Indian campaigns making their mark at Cannes Lions 2023, showcasing their journey to success

The 70^th Cannes Lions 2023, the global benchmark for creative excellence, is currently underway in the picturesque city of Cannes, France. The esteemed event gathers the brightest minds and visionary talents from across the globe.

As the curtains rise, we offer you a tantalizing glimpse into the world of advertising campaigns that proudly represent India this year. These captivating and innovative campaigns left an indelible mark on the international stage, showcasing the creativity and brilliance of the Indian advertising industry.

Be inspired by the sheer ingenuity and artistic prowess displayed by our homegrown talents.

Dentsu Creative

Dentsu Creative Agency has bagged four entries to the Cannes Lions Festival 2023 including Vedantu’s ‘The Everything Book’ campaign; TVS’ ‘The Responsible Manhole’ campaign; Mortein’s ‘Suraksha Ka Teeka’ campaign; and Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’.

Mortein’s ‘Suraksha Ka Teeka’

The campaign was launched in May 2023 to fight the prevalent menace of malaria. The awareness program was launched with the aim to leverage the traditional habit of applying ‘Kaala teeka’, followed in most Indian households and to educate people on protection from vector-borne diseases.

The ‘teeka’ has been reformulated at Mortein Advanced Research Lab and infused with natural ingredients, such that it would act as a natural mosquito repellent.

Vedantu’s ‘The Everything Book’

The campaign was introduced in June, addressing the lack of accessibility to quality education and reliable connectivity that hampers access not only to online learning platforms, but also to skilled teachers and valuable courses.

To address this challenge, Vedantu, in partnership with Dentsu Creative India, has developed a patented network aggregator device nestled in a beautifully illustrated book titled, ‘The Everything Book’. The device aims to bridge the connectivity gap by providing high-speed internet access to the most remote and disconnected parts of India.

TVS’ ‘The Responsible Manhole’

The Responsible Manhole campaign is a road-safety drive that seeks to tackle the pressing concern of open manholes. Dentsu Creative in partnership with the Mumbai municipality and TVS Motor Company introduced an affordable device in flood-prone zones, raising awareness among pedestrians about the potential hazards.

Additionally, an app notifies municipal officers about any open manholes. The project is currently being implemented in Bengaluru and five other municipal areas.

Vice Media’s ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’

The Unfiltered History Tour is a guerrilla tour of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts via augmented reality (AR) and immersive podcasts, created by the team at Dentsu Webchutney for Vice Media.

The technology was re-engineered to scan and identify life-sized 3D artefacts in differing light conditions throughout the day, to showcase first-ever visual depictions of scenes of colonial crime without the Museum’s knowledge.

The tour focuses on 10 disputed artefacts, including the Rosetta Stone from Egypt, the Amaravati Marbles from India, the Gweagal Shield from Australia and the Parthenon Marbles from Greece.

Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett, the renowned advertising agency, triumphed with an impressive six entries at the prestigious Cannes Lions 2023. Among their remarkable accomplishments were Airtel’s captivating campaign “175 Replayed,” Lays’ innovative “Smart Farm and The Biochar Project,” Oreo’s nostalgic “#BringBack2011,” P&G Whisper’s thought-provoking “The Missing Chapter,” and Burger King’s audacious “The Great Celebrity Hack.”

Airtel’s ‘175 Replayed’

Bharti Airtel, one of India’s largest telecommunication companies,teamed up with Leo Burnett India to establish their position as a leading communication’s provider by demonstrating their 5G capabilities and new age-thinking to the next generation of consumers.

Airtel’s 175 Replayed recreated the 1983 world cup match demonstrated with the country’s first LIVE 5G-powered hologram. Kapil Dev’s virtual avatar was seen interacting with fans in real-time from a remote location. A special 175 replayed video, in 4K mode, brought key moments from the match to life.

Oreo’s ‘#BringBack2011 ‘

Oreo’s #BringBack2011 campaign featured their OG brand ambassador, Captain Cool aka MS Dhoni himself to launch (once again) the cookies in an exclusive press conference.

Every Indian fan remembers the events of 2011 like it was yesterday. OREO sought to reinforce the feeling of excitement and get every cricket lover in the spirit ahead of the 2022 Cup. The campaign is a fun blend of quirky and strategic, generating excitement and creating a high recall value because of the emotional appeal. Meanwhile, the brand introduced 15 cricket-theme embossed cookies.

P&G Whisper’s ‘The Missing Chapter’

Whisper partnered with Leo Burnett to launch its film titled ‘The Missing Chapter’ as part of its  flagship program #KeepGirlsInSchool movement. The campaign illustrates how a girl’s lack of period education contributes to her missing school days, a situation exacerbated by the glaring absence of period education in Indian textbooks.

In its holistic approach towards raising awareness about period education, Whisper is also working towards raising awareness in the grassroots with 25 impactful wall paintings across India to bring out the message of the Missing Chapter.

Burger King’s ‘The Great Celebrity Hack’

Burger King’s The Great Celebrity Hack rolled out an ad featuring actor Hrithik Roshan as a part of its ‘Ek Dum Pachaas’ campaign.

As part of the campaign, Burger King India has released three television commercials pranking Roshan, catching him off guard and using his reactions to promote their Rs. 50 stunner menu. The company tricked the audience into thinking that the brand got Roshan to promote its menu.

Lay’s ‘Smart Farm’

Leo Burnett India’s ‘Smart Farm’ campaign for Lay’s got a Silver Lion in this category. PepsiCo India and its agency partner Leo Burnett India used historical data that the company had through their decade long partnership with farmers. This was used to provide predictive insights to transform traditional Indian agricultural practices to climate-smart algorithmically-mediated practices.

The company and the agency partnered with Cropin, an AgTech provider, to create Smart Farm, a real-time monitoring system using satellite-imagery and remote-sensing, an early warning system.

Lay’s ‘The Biochar Project’

Lay’s The Biochar Project supported farmers in Haryana and Punjab to burn their stubble, introducing a sustainable method.

FCB Group India

The FCB Group India agency has bagged five entries to the Cannes Lions 2023, including HDFC Bank’s Vigil Aunty; Google Cloud’s Hum Banayenge; Navneet’s Tr. for Teacher; Smart Bazaar’s Second Question; and Hair and Her – Untangling The Politics of Hair.

Untangling The Politics of Hair

At the esteemed Cannes Lions 2023 the campaign ‘Untangling the Politics of Hair’ emerged triumphant, securing a prestigious Gold Lion in the Industry Craft Lions category.

The award-winning campaign was skillfully crafted by FCB India for STIR. The campaign played a crucial role in shedding light on the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran, capturing attention not only within India but also across international borders. This groundbreaking initiative garnered significant recognition and support, including the endorsement of Shombi Sharp, the UN Resident Coordinator in India.

By seamlessly blending art and journalism, the campaign exemplified the powerful synergy between these two disciplines, igniting vital discussions on pressing issues.

Navneet Education’s ‘Tr. For Teacher’

To celebrate Teachers’ Day this year, Navneet Education launched #TrForTeachers, a campaign to honour teachers with the title of Tr. before their names.

The campaign, conceived and executed by FCB Interface, revolves around a social experiment where people are asked to name the most and least important persons among a panel of four professionals by looking at their names.

HDFC Bank’s ‘Vigil Aunty’

HDFC Bank’s ‘Vigil Aunty’ campaign was aimed to create awareness on safe banking habits. The Vigil Aunty cautioned customers to stay vigilant by keeping them informed about the modus operandi of financial fraudsters, ways to detect cyber fraud attempts and how to stay safe.

Google Cloud’s ‘Hum Banayenge’

Google Cloud’s ‘Hum Banayenge’ campaign narrated the struggles of Indian entrepreneurs in a series of films. As part of its flagship event Cloud Next 22, Google Cloud unveiled its new brand film ‘Hum Banayenge’ that cements its commitment to the country and builds awareness for its range of products and services.

The campaign aims to show how since its inception, Google Cloud has consistently enabled aspirations and helped Indian companies transform themselves digitally. Kinnect has conceptualized and executed the ‘Hum Banayenge’ film as a part of a long-term digital campaign.

Ogilvy India

India’s winning streak continues at Cannes Lions 2023. Ogilvy India brought much cheer by winning a Grand Prix for the much-applauded Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad campaign for Mondelez Cadbury Celebration.

Cadbury’s Shah Rukh Khan – My Ad

Cadbury Celebrations takes hyper-personalized brand communication a step further by allowing small local businesses who struggled during the pandemic to make India’s biggest celebrity – Shah Rukh Khan – their brand ambassador.

The AI generative technology creates a digital avatar of Shah Rukh Khan by recreating his face and voice. The local store owners were also given a platform to create and share their versions of Shah Rukh Khan-My Ad where he promotes their stores.

Dove’s Self-Esteem Project

Ogilvy has bagged a shortlist in the Glass: The Lion for Change category for Dove’s Self-Esteem Project aimed to address the current rise in youth mental health issues linked to social media.

Ogilvy has created a social video that chronicles the story of a girl from childhood through her teen years as she struggles with a life-threatening eating disorder spurred on by social media influencers.

Mindshare India

Mindshare India logged six entries to Cannes Lions 2023 with Dove Thumb Stopping Beauty Biases – Using AI to make human interactions more humane; Kwality Walls Trixy Cinegame’s Bringing Alive 3 Layers of Fun; Vim: Breaking stereotypes in kitchen and in tech

Dove’s Beauty Biases

Dove uses Bobble AI’s contextual AI tech to enable mindful choice and stop the beauty test on girls. The brand and Bobble AI’s collaboration is facilitated by Mindshare.

As part of the brand integration, the auto-suggest feature found in Bobble AI’s keyboards pushes the brand’s positioning of #StopTheBeautyTest and gives users the option to refrain from using words and comments that might negatively impact a woman’s self-esteem.

Kwality Walls’ ‘Trixy Cinegame’: Bringing Alive 3 Layers of Fun

To engage directly with the audience during movie intermissions, Trixy introduced the ‘Trixy CineGame’, a mobile multiplayer gaming experience that allowed 20 players to play simultaneously on the cinema screen using their mobile phones as controllers.

The brand decided to tap into movies, gaming and eating out, three big ‘gen Z’ passions. Trixy identified Cinema Multiplexes as the best consumer touchpoint to introduce the ‘Trixy CineGame’.

Vim: Breaking stereotypes in kitchen and in tech

Vim, India’s leading dishwash brand believes that dishwashing is not only a women’s job. So, the brand launched Vim Black, a parody dish wash liquid for men that stirred conversations around gender inequity in the kitchen and took the internet by storm.

Despite dishwashing being a low involvement category, Vim Black managed to get everyone talking about a chore and question an age-old stereotype that prevails in most Indian households.

DDB Mudra Group’s ‘Machine Gun Mouth’

DDB Mudra Group won a bronze Lion in this category for ‘Machine Gun Mouth’.

Machine Gun Mouth tells the story of the long-suffering family of a gamer. The film shows all the tribulations they’re put through, and the relentless and disruptive assault of sound they’re subjected to.

The individual family members go through their own disruptions, before telling the parents that their suffering is coming to an end because now, young gamers cannot game for more than three hours without a One Time Password. The film represented the gamer’s non-stop gaming sounds in the style of a beatboxer.