McCann London 2025: A New Era, Same Winning Streak

McCann London’s year revolved around change that looks to consolidate its future from the top-down; Mel Arrow took the helm as CEO - promoted from chief strategy officer after the departure of Polly McMorrow at the end of 2024; Emiliano De Pietri arrived as its new CCO; and AJ Jones joined as new CSO.

It’s an agency that seems to never stop winning awards. Not only did it take away four wins at Cannes Lions this year for its ‘Everyday Tactician’ work for Xbox, it most recently took away eight trophies at the Effie UK Awards - including the most converted ‘Agency of the Year’ award. Jones highlighted that the wins highlight how McCann is an agency that starts with truth: “Finding compelling human truths is the key to connecting with diverse communities and creating work that lives in culture”.

Creative Salon spoke with Arrow about the agency’s 2025.

Mel Arrow, CEO, on McCann London's 2025

What three words would you use to describe 2025?

UK. Garage. Revival.

Talk us through some of your agency’s highlights this year.

…My previous answer refers to our Just Eat x Craig David campaign, of course. It’s not just brilliant work, and the tricky fourth album for ‘Did somebody say’, it created a whole vibe in the agency. UK garage on the speakers, people revealing unexpected abilities to rap (ahem Aaron Harridge). I love every word, every scene. I also love the brilliantly choreographed social asset that leaked Craig David as the brand’s new star, picked up by The Sun, and viewed more times than the ad itself. Big up to Glynn, one of our social creatives, for hustling his way into someone’s house on set to film the immortal line “Is that Craig David?” through their net curtains. 

Xbox Everyday Tactician winning gold for Creative Effectiveness at Cannes. Last year’s creative highlight became this year’s Strategic highlight. It would be easy to see this campaign as just a great idea, but it’s secretly, ruthlessly commercial. It persuaded a group of staunch PC gamers to sign up to Xbox’s subscription gaming service, and they stayed long after the competition ended. Highly creative x highly effective = the final boss of case studies.   

MCS on a roll. Up until recently, our social and influencer division, McCann Content Studios, had a 100 per cent pitch conversion rate. Mad skills! From five people two years ago to over 50, this is the department keeping the whole of McCann on its toes. And they’re increasing the average trouser leg width by at least 30 cm. Love a baggy pant that lot.

Thought Sandwich. A new weekly creative inspiration session for our people, showcasing inspiration from within and out. External speakers have included Damola, the founder of Spearhead Spirits, Tim and Ellen producers of Sky Original content, Matt the founder of Goal Click and Flo Lloyd Hughes ,the podcasters and women’s football pundit. Every one of them worthy fillings to our inspiration sandwich. 

Loved & Wanted becoming a protest. Last year in the wake of the far-right riots, we worked with the Mayor of London to launch a campaign of hope, community and optimism for London. It was the easiest client presentation I’ve ever done, because the statement at the heart of it came directly from Sadiq’s own, perfectly formed tweet: “You are loved and wanted in London”. We spread it across London’s boroughs with posters, flyers and stickers. And this year it took on a life of its own. Those same stickers were used by Londoners in protest, to cover up St George’s flags.

Kevin is back. Everyone’s favourite, little, orange, edible mascot. And this time he’s in love. Kevin has run for ten years, which is an incredible testament to the power of consistent and effective brand building. Huge props to McCann Manchester for creating a national treasure that the whole of McCann are deeply proud of.

What one thing are you proudest of this year?

Winning the Xbox Game Pass pitch. It was a brilliant, confident pitch that galvanised the agency, like nothing but a great pitch can. I once read that pitches are like wooly mammoths dragged back to the cave for everyone to feast on. And this one was particularly wooly. By winning it, we are now shaping the future of Xbox’s big commercial bet, producing everything from Super Bowl ads to banners in multiple markets, and leveraging a joined-up McCann, across every specialism, in the process. Amazing work loading…

And what’s been your biggest challenge?

Drowning out the industry noise and leading through change, by focusing on just the people and the work. That’s all I care about, and that’s all I tend to talk about. 

What are you most looking forward to in 2026?

We’ve made some brilliant hires, all of whom start in 2026. I couldn’t be more excited. Each of them, in their own unique way, is a force that I can’t wait to unleash.  

And what one change would you most like to see in our industry next year?

I think we all can learn a lot from the way Gen Z prioritises mental health as their foundation for success. The phrase “PR not ER” epitomises their rejection of frenetic communications industry workplaces that view everything as an emergency. I love how seriously we take our creativity, and how deeply we care. I think it’s probably right that we keep ourselves in check in this regard, though, and save ourselves the cortisol whenever we can.

Creative Salon on McCann London's 2025

The agency ended 2025 with its future assured, following the Omnicom/IPG merger. It's to the credit of the McCann London management team that they carried on during the changes with the 'business as usual' sign swinging confidently above the door.

McCann Content Studios continued to be an avenue of growth for the business under the leadership of Crystal Malachias - who was promoted from global head of influencer to global co-managing director. It has produced reports on influencer and the creator economy, as well as being named the social and influencer agency in both the UK and Spain for Trainline. 

This growth transpired into its partnership with the Bauer Academy, with a new set cohort began the Junior Advertising Creative Level 3 apprenticeship programme, which brings together 12 aspiring creatives from across four McCann UK offices - London, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham.

Its work for Just Eat saw the return of its iconic ‘Did Somebody Say’ campaign. Previously starring music legends from Snoop Dogg to Katy Perry, the latest iteration featured garage star Craig David, highlighting the many needs Just Eat caters to with ‘Every Neighbour Got Their Flava’.

McCann’s debut work with premium Italian beer brand Peroni Nastro Azzurro 0.0% saw a collaboration with F1 team Scuderia Ferrari HP in welcoming Lewis Hamilton to the team alongside Charles Leclerc with ‘The Welcome Present’.

‘What’s on the cards for Kevin the Carrot this Christmas’ for Aldi marks the first part of its festive campaign. The brand’s much-loved brand character, Kevin, returned to embark on a journey of romance, resulting in the proposal to Katie the Carrot. 

Continuing from Kevin and Katie’s big news, part two of Aldi’s Christmas campaign, ‘Kevin the Carrot’s stag do has gone pear-shaped!’, shows how the pair’s journey to the altar is anything but straightforward after a wayward stag-do.

After the success of its ‘Everyday Tactician' campaign, which cleared up in Cannes, Xbox - alongside Sky Sports and Football Manager - branched out with ‘Missing Managers’. This looked to use the power of gaming to help close the gender gap in coaching. It featured former Chelsea Women’s and now USA Women’s national team manager Emma Hayes,

Creative Salon says... Now that the McCann network has been confirmed as one of the central pillars of Omnicom's post-merger strategy, and with Mel Arrow at the helm, the future is wide open for McCann London. Its relationship with Xbox continues to shine, and debut work with clients such as Peroni is just the beginning. Bring on 2026.