Ogilvy’s Grand Prix, Leo Burnett’s Gold and Silvers, and Dentsu Creative's Bronze bolster India’s metal tally

Indian agencies now own 23 metals from the four days at Cannes Lions ’23.

India’s metal mining at the ongoing Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, hit gold and more, with heavy help from technology, of course.

Ogilvy scored a Grand Prix in the Creative Effectiveness category for its Shah Rukh Khan My Ad campaign made for Cadbury Celebrations. It is a machine learning-driven campaign that creates ads for local businesses, starring actor Shah Rukh Khan.

The campaign won a Titanium Lion at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival. Being a part of the previous year’s event is mandatory for a campaign to get itself nominated in the Creative Effectiveness category in the following year. The WPP-owned agency also won a Silver Lion in this category for the same work.

Kainaz Karmakar, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, and Sukesh Nayak said: “We are overjoyed and humbled to be given the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness for ‘SRK-My-Ad’. This is a result of the dedication and effort of our fabulous teams at Ogilvy and Mondelez. We also thank Rephrase and Wavemaker for their valuable role in making our idea a reality."

"This Lion the biggest acknowledgement of how this campaign has helped over 200,000 small stores across India through a tough time. This is personalisation at scale and more importantly, generosity at scale."

Leo Burnett won a Gold Lion for its Airtel 175 Replayed campaign in the Brand Experience and Activation category. It is another tech-driven campaign that recreated Kapil Dev’s innings of 175 runs in India’s 1983 World Cup match against Zimbabwe. The innings was not telecast on television because BBC employees were on strike that day.

In the same category, Dentsu Creative won a Bronze Lion for its work with Mortein on the Suraksha Ka Teeka campaign.

Aalap Desai, chief creative officer, Creative Experience, West, Dentsu Creative India: "Winning a second one is special. The project has endured numerous challenges, making this recognition even more encouraging. It serves as a powerful motivator, driving us to achieve even greater things next year. The client shares in our excitement, and we are filled with enthusiasm. What more could we possibly ask for?"

Amit Wadhwa, CEO India, Dentsu Creative India said, "What an outstanding Hat-trick for Dentsu Creative India! Suraksha Ka Teeka stands as a testament to the deep impact great work can have on society. It powerfully showcases how creativity and innovation become a formidable superpower - driving positive change across the globe."

"This campaign serves as a pure and shining example of that transformative potential. The dedication and exceptional contributions of our team deserve boundless praise. These brilliant individuals are true rock stars, continuously driving our work to unprecedented heights of greatness. Let us raise a toast, hoping for two more extraordinary days ahead," he added.

Leo Burnett also scored a Silver Lion in the Creative Business Transformation category and a Bronze metal in the Innovation category for its Lay’s Smart Farm campaign for snack giant Lay’s.

Add a bronze to the Publicis-owned creative agency in the Creative Strategy category for The Missing Chapter, a campaign made for P&G.

India won a total of seven Lions on day four of the event and now has a total of 23 Lions in its kitty. With one more day to go, it looks like it will be hard for Indian agencies to equal, or better, 2022’s tally of 47 Lions.