Indian agencies disappoint on Day-1 of Cannes Lions 2023; draw a blank

For the first time in the last several years, the first day of Cannes Lions 2023 proved to be a big disappointment for India with a complete no-show across five categories – Health, Pharma, Outdoor, Print and Radio.

To set the context, Dentsu Creative India and VMLY&R made India proud on day 1 of last year by winning a Grand Prix each among seven Lions for the country.

While there was no shortlist in Health and Pharma categories, there was one nomination each across Outdoor, Print and Radio. None of the shortlists could convert into Lions.

Ever since Health and Pharma Lions were made a separate track altogether, India always won big laurels that included multiple Grand Prix and Gold Lions. However, no Health and Pharma shortlist this year put industry veterans in disbelief.

Fewer entries are being attributed to this poor performance of India on Day-1 at Cannes Lions this year.

In contrast, India sent the maximum number of entries (92) in Health and Pharma categories last year.

In Outdoor, Dentsu Creative’s Suraksha Ka Teeka campaign done for Mortein failed to win a medal.

Similarly, Talented.Agency’s print campaign titled Why Is This A Swiggy Ad? could not impress the jury to be medal-worthy.

Radio & Audio Lions too had only one shortlist from India in ‘The Unheard Playlist’ for Spotify by Saurabh Varma’s Wonderlab India. However, this campaign also failed to convert into a Lion.

On the sunny side, India may put up a better show on Day 2, Tuesday, as the awards across Entertainment Lions, Entertainment Lions for Gaming, Entertainment Lions for Music and Entertainment Lions for Sport, Design, Digital Craft, Film Craft, and Industry Craft Lions categories will be announced.

India has altogether 17 shortlists across these categories.

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