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Creative Cannes Lions WPP

Game, Sept & March On: WPP named Cannes Lions holding company winner for seventh year

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By Stephen Lepitak | -

June 24, 2017 | 3 min read

For the seventh straight year Cannes Lions has named WPP as its Most Creative Holding Company, despite it threatening to pull out in future over costs.

WPP wins Cannes

WPP wins Cannes

WPP as a company once again accumulated the highest number of points amongst the networks as a result of the prizes taken home by some of its agencies across 42 countries this year.

Also a big winner on the evening was BBDO Worldwide which was named as Network of the Year for sixth time with its agencies from all around the world winning 144 awards across 24 categories. For a second year, part of the network was also named as Agency of the Year with Clemenger BBDO Melbourne having won 56 Lions.

Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and CEO of WPP, said: “As ever, this award simply reflects the achievements of our wonderfully talented people all around the world, and of course the support of our clients.

“In the year of our seventh successive win, the industry appears to be experiencing a collective seven-year itch in terms of its relationship with Cannes.

“The importance of recognising the outstanding creativity of our people and the work they do for clients is not in doubt. The question is whether the festival does that in the most effective way, and we look forward to playing our part in finding the best solution.”

Winning WPP agencies this year included J. Walter Thompson New York, Grey New York, Ogilvy Mumbai, Ogilvy Brazil and Grey Columbia.

Earlier this week Sir Martin explained his reasons for doubting the festival and his company's future involvement as a result of rising costs of entering and taking staff too.

Of his network's success, Andrew Robertson, president and CEO, BBDO Worldwide, said: “Let me put it simply: clients are interested in work that works. There is plenty of data to confirm the correlation between spectacular award-winning work and spectacular effects. I am very proud of, and grateful to, all of our award-winning agencies, but I do want to single out Clemenger BBDO's work. ‘Meet Graham’ is literally unforgettable and saved lives. Snickers ‘Hungerithm’ creatively leverages a powerful platform, smart use of data, and retail integration to deliver spectacular results."

Meanwhile, Droga5 founder and creative chairman David Droga collected the Lion of St. Mark having won over 70 Gold Lions, as well as 16 Grands Prix and Titanium Lions in his career to date and Burger King was the Creative Marketer of the Year.

Watch Sorrell speak to The Drum about his views on the festival this year.

Creative Cannes Lions WPP

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