On 21 September, at the EACA Euro Effies Awards Festival in Brussels, Belgium, McCann Erickson was named Agency Network of the Year 2009 and captured the Festival’s Grand Prix for the Xbox ‘Halo: Heroic Story Telling’ campaign, developed by McCann London/T.A.G. SF and Microsoft Xbox media agency, Universal McCann, as part of the Halo ‘Believe’ campaign developed for the launch of Xbox game Halo3. The Halo story-telling campaign also won a Gold Effie. Additionally, McCann Erickson Paris captured a Gold Effie for a Nestle campaign, ‘Nespresso George Clooney II’.

Brett Gosper, Regional Director, CEO of McCann Erickson EMEA [Europe Middle East Africa] said: “Our mission is to do work that creates demand for our clients, but it is doubly gratifying when it wins awards too. It really is a tribute to our clients who have bought into radically different ways of doing things than in the past.”

First introduced in 1996, the Euro Effies rewards advertising that builds brands across borders with campaigns which have achieved success through proven, effective commercial communications in two or more European markets. The Effie Awards originated in the US in 1968 where they likewise honor both effectiveness and creativity and are highly prestigious.

The Halo3 campaign is among the most awarded in the world, having previously captured two Grand Prix Awards at the Cannes International Advertising Festival; Best of Show at the One Show Awards; a Grand Clio at the Clio Awards; a Grandy, the top honor, at the Andy Awards, among others.

McCann Erickson is part of McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies, which also is comprised of MRM Worldwide (digital marketing communications, direct/customer relationship management); Momentum Worldwide (event marketing/sponsorship/sales promotion); McCann Healthcare Worldwide (professional/dtc communications); Universal McCann (communications architecture/media buying and planning); Weber Shandwick (public relations) and FutureBrand (consulting/design.