McCann Erickson Philippines and the Agency of the Year (AOY) show are on the outs again.
The agency, which was rumored to stage a huge comeback, was slighted when the AOY Management Committee questioned one of its entries. Despite lengthy discussions and attempts to reach a compromise, McCann Erickson Managing Director Nandy Villar declined to revise its submission. Instead, he pulled out all entries to the AOY competition.
McCann Erickson has an interesting history with the AOY.
After many years of lording over the competition, a change in the rules—where a creative agency must be a finalist in the Creative category to compete for the Agency of the Year award—raised the odds against this advertising giant, which was more famous for building brands than anything else.
McCann Erickson declined to compete several years before, allegedly because its leaders did not think it would win Agency of the Year. The following year, it pulled out of the competition after its Media Excellence entry was disqualified.
< width="150" vspace="5" hspace="5" height="225" border="0" align="right" alt="" src=" nandy. " />Despite this year’s boycott, there are apparently no hard feelings between McCann Erickson and the AOY Management Committee. Come August 27, Nandy Villar, as chairman of the 4As-P, is still attending the Awards Night —and delivering the night’s keynote speech.
