INTRODUCTION
.....................................................................................................................................
The following is a critical comparison of the design firm’s M&C Saatchi and McCAN Australia. I have chosen these two firms as they are both from the advertising sector. I will be comparing the following:

- Sector
- Size of the firm
- Awards and industry recognition
- Campaigns and clients
- Conception of design
- Creative process methods

SECTOR
.....................................................................................................................................
Both McCann and M&C Saatchi are in the advertising sector. ‘During the last decade there have been substantial changes and developments in the global advertising industry’ [1] and within that time both McCann and M&C Saatchi have emerged as leaders in the industry of advertising in Australia.

M&C Saatchi Sydney has become one of Australia’s largest and most successful marketing agencies, a global marketing services business working across a wide variety of industry sectors. It is made up of more than 360 staff, seven companies, two offices (Sydney and Melbourne) and a client roster laden with iconic brands. M&C Saatchi abides by it’s founding philosophy, ‘Brutal simplicity of thought’ in order to create effective advertising for many brands including google, ANZ, Westfield, and many more.

On the other hand McCann Australia opened in Australia in 1959 and is now part of the worlds largest agency network, offering a completely integrated and comprehensive marketing service. McCan are dedicated to creating a multiple office network built on collaboration and shared resources. McCann abides by it’s philosophy ‘Truth well told’ and designs for many brands including Loreal, Coca-Cola, xbox, master card and many more.

SIZE
.....................................................................................................................................
According to the joirnal of ecconomic literature, Comanor and willson ‘asserted that evidence shows there to be a connection between advertising efficiency and size of advertising expenditure (1979’ [4]. in more simple terms meaning the nature of advertising causes larger advertisers to have an advantage over smaller advertisers. Many have denied this statement including Johan Arndt and Julian Simon, believing they are not linked and hence it has become a basis for debate.

McCann has been recognised as a leading advertising agency for an extended time, both as the world largest collaborative agency network and a strategically creative brand builder. McCan works with a multitude of brands both local and international and in 2013 achieved the most awarded campaign ‘dumb ways to die’ a campaign for metro trains. Being one of the largest agency networks means the actual size of the firm is huge. Created in 1902 McCan has 180 offices in 120 countries with over 23,000 staff members.

M&C Saatchi was an international agency from it’s beginning in 1995 with all it’s offices working on their core principal ‘brutal simplicity’. With this philosophy at the core of their structure the firm held the belief that the strongest brands were the simple ones. They provide their clients (brands) with ‘one word equity using brutal simplicity of thought’. The firm has 26 offices in 18 countries, as shown in the below image [5], with 1038 employees all united by one philosophy.

The comparison of size and market share of both firms compliments the theory of Comanor and willson, as McCann is one of the largest and successful agency networks with over triple the number of offices, countries and employees of M&C Saatchi. However it is impossible to say that this is purely due their size of the firm as their are so many other factors that affect the firms efficiency and success.

AWARDS AND INDUSTRY RECOGNITION
.....................................................................................................................................
Both McCann Australia and M&C Saatchi have achieved multiple award’s in their industry and achieved top rankings with viral campaigns.

McCann is extremely successful and was awarded Australia’s most awarded agency in 2013. The firm is also the 3rd most awarded agency in the wold in 2013 and achieved the most awarded campaign in history. In comparison M&C Saatchi has also been successful in their field and have achieved many awards including the Australian catalogue awards, canner award and webby’s award. Although M&C Saatchi has been successful they have not been as successful as McCann.

Although McCann is more successful in relation to awards it is not reflected in industry recognition. As listed in the Mumbrealla Creative Agency Review, M&C Saatchi was listed as the 25th top advertising agency in Australia in comparison to McCann that ranked 29th. The assessment criteria includes creativity, effectiveness, integration, planning, account management, talent, commercial success, impact on the industry, momentum and client stability and hence awards can not be directly linked to the firms industry recognition.

CAMPAIGNS & CLIENTS
.....................................................................................................................................
Both McCann Australia and M&C Saatchi have created successful campaigns. Most recently McCann has created the campaign ‘Dumb ways to die’ for Metro Trains. The campaign won the mumbrella award in 2013. In comparison M&C Saatchi created the campaign ‘Google Australia/Build with Chrome’ that was a finalist (runner up) for the mumbrella award.

M&C Saatchi’s interactive campaign ‘Google Australia/Build with Chrome’ was an instant online success. In the marketing literature, Day and Green (1995) maintain that market share and profitability are the most common measures of success [2]. M&C Saatchi achieved both these things with their campaign with 500,000 visitors in the first 48 hours and one million in the first 3 weeks as well as achieving multiple awards for the campaign including the finalist in the prestigious mumbrella award and B&T digital campaign of the year. In order to communicate that chrome browser provides a better web experience M&C Saatchi demonstrated what could be achieved with chrome in 3D combining 2 of the world’s most loved products, google maps and LEGO. Through this campaign it is clear that M&C Saatchi use design as a tool for problem-solving suggesting that they have a conceptual conception of design according to the three design conception, Franz et al (2003) [3].

McCann’s catchy campaign ‘Dumb ways to die’ opted for offbeat humour, a catchy tune and a collection of fun animated characters to launch the metro trains message to be safer around trains. The campaign was an instant hit becoming the most awarded campaign in the the history of cannes with 28 lions, including five grand prix and the mumbrella award in 2013 for the ad campaign of the year. In the marketing literature, Day and Green (1995) maintain that market share and profitability are the most common measures of success [2]. McCann definitely achieved both of these with their campaign with the video achieving 57 million views and 3.8 million shares with 14 million people pledging they would be safer around the campaign because of the campaign. According to the conceptions of design by Franz McCann [3] uses a conceptual approach as they have used the campaign to solve the problem of people being unsafe around trains.

Conception of design
.....................................................................................................................................
from what i have observed through the works of both M&C Saatchi and McCann they both have a similar conception of design. I believe the conception of design employed by both these companies is the conceptual conception of design [3]. Franz conception of design explains the conceptual conception as a tool for problem solving [3]. As advertising companies they are expected to solve the problems of their clients and hence it is clear that a conceptual conception would be used.

The briefs provided to both companies present problems that need to be solved. A clear example of this is McCann’s brief for the campaign ‘dumb ways to die’. Their firm had to use design as a creative tool to solve the problem of people being unsafe around trains instead of using a standard public service announcement. The brief was to make young people act safer around trains (the problem) and McCann took this brief and created their campaign ‘dumb ways to die’ that became extremely successful and more importantly raised awareness and drove people to pledge to be safe around trains. The metro saw a 21% reduction in accidents and deaths in association with the metro due to the success of the campaign. Overall through this campaign it is clear that McCann takes on a conceptual conception of design finding an effective solution to a given problem.

Similarly M&C Saatchi also use a conceptual conception of design as shown in their campaign ‘Google Australia/Build with Chrome’. Their client, Google, presented the problem that the chrome browser was not bundled with mac and pc and hence needed to demonstrate the enhanced browser experience of chrome to persuade people to use it. M&C Saatchi took a problem solving approach, they clearly identified and understood the problem and then created a concept for solving the problem. M&C Saatchi used chromes 3d features combined with lego to demonstrate what chrome could do. This approach was extremely successful and brought in 500,00 visitors to the campaign within 48hrs.

Overall although both firms employ a conceptual conception, McCann has also demonstrated a technical conception that sets them apart from M&C Saatchi. McCann not only created the ‘dumb ways to die’ but also extended it across many platforms and mediums making it one phase in an extended process [3] in order to convince people to pledge to be safe around trains and hence also demonstrate a technical conception. This is shown in the image below where they have used youtube, itunes, iphone games etc [6].

Creative process method
.....................................................................................................................................
Duberly has outlined many creative process methods including iterative methods and artistic methods. Through research i have found that both M&C Saatchi and McCann share the same creative process method, design specification.

Design specification is a common structured method in which the client and designer agree on a detailed specification of functionality, usability, aesthetic etc. before the design work begins. Both firms work closely with their clients in order to establish a design plan. The firm and client initially agree on the purpose of the design, layouts and style, processing etc [7]. Initially mock up’s are prepared and the design begins it’s process.

This process is clear in McCann’s campaign ‘dumb ways to die’. They worked with their client Metro Trains in order to find a solution to the problem of people being unsafe around trains, once they agreed on the solution the campaign was rolled out across multiple platforms and medias. It is also apparent in M&C Saatchi’s campaign ‘building with chrome’ as they worked with the client to find the strongest advantage of using chrome and worked out how to use this in a way that will entice people to use chrome hence coming up with their effecting lego building in 3D with chrome.

Conclusion
.....................................................................................................................................
In conclusion both M&C Saatchi and McCann are very successful firms and have excelled in the sector of advertising. They share many qualities and methods however are also different in many ways. This critical comparison is a effective tool in establishing the most effective methods, processes and conceptions within design and more specifically in advertising.

This investigation into two similar firms have shown clear links to the contribution of design to communication and culture through aspects such as campaigns, processes and clients.

References
.....................................................................................................................................
1. Erdener Kaynak, Orsay Kucukemiroglu, Yavuz Odabasi, (1994) "Advertising Agency/Client Relationships in an Advanced Developing Country", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 28 Iss: 1, pp.35 - 55
2. Ambler, Tim, and Flora Kokkinaki. "Measures of Marketing Success." Journal of Marketing Management 13.7 (1997): 665-78. Print.
3. Based on Franz, J., Ferreira, L., Thambiratnam, D. and Jerome, K (1998) ‘Recognising and addressing diversity in design undestanding’.
4. Julian L. Simon, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Sep., 1980), pp. 1066-1075
5. "About the Sydney Office - M&C Saatchi Australia." About the Sydney Office - M&C Saatchi Australia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
6. "PR – 00 – Grand Prix – Metro Trains – Dumb Ways To Die." Firstpost. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
7. "Teach-ICT OCR A2 ICT G063 Syllabus: SLC, Requirements Specification, Design Specification, System Specification." Teach-ICT OCR A2 ICT G063 Syllabus: SLC, Requirements Specification, Design Specification, System Specification. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
8. "VUWS Lecture 5." Vuws. N.p., 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
9. TELSER,LESTER G. "Advertisingand Competition," JPolit.Econ.,Dec.1964,72(6),pp.537-62.
10. BLOCH, HARRY. "Advertising and Profitability: A Re- appraisal," j Polit. Econ., Part I, March-April 1974,82(2),pp. 267-86
11. Findeli, A (2001) ‘Rethinking Design Education for the 21st Century’ Design issues. 17 (1),10
12. "[Beta] How Do You Design?" Dubberly Design Office RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.