With less than a month to go for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Manifest continues with its Cannes Contenders series.

Through this, we aim to showcase India's work for the Lions before the festival kicks off, as the country looks to better its 18-Lions haul from 2024.

Here are Mindshare India's entries.

Ultratech - Cementing Democracy

India, the world’s 5th largest democracy, thrives on the power of its people. Progress here is rooted not just in infrastructure, but in its democratic fabric. Guided by the belief that “real progress starts with every individual,” UltraTech Cement aimed to inspire collection action and national pride. The objectives were:

• Establish UltraTech as a Catalyst for Nation-Building

• Promote Democratic Participation 

Insight: Urban voter turnout has steadily declined, with many—migrants, first-time voters, and city dwellers—facing challenges like locating polling booths. UltraTech saw this as a key barrier to national progress and recognised the need to address it.

Idea: Harnessing the unparalleled reach of mobile technology, UltraTech launched a groundbreaking hyper-local election campaign on the back of data from trusted partners (The Chief Electoral Officer’s website + InMobi + Google Maps), combining geo-targeting, behavioural insights, and personalised messaging, to help 10Mn+ voters locate their nearest polling booths while reinstating its role in nation-building. 

UltraTech - Transforming 1.9 Bn UltraTech Logos Into 1.9 Bn Home Building Experts

Building a home is a once-in-a-lifetime identity-building milestone for every Indian. Yet 90% of first-time homebuilders struggle due to a lack of expert advice—leading to costly, irreversible mistakes. UltraTech, India’s No.1 cement brand, wanted to make expert help easily accessible anytime, anywhere. 

Idea: With 1.9 billion UltraTech logos spread across cement bags, walls, hoardings and dealer boards across India—what if each logo could be an expert? Introducing UltraTech Se Pucho — where every logo became a gateway to expert advice using AI Vision, AR and Gen AI.

Ultratech Cement - Yashasvi Sarpanch: A Movement in Print for Rural Progress

In rural India, where digital access is limited and trust is everything, UltraTech Cement used the power of print to spark a grassroots movement. “Yashasvi Sarpanch” honoured village leaders as agents of progress—turning them into credible brand advocates through vernacular storytelling, regional media, and real-world recognition.

Position UltraTech as a trusted rural ally—boosting brand preference and emotional connection by empowering the village Sarpanch community.

Insight: Sarpanches are not just administrators—they’re aspirational icons. Villagers trust their judgment, especially in homebuilding decisions. But Sarpanches seek recognition as much as authority.

Idea: Turn Sarpanches into grassroots influencers by celebrating their real-world impact. Use print to tell their stories—not to sell, but to honour.

Castrol: Democratising Motorsports: From Privilege to Possibility

Premium Motorcycles (125 cc+) grew by 19-21% in 2024 and made up for 24% of all motorcycles, outgrowing the commuter-bikes in India. For the Indian Youth (18-35), these bikes symbolise passion and performance beyond the utility of everyday mobility. But beyond the rising enthusiasm, there are barriers like affordability, age, gender, lack of training and expensive safety gear that prevent them from entering this sport. 

The big idea: Democratise motorsport. Make it a possibility, not a privilege.

Castrol POWER1 decided to create a paradigm shift. It decided to democratise this narrative – build a more inclusive racing hunt for undiscovered riders with passion. From garagemen to street racers or quick commerce delivery riders, the brand aimed to kindle a new enthusiasm for motorsport.

While its arch-rivals sponsor the sport, Castrol POWER1 decided to build one. It went beyond marketing lubricants to scout, train, and race. Fuelling the enthusiastic community with real access and making aspirations a reality.

In India, motorsports isn’t a viable career yet – it’s a luxury hobby! With the ambition to change this narrative and build a youth connect, Castrol POWER1 built India’s Ultimate Motostar – a content-led talent hunt to fuel the next generation of racing professionals. It scouted for riders across India, spotlighting their stories of passion and underdog dreams.

Sunlight - Sunlight Tantir Rong

An India Saree is the symbol of every Indian woman’s timeless elegance and pride. Many spend heavily on branded designer labels. The culture of handloom sarees in India has made a mark on the world map but handloom weavers in West Bengal are now struggling given the rise of power looms and imitations. Covid-19 has worsened the situation.

Weavers, who have been dressing Bengal and the nation in myriad colours over generations are now facing an existential crisis, signalling a dark future for this traditional craft. The earnings of these weavers went from USD 94 a month to USD 27 a month in the last few years. 

Sunlight a regional detergent brand with color guard technology depicts its communication through colorful sarees. The brand has always believed in enabling people to bring colours into their lives. With the onset of Pujo - the biggest shopping festival in West Bengal, we decided to revive the community and the art of weavers.

Introducing - Sunlight Tantir Rong (Sunlight colours of weaves), an initiative that placed the weaver at the centre and created the world’s first fashion label with ace fashion designer Parama Ghosh, wherein the name of the weaver preceded that of the designer. Every weaver now had a unique designer label under their name. These labels were then stitched on more than 5000 sarees.

Sunlight Tantir Rong’ connected these traditional weavers with famous contemporary designer – Parama Ghosh to give them a platform to showcase their magic and art. This exclusive collection was launched on Parama’s Ecom site. 

With a 360-degree execution, the idea was to drive maximum impact and thereby increase brand love and market share for Sunlight. 

Vim - Vim Adds Rhythm In Routine

Dishwashing remains one of the most overlooked and unequal household chores in Indian joint family settings, often avoided by Gen Z and largely shouldered by women. Vim, India's dishwashing leader, saw an opportunity to reframe this boring routine by meeting Gen Z where they are—inside their earbuds and social feeds.

Idea: With 90% of youth saying music makes chores better, and over half embracing tech-enabled audio, Vim launched the Vim Beat Band—a wearable device that turned scrubbing into a beat-making experience. To drop the beat, they teamed up with EDM star Ritviz to create Nazaare, India’s first dishwashing-powered track.

But the real cultural remix came in the music video, where icons of Indian internet humour took centre stage—from Gopi Bahu washing her laptop (a meme legend), to Dancing Uncle, whose joyful moves racked up 100M+ views. Packed with these familiar faces, the video became instantly meme-worthy and scroll-stopping—transforming dishwashing from a boring chore into a beat-driven cultural moment.

Ultratech - Voices of Progress: UltraTech 's Nation-Building Story

As India races toward becoming the world’s 3rd largest economy, infrastructure is its backbone. Yet UltraTech, a key contributor to this transformation, was largely seen as just a home-building brand. 

The goal: reposition UltraTech as a catalyst for nation-building/ growth.

Insight: Infrastructure is often invisible, but audio makes it emotionally resonant—evoking pride and deep connection.

Idea: Highlight the significance of infrastructure & UltraTech in nation-building by humanising it through storytelling using audio platforms.

Execution: Hyperlocal, AI-powered audio ads activated near 150+ landmarks across 2,500 plus pin codes.

Nilesh Misra’s podcast (5 million plus streams) and RJ integrations on major FM stations brought real infrastructure stories to life.

Dove - Beauty Test Stops With Me

In India, where arranged marriages remain predominant, newspaper matrimonial classifieds serve as the primary medium for arranged marriage proposals, being economical, accessible, and socially acceptable. However, these classifieds focus on physical features with unrealistic beauty demands, traditionally emphasising height, weight, and complexion, with 8/10 women believing they face rejection if not slim/tall/fair enough. This has led to matrimonial classifieds becoming India's most pervasive medium for body-shaming women over generations. 

Moreover, mothers are not only victims of this beauty bias themselves, but also perpetrators when searching for their daughters' matrimonial prospects. 

The idea: The main agent of change was Mothermonials, personality-focused marriage profiles written by mothers, eliminating physical attributes. A Generative AI-powered Mothermonial creation portal was created which helped mothers easily draft progressive matrimonial profiles. This was in turn integrated within the nation's largest newspaper's classified booking platform, Times Soulmate. This allowed Dove to target mothers of brides-to-be & nudge them to create personality-focused profiles. 

However, to ensure adoption and meaningfully innovate within a traditional medium, Dove adapted to print in both form and function. This involved disrupting the media consumption process of our TG, and once we had their attention, enabling them to become agents of change themselves.

Thus, Dove reclaimed print’s true purpose through this campaign, transforming it from being the perpetrator of toxic beauty stereotypes to a catalyst for cultural change.

Moti - Making Traditions Trend

Moti Soap a heritage brand in Maharashtra, India, is primarily sold during Diwali for its cultural significance to ‘Abhyanga Snan’, a pre-dawn bathing ritual before celebrations.

With younger audiences drifting from tradition, Moti Soap a quintessential part of a sacred Diwali ritual in Maharashtra – the pre-dawn Abhyanga Snan, risked fading into memory. Faced with just a two-week festive window, Moti chose not to shout louder but to sing differently.

Idea: Moti created the first-ever Marathi Diwali Anthem for GenZ, blending nostalgia with now. Viral music creator Yashraj Mukhate reimagined an old folk rhyme, turning Moti’s tagline into an irresistible hook. The anthem, crafted for reels, came alive through regional creator BhaDiPa’s storytelling, reuniting beloved characters and traditions with a modern twist.

What followed was more than a campaign, it was a cultural revival. Over 105,000 users joined in, creating reels that didn’t just celebrate but made the tradition into the ultimate Diwali viral trend.

In just 20 days, Moti reached 157 million screens, grew unprecedented market share, and sparked pride in a ritual nearly lost. This music video successfully repositioned Moti as a cultural and market force, blending tradition with modern media strategies. It not only amplified Moti’s heritage but also captured the hearts of GenZ, driving unprecedented growth in brand equity and market share.

Brooke Bond Taj Mahal - Taj Mahal Chai Bansuri – A Tea Kettle plays a Symphony to Solitude

Hindustan Unilever’s Taj Mahal Tea, known for its rich flavour and legacy, has long associated itself with Indian Classical Music, featuring maestros like the late Zakir Hussain. With Andhra Pradesh and Telangana contributing 42% to annual sales—and Vijayawada alone seeing 75% penetration—the brand aimed to boost salience and drive top-of-mind awareness in these core states, while also generating national spillover into metro cities and northern markets.

The creative idea: Taj Mahal Chai Bansuri (Tea Flute) was designed as a live brand experience to make tea lovers everywhere go “Wah Taj!”

In collaboration with maestro Taufiq Qureshi, flautist Hrishikesh Majumdar, and engineering teams, the brand built a 500-litre tea kettle with a concealed flute in its spout. As tea brewed, steam passed through the flute, triggering mechanised fingers to play Raag Hamsadhwani—a melodious “Cry of the Swan.”

Installed at a Tea House on the banks of the Krishna River in Vijayawada, the larger-than-life kettle delighted locals with music and tea, creating a unique Sukoon ke Pal (Moment of Solitude).

Britannia - A-Eye: A Vision for Independence for Visually Impaired

For over 130 years, Britannia has been more than just a food company, manufacturing biscuits, bread, cheese and dairy products, it has been part of India’s emotional and cultural fabric. 

But today, culture is shifting. Millennials and Gen Z are demanding more from the brands they love. They care about what a brand stands for, not just what it sells. There are growing conversations on "people with disabilities" and how they are discriminated against, often unknowingly. New-age audiences seek inclusion, representation, and empathy. For them, diversity isn't a buzzword, it’s a baseline.

Britannia understands that with its legacy comes responsibility. It recognises that being a modern brand means being a mindful brand, one that listens, learns and leads with empathy. 

Innovation, for Britannia, is not just about new products, it’s about meaningful progress. It sees technology as a force for good, and inclusion as a non-negotiable. 

Insight: Modern trade accounts for a significant share of Britannia’s sales, a reflection of how consumers experience grocery shopping: as an outing, an exploration. 

The bright aisles and colourful shelves are a testament to how most people shop – Visually recognising most brands by colour, shape, and design. 

And what happens when you can’t see that world?

The creative idea: In a world obsessed with innovation, we asked a different question: Can technology care?

Can it restore independence, and dignity to those who are often overlooked?

That’s where our idea was born—not to make tech smarter, but to make it more human.

What the visually impaired need the most is a pair of eyes. AI can become the eyes through which they can experience the world in a whole new way. 

Partnering with the community at Mitra Jyothi we identified key problems we needed to overcome with the help of tech:

• Navigating through the aisles 
• Identifying the right brand / sub-brand
• Reading the back of the pack for ingredients
• Checking for price, expiry date, etc.

Our ambition was to turn a smartphone into a trusted companion, like walking with a friend who sees what you can’t and tells you only what matters.

Britannia A-Eye is a web application powered by live live-streaming capabilities of Google Gemini. Upon scanning a QR code, the AI stack analyses live camera feed from users’ phones, enabling live navigation, product discovery and product exploration via real-time voice commands.

So, the camera sees, and the AI speaks—making sense of the world in real-time.