By A Correspondent

Making its first appearance, the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions awards have received a total of 18 entries from India. Of the lot, just a single entry by Bacardi India for its work around ‘The Dewarists’ has been shortlisted.

New for this year, the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions award has been designed to reward creativity in branded content and entertainment, defined as: the creation of, or natural integration into, original content by a brand. The purpose of branded entertainment is to deliver marketing messages by engaging consumers via relevant content platforms rather than traditional advertising methods.

A total of 800 entries from 52 countries have been submitted into the Branded Content & Entertainment Lions category in its launch year. Leading the count is USA which has sent 218 entries. Coming next is United Kingdom that has sent 58 entries, France with 52 entries, Brazil with 47 entries and Japan with 43 entries.

In its first year, Avi Savar, Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Big Fuel has been selected as the Jury president while India would be represented by Cyrus Oshidar, Creative Director, Bawa Broadcasting. The trophies for this category will be presented on Saturday evening 23 June in the Grand Auditorium, Palais des Festivals.