Leo Burnett MENA Reaches its Best-Yet Tally in Cannes, Walks Away with Nine Lions Including Two Golds

Dubai, July 2015: Leading advertising agency Leo Burnett MENA collected an array of awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2015, the world's biggest annual awards show and festival for professionals in the creative communications industry. The agency scooped a total of nine Lions at the prestigious event – which takes place every June in Cannes, France – including two Golds, six Bronzes, and one Silver.

Leo Burnett Dubai’s Lion-winning works comprise two McDonald’s campaigns titled ‘Day & Night’ and ‘Breakfast’, both of which won Bronze awards in the Press category. The team’s ground-breaking du Tuesday film ‘Too Informative’ also garnered a Bronze Lion in the Film Craft category. In 2014, Leo Burnett Dubai’s du Tuesday campaign won the UAE’s first-ever Gold Lion.

This year, two campaigns created by Leo Burnett Beirut, Sakker El Dekkene’s ‘Lebanon4Sale’ and Kafa’s ‘Vote for Us, We’ll Vote for You’, won Golds in the Media and Glass Lion categories, respectively. The wins represent industry milestones: ‘Lebanon4Sale’ was the only campaign from the region to win Gold in the Media category. In parallel, this year marked the inaugural edition of the Glass Lion competition, which aims to recognize work that challenges gender bias and shatters related stereotypes.

Kafa’s ‘Vote for Us, We’ll Vote for You’ also took home a Bronze Lion in the PR category. In addition, the Beirut team picked up one Silver and two Bronzes for its ‘Keeping the Flame Alive’ campaign.

“We are thrilled that Leo Burnett MENA has managed to, once again, secure a strong roster of wins – across various categories – at the Cannes Lions, the world’s biggest celebration of creativity in communications,” said Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett/Publicis Group MENA. “At Leo Burnett MENA, our clients trust us to break the mold, push creative boundaries, and produce cutting-edge, highly-engaging content that deeply resonates with consumers. We would like to thank our clients for continuously allowing us to operate outside the box and, of course, our Beirut and Dubai teams for delivering phenomenal work.”

Bechara Mouzannar, CCO of Leo Burnett MENA, said, “This is the seventh consecutive year that we have won awards at the Cannes Lions. Each time, we face increasingly stiff competition and go head-to-head with truly innovative ideas and campaigns from around the world. Leo Burnett MENA’s ability to set itself apart from the rest is a testament to our commitment to generating content that transcends creative limitations and taps into audiences’ cultural references. Looking ahead, we hope to continue to produce powerful work that makes us strong contenders in the global creative communications arena.”

Leo Burnett MENA has enjoyed a winning streak since the beginning of 2015. In March, the agency won the highly sought-after ‘Network of the Year’ title at the Dubai Lynx 2015. Leo Burnett Beirut was also named ‘Agency of the Year’.

In April, Leo Burnett Dubai was awarded Agency of the Year at the 94th annual ADC Awards in Miami. Moreover, in May, the Dubai team won the region’s first-ever yellow Pencils at the D&AD awards in London, for its work on ‘du Tuesday’.

A month later, at the Facebook Awards 2015, Leo Burnett Beirut won three trophies.