Cannes to honour Ogilvy’s Piyush and Prasoon Pandey with lifetime achievement award

File photo of Piyush Pandey. The Pandey brothers are not only the first Asians to win the award, but are also the first from WPP to be awarded a Lion of St Mark. Photo: Mint

New Delhi: WPP-owned advertising agency Ogilvy India on Wednesday announced that Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, Ogilvy South Asia, and film director Prasoon Pandey will be honoured with the Lion of St. Mark, the Cannes Lions’ Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Lion of St. Mark is the highest honour that the Cannes International Festival of Creativity bestows on creative geniuses within the communications industry.

Philip Thomas, chief executive, Ascential Events, the parent company of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, wrote in an email addressed to Piyush and Prasoon Pandey, “Next year we would like to honour you both, as two brothers who have changed the face of creativity in India and far beyond.”

The Pandey brothers are not only the first Asians to win the award, but are also the first from WPP to be awarded a Lion of St Mark. They join the elite list of creative heavyweights who have received this honour, including John Hegarty of BBH, Lee Clow of TBWA, Joe Pytka of PYTKA, Bob Greenberg of R/GA, Marcelo Serpa of Almap BBDO, David Droga of Droga5 and Dan Weiden of Weiden + Kennedy.

“This is a huge honour. I’m humbled and immensely grateful to the people of India. It is the richness and diversity of this nation that gave my brother and me the opportunity to learn and create good work. I am also indebted to my clients, my colleagues and Ogilvy who gave me the support and the freedom to fly. Thank you, Cannes Lions, for giving every creative professional in my country a reason to believe that if Prasoon and Piyush can do it, so can they,” said Piyush Pandey.

In addition to the recent honour, Piyush Pandey is the first Asian to be jury president of the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from CLIO Awards in 2012. Last year, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award by The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI). He is also the first person in the advertising and communication sector to receive the Padma Shri, an award conferred by the President of India.

Piyush Pandey has over three decades of experience in the advertising industry having created many memorable campaigns across brand categories. He has been associated with Ogilvy since 1982.

Ogilvy offers advertising and marketing services across media, including mainline (television and print), outdoor and digital. The agency handles clients like diversified group ITC Ltd, search engine Google, Pidilite Industries Ltd and Tata Sky, among others.