Cannes Lions 2016: Glass Grand Prix for Hindustan Unilever's '6 Pack Band'

HUL's campaign for Brooke Bond Red Label Tea has won the Grand Prix in the Glass Lions category. Entrant Agency is Mindshare Mumbai.

India's Glass Glory...

At the 63rd International Festival of Creativity, Hindustan Unilever has won the Grand Prix in the Glass Lions category. At Cannes, it doesn't get bigger than this. The brand is HUL's Brooke Bond Red Label Tea, the campaign is '6 Pack Band' (India's first transgender pop group) and the winning agency is Mindshare Mumbai.

Few months back, the brand released peppy music tracks (one can barely call them 'ads'), with fun yet progressive lyrics about the philosophy of being happy in the face of adversity, something members of India's transgender population are all too familiar with. The songs feature India's 'hijras'.

The songs (of which two are displayed here) were launched on YouTube, music channels on TV and radio, and were also made available on live streaming music apps like Wync, Hungama, Saavn and Gaana. Mobile operators offered these songs as caller tunes. The band was invited to perform at the Radio Mirchi Awards and Indian Music Awards.

The campaign reached over 25 million people and earned PR worth INR 100 Million ($ 1.5 million; figures sourced from the brand's official Cannes Lions AV).

India won two more Glass Lions this year; winning work includes BBDO India's 'Dads Share the Load' initiative for Procter & Gamble's detergent brand Ariel Matic and Ogilvy & Mather's social initiative ('Beauty Tips by Reshma') against acid attacks for Make Love Not Scars, an NGO.

Here's our favourite part about these wins - of the six Glass Lions given away this year, three were won by Indian campaigns.

More awards for India on Monday night...

Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi's 'Never Too Old' ad for Thomas Cook (product - holiday packages for senior citizens) won a Silver Radio Lion. The agency's campaign (comprising ads titled 'Man' and 'Woman') for the same brand also won a Silver Radio Lion.

Contract Advertising's campaign called 'Nokia' for Truecaller won a Bronze Radio Lion.

J. Walter Thompson's Night Kills Day campaign (comprising ads titled 'Mechanic', 'Milkman' and 'Fisherwoman') for Sleep Apnoea India, a sleep clinic, won a Bronze Print & Publishing Lion.

Leo Burnett won a Bronze Promo & Activation Lion for its Bajaj V campaign for Bajaj Automobiles.

Here's the back story: INS Vikrant was India's first aircraft carrier that played a big role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war. In 2014, the legendary warship was sent to the scrap-yard to be ripped apart. Bajaj bought the scrap material and created a range of motorcycles called Bajaj V with it.

Burnett's promotional campaign that accompanied the product launch reached 18 million people on social media, generated 0.7 million USD worth of free media within a week and fetched 160 million media and PR impressions.

The effort helped the company on the product front as well: 11,000 bikes were booked on the day of the launch itself. The company's production increased from 20,000 to 50,000 bikes per month. (All figures have been sourced from the brand's official Cannes Lions AV).