Cannes Lions 2013: The show begins; tepid response to Indian entries

The ‘Maharathi’ of Global Advertising awards, the 60th Cannes Lions Festival has begun and naturally all eyes will now for focused on it for the week. Delegates numbering over 16,000 have arrived from every corner of the world - from creatives, ad-film makers, production houses, photographers, illustrators, artists, shoot-location specialists, clients, media networks and so on. There is no better place than Cannes Lions for genuine exchange of ideas and insights.

The best in the world compete for the most coveted recognition. The various categories are - The Press Lions, Outdoor Lions, Direct Lions, Media Lions, Radio Lions, Cyber Lions, Promo & Activation Lions, Design Lions, Mobile Lions, Creative Effectiveness Lions, PR Lions, Titanium & Integrated Campaign Lions, Branded Content Lions and, of course, the most coveted Film Lions and Film Craft Lions are all up for grabs. This year the festival will also feature awards for Creative Innovations -the Innovation Lions.

This year’s shortlisted entries for the Creative Effectiveness category feature no Indian entry  amongst the 12 shortlisted entries. One reason could be that only one entry has been submitted this year as against two last year. India had submitted just one entry in this category this year, as opposed to two entries last year. Overall there are 120 entries from 33 countries, an increase of 30 per cent over last year. The award recognizes creativity that has a positive impact on client’s business and profits.

For the Direct Lions this year there are 247 shortlisted, overall entries are 2578 from 67 countries. Indian agencies have secured 3 shortlists where Leo Burnett Mumbai has got two shortlists for Coke Studio. The ‘Reflection of Music – Table Mat’ campaign has been shortlisted in Ambient Media while The ‘Reflection of Music – Installation’ campaign has been shortlisted in Publication and Media category. The third shortlist from India is ‘Help Desk’ campaign done by DDB Mudra Group Mumbai for Aarambh under Best Low Budget Campaign category.

In the PR Lions category out of the 158 shortlisted entries, four are Indian entries. They are O & M Mumbai’s campaign, ‘Lifebuoy Roti Reminder’ for HUL and ‘Classroom Mumbai’ for Akanksha Foundation., called ‘Classroom Mumbai’. Besides the two O & M entries, Publicis Communications’ ‘Adopt a Pothole Project’ campaign for Apollo Tyres and BBDO India’s  ‘Shave or Crave’ campaign for P&G have been shortlisted entries. India submitted 27 entries in PR Lions category. This year the PR Lions had received 1,296 entries from 67 countries, an increase of 15 per cent as compared to last year.