Cannes Lions 2024: 1 Silver, 4 Bronze for India on Day 2; Tally reaches 9

BY Mansi Sharma

Continuing its winning spree at the 71st Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, India added five more metals to its tally on Day 2. The big wins on the second day of the Oscars of Advertising have come in the form of one silver and four bronze lions.  

The coveted silver lion was captured by Early Man Films and Kundurkar Studio for Jindal Steel – The Steel of India campaign in Film Craft under the editing subcategory. The same campaign also picked a bronze in the same category under direction section. Interestingly, this was the only campaign that made it to the film crafts shortlist this year.

window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/21740140234/e4m_story_page_para3_small_horizontal_banner_3_728x90_normal', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1595331589677-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); });

The campaign showcased India's resilience and progress through a connection made with steel in a film and portraits. It illustrated the transformation of steel from raw material to finished product, symbolizing the nation's strength and development. Directed by Ayappa K.M with music by Sneha Khanwalkar, it reflected the enduring spirit and growth of India.  

window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot('/21740140234/e4m_story_page_para3_small_horizontal_banner_3_728x90_normal_next', [728, 90], 'div-gpt-ad-1601359261569-0').addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); });

 The next bronze win came for Ogilvy in Entertainment Lions under the integrated brand experience subcategory. The winning campaign was Cadbury 5 Star’s’ Erase Valentine’s Day ', a cheeky initiative that sent three volunteers  on a ship, the F.N.S Cringe Vinash, to cross the international date line and skip February 14th entirely. The event was live streamed from Mumbai, allowing participants to ‘do nothing’ while enjoying the 5 Star bars. The campaign also included an ad featuring space scientist Nambi Narayanan and invited people to enroll as "Mission Engineers.  

Reacting to the win, Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, and Sukesh Nayak, joint CCOs, Ogilvy, said, “We’re very happy that the bravery of the idea, and the bravery of the client are being rewarded. The ECD on 5 star, Karunasagar and the entire team has put in months and months of work to bring this idea to life. It is one of those seemingly impossible ideas that can be set aside as a joke. But sometimes those are exactly the ideas that the brand needs and can make a great impact.”  

This win has taken Ogilvy’s individual metal tally to three with one silver and two bronze metals. Other winning campaigns from the house of Ogilvy include “The Impossible Choice” and “Taj Mahal Megh Santoor”. 

Taking the baton ahead, VML won a bronze metal under Entertainment Lions For Music’s diversity & inclusion in music subcategory. The award was picked for Coca Cola’s Sing to Remember campaign, an effort aimed at preserving India’s linguistic diversity. To launch Coke Studio, a beloved music platform, in India after an eight year’s gap, Coca Cola collaborated with up-and-coming Gujarati language artists, Aditya Gadhvi and Achint Thakkar, to create “Khalasi” - a song that not only entertained but also served as a cultural statement. The campaign ,using influencers, choreographers and singers along with the topicality of Navratri, got a billion people to dance, sing and celebrate in Gujarati – a language otherwise not in focus. 

Showing immense pride over the win, Mukund Olety, CCO, VML India quipped, “This is the kind of work that makes a dent in culture. Super proud of the team for getting this recognition for real brand building work. This is the result of months of sweat and blood. And ever grateful to our clients for dreaming hard, pushing hard and making big things happen.” 

It is India’s only second metal in the category since its addition to Lions in 2016. The first lion in the category, a silver, was won by Grey India in the inaugural year for P&G's Gillette 'The Barber Shop Girls – Shaving Stereotypes' campaign. 

The final win for the evening came for Leo Burnett which picked a bronze in the Entertainment for Sports category under sports live experience subcategory. The campaign is a tech-based intervention in partnership with Google Maps to provide open playing spaces to people staying in crowded cities of India. The app analyses 20 years’ worth of historic traffic data and real-time insights to predict when roads go empty, turning them into playgrounds. 

The on-ground turfs used in the campaign were modular, configured to be assembled and dismantled within 20 mins to ensure maximum play time and give the roads back in time for traffic. These turfs became urban community playgrounds, reimagining open spaces for play unlike anything before in the world.

Reacting to the glorious win, Rajdeepak Das, CCO, Leo Burnett said, “In Leo Burnett, we believe in creativity solving human problems with technology being in the center of it. It feels good when the biggest piece of work wins for the biggest brand on the biggest stage!”  

Incidentally, like music lions, this is only the second time that India has won a metal in the sports category since its addition to Cannes Lions in 2019. However, it was Leo Burnett only that had picked a silver metal for the Airtel 175 Replayed campaign. 

On Tuesday, the awards for eight categories were declared at the festival including Entertainment, Entertainment for gaming, Entertainment for Music, Entertainment for Sports, Design, Design craft, Film craft and industry craft. No Indian campaigns were competing in the digital craft and entertainment for gaming categories. No wins were registered in the design and industry craft categories, though two campaigns from India had been shortlisted in both. 

Day 1

The Indian contingent started it’s Cannes journey with a slow-paced winning spree on Day 1. The country won four metals -- one gold, one silver, and two bronze-- across two categories. The win feels much sweeter though because last year India opened the festival with a duck, as no wins came in the Pharma, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Print & Publishing, and Radio & Audio Lions categories. Along with the metals, India also added eight more shortlists, taking the tally to 46.

The Winning Campaigns  

The impressive Cannes Lions wins for India came across two categories - Outdoor and Health & Wellness. 

In Outdoor Lions, McCann Worldgroup’s ‘Fit My Feet’ campaign for Buckaroo Footwear clinched one gold and one bronze. The gold came in for the healthcare innovation sub-category, while the bronze was won in the brand experience and activation subcategory. 

‘Fit My Feet’ campaign was designed in association with Buckaroo Footwear as a pilot project to provide affordable and fully customised footwear for those most in need. McCann Worldgroup worked with India’s famed local cobblers, known as ‘mochis', found on almost every street corner as they provided them with a unique footwear toolkit that combines raw materials and existing cobbler’s tools to create custom and inexpensive slippers for economically-disadvantaged people with clubfoot. The campaign also provided wall art branding to each cobbler.

Commenting on the win, Prasoon Joshi, Chairman McCann Asia Pacific & CEO and Chief Creative Officer McCann India said, “Fit My Feet weaves threads of compassion along with innovation for individuals affected by clubfoot and India’s cobbler community. We at McCann India worked closely with the Indian brand Buckaroo, who in its ethos, carries the vision of revolutionising footwear. It’s great that we could come up with this initiative to transform the lifestyles of the ones whose specific needs are largely ignored. Our compassion driven and design-led idea helps uplift individuals with clubfoot while also providing a new commerce stream to the cobbler community of India.”

He further added, “We are all excited about this initiative. I especially want to mention Vikram Dhembare who since inception to execution has been the key to this project. By making this effort of  crafting personalised footwear for individuals with clubfoot, the cobblers are not only providing comfortable solutions to them but also nurturing a sense of inclusivity and empowerment within them. For McCann Worldgroup India, it is one of our progressive steps towards a society where every individual's unique needs are met with creativity, compassion, and dedication. ”

 Another bronze in the category was won by Ogilvy for ‘The Impossible Choice’ campaign, in film: cinema, TV, and digital film subcategory. The campaign via an emotional ad-film, created for St Jude India Childcare Centers, showcased the dilemma of a warden who was supposed to choose the family of one of the two children suffering from cancer whom his organisation can help. The children’s health and family situations are compared like cold, hard facts. While his choice is not revealed in the ad, it ends with informing the viewers about how several children with cancer are forced to give up on their treatment due to poverty.

Speaking about the campaign, Kainaz Karmarkar, Harshad Rajadhyakha, and Sukesh Naik, Joint CCOs of Ogilvy said, “The Impossible Choice” has far deeper meaning to us than just an ad. Our teams have spent quality time with this noble organisation - visiting its center, meeting its driven people, understanding the prime task behind the brief, and then engineering the powerful and heart-tugging work that has made such an impact.

This recognition in the form of a Lion is just the right encouragement for Fritz, Jayesh, Ricardo and the team, and for Mahesh Gharat of Hungry films, who has directed it so beautifully for us.”

Ogilvy bagged a silver metal in Outdoor Lions under special build subcategory. The winning campaign was ‘Taj Mahal Megh Santoor’ for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal from the house of Unilever. The campaign involved the installation of a billboard outside Vijaywada Railway station that gained the Guinness World Record title for the ‘Largest Environmentally Interactive billboard’. The board itself consisted of brass bars that were designed like the strings of Indian musical instrument santoor, which played Raag Malhar (the tune of the rains in Indian classical music) when it rained.

Rejoiced with the win, Kainaz Karmarkar, Harshad Rajadhyakha, and Sukesh Naik, Joint CCOs of Ogilvy said, “We are thrilled to kick-off the first day of Cannes with a Silver Lion for Taj Mahal Megh Santoor. This refreshing work for HUL, on a tea brand that has championed Indian classical music for decades, is a wonderful example of how a brand can come alive creatively in a unique way while staying true to its core values.

A Look At The Metal Tally 

This is how India’s metal tally looks at the end of day 02 at Cannes Lions 2024:  

 More Shortlists Pouring In 

Not just the metals but India’s shortlists also grew on the second day at the French Riviera. The desi contingent got eight more shortlists including – four shortlists for Leo Burnett, three for Ogilvy and one for Brand David. The total shortlists for India now stand at 54. 

Three out of these eight shortlists came in the Creative Effectiveness category for Leo Burnett. While two of these were for Oreo #BringBack2011 campaign, one was for Airtel 175 Replayed. 

The next four shortlists were in the Creative Strategy Category. Leo Burnett’s Spotify Feel The Music and Ogilvy’s Vi Human Testing Network will be in the race for the coveted lines in the upcoming days at Cannes Lions 2024. The other two shortlists in the category came for Cadbury There’s A Glass & A Half In Everyone, a joint effort by VCCP London, Ogilvy Kualalampur, Ogilvy South Africa, Ogilvy Mumbai, and Ogilvy Singapore.  

The final shortlist of the day was for Brand David Communications for Colgate’s The Sweet Truth campaign. 

India could not find a spot in the shortlists for creative business transformation, creative commerce, and newly added luxury & lifestyle lions. 

What’s In For Day 03 

As the euphoria continues with many happy faces dancing trophies in their hands, Wednesday is going to add to the excitement more. 

On the agenda for the third day at Cannes Lions 2024 are the final sets of shortlists for Sustainable Development Goals Lions. Additionally, the results for creative B2B, creative data lions, direct lions, media lions, and PR Lions are to be announced in the evening. 

In the running are 12 campaigns from the Indian contingent including the winning Gatorade Turf Finder (Leo Burnett), Fit My Fit (McCann Worldgroup), Coca Cola’s Sing To Remember (VML), and Taj Mahal Megh Santoor (Ogilvy). Other campaigns in the competition are Motorola Deep Connect (Dentsu Creative), Mc Donald’s Cosplay (DDB Mudra Group Mumbai/ Wieden + Kennedy, New York), and HDFC Bank’s Lulumelon EOSS (FCB Kinnect).

For more updates, be socially connected with us on
Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Youtube & Google News

Tags : Coke Studio Vml Jsw Steel Cannes Lions 2024 Ogilvy Cannes Day 2 Early Man Films