Five more and counting: India's Cannes show continues; wins include silver & bronze Lion for Earlyman Film ad

After a strong start for Indian agencies at the luxurious Palais des Festivals venue, with a total of four Lions - one gold, one silver and two bronzes - on the first day of Cannes Lions, day 2 was a roaring success, with India picking up five Lions at the time of going to press.

With 12 Indian entries shortlisted in six categories, the wins included a silver and a bronze Lion for Earlyman Film for their 'Jindal Steel-The Steel of India' ad. "We tried to push the boundaries of the way montage is viewed in India with experimental imagery and sound. We would like to commend Venkatesh Jindal, Kondurkar Studio and every member of the team for wholeheartedly supporting and sharing our vision," Ayappa KM, Earlyman Film's co-founder told ET about their double-win.

India stood out in the entertainment category with Ogilvy Mumbai's Cadbury 5 Star 'Erase Valentine's Day' campaign; Leo Burnett Mumbai's Gatorade 'Turf Finder' campaign and VML Mumbai's Coca-Cola 'Sing to Remember' campaign each picking up a bronze Lion.


"This is months of hard work, blood and sweat and this is the sweetest Lion we have got. It's for a big culture-changing piece of work and I can't be prouder of the teams for producing such great work, day in and day out," said Mukund Olety, chief creative officer, VML India.

Indian agencies have added eight more shortlists to their kitty across three categories on Tuesday, including 'creative effectiveness' and 'creative strategy'. India's tally now stands at a total of 54 shortlisted entries in 2024.

Marketing magic
Some of the highlights from Tuesday's itinerary included an electric conversation between Yonca Dervisoglu, vice-president of marketing, Google; Dara Treseder, chief marketing officer, Autodesk; Julia White, chief marketing and solutions officer, SAP and, Karin Kimbrough, chief economist, LinkedIn on how the role of the marketer is being redefined in the age of artificial intelligence; as well as brands such as Doordash, Microsoft and Heineken weighing in on how to build systems for creative excellence.

Wednesday's big draw is Elon Musk in conversation with Mark Read, CEO of WPP.

Also, on the list of speakers is Esi Eggleston Bracey, Unilever's chief growth and marketing officer, responsible for leading Unilever into the next generation of marketing and Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and currently principal owner of Angel City Football Club and Los Angeles Golf Club, who will be talking about the rising popularity of women's sports.