The standout campaigns from India's entries to Cannes Lions '24

At Cannes Lions, only the best of creative thought and execution are rewarded. No wonder, every advertising agency wants a Lion on it's shelf.

Here’s a look at some of India’s best works that stand to win a metal at the so-called ‘Oscars of advertising’.

Motorola’s ‘Deep Connect’

The genesis of the campaign executed by dentsu is that thousands of mine workers in India work deep underground in darkness for over 10 hours a day. Within these dangerous terrains, the miners are completely isolated and disconnected from their loved ones as mobile phones are prohibited in the mines for safety reasons.

Motorola Deep Connect technology utilises miners’ existing communication infrastructure – walkie-talkies – and converts radio signals into voice calls, enabling them to connect with their families back home through smartphones.

A custom module installed at the surface of coal mines makes this two-way communication possible. It is designed to be both affordable and scalable.

The Impossible Choice

Ogilvy’s work for St. Jude India Childcare Centres is a masterpiece in emotional storytelling and persuasion. To show the nightmarish and unimaginable pain of having to choose one kid from the two applicants to stay at the childcare centre so that they can continue their cancer treatment is tough, but Ogilvy does it with incredible finesse.

Joseph Stalin had said, “One death is a tragedy, a million deaths a statistic.” Now, imagine how this statement makes you feel, and go back to the ad and how you can shape the destiny of Deepa or Sunil, it makes you want to scan the QR code and donate.

The writing is sharp and the ad is a welcome change from YouTube ads from crowdfunding companies – there’s nothing wrong with asking for donations, but Indians are exhausted and peeved seeing the extreme focus on pain and the family’s outbursts.

Daughters of Piplantri

Executed by White Rivers Media for the Astral Foundation, the Daughters of Piplantri film tackles gender inequality and water scarcity in Rajasthan’s Piplantri.

The film is a tribute to Shri Shyam Sunder Paliwal who has been celebrating the birth of daughters in the village by planting trees. Astral Foundation contributed to the cause by installing a 13-kilometre pipe to the tree plantation sites and also planted 5,000 samplings to celebrate the birth of 42 daughters in the town.

How Strong is your home team? HomeTeams #ShareTheLoad

Don’t make her choose home over work because you can’t share the load. Ariel’s new spot from its long-running Share The Load series from BBDO India touches upon another poignant sacrifice women make which men around them are often clueless about on most occasions.

An important bit of the ad is the husband hearing his wife tell her boss that she is sacrificing her week-long Singapore trip because there’s nobody to take care of at home. He is not a bad guy but he understands his lack of action makes him the villain in her work life.

Britannia NutriChoice

Executed by Mindshare India, this print ad was not only a visual but also a video. The ad got audiences to scan the print ad, which took them to a video wherein Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh educated people about Britannia NutriChoice being made from 100% whole wheat and 0% refined flour.

The campaign was powered by a deep-learning AI-powered model of mixed reality camera technology, engineered for image recognition and mapping to the virtual space with the real estate of print media.

Long Distance Love

It is a tear-jerker. You know what is going to happen—the hints are right there—yet you watch the ad until the very end. That is powerful storytelling. Made for Catch Foods, a spice brand, there’s a glimpse of it at the start of the ad, and it is enough.

'Only a mother knows the sacrifices she makes' - nothing could be truer. The Titus Upputuru Company has made this ad film.

HDFC Bank - Lulumelon EOSS

Do what the scamsters do. FCB Kinnect for HDFC Bank created a fake brand with fake social media pages, fake websites, and even a fake ad.

The fake ad saw HDFC Bank’s Vigil Aunty deepfake herself as Nora Fathehi promoting the fake Lulumelon brand’s end-of-season sale. Those who clicked on the ad landed on the real website where they were told how easy it was to fall victim to such frauds where scamsters use AI.

Turf Finder

Executed by Leo Burnett India for Gatorade, the campaign aimed at solving a frequently overlooked issue in Mumbai, India’s biggest city - open spaces. Gatorade partnered with Google Maps to help look for the spaces that can be temporarily converted into turfs. This would enable them to temporarily transform underused and empty roads and lanes into playgrounds.

Audiences can find these available open spaces on www.gatoturffinder.com.

Ikea Saves Time

With this campaign, Leo Burnett aimed at educating people about how organising their homes with Ikea’s products can help them save time. It then says that IKEA products can help a person save 5,000 hours of looking for misplaced things.

Not only was the message about efficiency but the campaign’s video ads were also just 2-3 seconds long to make people believe in the brand’s promise.