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The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that a total of 26,992 entries, an increase of 6 percent from 2022, have been received into the 2023 Awards. 

Commenting on the awards, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “The shifts in the work that’s been entered provides us with a powerful insight into the industry landscape and the emerging trends. A high increase in submissions made directly from consumer product brand companies demonstrates the value being placed on creativity that drives business. The strong engagement across a breadth of Lions including emerging areas like B2B, Gaming, Commerce and Business Transformation - shows us that there is a growing confidence and investment in non-traditional channels. Over the next week, our Juries will curate a body of  Lion-worthy work and set the global benchmark that will propel us into the year ahead, supporting those using creativity to drive progress.”

 In its inaugural year, the Entertainment Lions for gaming have received 609 submissions, demonstrating the increase of collaboration between brands and the growing gaming industry. Philip Thomas, chairman, LIONS, commented, “The number of submissions received in its first year shows a really strong engagement with the Gaming Lion and is testament to the relevance and opportunity that Gaming now holds within the creative marketing community. We’re excited to see the body of work that emerges from this Lion, and I’d like to thank the Jury in advance for setting the very first benchmark in creativity in Gaming and showing what is possible in this hugely exciting area.”

 Some of the Lions with increased engagement include the brand experience & activation Lions which have seen an increase of 16 percent, compared to 2022, reflecting brands’ renewed focus on enhancing customer experience and brand building. The creative strategy Lions have increased by 35 percent, recognising the application of creative solutions that allow brands to unlock sustainable growth and measure impact effectively. Now in its third year, the creative business transformation Lions have seen a 59 percent increase, demonstrating how creativity is a driving force behind successful businesses going through a time of change. The creative commerce Lions have increased 25 percent YOY, demonstrating an area of high innovation in creative customer journeys and paths to purchase. Outdoor Lions have seen an increase of 7 percent in submissions; partly driven by the FMCG sector where entries grew by 30 percent YOY and also from the travel sector which saw an 84 percent increase YOY. The entertainment Lions - which sit at the intersection of branded content and culture - have increased 18 percent YOY and saw a 78 percent jump in submissions from the consumer services sector. 
 

Cannes Lions receives 26992 entries for 2023; 6 percent increase from 2022

Cannes Lions has launched Entertainment Lions for Gaming. The new Lion will be judged and awarded for the first time in June 2023, with Francine Li, Global Head of Marketing, Riot Games, serving as the inaugural Jury President. 

The Entertainment Lions for Gaming, originally a part of the Entertainment Lions, is being introduced as part of a long-term plan that started when Cannes Lions separated out the Entertainment Lions for Music in 2016 and then later the Entertainment Lions for Sport in 2019.

Speaking about the new Lion, Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “We’ve seen the number of Lion winners that feature gaming rise by 74% in the last five years. Based on the velocity at which this space is evolving, and the increased relevance that Gaming now holds within the creative marketing community, this feels like a natural progression. We also can’t ignore that Gaming is bigger than Hollywood and the music industry combined. I’d like to thank all the many agencies, brands, gaming experts and passionate advocates from around the world  who have helped shape this new Lion. Our belief is that this award will offer a new benchmark, and shine a spotlight on creative work that sits at the intersection of brands, creativity, gaming, customer experience and communities. I’d like to thank Francine for agreeing to lead the first Entertainment Lion for Gaming jury in 2023, we are grateful for her wealth of talent and expertise.”

The Entertainment Lions for Gaming will recognise creative work that connects people to brands through gameplay. Submissions will need to demonstrate how brands successfully tapped into complex gaming communities and seamlessly added real value to the overall gaming experience while driving commercial success.

About her role, jury president of the Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Francine Li, said, “I’m honoured and excited to serve as the inaugural Jury President of the Entertainment Lions for Gaming. This new Lion is being introduced at a time when the gaming industry is truly reaching new heights. I believe that gaming is the future of entertainment, bringing together passionate global communities in shared immersive and interactive experiences. The creative work in gaming is community driven, deeply rooted in insight and adds value to the player experience, a true definition of modern marketing. I look forward to celebrating groundbreaking work and awarding the first ever Entertainment Lions for Gaming with a jury of my esteemed peers.” 

The jury, which will be announced early next year, will be multidisciplinary and comprise creatives, brands, gaming experts, publishers, platforms and producers.


Cannes Lions introduces Entertainment Lions for Gaming

The 2022 Lions Creativity Report features 15 Indian creative professionals. The annual report ranks the most creative businesses and people in the world based on performance at Cannes Lions. 

The Lions Creativity Report presents four Regional Network of the year awards and 11 global awards: Creative Company, Network, Agency, Independent Agency, Creative Brand and Palme d’Or, as well as Health Network, Health Agency, Media Network, Agency by Track, and Independent Agency by Track of the Year. The creative rankings also include the top performing Director, Art Director, Creative Director and Copywriter.

Also included in the report are analysis and insights from the winning work and lessons on how brands are growing businesses and tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems in innovative ways. The themes covered include: Creativity for Growth; Scalable Solutions; Craft with a Conscience; Tech in Service to the Idea; and Invite Everybody.

Speaking about the report, Simon Cook, CEO, Lions, said, “It's a celebration and also a tool for future success. The official global creativity rankings provide a definitive benchmark for the industry, accompanied by insights and commentary from our winners and the talented experts who judged the work this year. I would like to congratulate everyone who ranked this year. Together, they set the global benchmark for creativity.”
The official people rankings are announced as follows:

<strong>Creative Director of the Year: </strong>

1. Aabhaas Shreshtha, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

1. Amey Chodankar, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

1. Ashwin Palkar, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

1. Binaifer Dulani, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

1. Geetika Sood, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

1. Kushal Lalvani, Dentsu Creative, Bengaluru, India

2. Eduardo Tavares, Area 23, an IPG Health Network Company, New York, USA

3. Andrey Tyukavkin, Publicis Italy, Milan

3. Eoin Sherry, Publicis Italy, Milan

<strong>Director of the Year: </strong>

1. Ronak Chugh, Freelance, Bengaluru, India

1. Sergio Rapu, Freelance, Bengaluru, India

2. Bryan Buckley, HUNGRY MAN, Los Angeles, USA

3. Lieven Anthonise, eRACINGTV, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

3. Sidney Van Wichelen, Freelance, St-Niklaas, The Netherlands

3. Witten Anthonise, eRACINGTV, Dordrecht, The Netherlands

<strong>Art Director of the Year: </strong>

1. Karthik Nambiar, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

1. Manasi Sheth, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

1. Sachin Ghanekar, PURPLE FOCUS, Bengaluru, India

1. Tanya Paul, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

1. Vaishakh Kolaprath, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

2. Katie DiNardo, LEO BURNETT, Chicago, USA

3. Sofia Gahn, LEO BURNETT, Chicago, USA

<strong>Copywriter of the Year: </strong>

1. Farishte Irani, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

1. Meghna Yesudas, DENTSU CREATIVE, Bengaluru, India

2. MacKenzie Hart, LEO BURNETT / MISCHIEF @ NO FIXED ADDRESS, Chicago / New York, USA

3. Kelley Barrett, LEO BURNETT, Chicago, USA

The rankings are compiled using data from Lion-winning and shortlisted work from 2022. PwC is LIONS’ Process Integrity Partner and is responsible for independently confirming due process in the calculation and reporting of the Special Awards rankings listed in the Lions Creativity Report. Read full report <a href="https://em.ascential.com/ODk3LU1CQy0yMDcAAAGG2tf7C5FMoGqz7AD0xZ2E_QVb2uT2raQ8AifMgSMQPi4FRSoUoOJX-KKEtPX6BLZUPKLOHGU=">here.</a> 

Indian creatives dominate the Cannes Lions Creativity Report

First-ever Agency of the Year title to an Indian agency – Dentsu Creative Bengaluru, India’s first-ever five Grand Prix haul led by Dentsu Creative bagging three of them, First-ever Titanium Lions to Indian agencies – Dentsu Creative Bengaluru and Ogilvy India.



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Dentsu Creative India Team Speaks On The Historic Year At Cannes Lions

<em>“Advertising is the business of ideas. And ideas are a messy affair. Through rejection, self doubt, lots of failure, sometimes sadness, if you’re lucky, there arrives a moment of genius. That’s it. And from that moment on, it takes a village, in every sense of the word, to turn a germ of an idea into a beast with its own imagination.”</em>

I find myself going back to these words very frequently. It’s something that Gautam Reghunath, my current CEO at Talented and previously at Webchutney often quips. Personally, I’m one of those who genuinely believes that advertising is a team sport. Sure, most ideas can often be traced back to this one moment of genius that came from an individual in the team. But that’s just that moment. For it to ultimately see the light of day as a genius piece of work - that’s when real teams separate themselves from the average ones.

Earlier last week, Indian advertising witnessed its biggest haul at advertising’s biggest stage.  The Unfiltered History Tour created history as it brought home three Grand Prix <em>(still confused about its plural and I never thought I’d have to)</em> and the Titanium Lion.

Cannes Lions week was amazing but it was also often confusing, I won’t lie. The core team on the project moved on a few weeks after we put this magnum opus into the world, having decided to join our new venture, Talented. And we got together with the next team at Webchutney to see it through the award season over the next few months. The early reactions and impact of the campaign in December 2021 had instilled in all of us a certain confidence that The Unfiltered History Tour had a fair shot on the biggest stages. And prove us right it did.

While we were sad as creators to not have some of us representing Webchutney on the biggest stage of them all, there has been no bigger motivation for me than this campaign now being the standard setter for all future work from Talented.

As an industry, we can do better to celebrate creators more.

The Unfiltered History Tour itself is about topics like credit, ownership and belonging - exactly the kind of topics where we can do better as an industry. There have been some questions from peers about how it feels for the physical Lions not actually being in our hands. Well, to me, the physical Lions are merely a symbol. A symbol of success of nearly a hundred people across teams in Webchutney and partner companies who all had their tiny or big roles in adding to this campaign. In fact, in point 11 size, the credit list for UHT fills up two pages.

It’s always baffled me that even today most large legacy agencies are usually structured for a very tiny group of people to bear most of the credit 
and the upside.

We still don’t see enough mid-level talent being celebrated as creators, recognized clearly for their work, called out for their moments of genius, or even asked to participate in interviews. In fact I know of many publications that refuse to even take quotes from individuals below certain designations. But believe me, even the simplest recognition makes a difference. Careers can accelerate from it. It takes senior leaders with a sort of assured confidence to break that status quo. I’ve seen my CCO at Talented, PG Aditiya be a torchbearer of generosity and in giving credit publicly and proudly. But then again, shouldn’t that be the natural default across creative industries?

There’s also the argument that creative agencies working for brands are supposed to be behind the curtains. I can understand that to an extent. But taking it to the extreme hurts creativity, not foster it.

We also need to create a culture where we feel secure enough to credit our creative influences, especially if it’s work by other agencies that inspired that moment of genius. We owe it to the spirit of our fraternity.

Let’s aim to credit thought leaders and creative talent from other industries who’ve influenced us. To credit the entire team so that they realise the part they have to play in building and moulding culture, and bask in its upside. To even credit alumni and make room for them on award stages for work they’ve done. So many radical sounding ideas around these topics in advertising are actually quite normal everywhere else.

As someone who loves the Indian advertising industry, it’s important we can have honest and open conversations about its flaws. And then take affirmative action to make it better.





Unfiltered credit where credit is due

In the recently concluded Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, VMLY&R India's 'The Killer Pack' campaign for Maxx Flash bagged a Grand Prix at the Health & Wellness Lions. The agency’s commerce division picked up a Gold Lion in the Creative Commerce category for Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign. These big wins at a global platform like Cannes Lions is an indication that the agency is ramping up its capabilities to create more future-ready, cutting-edge work.
For instance, 'The Killer Pack' campaign for Maxx Flash which fetched the agency a Grand Prix may look like a purpose-led initiative but it has more layers to it which made it stand out.

Here’s what the campaign focused on:

In India, garbage collection points act as major breeding grounds for diseases like dengue and malaria, while mosquito repellent coils are only used to fight mosquitoes inside homes, Maxx Flash and VMLY&R decided to change that. The mosquito repellent brand introduced The Killer Pack, with 100% biodegradable packaging lined with 5% Active Probiotic Bacillus thuringiensis, which kills mosquito larvae when disposed of in garbage dumps, dustbins, and stagnant water, which, the company claims, helps to break the cycle.

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With ‘Smart Fill’, which was launched as Hindustan Unilever’s (a subsidiary of Unilever) in-store vending model for its home care products, VMLY&R Commerce is trying to move sustainability narrative to actual practice. The consumer giant has plans to expand ‘Smart Fill’ machines across prominent retailers and modern trade outlets in India. To access products from the Smart Fill machine, consumers can either use their old empty bottles or purchase a ‘Smart Fill’ bottle from the store at a nominal price.

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Storyboard18 caught up with Mukund Olety, CCO, VMLY&R India and Arpan Jain, ECD, VMLY&R Commerce India, to dig into the making of these campaigns and the advertising trends that will shape the rest of 2022.

Read on:

<strong>VMLY&R India won Lions in categories like Creative Commerce and Creative Business Transformation. It’s putting India high up on the creative world map in categories it didn't have much presence in. What do clients really want from award winning agencies like yours?</strong>

Jain: Our winning campaigns are great examples of purpose powered creativity, which is what we stand for as an agency. Brands are looking for ideas that have the power to drive business transformation, while bringing about real change in society. It’s about adding value to a brand by adding value to its consumers’ lives.

<strong>What according to you makes Unilever’s ‘Smart Fill’ campaign a winning initiative?</strong>

Jain: The beauty of Smart Fill is that it stems from the Indian mindset of resourcefulness. India has a culture of thrift. Unlike the West, trade-offs are expected with every action. People carry their own bags to supermarkets to avoid paying for carry bags. It isn’t that they cannot afford a Rs5 carry bag on a shopping bill of Rs5000, but they do not want to be wasteful.

India also has a cultural practice of repurposing used packaging. Cookie tins are reused as sewing kits, soda bottles are converted into spray bottles.

So, it’s not just about providing an alternative to new plastic packaging but creating a strong ‘value’ connotation to drive mass adoption of the model.

<strong>What do people not know about a campaign like 'The Killer Pack' for Maxx Flash that picked up a Grand Prix this year?</strong>

Olety: The toughest part was executing the idea. While our client bought into the idea, we had to go through a whole lot of hurdles before we got our hands on the bacterial strain. It was not just difficult to access but also difficult to transport. And once we had the bacteria, we tried different ways to infuse it into the packaging. After multiple tries, a smart solution was found. We used a debossed design in which the bacteria was placed. We also managed to infuse it into the ink. That made the pack doubly potent. The bacteria in the ink releases immediately when in a moist environment and the bacteria in the debossed section starts to work as the pack breaks down.

<strong>In terms of the work at Cannes, what did you pick up as some of the key advertising trends that will shape the rest of the year?</strong>

Jain: You would have noticed the shift from creative e-commerce to creative commerce at Cannes this year. Creative commerce brings the element of conversion to brand experiences, making sure we give customers the option to buy online or in the physical space. This shift was to highlight the different emerging areas of commerce and it will broaden the horizons of creativity for business and talent, for years to come.

There was talk of aiming to make every ad a green ad by 2030, and I couldn’t agree more with the speakers. The future is all about sustainable innovation and we’re going to see a lot more.

We saw some really interesting campaigns that were set inside games in the metaverse. I look forward to seeing more brandverses come alive with fun interactions and unique experiences. If your campaign can entertain, enlighten and encourage purchases at the same time, you’ve struck gold!

<a href="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Future-of-advertising-as-seen-at-Cannes-Lions.webp"><img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Future-of-advertising-as-seen-at-Cannes-Lions.webp" alt="" width="700" height="700" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-493" /></a>




Making of VMLY&R India’s Grand Prix winning campaign

On June 22, on Storyboard18, we <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/storyboard18-indian-adland-becomes-more-mature-in-matters-of-credit-8720411.html">wrote</a> about Indian adland becoming more mature in matters of credit. There seems to be a sudden renewal of sorts in the industry’s intention to foster a credit culture.

It started with Dentsu Webchutney’s award-winning campaign.

Dentsu Webchutney (now rolled into Dentsu Creative Group India) is the agency behind India’s historic win at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity this year. And it also helped set the right example for this positive trend around <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/storyboard18-2022-was-indias-historic-year-at-cannes-lions-heres-why-8736811.html">credit</a>.

VICE World News’ <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/features/storyboard18-a-bts-look-making-of-the-unfiltered-history-tour-7817971.html">‘The Unfiltered History Tour’</a> that fetched India three Grand Prix, one Titanium Lion, ‘Global Agency Of The Year’ title, and a troop of other Lions, was a work led by PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath when they ran the show at Dentsu Webchutney. The duo left the agency to set up Talented, a new creative shop. Dentsu Webchutney continued to celebrate the work and entered at multiple awards shows across the globe, giving everyone their due credits.


Eighteen months were spent putting together a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered History Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleported the objects back to their homeland. Dentsu Webchutney, Aditiya, Reghunath, and an army of creative and tech professionals who were behind the campaign cheered each other all through the week when the campaign picked Lion after Lion at the Oscars of advertising.

The applause also came from other agencies present in Cannes and from back home.

Then, at Cannes, there came another big announcement for the agency. As a part of Dentsu International’s global transformation strategy, Dentsu Creative Group has official come into force. The group has aligned all its creative agencies into one unit. While Dentsu Webchutney as a brand name will not exist anymore, the agency’s people and work have roared to grab global attention, for one last time.

Storyboard18 spoke to Dentsu Creative Group India’s CEO Amit Wadhwa to understand what made ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ a standout campaign and what the Indian market means to the global network. Read on: 

<strong>Dentsu Webchutney’s work ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ for Vice has put India on the top of the world creative map. 
What according to you made it a standout campaign?</strong>

India has always had a vast and fabulous history of creativity. Just look at our story - from the Indus Valley to creations like the Taj Mahal. What this campaign has done is shone a spotlight on our inherent culture of creativity and our ability to make ideas shine. It has been such a profoundly moving and humbling experience to have this campaign be a conduit for showcasing the larger Indian story of talent and creativity.

The fact that this campaign resonated with people experiencing the tour both at the British Museum, and at home says a lot about the discourse of colonialism itself. How we don’t talk about it enough, and yet so many people live with a narrative that doesn’t do justice to their culture and heritage. The campaign’s impact came from the authenticity of activities, professors, and contributors of the campaign. Their pain of the past seamlessly touches the hearts of so many people. We couldn’t be more grateful to our client, and the people who worked towards bringing this piece of work to life.

<strong>We understand ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ took close to 18 months to put together. What was the core idea of the campaign and what were the client’s expectations?</strong>

The core idea was simple - how can we build a narrative around these disputed artefacts that are not perceived from just one end of the spectrum and consequently, make it as educative as possible. The potential of the concept grew as we moved along and VICE was an integral part of the crafting and development of this campaign, the perspective they brought on the table aided in fuelling the overall creative product you see today.

Our mission to decolonise a small part of the internet, making educative material available for future generations to come, developing assets after multiple rounds of fact checking, making sure we’re doing justice to the communities we’re representing — Dentsu Creative and VICE worked hand-in-hand for every step of the way. 

<strong>A lot has changed since the campaign took off and bagged awards across the world. The core team that worked on the campaign moved on. Dentsu went through a global restructuring. How did you manage to stand united while submitting work at award shows?</strong>

While working on the project for 18 long months, it goes unsaid that what fuelled this project was sheer passion. The team, then and now will continue to be proud of the project they put their hearts into. Because at the end of the day, this is more than just a project. This campaign is an instigator for creative businesses to take the discourse of colonialism into the future.  

<strong>What does it indicate to the industry when a campaign like ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ wins big during award shows?</strong>

The Unfiltered History Tour as a piece of work is a reaction to the complexity of the modern world, the competing narratives around history seen in the British Museum and the contrasting stories that are told around its exhibits. As such it’s a clear example of what we term modern creativity – the sort of work that creates culture, changes society and invents the future – it’s exactly the sort of work that Dentsu Creative and all successful agencies should be striving to create.

Clients want to differentiate their brands in new and meaningful ways and help consumers to navigate this complex world, so this win is indicative of the types of work that clients who want to prosper should be championing. 

<strong>Where does India stand on Dentsu Creative’s growth map?</strong>

India continues to be a strategically important and scaled market for Dentsu Creative. Between the pace of economic growth in India combined with our creative accomplishments, India has a firm place within Dentsu Creative’s growth agenda. Winning numerous creative accolades year after year is a testament to their understanding and delivery of modern creativity for clients. This creative success will be amplified by the way we are organising ourselves as a network so that great creative can be impacted everywhere.





Dentsu Creative Group India’s Amit Wadhwa on defining modern creativity

P&G is among the global marketers that has been pushing the purpose-driven agenda for a while now. In India, the company’s brands such as Ariel and Whisper have been creating purpose-led advertising and launching several marketing initiatives that tie into that higher-order purpose. Menstrual hygiene brand Whisper through its #KeepGirlsInSchool movement has been encouraging conversations that will help in normalize period talk.

To build on this, Leo Burnett India helped Whisper identify ‘The Missing Chapter’, a film to illustrate how a girl’s lack of period education contributes to her missing school days, a situation exacerbated by the glaring absence of period education in Indian textbooks.

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The campaign got India its first Grand Prix in the Sustainable Development Goals category at the recently concluded Cannes Lions Festival Of Creativity.

Beyond the film, the brand also looked for 28 art styles specific to the geography of each state and the agency worked with local artists to create custom hand-drawn paintings centred around ‘The Missing Chapter’ on periods. Hyper-localized in 28 different languages, slogans with catchy lines were crafted to bust period myths along with a 3-step visual aid on how to use a pad. These paintings have been put up on school and village walls – a place no girl can miss seeing them.

In a conversation with Storyboard18, Akhil Meshram, senior director and business head feminine care, Indian Subcontinent – Procter & Gamble, talks about why the campaign was a success, the results, and how brands can be a force for good and a force for growth. Read on:

<strong>What according to you made ‘The Missing Chapter’ a winning campaign at a global platform like Cannes Lions?</strong>

Before talking about The Missing Chapter, it is important to understand the context around menstrual hygiene in India. Surprisingly, out of a total of 40 crore menstruating women in India, less than 20 percent use sanitary pads. Even in urban areas, this number only goes up to 52 percent - which means, nearly half the women, even in urban India, are still using unhygienic methods of menstrual protection, such as dirty cloth pieces or even rags, husk, newspaper, and mud, amongst many others – all of which lead to a host of health issues.

This begs the question as to what it takes to improve this statistic. Awareness and acceptance of the right hygienic practices is the only way to help achieve menstrual hygiene and safeguard women’s health. One challenge to this that was always staring right in our faces, was a missing chapter in the curriculum of our school system across the country.

The way we see it, the campaign film and subsequent outreach sparked a conversation across the country on the need of a specific chapter on menstrual hygiene – in a country where periods are viewed as taboo and rarely spoken above hushed tones. The Missing Chapter was able to get people to think for how long the Chapter will be missing from the curriculum – a Chapter that could help girls be unstoppable even during their period days. The fact that the right stakeholders recognized the gap and questioned it as well was the turning point for the campaign.

With that in mind, we feel the campaign received recognition at a global platform like Cannes Lions simply because it went multiple steps beyond just a campaign film and helped change mindsets right at the grassroot. The wall paintings were an important aspect here to ensure people had a visual aid to relate to in their local culture – making the red paper a significant icon for people to link the need for The Missing Chapter in the curriculum.

<strong>What does this win mean for brand Whisper?</strong>

Whisper began the journey to normalize menstruation in India more than 25 years ago; at the time the number of women using hygienic sanitary protection was less than 1 crore. Today, this number is 10X that and continues to grow. When we started the #KeepGirlsInSchool movement in 2019, the aim was to normalise the conversation about menstrual health and address how young girls and their families don’t need to look at periods as taboo. This year, we scaled up the movement by introducing The Missing Chapter, which was focused on asking for mandatory inclusion of period education in the school curriculum.

This win is a testament to our vision of ensuring that 100% of all adolescent girls in the country are educated on menstrual hygiene so that no girl is forced to drop out of school due to her period. The recognition we have received just helps us push towards achieving our vision through innovative interventions like raising awareness about The Missing Chapter and attracting attention from the top bodies in India towards this pressing need.

<strong>What were the key results of the campaign?</strong>

With The Missing Chapter, we wanted to paint the nation red. Till date, this initiative has already reached 30 million people through various touchpoints from the outreach.

This time around for us, it was very important to reach the grass roots and drive this awareness in the most distinct and receptive manner. The wall arts, which replicated the red chapter from the campaign film, were spread across 28 Indian states, incorporating the unique language and art style possessed by each state. We put the chapter on rural school walls, and along school routes, so no girl could possibly miss it.

Along with the campaign, Whisper continues to work towards teaching as many girls as possible about periods, before they can drop out of school. By the end of this year, period education will reach over 80,000 partner schools. Till date, we have educated more than 5.5 crore girls on menstrual hygiene and have pledged to reach an additional 71 lakh girls by the end of this year, which will double our impact in the next two years.

<strong>Purpose is at the heart of P&G’s brands’ narrative. What’s the biggest learning from this strategy?</strong>

As P&G, we truly believe that our brands can be a force for good and a force for growth. As a brand, Whisper has always stood against taboos around periods – and that has been at the core of not just our previous campaigns like Touch The Pickle, Sit Improper, and Meri Life Mere Rules, but also in the previous iterations of the #KeepGirlsInSchool movement.

We feel it is important for a brand to stand for something – something that consumers relate to and where we can contribute to improve certain aspects of the socio-economic landscape . Therefore, purpose takes center-stage for us because it is important, we use our voice to help bring about change that consumer want to see in their life or in society. Our objective at Whisper is to ensure that young girls not only stay in school but work towards achieving their dreams without the limitation of periods.




The making of P&G's Cannes Lions Grand Prix-winner ‘The Missing Chapter’

VICE World News’ The Unfiltered Tour campaign is stealing the thunder and the trophies at award shows across the world this year. At the world's most prestigious ad award show Cannes Lions, The Unfiltered Tour has already got quite a haul - a Grand Prix, a Gold, a Silver, and two Bronze Lions. It has also qualified under many other categories and may bring home some more Lions.

The work was led by PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath when they ran the show at Dentsu Webchutney. It took the duo and an army of writers, animators, sound engineers, researchers, historians, freelancers, and a client team to conceptualise and execute the ambitious project.

[caption id="attachment_1007" align="alignnone" width="300"]<a href="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/PG-Aditiya-via-Twitter-pg-Aditiya.webp"><img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/PG-Aditiya-via-Twitter-pg-Aditiya-300x300.webp" alt="PG Aditiya (Image via Twitter)" width="300" height="300" class="size-medium wp-image-1007" /></a> PG Aditiya (Image via Twitter)[/caption]

Eighteen months were spent putting together a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleported the objects back to their homeland.

Aditiya and Reghunath executed the campaign and then decided to call it quits at Dentsu Webchutney. A few core team members on the campaign also left the agency to join the both of them at Talented, the newest creative shop in town.

Dentsu Webchutney has been entering the campaign for awards and has been bringing shiny metal home from across the globe. Every time a few trophies are added to the agency’s shelves, they tag Aditiya, Reghunath, and a few others on social posts giving them due credit and respect. So much so that Gurbaksh Singh, chief innovation officer, Dentsu Creative India, couriered a replica of the Grand Prix trophy to Reghunath before he flew to Cannes and asked him to unbox it when they win. Singh had a gut feeling that the campaign will go far and wide.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Three screenshots worth and plenty more! <br><br>via <a href="https://twitter.com/Binaifer_dulani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Binaifer_dulani</a> <a href="https://t.co/XmSNNlvwy3">pic.twitter.com/XmSNNlvwy3</a></p>&mdash; Gautam (@gautxm) <a href="https://twitter.com/gautxm/status/1539116221848866817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 21, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The team spirit of Dentsu Webchutney and Talented is setting the right example for the industry. It says a lot about how the Indian creative community is becoming more mature when it comes to sharing credit. As technically these trophies are going to Aditiya and Reghunath’s former agency, we asked Aditiya how it feels when that happens and more. Here’s what he had to say:

<strong>What is it like when you get big awards (not technically) for a mega campaign that you worked on for your former agency? How does it feel to see trophies on their shelves? </strong>

Proud. Nervous. Exciting. Fulfilling. Confusing. Challenging. All sorts of feelings, to be honest. But I know The Unfiltered History Tour is proud of us. It started as a casual conversation between Gautam (my ex-CEO at Webchutney and now co-founder at Talented) and me, referencing an episode from Empires of Dirt - a VICE original series on YouTube that we both loved. Ever since, over a 100 people have stepped in to do the bravest work of their lives (yet), amidst a raging pandemic, across 10-plus countries - and some of us, for months even after moving on from our jobs officially… because this discourse matters. We’re already seeing its impact with smaller museums and private collectors around the world changing their stance on repatriation. The history buff in me is overjoyed.

The creative person in me knows what he signed up for. Most of the members of The Unfiltered History Tour’s core team are now our founding team members at Talented. We’re all grateful to have left an agency we love dearly after crafting our most impactful project yet. And now, we’re working together again, as a founding team, to build our own agency from scratch. The Unfiltered History Tour is on record our last huge win at Dentsu Webchutney, but in spirit, it’s our first huge win at Talented. We can’t wait to outdo it.

<strong>The Lions are not coming to your new work address. What’s your tip for folks who are in a situation like yours?</strong>

I think the Lions are coming to our new address in every way - apart from the ‘technical’ one. Funny coincidence that this project is also about topics like ownership and representation.

Make no mistake, we want Talented’s clients to challenge us to outdo the craft, research, detail and commitment our leadership gave the Unfiltered History Tour last year. We want our colleagues to expect nothing less than the kind of deep learning and management their founding team perfected while working on this project. We also want our favourite ex-colleagues and newbies at Dentsu to be motivated by these massive wins like never before.

I’m convinced that the impact of the tour is large enough for more than one or two entities to bear its fruits. We’ve worked with Pixel Party, an incredible external tech-partner for developing and deploying the Instagram filters. With Shaleen Wadhwana, an external cultural historian who helped us perfect our visual narrative. With Ronak Chugh, an external director from Rooted Films for the project’s trailer that went viral worldwide. With over two dozen consultants and  freelancers, over 18 months. Each of them and their organisations consider The Unfiltered History Tour their most impactful work to date. These Lions, symbolically if not physically, belong in all of these work addresses.

<strong>What according to you makes ‘The Unfiltered Tour’ a winning campaign piece?</strong>

It is the first large-scale project around colonialism to be recognised by global creativity festivals. I think juries across shows have found it a necessary discourse to recognise. They’re impressed by the boldness and irreverence in its execution. And they find it a great translation of VICE’s mission to push underreported stories and narratives.

<strong>What's a bit about the campaign you haven't shared yet?</strong>

How we pitched it. The Unfiltered History Tour's first-ever presentation to VICE was through a scratch film - not a narration of the idea. While the numbers, tone and details in this scratch are all only illustrative - it helped everyone get on the same page about our broad intent, execution and potential for impact in one go. Probably one of the best early decisions in the project that set the tone for the next 18 months.



Indian adland becomes more mature in matters of credit 

It’s a solid start for Indian agencies at the 2022 edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. India has managed to get a total of 17 shortlists across categories like Glass, Titanium, Innovation, Health and Wellness Lions, Radio, and Audio. As the offline edition of the festival kicked off today, Indian agencies added 20 more shortlists to take its tally to 37. This year Indian agencies and brands sent a total of 921 entries to Cannes Lions.

Dentsu Webchutney picked four shortlists in Digital Craft Lions. The agency’s work 'The Unfiltered History Tour' for Vice Media is India’s top shortlisted work, so far. A total of 82 entries are competing in this category.

India picked a total of eight shortlists in Film Craft Lions. Edtech giant Byju's received two shortlists for its 'MasterJi' campaign. Offroad Films got three shortlists in this category for Whisper's 'The Missing Chapter'. Leo Burnett India is the agency behind the campaign.

Early Man Film has a shortlist for 'Machine-Gun Mouth' for Battlegrounds Mobile India. DDB Mudra has conceptualised the campaign. Memesys Culture Lab's work 'Care Lives on #TouchOfCare' for Vicks India has two of them. Publicis India is the creative agency of the campaign. 165 entries have made it to the final round.

Six Indian entries are shortlisted in Design Lions. Landor &amp; Fitch India has got two shortlists for its 'Polly the Polar Bear' for Montessori Schools India. Leo Burnett India also got two shortlists for P&amp;G Whisper's 'The Missing Chapter'. DDB Mudra's 'A Silent Frown' for Charlie Chaplin Foundation picked a shortlist in this category. FCB India's work 'Unbox Me UNAIDS' for UNAIDS is also shortlisted.

Byju's is the only Indian company that got shortlisted in Entertainment Lions for its 'Masterji' campaign. DDB Mudra gave India its only Industry Craft Lions shortlist for its entry titled 'A Silent Frown' for the Charlie Chaplin Foundation.

No Indian work made the cut in Entertainment Lions for Sport and Entertainment Lions for Music shortlists.

CANNES LIONS