Cannes Lions Day 3: Leo Burnett’s Gold and a Silver each from FCB Kinnect & VML take the metals tally to 12

The Indian contingent won its metals from two out of the six categories whose winners were announced yesterday.

India’s lacklustre performance at Cannes Lions 2024 continued after it won only a Gold and two Silver Lions on day three of the festival. 

Metals from six categories were up for grabs. They were: Creative B2B, Creative Data, Direct, Media, PR, and Social & Influencer. 

Leo Burnett won its Gold Lion in the ‘Creative Data’ category for its work on PepsiCo’s Gatorade. 

Called Turf Finder, the agency used data from Google Maps to figure out at what time certain spaces in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore would stay empty. At those times, Gatorade would lay down a turf where people – cramped for play areas in metro cities, could play.

The campaign has already tasted success at Cannes Lions ’24 when it won a Bronze metal in the ‘Entertainment Lions For Sport’ category.

“The Finder campaign is everything that Leo Burnett believes in – Using new age technology and data to solve ‘real’ problems and make ‘real’ impact. And we are so proud that our work and vision is resonating with the jury at Cannes as well as winning us this Gold for Creative Data,” said Rajdeepak Das, CCO, Publicis Groupe South Asia and Chairman, Leo Burnett South Asia

“We are thankful for our partnership with PepsiCo who have helped give this campaign the scale it deserves. Epic Brands, Epic work,” he added. 

VML and FCB Kinnect won a Silver Lion each. 

The WPP-owned VML won its second metal for Sing To Remember, a campaign it executed for Coca-Cola India. The work previously won a Bronze in the ‘Entertainment Lion for Music’ category. 

And winning its first metal at this year’s Cannes Lions was FCB Kinnect for EOSS, a campaign for HDFC Bank. 

The campaign had the agency create a fake brand, fake media assets, and a fake ad starring a nearly real Norah Fatehi. When users clicked on the End of Season Sale ad, they realised that they were duped, and to their shock, it was not Fatehi in the ad. All to educate users on how scamsters are using AI and deepfake technology to rob unsuspecting users.

Rohan Mehta, CEO, FCB Kinnect and FCB/SIX India, said, "HDFC Bank has been an incredible partner, with whom we've created work that is transforming BFSI marketing. The Lulumelon EOSS campaign is a testament to this, enabling people to experience our work first-hand."

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"Our six-year partnership with HDFC Bank has allowed us to break away from conventional strategies, showcasing the brand's trust in our innovative approach. Over the past two years, fraud-fighting influencer Vigil Aunty has been central to HDFC Bank's efforts against the rampant financial scams in India. Seeing our long-term commitment to combating fraud recognised on a global stage like Cannes Lions is truly rewarding."

Ravi Santhanam, Group Head and CMO, HDFC Bank: "We're delighted to be amongst the winners at the industry’s most prestigious awards, Cannes Lions."

"Along with our partners at FCB Kinnect, we’re proud to have created the innovative ‘Lulumelon- End of Scam Sale’ campaign for digital fraud awareness, subtly leveraging the concept of optimism bias. We stand proud to come up with and take forward this impactful campaign for fraud prevention."