The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity kicks off on 17 June 2024. Manifest's coverage for the festival continues with its 'India at Cannes' series. This series will showcase all of India's entries to this year's festival, speakers giving a sneak peek of their talks, and those attending the festival sharing expectations. 

In this piece, we showcase Havas India's entries for this year's festival. The agency has shared two entries.

Mamaearth - Nava Shringar for Nava Durga

Categories entered in:

• Single-market campaign: Brand experience and activation 
• Design-driven effectiveness: Design 
• Use of events and stunts: PR

Impressions: 414k engagement, 600 plus organic shares and 13k plus mentions on Instagram.

Impact details: Nava Shringar for Nava Durga

• 3X increase in sales of the national average 
• 20% increase in consumer interactions 
• Brand saw a 40% increase in awareness of their makeup range 

Anupama Ramaswamy, chief creative officer and joint managing Director, Havas Worldwide India, said, “During the Pujo season, the vibrant spirit of Ma Durga showcases the artistic creations of numerous talents. It's a time when women of all generations grace the pandals in their finest attire, radiating confidence and charisma. Naturally, when we envisioned a campaign around Durga Puja for Mamaearth, their Makeup Range seemed like the perfect match. We needed something disruptive and that's how we thought of bringing 4 artists on board to do what they do best. Bring the 9 forms of Durga on their canvases. The only twist — there are no paints used at all, only Mamaearth make-up - lipsticks, kajals and foundations. The campaign draws parallels between how artists use Paints as Shringar to bring out the nine avatars of Ma Durga and how women use Makeup as Shringar to bring out their own avatars. In doing so, we celebrate what the goddess truly represents — the multifacetedness of being a woman."

Mortein-Raksha Jyoti 

Categories entered in:

1. Brand Experience & Activation: Social behaviour and cultural insight
2. Direct: Social behaviour and cultural insight
3. Health & Wellness: Brand led education and awareness - Brand experience and activation, Brand led education and awareness - Direct and Brand led education and awareness - Outdoor ambient.
4. Innovation: Societal innovation
5. Media: Small scale media 
6. Outdoor: Promotional items and printed idea

Impressions:

• Distribution to 25000 plus households.  
• 51 million impressions.   

Impact details 

• Search volume rose by 43% 
• Brand Connection scores increased by 12 
• 31% increase in being seen as reliable,  
• a 22% increase in being viewed as a protector of loved ones, and  
• a 17% increase in being perceived as smart and well-versed in the latest technology.  
• 96% expressed a desire for the product for all future Diwalis. 

A bit on the campaign – Theme, central idea:

Diwali is one of India's most important festivals. On this day, people open their doors and windows to welcome Goddess Lakshmi. However, what they don't realise is that this also exposes their homes to deadly mosquitoes. 

As a brand that aims at making India free from Dengue and Malaria, we had an opportunity at Mortein to deal with this problem without giving up on our cherished ritual. Hence, we came up "Raksha Jyoti" - a diya with mosquito repellant which will fight mosquitoes when lit up. We reached out to various Indians through compelling storytelling. Like this, we dealt with a serious problem without affecting the sentiments people have for this festival. 

India is a colourful country. We pride ourselves on our culture, our traditions and the values we are raised with. Here, no festival is a small festival. 

Indian women, aged 15 years and above, love dressing up during festivals. They use makeup to enhance their beauty. 

Similarly, to give Nava Durga idols a 'Shringar', an artist would traditionally use paints. But the campaign asked them to challenge the conventions and create the nine avatars of Goddess Durga using JUST makeup, completely ditching the paints. 

The result? Nine illustrated portraits of Durga, each depicting a shade of her. 

Anupama Ramaswamy, chief creative officer and joint managing director, Havas Worldwide India, said, "Mortein's enduring mission has been safeguarding Indian households against the perils of dengue and malaria. While Diwali symbolises welcoming Goddess Lakshmi into your home, by opening your doors and windows, it inadvertently invites the menace of deadly mosquitoes to your family and yourself. Hence, we introduced the "Raksha Jyoti" initiative, leveraging the power of compelling storytelling to gently prompt people across India to switch on their Mortein LVs on the day of Diwali. This way, they can preserve their cherished traditions without compromising on their safety from mosquitoes."

Also read:

India at Cannes: FCB Kinnect's entries

India at Cannes: MullenLowe Lintas Group's entries

India at Cannes: Mindshare India's entries

India at Cannes: OML's entries

India at Cannes: Bang Bang Mediacorp's entries

India at Cannes: BBDO India's entries

India at Cannes: White Rivers Media's entries

India at Cannes: Leo Burnett India's entries