McCann-Erickson: An Honest Reflection

By Julia Unverfehrt

As one of the many strategic communication majors going on the Europe Tour I was understandably excited for our only advertising agency visit to McCann-Erickson. Of course I had heard of the agency before, as it is a global advertising agency with offices in more than 130 countries.  One of eight companies within the McCann Worldgroup, the agency is internationally known and the list of brands that the agency works with is very impressive.  I went into the media visit with very high expectations, which may not always be the best strategy to have.  These expectations derived from my general knowledge of McCann Worldgroup and previous agency presentations.  I have visited many other advertising agencies in the past, mainly in St. Louis but also in New York as well. My past agency visits, although all very different, set my expectations for what I might experience at McCann-Erickson in Prague.  As I should have guessed, the office in Prague was very different from other agencies I have been to in the United States.  I learned a lot during the presentation, but I ultimately was a little surprised with the content of the presentation. 

The Czech’s Effect on McCann-Erickson Advertising

By Sarah Tillou 

Before departing on our two and a half week long endeavor across Europe, I prepared a mental note regarding which cities I was most excited for, which food I craved most, and of course which media visits I anticipated visiting. As a strategic communication major, I looked forward to the visits that would be applicable to my interest and knowledge of advertising and public relations. One of these happened to be McCann-Erickson in Prague, Czech Republic. I looked forward to seeing how advertising was done in different countries and was curious to see why these changes occurred.

One World

By Ashten Travis

Flying across the Atlantic, halfway around the world I had no idea what to expect. This was my first adventure in Europe and I was curious to see how the world exactly worked in another country. Although I experienced millions of changes and culture shocks, one thing was universal, the love for our planet.

Culture: Advertising and the Same Big World

By Kristyn Mysker

When deciding whether or not I should participate in the Europe tour there were several influences, but culture was the only one that really sold me on the idea. I have been on a few cruises and each time I go I love seeing people of all different cultures coming together for one common purpose, vacation. It’s also interesting to see how even though most of the islands the ship goes to are part of the Caribbean, yet they all still maintain their own identity in some way. Having never been to Europe, I wondered if it would be the same. It was. But I also got more than I had asked for and was exposed to culture in ways that never crossed my mind.

It All Depends On Lifestyle

By Bridget Kelly

My most highly anticipated media visit scheduled for the Europe Tour was McCann-Erickson in Prague, Czech Republic. My emphasis area is in strategic communications and I can only dream of working for an advertising agency like McCann-Erickson one day. I had been looking forward to this media visit since I read our Europe Tour itinerary. Excitement had been building up inside of me as I imagined everything we would learn about advertising in a different part of the world. Immediately we learned that the McCann-Erickson Prague office consists of six interconnected marketing solutions to benefit its clients, including: McCann Erickson, McCann Digital, Momentum, Universal McCann, Weber-Shandwick, McCann Buzzzer and MRM. Together these components allow McCann Worldgroup Prague to fulfill the visions of its clients through a dynamic brand strategy. However, I soon learned that this dynamic brand strategy is vastly different than what I perceived it to be.

The Language Barrier

By Kayla Meyers

Hello! Ahoj! Bonjour! Hallo! Ciao!

English, Czech, French, Dutch and Italian. These five are just a taste of the languages that we encountered on our trip to Europe. While I had visited Paris before our trip, I was unsure what to expect in the other three cities, as I had never communicated with people who speak languages other than English, Spanish and French. Personally, I can't speak any language other than English, so I relied on Google Translate to learn key phrases that would help me get by at restaurants and shops, but this barely scratched the surface. After visiting each of the four cities, I realized that each has a very distinct culture that communicates not only verbally, but non-verbally as well.

Delicious treat from Prague.

On our first day in Prague, I started to pick up on some of the Czech body language and communication styles. It seemed as if the locals in Prague were a bit cold to our loud American ways. I felt as if not many of the people that we met knew how to speak English, or at least, very little. However, at McCann-Erickson (an advertising agency), I noticed that some of the commercials we saw had English-speaking characters with Czech captions. This is something I don't commonly see in America - the advertisements are usually always English-speaking characters. The advertisements shown were also able to connect with people other than purely Czech audiences. For example, the Fidorka commercial shown influenced quite a few of us on the trip to visit the supermarket and purchase the delicious chocolate treats. On our free day in Prague, we were able to see more of the culture and experience more of the locals and how they communicate. I still felt a sense of coldness at times, especially when people realized that we were Americans and couldn't speak a bit of Czech, except for the simple "hello", "goodbye", and "thank you" that we had learned from Google Translate.

Czech the Difference

By Ilyse Cohen 

After getting back from our two-week journalism study abroad program to Prague, Paris, Brussels and Rome, I have learned so much about how different countries handle different aspects of the media. One of the differences I found most interesting was how the Czech Republic advertisements were targeted and regulated. In Prague, we visited McCann-Erickson, a worldwide advertising agency network with eight different media companies all geared toward helping their clients and growing their business.

You Don't Say...Censorship in the European Media

By Tayler Overschmidt

Our recent two-week adventure through Europe was an eye opening experience regarding European media practices and styles. As we toured Prague, Paris, Brussels and Rome, we also toured new perspectives regarding journalism ethics.

Prague's Astronomical Clock. (Tayler Overschmidt)

In Prague, we visited McCann-Erickson, where we saw some examples of some famous—or infamous—advertising campaigns in the Czech Republic. A representative from the company presented information for us regarding some of the most well known advertising campaigns in the country and other information on the “Czechness.”

During the presentation, I asked what campaign from McCann-Erickson made the representative the most proud. His answer was a commercial for a dessert called Fidorkas. In this commercial, a little girl hits a car with her doll and makes the airbags inflate. Then she steals the dessert right out of the car passenger’s hand. The thing is, this commercial had a very short time on the air because it was banned.

Vítejte! Bienvenue! Welkom! Benvenuto!

By Amy Simons and Kevin Wise
Professors, Missouri School of Journalism


Let us be the first to welcome you to our blog!

In early 2012, a group of students from the Missouri School of Journalism will spend two weeks in Europe, touring some of the finest capital cities, media outlets and museums.  It's a short-term study abroad program designed to expose the students to international systems of journalism.

While abroad, the students will make stops in Prague, Paris, Brussels and Rome.  They'll meet with editors, reporters, producers, account executives, educators and religious leaders.  They'll learn, firsthand, how their jobs are the same -- and how they're different -- in different cultures.

They'll visit newspapers, magazines, television stations and advertising agencies and observe the influence of the European perspective on journalism in various cultures.  They'll see how journalism is consumed in those cultures and about the relationships journalists have with their audiences.

And, they'll have a little bit of fun along the way.

They're journalism students, so you can be sure they'll have a lot to say about what they see and do!  Soon enough, this blog will be full of their reflections.  We can't wait for them to share their observations, reflections and predictions about the future of journalism here and abroad.

To give you a taste of what's to come, we invite you to read through the observations and reflections from the 2011 class on its blog, Europe or Bust 2011.