Cannes Lions Scorecard- India Bags 3 Metals On Day 3

The third day at Cannes Lions 2021 was not as glittering for the Indian participants. Out of nine shortlists, it could only get its hand on three of them- two Silver and one Bronze Lions. While Dentsu Webchutney won two Silver Lions in Entertainment & Digital Craft, Ogilvy picked a Bronze Creative Data Lion. 

Quick look at the winning campaigns of Wednesday:

The 8-bit Journo & The World’s Most Reported Trailer by Dentsu Webchutney

The ‘8-bit Journo’ for Vice Media continued to shine bright and added one more Silver Lion in its kitty in the Digital Craft (real-time contextual content) category. It was nominated for three sub-categories. 

It had earlier won a Silver Lion in Creative Strategy (media/entertainment), another Silver Lion in Direct (market disruption), and a Bronze Lion in Direct (media/entertainment) categories. The campaign was an interesting initiative to inform the Jammu & Kashmir public of what transpired in the world when they were under a 100+ day internet and telecom blackout after the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019. 

Another important campaign from Dentsu Webchutney stable that picked a Silver Lion today is the promotional campaign for the movie Thappad that was produced by Trigger Happy Entertainment. Called ‘The World’s Most Reported Trailer’, the campaign aimed to sensitise the public around domestic violence, which was the core theme of the film too. It very intelligently used the built-in ‘report’ feature on YouTube app and websites and prompted the users to report the second trailer of the film, which included the scene from the movie wherein the male lead slaps his wife, played by Taapsee Pannu during a party. Having been reported over 400,000 times, the trailer was ultimately taken by YouTube within 26 hours. 

Speaking about the wins Dentsu Webchutney CEO Gautam Raghunath said, “For us, The 8-bit journo and The world’s most reported trailer have been gifts that have kept on giving. They inspire us to do better with this unique Webchutney brand of creativity. 

“I also have to say we’re particularly thrilled with the categories we’re being awarded and shortlisted in. We’ve got 3 diverse pieces of work, including Swiggy’s Better Half recipes, featured across special categories like digital craft, mobile and creative e-commerce - not necessarily categories that work from India is used to shining in. But more than anything, I’m so happy for our talent, both past and present, for our success this week. Every single Cannes Lion is a reason to celebrate, let alone the five that've come our way yet!”  

#NotJustACadburyAd by Ogilvy India 

The campaign won a Bronze Lion under Creative Data (data-driven targeting) category. Created for Mondelez’s ‘Cadbury Celebration’ on Diwali last year, advertised not just the brand but thousands of small businesses across India.

Cadbury custom-designed hundreds of versions of the same ad, with the relevant geo-targeting based on pin codes helping people to discover local shops in the vicinity. The aim was to get these local businesses back on their feet after the crunching lockdown that impacted their earnings. Cadbury reached out to 1800+ local retailers across 260+ pin codes in Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Indore & Pune.

The results for Entertainment Lions for Sport, Entertainment Lions for Music, Industry Craft Lions, and Film Craft Lions were also announced today. While India had no shortlists in the first category, there were four shortlists from the other categories. 

Jimmy Nelson Foundation’s ‘Save Our Sentinels’ campaign by Wunderman was shortlisted in the Entertainment for Music category; Famous Innovations had two shortlists in the Industry Craft category called ‘Lynch’ & ‘Reaction’, and in Film Craft Lions, Facebook’s 2020 Diwali campaign ‘Pooja Didi’ by Taproot Dentsu had been shortlisted. 

Here’s how India’s metal tally looks at the end of the Day 3 at Cannes Lions 2021: