Pinnacle
One + One = One Fp7/mccann
“It’s the real thing.”
“There are some things money can’t buy.” “For everything else, there’s Mastercard.”
“BECAUSE I’M WORTH IT.”
The NESCAFÉ GOLD BLEND couple ad-series
and the GEORGE CLOONEY NESPRESSO ads. These are just a handful of the iconic ad campaigns created by global industry giant: Mccann — formerly Mccann Erickson and part of the
MCCANN WORLDGROUP (the world’s largest advertising agency network), itself part of Interpublic Group, aka IPG.
headquartered in NYC with 180 offices in over 120 countries, Mccann has been around for a staggering 89 years!
And through all that time and space, but mostly through creative genius and campaign effectiveness, it has been shaping the industry — and continues to do so: it was voted Network of the Year at seven major creative award shows in 2018; won the most Cannes Lions than any other network over the last three consecutive years; and was ranked #1 Agency Network globally, in Europe, and in the MENA region in the 2018 Effie Index; to name but few of the attestations of excellence it has amassed last year, prior, and since.
For those of you for whom a bell is ringing, it is this very same Mccann that permeates the highly-rated, 2007-2015 American TV series Mad Men, which eventually succeeds to acquire leading character Don Draper, and which is behind the landmark Coca-cola “Hilltop” ad with which the series ends.
OK. That makes One. Now let’s turn to the other One.
Founded in Beirut in 1968, headquartered in Dubai, operating 16 offices in 14 countries across the MENA region, and originators of Cathay Pacific’s ‘Arrive in Better Shape’ and Coke’s ‘Better Together’; yes, you guessed it, it’s FP7 — formerly Promotion 7, Promo Seven, then Fortune Promoseven — which is the flagship agency of MCN (Middle East Communications Network), the largest advertising and marketing communications network in the Middle East and North Africa, also itself part of IPG.
With such impressive talents and track records, it was no surprise that One caught One’s eye, nor that the relationship, which ensued continues to be so successful. They have quite a lot in common, after all. They’re both over 50, work with top advertisers, have record-long relationships with them, and do outstanding work and continually win awards for it. Not to mention an extraordinary synergy in outlook and attitude, as encapsulated in their respective taglines: “Truth Well Told” and “Truth and Dare” (see ad on the back cover).
Synergy, affinity, and a bit of magic, then, are what make FP7 + Mccann = One. Yet as each parent One retains its separate traits of individuality, so does this last, resulting, One.
For example, local and visceral knowledge and understanding of the MENA region as a whole, as well as its individual markets. “The heart and soul of FP7 is and forever will remain entrenched in Middle Eastern identity,” their website states. But that’s practically a given. And not really our present main interest, which lies, rather, in traits
of commonality that bind and enrich this marriage.
At the top of the list comes: family spirit. Practically everyone at FP7 Mccann, in whichever of their offices, at whatever time, talks of the family spirit that runs throughout the agency and that makes it such a special place for them. “It is a place with a soul [and]… a feeling of belonging,” says Nassif Abou Aloula, Business Director & Head of Digital at FP7 Mccann Beirut. That may be because management fundamentally believes that great work only happens when the team members truly love what they do and actively fosters such love.
There are others. (Traits of commonality, that is.) And they all make up what FP7 Mccann people refer to as their OS (operating system), a system that guides their work every day, in every office. Including Beirut, which is where we went for a closer look at it. (Yes, the OS.)
First, there’s Strategy. It pervades the whole agency. In the sense that strategic thinking is practiced by everyone. Just as the Strategy department lends a hand to all others, throughout the process. But what is Strategy at FP7 Mccann Beirut? At the heart of it is turning in-depth, substantially end-user centric, research and analysis into a brand, product, and communication Truth. A powerful insight that is unique to
the category, relevant and relatable to the core consumer, banks on the company’s strength, and takes into account what is happening in the world that is affecting the category. “We DON’T give you what you want. We give you a fresh eye, a new perspective,” says Carl Bou Abdallah, Beirut-based Strategic Planning Manager & Truth Central
Manager MENA. “We don’t just light up fireworks for you, short-lived and only intended to please; we show you how to make fireworks and then make them together.” As their global website states, FP7 Mccann regard “brand truths as a catalyst for generating powerful ideas that succeed, because they help brands to play a meaningful role in people’s lives.”
Closely related to Strategy is its resulting integrated communication campaigns, or Journeying in internal lingo. Which brings us to the second pillar of the FP7 Mccann OS: Digital. Rather than the more common practice of a separate structure for digital services, FP7 Mccann integrates digital into everything they do. This holistic approach ensures that all teams, Strategy to Creative, are perfectly capable of delivering fully integrated campaigns with digital at core, assisted by specialized digital talent when needed. And by a set of proprietary and proven tools, such as Live, a global social media framework offering services across strategy, content, delivery, and analytics — the Beirut office has added an in-house specialized editing suite; Integrated Intelligence, or end-to-end analytics capabilities that each office is able to deliver locally or by tapping into its regional and global network; and Humantech, a technology and innovation offering that leverages design thinking to develop technology-enabled solutions.
What else? “Adaptability,” replies Emile Atallah, Managing Director Levant. “We’re an agency that believes in results and in creativity that helps businesses flourish and grow in a sustainable way. To best do that, we don’t just continually adapt, but we also apply our core Truth philosophy to evolve and thereby remain at the forefront,” he explains. “Not only do we produce great work, but work that works,” is the bottom line, in the words of Karim Kazan, Beirut office’s Executive Creative Director. And considering the list of awards FP7 Mccann has won, it’s easy to take him at his words. Especially considering digital-specific wins which underpin further their holistic approach, such as local and regional social media ones like L’oreal and UBER, not to mention awards over the past 2 years, from branded entertainment to interactive content, at prestigious award shows like MIDAS New York, Dubai Lynx, MENA Effies, WARC, and the ONE Show. A couple of cases in point from FP7 Mccann Beirut, on a final note.