Elated with the exhilarating start, Prasoon Joshi Chairman McCann Asia Pacific & CEO and Chief Creative Officer McCann India said, “Fit My Feet weaves threads of compassion along with innovation for individuals affected by clubfoot and India’s cobbler community. We at McCann India worked closely with the Indian brand Buckaroo, which in its ethos, carries the vision of revolutionising footwear. It’s great that we could come up with this initiative to transform the lifestyles of the ones whose specific needs are largely ignored. Our compassion-driven and design-led idea helps uplift individuals with clubfoot while also providing a new commerce stream to the cobbler community of India.”
The ‘Fit My Feet’ campaign was designed in association with Buckaroo Footwear as a pilot project to provide affordable and fully customised footwear for those most in need. McCann Worldgroup worked with India’s local cobblers, known as mochis, found on almost every street corner as they provided them with a unique footwear toolkit that combines raw materials and existing cobbler’s tools to create custom and inexpensive slippers for economically disadvantaged people with clubfoot. The campaign also provided wall art branding to each cobbler.
Continuing the winning spree, the agency was also awarded one bronze metal in the category Brand Experience & Activation.
Further, Ogilvy also picked a bronze in Healthcare Lions under the Film: Cinema, TV, and Digital Film subcategory for ‘The Impossible Choice Campaign.’ The campaign via an emotional ad-film, created for St. Jude India Childcare Centers, showcased the dilemma of a warden who was supposed to choose the family of one of the two cancer-affected children whom the organisation could help. The children’s health and family situations are compared like cold, hard facts. While his choice is not revealed in the ad, it ends with informing the viewers about how several children with cancer are forced to give up on their treatment due to poverty.
Speaking about the campaign, Kainaz Karmarkar, Harshad Rajadhyakha, and Sukesh Naik, Joint CCOs of Ogilvy said, ‘The Impossible Choice has a far deeper meaning to us than just an ad. Our teams have spent quality time with this noble organisation – visiting its center, meeting its people, understanding the prime task behind the brief, and then engineering the powerful and heart-tugging work that has made such an impact. This recognition in the form of a Lion is just the right encouragement for Fritz, Jayesh, Ricardo and the team, and for Mahesh Gharat of Hungry Films, who has directed it so beautifully for us.”
Further, Ogilvy bagged a silver metal in Outdoor Lions under the Special Build subcategory. The winning campaign was ‘Taj Mahal Megh Santoor’ for Brooke Bond Taj Mahal from the house of Unilever. The campaign involved the installation of a billboard outside the Vijaywada Railway station that gained the Guinness World Record title for the ‘Largest Environmentally Interactive Billboard’. The board consisted of brass designed like the strings of the Indian musical instrument Santoor, which played Raag Malhar (the tune of the rains in Indian classical music) when it rained.
Rejoiced by the win, Kainaz Karmarkar, Harshad Rajadhyakha, and Sukesh Naik, Joint CCOs of Ogilvy said, “We are thrilled to kick off the first day of Cannes with a Silver Lion for ‘Taj Mahal Megh Santoor’. This refreshing work for HUL on a tea brand that has championed Indian classical music is a wonderful example of how a brand can come alive creatively in a unique way while staying true to its core values. Congratulations to Fritz, Jayesh, Nirav, Varun, and the broader Ogilvy team behind this work. Also, to our music and technology partners, and our media partner - Rapport Media. And of course, to our fabulous client partners at HUL for supporting great work.”
India could not convert its four shortlists in the Print and Publishing category and three shortlists in the Audio & Radio category into metals. The contingent had zero shortlists in the Pharma category. Last year too, the country had drawn a duck across these categories.