The Fulani people of West Africa are the world’s largest nomadic group. Pulaar, their native tongue, existed without an alphabet for generations. They relied on spoken word to pass down traditions, codify their history, and conduct business. Without an alphabet, illiteracy thrives and written records, poems, songs and stories must be cobbled together using various foreign alphabets. Determined to preserve their people’s language, two brothers, Ibrahima and Abdoulaye Barry, created a handwritten alphabet for Pulaar— ADLaM.

We worked with the Barry brothers to rebuild ADLaM for the digital age and put it in the hands of the 40 million Fulani across the globe connecting through technology.

While alphabets usually take hundreds of years to evolve into their final form, we were able to speed the process, using real-time community feedback to revise ADLaM’s outdated letterforms.

This new version of the alphabet is now accessible on over one billion devices around the world, enhancing the Fulani’s access to educational, business and social tools—ensuring both the language and culture ADLaM represents live on for generations.

The combined efforts of the Barry brothers and Microsoft helped ADLaM gain popularity within the Fulani community spread across the globe — helping secure the future of the alphabet and their culture for future generations:

ADLaM is being made accessible on over 1 billion devices worldwide.

The Government of Mali is in the process of recognizing ADLaM as an official alphabet in their constitution.

Guinea’s Minister of Education is taking steps to ensure ADLaM is recognized as Pulaar’s official alphabet.

The alphabet will also be used to preserve the Bambara, Bozo and Dogon languages due to shared phonology and syntax with Pulaar.

The first two ADLaM-focused schools will open this year in Guinea and for the first time, allow Fulani children to study a full curriculum in their native tongue.

The new alphabet is being used on social media to fight illiteracy.The project also sparked the co-creation of the first ADLaM dictionary, through the hashtag #ADLaMRe.

 Cannes Lions: 2 Grand Prix / 2 Gold / 2 Silver / 3 Bronze

Ranked by AdAge as the #1 award-winning campaign of Cannes Lions 2023.

ADLaM also led to McCann New York to rank as the #1 performing New York agency in Cannes.

Fast Company World Changing Ideas 2024 in Advertising

Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards: 1 Winner / 1 Honorable Mention

LIA: 1 GP / 4 Gold / 2 Silver

Campaign US Big Awards: Agency of the year / Best Tech Campaign / Best Purpose Driven Campaign / Best Campaign

Epica Awards: Grand Prix / Gold / Agency of the Year / Network of the Year

Clio Awards: 2 Grand / 2 Silver

Andy Awards: Best in Show / Gold / Network of the Year

Webby Awards: 1 Webby / 1 Nominee

Monocle Design Awards: Best Type Development

ADC Awards: Best of Show / Best of Typography / Design for Good / 2 Golds

One Show: 3 Best of Show / 7 Gold / 2 Silver / Top 2 Highest-Ranked Work on the ‘Agency Rankings 2024’

D&AD: 1 Graphite / 4 Wood

Effie Awards: 2 Gold / 1 Silver / Grand Effie Contender

Warc Awards: 1 Gold / #1 Campaign for Effectiveness

Anthem Awards: 2 Gold / 1 Silver

New York Festivals: 2 Gold / 1 Silver

New York’s 65,000 food delivery workers made 120 million stops last year alone. Sadly, they’re turned away from using restrooms at the restaurants they pick up from. And they’ve had nowhere to go to stay warm and dry in between deliveries, until now. The Brake Room is a first-of-its-kind rest station allowing food delivery workers to get warm, use the restroom, and grab a cup of coffee in between deliveries, free of charge.

Ad Age Creativity Awards 2024

Experiential Campaign of the Year ​

Cannes Lions 2023

Silver Lion in Brand Experience and Activation ​

Clio Awards 2024

Silver Award in Direct: Experience/Activation ​

The One Show 2024

Merit Award in Design for Good

Merit Award in Experiential & Immersive for Good ​

D&AD Awards 2024

Shortlisted in PR: Events & Stunts

Shortlisted in Art Direction: Experiential ​

Campaign US BIG Awards 2023

Best Brand Experience

In the United States, the cannabis industry thrives, generating billions in revenue. Yet, thousands remain incarcerated for non-violent cannabis offenses—lives put on hold, families torn apart—while others profit freely. A single signature from a governor or the president could change this, erasing convictions and restoring justice.

To confront this injustice, we launched The Pen to Right History.

A simple orange pen. But not just any pen. This pen traveled from hand to hand—between fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, and friends—people whose lives have been shattered by cannabis incarceration. They used it to write letters, to tell their stories, to plead for justice.

Then, we sent this very same pen to hundreds of lawmakers, governors, and the President—placing in their hands the undeniable power to right this wrong. A pen that had already detailed the trauma of cannabis incarceration could now be used to end it.

And it worked.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore was the first to claim his pen, using it to sign an executive order pardoning over 175,000 individuals with non-violent cannabis convictions—the largest state pardon of its kind. His action set a precedent, proving that justice could be restored with the stroke of a pen.

The campaign continues. The pen still moves. Traveling from hand to hand. From those demanding justice to those with the power to deliver it.

Instagram: @designbymccann

Website: mccann.design.com

McCann Design started as a belief, that when design is part of the conversation from day one, the work gets stronger, the thinking gets sharper, and the results speak for themselves.

We created McCann Design to be more than a department, it was a new capability, built to lead. It sat at the intersection of craft, commerce, and culture, designed to embed world-class design thinking into every part of the creative process.

In its first year, McCann Design became a self-sustaining profit center. We retained profit, created new revenue streams, and proved that design—when it leads—drives business as much as it drives creativity.

We brought together brand identity experts, motion designers, typographers, illustrators, and spatial designers to build a team that could shape how brands look, feel, move, and show up in the world. Insuring design had a seat at the table from the start, not the end.

Recognition

Cannes Lions Grand Prix
ADLaM for Microsoft – A global, culture-first design solution that digitized a previously unwritten African script.

Fast Company Innovation by Design
Where to Settle – A platform that helped Ukrainian refugees find relocation options tailored to their needs.

Monocle Design Award
Recognized for transforming how design and creative teams collaborate—breaking silos, building systems, and elevating design as a strategic force.

Capabilities

Brand Identity & Systems
Scalable frameworks that flex across platforms, categories, and cultures.

Motion & Type Design
Custom typefaces and storytelling in motion—built to express, not decorate.

Product & Experience Design
Tools, platforms, and packaging that solve real problems with precision and beauty.

Environmental & Retail Design
Physical spaces that immerse people in brand worlds, not just campaigns.

When NYX launched Duck Plump, the internet immediately noticed the name. One vowel swap gave it a whole new (and wildly suggestive) meaning.

So we leaned into it—on the biggest stage there is. The Super Bowl, long dominated by male-centric humor and ads that sexualize women, became the perfect moment for NYX Professional Makeup to flip the script. With wit and unapologetic flair, the brand called out the double standards in Super Bowl advertising, all while showing off the plumping power of its latest product: Duck Plump—a gloss that plumps lips, not egos.

The results? NYX’s biggest product launch ever, with an 84% sales lift and 47% new customers.

When Beth ventured out to go shopping, little did she know her husband Gary would embark on a DIY scavenger hunt at home, fashioning his own extraordinary steampunk-style suit.

The mission: to give himself more hands, so he can scratch multiple Xtreme Multiplier Series of Scratch-Off Games tickets from the New York Lottery at once.

The main protagonist’s harness is cleverly assembled with a blow-dryer, desk lamp and makeshift arm handcrafted from wood scraps. The creation symbolizes the heightened excitement and boosted winning odds associated with the new wave of lottery tickets, each with the power to multiply winnings up to 100 times.

Clio Awards: 1 Gold / 1 Silver

Smirnoff has always been a brand for everyone.

Atomic was the first expression of We Do We, a global platform built on one clear truth: the best nights aren’t about one person at the center — they’re about the energy we create together.

While most spirits ads flex individual swagger, Atomic flipped the script. One spark sets off another until the whole place is alive. A chain reaction of movement, music, and color — capturing how good things spread when we show up for each other.

The work wasn’t just a film. It was the launch of a creative system designed to scale across culture and markets — and it delivered.

Atomic became Smirnoff’s most-watched global launch film ever, driving over 200 million views across platforms and contributing to double-digit sales growth in key markets. The campaign earned recognition at Cannes Lions, Clio, and Effies, and reestablished Smirnoff’s position with a new generation of drinkers.

Clios: Silver

British Arrows: Silver

ADC Awards: Gold

Cannes Lions: Shortlist

LIA Awards: Silver

Changing the Game wasn’t just about launching a product—it was about shifting the narrative around who gets to be seen, celebrated, and included. Partnering closely with Microsoft, we created the first Super Bowl campaign to center adaptive gaming and the players who rely on it—introducing technology not as the hero, but as the enabler.

At the heart of it was the Xbox Adaptive Controller—a breakthrough piece of technology designed specifically for gamers with limited mobility. With large programmable buttons, customizable ports, and the ability to connect to external devices, it gave players control over how they play. It wasn’t about making one-size-fits-all solutions. It was about meeting people where they are and designing for real lives, real needs, real possibility.

But the innovation wasn’t just in the hardware—it was in how we told the story. Together with Microsoft, we put the community it was built for at the center of everything. Gamers with disabilities, their families, their voices. Every piece of the work was created with them, not just about them. From the campaign to the content, from tournaments to tutorials, the community helped shape it all.

It was a first-of-its-kind moment for the category—and others have followed—but Changing the Game led the way. Because when you give people the tools to fully participate—and tell their story on the biggest stage—you don’t just make an ad. You make space. You help rewrite the rules.

Cannes Lions

Titanium Lion

Grand Prix

2 Gold

1 Bronze ​

D&AD Awards

1 Black Pencil

1 Graphite Pencil

Clio Awards

1 Grand Clio

Epica Awards

Responsibility Grand Prix​

ADC Awards

Gold Cube

One of the best accounts to work on is the New York Lottery—because it lets you tap into the unique insights and idiosyncrasies of how New Yorkers dream differently than anyone else when it comes to the lottery.

This series of films is built on a simple truth: when New Yorkers buy a Mega Millions ticket, they can’t help but start thinking like mega millionaires. But the way they dream isn’t like the rest of the country. They’re practical dreamers—so we set out to capture the very New York way of imagining life with a jackpot, right down to the logistics.

In the U.S. alone, over 12 million people are blind or partially sighted. Yet, most credit and debit cards feel identical, making everyday transactions challenging for this community. Recognizing this gap, Mastercard introduced the Touch Card—a simple, tactile innovation allowing users to distinguish between credit, debit, and prepaid cards by touch alone.

Business Impact

The Touch Card not only addressed an unmet need but also reinforced Mastercard's commitment to inclusivity. By collaborating with organizations like the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Mastercard ensured the design met real-world needs.

This initiative strengthened Mastercard's brand reputation, showcasing its dedication to creating products that serve all users. The positive reception and widespread acclaim have positioned Mastercard as a leader in accessible financial solutions.

Awards & Recognition

Cannes Lions

Bronze Lion – Direct Category

Shortlisted – Creative Strategy

Shortlisted – Sustainable Development Goals

The One Show

Gold Pencil – Physical Products

Silver Pencil – Integrated Campaign

Bronze Pencil – Customer Experience

ADC Awards

Gold Cube – Product Design

Silver Cube – Inclusive Design

Merit – Integrated/Digital

Merit – Branded Content/Entertainment

Clio Awards

Gold – Product/Service Innovation

Silver – Audio Craft/Sound Design

Bronze – Design/Product Design

Bronze – Direct/Use of Product

Bronze – Innovation

D&AD

Graphite Pencil – Direct Product & Services

Wood Pencil – Customer Journey

Wood Pencil – Purchase Experiences

Shortlisted – Integrated

Shortlisted – Casting/Talent & Influencers

Effie Awards

Silver – Positive Change/Social Good

Bronze – Business-to-Business

Finalist – Finance

Epica Awards

Grand Prix – Innovation

Gold – Financial Services

Shorty Awards

Winner – Disability Awareness

Webby Awards

Winner – Brand Entertainment

Nominee – Best Use of Video

ANDY Awards

Idea Award – Innovation

U.S. Bank launched the first-ever Spanish-language Voice Assistant in the U.S.—a meaningful step for a brand expanding into California, home to over 10 million Spanish speakers. But technology alone wasn’t enough to build real connection, especially with Hispanic customers who felt unseen by the banking industry.

Translators is a 20-minute documentary about the more than 11 million child translators in America—kids who often serve as the only English speakers in their households, helping their families navigate everything from doctor’s appointments to job interviews to bank meetings.

The film was unbranded by design. The goal was to shine a light on a story rarely told—and it worked. It sparked coverage across both mainstream and Hispanic media, and opened up a national conversation, with people sharing their own personal experiences.

Translators has been officially selected by thirteen film festivals so far, winning top honors at three, including Best Documentary Short at Tribeca X.

Watch the full film here: Translators Film

FILM FESTIVAL RECOGNITION

Tribeca X 2023 – Winner, Best Documentary Short

USA Film Festival 2023 – First Prize, Non-Fiction Short

Paris Play Film Festival 2023 – First Prize, Documentary Short

LALIFF 2023 – Official Selection

French Riviera Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

Indy Shorts Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

New Orleans Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

Tampa Bay Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

Georgia Latino Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

Rhode Island International Film Festival 2023 – Official Selection

ADVERTISING INDUSTRY RECOGNITION

Cannes Lions – 1 Gold, 2 Silver

One Show – 3 Silver, 1 Bronze, 1 Merit

Clio Awards – 1 Silver

Additional honors: LIA, Shorty Awards, AdColor, The D Show, The Drum Awards, New York Festivals, D&AD, Effies, El Sol Awards

“We Do We” is Smirnoff's new global platform that represents the biggest platform shift from Smirnoff in more than a decade and the latest expression of the brand's belief that we're better together.

While other companies are pulling back—toning down their messaging, steering away from bold expressions of identity—Smirnoff is doing the opposite. “We Do We” is a full-spectrum, unapologetically inclusive platform built to stand out in a crowded, cautious market.

It was a global system built with precision. One that could stretch across 20+ markets and over 666 SKUs without losing consistency or creative impact. Every asset—from packaging to digital to retail, was designed to carry the same energy and clarity while allowing for local relevance and cultural nuance.

Smirnoff embraced color, diversity, and joyful expression at a time when many brands are avoiding risk. That decision wasn’t just about tone—it was a strategic choice to reinforce what the brand has always stood for: connection, celebration, and inclusion.

“We Do We” is proof that you don’t need to water things down to scale them. You just need a system strong enough, and a point of view clear enough—to hold.

Ricky Gervais may seem prickly, but he’s great with kids. Watch him get everyone in the holiday spirit with traditional tales of cell phone contracts.

Directed by Ricky Gervais

1.2 BILLION IMPRESSIONS / 30 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL SALES / 192% GROWTH ON SOCIAL

The beauty category is all about perfection. Perfect hair. Perfect models. So when L’oreal Paris tried to launch their new hair care product Elvive, they were drowned in a sea of perfection. So we decided to take what its product did - revive damage hair - and use it to tell a different story. With a different kind of star. The poster child of revival: Winona Ryder. The results were immediate with Winona’s tribe coming out in support, making Elvive the #1 hair repair brand for 2018.

Directed by Sofia and Roman Coppola

Microsoft didn’t just need a new campaign. It needed a new story.

For years, it was known for utility, but as the company evolved it needed to be seen not just as a tech company, but as a brand that stood for something bigger, human potential.

We created a unique shift from product to purpose. We didn’t talk about what the technology does we showed what it unlocked. Creativity with Surface. Humanity with Windows. Connection with Teams. We helped Microsoft show up in culture not as the hero, but as the platform that empowers everyone else to be one.

Brand love went up. Product adoption soared. Teams became a household name. Surface found its place in the hearts—and hands—of creatives. And Microsoft became one of the most admired brands in the world, not because it changed its products, but because it changed its point of view.

This wasn’t creativity for the sake of it. It was creativity that moved culture and business.

Converse has been engrained in skate culture since the sport’s inception nearly 75 years ago. The sport and the brand are not only bonded by history, but by a shared skate mindset that that is fueled by the audacity to push boundaries, which served as inspiration for We Create Next.

Up-and-coming skater Zion Effs, legend Alexis Sablone, musician Tyler, The Creator, and more joined the brand in creating content that would meet the next generation where they are: social and digital media. With refreshed short, social-friendly content featuring rising talent, Converse is bridging their rich legacy to the modern landscape of the sport.

The Surface is universally used with coaches in the NFL yet we always see the same gender using those tablets.

Katie Sowers had been breaking boundaries in sports long before anyone knew her name.

She was the first woman to coach in the Super Bowl—a historic moment on one of the world’s biggest stages. But few knew the story behind the title.

Katie had loved football since she was a kid. She wrote about it in her childhood journals. She played with the same passion, the same dreams as any boy who ever laced up cleats. But the path to the field was never made for someone like her.

When we met Katie, we knew the campaign couldn’t just be about where she was—it had to be about how she got there. Through her own words, videos from her life, and pages from those childhood journals, we told the story that the headlines had missed.

A story about the power of believing you belong, long before the world tells you that you do.

And to make sure that belief lives beyond a single campaign, we built a tool within Microsoft 365—designed to prompt more inclusive language in everyday writing. Flagging over 1,000 biased terms and suggesting more equitable alternatives. Like replacing “female coach” with what she’s always been: coach.

Because true inclusion doesn’t just recognize the moment someone arrives.
It sees the journey that got them there.

Microsoft’s Holiday commercial follows the magical story of Lucy, a curious 6-year-old with a few questions for her reindeer friends. With the help of her mom’s Surface and Microsoft Translator, she finally gets her chance to ask the most important questions of the season. Microsoft technology empowers and connects everyone on the planet…well, almost everyone.

Directed by Hank Perlman

No matter what your problem, only Target can assemble precisely the right collection of products to solve it.

Directed by The Perlorian Brothers

Ulta: The Beauty of Podcast

In an industry often focused on surface-level conversations, Ulta Beauty made a deliberate move to create a space to talk about what’s too often ignored: the complexities, contradictions, and cultural tensions that shape how beauty is defined—and who gets to define it.

“The Beauty of…” Hosted by David Lopez, and featuring voices that have historically been left out of the conversation, the series positions Ulta not just as a retailer, but as a convener of ideas. From colorism and gender identity to mental health and body politics, each episode pushes the industry to think bigger, and to listen more.

This was a bold move for a major brand, choosing to engage, not gloss over. A long-form, purpose-driven storytelling engine designed to build trust, spark conversation, and set Ulta apart in a category where sameness is the default.

That decision sparked something deeper than awareness: it created real brand love. Audiences saw themselves reflected, heard, and respected. Not as consumers, but as people.

Directed by Dougal Wilson

Director of Photography: Alwin Kuchler

Cannes Gold Digital Lion:  Every year, Macy’s celebrates Christmas with the animated special “Yes, Virginia.” It's the true story of a girl who wrote to her local paper to ask if Santa really exists.

This year, to help support struggling drama programs, we created a new musical adaptation and gave it to schools nationwide for free. Any school, could perform the show without paying the high royalties they pay to stage most musicals. As an extra boost, one hundred lucky schools got a $1,000 grant to use for sets, costumes, or anything else they needed.

At YesVirginiaMusical.com teachers could download the free script and score, apply for a grant, and watch video advice from theater insiders. We used parallax animation to create the most dynamic site experience without crashing school computers. By the time the new school year began, we already had more than two hundred schools participating with more signing up every day.

Cannes Gold Digital WInner

Microsoft harnessed the power of technology to help injured veterans who are physically unable to participate in this year’s Invictus Games still be a fundamental part of it.

Anthem For All uses bespoke technology to enable injured military personnel to play instruments they would otherwise be unable to play, to create the first truly inclusive anthem for The Games. An anthem for injured military personnel, made by injured military personnel.

Microsoft’s Hands Free Lab leveraged a number of technologies including Xbox Adaptive Controllers and Gaze-eye tracking to assemble an orchestra of instruments that could be played with limited hand mobility or through eye movement.

Then we pushed the boundaries of the browser to create a digital experience that allows people to create music online, using their heads, keyboard or mouse.

Head-Tracking Experience. The in-browser head tracking interaction utilized pose estimation models to capture head position to give a user control of the screen’s cursor to trigger musical notes

Keyboard Experience. In this experience, users were able to play the different notes by using keyboard numbers 1 to 8. The challenge was to create an efficient and easy-use way for users to play the notes with a keyboard without interfering with the standard accessibility functions already assigned to the keys.

Mouse or Trackpad Experience. The use of a mouse is the most common and functional way of interacting with a computer. However, this standard device can pose some difficulties for people with dexterity or cognitive issues. In our music composer, we allow users to play the notes on hover rather than click. This allows for a simpler interaction method.

CLIO Awards: 1 Silver / 3 Bronze

As an extension of Macy’s school arts program, we partnered with filmmaker Marilyn Agrelo (Mad Hot Ballroom) to document one school’s experience of staging “Yes, Virginia The Musical.” NO SMALL PARTS is an official selection of Miami Short Film Festival, Tacoma Film Festival, Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival, Atlanta Shorts Fest, Garden State Film Festival, Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, and Creative Week in New York City.