Dentsu's 2025 Cannes Contenders

DSP Mutual Fund - Garuda Rakshak

Dentsu: Garuda Rakshak was a tech-powered act of guardianship that turned DSP Mutual Fund’s purpose, “Invest for Good”, into action. Launched at the 2025 Purna Maha Kumbh, where over 660 million people gathered, it addressed a real crisis: the disappearance of children in the crowd. Traditional tech failed in this congested, chaotic setting.

DSP partnered with Falco Robotics to build drones modeled after the mythological Garuda, operating on 8-bit communication tech from the 1970s. These drones used ultra-low frequency signals from wristbands given to children to track their location — offline and in real time.

The result? Every child wearing a wristband was reunited. 78% of them were traced in under five minutes. The work improved brand health by showing DSP as a protector, not just an investor — using tech with empathy and purpose.

Mondelez - Nutter Butter, You Good?

Dentsu: Enter the Nutterverse: an ever-expanding world of absurdist escapism so distinct, engaging and thumb-stoppingly nutty, you might have missed that it was simply an organic social campaign to reintroduce the long forgotten, 56-year-old cookie to a new generation.

The Awakening Foundation - Unfreeze My Rights

Dentsu: A bold initiative that challenged Taiwan’s outdated reproductive laws, contributing to significant legislative progress for women’s reproductive rights.

Canal Historia - History Outnumbered

Dentsu: To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust, this campaign paired the tattooed numbers of survivors with contemporary hate crime statistics, delivering a powerful message about the importance of learning from history.

Crayola - Returning Creativity

Dentsu: This campaign unlocked a decades-old time capsule of childhood artwork, encouraging adults to reconnect with their creative past and inspiring parents to nurture their children's creativity.

SBI LIFE - Hug of Life

Dentsu: In India, breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among women, yet only 18% have ever performed a self-exam.

The best time to do a self-breast examination is a week after menstruation because that is when the breast is least dense. Hug of Life, a Thanks A Dot initiative by SBI Life, turned an object commonly used by women during menstruation pain, the hot water bottle, into a tactile guide for self-exams, transforming awareness into action.#

tentree - Following Wildfire

Dentsu: This campaign emphasized tentree’s dedication to long-term ecosystem restoration and climate resilience, focusing on the impact of wildfires and the importance of proactive environmental stewardship beyond just tree planting.

SATO - Asuniwa

Dentsu: This campaign challenged Japan’s outdated surname law—typically impacting women—and transformed it from a women's rights issue into a national cultural imperative, driving real-world shifts in both public opinion and government policy.

Nikka Whisky - No Labels

Dentsu: Our work was a major branding project for Nikka Whisky in Japan. We created print and OOH advertising, a brand book, promotional items, videos, and the concept for a new flagship bar and shop in one of Tokyo’s trendiest districts. We developed a new brand story based on the founder of Nikka Whisky’s belief that ‘whisky is not just a drink, but a spirit that inspires people to celebrate the joy of life’. We stripped away all labels — from the product, and from the people who consume it — and depicted a life unbound by conventional perceptions about age, gender, and social status. Through dramatic use of silhouettes, we created a new visual storytelling language that does not rely on the name of the product or people’s faces to deliver its message. By illuminating the essence of whisky itself, we redefined whisky culture for the consumers of today.