Coca-Cola chooses McCann as agency partner for localizing creative work in Central and Southern Europe (CSE)

Vienna Dec 7 (PROTEXT/ots) - The Coca-Cola Company’s Central and Southern Europe (CSE) business unit has appointed McCann as the creative agency to work with the 23 countries* that comprise the business. The move will enable the CSE business unit to operate with greater speed, scale and simplicity across multiple countries. The decision was made after a thorough review, and follows the creation of the CSE business unit earlier this year. The move will enable Coca-Cola to identify synergies across the region and allow international campaigns to be localized faster, more effectively and more efficiently. The range of services to be localized include adaptations of TVCs, billboards, radio, and graphics mainly. Because of the need for a network partner to service the entire territory, but which also has strong local operations, only two agencies were invited to tender - McCann and Publicis, both of which have long standing relationships with Coca-Cola. Both agencies showed strong competencies and a high level of creativity. The decision to appoint McCann was based on its performance against three criteria: creative excellence, agency structure and costing. “I would like to thank both agencies for their hard work and excellent proposals”, said Roel Annega, Marketing Director of Coca-Cola CSE. “It was a close contest, but overall we felt McCann’s proposal was the most compelling. We’re looking forward to working with them to implement marketing of the highest quality that will drive the growth of our business in CSE in the years ahead,” he added. Publicis will continue to work for Coca-Cola CSE as it remains one of the agencies on the company’s roster for the central production of creative. The Coca-Cola CSE account will be led by Pedro Pina, Senior Vice President, EMEA Regional Account Director at McCann. He commented, “We are excited to continue to strengthen our bonds with Coca-Cola in Europe and are particularly excited to welcome back important markets like Italy, Greece, Austria and Bulgaria into our area of responsibility. We strongly believe that scale, efficiencies and creativity can all be part of the same successful equation.” McCann will work across all Coca-Cola’s global brands and will take up responsibility for localization of campaigns in all markets from March 2011. *The Coca-Cola Company’s Central and Southern Europe (CSE) is comprised of the following countries: Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech, Estonia, FYROM, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Switzerland. About The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Along with Coca-Cola(R), recognized as the world’s most valuable brand, the Company’s portfolio includes 12 other billion dollar brands, including Diet Coke(R), Fanta(R), Sprite(R), Coca-Cola Zero(R), vitaminwater(R), Powerade(R), Minute Maid(R), Simply(R) and Georgia(R). Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, juices and juice drinks and ready-to-drink teas and coffees. Through the world’s largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company’s beverages at a rate of 1.6 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that protect the environment, conserve resources and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. For more information about our Company, please visit our website at http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com<\/A>. About McCann Worldgroup McCann Worldgroup, one of the world’s largest marketing communications companies, is comprised of McCann Erickson Worldwide (the world’s largest advertising agency network); MRM Worldwide (digital marketing/relationship management); Momentum Worldwide (event marketing/promotion); McCann Healthcare Worldwide (professional/dtc communications); Universal McCann (media management); Weber Shandwick (public relations); EXP (global production) and FutureBrand (consulting/design). Photos: http://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20101207_OTS0116<\/A> Press contacts: Philipp Bodzenta Coca-Cola +43(0)664 605 088 10 pbodzenta@eur.ko.com<\/A> Hallie Johnston McCann Erickson +44(0)207 961 2056 hallie.johnston@europe.mccann.com<\/A>