Starcom Mediavest Group wins at Cannes Lions 2009 Awards Ceremony

Always striving to improve, SMG set their sights even higher this year and were rewarded for their efforts.

At the Cannes Lions 2009 Awards Ceremony, SMG Global had its best year ever, earning more shortlist recognitions - 20 in total - than any other agency and emerging with 10 Lions, including two Gold Lions, marking the most in the company's history.

Starcom MediaVest Group MENA reinforced their number one position in the region, as the only local agency to take home a Cannes Lion. The award went to the Mars campaign, 'Galaxy, Fall in Love Again', which reignited the lost passion between Galaxy and Arab women.

The media idea was to create a Galaxy-branded outlet for female self-expression on the pan Arab, MBC1 Morning Show, 'Passion for Words', where women were invited to submit original poetry to be read on air. As well as motivating consumers to purchase Galaxy, the campaign persuaded over 4,300 Arabic women to submit poems, which they were willing to read on air.

Omar Salim, Marketing Director of Mars GCC, explained that, "Galaxy has been the pioneer of chocolate in the region for many years. In order to maintain our leadership and be at the forefront of consumer minds we have to find new and creative ways to talk our consumers. Congratulations to the SMG team for their contribution towards this goal."

Laura Desmond, CEO of SMG Global, added:

"This continues a run of excellence that began with our 'Media Agency of the Year' honour at the Dubai Lynx awards. It is welcome recognition of SMG MENA's commitment to creative, innovative work and I am confident the team will continue to meet the enviably high standards they have created for themselves."