Cannes 2012: McCann gets the first gold for India

The agency has won a gold in Outdoor Lions for the Western Union Money Transfer campaign, which is the first and only gold till now for India this year.

McCann Erickson has got a Gold Lion after many years at Cannes. This one is for its work for Western Union Money Transfer in the Outdoor Lions category.

The agency used an interactive billboard to convey the message of being the fastest money transfer service. Even other services in this category claimed the same. The billboard was placed en-route to the outlets that draw a lot of business. As the person approached the billboard from a distance of 30 feet, the image on the billboard changed from Abraham Lincoln to Gandhi or Queen Elizabeth II, symbolising a change from Dollar to Rupee or Pound to Rupee.

An elated Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann Worldgroup India and regional creative director, McCann Asia Pacific, says, "I was hoping that this one will win because it pushes the boundary for the medium. It changes a static medium into an interactive medium and very practical for a country like India, where it is difficult to have an interactive screen due to the heavy traffic. Frankly, I wasn't sure on the colour of the metal, but a gold at Cannes is always welcome.

"I had pushed the team to perfect the entry as I have chaired the Outdoor jury in the past."

Akshay Kapdanak is the art director and Rahul Mathew is the copy writer on this campaign.

From the Indian side, Vikram Gaikwad, partner and executive creative director, Creativeland Asia, was a jury member in the category.

Explaining the jury's verdict on this campaign, he says, "This one was a universal idea which could have been undertaken in any part of the world."

This year, there were 22 shortlisted entries from India in this category, but except for McCann, none could score a metal.

Interestingly, two Grand Prix were awarded in the Outdoor Lions category, this year. Both happen to be epitomes in their own respect. One stands for traditional media and the other for smart use of technology.

The Grand Prix is shared by Coca-Cola's poster entered by Ogilvy Shanghai and The Invisible Drive campaign for Mercedes Benz entered by Jung von Matt, Hamburg.

The jury chairman, Sheung Yan Lo, chairman and executive creative director, JWT North East Asia, says, "The Coke campaign is a lovely expression of brand philosophy - so simple that it embraces deep meaning."

In this poster, the white ribbon under the Coke brand was redesigned as joining hands in a poster.

For the Mercedes Benz campaign, the brand adopted a strategy to promote its hydrogen-powered fuel-cell car with zero internal emissions. Zero emission meant invisible for the environment. To drive home this message, the car was covered with LED tiles worth more than 2,00,000 euros. A camera on the other side transmitted images of the surroundings, which gave the feeling of an invisible car.

Lo says, "How can you bring a product proposition alive, make it engaging and get people's attention? The Mercedes campaign was brilliantly executed, hammering the message home at that point of time."