'MAGGI Diaries – The Power To Make A Difference' by MEC MENA has been crowned 'Campaign of the Year' at the Festival of Media MENA Awards 2017, as well as winning Gold for 'Best Communications Strategy', 'Best Use of Content' and 'Best Branded Content Creation' and Bronze accolades for 'Best Event/Experiential Campaign' and 'Best Use of Video'.  

'Agency Network of the Year' was awarded to Starcom, who collected nine trophies across its UAE and Egyptian offices. Meanwhile, OMD UAE picked up 'Agency of the Year' with 11 awards under its belt including Gold for 'Best Use of Traditional Media' and 'Best Use of Technology'. 

The awards took place on April 26 at the Music Hall in Zabeel Saray, The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai during the Festival of Media MENA 2017. 

Check out the full list of Gold, Silver and Bronze winners below and click through to read the full case studies. 

AB InBev's iconic beer brand Andes might just have come up with the perfect creative solution to serving the perfect beer... 

As every good barman knows, there is a technique to pouring the perfect beer: you must tilt your glass up to 45º, and that’s how you get the right beer head. That´s why Andes, Mendoza’s iconic beer brand, together with Saatchi & Saatchi developed an ambitious project: using the Andes’ natural gradient to build a bar. 

A truism that pervades our industry is that the worst thing that can happen to your work is not to have it hated, but to have it ignored.

Well, I hope this thought is keeping the Pepsi team warm tonight, because it’s probably the only morsel of comfort to be found in the wreckage of their latest ad and flames of mockery that have engulfed it.

To be fair I guess they can also take heart in the fact that they did indeed manage to unite people – just like they said they would – it’s just a shame that the common ground they provided was at their expense.

There probably hasn’t ever been an ad storm quite like this, but the closest parallel that comes to mind is the infamous Protein World scandal from 2015. And this should make us pause for thought. For Protein World’s campaign was not only hated; it was incredibly successful, garnering £2 million of sales for the small brand in a few short days. Could the same reward befall Pepsi?

The short answer is… probably not.

The two scenarios aren’t really analogous, since Protein World chose a particular side of an argument, and simply defended it to the hilt, thereby attracting hate from one faction but fandom from another. Pepsi on the other hand also chose a particular side in the culture wars, but it is this side that has turned against it the most viciously, with the protesting classes voicing deep offence at the work while the other side of the aisle simply shake their head incredulously. In other words, at least some people were on Protein World’s side – Pepsi on the other hand has no one.

That said, if hatred is better than indifference, then there should still be glimmers of hope to be found for the brand. So here are three reasons to be (sort of) cheerful…

Starcom has achieved 18 shortlisted entries for the Festival of Media MENA Awards 2017 in categories including Best Communications Strategy, Best Use of Content, Best Social Media Strategy and Best Use of Gamification, while OMD is in the running for 15 awards including Best Use of Real-Time Marketing, Best Local Execution of a Brand and Best Use of Traditional Media. 

Following closely behind is UM with 14 entries, MEC with 11, Initiative and Zenith both with nine entries on the shortlist. 

The Festival of Media MENA Awards is dedicated to showcasing media excellence throughout the region. In its third year, the Awards recognise the work of the best agencies, media owners and tech companies, representing some of the world's leading brands including Mastercard; Reebok; Chevrolet; Jaguar; Emirates; Mondelez; HSBC; PepsiCo; Samsung and McDonald's. 

Check out the full shortlist below. We'll be adding case studies to Cream over the coming weeks so keep an eye out and click through to view details of the campaign. 

The annual M&M Global Awards 2017 has officially opened for entries so it’s time to get to work and put forward your campaigns for the only Awards benchmarking and rewarding the creativity and effectiveness of cross border advertising campaigns for global brands. 

The awards will continue to reward the very best in international media and marketing from the past year. Recognising and celebrating the most innovative and effective pan-regional advertising campaigns, awarding agencies, media owners and advertisers for their strategy, execution and delivery.

New categories for this year include:

• The Big Idea Award
• Best Martech or Adtech Innovation
• Best Sponsorship Activation

… In addition to the return of 14 other categories, for which you can find a full list here.