Cannes 2012: India brings home two silver and a bronze in Media Lions

While Leo Burnett and Cheil Worldwide won a silver Lion each, BBDO India walked away with a bronze Lion in the Media Lion category.

While it all began at a slow pace, finally it seems to have gained some pace, with India winning three metals - two silver Lions and one bronze Lion in the Media category.

Leo Burnett's 'Ink pad' for a non-government organisation, Door Step School, won the agency a silver Lion. 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 their thumb impressions instead of signing their names.

Explaining the judging pattern, Mainardo de Nardis, chief executive officer, OMD Worldwide, said, "Of the total 3,200 entries, 303 were shortlisted and finally 113 campaigns were awarded. Of this, only 12 campaigns were awarded gold Lions. Each shortlist was scrutinised on the basis of several grounds, including the art of storytelling as well as the use of technology."

Next, an integrated ad campaign for Samsung printer, titled 'Minus One Project', set the ball rolling for Cheil India. The objective of the campaign 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. The authorities at the schools and colleges then got together and facilitated a movement, wherein everyone gathered and took a pledge to print only after reducing the font size by one.

The idea was born around International Year of Forests in 2011, when the agency decided to take on a project (for its client Samsung printers) that urged people to print more responsibly. A total of 73 organisations, schools and colleges adopted the idea and took the 'Minus One Pledge'. More than 1,50,000 pledges were taken.

Further, as a part of the campaign, the famous classic 'Gaban' by Premchand was re-printed with the font set at a size that was one size less than that in the original copy. The first print run of the 'Minus One Edition' included around 25,000 copies. This effort saved more than 3,50,000 paper sheets. Interestingly, the Minus One Project encouraged people to carry on printing, albeit with a smaller font size. The campaign thus attempted to change consumers' habits with a simple idea, without really changing much.

A viral video on this initiative, titled 'Smaller fonts for bigger forests', was also released across social media (Facebook, Twitter) and YouTube.

After bagging last year's Creative Effectiveness award, BBDO once again returned with Gillette this year. The agency's campaign titled 'You Shave, I Shave' managed a bronze Lion this year. The campaign highlighted that women never shaved their legs in public in the history of India. The agency got Indian women to shave their legs for the first time in public to inspire their men to shave. As part of the campaign, it got cine star Neha Dhupia to shave her leg, to get actor Arbaaz Khan to do the same. The idea caught the imagination of the Indian men, who jumped to it and shaved in public.

An ecstatic Josy Paul, chairman and national creative director, BBDO India, said, "That's three years in a row for Gillette and BBDO. It takes a brave client to create history."