Countdown to Cannes 2012: Publicis Ambience hopeful with Citibank, Vu, Bookstalk Audiobooks and Vicks

The agency is gunning for the Lions with clever representations of simple ideas this year.

The expectations are moderate, says Ashish Khazanchi, vice-chairperson and national creative director, Publicis Ambience, when asked how he looks at the agency faring at the Cannes Lions this year. However, that takes away nothing from the work Publicis Ambience is riding its hopes on at the event.

Among its Cannes entries, Publicis Ambience is betting on its print prowess with the work for
Citibank
, Vu Televisions, Bookstalk Audiobooks and
Vicks
that it believes are worthy contenders. A look at the campaigns will reveal how the common thread that runs through is simple and non-layered ideas executed intelligently, as agrees Khazanchi.

Besides the Citibank entry that has been submitted across various categories, the other entries have been entered in the Press and Posters category.

For the Citibank campaign titled 'Qrossword', QR codes and crossword were brought together to convey the benefits of the bank's mobile banking services. A cryptic financial crossword was created that also doubled up as a QR code. Scanning the QR code, the puzzle was instantly solved on the mobile featuring a link that led to the Citi Mobile page. The idea being the QR code made the puzzle a lot easier, just like mobile banking that simplifies banking services.

On the campaign, Khazanchi says, "We do a lot of work to drive Citibank's specific initiatives. Mobile banking is one such service that makes life a lot easier. We wanted to demonstrate that benefit amalgamating a crossword puzzle, QR codes and the ease that is mobile banking."

The Vu Televisions creative titled 'Theatre of Sound' is not based on a deep insight but looks nice graphically, says Khazanchi. Vu Technologies is into home theatre as well and the creative simply shows the speaker symbol, one that can be commonly seen on a computer. A closer look makes it seem like a theatre and thereby, theatre of sound.

The team believes in the minimalist approach yet the effectiveness of the communication in the creative.

With the Bookstalk Audiobooks campaign, the agency aimed to demonstrate the wide range of audiobooks available on the company's website. Posters were created with images of popular authors (William Shakespeare, Arthur Conan Doyle and Lewis Carroll). The mouths of the authors though were replaced with a picture of 3.5mm headphone jack making it seem as though the authors were literally 'speaking' through their works."

"People always prefer carrying their audio devices along while on their walks or as they are on the move. We dramatised the insight making it seem how the stories were actually coming from the horse's mouth," explains Khazanchi.

With the 'Thorny Soundgraph' creative for Vicks Cough Drops, the idea rode on the age-old message of the brand - 'Gale Mein Khich Khich'. The ad features what looks like a soundgraph but looking closer, one realises that it is made up of thorns representing what it feels like to talk with a sore throat. To further drive home the point, posters were placed at recording studios to grab the attention of singers and voiceover artists.