India’s creative prowess takes the spotlight once again as McCann India’s powerful ‘Dabba Savings Account’ campaign for ESAF Small Finance Bank earns a coveted spot on the shortlist at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, competing in the highly respected Creative Effectiveness Lions category.
Recognised in the Acquisition subcategory, the campaign stands out for translating a culturally resonant insight into measurable business results. The 'Dabba Savings Account' initiative effectively targeted India’s unbanked and underbanked population—particularly rural women—by tapping into the tradition of storing savings in kitchen containers (“dabbas”), and converting that behaviour into formal banking adoption.
This recognition places McCann India alongside some of the world’s most powerful and result-driven campaigns, including:
- ‘The Misheard Version’ by Golin London for Specsavers Audiology (UK)
- ‘Errata at 88’ by AlmapBBDO for Johnnie Walker (Brazil)
- ‘Handshake Hunt’ by GUT Sao Paulo for Mercado Livre (Brazil)
The Creative Effectiveness Lions category celebrates campaigns that have not only delivered creative brilliance but have also driven tangible, sustained business impact. Shortlisted entries must show effectiveness over time, providing solid proof of how creativity directly influenced commercial success.
The shortlisting of ‘Dabba Savings Account’ is a testament to India’s growing role in using purpose-driven creativity to deliver real-world change — turning a deep cultural insight into an engine for financial inclusion.
Final winners will be revealed at the Cannes Lions 2025 awards ceremony later this week.
