In 2013, agencies like Taproot, Ogilvy, McCann Worldgroup and Grey got India several Lions from Cannes. The big wins were in categories like Print and Outdoor. Cut to 2023, no Indian agencies have scored in these traditional categories. The reasons are many. Over the last decade, Indian work that has received international reorganisation has been digital-focused and purpose-led. That’s the flavour that Indian agencies have added in generous amounts in their winning recipe. Not just that, times are changing.
“Clients want agencies to offer new-age campaigns that have activation or social media lens. They also want campaigns that generate high levels of engagement, conversations, and most importantly great results,” says Santosh Padhi, chief creative officer, Wieden+Kennedy India. Padhi is the former chief creative officer and co-founder of Taproot, an agency that got India glory at global stage for many years. He tells Storyboard18 that agencies today are picking the right categories at international awards shows. Padhi thinks that it’s strategically and economically the right move.
Ad guru KV Sridhar has similar views. The global chief creative officer of Nihilent Hypercollective, Nihilent candidly says that agencies especially from network companies cannot afford lavish budgets for awards. “For agencies, winning international awards helps in reputation building. It’s a great portfolio builder and helps in attracting new businesses. The fact of the matter is clients want work that will benefit their business. Today, awards are just add-ons.”
A former creative chief of a network agency in India on condition of anonymity tells Storyboard18, “Creating a scam work in categories like Print, Outdoor, and Radio was easy. Today, creating a scam in say an Innovation category is an expensive affair. Clients don’t have that kind of money to spurge with. Also, let’s admit the print ads that we see today are abysmal.”
Awards shows like Cannes Lions, D&AD, and likes have understood the trend and have expanded their category list too. From gaming, music, sports to industry craft, there is room for all kinds of work.
The merger of creativity and business
2022 was a historic year for India at Cannes Lions. Dentsu Webchutney created history by winning three Grand Prix’s in a single year for Vice Media’s campaign ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’. The agency also grabbed a much-coveted Titanium Lion, a category that celebrates game-changing work. The campaign became India’s highest-ever awarded work in Cannes Lions’ history. Dentsu Creative India also won the prestigious Agency of the Year title.
The campaign was a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’, visitors at the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleports the objects back to their homeland. Taking this further, ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ also extended into a ten-part podcast series featuring experts from the countries where the artefact was taken from and not from where it’s currently housed. This was done to provide a broader education on the artefacts, as well as the history and ongoing impact of colonialism. That was perfect use of Audio in a communication piece. The idea for the campaign came up during a casual conversation between the agency’s former chief creative officer PG Aditiya and former CEO Gautam Reghunath, who now run an indie creative shop, Talented.
The other campaign that took the centre stage was Ogilvy India and Wavemaker India’s Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad’. In 2020, as a part of the brand’s ‘Iss Diwali Aap #KiseKhushKarenge?’ campaign, Mondelez India’s ‘Not Just A Cadbury Ad’ leveraged artificial intelligence to create hyper-personalised spots for local businesses in and around 260 pin codes. It married creativity and tech with a purpose: to promote local businesses at a time when they were worst hit by the pandemic and lockdowns. The campaign tied in with Cadbury’s global brand positioning centred on genuine acts of kindness and generosity. The idea came out of a creative hot shop like Ogilvy. However, with collaborations this idea became the perfect example of a new age work that did well for the brand and got recognition to the agency.
“When you look at Cannes, what we need to keep in mind is that purpose-led communication rules the roost when it comes to picking up awards here,” says Sumanto Chattopadhyay, former chairman and chief creative officer of 82.5 Communications. Which is why this year’s entries from India like Vedantu’s ‘The Everything Book’, the Dove ‘Self Esteem Project’ and Lay’s ‘Smart Farm’ have purpose at the centre of the creative piece.
However, Chattopadhyay thinks the other important characteristic of these entries is that they are not merely advertising solutions—they solve real world problems, often using technology with a potentially massive positive impact on society. “So it is very creative problem-solving in a larger sense. And while communication is a part of it—it is by its very nature brass tacks. It’s not creative in the traditional advertising sense because its job is to communicate the creativity of the real-world solution that goes way beyond advertising,” He adds.
Indian agencies have scored a duck in Print, Radio & Audio, Outdoor Lions this time but there is still hope for a turnaround in other trending categories. Even if they don’t pick any Lions from those, there is always next time, concludes Padhi.