Countdown to Cannes 2012: McCann Erickson bets big on Western Union and Saregama

The agency is in high spirits as it believes that its work for Western Union and Saregama will surely make some noise this year.

With some of the best work making it to Cannes this year from India, McCann Erickson is on high spirits, expecting its work for Western Union and music company Saregama to make considerable noise.

Entered in the Design category, the agency's creation shows the strong bond between the music company Saregama and music for more than decades. The label's association with the genre had been fading away ever since audio tapes lost relevance. In order to reignite its association, the agency used audio tapes of late Pandit Bhimsen Joshi to create his musical portrait. Each portrait was weaved using over 1,100 meters of spool from the tapes. And, each was brought to life with the late singer's voice using compact disc on the canvas. McCann Erickson used the leftover cassette shells as invites.

The portraits were later exhibited at the classical music festival, Sawai Ghandharva.

The agency's creation for the Western Union Company, which has been entered in the Out of Home category, is about interactive billboards where one can see currency converting live. Placed en-route to the outlets that draw a lot of business, the three different billboards featuring Mahatma Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II and Abraham Lincoln symbolically changed currencies.