India at Cannes Adfest 2017: Presence felt, but numbers down

The total number of Indian jurors has actually fallen this year over the past two years

It is not without reason the annual Cannes adfest is billed as the Oscars of global advertising. It is an event keenly tracked by anybody and everybody interested in advertising, much like the Oscars in entertainment.

In recent years, India has marked its presence fairly well at the adfest, both in terms of jurors as well as awards. This year, however, the number of jurors has fallen to 11 from 13 in 2016 and 2015 respectively. While the festival will be held in June, the jurors, for the record, are locked early on to facilitate a smooth judging process.

The jurors this year include names such as Agnello Dias, co-founder of Dentsu Taproot India and Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer, Publicis, who will be part of the outdoor and direct marketing categories at the Cannes adfest.  

Other names on the list include Sonal Dabral, chairman, Mudra DDB for film, Pratap Bose, founder partner, The Social Street, for promo and Amit Akali, chief creative officer, Medulla Healthcare Communications, for healthcare.

Industry sources say the fall in the number of jurors could be a result of other engagements, prompting fewer people to confirm their presence as jurors. In the past, admen such as Piyush Pandey of O&M, Prasoon Joshi of McCann Worldgroup, Josy Paul of BBDO and Ashish Bhasin of Dentsu Aegis Network have been a part of the Cannes jury.

Even as big names are fewer in number this year, an interesting trend visible is the presence of newer names on the jury list. For instance, Ritu Sharda, creative director, BBDO, will judge the Cyber Lions this year. Viral Pandya, chief creative officer, Out of Box, will judge the Design Lions and Rahul Nangia, national creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, will judge the Radio Lions.

Two other names on the jury list this year include Ashish Deshpande, co-founder, Elephant Design for the Product Lions and Amrit Ahuja, managing director, MSL 20:20 for the Innovation Lions.