Cannes Lions 2017: India secures 7 more Lions, total tally reaches 39

The Cannes Lions community came together to celebrate world-class creativity, honouring the winners of the Digital Craft, Film Craft, Radio and Creative Effectiveness Lions on Day 7. India secured 7 Lions in Film Craft, Radio and Creative Effectiveness, taking the country’s Lions tally to 39. This is the highest number of wins that India has scored at Cannes Lions so far. 

Creative Effectiveness is the only global award to recognise the link between award-winning creativity and business results. From 172 entries received, 21 Lions were awarded: 5 Gold, 7 Silver and 8 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to ‘Van Gogh’s Bedrooms: Let Yourself In’ by Leo Burnett Chicago for the Art Institute of Chicago. Jury President, Jonathan Mildenhall, Chief Marketing Officer of Airbnb, stated that the best Creative Effectiveness work impacts audiences, business, culture and the creative community at large. The Grand Prix winning work used creativity to breathe new life into an organisation, introducing it to a younger, broader audience and creating a huge global conversation. Mildenhall said, “It clearly understood how to live in the uncomfortable space necessary for the work to be truly remarkable.” 

Indian agencies walked away with 2 Gold and 2 Silver Lions in Creative Effectiveness. ‘Ariel Share The Load: A Social Movement to Remove the Cultural Stain of Gender’ work done for P&G India fetched a Gold for BBDO India. Leo Burnett won the second Gold Lion in this category for its campaign titled ‘Bajaj V – The Nation’s Bike’. BBDO India also won a Silver for its much appreciated ‘Dad#ShareTheLoad’ campaign done for P&G India’s detergent brand Ariel Matic. ‘Beauty Tips By Reshma’, the campaign that makes a powerful statement against acid attacks on women, won a Silver Lion in Creative Effectiveness. The campaign has been done by Ogilvy & Mather Mumbai for Make Love Not Scars. 

From 1,483 entries in Radio, 63 Lions were awarded: 7 Gold, 22 Silver and 33 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to three executions for KFC by Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg: ‘Repeat the Punchline’, ‘Long Red Thin Shape’, ‘No One Cheerses’. Funny, moving and expertly crafted, Jury President Mario D’Andrea, President & Chief Creative Officer, Dentsu, Brazil, described the work as “a very traditional brand with a very traditional way of doing copywriting”. 

In Radio, India brought home 2 Bronze Lions – McCann Worldwide for its campaign titled ‘Dermaclinix - The Scientist’ done for Dermaclinix Hair Transplant Clinic, and Ogilvy & Mather for the ‘#NotMusicToMyEars’ campaign done for RNW Media. 

From 2,490 entries in Film Craft, 103 Lions were awarded: 17 Gold, 33 Silver and 52 Bronze and the Grand Prix went to ‘The Blaze - Territory’ by Iconoclast, Culver City for musician The Blaze. Jury President Robert Galluzzo, Founder/Executive Producer, FINCH, Australia, said the work was more than an award-winner, it’s “a gift to the festival audience,” adding, “it’s a stunning example of what vulnerability and poetry can look like on screen. The casting is stunning, the cinematography is stunning, the editing is superb – it’s a piece of film that has an ambiguous yet important narrative that you can watch over and over again.” 

Wieden+Kennedy’s campaign – Nike Da Da Ding – the sole shortlist in Film Craft, won a Bronze Lion. 

From 924 entries in Digital Craft, 37 Lions were awarded: 6 Gold, 11 Silver and 19 Bronze and the Grand Prix was picked-up by ‘Real-Time Virtual Reality Experience for Björk’s Notget VR’ by Analog, London/ W&N Studio, London for Björk. Jury President, Henry Cowling, Creative Director, UNIT9, UK, said that the work “combines all the facets of digital craft to the highest possible level. It’s breaking new ground in media storytelling and experience design and is doing it in a way that’s absolutely virtuous.” 

Winners of the Cyber Young Lions competition were also announced during the awards show: 

Gold: Michael Phillips and Scott Kooken from Youngdogs Netherlands, The Netherlands

Silver: Casper Mandrup and Fie Lyster from Zenith, Denmark

Bronze: Martina Gonzalez Calderon and Matias Paglieri from Wunderman Buenos Aires, Argentina