McCann bags over a third of India's total metals at Cannes

India bags 39 metals and 1 Grand Prix, taking total award tally to 40

The sixty-fourth edition of the Cannes Ad Fest, which concluded on Saturday night, will go down as the country’s best outing ever at the festival. Led by McCann Worldgroup India, the Indian contingent took home a total of 39 metals and a Grand Prix, surpassing its previous highest record of 33 metals achieved in 2013. There was no Grand Prix for India in 2013.

In terms of total Lions, which includes metals and a Grand Prix, India has touched the magical figure of 40. Metals is industry parlance for awards including gold, silver and bronze.
 

Some other winners this year included Ogilvy India (nine metals), BBDO India (three metals), Leo Burnett India (three metals), Taproot Dentsu (three metals), Wieden+Kennedy (two metals), Medulla Communications (two metals) and L&K Saatchi & Saatchi (one metal).

McCann helped the country post its best-ever tally by bagging over a third of India’s total metals at 15, besides getting a Grand Prix. 

The metals included four gold, seven silver and four bronze Lions, bagged mainly for ‘Immunity Charm’, a campaign for Afghanistan’s ministry of public health. This campaign, which helps the cause of child vaccination, got 12 out of the 15 metals bagged by the agency plus the Grand Prix for Good in the Lions Health awards.

Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann Asia-Pacific and Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer, McCann India, said the agency’s performance was a result of teamwork. 

“This wouldn’t have been possible without the ‘Creative First Culture’ at McCann Worldgroup, under the leadership of our CEO Harris Diamond. Rob Riley, the global creative chairman, has driven this creative vision intricately,” he said.

Besides ‘Immunity Charm’, there were a few other campaigns that were notable winners. This included Ogilvy’s ‘Savlon Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’, Leo Burnett India’s ‘Roads that Honk’, Taproot Dentsu’s ‘Adidas Odds’, Weiden+Kennedy’s ‘Da Da Ding’ for Nike and L&K Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘#Giveher5’.

Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy South Asia, said, “I am happy for the young people who work at Ogilvy India and have done us proud.” 

Like McCann, most of Ogilvy’s nine metals, which included two gold, two silver and five bronze Lions, came from the ‘Savlon Healthy Hands’ campaign, led by creative directors Kainaz Karmakar and Harshad Rajadhyaksha. This team was also responsible for ‘Beauty Tips By Reshma’, which won big last year at Cannes, and bagged a silver in the creative effectiveness category this year at the festival.  
 

Some of last year’s big winners such as ‘Ariel Share The Load’ and ‘Dads #ShareTheLoad’ bagged a gold and silver, respectively, in creative effectiveness this year, while Leo Burnett’s ‘Bajaj V: The Nation’s Bike’ also bagged a gold in the same category this year.

In a column for the Business Standard recently, Dheeraj Sinha, chief strategy officer, Leo Burnett, South Asia, said that advertising was moving into a new era, which he called the ‘maker culture’. “This is an opportunity where you solve a problem not through words and pictures, as advertising has always done, but through the use of technology, data architecture and even manufacturing,” Sinha said.

Veteran ad man K V Sridhar, who is founder and chief creative officer at Hyper Collective Creative Technologies, says that the quality of work entered this year was superior, helping India post a record total. 

“Traditionally, India has been known for its craft and execution abilities at Cannes, but that trend is shifting now, with cause-related advertising and marketing gaining ground,” he said.