India has got its first ever shortlist in the coveted Titanium & Integrated Lions category. The campaign that would be competing with the best-of-the-best work done in the year is JWT’s Lead India for advertiser The Times of India. India had entered a total of five entries in this category this year.

The winners would be announced on June 21, 2008.

In all there are only 33 entries, across the world, shortlisted in this category. There were 432 works that were entered. Last year India had entered four works for the Titanium and the Integrated Lions.

It is tough to compete for the Titanium and Integrated Lions category. This is seen in the fact that there were only four Lions awarded in this segment in 2007 and just one in 2006. Four entries were in 2005, none in 2004 and one in 2003, which was the inaugural year of the Titanium Lions, the brainchild of Dan Wieden.

Titanium Lion winners are seen as those works that have paved the way for advertising as an industry. ‘Breakthrough’ is the word for this category. There are no Indian creative heads in the jury for this category. The jury president is Mark Tutssel, CCO, Leo Burnett Worldwide, Chicago, USA.