McCann Worldgroup Named 'Agency Network of the Year'

For the second successive year, McCann Worldgroup was recognised as “Agency Network of the Year” at the Golden Drum Festival, Central and Eastern Europe’s most prestigious advertising festival.

The “Agency Network of the Year” honour is the most important award of the festival and is given to the agency with the most cumulative winning points for its entries. This year McCann Worldgroup had a total of 141 points, which included winning 3 Grand Prix, 4 Golden Drums, 7 Silver Drums and 20 other shortlisted campaigns. McCann’s 2014 winners came from 10 countries: Romania, Turkey, Israel, Finland, Poland, Sebia, Croatia, Albania, Slovenia, and Hungary.

The 3 Grand Prix were awarded for the “Ghita, the Social Shepherd” campaign done by McCann Bucharest for Vodafone Romania; the “Enemy Front” campaign created by McCann Warsaw for CI Games; and the “Dog Pookies” campaign done by Mayer McCann Ljubljana for Hov-Hov Dog Bakery.

“I am really proud that we were able to defend the title of ‘Network of the Year,’ but most importantly that we had 10 markets scoring points and winning awards—which proves that the region is growing creatively. Mission accomplished,” said Adrian Botan, ‎VP Creative Excellence at McCann Worldgroup Central and Eastern Europe.

“At McCann CEE, Adrian and I have been committed to two things: being exceptional partners to our clients and growing both their and our businesses, and striving to constantly improve our creative output,” said Richard Bonner-Davies, President, Central and Eastern Europe and Nordic Countries, McCann Worldgroup. “With 10 of our offices contributing to this years’ ‘Network Agency of the Year’ award, this is proof that our creativity is getting better. There is no question in my mind that the competition was even stronger this year and we needed to up our game as well. Thankfully, the juries felt that we have accomplished this, given the amount of awards we received.”

Also, for the second time in the last 4 years, Vodafone Romania was awarded Brand of the Year, winning 4 awards—1 Grand Prix, 2 Golden Drum, 1 Silver Drum—all for the “Ghita, the Social Shepherd” campaign (also a Cannes Lions winner) and was also shortlisted for “Digital Library Wallpaper” campaign, both developed by McCann Bucharest.

“For Adrian Botan and the entire region to repeat as the most awarded network at Golden Drum is an outstanding moment for McCann and all of our agencies across Central and Eastern Europe,” said Rob Reilly, Global Creative Chairman, McCann Worldgroup. “The entire region has done a superb job helping to consistently contribute to the success of our clients, and I am delighted to see everyone receive recognition from our industry peers.”