Glass Lions: Grand prix for Mindshare; BBDO, Ogilvy score 1 win each

Winners of the Direct, Glass, Print & Publishing, Promo & Activation and Radio Lions were announced last night at the 63rd International Festival of Creativity. Industry stars gathered at the red carpet ceremony to celebrate the benchmarks of world-class creativity and for the first time in Cannes Lions history, the show was live-streamed via YouTube.

Mindshare Mumbai walked away with the Grand Prix in Glass Lions this year for the ‘6 Pack Band’ initiative for Hindustan Unilever. The initiative saw HUL’s Brooke Bond Red Label brand and Mindshare come together to create India’s first transgender pop band.

Glass Lions Jury President, Madeline di Nonno, described the work as global, inclusive and impactful. “Gender equality is not only a women’s issue. It includes all aspects of marginalisation, discrimination and unconscious bias faced by all genders,” she added.

Glass: The Lion for Change was launched last year in partnership with Lean In.Org. The award recognises work that positively impacts ingrained gender inequality, imbalance or injustice.

Meanwhile, India scored two more wins at the Glass Lions. The ‘Dads#Share the Load’ case study done for Procter & Gamble India fetched BBDO Mumbai a Glass Lion.

Ogilvy & Mather, Mumbai won a Glass Lion for its campaign calling for ban on open sale of acid. The winning campaign – ‘Beauty Tips By Reshma’, which features an acid attack survivor Reshma, has been done for NGO Make Love Not Scars.

Entry fees from Glass will now be distributed to causes aligned with the goals of the award, including: UN Women, No Ceilings, Men Engage, Gender and Development Network, Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Women for Women, Pro Mujer, Equality Now Inc. and Global Fund for Women. With the assistance of a unique giving platform created by in/PACT, Festival attendees will each be able to allocate €100 of proceeds (€25, up to four times) throughout the remainder of the Festival to their cause of choice, via the Cannes Lions App.“This year, we are honoured and excited to amplify our efforts, enabling delegates to play an active role,” said Kevin Eyres, CEO of in/PACT.

This year’s Festival has seen record-breaking award entries and over 15,000 attendees are expected to descend on Cannes before the end of the Festival week. And for the first time, the awards shows on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, will be live-streamed via YouTube, taking the Lions to a broader, global audience.