MEC, a global leading media agency, is named the most competitive agency in Europe in RECMA’s 2012 Competitiveness in Pitches report, achieving A and A+ grades in 8 markets.

The RECMA Competitiveness in pitches 2012 report analysed key pitches and moves across 46 countries in 2012.

Globally, MEC ranked third in Competitiveness in Pitches, up from number 11 in 2011 – the largest jump of any network.

This is the 9^th time MEC has placed in the top 3 in the RECMA rankings, since records began.

Alastair Aird, Global Chief Operating officer & Chairman of EMEA said, “This is a fantastic accolade and recognition of our focus on new business growth across 2012 which remains a key priority for MEC. Our teams right around the network work tirelessly to deliver for clients and prospects and their efforts truly paid off in 2012.”

MEC had an outstanding 2012 with significant international wins including the global account for Mulberry; SABMiller, Lavazza, and Beiersdorf in Europe; Johnson&Johnson led by GroupM PRIMUS across EMEA; Nestlé in the Middle East; Kingfisher in the United Kingdom and Mercedes Benz and Cell C in South Africa.

MEC today announced that it has been retained as global media agency of record for the Singapore Tourism Board after a statutary pitch.

MEC has worked with the STB since 2009.

MEC will work with the Singapore Tourism Board and its other agency partners to drive strategic brand leadership and paid owned earned channel planning across key markets globally.

The scope of work includes integrated planning, content, digital display, search, social and analytics and insights. Markets covered include: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, UK, Germany, USA, Australia and India.

Commenting on the win, Connie Chan, Managing Director of MEC Global Solutions Asia Pacific said, “ We are incredibly proud to have been re-appointed as Singapore Tourism Board's global media agency of record. We are thrilled to continue working with STB to drive Singapore’s image as one of the world’s greatest destinations and to champion Singapore across our network. At MEC, we believe in building long term client partnerships to allow us to support our clients as they grow their business, in a constantly changing communication environment. We’re delighted that STB has joined us on this journey.”

MEC, a leading global media agency network, today announced the hire of Carl Fremont as their global chief digital officer.

He’ll work with MEC’s digital leadership and others around the world to form a team that develops, grows and drives the agency’s digital business globally, fully integrated within MEC.

“Hiring Carl is an essential step in the continued growth of MEC globally”, said Charles Courtier, global chief executive officer. “Carl’s mix of skills has made him one of the leading digital specialists in the industry; he is uniquely qualified to help us navigate and develop the future of our business.”

This is a new position and the appointment is effective in May. Carl will be based in New York and will report to Charles Courtier, global chief executive officer. He will also serve on the agency’s Global Exco.

About Carl Fremont

During his career, Carl has worked on a myriad of consumer and business-to-business brands. As a media specialist, Carl has played a leading role in the industry. As a frequent industry speaker and consultant, Carl is often quoted in the press on his views on the future of marketing and media. At Digitas since 2000, Carl has led the Global Media practice comprised of over 500 professionals in seven domestic and international offices, working with clients including America Express, Whirlpool, Delta, Sprint, Mars, Meade Johnson, Taco Bell and eBay. In his time there, Carl has driven the use of research, data, technology, analytics and advanced targeting practices to ensure all marketing initiatives deliver measurable business impact.

Prior to joining Digitas, Carl was a Senior Vice President of Media Services at Wunderman, part of the Y&R Network. During Carl’s 16 year tenure at Wunderman, he managed all direct marketing activities for the company including Ford, Citibank, American Express and AT&T. At Wunderman, Carl led one of the industry’s first digital marketing campaigns for American Express. Carl began his career at Ted Bates advertising in 1981 as a Media Planner.

For six years, Carl was an Adjunct Professor at NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Masters Program. He has also guest lectured at numerous universities and international conferences and continues to teach in the industry. Carl serves on the advisory boards of a select number of digital venture groups and is a consultant for GLG, Guidepoint and Pacific Crest. These roles afford Carl with the evaluation of and insights into a multitude of emerging media companies and technology platforms. Carl is also a board member of NextMark, a technology company that has automated many facets of the media planning and buying ecosystem. Carl was elected to the Ad Club of New York Board of Directors in 2009 and now serves on the

Executive Board and also serves as its lead for Media Action, which since its inception has raised over $10MM (US) in scholarship funds for diversity students entering the Marketing and Communications fields.

Carl is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickenson University. He resides in New Jersey with his wife and two daughters.

GroupM media agency MEC has retained the Mitsubishi Motors Australia media account following a pitch against Starcom.

The pitch process took three months and included a costing exercise and two pitch presentations. MEC has handled the media services for Mitsubishi Motors Australia for more than 20 years. MEC’s strong digital capabilities played an important role in the outcome of the pitch.

Topping the good news for MEC, the South Australian Government has extended the media agency’s contract for a further period of two years. MEC has held the media account for three years.

The retentions continue a successful start to 2013 by MEC, adding to its wins earlier this year of the Tiger Airways media account in a pitch against incumbent Starcom and the Seven Network media account.

“We have had a long and successful relationship with Mitsubishi, but a full-blown pitch is always a good opportunity to demonstrate to a client that we are the best agency in the market to help them tackle the growing challenges in a changing and volatile landscape,” said MEC Adelaide Managing Director Peter Bucklow.

“The vote of confidence from both Mitsubishi and the South Australian Government caps off an incredible first quarter of growth, during which we welcomed Tiger and the Seven Network as clients, added more talent and boosted our digital capabilities,” said Peter Vogel, CEO of MEC Australia.

MEC North America, a leading media agency, today announced its “Inspiring Happiness” course, created to reinforce its commitment to developing and cultivating talent.

Along with some of the world’s most successful companies including Google, Zappos and most recently, Pfizer, MEC is at the forefront of a proven secret to business success: happy employees are more ‘inspired’ employees.

This past fall, MEC piloted a six-week training program, led by Helen Mumford Sole, an experienced executive coach and happiness expert, to teach employees skills and techniques to increase their levels of happiness. Born out of the staff’s receptivity to an introduction of the ‘happiness’ concept, MEC partnered with Sole to create and test a curriculum allowing employees to develop, both personally and professionally. The course explored various facets of happiness from positive psychology, medical research, quantum physics and Eastern mysticism to the extensive world of the self-help movement, with the goal of cultivating employees’ happiest selves. Some participants witnessed increased levels by as much as 32 percent by the end of the course. Follow-up courses are already being scheduled.

“In my experience, happier people have the ability to achieve extraordinary things in both work and in their personal lives. Our objective at MEC is to help our talent reap the benefits of a happier, more positive mindset, so that all our employees are equipped and empowered to achieve their goals,” said Marla Kaplowitz, CEO of MEC North America. “This is a people business. And we feel strongly that MEC’s talent and culture is very distinct and very powerful. We call it MECness. I am thrilled to extend this training as part of the agency’s ongoing commitment to talent development and training, both personal and professional. The launch of this program has already shown concrete signs of driving success for the agency, and across our clients’ businesses.”

All MEC employees were encouraged to complete the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire – considered the ”gold” standard for measuring happiness—prior to the start of the course to help determine who would benefit most from the course. Enrolled participants took the questionnaire again at the end of the course. Every single attendee was happier at the end of the course than they were at the beginning; one participant’s happiness level revealed a massive 32 percent increase, with another three showing above 20 percent. The average happiness uplift for the entire class was 12 percent. Additional insights include:

• 100% of participants found it useful or very useful
• 100% of participants enjoyed it very much or a lot
• 100% of participants would recommend this to their friends

Helen Mumford Sole commented, “Happiness is not something we’re born with and can’t change: it’s something we can manage, cultivate and develop just like any other skill. Working with the team at MEC was highly successful, and I noticed significant changes in moods and stress management during our six weeks together. I look forward to continuing this journey with MEC.”

Happiness has been highly researched over the last decade, showing strong evidence of the causality between employee happiness and successful business outcomes. In a meta-analysis of 225 academic studies, researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky, Laura King, and Ed Diener found strong evidence of directional causality between life satisfaction and successful business and personal outcomes, and that happy employees have, on average, 31 percent higher productivity, 37 percent higher sales and their creativity is three times higher. Furthermore, Gallup reported that lost productivity due to employee disengagement costs more than $300 billion in the U.S. annually. Actively focusing on employees’ overall happiness can effectively improve an individual’s confidence as well as productivity both in and out of the office.

The “Happiness” course is part of MEC’s overall philosophy to inspire and support its talent by offering unique cultural and wellness programs. Other agency initiatives under this umbrella include: Vision Boarding , a class that encourages individuals to visualize their personal and professional dreams; People’s Choice Awards, an internal awards competition celebrating outstanding work from across North America; Inspiration Lab, a monthly review of inspiring work from across the agency ; MEC Spirit Week, a weeklong themed event that actively engages and excites employees; as well as events such as the City Harvest Food Drive and Red Cross Blood Drive that motivate employees to make a difference in socially responsible ways.