Cannes Lions 2023: India Shines with 10 More Lions on Day 3, Totalling 16 Lions

On Day 3 of the Cannes Lions 2023 festival, India's creative talent was on full display, with the country securing ten more metals.

The country celebrated success on the global stage by winning four silver lions and six bronze lions in the engagement track. Media Lions won one silver and three bronze, Social & Influencer Lions won one silver and one bronze, PR Lions won one silver and two bronze, and Creative Data Lions won one silver lion.

Leo Burnett won three silver lions across three categories. The agency won in the category of Creative Data Lions for the campaign 'Lay's Smart Farm' for Lay's, while the campaign '#Bringback2011' for Oreo India won in the categories of Social & Influencer Lions and PR Lions. Furthermore, Airtel's 'Airtel Replayed' campaign received a bronze lion for the country in PR Lions and shared another bronze lion with Essence Mediacom for the campaign ‘The Missing Chapter’ for Whisper. 

Commenting on the win, Dheeraj Sinha, CEO of South Asia, Leo Burnett said, “I am so chuffed to see our campaigns win across categories at the Cannes Lions stage. The biggest thing is that we are winning across the biggest brands of the country - Lays, Oreo, Airtel, and Whisper. It makes us proud that we are creating global benchmark-beating work for some of the largest businesses in India.”

Sonali Malaviya, Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer, Essence Mediacom commented, “Creativity that grows markets and is a force for good is the ultimate winning combination. Close on the heels of ‘Agency of the Year’ at Goafest just a few weeks ago, this recognition for ‘Whisper - the missing chapter’ at Cannes was perhaps our highest-order ambition. In the formative months of EssenceMediacom, the bar on breakthrough thinking has been reset!”

In the category of Media Lions, Talented acquired a Silver Lion for the campaign 'Or Travel on Cleartrip' for Cleartrip. In addition, the agency won two more bronze lions for Swiggy's campaign, 'Bangalore - Why is this a Swiggy Ad?' in the categories of Social & Influencer Lions and PR Lions.

On the victory, Gautam Reghunath & PG Aditiya, Co-founders, Talented commented, “We’re not going to lie. Last year was amazing. This one kind of feels even better and means so much to all of us. We’ve just celebrated our first year anniversary at Talented and three metals at Cannes Lions were certainly not part of the agenda for year 1. Both the Swiggy & Cleartrip work that have been awarded are an excellent representation of the brand of creativity we want to champion. Stuff that transcends mediums. We hate to go into cliched territory but there is no way some of the directions that both these campaigns took would ever see the light of day without champion clients, technology, and film partners, like the ones we were lucky to partner with. They were equal co-creators through it all.”

Furthermore, Dentsu Creative and Mindshare India both received a bronze lion in the category of Media Lions for the campaigns 'Suraksha Ka Teeka' for Mortein and 'Thumbstopping Beauty' for Dove.

Aalap Desai, Chief Creative Officer - Creative Experience, West, Dentsu Creative India expressed on the win stating, “Suraksha ka Teeka is special. So much luck and love have been poured into it that winning today feels awesome. The client, Saurabh Jain at Mortein, believed in it as soon as he heard about it. The collaboration and dedication within the team were flawless. The timing and effectiveness of the product are wonderful. We are extremely proud and happy that all of this is being recognised. Fingers crossed for the other shortlists.”

Amit Wadhwa, CEO India, Dentsu Creative India added, “What an incredible streak of success! Two metals in two days. I am super thrilled. My heart brims with immense pride for our brilliant team and the entire force of Dentsu Creative. This well-deserved Bronze is just the beginning of the recognition they truly deserve, and there's undoubtedly more greatness to come.”

With each award, India's presence at Cannes Lions 2023 grows stronger, demonstrating the country's relentless dedication to excellence.

India secured a total tally of 16 Lions at Cannes Lions 2023.