OMD’s work for Henkel and PepsiCo was the most awarded on the night, with four trophies each, with campaigns for Marico Industries in Egypt adding a further two trophies and one for du in the UAE and Cornelli Ice Cream in Lebanon. These include two gold, five silver and five bronze awards. The second most awarded agency claimed five awards. Full results are enclosed.

 

Of the 30 category awards given on the night, OMD received more than a third, ahead of both creative and media agencies, validating its commitment to and performance in driving tangible business results for its clients. 

 

Another interesting learning from this year’s result is the predominance of social media in campaigns that seek to develop consumer engagement. It certainly was the case in about half of OMD’s entries.

 

“Data and consumer engagement have long been identified as two key priorities for our group and this approach has been stunningly validated,” commented an elated Elie Khouri, CEO of Omnicom Media Group MENA, the holding of OMD in the region. “Effectiveness is something we take as seriously as our clients and have had a tradition of challenging the status quo to raise the bar in this area. Be it through research initiatives, planning and data management systems or specialist services such as digital planning, social media or branded content, this has considerably helped us take our clients to new heights, as these accolades amply demonstrate.”

 

“We often hear that clients get the agencies they deserve. It’s certainly true that we have had to evolve our service offering in order to meet their growing expectations as well as ours,” Shadi Kandil, managing director of OMD UAE, pointed out. “Clients have become increasingly specific in terms of their objectives and many now give us the means, namely data, to realize their ambitions. It certainly makes for a more fruitful, stimulating and rewarding relationship.”

 

“It’s been a memorable year for us in Egypt, in terms of new business and industry accolades,” Ronald Koukjian, general manager of OMD Egypt, commented. “After our first Dubai Lynx earlier this year, to add six Effies, including two gold, is more than we could have even hoped from such a turbulent year. Yet, our determination to raise our game and challenge ourselves has paid off. I’m very proud of our clients and our team in Cairo.”