Girish Balachandran on Cannes 2026: India's creative work impressed, but where was PR?

This was my third visit to Cannes, in support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO) partnership that advances climate communications across the globe. This year, ICCO lent its support to the UN Office of Outer Space (UNOOSA) and PVBLIC Foundation, to use Cannes as a vehicle to drive more awareness of the role of space in our lives. As vice-chair of the 'Climate Communications Taskforce' for this partnership, I had the privilege of a front row seat to witness it and honestly, it was fascinating.

I also got to sit in on a bunch of sessions at Cannes Lions, and hear from both speakers and jury members about how AI is reshaping the creative industry, with the value of ideas under attack.

Here are some reflections from the agenda and work that won.
1. Purpose still beats tech.

Unilever CMO, Leandro Barretto summed it up best, “Brands need poetry and plumbing”. Poetry is the consumer intimacy, cultural relevance, and creative courage, while plumbing brings systems, tools and technologies. “Without poetry, nothing matters. Without plumbing, nothing spreads”.

The work that won showed this. While AI dominated panels and conversations on the Croisette, metal winners were rooted in human insights, emotion and solving real world problems. This was clearly visible in the entries from India that made the cut, including ‘Renu vs.The City’ (Bronze Lion) for St. Judes Centre by Ogilvy Mumbai that flipped the strategy on conventional fundraising films by showcasing survival instead of suffering; and ‘Indianis Dentris’ (Silver Lion) for Colgate by 'Brand David Communication's, which turned overused toothbrushes into a fictional flower species to make an ignored, boring oral-health habit impossible to ignore.

2. Fortune still favors the bold.

Creative success requires rethinking traditional formulas and approaching work from completely new angles. This was evident in the entry for ‘The Unofficial Official Sound of F1’ (Silver Lion) for Sting by Leo Mumbai, which hijacked the sound of F1 and framed it as ‘Stinggg’ via creators to spark curiosity and establish presence in a changing media and fandom landscape. The PR strategy was built around a clear cultural insight: modern fandom doesn’t respond to announcements, it responds to discoveries it can debate, validate and spread. The bravery lies in the brand’s courage to move away from the traditional copy-visual formula and instead capture people’s imagination with the roar of an engine.

3. Independents are having a moment.

India’s wins this year were driven by independent agencies and production houses (e.g. Leo India, Zig Zag Films and Humour Me), suggesting a move away from legacy, network models. What stood out the most for me was the entry for ‘Mothers of Courage’ by two Bengaluru-based nonprofit organisations, Mantra Social Services and Shiksha Lokam. The campaign documents a Shiksha Chaupal initiative, a community-led model promoting girls’ education in Bihar through grassroots conversations. The entry was India’s maiden shortlist in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) category and was produced by Butterfly Media Effect. That’s huge.

It’s worth acknowledging the overall slump of 75% in India’s shortlists this year, with fewer entries and a much lower win tally of 5 Lions against 32 last year. 

Much of this can be attributed to cost pressures from macro-economic factors, ongoing industry consolidation and increased compliance measures by Cannes Lions. Wins in 2026, the bright spot, were concentrated in craft-based and purpose-driven work in Audio & Radio, Health and Wellness, Pharma and Film Craft.

4. PR needs to be in the room from the start.

Despite its natural alignment with storytelling and culture, PR was one of the key categories where India drew a blank in 2026, with zero shortlists. 

This offers an opportunity for introspection and begs the question - does the industry in India have the ambition and investment required to compete globally?

Results of the festival show that brands are increasingly awarded for driving real-world behaviour change and sparking conversations. This makes PR’s absence from the shortlists even more conspicuous. It’s further argument for PR to be involved at the concept stage, in the idea origination, not just for execution. Also worth noting was India’s absence from participation in more forward-looking categories like social & creator and innovation, across disciplines. At this rate, are we running the risk of getting left behind?

5. Showing up is half the battle.

Cannes is not just about winning. It’s about showing up, to invest in our learning, in our exposure, in our growth as individuals, as teams and as an industry.

There’s no shortage of advice out there on what it takes to win a PR Lion. Entering a Cannes award requires trust and collaboration, between clients and agencies, to agree that our best creative work that delivers impact needs to be celebrated on the world’s largest platform for creativity. Not for the trophy, but for the truth.

For agencies, it has to be a discipline. The rigour of building a case study, proving business impact, of surviving the integrity checks. This sharpens our thinking like nothing else. Start the creative process 9-12 months in advance instead of packaging work retrospectively.

We don’t enter Cannes to win. We enter to know where we stand.

Girish Balachandran, founder, ON PURPOSE.