Cannes 2012: India begins the day with eight shortlists in Direct Lions

BBDO India has got two shortlisted entries, while Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, McCann, DDB Mudra, Cheil and M&C Saatchi have got one each.

On Day 1 of the International Advertising Festival, Cannes, India opens its account with eight nominations in the Direct Lions category.

BBDO India has got two nominations; one for India's first DIY Calendar for Johnson & Johnson and the other one for Child Welfare Fund's campaign, World's Youngest Job Applicant.

Besides, McCann Erickson (Keeping the Legend Alive for Saregama India); Ogilvy (ifold for Vodafone India); Leo Burnett (Ink Pad for Door Step School); DDB Mudra (Growing Trees for Fedrigoni); M&C Saatchi (Limited Edition for Animal Shelter); and Cheil Worldwide (Minus One Project for Samsung Printer) have got a nomination each.

Here are some of the entries:

Saregama

For the Saregama campaign, the idea was to show a strong bond between the music company Saregama and music for more than decades. The label's association with the genre had been fading 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.

Samsung Printer

The integrated ad campaign for Samsung printers by Cheil India hinged on a CSR initiative. The crux of the campaign, as the name suggests, was to urge people to reduce the font size by one, each time they needed to print a document. This was the team's way of curbing de-forestation. The integrated campaign included a lot of BTL (below-the-line) activation efforts. The team approached organisations, schools, colleges and other such institutions, and had them take a pledge to always reduce the font size by one each time they printed something.

Door Step School

To promote adult literacy, the agency created an ink pad that allowed illiterate individuals to print their names using their thumbs. The ink pad had letters engraved in Hindi, which allowed individuals to write their names. The activation was based on the insight that illiterate individuals use thumb impressions instead of signing their names.

Fedrigoni

Prism Papyrus, exclusive distributor for Fedrigoni paper, was looking to promote the product and drive offices to switch to this eco-friendly option. The brand's target audience comprises corporate print buyers and sellers in Mumbai. The agency designed a series of posters using a technique based on the capillary action of ink on paper - as the ink spread, a tree started taking shape on each poster, quite literally growing in front of people's eyes.

There are some 2,357 pieces of work from India entered in this category. Last year, the number of entries was 1,858.