“Hey Mumbai, feel proud. We won India’s first advertising world cup”.

“Hey Mumbai, Have you met the Agency of The Year Cannes 2022? Get to know us at www.dentsucreative.com.”

Asked about the massive Outdoor campaign, Amit Wadhwa, CEO, Dentsu Creative India, said, “We are in the business of building brands and this time we are talking about our very own brand. The objective of this (Outdoor) campaign is two-fold. First, it symbolizes the start of a new age of innovation by dentsu under the Dentsu Creative brand, and second, it allows us to celebrate the enormous success of Cannes with as many people as possible.”

It is a matter of pride that we are sure each person on the street and especially, our people, would feel extremely proud of, Wadhwa added.

The campaign is an unofficial guide to the British Museum, which gives visitors an immersive tour of the museum’s disputed artefacts, their origins and how they were obtained. Visitors are invited to scan objects on display, such as the Rosetta Stone, or the Parthenon Marbles, and are transported back to the time and place of provenance via Instagram AR filters. Through the experience, users can listen to audio guides narrated by people from the countries whence the artefacts hailed from.

The campaign shows how a disruptive idea accelerated by the power of technology and social media can help in providing a balanced narrative.

“Being named Creative Agency of the Year at Cannes Lions is an experience that cannot be adequately described in words. I am proud that a fantastic team succeeded in doing something that has never been done before,” an elated Gurbaksh Singh, Chief Innovation Officer, Dentsu Creative India, tells e4m.

“It gave the entire team more assurance that as "WE" nothing is impossibly difficult if you dare big and stay focused. The campaign reinforced our beliefs on the true power of innovation,” he added.

Winning formula

Hard work, dedication and patience are the three key core components of our success mantra, says Singh.

“When it came to "The Unfiltered History” project, it took a period to develop, especially due to the pandemic, we faced many challenges. However, we stuck to our core principles and kept our attention on the objective.

When you produce exceptional work for a brand with the potential to alter culture, it will inevitably garner praise. This is certainly the case with Unfiltered.”

Raised the bar for Indian creativity

Dentsu has raised the bar, not only for others but for itself as well. How does it plan to go ahead in the future, more specifically for the next Cannes Lions?

Singh says, “I consider it an honour that at Cannes Lions we contributed to building a new benchwork for Indian creativity. Every year, we put in soul and develop campaigns. But when it comes to creativity, I believe there are a hundred different ways a plan can go wrong, but only one way it will work out as intended.”

We keep pursuing innovations that have a good influence and bring a positive impact, he noted, adding, “Our aim now is to produce brand work that is worth talking about rather than adopting any particular strategy for the Cannes Lions.”