Ogilvy Africa has won a Gold Lion in the Design – Special Editions & Bespoke Items category for “Lesso Lessons” at the 2022 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

This is the first-ever Gold for Kenya, and the first Gold for any country or agency in East, Central and West Africa.

Lesso Lessons is a project launched in March 2022, in partnership with Roto Tanks, to combat malnutrition using traditionally patterned fabric garments often used to carry babies (called ‘lessos’) to educate young Kenyan mothers in rural areas on proper postnatal nutritional care.

Traditionally, the lessos are usually adorned with words of hope and love. They are often passed down to convey tribal stories and wisdom over many generations.

Working with data and information from healthcare professionals, Ogilvy Africa turned the garment into a desirable and functional postnatal nutritional textbook covering the first 24 months of a child’s development.

Commenting on the win, Vikas Mehta, CEO-Ogilvy Africa said, “We are delighted to see work that’s made in Africa, being celebrated on the world stage. This win is significant for the advertising industry in Kenya, and for the region.

"As Ogilvy Africa breaks this new ground, we sincerely hope this win would inspire more talent from this region to compete with the best in the world. We remain deeply grateful for the support of Roto Tanks and the Kenya Ministry of Health in this journey.”

Yash Deb, Executive Creative Director – Ogilvy Africa said, “This is not only recognition of the strength of our concept, but also a validation of the creative talent and potential of our team in Africa.

"We wholeheartedly believed in the idea and passionately devoted our time and energy to bring it to fruition. It was heartening to be backed by a brave and trusting client like Roto. Clients like this help us believe and broaden the scope of what is creatively possible.”

Overall, the global Ogilvy network has so far won 55 medals; 15 gold, 11 silver and 29 bronze. Ogilvy’s Global Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor said: “We’re extremely proud of the teams whose work was recognized today, in particular our Gold winners which came from offices far and wide across the Ogilvy global network.

This speaks to the power of Ogilvy’s borderless creativity and our relentless pursuit of inspiring brands and people to make an impact. Great work cannot happen without great clients, and we proudly share these accolades with them.”

The four-day event to be held between June 20, and June 24, has been championing creative excellence since with the goal of providing a global destination and the definitive benchmark for creativity that drives progress.

The annual event which began in 1954 returned this year after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.