And it is the media agencies that did India proud at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2009, at least till Day Three.

Media Lions 2009 has so far been the best category for India at Cannes Lions. Indian agencies have won eight metals in this category. This included the only Gold Lion that has been awarded to India so far.

The Madison Media Group has much to celebrate -- MediaCom India bagged a Gold Lion and a Silver Lion for the ‘To Shave or Not to Shave’ campaign done for Procter & Gamble’s Gillette. Madison Media has won a Bronze for ‘Say Condom, Aloud’ for BBC World Service Trust.

Maxus has won two Bronze Lions --- one for the ‘20 Million Experiences’ for Tata Sky and one for ‘Midas Touch’ for Nokia India.

Lodestar Universal has a Bronze for ‘The Power of Nano Innovations’ for Tata Motors.

In addition to these, Ogilvy & Mather has a Bronze Lion for ‘The Elusive Coaster’ done for SAB Miller India, and Publicis India has a Bronze Lion for In Gandhi’s Shoes.

Lynn de Souza, Chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group, and Indian Juror on the Media Lions, stated, “It is a ‘Jai Ho’ moment for India. I was very happy with the performance of Indian agencies that have really sent some great work. The next step is to begin looking at digital, internet and mobile in media campaigns. At present, there was a lot of work in traditional media, but we should grow from there to do more mixed media campaigns.”

The Year of Transition for Media Lions

Both the organisers of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and the Media Lions Jury President, Nick Brien were clear that this was Media Lions reboot year. The target was to bring the focus back on business solutions and on return on investments (ROI). In this new avatar, results were more important than creativity alone.

Brien explained, “We were looking for progressive media communication, brand engagement and powerful business results. The winning works have been awarded on the basis of these points.”

Festival CEO Phillip Thomas assured that the Cannes Lions was clear that it would follow this new approach for Media Lions in years to come to truly celebrate the creativity in the media services discipline.

The Grand Prix winner in the category was Kit Kat Mail done for Nestle by JWT Tokyo.