Opinion: The might of Indian creatives is not measured by Cannes Lions, but they also serve

There was an interesting point made by a veteran marketer recently. It was related to events like the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. “What’s the takeout for a marketer?” he posed.

To my mind  – from the few years that I have been there – it’s a place where one soaks in inspiration from good work and great minds, rejuvenates oneself with the creative energy and enjoys the camaraderie as one fraternity. It’s as much a place to be informed of the latest in emerging marketing technology as it is to celebrate a creative idea born in a remote part of the world. The spotlight is on truly great work judged with a creative lens.

Some of it stays with you forever. I remember several campaigns that were awarded including many from India. Celebrations of the Indian entourage at the end of the awards night happened as one. Every Gold and every Grand Prix won by anyone from India was celebrated by every Indian delegate.

One campaign that will stay with me forever was from a team that won a Young Lions competition. For the uninitiated, teams of two under 30 years from different markets compete for the title on the global stage that is the Cannes Lions. Part of the challenge is to crack an idea within 24 hours. The team that left me and everyone in the audience shaken, showcased the plight of refugees who struggle to survive, struggle for food, shelter and dignity in the land they seek refuge in. Visuals of their pitiable plight in a place that doesn’t want them was followed by this message: ‘If this is what they came to, imagine what they came from.’ Now try forgetting that. Every time there is news of refugees crossing some sea drowning, the line flashes across my mind.

The work that wins big on the main stage is equally awe-inspiring. That’s the purpose of the festival – to inspire creativity. But because it is a stage for the best in the world, as judged by the best creative minds in advertising from around the world, the work that wins often follows a certain global ‘winnablity’ arc. Not just the idea, but the context in which it was made has to appeal to the jury. The innovativeness in that context matters. A Kan Kajura Tesan needed a media-dark market to be born. Ideas like those don’t happen everyday and certainly not at scale.

Viewed the other way, a simplistic idea without that edgy, creative spark has less chances of making it to the Cannes Lions stage.

One has been part of several conversations around why truly impactful work that works in India doesn’t always cut it at international awards. Some of it does. Some are starting to shine locally as well as on global award stages. Be it HUL’s #KanKajuraTesan by Lowe Lintas, Ariel’s #ShareTheLoad by BBDO or last year’s big winner Cadbury’s #NotJustACadburyAd by Ogilvy, Wavemaker and Rephrase.AI, these were mainstream campaigns that were loved by the audience before it reached the jury. Nike’s ‘Make Every Yard Count’ by JWT (now Wunderman Thompson) wowed every jury but not before resonating with consumers in its cricket-crazy home market. 

This piece is not to put down some smart pieces of work in print, outdoor and even digital that we get to see mostly only after they win at awards. It takes excellence and craft to win on a stage like Cannes and even if it was created primarily to win awards, credit is due. It’s not just India, every market has its share of made-for-awards work.

We celebrate an RRR when a song from the film makes waves at global festivals. And why not? We must when a piece of art that worked its magic on Indian audiences also wows a global jury. But was it the best song ever to come out of India? There are so many more soundtracks that move the many Indias within this country. Only a rare gem from among them will also resonate with international juries. The same holds for advertising awards.

This is an ode to the campaigns that do not get celebrated on global platforms like the Cannes Lions, but are equally deserving of praise because they cut through to their target audience like good advertising should. This is a plea that we need to celebrate them and their creators as much as we celebrate a Cannes Lion winner, if not more.

There are a few markets where the average work is just that – average. The number of standout pieces of communication is far less compared to the popular work that gets talked about in India. But those markets’ performance at international award shows is disproportionately better. The good news is that India is getting there on the awards front. The best news is that the mainstream work that is clutter-breaking in India is also getting better, growing in volume, and some of it is also winning internationally.

A Cannes Lion is great to have. For the agency, for the creatives, for the brand managers, for everyone watching Indian work bask in global glory and getting inspired. Work that works locally and pushes the creative bar to move consumers, is a must-have. Often, the twain do not meet.

(The author is Co-founder and Group Consulting Editor, Uplift Medianews4u, independent marketing consultant and columnist. Views are personal.)