MxMIndia

Tag: JWT India

  • TOI’s City Supplements celebrate cities of India with a series of unique City Anthems

    Flirt with your city, says new TOI campaign for city pull-outs

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Times of India has launched a brand campaign for its metro supplements (TIMS) – Bombay Times, Delhi Times, Gurgaon Times, Chennai Times, Bangalore Times and Calcutta Times – titled ‘Flirt with your City’. The campaign aims to communicate its strengthened content and reinforce its positioning as the one-stop-destination for all news and gossip of city’s bustling social life and everything related to city’s popular culture.

     

    Conceptualised by JWT India, the brand campaign is set to communicate the spicier, buzzier, trendier content proposition to its readers.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Sanjeev Bhargava, Director, Brand TOI said: “TOI’s Metro Supplements (TIMS) creates affinity in a hyper local way like no other media – building conversations, highlighting happenings and hangouts, bringing alive engaging platforms and collaborations, all leading up to your City’s pop culture. Through its evolved content, the brand encourages motivates and excites the readers to explore their own city like never before! TIMS as a supplement brings its readers just that-right from fashion to culture to the popular to the unexplored. It helps you flirt with your city. Our product Bombay Times, Delhi Times, Gurgaon Times, Chennai Times, Bangalore Times, Calcutta Times and other supplements captures this social buzz like no other media. From the latest cinema review to newest cuisine in the town, from latest gig update to best fitness regime for you, from the newest earworm music to hottest celebrity gossip, our newspaper keeps one updated on the trending topics in and around the city. Our ‘Flirt with your City’ campaign is built around this key thought. So, pick up the newspaper, and stay updated with the social chatter of the city. Plan your weekdays and weekends, go out and explore the city. We have packed more fun, color, youthfulness in the paper and strengthened the content around movies, food, fitness, fashion, campus and music. With more engaging content, new exciting IPs and integrated activities, we intend to bring readers closer to their respective city, and reinforce the thought that it is one-stop shop of everything one needs to stay connect with the buzz in the city.”

     

    Added Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, JWT India: “To bring the TOI’s Metro Supplements (TIMS) essence to life, we have created a face-off, a musical city versus city rap battle between different cities, where people, icons, characters, rappers and even objects of each city are extolling the values of their city, the city as seen through the Times. The name of the city itself becomes an audio device.  For example, Kolkata is not just Kolkata, it’s also Goal-Kata, as football is the most popular religion here. The local music and local lingo leela is the vocal veins of this film, a binding factor, replete with city specific instrumentation and lyrics. It’s your City’s Daily Rap versus Another City’s Daily Rap. The visual style is mixed media brought alive from various elements of the city. It is an amalgamation of the slice of life, Stop Motion Animation, Hyper-Lapse captures, 2D Flash Animation, Compositing within Times Newspaper and Traditional Cell Animation and of course Times Newspaper headlines and snapshots from a day in the life of your city. The ambition for this campaign is to create a dynamic anthem for each city driven by its unique pop-culture with the City Times at the center of it all.”

     

     

  • Sambit Mohanty joins J Walter Thompson India as National Creative Director

    Sambit Mohanty joins JWT as NCD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sambit Mohanty
    Senthil Kumar

    JWT India has announced the appointment of  Sambit Mohanty as National Creative Director. He will be based out of the Delhi office.An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) New Delhi, Mohanty has spent 18 years in the advertising and design industry. Said Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, on the appointment: “Sambit was the youngest and more importantly the hungriest of all the potential creative leaders we considered for the NCD role, based in Delhi. He will work with me and ignite fresh energy into the JWT India creative product.He has the ambition and the drive to champion pioneering ideas and path breakin solutions for all our clients.”

     

  • Entries leapfrog, but few Golds and no Grand Prix, as Publicis' 'Khali' ad wins new 'Best in Category' award

    JWT India, Mindshare top Abby 2016 tally

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    “It’s a hat-trick and we are proud of it,” said Senthil Kumar, Chief Creative Officer, JWT South Asia when he learnt that his agency had bagged the maximum number of metals. Santosh Padhi, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at Taproot Dentsu, was elated by his team’s showing. Though a not-so-distant first runner-up, Paddy, as Padhi is known in the industry, accepted the kudos and then said: “We are a small organisation with just 40 people and have won 40 awards. Imagine if we had a 2,000-member staff.” For Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia, a rich haul of 17 metals at the Media Abby is a continuation of the agency’s winning ways after last year’s Emvies Awards.

     

    Although the knowledge sessions are big draws in every edition of Goafest, the buzz-creator is always the Abby Awards. This year has been the best ever for the Abby in terms of the number of entries. There were 4,460 entries sent in by 299 organisations for the Creative and Media Abby Awards. In 2015, this number was 3,475. But while the number of Silver metals in the Creative categories have increased from 107 last year to 134 this year, and 180 Bronzes last year to 245 this year, there has been a sharp fall in the number of Gold Abbys given out. There were 71 Gold Metals given out last year and in 2016, the number is just 38. Also, last year, there was one Grand Prix winner, but this year there have been none.

     

    So are we saying that in a country of a billion-plus people where we pride ourselves on creative output and storytelling skills, the standards of creative work have fallen? Ajay Chandwani, a member of the Awards Governing Council, said it’s possibly not correct to say that. But added that the jury was indeed tough on what should be winning awards. “Grand Prix indicates a significant change in paradigm in a category,” he said.

     

    A new award was instituted this year which can loosely be defined as falling between a Gold and a Grand Prix. It’s called the Best in Medium or Category, and the Ambuja Cements ad, starring WWE star Khali and created by Publicis Communication, bagged the award. There was only one Best in Category award given away this year.

     

    Two new categories were introduced this year, one in keeping with the growing awareness that ads need to be gender-sensitive, and the other was called the Young Abby where the winners received an all-expenses paid trip to the Cannes Lions.

     

    Interestingly, and even though all the agencies entered the awards separately, Goafest 2017 saw the emergence of Dentsu Aegis Network as a serious contender on the awards circuit with 6 Golds, 32 Silvers and 45 Bronze metals aggregating a total of 83 metals.

     

    On Day 2 of the Abby Awards, Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy India Executive Chairman and Creative Director and Times of India group Managing Director Vineet Jain were felicitated.

     

  • The account, which was most recently with JWT India, was awarded to Cheil after a multi-agency pitch

    Apollo Munich appoints Cheil to handle creative biz

    By A Correspondent

     

    Cheil India has been named as the creative Agency on Record by health insurance giant Apollo Munich. The account, which was most recently with JWT India, was awarded to Cheil after a multi-agency pitch.

     

    Shiv Sethuraman

    Commenting on the development, Shiv Sethuraman, Cheil’s Group President for South-West Asia stated: “I am absolutely delighted to share that we will be partnering Apollo Munich as their communication agency. They are one of the most trusted and respected companies in the financial services industry. Cheil India has been on a hot-streak and we’ve been gathering momentum over the past few months. We look forward to creating some truly inspired and creative work for the brand in the days ahead.”

     

     

    Kundan Joshee

    Added Kundan Joshee, Senior Vice President-Integrated Services at Cheil India:

    “We are extremely excited about working on Apollo Munich. This win allows us, as their creative partners, a lot of scope to create powerful and compelling brand communication. We are also putting together an integrated team structure for Apollo Munich that will enable us to create effective solutions that work across and beyond the conventional boundaries of medium. ”

     

    The agency will be servicing the account from its South-West Asia regional headquarters in Gurgaon. They will be assembling an integrated team with specialists from ATL, Digital, Social along with Strategic Planning to provide the brand with effective solutions.

     

  • He was Marketing Head and part of the start-up team for Danone India and also spent nearly 15 years with JWT India at its flagship Mumbai office working with Unilever and other key clients

    Varun Channa is MD, Mindshare Malaysia

    Varun Channa

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mindshare APAC, the global media agency network part of WPP, has appointed Varun Channa, to the role of Managing Director, Mindshare Malaysia.  He joins Mindshare after six years with Danone Indonesia, where he helped to turn around their fresh dairy business and developed the roadmap for their Isotonics. Prior to that, he was Marketing Head and part of the start-up team for Danone India and also spent nearly 15 years with JWT India at its flagship Mumbai office working with Unilever and other key clients.

     

    Gowthaman Ragothaman

    Commenting on the appointment, Gowthaman Ragothaman, COO of Mindshare Asia Pacific, said:  “We are totally delighted to welcome Varun on board, who brings a wealth of experience across industries and markets. This is the beginning of a new chapter in the whole new world of connected media, where content, creativity and consumer data in the Malaysian market is at the centre of all activities and importance. “ Adding on to this, Girish Menon, CEO, GroupM Malaysia said: “With Varun, we have hit upon a fantastic combination – with JWT, he honed his skills in developing communications solutions for some iconic global brands and then as a tech-savvy marketer with Danone in tree different fast-growing, competitive markets, he got his hands dirty developing marketing solutions to deliver strong business results. I believe these are the combination of skills and experiences that our clients increasingly expect from the head of their agency, so I am confident that Varun will lead Mindshare to even greater success!”

     

    Commenting on his appointment, Mr Channa said: “It’s a pleasure to be part of Mindshare Malaysia in these exciting times when media is playing a even greater role in growing our clients’ business. Seeing the pipeline of innovative digital solutions we have, I look forward to us adding greater value to our clients’ business.” Mr Channa takes over the role from Gerald Wittenberger, who returned to Europe at the end of 2014.

     

  • Taproot India won four CUPs for the Times of India's 'Farmer Suicide' campaign

    Noteworthy campaigns bring India laurel at ADFEST 2014

    By A Correspondent

     

    India put up a decent show at the just concluded ADFEST 2014 that was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. 14 CUPs were given out at this year’s Intercontinental Advertising CUP Awards.

     

    Dentsu Inc. won a total of five CUPs this year, with three CUPs awarded to Dentsu Inc. Nagoya for Mother Book, and two awarded to Dentsu Inc. Tokyo for Sound of Honda/Ayrton Senna 1989.

     

    Taproot India won four CUPs for the Times of India’s ‘Farmer Suicide’ campaign.

     

    Hakuhodo Inc., Tokyo won two CUPs for Rice-Code, while JWT India, Mumbai, Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, Manila and BBDO Singapore one CUP apiece.

     

    “ADFEST would like to extend its congratulations to this year’s winners,” shared Jimmy Lam, ADFEST President. “THE CUP is an incredibly unique festival thanks to its singular focus on local culture, so it is wonderful to see such a strong performance from Asia Pacific agencies again this year.”

     

    The Intercontinental Advertising Cup was established in 2007 by organisers of the world’s three biggest regional advertising festivals: Asia Pacific’s ADFEST, Ibero-American FIAP and New European Golden Drum. From the first year onwards the ADC*E, Art Director’s Club of Europe, is also a member.

     

    The mission of THE CUP is the affirmation of locally inspired creativity. It is a very new international concept that makes it possible for local creativity to be judged on a global scale by its local merit.

     

    This year’s CUP jury awarded 36 CUPs and one Grand CUP in total. ADFEST won the highest number of CUPs this year with 14 winners, followed by FIAP with 11 CUPs and ADC*E with 11 CUPs. The Grand CUP went to Heimat, Berlin for The Hornbach Hammer.

     

  • Ms Varma joins Rediffusion Y & R from JWT where she worked for 22years

    Rediff appoints Suman Varma as Head of Delhi ops

    By A Correspondent

     

    Dhunji S. Wadia

    Rediffusion Y&R has announced the appointment of  Suman Varma as Head of Operations, Delhi. She joins the agency network from JWT where she worked for 22 years. In her new role, she will be reporting to Dhunji S. Wadia, President, Rediffusion Y&R and add to the company’s leadership team. Meanwhile, according to reports, Amitava Sinha, chief operating officer for East, North & South has quit Rediff.

     

    On her appointment, Mr Wadia said, “I’m delighted to welcome Suman to Rediffusion-Y&R. She brings the right mix of talent, experience and enthusiasm that we seek to inject into our talent pool.  Her strong leadership skills will enhance the quality of the work that we do for our clients and add value to their brands.”

     

    Suman Varma

    Said Ms Varma: “After a successful stint of 22 years with JWT and extensive associations with some of the most robust marketing companies, I am now seeking to leverage the depth and width of my experience in leading the Rediffusion-Y&R, Delhi team to greater success.  Leaving the comfort of JWT was a tough call, but the thought of joining Rediffusion-Y&R and teaming up with Dhunji was exciting.  I look forward to the new challenges ahead.”

     

    With over 22 years of experience in advertising , Ms Varma’s last assignment was as Vice President & Executive Business Director, JWT India and was leading the GSK and Hamdard account.

     

  • Do the extra-long ads like the Pepsi and KitKat had around Diwali send the message better than the shorter ones?

    Do looooong ads work for brands?

     

    By Priyanka Nair & Mukta Lad

     

    3.33. 3.53. 4.40. 7.16. Before you shut this paper and run a mile, we will have you know that this isn’t a complicated math problem coming your way, but the durations of some of the ads you’ve been seeing of late. With our daily dose of listicles masquerading as news for our seriously short attention spans, one would think quick and easy fixes are the way to go.

     

    The world of advertising begs to differ, though, offering a paradox. A spate of really long ads are the not-so-new kids on the block, where brands are taking the liberty to take as long as seven minutes to narrate their mostly heartwarming stories, The year is seeing a lot of the films that take their time to tell the tale, both internationally and back home.

     

    Pepsi’s ‘Ghar wali Diwali’
    KitKat’s Diwali
    Kissan’s ‘Joy of Togetherness’
    Fortune Oil’s ‘Ghar ka Khaana’
    Google’s ‘Reunion’
    Tata Sky’s ‘PrisonBreak’

    Most recently, KitKat and Pepsi jumped on the Diwali bandwagon, and two much talked about long-format films were born. They are usually released online, making it an inexpensive medium to tell powerful stories. But with such ads clearly becoming a regular trend, we have to ask; are brands really justifying the length of their communication with stories that are compelling enough? And do they work?

     

    Piyush Pandey executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy & Mather India and South Asia, the man behind Fortune Oil’s emotive four-minute ‘Ghar ka khaana’ ad, believes, “With long-format, your single responsibility is to the viewer. It’s like people who make movies. A viewer of a long-format ad has made the effort to click on your film. It’s not like he was sitting around watching something else and the ad came on. It’s your responsibility to make sure he feels rewarded after the time spent and says ‘I must share this with my friends.’ I am assuming as professionals we know that we have a responsibility to the brand.”

     

    For T Gangadhar, MD, MEC India, it was the advertising during FIFA that has lingered on in his mind, especially the riveting spots by Nike and Adidas. “The episodic treatment, the fleshing out of the idea, the execution was such that there would have been no other way to create them except through the medium of long-format,” he says, admitting that he really didn’t notice the amount of time he was investing in watching them.

     

    Globally, too, brands have asked their agencies to deep dive into this particular style of creative build up for some time now. From Johnnie Walker to Dove and many in between, several brands have tried and tested using this narrative style for some years now.

     

    Apart from Fortune Oil, KitKat, Pepsi, Google’s ‘Reunion’ and #PledgeToVote, Tata Sky+’s ‘Prison Break’ and Kissan’s ‘Joy of Togetherness’ are some of the Indian ads that went much beyond the proverbial 30 seconds.

     

    Narayan Devanathan, EVP and national planning director, Dentsu India Group thinks of this trend as a fad, though. “To me, this seems like the work of diva creative directors who want to cash in on lack of extra mediabuying costs, the freedom the internet offers as a medium and the fact that they might be able to wiggle out a few favours from the directors in the same budget,” he says bluntly.

     

    Perhaps brand managers are looking at creating these epics as a feather in their cap. But Devanathan and Gangadhar would rather brands didn’t make long-format ads a fashion statement, please. It is best if the idea defines how much time it needs to unfold, instead of the other way around. But is there a formula as to who should or shouldn’t leverage this medium? “Boring brands have gone ahead to create some interesting long format ads, while some interesting brands have put out some boring ones,” says Gautam Kiyawat, CEO, Madison Media, implying that anyone with a good story should go ahead. But what makes marketers give a green signal to agencies?

     

    Mayur Bhargav, general manager (Chocolate and Confectionery), Nestlé India mentions that his digital centre noticed that India’s successful Mars mission was generating a lot of positive discussions on social media. They went ahead to create the KitKat Diwali film, knowing that its topical nature rated it high on the shareable scale.

     

    Gangadhar, however, wasn’t too convinced by the film. “If the video is going to be longer than 30 seconds, then it needs to become more content and less ‘advertising’, especially for the internet, where brands aim at making content people would want to share. The KitKat Diwali film, to me, was quite ‘addy’ in that sense.”

     

    Senthil Kumar, JWT India’s NCD and Suresh Eriyat, director, Eeksaurus, the men who made the KitKat film, believe that there making these spots can be a challenge. “It’s easier to hide the imperfections in 30 seconds, but the long format tests almost every limit that creative guys know of,” Kumar reveals. Eriyat elaborates, “Unlike short format ads, the biggest challenge in a long format ad is losing objectivity.

     

    Another danger is that it can end up becoming boring and monotonous. I am of the opinion that if one sees the KitKat campaign out of the context of Diwali, it may seem irrelevant.” At the end of the day, what do consumers feel about these ads, really? Devanathan, donning his planner’s hat, mentions, “The Pepsi ‘Ghar wali Diwali’ film, to me, lacked Pepsi’s youthfulness and Kurkure’s wackiness.”

     

    But advertising and planning be damned, he says, considering consumers didn’t really care about the ad’s length or whether it had the brand’s values at the core. They were touched by the emotion and shared the ad nevertheless, making it a viral success.

     

    The long and short of storytelling on digital is that the canvas is yet to reach its creative tipping point, as brands are taking their own sweet time exploring the medium.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • Swati Bhattacharya, who quit as national creative director of JWT India in September, will join Dentsu India and head a new project, Mama Labs, which will focus on the Indian mother as a consumer

    Swati Bhattacharya joins Dentsu India, to head Mama Labs

    By Shambhavi Anand

     

    Swati Bhattacharya, who quit as national creative director of JWT India in September, will join Dentsu India and head a new project, Mama Labs, which will focus on the Indian mother as a consumer.

     

    She will join Dentsu as principal partner – creative and report to Rohit Ohri, chairman at Dentsu India and CEO at Dentsu APAC. “The new role is like a dream come true for me although the fear of moving out of a comfort zone is also there,” Ms Bhattacharya said.

     

    She has spent almost all her work life so far at JWT, after joining the agency 22 years ago. She is known for her work with numerous brands including Airtel, Pepsi, Nestle, ITC, Unilever and GSK. Her work for Horlicks is the most acknowledged. Her work at Dentsu will involve planning advertising and digital campaigns for brands targeting women. “Till now, I have worked in a place which has been associated with so many brands. But now I will have to start from scratch and build a brand,” she said.

     

    Mr Ohri said, “Dentsu Mama Lab aims to be a thought leader on mothers, motherhood and mothering. Understanding both facets is what will make brands connect meaningfully with moms.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • JWT India has launched a new campaign with cricketer Virat Kohli as brand ambassador for Nestle Munch 4X4

    JWT makes Virat don boring avatar to sell Nestle Munch

    By A Correspondent

     

    JWT India has launched a new campaign with cricketer Virat Kohli as brand ambassador for Nestle Munch 4X4.

     

    “The foundation of the campaign is the idea that the crunch of Nestle Munch 4×4 is so exciting that it makes everything else exciting as well. After some vigorous head-banging we hit upon the idea of having Virat Kohli playing a very unexciting look-alike of his, named Balakrishnan Vaali. In the commercial, Vaali eventually turns out to become the unlikely hero in the end, all thanks to the crunch of the Nestle Munch 4X4,” said Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer JWT on the new campaign.

     

    The launch of the new Munch campaign in leading dailies coincided with the day Virat Kohli scored a century in the first cricket test match of the India- Australia series. The roll-out was very well supported by innovative activity on digital media.

     

    Nitin Pradhan, Executive Creative Director, JWT commented, “Our main challenge was to use the celebrity in a way that was never done before yet had mass appeal. We were clear that it’ll be fun to bring out Nestle Munch 4×4’s proposition of the crunchiest excitement ever in a way that’s unique and innovative. The idea of a celebrity playing his own look-alike was fresh for anyone to discover. And Virat did full justice to the part. Without speaking a word in the story, he did everything to make Balakrishnan Vaali look convincingly real, innocent and an enjoyable character.”

     

     

  • To be held on May 22 in Mumbai, the task of organizing the fourth edition of Portfolio Night 11 in India has been rested with JWT India. The event is a platform to nurture young talent in the industry

    JWT to drive fourth edition of Portfolio Night in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The annual event where aspiring young advertising copywriters, art directors and designers meet with several renowned advertising creative directors in a fast-paced evening of advice, networking and recruitment is ready for its fourth innings in Mumbai.

     

    To be held on May 22 in Mumbai, the task of organizing the fourth edition of Portfolio Night 11 in India has been rested with JWT India. The event is a platform to nurture young talent in the industry by giving them an opportunity to showcase their ideas to the most creative minds of the country. Scheduled to take place simultaneously in over 20 cities on this date across the world, including Athens, Austin, Beijing, Boston, Costa Rica, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Tokyo and Toronto amongst others, Portfolio Night is an annual property of ‘IHAVEANIDEA’, the creative founders and the world’s first and largest community of the international advertising industry.

     

    Colvyn Harris

    Colvyn Harris, CEO, JWT South Asia said, “Portfolio Night is an ideal platform that identifies and recognizes fresh creative talent and offers them a unique opportunity of getting mentored and nurtured by the best in the advertising fraternity. This is also the perfect opportunity for industry experts to give back to the industry, by guiding aspiring young creatives and helping them carve a niche for themselves.”

     

    Representing the industry at the press briefing were creative heads such as Ashish Khazanchi of Publicis Ambience, Ravi Deshpande of Contract Advertising, Colvyn Harris of JWT, Russell Barrett of BBH, Sagar Mahabaleshwarkar of Bates Chi & Partners, Bobby Pawar of JWT, KV Sridhar of Leo Burnett & KS Chakravarthy of FCB Draft Ulka.

     

    On the global platform, the event is keenly sought after by young creatives who want to make it big in the advertising world and seasoned creative directors who scout for great talent. Portfolio Night 10 took place in 18 cities around the world and over the past ten years the platform has seen a bee-line of young copywriters, art directors and designers eager to participate and meet the Ad gurus they revere and hold in high esteem.

     

    The JWT India Portfolio Night 11 is expecting over 20 senior creative directors to attend and review the budding freshers. It is a fantastic opportunity for creative directors to spot the ‘next big thing’ in the advertising world and to hire and mentor fresh talent. It is also a chance for industry leaders to give back to the industry by guiding the young talent.

     

    Portfolio Night 11 is open to young creative professionals from advertising, digital and design agencies and also senior students of art colleges. JWT India will viral the promotional campaign through broadcast and digital medium. Participants will need to register on their respective city’s page on the Portfolio Night website http://portfolionight.com/11/ and click on the “Buy Tickets” button for a registration. This will take them to that city’s online ticket purchasing system. Tickets are scheduled to go on sale on April 15, 2013. An e-ticket will be issued to the participant as a permit to enter the event in Mumbai on May 22, 2013.

     

  • It's time for the 59th Cannes Lions, the true festival of creativity. Presenting a curtain-raiser and a kickstart of MxMIndia's coverage

    Heading high towards Cannes 2012

     

     

    By Shubhangi Mehta

     

    In its 59th year, the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which will take place from June 17 till 23, is considered the largest worldwide gathering of advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers.

     

    Every year in June, around 9,000 registered delegates from 90 countries visit the fest to celebrate the best of creativity in brand communication, discuss industry issues and network with one another. Thousands of ads from all over the world are showcased and judged.

     

    Inspired by the International Film Festival, staged in Cannes since the late 1940s; a group of cinema screen advertising contractors from the Screen Advertising World Association (Sawa) felt that the makers of advertising films should be recognised similarly. They established the International Advertising Film Festival, the first of which took place in Venice in September 1954, with 187 entries from 14 countries. The lion of the Piazza San Marco in Venice was the inspiration for the Lion trophy.

     

    Cannes Lions juries are drawn from experts in each field from around the world. Each jury is headed by a jury president. They judge submissions in Film, Film Craft, Media, Press, Outdoor, Cyber, Promo & Activation, Direct, Design, Radio, PR, Creative Effectiveness and Titanium and Integrated.

     

    Inspiring creativity is at the heart of Cannes Lions. The Festival is where creative professionals come to debate, learn and be inspired; where the greatest industry honours are bestowed; where those pushing creative communications forward are celebrated. Amongst the featured agencies this year are names such as BBDO India, Leo Burnett India, DDB Mudra, TBWA India, JWT India, BBH India, Taproot India, Publicis India, Contract Advertising, Grey India , Happy Creative Service and Ogilvy India.

     

    Since the past couple of years, India has been doing fairly well at Cannes due to which the expectations are increasing with each passing year. Hence MxM India tried to find out what the experts think are India’s chances in the run for metals at Cannes Lions this year.

     

    Russel Barret
    Ashish Khazaanchi
    Kartik Iyer
    KV Sridhar
    Rajiv Rao
    Senthil Kumar
    Jishnu Sen
    Josy Paul

    Russel Barret, Managing Partner, BBH India, said: “India matches up to any other country when it comes to creativity. What we lack is the space between ideas and execution. The factors that affect it are probably budget and time. I am really hopeful that we will win just like any other agency which sends their work. Though out of all the Indian work that I have seen, the Tide (print) by Leo Burnett India and OOH Iconic poster by Mudra are my favourite works.

     

    Ashish Khazaanchi, NCD, Publicis Ambience was optimistic: “Our country has had some good and some not so good years at Cannes, but there has never been an extremely dreadful year for our country. India is amongst the countries having ‘great creative talent’ and the proof is the Grand Prix in the past. Our agency has done wonderfully at Cannes, but this year our focus was mostly on agency growth. My preferred work for this year would be Fox Crime ad and Gandhi booklet by Leo Burnett.

     

    Karthik Iyer, Owner, Happy Creative Service felt awesome: “Any agency would, to get recognition from the world’s best creative leaders on a global scale. India never lacked ideas, for sure. But I think more attention can be paid to craft. That’s an area we always get beaten, either because of the lack of time, budget or both. When it comes to my favourite work, there are so many it would be unfair to point a few. But a few that come to mind – Coke Studio Entry of the music from Coke bottles DM, I absolutely love that piece, Fox Crime should pick up something, Bajaj Exhaust fans and Sour Marbels to name a few.

     

    KV Sridhar aka Pops, NCD, Leo Burnett, India maintained: “The only place where our country lacks is exploring the new medium ideas such as digital. We focus more on the conventional mediums rather than the non-conventional ones, unlike countries in Latin America. The chances of India collecting metals at Cannes Lions are more in the categories like design, photography and sound design. For me the magic creators are Killer Jeans, Tide and Bajaj. I feel this will be a good year and we might get close to 20 odd metals, but we cannot regard it as a record breaking year. I’m hoping for the best for Leo – especially for properties like Tide, Coke Studio, a couple of Radio spots and Thums Up for branded content.

     

    Rajiv Rao, NCD, Ogilvy India said: “I think Indian work is absolutely fantastic, hence it does so well in the Indian market. The scenario in our country is such that we need to do a specific kind of work to appeal to our consumers, hence we do not appeal to the global jury at times. But that is not because of the quality of our work. All we need is to bridge our work in such a way that we appeal to the local masses as well as the international juries.”

     

    Senthil Kumar, National Creative Director JWT India was of the belief that they can only do their best and hope for God and the jury to do the rest: “Sure we have the potential but until the jury agrees, we won’t be striking heavy metal there. I have always believed that Indians are the most creative people on earth. We have to be more unabashedly Indian in our ideas and even in our ‘God is in the details’ execution. If only we’d stop aping the West and strive to unleash something very Indian every time, we’d have better chance at hunting down Gold Lions. This year, our creative hopes would ride on the following ideas: The Times of India Kerala Launch, RIN Eraser, Lifestyle’s Baddie bags, Nokia Recycle Films, and some other ideas that may just surprise the audience.

     

    From a potential point of view, these ads are the ones that could hunt down a few Lions for India this year: Google Chrome Tanjore, Mumbai Mirror, The Times of India Kerala Film & IPL 5 Carnival in Film Craft, The FOX Crime Series in Digital, the Nokia Recycle Viral Films, the Coffee House print work, the 3D Audi Website…

     

    Jishnu Sen, chief operating officer, Grey India, put forth his view: “The reason that the metal tally for India isn’t as high as some Latin American country is because of the international jury. Our work is always great and creative. Grey has done some great work this year with Killer Jeans and Cupid Condom. We are hoping to pick up some metals.”

     

    Josy Paul, Chairman and NCD, BBDO India felt: “India is a late entrant at Cannes, and taking that in consideration, we are doing fairly well and growing year by year. I am expecting the Gold and Silver winners from Abbys to do well at Cannes as well. As for my agency, Cannes is like a lottery, last year we did not expect to do so well, but we did. This year too, we are hoping our Gillette campaign would do well.”

     

     

    Main image: www.CannesLions.com