Cannes Lions 2024: Slow but stellar start for India as McCann Worldgroup bags gold

BY Mansi Sharma

The Indian contingent started with a slow-paced winning spree at the 71st edition of the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. The country has won four metals, including 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  

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

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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.

Our congratulations to Fritz, Jayesh, Nirav, Varun, and the broader Ogilvy team behind this work. Also to our music and technology partners, as well as our media partners - Rapport Media. And of course, to our fabulous client partners at HUL for being staunch supporters of great work.”

 India could not convert its four shortlists in print and publishing category and three shortlists in audio & radio category into metals. The contingent had zero shortlists in the pharma category. Last year too, the country had drawn a duck across these categories.

Here’s how the agency-wise awards tally looks at the end of day one of Cannes Lions 2024.

Shortlists Spree Continues  

Adding on to the impressive shortlist spree at Cannes Lions this year, India also added eight more shortlists to its bucket on the first day of the festival. The shortlists for Brand Experience & Activation, Creative B2B and Creative Data Lions Shortlists were announced on Monday. 

In the creative data category, Leo Burnett’s Gatorade Turffinder campaign was shortlisted under data-enhanced creativity and use of real-time data subcategories. 

The other six shortlisted campaigns were all nominated in the brand experience and activation category. These included Leo Burnett’s ‘Whisper Period Science’ for P&G Whisper in healthcare subcategory and Gatorade ‘Turf Finder’ in single-market campaign; Ogilvy’s ‘Erase Valentines Day’ for Cadbury 5 Star in live brand experience or activation; McCann Worldgroup’s ‘Fit My Feet’ campaign for Buckaroo Footwear in launch/relaunch and single-market campaign; and FCB India’s ‘Untangling the Politics of Hair’ for Stir magazine in social, behaviour & cultural insight. 

There were no shortlists for Indian in the Creative B2B Lions. 

Out of the 31 categories, shortlists for 23 categories have been announced so far. A total of 46 campaigns from India have so far found a place in these shortlists.

What’s In Store For Day 2 

The excitement is surely going to mount on the second day of the Oscars of the ad world and hopefully the metal tally for the Indian contingent as well.  

On agenda for today are shortlists across six more categories: Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy, Film and Luxury & Lifestyle Lions. 

The metals for eight more categories are to be announced, which include Design, Digital Craft, Film Craft, Industry Craft, Entertainment, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Entertainment Lions for Music, and Entertainment Lions for Sports. India has a total of 12 shortlists for today across six categories. Fit My Feet, the Gold Winner of day one is running again in the design category along with Taj Mahal Megh Santoor in industry craft lions.  

Other shortlisted campaigns for the day include Early Man Films and Kundurkar Studio’s ‘The Steel of India’ campaign for Jindal Steel (2), VML’s #UnplasticIndia for TOI (1) along with their ‘Seal Alarm’ and ‘Seabird Alarm’ variants (1 each), and lastly the ‘Erase the Valentine's Day’ campaign for Cadbury 5 Star by Ogilvy (1).

Fingers crossed as we prepare ourselves to witness another spectacular day for India at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

Tags : Ogilvy Cannes Lions 2024 Buckaroo Lifestyle Taj Mahal Mccann Wordgroup