As the advertising world awaits for the coveted Cannes Lions and celebrate creative excellence and effectiveness in every sector and discipline of the industry, we take a look at entries from India even as the judging is underway.
In today’s list of Cannes contenders is Dentsu and below are the entries:
SBI Life: Hug of life, a Thanks a Dot initiative
In India, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women, yet only 18% have ever performed a self-exam. The best time to do a self-breast examination is a week after menstruation because that is when the breast is least dense. Hug of Life, a Thanks A Dot initiative by SBI Life, turned an object commonly used by women during menstruation pain, the hot water bottle, into a tactile guide for self-exams, transforming awareness into action.
Motorola: Motorola Deep Connect
Motorola’s Deep Connect addresses a major issue in India’s coal mining industry, where over 330,000 workers face life-threatening hazards and lack communication due to explosion risks. The challenge was creating safe communication in such environments. Deep Connect uses existing walkie-talkie infrastructure and a frequency-based ID system to connect miners with families, without triggering explosion. Affordable at $200 per unit, it allows wide adoption. After 100% adoption on day one of the pilot, it's set for national roll-out across 227 mines, aiming to impact 1.65 million lives. The innovation improves safety and emotional well-being, redefining industrial B2B communication.
DSP Mutual Fund: Garuda Rakshak
Garuda Rakshak, a tech-powered act of guardianship, aiming to turn DSP Mutual Fund’s purpose, ‘Invest for Good’ into action. Launched at Maha Kumbh where 660 million people gathered, it focused on a real crisis: the disappearance of children in the crowd. DSP with Falco Robotics built drones modeled as Garuda, operating on 8-bit communication tech from the 1970s. It used ultra-low frequency signals from wristbands given to children to track their location, offline and in real time. This system helped many lost children reunite with their parents. The brand claimed that 78% of them were traced in under five minutes.
Amdocs: Live Amazing, Do Amazing
India is home to some of the most iconic IT companies, like Infosys, TCS, Wipro. These companies generated huge employment—promising steady growth, high income, and cultural equity built through stock market success, nationwide presence, and pop culture portrayal. Amdocs has big ambitions for India as a talent hub, but they fight not just rival companies but cultural phenomena. Before the campaign, search interest on Amdocs was about 1/25th that of Infosys and 1/43rd of TCS. The challenge wasn’t to highlight what they offered but was that they were not a national champion or a household name in India.
“What we have created through these four campaigns reflects the kind of creativity we stand for at Dentsu Creative - deeply human, purposeful, and built to drive change. Whether it is empowering miners to speak to their families from the coal mines, safeguarding children at one of the world’s largest gatherings, or reimagining how a global tech brand finds its voice in India - each idea was born from empathy and innovation. At Dentsu Creative - it is the kind of work that makes us proud, and it is the kind of work we will continue to champion in the future,” shares Amit Wadhwa, CEO, Dentsu Creative & Media Brands, South Asia.
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