MOSCOW, June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

MegaFon's innovative project wins Russia's first Grand Prix 

MegaFon's Olympic pavilion won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions festival, a major event for professionals in the advertising and creative industries. This is the first time in 61 years that a nominee from Russia has won the main prize. 

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140623/693716 )

MegaFon OJSC is a leading Russian telecommunication service provider, operating in all segments of the telecommunications markets in Russia. The MegaFaces project, designed specifically for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, has been one of the year's marketing sensations. The interactive high-tech design is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and breaks new ground in modern architecture and digital technologies. The pavilion's façade contains 11,000 actuators with LED lights that extend to create three-dimensional portraits that are the size of a three-storey building: 8x6x2 metres. Over 140,000 fans' faces from all over the world were shown on the MegaFaces façade during the Olympic Games in Sochi.

The MegaFaces project was a remarkable success at the Olympics and was nominated in the Design, Cyber and Innovation categories in Cannes. In the latter category, the project was a deserving winner, gaining the jury's vote. The awards ceremony took place in the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The sought-after award went to the project team: MegaFon; Asif Khan, creative director and the idea's creator; Axis, the project agency; and iart, the creators of the interactive façade and scanning technology.

Mikhail Dubin, Executive Director at MegaFon, said: "This is a fantastic victory! Innovation and development are in MegaFon's DNA and MegaFaces is clear evidence of this. This project was very important for us, as was everything associated with the Olympic Games in Sochi. We are proud to have made a significant contribution to its success and are delighted that our Olympic MegaFaces project continues to fascinate people around the world. It is a huge honour for us to be part of Russia's first victory in the history of the Grand Prix. I would like to thank and congratulate all those who participated in this wonderful project and whose ideas and hard work made MegaFaces a reality."

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is held from 15 to 21 of June in Cannes, France. It is the most authoritative event in the advertising industry. 37,427 applications from 97 countries were submitted this year alone.

In 2009, MegaFon became the General Partner of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and the XI Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi. The Company built a strong communications infrastructure network on Olympic sites and provided athletes and guests with quality communications services, including high-speed 4G Internet. The MegaFaces pavilion became one of the most visited sites in the Olympic Park. In June 2014, the project won the Silver Mercury annual award in seven categories; the award is given to the best and most audacious projects in the marketing services and advertising industries. MegaFaces' award haul is a record in the history of the award.

The project team: 

AXIS Agency (Moscow) - the project agency.

Asif Khan (London) - creative director and the idea's creator.

iart Company (Basel) - creator of the interactive façade and scanning technologies.

Deluxe Interactive (Moscow) - developer of the registration application, developer for the mobile and server parts of the project.

Scott Eaton (London) - technical director and anatomy consultant from Pixar Animation Studios; creator of the CPP application to improve facial recognition.

AdWatch (Moscow) - project creator and host.

SOURCE MegaFon