Cannes Lions 2018, day 1: India bags four metals in health, pharma categories

New Delhi: India has put up a good show by bagging a total of four metals including a gold, two silver and a bronze in the health and pharma categories on Day 1 of the ongoing Cannes International Festival of Creativity.

The Gold Lion was bagged by TBWAIndia Mumbai for campaign titled ‘Blink to Speak’, executed for Asha Ek Hope Foundation in the pharma category. The path-breaking campaign was also awarded Grand Prix for Good.

The agency created an eye sign language guidebook for patients suffering from non-curable amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease which weakens muscles and impacts physical function. The new language solved the problem of communicating with ALS patients as they tend to lose their ability to speak. Instead, they use their hands to communicate. Blink to Speak alphabet has eight letters that can be used to communicate everything.

In health and wellness category, Grey Group India won a Silver Lion for its campaign titled ‘The Health Purse’ or ‘Sehat ka Batua’ done for Mahindra Rise.

The campaign, aimed at creating awareness among rural women through a self-examination product for breast cancer, made the cut under direct medium subcategory of Health and Wellness Lions.

“It’s brilliant to see our work for Mahindra Rise winning in Cannes. It’s a testimony to the fact that over the last two years, we have been completely rebuilding the creative foundations of Grey India and now have some of the most talented creative guys in the industry. Hope the week ends with even bigger wins,” said Sandipan Bhattacharyya, chief creative officer of Grey Group India.

Taking a cue from age-old habit of rural women who keep their batua (small wallet) in their blouse, the agency designed purses with illustrative visuals of women checking themselves—which served as a reminder to perform the simple breast self-examination steps given inside. The illustrations were printed on skin-friendly cloth and designed using nine famous Indian folk-art styles. They were distributed in villages in Maharashtra.

DDB Mudra Group Mumbai won a Silver Health and Wellness Lion for its campaign titled ‘Project Free Period’ done for Johnson & Johnson’s Stayfree Sanitary Pads.

The female hygiene brand’s campaign portrayed that while other women hate periods, women in the sex trade cherish periods as a time off work. Noting that it is imperative to provide these women with alternative sources of livelihood, Stayfree joined hands with NGO Prerna to organise training workshops in skills like beauty services, henna design, and candle making. These workshops happen when the sex workers are on their periods.

Meanwhile, McCann Health New Delhi/McCann India Mumbai won a Bronze Lion for its work titled ‘Noon Assembly’ done for Kwality Milk under ‘Branded content and entertainment: Live experience’. Project Dhoop is an initiative that urges schools to shift their morning assembly to noon time mainly between 11:00am. to 1:00pm to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight.

Launched by food regulator Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in association with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), North MCD and other private schools, the campaign is being implemented through a joint noon assembly of 40 schools from National Capital Region (NCR).