The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has remained unresolved for over 60 years, defying the efforts of countless leaders to find a political solution. We asked ourselves: what if we took this complex problem and turned it into a brief - one that invites 'out of the box' thinkers around the world to find creative ideas to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together? Our insight was that creatives can't resist a challenge, so when faced with a brief that has never been solved, we aimed to get them volunteering their ideas. The Impossible Brief was launched at the world’s biggest gathering of creative minds - Cannes. News quickly spread on the Web as people around the world began to send us their ideas. The entries were judged by a joint panel of Israeli and Palestinian creatives. The best ideas were bound in a book to be presented to political leaders, as inspiration.

We received 128 ideas from 65 countries, including submissions from creative partners in the Middle East. The ideas were judged by a joint panel of leading Israeli and Palestinian creatives. The best ideas were bound in a book to be presented to political leaders, for inspiration.

No one knows if and when the brief will truly be solved. But one thing's for sure - the number of creative minds that joined the project and the ideas we received proves that there's room for genuine hope.Note to judges: This is an ongoing project with a number of additional results still to be delivered. It is crucial to the success of The Impossible Brief that those results be ultimately included in the case. In light of this, the Cannes organizers granted approval for an updated, final version of this case to be submitted at the beginning of June 2011.

The campaign was launched at Cannes 2010 using a mix of outdoor and digital media. 25 posters were placed along the promenade leading to the main pavilion, inviting creative leaders to join the project. Street teams and personalized SMS and Facebook invitations directed them to the minisite where they could access the Brief and upload their ideas. A Facebook Group was created to facilitate discussion about the submitted ideas. PR activity spread news of the project online and through press releases. Direct mail packages were sent to 100 creative directors around the world, asking them to get on board. In the political realm, Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide of Saatchi & Saatchi, presented the Brief to Israeli President and Nobel Peace Laureate Shimon Peres, who warmly endorsed the project. The best ideas were bound in a book to be presented to political leaders for inspiration.