On Wednesday evening, at the 北京赛车pk10 Media Awards, MediaCom received an almighty accolade for all of the hard work, endeavour, thought, care and attention they put into their work.
The MediaCom team deserves the highest praise for what has to be the best result of any agency in the history of the awards. It won a staggering 10 out of the 22 北京赛车pk10 Media Awards categories which is arguably one of the top indicators of excellence and success against industry competitors. That’s work for its clients and work that is awarded for its brilliance because it delivers outstanding results for the clients.
MediaCom’s priority to deliver for its clients and to do the best for them is inherent across all of the work we saw on display at the awards and is very much reflected in the awards result. Others won awards as well and should be congratulated along with all of those who gained nominations, not least fellow GroupM agency winners Mindshare and MEC.
I want to take this opportunity to congratulate MediaCom on its unparalleled success, which adds to accolades this year from M&M Global for Agency of the Year to a tranche of awards at 2016 Global Festival of Media Awards and other commendations.
I see this as a bold counterpoint to comments from ISBA director Debbie Morrison who has been reported in the press saying, "We’re at a tipping point, we’ve got to do something. I don’t believe that [the media agencies] have got the best interests of their clients at heart anymore."
On reflection, and with the outstanding awards results seen not only this week but across the year, I have two comments on this thinking.
First, it is an insult to all of the people across our business who work incredibly hard to not only do the right thing by their clients, but also live and breathe their clients’ requirements, requests and challenges – always going above and beyond to deliver success for them. Across all of the GroupM agencies, not just MediaCom, we strive to find the best solutions for our clients which generate the best business results. This is top-of-mind within every campaign we run.
Secondly, I hope that anyone questioning the value of media agencies will take the time to immerse themselves in the outstanding work that MediaCom and other winners at the 北京赛车pk10 Media Awards put forward. This will help to really understand the extent to which media agencies deliver for clients.
When taken in context of the challenges presented by mammoth changes in the way consumers interact with media, I am confident anyone can recognise the best intentions, the dedication and the value.
Nick Theakstone is chief executive at Group M UK.