By Prajjal Saha
Advertising

<font color="#CC0033">Cannes 2008:</font> McCann, Leo, JWT get India 3 bronzes in Outdoor

Leo Burnett won its bronze for the Luxor Highlighter campaign, McCann Erickson for Anando Milk, and JWT for Reynold’s Permanent Marker

There were as many as 23 entries from India in the shortlist for the Outdoor Lions this year. But the conversion to awards rate was quite low. India bagged only three bronzes – for the Luxor Highlighter campaign (Leo Burnett), Anando Milk (McCann Erickson) and Reynold’s Permanent Marker (JWT).

In the Luxor Highlighter campaign, the press ads – Che, Charlie, Adolf – were used as posters. The campaign for Luxor Highlighters shows a full page of copy with information about these three historical characters. The copy is highlighted with a Luxor highlighter in such a manner that the face of the historical character is outlined and stands out. The beauty of the ad lies in the fact that the copy, which is continuous, makes complete sense only when the highlighted portion is read as well. The copy for the ad was readied after much research on the characters.

<font color="#CC0033">Cannes 2008:</font> McCann, Leo, JWT get India 3 bronzes in Outdoor
Santosh Padhi
<font color="#CC0033">Cannes 2008:</font> McCann, Leo, JWT get India 3 bronzes in Outdoor
Prasoon Joshi
Initially, there were some apprehensions among the jury members over whether this entry could compete in the Outdoor category as the text was small and could not be read from a distance. But Leo Burnett clarified later that the posters were put up in college canteens and on college notice boards where they could be read from close up.

As Santosh Padhi, executive creative director, Leo Burnett, says, “We put up these posters in colleges because we thought those would be the places where people have ample time to read and also the inquisitiveness to learn about these personalities.” Besides, college students are the major target group for this product.

The second bronze for India was for JWT’s twin campaign for Reynold’s Permanent Marker. In this ad, two identical twins were differentiated by a mark.

McCann's Anando Milk won India's third bronze. In this outdoor campaign, a huge hoarding was put up on a tall building in such a way that it seemed a young child had moved a part of the building.

The president of the Cannes Outdoor jury was Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman, McCann Erickson India. Joshi said the jury was looking for nuances that complemented the category and was not just a copy from other media. “We particularly looked for entries that used the medium innovatively and retained its essence.”

Ogilvy had nine nominations in the Outdoor category, but didn’t win a single Lion. Ogilvy Delhi had five nominations for its work for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) India and ORBO (Organ Retrieval Banking Organisation). While three of these nominations were for the three WWF campaigns, Illusion Rhino, Illusion Turtle and Illusion Tiger, the agency’s other two shortlisted entries were ORBO’s campaigns, Taj Mahal and Rainbow. Ogilvy Mumbai had four nominations for its work for Pond’s Age Miracle, Hutch – MSN Live Search, Getty Images and HSBC Corporate’s Global Warming Message.

For India's complete metal tally at Cannes, click here.