Catalin Dobre is inducted as the newest member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame

Catalin Dobre, Co-CEO and Chief Creative Officer of McCann Worldgroup Romania & Regional Creative Director McCann CEE is the newest member of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame, in this selected group of visionaries and dreamers who have fought courageously and passionately for the progress of the creative industry and beyond.

Established in 2010, Hall of Fame celebrates those who have, through their professional career and personal life, influenced our creative minds and souls. Creative leaders who have inspired and motivated us, and who now guide us to move forward in our endeavours.

“It’s a huge honour to enter the Hall of Fame of Golden Drum, the most important creative festival in Central and Eastern Europe. I’m humbled by the company, all of them true giants of the industry. I was always proud of the creative DNA I inherited from this region.

The day to day life in this part of the world made us find lateral solutions to problems. It trained us. It built us to be challengers, to think in an innovative way. I feel Golden Drum celebrated and promoted this type of creativity.

I’m proud to become part of the Hall of Fame of this unique festival. It helps me further in being a promoter of the authenticity of this region and celebrate the special type of creativity that comes from here.” – Catalin Dobre, McCann Worldgroup Romania.

For many years, Catalin has been an integral part of the festival, consistently demonstrating extreme ambition, talent, and hard work. He was never short of praise about Golden Drum and its importance for the development of the region, community and young talent. With the full support of the McCann network, Catalin has played a strategic part in the festival’s development and place on the creative industry’s map.

Catalin has been a speaker, jury member, Young Drummers competition jury member, a collector of Golden Drum awards and multiple times crowned Creative Director of the year. Under his guidance, McCann Romania has won the title Agency of the Year and McCann Network become the Network of the Year at Golden Drum, several times.

Taking the creative culture in the CEE region to the next level

A Philosophy graduate, Catalin Dobre, the 39 years old Chief Creative Officer and Co-CEO of McCann Worldgroup Romania started working in advertising as a copywriter, 20 years ago.

Along the years, he won 2 Cannes Lions Grand Prix and a Titanium Lion, the total count of Cannes awards reaching 39 Lions. Also, he scored awards in all the major international advertising shows including D&AD, Clio, One Show, Eurobest, Lia, New York Festivals, Cresta and Golden Drum.

He was proud to serve in the juries of D&AD, Clio, Eurobest, Dubai Lynx, NY Festivals and Golden Drum.

Catalin was part of the first Romanian Forbes 30 under 30 Edition and received, two years later, the Excellence Award. Also, he received the IAA excellence award, for creating the campaign that brought the first Cannes Grand Prix in Eastern Europe and was part of Adweek’s Creative 100 in 2019.

About Golden Drum Hall of Fame

A wall is just a wall. But whoever’s name is inscribed on it, briefly brushes against immortality. Then a wall becomes The Wall. Golden Drum Festival has in its twenty-seven years attracted great visionaries and dreamers who fought courageously and passionately for the progress of the creative industry.

As time goes by and people move forward, we tend to forget the names of those that have set the foundations, upon which professionals of today build great things. Established in 2010, the Golden Drum Hall of Fame virtual wall reads the names of great women and men. The list grows with careful consideration and a sense of gratefulness to those, whose names and actions we should never forget. Each new member needs to be confirmed and accepted into the Hall of Fame by the existing members.

Members of the Golden Drum Hall of Fame in alphabetical order:

Jure Apih, Adrian Botan, Farid Chehab, Michael Conrad, Ivan Čimburov, Meta Dobnikar, Catalin Dobre, Dushan Drakalski, Csaba Gosztonyi, Andrey Gubaydullin, Ami Hasan, Mariusz Jan Demner, Jaime Mandelbaum, Jiri Mikeš, Juli Nemes, Johannes Newrkla, Günseli Özen, Milka Pogliani, Ulrich Proeschel, Jorg Riommi, Jason Romeyko, Daniel Ružička, Dragan Sakan, Juraj Vaculik, Vital Verlič, Jarek Ziebinski and Darek Zatorski.

Golden Drum Festival will be held from 9 to 10 October 2023 in Grand Hotel Bernardin, Portorož, Slovenia. Golden Drum Copetition is open for entries.