CANNES LIONS HONOURS McDONALD’S WITH CREATIVE MARKETER OF THE YEAR AWARD

31 March 2014 – The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the world’s largest and most prestigious annual awards celebrating creative excellence in brand communications, is set to honour McDonald’s, the leading global foodservice retailer, with the 2014 Creative Marketer of the Year Award.

The award is presented to brands that have distinguished themselves by inspiring innovative marketing of their products worldwide across multiple platforms and who embrace and encourage creativity in their brand communications produced by their agencies.

“McDonald’s consistently places creativity at the heart of its advertising and communications, and that has resulted in the brand receiving many Lions at the Cannes Festival,” comments Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals. “McDonald’s and its agencies have taken creative risks to produce meaningful work, and they see award-winning content earning higher returns – a success story that will, we hope, inspire other brands. We look forward to congratulating the team from McDonald’s by presenting this very important Creative Marketer of the Year Award in Cannes.”

McDonald’s won its first Cannes Lion, a Gold in Television, in 1979 and have gone on to win 77 Lions in total, the majority of which have been awarded in recent years in a variety of categories – Creative Effectiveness, Cyber, Film, Media, Mobile, Outdoor, Press, Promo & Activation and Radio – and from different countries around the world– Austria, Australia, Canada, Chile, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA.

Steve Easterbrook, Senior Executive Vice President and Global Chief Brand Officer of McDonald’s says, “McDonald’s is honoured to be named Creative Marketer of the Year. This award recognises the enduring and inspiring relationships we have with our agencies around the world. It’s a nod to our creative heritage and the power of the brand to connect with customers around the world with a local accent. Our restless energy moves us to uncover new ideas, and pursue excellence in insight, positioning, idea and craft. The honour of winning Creative Marketer of the Year at Cannes Lions recognises the hard work of many people throughout the McDonald’s system.”

McDonald’s focus on creativity has led to unique and iconic developments in communication and design, including the Golden Arches, Ronald McDonald and memorable advertising slogans, such as ‘Look for the Golden Arches’, ‘You Deserve a Break Today’, ‘Did Somebody Say McDonald’s’ and ‘i’m lovin’ it.’ All of the recent awards are under the “i’m lovin’ it” umbrella. The campaign, now entering its 11th year, continues to spark creative ideas while giving the brand a consistent voice the world over.

The Creative Marketer of the Year Award will be presented to McDonald’s on Saturday 21 June in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France. Easterbrook is scheduled to accept the award.

Further information about Cannes Lions can be found at www.canneslions.com.