The latest MENA Cristal Festival awards saw Leo Burnett MENA take away the star award of the evening by being named the Network of the Year, thanks to the creativity and synergy within its network.
In a ceremony held at the Intercontinental Faraya Mzaar Hotel on February 4, 2010, Leo Burnett received an impressive number of awards, as a network, and as individual country agencies.
“We have shown that human behavior can be transformed through smart and simple creative ideas,” said Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett MENA. “By connecting with people, the Leo Burnett MENA network has developed a number of memorable campaigns that stem from big ideas that truly influence human behavior and stand out in their creative power.”
Leo Burnett Cairo won the very prestigious Festival Grand Cristal for the “Melody Aflam Campaign”, handed to the team by Mr. Richard Pinder, Chief Operating Officer of Publicis Worldwide who presided over the festival.
Above and beyond the Grand Cristal, the Cairo office also won three Cristals for the Heinz print, Melody Aflam film and Birell integrated campaign.
Complementing Leo Burnett Cairo’s spectacular wins, the Beirut office was awarded 2 Grand Cristals, for the Pert Plus “Stop the Suffering” integrated campaign and for the Fatafeat TV outdoor ambient campaign.
In addition to this, Leo Burnett Beirut won 7 Cristal awards for the “Check Check” Always TVC, the BETA “Dog Adoption” print ads, the Exotica “April Fool’s” Radio Spot, the Fatafeat outdoor ambient, the Exotica “Zahra” cyber campaign, and the Pert Plus media and integrated campaign.
The Leo Burnett Dubai office also took away three Cristal Awards, for the GM Aveo and Tide press ads, as well as the integrated campaign for Emirates Airlines.
The wins prompted Farid Chehab, Chairman of Leo Burnett MENA and Chief Creative Officer for Leo Burnett Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to point out that, “We succeeded in winning in 7 different categories (integrated, outdoor, print, film, radio, cyber and media). This is evidence of our media neutrality, showcasing our ability to develop award-winning work in all categories, and demonstrating our ability to excel in multiple contact points.”
The wins were accompanied by the appropriate celebrations to reward the creativity that the Leo Burnett MENA Network has demonstrated, time and time again.
The Cristal de la MENA jury is composed of leaders from the advertising field from the world over and key media and client representatives from the region, with each category being presided by renowned advertising figures. The jury for the film/print categories is made up of foreign creative directors and industry figures, and is presided by John Merrifield, Creative At Large for TBWA/Asia Pacific. The Corporate and integrated jury members consist of leading CEOs of Middle Eastern Networks, presided by Roy Haddad, Chairman and CEO of JWT MENA. Both presidents join Richard Pinder, COO of Publicis Worldwide, to make up the jury for the Grand Cristal.
