The 71st edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity came to a close on June 21. Indian agencies picked up a total of four Lions on Day 1, five Lions on Day 2, three Lions on Day 3 and two Lions on Day 4 at the festival.
Day 5 results revealed a small haul for Indian agencies and brands, having picked up four Lions. This takes India’s final grand total to 18, a rather underwhelming performance this year round.
McCann Worldgroup (Gurugram) picked up a Bronze Lion in the Sustainable Development Goals category for their ‘Dabba Savings Account’ campaign for ESAF Small Finance Bank.
Leo Burnett (Mumbai) picked up a Bronze Lion in the same Sustainable Development Goals category for their ‘Drops of Joy’ category for Lay’s.
Tgthr (Mumbai) and Reckitt Benckiser (Gurgaon) won a Silver Lion in the Glass: Lion for Change category for their ‘Harpic Loocater – #BeFreeToPee’ campaign for Harpic India.
Leo Burnett (Mumbai) won a Silver Lion for their ‘Project Farm Equal’ campaign in the same Glass: Lion for Change category for Lay’s.
Read More: Indian agencies’ slow show continues at Cannes Lions; Day 4 results in poor haul
On June 20, Leo Burnett (Mumbai) picked up a Silver Lion for its ‘Bring Back 2011’ campaign for Oreo in the Creative Effectiveness Lions category.
In the Creative Strategy Lions category, Ogilvy (Mumbai) won a Bronze Lion for their ‘VI Human Network Testing Network’ campaign for Vodafone Idea.
On June 19, Leo Burnett (Mumbai) picked up a Gold Lion for their ‘Turf Finder’ campaign for Gatorade in the Creative Data Lions category.
In the PR Lions category, FCB Kinnect (Mumbai) won a Silver Lion for their ‘Lulumelon Eoss’ campaign for HDFC Bank. The media agency for the campaign is FCB/SIX India.
In the same PR Lions category, VML (Mumbai) won a Silver Lion for their ‘Sing To Remember’ campaign for Coca-Cola’s Coke Studio. The media agency for the campaign is EssenceMediacom (Delhi).
On June 18, Ogilvy (Mumbai) won a Bronze Lion for their ‘Erase Valentine’s Day’ campaign for Mondelez-owned Cadbury 5 Star in the Entertainment Lions category. The media agency for the campaign is Wavemaker India.
In the Entertainment Lions for Sports category, Leo Burnett (Mumbai) won a Bronze Lion for their ‘Turf Finder’ campaign for Gatorade.
In the Entertainment Lions for Music category, VML (Mumbai) picked up a Bronze Lion for Coca-Cola’s ‘Coke Studio’. The media agency for the campaign is EssenceMediacom (Delhi).
In the Film Craft Lions category, Early Man Film (Mumbai) won a Silver Lion and a Bronze Lion for their ‘Jindal Steel – Steel for India’ campaign for Jindal Steel and Power.
On June 17, the first day of the festival, McCann Worldgroup India picked up two Lions in the Health and Wellness category. A Gold Lion for their ‘Fit My Feet’ campaign for Buckaroo Footwear and a Bronze Lion for the same campaign and brand.
Ogilvy too picked up a Bronze Lion in the Health and Wellness category for its ‘The Impossible Choice’ campaign for St. Jude India Childcare Centres.
Ogilvy also bagged a Silver Lion in the Outdoor category for ‘Taj Mahal Megh Santoor’ campaign for Unilever’s Brooke Bond.
This year, there were a total of 826 entries from India to Cannes Lions and according to the Cannes Lions tally, only 18 entries have been shortlisted across categories. As usual, the US has the highest number of entries and shortlists at 7224 and 206, respectively.
India’s performance this year, has not been as exceptional as previous editions. This year’s poor show was only made worse by a controversy over credit.
The ‘Jindal Steel – Steel for India’ campaign for Jindal Steel and Power by Early Man Film bagged two Lions – a Silver and a Bronze in the Film Craft Lions category. Wieden+Kennedy India raised an issue for being overlooked in the credits for the creative ideation of the campaign. Kondurkar Studio has been mentioned for creative ideation of the campaign that won two Lions.
The dispute had been brewing a while and in March this year, W+K had even approached the Delhi High Court asking it to restrain Jindal Steel and Power from publishing and distributing the campaign video across platforms. The agency informed the court that the idea on which the campaign was created, was very similar to the one W+K had originally presented to JSP. The Court stated in its judgement that the campaign was indeed similar to the idea that had been originally presented. The matter was eventually settled out of court, according to reports.