India’s Adland gears up for Cannes 2009 jury duty

Taking a cue from last year, when nine Indians were a part of the Cannes Lions 2008 jury, this year will see eleven adfolks from India’s Adland taking part in what is arguably the most grueling jury duty of the year.
Among those selected to judge the various categories include Agnello Dias, founder, Taproot India, who will judge the film category; Abhijit Avasthi, executive creative director, South Asia Ogilvy & Mather, who will judge the press category; K. S Chakravarthy, national creative director, Draft FCB Ulka who will judge the Outdoor category and Lynn D’Souza, chairman and CEO, Lintas Media Group who will judge the Media Lions category.
 
Meera Sharath Chandra, president and national creative director, RMG Connect will be judging the cyber category while Leena Basrur, executive chairman, Direxions Marketing Solutions will judge the direct category. Ashish Khazanchi, national creative director, Publicis Ambience will judge the radio category while Atul S Nath, managing director, Candid Marketing will be judging the Promo category. Sujata Keshavan, MD and executive creative director, Ray + Keshavan will judge the Design Lions category. PR Lions is a category that has been newly introduced this year and from India, Prema Sagar, principal and founder, Genesis Burson-Masteller will be on the PR Lions jury. Prasoon Joshi, executive chairman and regional executive creative director, McCann Erickson Asia Pacific is the first Indian to be selected as a part of the Titanium and Integrated Lions jury.
 
Speaking on his appointment, Joshi said, “The Titanium and Integrated Lion is one of the most prestigious awards. It is a recognition of compelling ideas which completely redefined the brand. There are ten people on the jury and I am the first Indian to be selected on it.”

Talking about what she will looking for among entries, Lintas Media Group’s Lynn de Souza said, “The Media Lions, in the past, have generally been more focused on creativity and innovation. This year, given the current economic situation, we will be looking at more result focused work that benefits the client on a more long term basis. We will also be looking to see how well digital has been exploited and at the integrated use of media in the campaign.”

Commenting on the PR Lions category, Genesis’ Prema Sagar commented, “This is the first year for the PR Lions category and it would be great to see work from India in the category. I have been on international juries before but in this case, what would be really interesting would be to see how digital would be integrated into the overall communication campaign.”

Asked whether she thought the PR work for Tata Nano would merit the jury’s attention, she said, “Of course, as a case study the PR work for Tata Nano’s introductory campaign was outstanding in terms of the buzz it created. There should be a number of such great case studies from India but the thing that worries me is that Indian agencies may not send in entries due to the current economic scenario.”

Speaking about his appointment, Candid Marketing’s Atul S Nath said, “It's marvelous to be a part of Cannes as a jury member and an Activation professional. It’s going to be an exciting and difficult assignment to judge campaigns on so many criteria. I look forward to learning experience at Cannes 2009.”