In a move that has several implications from a perspective beyond advertising, the Cannes Lions 2016 had recognized Mindshare India for creating the first transgender pop band. The Brooke Bond Red Label '6 Pack Band' shattered stereotypes with this band, and now Mindshare India has brought them to Cannes Lions to perform live both in the seminar Hall and ahead of the Awards Ceremony on day one.
Mindshare India had won a Grand Prix in Glass Lions last year for the 6 Pack Band. "Every award win is a combined effort of several important teams. This is our way of saying thank you to the 6-Pack Band and also to show them what a platform such as Cannes Lions means," says Prasanth Kumar, CEO, Mindshare South Asia.
The move is a first from any agency in India. The band, whose members include Fida Khan, Ravina Jagtap, Asha Jagtap, Chandni Suvarnakar, Komal Jagtap and Bhavika Patil, will be part of the 'Talent without Prejudice' session at Debussy Theatre at 3 PM on June 19 and will repeat the stage performance at the awards ceremony at 8 PM.
While all band members could not make it to the forum - Komal Jagtap was unable to procure a passport in time - the 6-Pack is here at Cannes and all prepped up for its big Cannes stage debut.
The session has generated significant buzz already. Titled, 'Talent Without Prejudice', the Mindshare session, will remind the fact that talent isn't gender specific.
Talent isn't defined by ethnicity. It has no prejudice. This seminar will explore what it takes for talent to trump prejudice and rise to the top. It will discuss how the equality debate is evolving to be more than a focus on gender and statistics to be about how to spot talent, how to understand different perspectives and how to get to where you want to go. It's a story of transformation. How do you communicate what you have to offer? Speakers in the will be talking gender, ethnicity and more.
The speakers in the session also include Nilufar Fowler, Global Client Lead, Mindshare, Charlotte Beers, former CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, businesswoman and entrepreneur Maggie Semple OBE FCGI and Ida Rezvani also of Ogilvy & Mather.
As Mindshare says in its session descriptor, "Get ready to have an uncomfortable conversation, talented people welcome."