ITC's Savlon, First Indian Brand to Win Grand Prix at Cannes Lions

In a first for any Indian brand, ITC’s Savlon has bagged the coveted Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2018 for ‘Creative Effectiveness’. Designed and conceptualized by Ogilvy India, the innovative campaign is a rendition of the ‘Savlon Swasth India Mission’ programs unveiled by ITC’s Personal Care Products division to encourage a change of habits with regard to washing hands amongst children. This, the company is doing through various engaging and entertaining educational initiatives.

Commenting on the win, Mr. Sameer Satpathy, Chief Executive of ITC’s Personal Care Products Business said, "We at ITC are indeed delighted to have won the Grand Prix for Savlon for creative effectiveness at the Cannes Lions. This award is an ample proof to ITC's focus on creating an ecosystem which fosters creativity, talent, collaboration, and innovation. I would like to thank the team at Ogilvy, who are our partners in rebuilding this brand. They have also helped us achieve both commercial and creative success. And also a big thank you to the internal teams at ITC on brand, activation and R & D."

"It’s not just about winning. It's about meaningful winning. Brands comment on society. Brand Savlon has participated with society to encourage change. I am proud of Team ITC and Team Ogilvy," said Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director of Ogilvy South Asia.

The ‘Creative Effectiveness’ Grand Prix at Cannes is one of the most prestigious awards honoring creativity that impacts consumer behavior, brand equity, and sales.‘Creative Effectiveness’ judges previous year’s award-winning works at Cannes Lions to evaluate its impact in the marketplace. The Grand Prix win, is an endorsement of ITC’s commitment towards children’s hygiene and celebrates the innovative product solution as an authentic cause collaboration that has helped garner success for brand Savlon.

The ‘Savlon Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’ won global honors at Cannes in 2017 and was also recognized as one of the world’s top 10 PR campaigns by the Global SABRE awards. The unique chalk sticks have been invited to be displayed at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, Australia to inspire youth on innovation that enables social good.

Conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather, the ‘Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’ initiative provides a unique solution to promote hygiene among children by infusing cleanser like soaps into chalks. Children in different primary schools use these chalk sticks for writing on slates and when they wash hands before eating, the chalk dust on their hands work just like soap, helping them avert serious diseases. The ongoing school outreach programs under the aegis of ITC’s ‘Savlon Swasth India Mission’ has reached out to more than 2.3 million children in over 5200 schools. The innovative ‘Savlon Healthy Hands Chalk Sticks’ as part of this outreach, have engaged nearly 8 Lakh children in close to 2000 schools.