MxMIndia

Blog

  • With this transition, the channel is set to consolidate its position in the youth entertainment genre

    Channel [V] says goodbye to Bollywood music

    By A Correspondent

     

    Star India’s Channel [V] is ready for a change from July 1 when it will discontinue all music slots in its programming. With this transition, the channel is set to consolidate its position in the youth entertainment genre.

     

    This move is being made to strengthen its stance as a holistic youth entertainment channel. The drastic change in the content strategy took almost three years. Speaking on the move, Prem Kamath, Executive VP & GM, said: “This shift in programming strategy is rooted in our continuous effort to remain a unique entertainment destination for the youth. We recognize the affinity the youth have developed for our shows and we can only oblige them with greater hours of these preferred shows.”

     

    In an effort to increase weekly hours of original content, Channel [V] will convert its teen crime show, Gumrah – End of Innocence into a daily. And, it also plans to launch new fictional shows like ‘The Buddy Project’ which will occupy the 6pm slot from Monday to Friday.

     

    However, the channel promises not to distance itself from music. “As for music, it can never go out of the youth DNA. We will continue our on-ground and on-air properties that are based on music. We will simply stop airing Bollywood music slots.”

     

    Launched in 1994 and reaching out to over 25 million viewers, the channel’s current mantra – Bloody Cool – manifests itself not only through its shows, but also through the broadcast persona and out of TV alliances created to engage with the youth.

     

  • The show will focus on events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story

    Zee to go paranormal with ‘Fear Files’

    By A Correspondent

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXrE1Apj9bE[/youtube]

    The Zee Network hopes to repeat the popularity of its once popular Zee Horror Show with a new programme called ‘Fear Files’. The show will focus on events that are experienced by those who have lived to tell their story.

     

    “Horror has been a part of our lives for years now. Almost all of us have heard stories of paranormal activities – some of us believe in them and some don’t. But there is no denying the fact that it hasn’t touched our lives. So, through this show we want to tell real life stories of people who have experienced the unexplainable,” said Sukesh Motwani, fiction programming head, Zee TV.

     

    Sukesh Motwani

    He added: “But this time around we have kept the gory details out. One can call it “intelligent” horror.” Fear Files was shot at haunted locations in a drama-documentary style. Thorough research was done for each story and at the end of each show, a paranormal expert will share the rationale view on all unnatural phenomena. The 26-episode show will go on air from June 30.

     

    Talking about the weekend late night (10:30 pm) slot, Akash Chawla, Senior Vice President and head -marketing, national channels, Zee TV said that he is keeping his fingers crossed: “Data suggests that the weekend 10:30pm slot has been doing well. And since the show will be aired right after DID Little Masters, we hope to cash in on the slot. Also, the genre cuts across age-groups and gender and as many find it intriguing; we hope our TG (25-44 age-group) won’t be disappointed in the show.”

     

    Akash Chawla

    The channel is going all out to market the show. “Apart from promoting the show on our channels, there are going to be a lot of innovative print ads as well. Also, this time, we plan to spend around 12 per cent of our marketing budget on the digital platform,” said Mr Chawla.

     

    “Marketing such shows is definitely a challenge,” he added. Innovative ways have thus been lined-up to promote ‘Fear Files’ as the channel felt that people have grown up and want to see something ‘reasonable’.

     

  • Behind every great commercial is super strategy. Every week, MxMIndia brings you the brief and the strat as given by the client and whatever else that goes into creating an ad.

    AdStrat: Honda – Rush Hour

    Titus Upputuru, National Creative Director, Dentsu Marcom

     

    1. Name of the Campaign: Honda – Rush Hour

     

    2 The Brief:

    The task at hand was to carry forward Honda’s global slogan – The Power of Dreams – in the Indian two-wheeler market. The brief was to create synergy with the Indian ethos, and structure communication that understands and empathizes with the dreams of every Indian. This would be the foundation stone to building a brand that every Indian can relate to and be the most accepted by the year 2020.

     

    [youtube width=”400″ height=”225″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPlGq3EpFo[/youtube]

    3. Research insights:

    Indian consumers are nurturing dreams and they want to fulfill them. They are more of doers than dreamers. They want to do their dreams.

     

    4. The thought process behind the creative:

    India is in a hurry. All of us want to fulfill our dreams fast. Honda is all about the Power of Dreams. Soichira Honda had said ‘products don’t lie’. And what a good thing it was to say. So we interpreted the philosophy of Power of Dreams in an Indian context. In India , we are not dreaming. We all have done our share of dreaming. Now is the era of doing the dreams. We have set out to fulfill the dreams, each one of us. And the creative layer we have added is the fact that we are all in a hurry. We all want to make them happen. Sooner than later. That is the core thought behind the creative.

     

    5. Media vehicles chosen:

    TVC, Print, Outdoor, Digital

     

    6. Key issues kept in mind while executing the ad:

    It had to be real as against staged. We wanted to capture real India rushing out of homes to chase their dreams. In the process, sacrificing breakfasts, lunches and sleep. So we tried to keep it real. The casting and the location was not pretty or beautiful. It was supposed to a bit photo journalistic.

     

    7. Does the treatment do justice to the brief?

    You tell us.

     

    8. What according to you is the differentiating factor about the ad?

    The ad looks global and yet very India. It’s got a fresh take on India. The fact that the country is in a hurry. That stands out. Also, the use of celebrity is not to just look good or do some stunts. He has a message that rings true to every Indian and comes from his own experience.

     

    Compiled by Shubhangi Mehta

     

  • Cannes Lions 2012 Jury members and presidents on why they chose a winning entry for the Grand Prix in various categories

    Cannes Lions Grand Prix JurySpeak

    By A Correspondent

     

    A diverse set of Grand Prix Lion winners were announced at the 59th International Festival of Creativity, Cannes Lions 2012 over the last week. It was a hectic week for judges with an interesting array of campaigns and creative projects being thrown up to dig out the Grand Prix awards.

     

    Four agencies won two Grand Prix each, Creative Artists Agency for Chipotle; R/GA for Nike; and Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Digitas, who teamed up on American Express.

     

    Nick Worthington

    The Outdoor category saw Jung von Matt’sInvisible Drive for Mercedes honoured along with Ogilvy Shanghai’s Cokehands posters. Coca-Cola was a double winner in Outdoor for a student-designed poster and in the inaugural Mobile Lions contest for its role in Google’s Project Rebrief. In the PR category JWT’s musical-based campaign for a Puerto Rican bank and BBH won Creative Effectiveness for its Even Angels Will Fall campaign for Lynx/Axe.

     

    The Promo & Activation Grand Prix was won by Crispin Porter +Bogusky’s ‘Small Business Gets an Official Day’. Jury President Nick Worthington, speaking about the winning campaign, said: “It’s just an extraordinary piece of work. It’s so audacious, it kind of breaks the boundaries of what advertising is, what promo and activation is…It’s very easy to do the stuff that comes and goes but these guys have achieved a legacy.”

     

    Bruce Duckworth

    This year’s Design Lions Grand Prix was awarded to ‘The Solar Annual Report 2011’ by SERVICEPLAN. President of the Design Lions Jury, Bruce Duckworth said that one of ways you know a work is great enough is when you wish you would have done that work. Speaking about the winning entry, he said: “It’s got a great idea. It’s taken a client which is a solar powered company and it’s the annual book for that. You take it out in the sunshine and magically from a blank book, the information appears. It’s like magic, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and it wasn’t just me, it was the whole jury.”

     

    David Jones, President of the Creative Effectiveness Lions Jury explained why the jury selected BBH London’s Axe Excite for American Express as the Grand Prix winner: “It won for a few reasons. First, they did a fantastic job of proving the contribution of advertising and the tangible business results associated with that. And they also did a great job of discounting the other facts, showing that it wasn’t a bad price or increased distribution or a massive increase in media spends.

     

    David Jones

    The case they made for RoI was very powerful, also we were impressed by the fact that it had some great consumer insights. And finally it was the best proof of what we all know, which is – in today’s world where you can’t buy attention anymore, you have to earn it – a brilliant creative idea that engages and cuts through is the best way of driving effectiveness, and we thought it was a fantastic idea that was bigger than the product…”

     

    For more insights from the jury on what went into picking the best and how the selected winners stood out from a clutter of entries, MxMIndia put together a video playlist where Jury presidents and members discuss and explain the reason for choosing the Grand prix winners in the respective categories.

     

     

    MxMIndia gets you an assortment of videos where Jury Presidents and members speak to Cannes Lions TV to explain why they chose the winning entry for the Grand Prix in different categories.

     

     

    1. Nick Worthington on the Promo & Activation Lions Grand Prix 2012: Jury President Nick Worthington talks to Cannes Lions TV about the 2012 Promo & Activation Grand Prix, which was won by Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s ‘Small Business Gets An Official Day’ for American Express. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VueDxGaCgA[/youtube]
    2. Gideon Amichay on the Direct Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Gideon Amichay explains why his jury selected Crispin Porter + Bogusky’s ‘Small Business Gets An Official Day’ for American Express as the 2012 Direct Lions Grand Prix winner. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt5tvuTobaw[/youtube]
    3. Gail Heimann on the PR Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Gail Heimann explains why ‘The Most Popular Song’ by JWT San Juan,Puerto Ricowas awarded the PR Grand Prix – the first in the country’s history. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t3HIi49v0U[/youtube]
    4. Lo Sheung Yan on the Outdoor Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Lo Sheung Yan explains why ‘#Cokehands’ and ‘The Invisible Drive’ were both awarded Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2012. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTNNgv-hzdY[/youtube]
    5. David Jones on Creative Effectiveness Lions Grand Prix: Jury President David Jones explains why his jury selected BBH London’s Axe ‘Excite’ for American Express as the 2012 Creative Effectiveness Lions Grand Prix winner. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFGN5gqZNWg[/youtube]
    6. Mainardo de Nardis on the Media Lions Grand Prix: Jury president Mainardo de Nardis, OMD Worldwide’s CEO, explains why the ‘Google Voice Search’ campaign by Manning Gottlieb OMD London picked up the 2012 Media Lions Grand Prix. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZydFdfA9hE8[/youtube]
    7. Rob McLennan on the Radio Lions Grand Prix: Jury president Rob McLennan, the Executive Creative Director at Net#work BBDO, explains what set ‘Repellent Radio’ by Talent São Paulo apart from the other entries and earned it the 2012 Radio Lions Grand Prix. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEcalIah40w[/youtube]
    8. Bruce Duckworth on the Design Lions Grand Prix: Jury president Bruce Duckworth explains why this year’s Design Lions Grand Prix was awarded to ‘The Solar Annual Report 2011’ by SERVICEPLAN Munich. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=706cGnjT44Q[/youtube]
    9. Tham Khai Meng on the Press Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Tham Khai Meng explains why his jury selected United Colors Of Benetton Apparel’s campaign for the 2012 Press Lions Grand Prix. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlck0BMSCyE[/youtube]
    10. The Jury On The Cyber Lions Grand Prix: Three members of the Cyber Lions jury, including president Iain Tait, discuss the two winning Grand Prix pieces. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGPF9nkpavU[/youtube]
    11. Tom Eslinger on the Mobile Lions Grand Prix: Jury president Tom Eslinger explains why Google’s ‘Hilltop Re-Imagined For Coca-Cola’ was awarded the first-ever Cannes Lions Mobile Lions Grand Prix. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOqjRbjgE-s[/youtube]
    12. Avi Savar on the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions Grand Prix: Jury president Avi Savar explains what set the first-ever Branded Content & Entertainment Lions Grand Prix apart from the rest of the entries. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6z380OGlyRg[/youtube]
    13. Espen Horn on the Film Craft Grand Prix: Jury President Espen Horn explains more about the Film Craft Grand Prix, indicating why it stood out from the crowd. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiPgwTtAZfU[/youtube]
    14. Rob Riley on the Titanium & Integrated Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Rob Riley takes a moment to give us some more information about why made the Titanium Grand Prix so special and worthy of the prize. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NSmpkR6Ap8[/youtube]
    15. Tham Khai Meng on the Film Lions Grand Prix: Jury President Tham Khai Meng takes a moment to reveal the 2012 Film Lions Grand Prix and explain why it picked up the prize. [youtube width=”300″ height=”169″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mA8OxP0gpNA[/youtube]

     

     

     

     

  • While India may still not be setting Cannes on fire, our creative directors do return with a decent number of trophies, writes Anil Thakraney.

    Anil Thakraney: Yes, We Cannes!

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I have been to Cannes just once, and this was in the year 2000. To represent the ad mag I was editing at the time. I have many interesting memories of that trip, but the one that stands out is this: While I did run into quite a few eager desi ad men and women, India did not win a single award. In fact, the scenario was so bad, global ad gurus and the fest organizers would treat Indian journos with the same degree of respect as those from Eastern Europe. Okay, perhaps slightly better. And this made even a simple thing like obtaining interviews with the ad biggies a Herculean task.

     

    I am happy to discover that in the interim period a lot has changed. While India may still not be setting Cannes on fire, our creative directors do return with a decent number of trophies. This was inconceivable in the year 2000. I am particularly pleased that the Mumbai Mirror TV commercial scored a Gold. Not only because I have worked for that newspaper in the past, but also because I recall giving the ad very high marks in the review I did for mxmindia. This is a clear indication that the ad frat must take my ad reviews very seriously… the Cannes jury gets influenced by them, hehe.

     

    So then how did India turn the corner in the last decade? I would say there are three reasons: In the last few years, thanks to the economic boom and the efforts of some filmmakers (most specifically, Sir Danny Boyle), the India story has become interesting for the goras. They want to know more about us, we excite them now. This also means that the jury members now pay more attention to the Indian approach to advertising, they try hard to get our culture. Plus having more desi judges out there helps. All this then results in a better strike rate.

     

    Second, the quality of our ‘creamy layer’ work has gone up in the last ten years. And I use the phrase creamy layer because 90 per cent of the mass advertising continues to be bollocks, and this is the case with the rest of the world too. But we have significantly improved on our good work. I also think some of our creative directors and ad filmmakers are paying a lot more attention to execution, a very important reason behind our increasing medals tally.

     

    But most importantly, the clients have evolved in the last decade. Many of them want to push the envelope, they want to innovate; they don’t mind taking risks. This has naturally helped matters a lot. This was not the case in the past. Back in the bad old days, one was paid to do safe work, and risk takers used to be punished.

     

    Maybe I will visit Cannes next year, it’s the right time. Think I will be given as much bhav as the American and the Brit journos. 🙂

     

    * * *

     

    PS: Interesting blogpost on the biggest advertising lies. Lies that get bandied around so often, they become truths. Here’s exploding some popular myths.

    Link: http://adcontrarian.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/advertisings-5-biggest-lies.html

     

     

  • The primary role of marketing is to drive sales and bring in revenues, writes Lloyd Mathias, as he lists the six vital lessons marketers learn on the job

    The Anchor: Lloyd Mathias on the 6 things every marketer learns on the job

    By Lloyd Mathias

     

    1. No matter how good your campaign is, it won’t work till you have your team fully aligned with it. So, as much as you spend time on zeroing on the consumer insight, researching the proposition, fine tuning the communication – it is important to “sell” the campaign to your internal constituents.  Hence the need for internal communication – point-of-sale material for trade, detailers for the sales force.  It is also critical to align campaign breaks with availability of field materials and widespread distribution.  The best campaigns don’t succeed without product in the shelves.

     

    2. The past is no guarantee to the future. Most marketers believe if it’s worked well in the past, it will work again. The fact is consumer tastes change over time. Even more importantly, the market dynamics change. Also, most consumers need fresh stimulation.

     

    3. Treat your agency as an integral part of your marketing team.  It is amazing how many marketers have near adversarial relationships with their agencies (creative, media, digital PR).  Your agency is the co-custodian of your brand – the more they know about your business and the issues facing it – the richer will be their input. Treat them as co-owners. Give them the freedom to do the occasional over the tip creative.  Long term they won’t let you down.

     

    4. Marketers tire of their campaigns much faster than consumer do. Remember most consumers see a whole lot less of your brand than you do.  Refresh if you need to, don’t revamp.

     

    5. Meet real consumers as often as you can. An hour with consumers is worth many hours of pouring over research data. Consumers today – more than ever – have a strong point of view and want to be heard. Some of the finest ideas come from immersing with your consumers. And remember – don’t confuse your sales force or trade partners with REAL consumers. No, not even analyzing the brands’ Facebook page responses or looking up the Twitter handle can beat real consumer face time!

     

    6. Always keep the larger business objective in mind. Remember the primary role of marketing is to drive sales & bring in revenues. Everything else comes next. So try not to be overly protective about the marketing budget – especially if the business needs cuts.  In the long run if business wins – marketing wins.

     

    Lloyd Mathias is Director, GreenBean Ventures. He was President & CMO, Tata Teleservices until late last year and was Sales & Marketing Director of Motorola India prior to that.

     

  • India's metal tally went up to 14 with the last of the awards presented on Saturday at Cannes Lions 2012

    1 Gold for Ramesh Deo, 1 Bronze for Bacardi

    Santosh Padhi and Agnello Dias with Arunabh Das Sharma and Sujay Ghosh receiving the Film Craft Gold bagged by Ramesh Deo Productions

    By A Correspondent

     

    The last day at Cannes Lions 2012 brought mixed cheer for the Indian contingent.

     

    So while Indian entries won a Gold and a Bronze, more metals from the five shortlisted entries didn’t happen.

     

    The Gold was won for Film Craft by Ramesh Deo Productions in the Direction sub-category. Abhinay Deo is the director of the film and the agency is Taproot India. The commercial titled ‘I Am Mumbai’ was made for Bennett, Coleman and Company Ltd for Mumbai Mirror (see entry details).

     

    And the Bronze was bagged by Bacardi India in the Branded Content & Entertainment category for The Dewarists in the sub-category “Best non-fiction program, series or film where a client has successfully created a reality, documentary or light entertainment show around a product(s) or brand(s)” (see entry details).

     

    With this, the number of metals bagged by Indian entries is 14 with the tally for Indian wins being as follows:

     

     

    Cannes Lions 2012 Winning Entrant

    Gold

    Silver

    Bronze

    DDB Mudra

    1

    1

    Leo Burnett

    2

    1

    McCann Worldgroup

    1

    Ramesh Deo Productions

    1

    Ogilvy India

    3

    BBDO India

    2

    Cheil Worldwide

    1

    Bacardi India

    1

     

     

    [updated report later in the day and tomorrow]

     

    [Photograph: www.CannesLions.com]

     

  • Almost every single award case study this year in the more functional result- driven categories came complete with a laundry list of social media successes

    Rules of creativity rewritten at Cannes

    By Ravi Balakrishnan

     

    As the week progresses, it’s become obvious that you need to ‘friend’ social media if you’d like to win atCannes. Almost every single award case study this year in the more functional result- driven categories like Direct, Promo and Activation and Creative Effectiveness came complete with a laundry list of social media successes.

     

    Indian agencies and the smattering of marketers who continue to lament the country’s performance atCannesthis year would do well to heed some of the new rules of creativity. According to Manish Bhatt, founder, Scarecrow Communications, and a jury member on Direct: “The definition of creativity is changing. Everybody is now talking about making a difference to the world. It’s a tall claim we all know, but creative effectiveness alone cannot get you to a Grand Prix.”

     

    A few jury members go so far as to say creativity is almost playing second fiddle in some cases to ‘earned media’ – getting spontaneous mentions in news sources – the more global, the better and being widely shared across social media. And in rare cases, an endorsement from the president of the United States Barack Obama who tweeted about Small Business Sunday, a campaign from American Express that won both in Promo and Activation and Direct and is said to be a close contender for the highly prized Titanium category.

     

    Even this year’s press winner for Benetton, ‘Unhate’ which featured photoshopped images of notoriously antagonistic political leaders kissing, was a news and social media success long before it reached the jury. It’s not thatIndiadoesn’t do socially relevant advertising; it’s just missing a trick in viewing such campaigns as ‘awardworthy.’

     

    Prasoon Joshi, president – McCann Worldgroup,South Asiasaid: “If Team Anna had entered their campaign that would have been a Grand Prix in my book. It was well managed in social media and everything. But in our country that consciousness is not there: that social movements and social good by brands is a big thing.”

     

    The serious exception to the rule of corporate ‘good’ winning applies to work that takes a radically different view of the possibilities a category represents; never mind if it seems almost too bizarre for their own good. A global brand like Mercedes lost the Grand Prix on radio to an entry fromBrazil’s Go Outside magazine from Talent,Sao Paulofeaturing a radio station with allegedly mosquito repellent properties.

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • He won a Grand Prix, the highest accolade atCannes, for the work he did for Coca-Cola and Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai

    It’s A Real Aha Moment for Grand Prix Winner Mak

    By Delshad Irani

     

    He is perhaps one of the busiest persons at the 59th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. No, it’s not Sir Martin Sorrell. He’s chatty we were told. But more importantly he’s creative. It’s Jonathan Mak, a twenty-year-old Hong-Kong based communication design student. Mr Mak is an ad aberration. At his age he took one of the most iconic images of our time and turned it, not just into a tribute to a man he admires and a global viral hit, but also an example of great design and what it can achieve.

     

    If that isn’t enough to make you feel like an under achieving member of the human race, or at least the advertising race, the following might just hit the spot. He won a Grand Prix, the highest accolade at Cannes , for the work he did for Coca-Cola and Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai. A poster that is, quite literally, a visual translation of the brief he was presented with – sharing a coke. The silhouette titled ‘Coke Hands’ is on a red background, and it’s, simply put, two ribbons of white combining to create the illusion of two hands sharing a coke. Asked to fly in on short notice, Mr Mak arrived just in time to pick up his award as thousands of advertising professionals from across the world cheered for him.

     

    However, this former teenager is no stranger to the limelight and looked like a seasoned adman. He can’t describe the process of creation, he’ll tell you, “It’s always tricky to explain a minimalist design.” The Steve Jobs image has similar design aesthetics to Coke’s poster, yes. But Mr Mak says it is an iconic image and he put a twist on it: “I always try to give viewers a real ‘aha’ moment.”

     

    Not a big fan of people typecasting his work, he says, “It’s not like Coke asked me to do something similar.”

     

     

    Source: The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • Titanium is for work that is provocative, that challenges assumptions and points to a new direction. 517 entries from 53 countries, an increase of 8 per cent compared to last year, are competing this year.

    Taproot wishful of bagging India’s second Integrated metal

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    The most coveted awards category – Titanium & Integrated Lions – found a worthy shortlist from India in the form of Taproot India. Agnello Dias and team will be vying for the top prize at Cannes Lions with their entry ‘A Day in the Life of Mumbai’ for the client The Times of India. Till date, India has won just a single metal in this category since its inception and that win too came almost four years ago in 2008.

     

    Whilst Integrated Lions will honour high standard state-of-the-art integrated campaigns, the premise for Titanium Lions remains the same: Titanium celebrates work that causes the industry to stop in its tracks and reconsider the way forward. Titanium stands for breakthrough ideas, it might be a brand new idea, or it might use an existing idea in a brand new way. Titanium is for work that is provocative, that challenges assumptions and points to a new direction. 517 entries from 53 countries, an increase of 8 per cent compared to last year, are competing this year.

     

    As for the countries with the most number of entries, it is USA that leads the board with 136 entries followed by UK at 45, Germany at 30, Brazil at 25 and Japan at 25. Rob Reilly, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the Jury President for this year while India is being represented by Agnello Dias, Chief Creative Officer, Taproot India.

     

    The awards ceremony will take place on Saturday evening 23 June in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

     

  • The purpose of branded entertainment is to deliver marketing messages by engaging consumers via relevant content platforms rather than traditional advertising methods.

    Bacardi India bags India’s only shortlist for Branded C&E

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    Making its first appearance, the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions awards have received a total of 18 entries from India. Of the lot, just a single entry by Bacardi India for its work around ‘The Dewarists’ has been shortlisted.

     

    New for this year, the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions award has been designed to reward creativity in branded content and entertainment, defined as: the creation of, or natural integration into, original content by a brand. The purpose of branded entertainment is to deliver marketing messages by engaging consumers via relevant content platforms rather than traditional advertising methods.

     

    A total of 800 entries from 52 countries have been submitted into the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions category in its launch year. Leading the count is USA which has sent 218 entries. Coming next is United Kingdom that has sent 58 entries, France with 52 entries, Brazil with 47 entries and Japan with 43 entries.

     

    In its first year, Avi Savar, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Big Fuel has been selected as the Jury president while India would be represented by Cyrus Oshidar, Creative Director, Bawa Broadcasting. The trophies for this category will be presented on Saturday evening 23 June in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.

     

     

  • Of the two shortlists India has received this year, the first is BBH India's entry for its client Google Chrome under the category of Art Direction. The second entry to be nominated is Taproot India's entry for its client The Times of India titled 'I am Mumbai'.

    2 shortlists in Film Craft for India

     

    By A Correspondent [Updated]

     

    There is every chance of India putting up a good show at the Cannes Lions festival under the category of Film Craft. After sending a record 41 entries this year, two of them have found mention in the shortlisted entries so far. And both of them stand a great chance of emerging winners given the adulation it has managed to receive on its own national shores. Of the 33 entries sent last year, only Ogilvy’s entry – Train for Indian Railways received a metal in the form of a Gold.

     

    Of the two shortlists India has received this year, the first is BBH India’s entry for its client Google Chrome under the category of Art Direction. The second entry to be nominated is Ramesh Deo Productions’s entry for its client The Times of India titled ‘I am Mumbai’. The entry has been nominated under the category of Direction and Taproot India is the agency.

     

    Introduced in 2010, the Film Craft Lions honours the craft of the filmmaking process – the direction, copywriting or editing, or the skilful use of music or sound design. A total of 1721 entries from 48 countries have been submitted into the Film Craft category this year, an increase of 30 per cent compared to 2011. The countries that have sent maximum entries include USA at 640, United Kingdom at 315, France at 77, Brazil with 76 entries and Germany with 72.

     

    Representing India at the Jury is Sneha Iype Varma, Executive Producer/Partner, Nirvana Films.

     

    The trophies will be presented during the Film, Film Craft, Branded Content & Entertainment and Titanium and Integrated Lions Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Saturday evening 23 June in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.