India also shone in the health and wellness category, clinching two bronze Lions. One for Ogilvy’s ‘The Impossible Choice’ campaign and the other for McCann’s ‘Fit my Feet’ campaign. “Our compassion-driven and design-led idea helps uplift individuals with clubfoot while also providing a new commerce stream to the cobbler community of India,” said Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann Asia Pacific & CEO and chief creative officer McCann India.
Out of a total of 26,573 entries submitted across 31 categories, India has submitted approximately 826 entries and garnered 44 shortlists as of now. With three metals already under its belt, the Indian contingent could potentially best its highest Cannes tally – 47 metals in 2022, including two titanium Lions. Last year, the country grabbed 25 metals. Accenture Song’s creative chairperson Nick Law kicked off the festival with their annual ‘song simplifies’ session.
“You need to make what the customer values valuable to the business,” he told a packed auditorium. Fast-food giant McDonald’s delivered a powerful session on elevating C-suite collaboration. “That session was a refreshing surprise. It was a first for me to see the CFO of a company speak about creativity and need to take risks in work,” said Rahul Mathew, CCO, DDB Mudra India, on McDonald’s CFO Ian Borden joining global CMO Morgan Flatley on stage.
The afternoon session saw advertising icon David Droga interact with Open AI’s Mira Murati on the intersection of AI and human creativity. On Tuesday, juries will deliberate over the entries for the industry craft, digital craft, film craft, design and entertainment Lions. India has a total of 12 shortlists in these categories.
Also on the docket: David Droga and JPMorgan & Chase’s Carla Hassan debate if companies have a moral obligation to society; an intriguing keynote by P&G’s chief brand officer Marc Pritchard on finding creative insights in the ordinary and a session by Talented co-founders PG Aditiya and Gautam Reghunath on one of industry’s biggest evils – pricing.
