Leo Burnett Worldwide has even more reasons than usual to celebrate this holiday season after being named Network of the Year at the prestigious 2013 Global Cristal Festival, which convened in December in the alpine city of Courchevel, France and which is traditionally the last festival of the year. The global network was also awarded the same title at another prestigious festival, the 2013 EPICA International Creative Awards festival held in Paris during November.
The two back-to-back honors come in addition to numerous awards at the Global Cristal, for great creative work submitted by the network's different offices, including the award-winning work submitted by three offices from Leo Burnett MENA: Dubai, Cairo and Beirut, which won one Gold each, as well as several other metals, for their work on behalf of iconic brands like Egyptian Mobinil in Film (that was awarded a Special Mention from the Film jury for its 'daringness as a telecom, in communication'), like Omani Nawras in The Future Is Now category, and like Lebanese Château Ksara in Branded Content & Entertainment.
Other campaigns for P&G, for DIFF, for Wardé and for the non-profit, Offre Joie, also won several prestigious awards.
Demonstrating Lebanon's homegrown creative talent, Leo Burnett Beirut placed in the top ten once again for the Agency of the Year global rankings, coming it at number six, ahead of numerous worldwide peers in addition to leading the MENA agencies in the total number of awards received in the festival. Leo Burnett Beirut also won last month 2 Golds at the Epica, for campaigns for Outbox International Short Film Festival and for Offre-Joie.
"Back-to-back Network of the Year titles to end the year is a truly outstanding achievement and a testament to the incredible talent that resides in this global network," said Mark Tutssel, the Chief Creative Officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide.
The Chief Creative officer for the MENA region, Bechara Mouzannar said: "These awards are the fruit of a great network's collaboration among three offices and fifteen teams of talented and dedicated storytellers, having fun while making great campaigns in total synchronicity. Leo Burnett MENA is definitely on the global map of creative excellence."
Raja Trad, Chief Executive Officer, Leo Burnett MENA, who had accepted the 'Network of the Year' award on stage, in Courchevel, for Leo Burnett, said : "It was a proud moment for me to accept this award on behalf of all Burnetters and indeed our clients without whom we would be unable to produce such great quality work. To borrow from the words of Leo Burnett himself. A superior creative work has been, is and always will be the hub of the wheel in any successful agency. As we go into 2014 I believe we have the impetus to do even better work"
Leo Burnett Worldwide walked away from the annual Global Cristal Festival with 42 awards including One Grand Prix, 9 Golds, 12 Silvers, 19 Bronzes and a Special Mention in Film.
18 of these were awarded to MENA offices of Beirut, Cairo and Dubai, gathering in total 3 Golds, 7 Silvers, 8 Bronzes and the Special Mention in Film.
The coveted Grand Prix was awarded to Leo Burnett's Paris office with a remarkable campaign for Jeep titled, "Boat, Motorbike, Horse Float," and two Gold for the Le Trefle "Emma" in Film and Jeep again in the Outdoor category. Other offices contributing award-winning work at the Cristal Festival were: Beirut, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Chicago, Dubai, Istanbul, Milan, Moscow, New York, Oslo, Paris, Sao Paulo and Sydney. Campaigns submitted included major international brands such as Chrysler, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, P&G and Virgin.
