India bounced back at this year?s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity bagging 33 Lions compared to last year’s 14 metals. Anushree Bhattacharyya and Anindita Sarkar take a look at some of the winning campaigns that made the country proud
Solitary Reaper
The Campaign: Farmers’ suicide
The Brand: The Times of India
The Client: Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd
The Agency: Taproot India
The Award:
*Two Gold Lions in Outdoor (posters – fundraising, charities, appeals, non-profit organisations, public health & safety, public awareness messages’ sub-category and outdoor craft – illustration’ sub-category)
* Gold Lion in Design (print and poster ads sub-category)
* Gold Lion in Press (fundraising and appeals sub-category)
* Silver Lions in Press (art Direction sub- category)The Execution:
Nearly 300,000 farmers committed suicide last year, faced with huge debts and crop failure. The brief for the campaign was to highlight the condition and the plight of the farmers in order to raise funds for their families. To create a strong impact in the mind of people, Taproot decided to use portraits of the farmers. Using actual photographs of 12 deceased farmers, the agency re-created their faces using real pieces of hay. Wherever required, the hay was burnt to create a deeper tone. This was also symbolic of parched earth and failed crops. Photographs of actual portraits were used as press ads and poster. These portraits were then displayed at exhibitions and auctioned to the highest bidders. The money raised from the auction was later distributed among the families of the farmers. ?This is the first time that any Indian creative agency has won as many as four gold metals at Cannes. While we are all very happy and excited, this has posted a huge challenge for the future,? said Santosh Padhi, co-founder, Taproot.
Hear, Hear!
The Campaign: ‘William Shakespeare’, ‘Mark Twain’ and ‘Oscar Wilde’
The Brand: Penguin audiobooks
The Client: Penguin Group (India)
The Agency: McCann WorldGroup India
The Award:
* Two Golds Lions in Press (publication & media and art direction sub categories)
The Execution:
The brief for the campaign was to highlight audiobooks which have been introduced by Penguin Group India. ?In a cluttered media space it is the simplicity of the idea that stands out. Great craft that’s beautifully executed and completely in-sync with the essence of the brand Penguin. I am happy that this beautiful piece of work done by Talha Nazim, Rohit Devgun and the rest of the McCann team has done the client and the agency proud at such a prestigious stage,? said, Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and CEO, McCann Worldgroup India. McCaan WorldGroup India’s campaign for Penguin’s audiobooks features three popular authors William Shakespeare, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde in the shape of a headphone, therefore creating an image in the minds of its readers that they can also listen to work of such famous authors now on the company’ website. Audiobooks being a new concept in India the campaign introduces this to readers in a simple and clutter breaking manner. The campaign makes the idea of listening to audiobooks very charming to even avid readers. A classic example of how simple ideas are often the best and works in the favour of the brand.
Lead, Kindly Light
The Campaign: Showing us the way
The Brand: Philips LED torch
The Client: Philips Electronics India
The Agency: Ogilvy India
The Award:
* Gold Lion in Design (design photography)
* Silver Lion in Design (posters? sub-category)
* Bronze Lion in Press (home appliances & furnishings and art director sub categories)
* BronzeLion in Outdoor (outdoor craft ? photography)
The Execution:
The brief was to design a communication for Philips’ LED torch highlighting that its white light is brighter compared to that of other torches. ?We discussed ideas where we thought of showing night scenes which had bats, owls, watchman, candlelight, etc. We thought of shooting this in full daylight and finally sign off with the thought?that?s what our torch light could do! It looked fine but there was only one problem, while the light was there in the ads, the product?the torch?was missing from the picture completely,? said Ajay Gahlaut, executive creative director, Ogilvy India. So it used three different kinds of settings – Forest, Gorge and Alley, to depict a strong source of light streaming out of the torch. As a result of the campaign, Ogilvy claims that the number of hits the company’s website received went up by 9%, store enquirys/ walk-ins increased by 12% and even sales of the torch too went up by 19%.
Perfect Script
The Campaign: Persian and Urdu creative
The Brand: Ogilvy
The Client: Ogilvy & Mather
The Agency: Ogilvy India
The Award:
* Silver Lion in Design ( self promotion? sub-category)
The Execution:
Taking a cue from the late David Ogilvy’s statement, ?If you want to persuade people to do something or buy something. It seems to me you should use their language, the language they use everyday, the language in which they think. We try to write in vernacular,? the agency worked on the brief to create a new identity for Ogilvy and Mather in Urdu and Persian speaking countries. While designing the corporate identity the agency used Persian and Urdu languages. Therefore the logo?Ogilvy was re-written in Persian and Urdu. ?The idea was the re-create an identity of brand Ogilvy in a language which is closer to the Persian and Urdu speaking community,? said Ajay Gahlaut, executive creative director, Ogilvy India. The logo was re-written in such a manner, that the script could be read from left to right and vice-vera. The new logo was released in Pakistan through Urdu newspapers and billboards. Further, new stationary bearing the new logo was also introduced in the Pakistani office of the agency. The campaign played a significant role in bringing Ogilvy & Mather closer to the people living in Persian and Urdu speaking countries.
Opposites Attract
The Campaign: Duracell Batteries Positive & Negative, 1&2
The Brand: Duracell Batteries
The Client: Procter and Gamble
The Agency: Grey India
The Award:
* Gold Lion in Press (product &service- household and other category)
* 3 Bronze Lions in Outdoor (household and other category)
The Execution:
Duracell?s positioning has always been ?the long lasting battery?. And there have been some ?memorable? pieces of communication on the same. The challenge to the creative team was bringing this positioning alive in a way that hasn?t been done before. The art direction of the campaign cleverly used the ?bronze and black? look of the battery and the plus and minus signs on it, for a look that said it was a Duracell ad without having to insert a logo! ?At the same time, it was a tongue-and-cheek, entertaining take on the long lasting factor. We used the existing ‘plus’ and ?minus? signs on the battery to list out the pluses and minuses of having a long lasting battery,? Malvika Mehra, national creative director and executive vice president, Grey India explains. Adds Amit Akali, national creative director and EVP, Grey India, ?Our performance at Cannes (9 shortlists out of which we converted three into metals ? one gold and two bronzes) felt great because they were all on big brands for big clients, and doubly great because they came on the back of a Grand Prix Integrated Campaign of the Year for ?Killer Water Savers? at the Goafest.?
Dirty Picture
The Campaign: Whites like nothing happened
The Brand: Tide detergent
The Client: Procter & Gamble
The Agency: Leo Burnett India
The Award:
* Silver Lion in Press (newspaper craftsub-category)
The Execution:
The key objective of this campaign
was to strengthen Tide?s equity, i.e., superior whiteness. The creative idea? ?whites like nothing happened??has visual stories that intends to engage the reader through a story where he is unable to point out what exactly happened. The white shirt of the characters in the ad manages to look absolutely clean in a messy situation leaving the reader surprised; and this is all due to the magic of the cleaning detergent Tide that cleans whites thoroughly.
?Tide has always communicated that the brand gives great cleaning and the best level of whiteness. Due to this innovative idea and execution, looking at the bright shade of white that the characters are wearing, one will wonder if these whites ever got dirtied and will be left guessing for the real story,? says Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, executive creative director, Leo Burnett. The campaign was carried across as interactive posters at various modern retail outlets and supermarkets in tier 2 cities.
