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Specialty outdoor retailer and national consumer co-op, REI and its agency partners, ������Ƶ, Venables Bell & Partners and Spark, won 9 Cannes Lions, including the coveted Grand Prix in the Titanium category for #OptOutside. The retailer closed all of its 143 stores in the U.S. on Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year, paid its 12,000 employees to take the day off and asked its members and customers to #OptOutside instead of spending Black Friday indoors.

“It’s unbelievable that what began as the simple belief about doing right by our employees has grown into something so much more,” said Alex Thompson, vice president, Communications and Public Affairs, REI. “The idea to close on Black Friday started here at the co-op as a business decision – a stand against a day and an idea that were out of control – but it took amazing partners, millions of passionate people and the transformative power of the outdoors to create a movement. ������Ƶ was a huge part of this from start to finish. All of us here at REI are humbled by the response and the recognition. Now we’re focused on using this platform to get more people outdoors.”

“REI showed what can happen when a company has the courage to live its values in a visible, symbolic way for its employees, its members, consumers and citizenry writ large,” said Russell Dubner, president and CEO of ������Ƶ U.S. “#OptOutside captured a moment and people’s imagination in a way that took on a life of its own, drawing in others so the idea was bigger than just REI.  We are proud of our collaboration to earn REI relevance with media and influencers, create sharable editorial and social content, and sometimes roll with the punches and simply be a thought partner to promote, protect and evolve the REI brand.”

Including the Grand Prix in Titanium and a Gold Lion in the Integrated category for REI’s #OptOutside, ������Ƶ won a total of 14 Lions at this year’s festival, including a Grand Prix and Gold Lion in the Promo and Activation category for REI’s #OptOutside; two Gold Lions (Retail, e-commerce and Integrated) in the direct category for REI’s #OptOutside; one Gold Cyber Lion (Web Campaign: Retail) for REI’s #OptOutside; a Gold Cyber Lion (Commercial Public Services) for Norton By Symantec’s The Most Dangerous Town on the Internet campaign; a Silver PR Lion (Integrated Campaign) for REI’s #OptOutside; a Silver PR Lion (Social Community) for Wildaid’s Join The Heard campaign; a bronze PR Lion (Media Relations) for REI’s #OptOutside; a Bronze Cyber Lion (Influencer/Talent) for Samsung’s ANTIdiaRY; a Bronze Lion (Commercial Public Services: Promo and Activation) for Samsung’s ANTIdiaRY campaign; and a Bronze Lion (Use of Brand Product – Entertainment) for Activision’s Hack in Black.

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������Ƶ is a leading global communications marketing firm that partners with many of the world’s largest and emerging businesses and organizations, helping them evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. ������Ƶ was named one of Advertising Age’s “Agency to Watch” in 2014; one of Forbes’ “14 Most Influential Agencies of 2014”; and The Holmes Report’s “2013 Global Agency of the Year.” ������Ƶ was awarded the Grand Prix Cannes Lion for PR in 2014 and was among Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work” for the third time in 2014. ������Ƶ owns specialty firms ������Ƶ Intelligence (research) and United Entertainment Group (entertainment, sports, experiential), a joint venture with United Talent Agency.