at the Dallas Trade Mart on the day of his assassination.

The project, which involved isolating sound fragments from previous speeches President Kennedy gave, was undertaken in co-operation with Irish creative agency Rothco and CereProc, a speech synthesis company based in Scotland.

Subscribers to the digital edition of The Times, Ireland Edition can view the full 20 minute speech, a three minute highlights package and a video on how the speech was produced. An accompanying series of articles analyse the speech and the long lasting effect Kennedy had on world politics.

Richard Oakley, Editor of The Times, Ireland Edition, says: “JFK Unsilenced was a unique collaboration as it combined both creative and editorial endeavour.

The project was covered by other media outlets around the world, meaning The Times, Ireland Edition was making the news as well as breaking it. Working with Rothco was a rewarding experience and I am delighted their creative talent has been recognised in such spectacular fashion.”  

Catherine Newman, Chief Marketing Officer of Times Newspapers Limited, says: We’re delighted that the collaboration between The Times, Ireland Edition, Rothco and CereProc has been recognised on an international stage. Cannes Lions are the most established and coveted awards in the creative and marketing communications industry and the sheer number of prizes won by the JFK Unsilenced project is a testament to all parties involved.

Since its launch, The Times, Ireland Edition has provided a new voice in market, challenging its audience to look at stories from new, fresh perspectives - JFK Unsilenced, which takes a historical piece and brings it firmly into the 21^st century, is a prime example of this.”

Patrick Hickey, CEO of Rothco, says: “Winning a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions puts you among the world’s elite, and I believe our best work is still ahead of us. I’d like to thank our team and our partners at The Times, Ireland Edition and News UK & Ireland for their contributions to making history and bringing the voice of one of the world’s most beloved orators to a new generation.”

The print edition of The Times, Ireland Edition is on shelves from Monday to Saturday, while the digital edition is available via tablet app, smartphone app or on www.thetimes.ie.

As well as being well informed on the stories that matter, readers can also enjoy a range of unrivalled lifestyle content - interviews, music, arts, film, theatre, food and beauty – while the digital editions also offer thousands of interactive puzzles and access to a variety of video content, including highlights of GAA and Premiership football matches.