If you're from advertising, Grand Prix might just mean the ultimate accolade at Cannes Lions, and not necessarily a group of high-powered, strange looking cars screaming around in circles in exotic cities such as Monaco.
Last evening, several campaigns were awarded the Grand Prix in their categories. In the outdoor category, two Grand Prix were handed out to two outstanding pieces of work. Ogilvy Shanghai's #Cokehands and Jung von Matt, Hamburg's Invisible Drive for Daimler were worthy winners.
While the former was so 'simple and with a deep meaning', the latter made great use of technology and was 'truly innovative'.
The creative effectiveness Grand Prix went to BBH London for the Axe Excite campaign (Axe is the deodorant brand of Unilever). Jury chairman David Jones of Havas said it was a brilliant example of capturing an insight: "Guys don't want a hot chick, they want an angel."
The first ever mobile Grand Prix was picked up by Grow Interactive's Hilltop Reim-agined For Coca Cola. This was a fabulous piece that reinterpreted the 1971 Hilltop spot (for Coca-Cola) also known for the 'I'd like to teach the world to sing' jingle in today's context. Created for Google, it enabled people to buy a Coke for someone in some other part of the globe. Truly emotional stuff.
Mobile was a category by itself for the first time and deservedly so. While many are still grappling with what to do with the medium, the winners showed the exciting possibilities.
The media Grand Prix went to Gottlieb OMD London for Google Voice Search. A very innovative campaign, it integrates digital with outdoor.
Meanwhile, Facebook has been busy at Cannes Lions too. No, it's not just the hundreds of thousands of status and photo updates being made by delegates. Facebook launched two initiatives here.
Facebook Creative Council will comprise several of industry's top creative minds. It'll work on and highlight the creative possibilities that Facebook can offer advertisers.
They also launched Facebook Studio Edge, a 7,50,000 strong community that celebrates design, advertising and marketing campaigns on Facebook.
I'm looking forward to radio Lions this evening. They're always delightful. There are also the press, design and cyber lions today. Hopefully, India should add to its tally of five today.
So far, the shortlisted entries from India haven't converted into too many metals. Mc Cann's gold for Western Union Money Transfer did raise some cheer.
There are two kinds of Indian admen at the festival: the delegates and the scores of jury members. The jury members are walking around tired and fatigued, after days of a job well done.
That is not to say our delegates are sprinting around, all sprightly and upright. The hangover epidemic is claiming more and more victims as the Festival enters its midway stage.
