Best part of Cannes? Creativity and conversations: Hephzibah Pathak, Ogilvy

In a conversation with e4m, Ogilvy India's Hephzibah Pathak talks about her stint on the Creative Effectiveness Jury, her favourite campaigns and key learnings from the experience at Cannes

by Simran Sabherwal
Published: Jun 25, 2024 9:19 AM | 3 min read

Enough has been said and written about India's disheartening metal tally at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this year. But there's more to the fest than just wins, says Hephzibah Pathak, the Executive Chairperson, Ogilvy India. "It's truly a celebration of creativity and everyone comes away feeling inspired," she notes.

She was among the 11 Indian jurors who joined global experts to award the world's very best creative and effective work at the Cannes Lions 2024 fest this year. Pathak, who was part of the Creative Effectiveness Jury this year, describes her experience as "very intense" but "very rich."

In this conversation with exchange4media, Pathak speaks about her stint on the Creative Effectiveness Jury, her favourite campaigns and key learnings from the experience.

How was your experience at Cannes this year?

The best part has been the creativity and the conversations. Cannes has been energising as alway; they always set a high standard and are ever evolving. It was great to meet so many new people with varied experience from so many countries. Cannes Lions is not just about the wins, but it's truly a celebration of creativity and everyone comes away feeling inspired.

You were part of the Creative Effectiveness Jury this year. How was your experience?

This is one of the most important categories as it proves and celebrates the undeniable impact of creativity on the business. It was very intense judging work but was a very rich experience. All the work in this category was great, as it needed to be at least a short list or a winner prior to. We had a fantastic jury from all over the world - amazing discussions and valuable perspectives.

Our Jury President Harjot Singh gave us a simple, brilliant judging framework - ABCD: Audacity & Ambition of the objectives; Bravery of the idea; Causality - which is a clear and direct link of the idea to the results and Direction for the industry. It was a fantastic anchor and guide during the judging process.

I am proud of our deliberations and the work we were finally awarded.

Are there any campaigns that stood out for you? Your favourite campaign?

Loved the CeraVe campaign. It broke new ground in brand storytelling, re-defined the rules in the category. The idea was to create a conspiracy - so in effect sold a lie, so they could tell the truth about the product. Really clutter breaking.

"Thanks for Coke - Creating" work was wonderful, also the Glass Lion Grand Prix winner for Vaseline Proderma Transition Body Lotion. A great idea that made the target audience feel seen, respected and included.

Any learnings from any campaigns that you take back?

Brands need to create all kinds of work in today's dynamic environment. They have to have Currency, respond to what's happening in culture, and also leverage the core of what makes them enduring. Creativity is a force multiplier and we saw that power being demonstrated across categories, so hopefully it will inspire more courage in the work to come.

Collaboration is the winning edge - none of the ideas could have been possible without deep collaboration with all kinds of people. There are opportunities for brands to also be a pivot for social and cultural direction. The # TurnYourBack Dove Gold winner for Creative Effectiveness is one such terrific example.