Cannes 2010: Indian agencies bag six shortlists in Media Lions

Six entries from Indian agencies have been shortlisted in the Media Lions at Cannes this year; while the category saw a total of 98 Indian entries. In comparison, last year saw India winning eight Media Lions of the 11 nominated, out of a total of 77 entries.

Two entries from Mediacom, and one each from Leo Burnett, Grey Worldwide, McCann Erickson and Creativeland Asia, have made it to the shortlists.

Mediacom Mumbai's The Shave India Movement for Gillette Mach3 Razors was shortlisted in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sub-category. BBDO India won the Silver Lion for the same campaign this year in the PR category.

The campaign, Women Against Lazy Stubble, was launched by releasing the survey findings, creating buzz and discussions on key news services, social media, television, print, radio and on-ground. Celebrities joined the discussion; while live polls and trials in malls and cineplexes were organised. A successful attempt for the Guinness Book of Records was also attempted with the biggest 'Shaveathon', where over 2,000 men shaved together at the same time and the same place.

The Dell Heroes! campaign for Dell India by Mediacom Bengaluru has been nominated in the Business Products & Services sub-category.

In this campaign, content platforms were designed to associate Dell with success. Partnering with the business-news channel, UTVBloomberg, a six-part series was aired, where the identified 'Dell Heroes' were interviewed on their path to success, showcasing how IT solutions from Dell had been of help to the entrepreneurs. Business school students also participated in workshops with the entrepreneurs. The campaign ended with the 'Business Excellence Awards', where future business leaders were encouraged to enter a business plan. Apart from UTVBloomberg, other media vehicles use for the campaign comprised business titles, DM, B2B portals, print, outdoor and online.

Leo Burnett's Tide Magttraction campaign for Tide Dirt Magnets has been shortlisted in the Best Use of Magazines sub-category. The campaign utilised magnetized sample packs and iron fillings, with the aim to provide readers an interactive experience of pulling away stains from garments. The campaign was channelised through in-store merchandising and print.

Grey Worldwide's AIDS Mask campaign for Ojus Medical Institute has been shortlisted in Best Use of Ambient Media: Small Scale. To raise awareness about AIDS in India at a time when the country was grappling with swine flu, the agency distributed swine flu masks in Mumbai with the message, '126 people succumb to swine flu and you wear a mask. 25 million have died of AIDS. Do you use condoms?' The campaign was also shortlisted for Direct Lions earlier.

The Fire Scooter campaign by McCann Erickson Mumbai for Republic of Chicken restaurant has been nominated in Best Use of Special Events and Stunt/Live Advertising.

In the campaign, a 'Fire Scooter' was created. The restaurant's existing delivery scooters were modified to create an illusion of fire right below the carry box. This caught the attention of people on the streets, as these scooters bearing a 'delivered hot' message moved on busy roads. Menu cards of the restaurant were also distributed, which carried the order helpline number and a discount coupon.

Finally, Creativeland Asia's Consumers Become Inventory Trackers campaign for Parle Agro's Hippo Baked Munchies has been shortlisted in the Best Use of Social Media Marketing sub-category.

Twitter was used as an inventory tracking interface, where consumers tracked stocks by the hour and reported to the sales and distribution teams of Hippo. To do this, the brand's followers on Twitter tweeted each time they were unable to find Hippo packs at a store. Core cells were set up to collect and disburse this information to the respective sales teams, which restocked the store within hours. Hippo also reciprocated with incentives and real-time stock replenishment updates on Twitter.

Ravi Kiran, chief executive officer, South Asia and emerging market leader, specialist solutions, Starcom MediaVest Group is one of the jury members for the Media Lions. Laura Desmond, global chief executive officer, Starcom MediaVest Group is the jury president. The winners of the Media Lions will be announced today.