India’s 32-Lion Haul at Cannes 2025: What Strategies Worked and What Agencies Must Learn

Introduction:

India’s strong performance at Cannes Lions 2025 claiming 32 Lions (1 Grand Prix, 9 Gold, 9 Silver, and 13 Bronze) was not merely a bounceback but a definitive indication that Indian creativity is moving into a new, internationally competitive phase.

As much as giant shops such as FCB, Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, BBDO, and even newcomers such as Talented won metals, more significant is how they did so and what branding and digital marketing shops can now learn to replicate that success.

What Strategies Did Winning Campaigns Employ?

1. Purpose-Led, Action-Oriented Creativity (“Story-Doing”)

A definite trend throughout Indian victories was “story-doing” rather than storytelling—brands didn’t merely promote values, they lived them. Campaigns became champions of change in the real world.

• Acko’s “The Tailor Test” converted tailor waist measurements into medical screening devices for the prevention of heart disease.

• Ogilvy’s “The Impossible Choice” rode the drama of working mothers who must decide between career and family.

• Ariel’s “#ShareTheLoad”  now in its 10th year, continued to shift societal behavior on gender roles in household chores.

strategy insight: These campaigns created tangible brand actions and not just messages. They matched up closely with social causes such as health, equality, and mental wellness, but they were rooted in cultural specificity and a measurable real-world impact.

2. Cultural truths as global connectors

Winning campaigns told local stories with universal meaning. Whether it was a dhaba menu doubling as an eye-test tool for truckers or an Indian lottery incentivizing tourism (IRCTC’s “Lucky Yatra”), these ideas felt inherently Indian—yet spoke to global human truths.

Strategy Insight: Indian culture is rich and complex, therefore, the creative edge for campaigns that really dig into the everyday Indian life, extracting insights from it and using them might give more authentic and emotionally relatable work. This is where emotional branding excels: by grounding messages in cultural truths, brands create deeper, lasting connections that transcend language and geography.

3. Partnerships and Innovation in Execution

Innovation wasn’t limited to the idea, but also in the medium and implementation. Many campaigns extended beyond the digital to incorporate physical touchpoints, gamification, tech-enabled activations, and live interventions.

• Lucky Yatra gamified actual-world railway ticketing through QR codes and a lottery model.

• Box to Beds by Leo Burnett for Amazon converted shipping cartons into reuse pet beds.

• Creative technology, CSR partnerships, and intelligent public-private partnerships drove results.

Strategy Insight: The most intelligent campaigns stacked tech + empathy + utility—to make the user a participant, not a spectator.

What Can Branding & Digital Marketing Agencies Do Now?

1. Rethink the Brief: Prioritize Impact, Not Just Awareness

Instead of asking “How do we get people to talk about this?” ask:

• What behavior do we want to change?
• What problem can we solve?
• What’s the measurable impact?

Digital agencies particularly need to transcend impressions and CTRs to KPIs based on behavioral change, intent, or action. For example:

2. Embed Cultural Insight into Every Brief  

Conduct periodic cultural immersion sessions with your team. Create a storehouse of indigenous rituals, idioms, issues, and myths by regions, sexes, and social classes.

Ideas may begin with:

• A ritual for folding a sari
• Banter between street food vendors
• Habits during train travel
• Rain or exam-related superstitions

The secret? Discover what’s emotionally real. Then dramatize it.

3. Incorporate ‘Story-Doing’ Within Campaign Architecture

A digital agency can spearhead this transition by:

• Building a service, tool, or experience: e.g., a voice assistant for older users.
• Gamifying everyday life: e.g., actual utility bills being used in a climate-change challenge.
• Leaning on real media in the world: bus tickets, paper menus, or waiting areas can be reused.

Use the brand as a platform, not the hero. It should facilitate the action, not steal the message.

4. Partner Creatively—Beyond the Ad Industry

Some of the most awarded campaigns in 2025 relied on collaborations with NGOs, scientists, public agencies, or local influencers.

Brand and digital agencies need to investigate further in:

• Co-creation with civic partners like public health or education departments
• Executing experimental executions with tech startups
• Collaborating with local creators that bring cultural authenticity

This not only enhances the executional quality but actually makes the campaign more meaningful and sustainable.

5. Measure What Actually Matters

Winning Cannes entries had transparent impact reporting. Your agency must:

• Set KPIs at the brief level
• Utilize pre/post-campaign surveys, behavior monitoring, social sentiment, footfall, or mobile data
• Construct an impact scorecard—merge qualitative impact (testimonials, policy change) and quantitative outcomes

This assists with:

• Winning awards
• Establishing client trust
• Refining strategies on actual impact

6. Invest in Internal Creative Culture

Great work comes from great culture. After Cannes, agencies need to:

• Have internal deconstructions of winning campaigns—why did they win?
• Run monthly sprints with teams presenting “purpose + culture + action” ideas
• Promote cross-discipline collaboration (strategy, tech, design, social, media planning)

You can even have a Cannes Goal: Challenge teams to come up with one entry-worth idea every quarter.

7. Scale Great Ideas Beyond the Campaign  

Don’t let the great idea pass away as a one-off. Winning campaigns like #ShareTheLoad or Tailor Test have the potential for sustained transformation.

As a digital or branding agency, you can:  

• Extend stories into social series, toolkits, influencer-led challenges
• Turn insights into always-on content formats
• Build brand IP around the central idea

Great brands don’t just advertise—they act consistently.

Conclusion: From Inspiration to Implementation

India’s Cannes 2025 performance demonstrated that Indian creativity is not only award-worthy—it’s culturally rich, globally relevant, and strategically sound. For branding and digital marketing agencies, this isn’t just a moment of national pride—it’s a strategic blueprint.

To recap:

By applying these tactics to day-to-day practice, your agency can become not only award-ready—but future-ready.