Major opportunity for India is in the Cannes creative data category: Anupriya Acharya

This is your second visit to Cannes Lions. How has the experience been this year, especially as Jury President?

This is actually my second visit as part of the jury, but my first as Jury President. The experience has been quite different because I've spent most of my time inside the jury room. Along with judging responsibilities, there are several activities tied to the role—press conferences, jury discussions, and sessions where we talk about the winning work. As a result, I haven't had much opportunity to explore the festival itself.

Having served as a juror previously and now as Jury President, what were your expectations before reviewing the entries?

Given that this was the Creative Data category, I expected to see a significant leap in the use of AI and sophisticated data and technology and indeed it was true. 

However, what became clear during the judging process was that sophisticated data alone doesn't create award-winning work. I believe this category still has enormous potential and we will see this category get redefined altogether as we progress.

How do you see India's progress at Cannes?

Broadly speaking, India has evolved considerably. There was a time when India was primarily recognised for craft and deep cultural insights. In recent years, Indian work has won across a much broader range of categories, including innovation, creative data, technology, sustainability etc. This reflects India’s progress and I hope that it continues in this direction.

Unfortunately, this year India’s performance has been less than satisfactory, what can India learn going ahead?

One major opportunity lies in categories such as Creative Data, which I believe has more potential as a lot of work gets done in this area. 

India possesses world-class digital infrastructure—from UPI and Aadhaar to digital payments, commerce, and widespread video consumption. Yet, the entries are not representative of this and we should do more work here.

Is the issue about how we present entries, or are we not creating enough work in these areas?

It's both. We need to think more intentionally about the work we are doing.  Digital infrastructure is not an issue as payment gateways, UPI, Aadhar identification, video, commerce etc are mainstream and this should be reflected in the entries submitted to win.

Were there any trends among this year's winning entries that particularly stood out?

What stood out most was that many of the winning campaigns, in the creative data category, were built on universal human insights. These weren't ideas limited to a specific market or culture; they had the ability to transcend borders, are relevant and resonate globally. I am a big fan of such work. Many of this year's winning entries demonstrated exactly that quality and have a huge potential to travel.

Do you have any favourite campaigns from this year's Creative Data category?

One of my favourites was the Grand Prix winner, BCP – SOS POS from Peru, the simplicity of the idea was amazing. It demonstrated how even relatively simple data can become incredibly powerful when combined with human ingenuity.

Another standout for me was Suncorp Insurance’s “Haven from Australia. The campaign triangulated real-time data, drawing from multiple sources such as weather, geography, and environmental conditions, to help property owners better protect and maintain their homes insurance. 

What I found compelling was that it addressed a real human problem before it became a crisis. Developed by an insurance company, it used AI and data proactively rather than reactively. It was a perfect example of how technology can create meaningful, real-world impact, making it a very deserving winner in the Creative Data category.