McCann Worldgroup India is Agency of the Year at Jay Chiat Awards

McCann Worldgroup India has been named Agency of the Year after a dominating performance at the 4A’s Jay Chiat Awards. The agency also won the biggest award of the night – the Grand Prix for its campaign, ‘5 words that made toilets India’s new status symbol’. 

McCann Worldgroup India took home three of the only five Golds that were awarded across three different categories at the prestigious Global Jay Chiat Awards for Strategy held in New York. It won a Gold in Connection Strategy category for Reckitt Benckiser’s brand Harpic for its strategy behind the campaign ‘5 words that made toilets India’s new status symbol’. In the Product/ Service category, the agency won a Gold for the campaign done for Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan, titled ‘Immunity Charm’. And it won a Gold in the Regional strategy category for Narayana Health for ‘The Door Blouse’ campaign. 

This is the first time ever that an Indian agency has won the Agency of the Year at these awards which are given by the 4As (American Association of Advertising Agencies). 

Commenting on the performance, Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, Asia Pacific, and CEO, McCann Worldgroup India, said, “On behalf of McCann Worldgroup India, my sincere thanks to the jury for the recognition. Congratulations to our strategic planning team and all other team members, along with our clients who nurtured this quality of work. These honours reflect the true culture of excellence at McCann Worldgroup.” 

Partha Sinha, Vice Chairman & MD, McCann India, added here, “McCann has always been about strong fundamental thinking. It’s a classic McCann tradition. We understand culture and we have the capabilities of connecting brands with culture. The Jay Chiat Awards is a testimony to those capabilities. Awards are just markers, our pride is around our capabilities. I love our planning team.” 

Ecstatic with the win, Jitender Dabas, Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup, remarked, “To be crowned No. 1 agency in the world at the world’s leading strategy awards is an overwhelmingly proud moment for us. Winning even one award at Jay Chiat is one of the biggest honours for any planner. So, the fact that we won literally half the Golds across the various categories was simply staggering.” 

He further added, “It is a re-affirmation of our strategic prowess that is fuelled by a strong culture of helping brands play a meaningful role in people’s lives. We were the India Effies’ Agency of the Year by a big margin at the beginning of the year. We continued our strong showing in Asia and the world at the WARC Strategy Awards middle of the year. And now this. To win this title in the 50th year of planning makes it even more special.” 

For 22 years, the Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic Excellence have celebrated the best in strategic thinking and recognised advertising professionals, who develop breakthrough insights and initiate creative campaigns that inspire both consumers and business around the globe. This year’s judging panels comprised of top agency and marketing leaders.