Cannes Lions 2021: India crosses 2019’s tally by winning 1 metal on Day 5, bringing our total tally to 22

• On the last day of Cannes Lions 2021, the festival announced Titanium Lions, Independent Agency Track Winners, Independent Agency of the Festival, Creative Marketer of the Festival, the Young Lions Digital and Film Awards, Grand Prix for Good, Palme D’Or, Network of the Festival, Holding Company of the Festival, Glass Lions, Sustainable Development Goals Lions, Agency Track Winners and Agency of the Festival.
• India has surpassed 2019’s tally by bagging 22 metals, as compared to 18 in 2019 and 21 in 2018.

On the fifth and final day of the 2021 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, India has surpassed 2019’s tally by bagging 1 more metal on Day 5 of Cannes Lions 2021 -- bringing its total tally to 22. India had won 18 metals in 2019 and 21 in 2018. FCB Group India, Integrated Communications agency group that houses FCB Interface and FCB Ulka, won 8 metals including 1 Gold, 3 Silver and 4 Bronze, followed by Digital Agency Dentsu Webchutney at 7 metals.

As a network, FCB Group India bagged the highest points. However, as an individual agency, Dentsu Webchutney stayed ahead with 50 points and FCB Interface followed with a tally score of 48.

Commenting on the achievement, PG Aditiya, NCD, Dentsu Webchutney said, “This year’s Cannes Lions is probably our most meaningful one yet. A huge round of applause for our teams across the country, both past and present, & gratitude to our clients who’ve shape-shifted the status-quo of Indian creativity at a global level, with us. And congratulations to the teams behind all the winning work from India.”

Sidharth Rao, CEO, dentsumcgarrybowen (dentsuMB) India added, “2019 showed us Webchutney was capable of creative excellence at the highest level. 2021 showed it was about doing it consistently - the wins this year have firmly planted the ‘new normal’ of what Webchutney’s north star as an agency is. The agency is home to some incredible talent and is a shining example of what the dentsuMB group of agencies and dentsu India itself wants to stand for.”

Speaking on the triumph, Anand Bhadkamkar, CEO, dentsu India said, “22 shortlists and 7 Lions at Cannes this year! What a fantastic achievement to flaunt. The recognition is only a testament to the fact that dentsu India is steadily emerging into becoming one of India's greatest creative powerhouses. Dentsu Webchutney and Taproot Dentsu have already established a massive benchmark for everyone within the network and for many across the industry with their superlative and consistent performance. I am extremely proud of how our teams have shown such powerful resilience and stayed strong even in these challenging times. I congratulate everyone for earning this glorious victory at Cannes 2021.”

On day 5, FCB Ulka bagged India’s only metal. The agency grabbed Sustainable Development Goals Bronze Lion for the Times of India’s ‘Out and Proud’ campaign under the Gender Equality sub-category.

Even in 2019, FCB Group India was the only agency network to bag the yellow metal in Sustainable Development Goals Lions category for its 'The Open Door Project' campaign executed for The Millennium School. This year, the group maintained its record by winning a Gold for Mumbai Police's ‘The Punishing Signal’ campaign in the PR subcategory. DDB Mudra Group also won a Gold Lion this year for Stayfree’s Project Free Period’ campaign in Creative Strategy category under the audience insight sub-category.

Speaking on the momentous win, Rohit Ohri, Chairman & CEO, FCB Group India, said, “Our pride of LIONS bears testimony our commitment to putting creative excellence at the center of everything we do. Over the last three years we’ve been the best performing Indian agency at Cannes. Like they say… once is a chance, twice is a co-incidence and three times is a habit. I’m really proud of how far we’ve come on our creative transformation journey.”

Adding Robby Mathew, Vice Chairman & CCO, FCB Interface, said, “I am absolutely delighted with our performance at Cannes this year. Looking forward to many more bountiful years for my agency.”

Swati Bhattacharya, Vice Chairman & CCO, FCB India, said, “When I have grandchildren I think I will skip telling them about Cinderella. I will tell them about the FCB Group India story. It’s a fairy-tale without evil stepsisters. Just perfect!”

Dentsu Webchutney was the most successful Indian agency at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2019 with a tally that consisted of five Bronze and a Silver.

In 2019, Indian agencies had sent 1,053 entries. Despite having the maximum number of metals this year, we couldn't win a Grand Prix.

Here's the full Indian agency tally: