McCann launches Craft Worldwide as a global adaption + production unit with 2 offices in OZ – McCann Melbourne MD Simon Burett to lead units

McCann Worldgroup has officially launched a unique adaptation and production business unit called Craft Worldwide. McCann has been setting up offices globally over the past six months, including Sydney and Melbourne.

McCann Melbourne MD Simon Burrett (left) will lead the Australian unit as National MD of Craft, in line with McCann Worldgroup’s recent consolidation of its national offering under a single management and leadership team.

Opening in 23 markets including Sydney and Melbourne, Craft Worldwide will leverage McCann Worldgroup’s global, regional and local economies of scale to bring world’s best practice efficiencies, systems and technologies to the execution of its creative work.

Through Craft, Australian clients of McCann will be able to tap into regional centres of excellence or ‘hubs’ in digital, print and TV production, gaining access to a broader field of specialist skills at the best possible value.

Says Ben Lilley, McCann Worldgroup Australia chairman & CEO: “The launch of Craft is another exciting development in the growth of McCann Worldgroup Australia and the expansion of our services to best meet our clients’ integrated needs. Craft will be available to clients across our entire local group network, including McCann, McCann Health, MRM and SMART, as well as its own standalone clients.

“Craft is the perfect example of how we can leverage our talent, our global footprint and our ability to work quickly and cost-efficiently to drive our clients’ businesses forward.”

Says Burrett: “Craft will be of particular interest to Australian marketers for whom superior production values, efficiency, speed in production and absolute attention to detail in the creative product is a competitive imperative. Not just for our retail and high production volume clients, but for anyone looking for excellence in execution and game-changing efficiency and value.”

Craft’s main offices are located in New York, London, Singapore, Toronto, Manchester, Paris, Milan, Oslo, Manila, Bucharest, Mumbai, Santiago, Budapest, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Shanghai, Sydney, Kuala Lumpur, Detroit, Bangkok, Melbourne, and New Delhi, with plans to expand further in 2013. All Craft Worldwide offices are linked through an innovative technology platform, called the Craft Cloud. According to Fred Schuster, CEO of Craft Worldwide, the network is an innovative, client-centric operating model and an emphasis on the craft of execution.

“Success in global adaptation and production requires the dedication of true craftspeople who care deeply about their clients’ brands and who work tirelessly to drive maximum savings for our clients,” saidSchuster. “We have assembled a team of the industry’s best, each with a rich and robust background in advertising, adaptation, design and production.”

Craft Worldwide currently offers clients capabilities in a number of key areas:

·      A marketing operations consulting group that develops go-to-market models that yield maximum efficiency

·      An adaptation design capability that extends the reach of existing tactics into new audience and communication segments, while maintaining brand consistency

·      A world-class translation offering providing translation, transcreation and cultural consulting services

·      A network of integrated production hubs in 23 markets, capable of producing every type of print, digital and video media available

·      Access to a distribution network that can deliver a final asset to literally anywhere in the world

·      A technology platform that streamlines these capabilities and links them together through a cloud-based, highly secure interface

To deliver these capabilities, Craft currently employs more than 570 full-time employees and is already working for many of the world’s leading brand marketers, such as Coca-Cola, L’Oréal, Aldi, General Mills, and Microsoft XBox, as well as supporting the Commonwealth Agency.

“Craft manages a huge volume of work in their implementation of our marketing across 20 countries in Europe,” said Michael Flatt, Head of Advertising, EMEA, for XBox. “Their model has been held up as Global Best Practice and has now been adopted globally. Craft, quite simply, offer us the quickest and most efficient way of delivering marketing that we can think of.”

With its global launch, Craft Worldwide becomes McCann Worldgroup’s eighth major marketing solutions offering. “Craft is the perfect example of how we can leverage our talent, our global footprint and our ability to work quickly and cost-efficiently to drive our clients’ businesses forward,” said Harris Diamond, Chairman & CEO, McCann Worldgroup.

“One key differentiator for Craft is our ability to design bespoke operating models for our clients. These unique plans leverage our vast network of low-cost hubs and have proven success both in maintaining brand consistency and in driving maximum efficiency,” explained Rob Doswell (pictured above), Asia Pacific managing director, Craft Worldwide.