Grant McCann Erickson Sri Lanka dabbles in Mojo Magic arts

Expert MOJO Masters from McCann Worldwide conduct power packed workshop

Grant McCann-Erickson last week took another step towards the advancement of the advertising industry in Sri Lanka with McCann MOJO - a three day semi regional training programme that was engineered to hone, shape and refine the skill, talent and craft of its many stars.
Structured around the ‘McCann Brand of Fun,’ the three-day programme held last week at Heritance, Ahungalle covered not one, but all the disciplines that make up the unique power that is McCann.

The Collins English Dictionary defines ‘Mojo’ as an amulet, charm, or magic spell and goes on to further classify ancient mojo spells as the art of casting magic spells. What better way for McCann-Erickson to live up to this definition than by recruiting two of the best Mojo Masters in the business; two men who’ve got Mojo magic oozing out of them - David McCaughan, Executive Vice President/Executive Officer, Director of Strategic Planning Regional Strategic Planning Director, Asia Pacific, McCann World Group and Naren Multani Creative Director Films, McCann-Erickson, Mumbai.

“I am delighted with the acceleration of our training programme this year” says Laila Gunesekera Martenstyn, Chief Operations Officer of McCann-Erickson, Sri Lanka. “….besides Creative and Brand Service, our media department has received extensive training and we are looking to get similar training for our Audio Visual department as a next step. Dave McCaughan and Naren Multani, who conducted the workshop, are highly respected professionals in their respective fields. As an added bonus, Sorab Mistry, Regional Vice President, McCann World Group, also joined us.”

Dave joined the McCann Group in 1986 as ‘Consumer Insights Director’ for the Asia-Pacific Region with responsibility for insights and planning for over twenty offices in 18 countries. He rose swiftly to become Managing Director of McCann Thailand (1998-99) before moving on to Hong Kong in 2000 to take on the role of Regional Planning Director for Asia. He was also responsible for initiating the McCann PULSE™ which, since 1996, has involved weekly dialogues with consumers in 20 major Asian cities. In 2003, he was appointed Executive Vice President, Director of Strategic Planning for McCann Erickson Japan and subsequently appointed Executive Officer of the company in 2004. In addition to his responsibilities in Japan, Dave was recently appointed Regional Strategic Planning Director, Asia Pacific, and McCann Worldgroup in May 2007.

But what were the objectives of these workshops? And how do agencies and creatives in particular benefit from them? Russell Miranda, Executive Creative Director of Grant McCann-Erickson says “Creatives need a jump start now and then; something of a pick me up so to speak” and, in this context, I feel Naren’s experience and the standard of filmmaking in Mumbai, which he represents, (which includes the only Cannes Winner this year) provides a focused learning and exposure into Cutting Edge Cinema, its many forms of technique and varied styles of conceptualization which will greatly benefit my team. Also this is precisely what the Sri Lankan industry requires today.”

Naren Multani worked his first eight years in advertising at Ogilvy & Mather (Films) Mumbai. Having picked up many accolades for the agency and for himself (amongst which is the One Show Pencil Silver in 2002 and a Clio Finalist in 2001), he moved to McCann-Erickson as Creative Director Films in May 2002, where he worked closely with Prasoon Joshi, the celebrated National Creative Director for MCann-Erickson India. Naren’s films for UTI Bank and Sweetex fetched him New York Festival Finalist nominations, but it is the 2000 IIFA Best Director Award that Naren is most nostalgic about. Naren’s first short film ‘Mindgame’ was short listed in several international festivals, including the New York Short Film Festival. In 2006, he produced the sequel to ‘Mindgame’ – ‘Nine Minutes to Nirvana’ which picked up the Best Actor Honour in the New York Short Film Festival and Best Film Prize at the Barcelona Film Festival 2006.

“The theory of the 30 second commercial being dead is wrong” says Russell Miranda. “Taking today’s content in perspective be it Web or TV, we have to bear in mind that the technique is still Audio Visual, and that is the standard that Sri Lanka must aspire to reach. The fact that this also ties in with a strategic planning workshop by Dave McCaughan, cements the entire programme together. For as we all know, it’s the planning that launches any creative campaign into full throttle, thereby adding more to the mix. ”

McCann Erickson is one of the world’s leading integrated brand communications organizations – in global size, in professional quality, and in the number of clients they serve with multiple-communications services. The Agency operates in global networks across a full range of marketing communications sectors, delivering effective communications solutions for local and international clients of all types. McCann-Erickson Worldwide has operations in 131 countries and is the number 1 Agency in 45 countries.

In Sri Lanka, Grant Advertising entered into a strategic alliance with McCann-Erickson in 1993, marking an important milestone in Sri Lanka’s advertising history. The company is completely routed in the McCann Erickson Worldwide culture with a simple and highly focused core mission to create advertising that is most effective in influencing people and selling products.