Cannes Lions 2024: India's winners

“To be picked as a Creative Effectiveness winner you have to be the best of the best consistently," said Rajdeepak Das, CCO, Publicis Groupe South Asia and chairman of Leo Burnett South Asia. “And we couldn’t be prouder to take home a silver for our Mondelez Oreo #BringBack2011 campaign. This campaign is a powerful example of how creativity can play an effective role in driving business, fostering a deeper connection with the audiences and building the brand.”  

Ogilvy Mumbai, meanwhile added a Bronze Lion for its 'Vi Human Network Testing Network' campaign for Vodafone.  

With only one day left, India is not keeping pace with last year's conversion rate and is now all but certain to fall well short of its showings in the last couple of years, despite a rise in entries and shortlists. With only fourteen metals earned so far, initial expectations of surpassing last year's metal count of 25 Lions will not be possible. 

Four of India's top five shortlisted categories have already been announced, although the Sustainable Development Goals category with five India-shortlisted entries is yet to come.  

Four days in, Ogilvy and Leo Burnett Mumbai lead the pack with four and three Lions respectively. 

India's most successful year in Cannes was in 2022 when the nation brought home a record 48 Lions. Since then, India's reputation globally as a creative powerhouse had been on the rise. With 57 shortlists on 826 entries this year, India well-eclipsed the 43 shortlists in total last year, but hasn't been able to convert into metals at the same rate. 

On 19 June Leo Burnett had won a Gold Lion in Creative Data for 'Turf Finder', an innovative campaign on behalf of Pepsico's Gatorade that used Google traffic data to identify low traffic sites in order to create temporary play courts for sports like cricket and basketball. A day earlier the campaign had picked up a Bronze Lion in the Entertainment for Sport category. 

India also earned two more Silver Lions on 19 June in the PR category. FCB Kinnect won a Silver Lion for its 'Lulumelon Eoss' campaign for HDFC Bank, while VML Mumbai also took Silver, its second Lion for Coca-Cola's 'Sing to Remember' campaign, which also won a Bronze Entertainment for Music Lion on 18 June.  

On 18 June, Early Man Film scored a Silver and Bronze Lion in Film Craft for their sensory striking 'The Steel of India' work for Jindal Steel.  

Leo Burnett Mumbai and VML Mumbai, the shortlist leaders, each won their first Lions, both Bronzes. The former won an Entertainment Lion for Sport for its 'Turf Finder' work for Gatorade which helps communities find playing fields for sport. VML, meanwhile, picked up an Entertainment Lion for Music for 'Sing to Remember' for Coca-Cola.  

On 17 June, McCann Worldgroup bagged India's first Gold metal of the year at Cannes Lions 2024 in the 'Health and wellness' category. It won it for the 'Fit My Feet' campaign that it crafted for Buckaroo Footwear. Incidentally, this campaign also bagged a bronze metal in the same category and was also shortlisted for the 'Brand experience and activation' category. Ogilvy Mumbai also won a bronze in the 'Health and wellness' category for its ‘Impossible Choice’ campaign that it had designed for St Jude India Childcare Centers. It highlighted how young cancer patients are forced to discontinue their treatment due to lack of funds and makes an impassioned plea for people to donate funds to support their cancer treatment. 

Ogilvy further bagged a silver in ‘Outdoor’ category for its Taj Mahal Megh Santoor campaign for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Tea together with Rapport Outdoor Advertising. The agency created an installation where santoor strings were strung on a billboard, which caught the falling raindrops to perform a live rendition of the Raag Megh Malhar. VML Mumbai had high hopes for its four shortlists in the Print & Publishing category in its arresting imagery for its #UnplasticIndia campaign for The Times of India but were passed over by the jury in the awarding round.  

(Source: Campaign India)