Wolff Olins Dubai names new principal

  Global brand consultancy Wolff Olins has announced the appointment of Simon Hong as the new principal of its Dubai office. He joins a team of 15 global business, creative and strategy principals. Hong has over 20 years experience of working across various disciplines, including broadcast and environmental design, and with several brand consultancies, most recently in [...]

Four reasons your brand posts are fading on Facebook

The Facebook news feed is highly coveted real estate with finite space, so something had to give – and its brand posts. The social network wants to keep its 757 million daily users active while cranking up its ad business, so brand posts with no spending behind them are getting the squeeze. The posts are [...]

Leo Burnett welcomes 20 more students into the Lynx Academy

  As part of the  Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity, 20 of the Middle East and North Africa’s most promising advertising students have been inducted into the Leo Burnett Lynx Academy. Now in its sixth year, the academy – a collaboration between Leo Burnett and Dubai Lynx – will run alongside the Festival from [...]

Irdeto consumer research reveals strong demand for OTT in GCC countries

Consumer demand is increasing for over-the-top (OTT) offerings and Internet TV services like icflix and Netflix in the GCC countries according to new research from Irdeto, a provider of multiscreen, revenue assurance and media protection solutions. The research revealed that 23 percent of GCC consumers surveyed would prefer to watch TV, movies or sports content through Internet [...]

Starcom MediaVest Group MENA partners with Adopt-a-Camp at the Dubai Lynx Festival

  At this year’s Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity, Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) MENA will be joining forces with Adopt-a-Camp, a UAE-based social enterprise founded by Saher Sheikh, and designed to improve the lives of the men who build the beautiful cities in which we live. In effect, the organization’s objective is to reach [...]

Marketing bricks

  Today’s changing digital landscape is forcing organizations to re-evaluate their media strategy as the lines between paid, earned and owned media become blurred. It’s crucial for marketers to find more cost-effective and coherent means of engaging with consumers, and that’s why content marketing has quickly become a key part of any organization’s marketing mix [...]

GlobeMed partners with M&C Saatchi for humanitarian cause

After the visit of Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie to Lebanon’s Bekaa province on Sunday, February 23 to support Syrian refugees – as part of her role as a special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – Lebanese healthcare benefits management firm, GlobeMed, took the opportunity to launch an awareness campaign, in collaboration [...]

TV’s future? Disney signs on for ad-skipping, web-based pay TV

  Dish Network and Walt Disney Co.announced new carriage agreement on Monday night that lays the groundwork for Dish to introduce a web-based TV service and protect its commercial-skipping technology from legal threat The biggest takeaway for advertisers is that Dish has agreed to disable its AutoHop tech, which lets viewers skip ads in recorded programming automatically, [...]

Volvo consolidates global media with Mindshare

  Automotive brand Volvo has consolidated its global media buying and planning business with WPP’s Mindshare, according to people familiar with the matter, who added that the selection follows a closed pitch between Havas Media, which has worked with Volvo in the U.S. for a number of years, and Mindshare, which has supported the business in various [...]

Fighting back

  In late January, Ipsos Egypt released a slew of press releases and statements reaffirming the transparency of its operations in the country; a defensive move that was, of course, not without reason. In fact, for several months, the research firm had been fighting a naming-and-shaming campaign led by a consortium of Egypt’s top TV channels, questioning the transparency of its processes and [...]

Instagram inks ad deal With Omnicom worth up to $100 million

  Instagram has inked its first major ad deal with an agency, and it’s big. The photo- and video-sharing site is rolling out a paid advertising program with a year-long commitment from Omnicom to spend up to $100 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The arrangement means that users will start seeing ads [...]

Infographic shows women hold more power on social media

  Compiled by web journalist, Alex Hillsberg, and David Adelman from finances.com, and utilizing information from Pew Research and Burst Media, a recent infographic was released, showing that women used social media more often than men, and in more ways. The infographic shows that 76 percent of US women online used Facebook, 54 percent used [...]

CODE and The Knowledge Engineers to hold mobile marketing workshop in Dubai

  In collaboration with digital marketing training company The Knowledge Engineers, digital marketing consultancy and technology provider, the CODE Center of Digital Excellence, will be holding a mobile marketing training workshop in Dubai on April 23.  The 2-day interactive session will discuss opportunities in mobile marketing marketing, mobile landscapes and trends, mobile audience insights, operating [...]

MRM Dubai launches customer relationship center for Chanel

MRM Dubai, part of Middle East Communications Network, has launched a customer relationship center to support Chanel’s network of luxury stores in the region. The tailor-made CRM (customer relationship management) solution was commissioned by Chanel in order to close the information gap in the luxury retailer’s understanding of its customers in the gulf.  MRM Dubai’s [...]

Mondelez collaborates with Buzzman for Flake Dipped activation campaign

  Mondelez  has collaborated with digital agency Buzzman for an online and offline activation campaign for the chocolate brand Cadbury’s Flake Dipped bar. The campaign directs consumers to a micro-site featuring four games, in which they have to unlock a safe where a Flake Dipped is hidden. Game participants are offered a chance to win [...]

Grow’s prospects

 Can you take us through the history and growth of grow’s operations in Qatar? I established Grow in October 2005: one man, one creative director, one mobile phone in a shared office that shut at 2 p.m. and a stuffed Orry mascot. A relic of my time as senior client director for fitch London, delivering [...]

Clique Communications Group announces new appointments

  CCG (Clique Communications Group) has announced four new appointments in its digital, sales and marketing teams. The additions come in soon after CCG celebrated five years in the region. Rohan Ahuja joins CCG as digital director for the Dubai office. After a six-year stint at OMD Dubai, Rohan will provide digital counsel to clients [...]

Top players

Have you ever watched someone play Candy Crush, Angry Birds, or World of Warcraft? They’re totally transfixed. You might ask: Why are they playing? Usually, it is just for the sense of individual achievement in reaching a new level. Why can’t you harness this same level of engagement and apply it to critical issues, in order to create innovative new products and [...]

JCDecaux unveils its first digital iVision airport network At Dubai International

  Outdoor advertising company JCDecaux SA, in conjunction with Dubai Airports, announced today that its subsidiary JCDecaux Dicon has unveiled a network of high definition digital 80” iVision screens at Concourse A, Dubai International. This new network of twenty screens, provided by JCDecaux’s R&D division in France, is part of the first wave of a comprehensive roll out of [...]

The chosen people

Comprising more than 200 nationalities, UAE consumers cannot be viewed as a single block of customers with consistent purchasing patterns. Approximately four UAE residents out of five are foreign. The drastic change in growth and composition of the population – ethnicity, culture and income level – pose challenges to many companies looking to communicate their products. Ethnic minorities represented $2.5 trillion in buying power worldwide [...]

Getty Images sets up interactive video wall at Dubai Lynx 2014

  Global media company Getty Images will be installing a video wall in the Dubai Lynx Festival Hall at the upcoming Dubai Lynx Festival of Creativity 2014. Produced in collaboration with award-winning production and installation artists The Light Surgeons and unveiled to industry acclaim at the Cannes Lions 2013, the dynamic video wall draws on Getty [...]

UM Dubai wins media planning and buying account for B4U Aflam

B4U Aflam, the Arabic-language Bollywood film channel, has announced the appointment of UM Dubai as its new media buying agency for the MENA region. B4U’s alliance with UM Dubai will not only help the network to grow in the MENA region, but will also help bring B4U Aflam closer to its target audience, the local Arabic population, [...]

Mindshare MENA appoints chief strategy officer

Mindshare MENA has announced the appointment of Alexandra Reynolds as the agency’s new chief strategy officer for the MENA Region.  Reynolds brings 15 years of global experience to her new role at Mindshare. As chief strategy officer MENA, Reynolds will be responsible for ensuring the quality of Mindshare’s product and service offerings across existing clients [...]

UM Dubai wins Sun & Sand Sports regional media account

  Following a review and pitch process, UM Dubai has been awarded the regional media planning and buying account for Sun & Sand Sports. Effective immediately, UM Dubai will handle integrated media duties from its headquarters in Tecom for the sports retail distributor’s 90 brands across the MENA region. Sun & Sand Sports offers such world famous names [...]

WPP Digital announces strategic partnership and investment in Percolate

  WPP Digital , the digital investment arm of WPP, has announced a global partnership with content marketing platform Percolate, one that will enable WPP companies to create streamlined and engaging content on behalf of their clients. The deal also includes a strategic investment by which WPP Digital will help Percolate expand its business both [...]

JWT Kuwait appoints Anes Al-Rayes as executive creative director

  JWT has announced the promotion of Anes Al-Rayes to ECD JWT Kuwait. Al-Rayes will report in to Ramsey Naja, chief creative officer at JWT MEA. In his new role, Al-Rayes has been charged with solidifying the team’s capabilities and continuing its integrated creative offering for clients. Commenting on the news, Naja stated “JWT has always been [...]

TBWA\RAAD’s Digital Arts Network partners with Hyper Island for the Dubai Lynx 2014

  TBWA\RAAD Digital Arts Network (DAN) has partnered with highly acclaimed Hyper Island – a private tertiary institution and educational company specializing in real-world industry training using digital technology - for this years’ “Digital Lab” at the Dubai Lynx Festival of Creativity, which will be held between March 9 and March 11 2014. A tailored version [...]

WPP takes stake in commerce startup eCommera

  WPP is taking a stake in London-based commerce startup eCommera, which is also working with the holding company’s clients such as cosmetics maker Clarins and luxury shoe designer Jimmy Choo. The investment came as part of a $41 million Series C led by Dawn Capital. WPP participated in the round and contributed an undisclosed sum. [...]

Dentsu Aegis Network launches Vizeum in MENA

  Global communications network Dentsu Aegis Network has announced the launch of Vizeum, a media buying agency, and the network’s fifth agency brand part of Aegis Media, in the MENA region. The launch extends Vizeum’s products and services to 60 offices in 41 countries, its Middle East client roster already including Total, Hitachi, Pegasus Airlines and [...]

McDonald’s joins throng of marketers experimenting with Snapchat

  Snapchat isn’t just for millennials, anymore. It’s also for brands trying to reach them. McDonald’s has joined the parade of marketers experimenting the ephemeral messaging service – photos and videos disappear after 10 seconds – and has enlisted some star power in the guise of Lebron James to promote its new account. The fast [...]

YouTube MENA Leaderboard February 2014

  The explosive growth of YouTube around the globe has made it a powerful medium for brands to bring original and engaging campaigns to life reaching global audiences, including right here in MENA. Google has decided to share the best practices of creativity with Communicate through the Youtube Ads Leaderboard. The Leaderboard is a list of the [...]

Matt Blackborn on the direction of SMG MENA

Olivier Gers talks about the future of content

Grow Qatar collaborates with Qatar Petroleum for IPO campaign

  Doha-based creative branding agency, Grow, was appointed by Qatar Petroleum to create a brand identity and advertising campaign for the recently launched IPO of its petrochemical subsidiary, Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Company Q.S.C. (MPHC). The IPO offers Qataris the opportunity to secure their investment in Qatar’s future wealth by investing on preferential terms. This is [...]

Choueiri Group’s DMS and SynkOnAir launch Synclie second screen app

  Digital Media Services (DMS), which serves as the digital arm of Choueiri Group, and SynkOnAir – a subsidiary of AJ Consulting focusing on second screen apps and technologies - have announced an exclusive partnership aimed at offering TV viewers, brands and broadcasters in the MENA region a second screen app, Synclie. The Synclie smart sync [...]

New campaign launched in Dubai to “Beat the CyberBully”

  A new initiative, “Beat the CyberBully”,  has been launched in Dubai to provide education, awareness and training on the subjects of online and mobile usage among children and young people. Beat The CyberBully helps to reduce online vulnerability and build digital resilience among children and young people who are confident with technology but not yet [...]

ARPU Plus launches T-Pay mobile payment platform

  ARPU Plus, a  provider of value-added services (VAS) and monetization platform solutions across the Middle East and an OTVentures subsidiary company, today announced the launch of T-Pay, an open mobile payment platform in the region that the company claims will revolutionize digital shopping. Through T-Pay, ARPU Plus has built an unique ecosystem for mobile [...]

Cisco invests 6 million dollars in early stage online and mobile innovation

  Cisco today announced a $6 million investment in the Badia Impact Fund – a venture capital fund dedicated to investment in early-stage start-ups in the technology sector in Jordan - to support early stage online and mobile innovation, healthcare technologies and services, e-commerce, consumer Internet and digital media services in Jordan. This funding represents the [...]

Topless brands

Lebanese Olympic skier Jackie Chamoun inspires brands to strip Since February 10, images of Lebanese skier, Jackie Chamoun, showing some skin have been making the rounds across social media in Lebanon and abroad. The images are part of a calendar photographed three years ago, featuring a number of professional skiers form around the world, that [...]

JCDecaux wins a 10-year advertising concession in the Sultanate of Oman

  Multinational outdoor corporation JCDecaux has won a 10-year exclusive advertising concession in the Sultanate of Oman for the Muscat International Airport and Salalah Airport. This concession grants JCDecaux the exclusive rights to operate outdoor advertising within the existing airports, as well as in the new international airports that are currently under construction in both cities. JCDecaux [...]

The Dubai Lynx names Land Rover MENA Advertiser of the Year for 2014

The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity will present the Advertiser of the Year award to  luxury automotive manufacturer Land Rover MENA, in recognition of its creativity in brand communications and marketing efforts across multiple platforms. Since 2011, Land Rover MENA has picked up 20 Dubai Lynx awards in different categories – Design, Direct, Film, [...]

AME Awards World’s Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness Announces 2014 shortlist

The AME Awards®  for the World’s Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness™ has announced its shortlist for the 2014 competition. The GrandJury® members, comprised of interactive and multidisciplinary marketers, planners, and creatives from all over the world, selected the Shortlist from entries submitted from 22 countries worldwide. Worldwide since 1994, the AME Awards honors campaigns that successfully demonstrate solutions to [...]

Adobe Game Day

Dubai Pizzeria becomes first merchant in the UAE to accept Bitcoin

Another milestone has just been passed in bitcoin’s bid for global domination. Notably, a restaurant in Dubai has become the first in the United Arab Emirates to accept payments in the digital currency. In fact, The Pizza Guys, as the artisan pizzeria is called, is one of the very first merchants to offer a physical outlet for cryptocurrency in [...]

Facebook to acquire WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars

  Facebook Inc revealed yesterday that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire WhatsApp for $19 billion in cash and stocks, in what is being called the largest deal in the social network’s history. The transaction involves 4 billion dollars in cash, 12 billion in stocks and 3 billion dollars in restricted stock units [...]

Culprit Creative launches in Dubai

  Culprit Creative, the innovative production agency awarded this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 for marketing, is officially in Dubai on business. Culprit Creative specializes in viral marketing campaigns. The team consists of CEO Millennials David Dinetz, Dylan Trussell and Colt Seman. Each unique Culprit member has been born and raised on new media platforms such as [...]

FP7/DXB wins pitch to retain Emirates NBD account

  FP7/DXB has retained the Emirates NBD creative advertising account, following a multi-agency pitch process that began at the end of last year. The agency competed against the regions’ largest multinational networks for the business. FP7/DXB will continue to oversee the Dubai-headquartered bank’s through-the-line communications brief for the UAE. Emirates NBD has awarded FP7/DXB a [...]

Shortlists announced for Dubai Lynx and YouTube 7-day competition

  The annual award show, Dubai Lynx, announced the 12 entries that have shortlisted for its film competition – the Dubai Lynx and YouTube 7-Day Brief. The brief, set by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), asked participants to make a 30-60 second film commercial in seven days, in English or Arabic and [...]

North55 spreads the love on Valentine’s Day

  Celebrating Valentine’s Day, Dubai-based creative agency North55 launched a campaign addressing its clients. The campaign started with a round of personalized, hand-written Valentine’s Day cards, addressing recipients by their name, and signed by their “secret admirer”. The card re-directed the recipients to personalized landing page once they had logged on using their unique URL, [...]

Omnicom Media Group MENA named third best employer in the UAE

  In its third participation in the  ”Great Place to Work” survey, Omnicom Media Group MENA, the holding group of OMD, PHD, Integral and Resolution, has been recognized as the third best employer in the UAE by the Great Place to Work® Institute. This year, on the back of an even stronger staff endorsement, the [...]

Senior management appointments announced at Leo Burnett

  Nadi Abi Saleh has been promoted from deputy managing director to managing director at Leo Burnett Beirut. She replaces Kamil Kuran, who has been appointed managing director for the Levant region.

Weber Shandwick MENA named 9th greatest place to work in the UAE

  Weber Shandwick MENA has been officially recognized as a ‘Great Place To Work’ in the UAE in 2014 by the Great Place to Work Institute UAE, part of a global research, training and consultancy firm that recognizes the best workplaces in over 50 countries worldwide. Weber Shandwick MENA, which has two offices in the [...]

Face to Face wins new accounts

  Dubai-based communication agency Face to Face has  announced  that it has won the Garmin – global provider of consumer, aviation, and marine technologies for the Global Positioning System - account, and has been charged with developing, for the bramd, a full launch strategy which includes full creative across outdoor, press, radio and online – media planning [...]

Active Public Relations & Marketing Communications expands into Libya

  Active Public Relations & Marketing Communications (Active PR) has strengthened its network in the Middle-East, adding an office in Libya, Tripoli as a result of increasing demand from clients to tap into the business opportunities offered by the steadily recovering market. Active PR now operates in four locations via partners in Egypt, KSA, Turkey and [...]

Advertising industry leaders debate the value of awards

  The IAA has launched its 2014 networking sessions with a hotly contested first debate on the value of awards. The panel of debaters comprised of regional industry leaders, including Carla Hassan, CMO at PepsiCo MEA; Hubert Boulos, CEO Middle East, DDB; and, Mounir Harfouche, CEO, Lowe Middle East & North Africa. Held at the [...]

Comcast said to agree to $44 Billion Time Warner Cable deal

  Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) agreed to acquire Time Warner Cable Inc. for about $44 billion, combining the largest two U.S. cable companies in an all-stock deal, according to four people familiar with the matter. Philadelphia-based Comcast is paying about $159 a share in the transaction set to be announced this morning, said the people, who asked [...]

Paz Marketing wins four new accounts

  Paz Marketing has been appointed as the official PR agency for Asus Middle East, Gold’s gym UAE (under al ahli group), moxit.com, hikma medical centre abu dhabi. The global technology brand Asus has previously worked with the agency on a project basis and has now moved to a long-term retainer. Additionally, Paz Marketing has worked [...]

Resolution MENA holds “Mobile Hotspot 2014” conference

  Discussing the latest mobile insights, trends, techniques and opportunities for brands in mobile advertising and creativity, Resolution MENA held yesterday a one-day conference under the title “Mobile Hotspot 2014”. Kicking off the conference, Resolution MENA’s director of web and mobile, Nadim Khouri, shared significant numbers on the worldwide growth of tablets and smartphones versus [...]

Teradata Hosts Teradata Universe Conference in the UAE

  Global analytics data platform, marketing applications and services provider Teradata Corporation kicked off the  ”Teradata Universe Conference in Dubai” yesterday. Now in its 4th year, the conference is held from 10 to 12 February and highlights how the global surge in data volumes is changing every major industry and every aspect of consumers’ daily lives, [...]

SMG releases infographic on Expo 2020

Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG) has recently released an infographic based on the social media activity of Dubai’s bid to host the Expo 2020. The infographic’s tweet chart shows that there were 161, 525 tweets around the Expo 2020 during the month of November, 118,803 congratulatory tweets, and that 82 percent of the tweets were made on [...]

Virgin Atlantic to use wearable technology to serve customers

  In a pilot scheme that starts today, Virgin Atlantic passengers will be the first air travelers to experience the benefits of Google Glass and Sony Smartwatch technology as they arrive at London Heathrow airport.  Concierge staff in the airline’s Upper Class Wing will be using wearable technology. The wearable technology is being introduced as Virgin [...]

Iris Public Relations wins PR mandate for Orlane in the UAE

Dubai based PR agency Iris Public Relations has been appointed to handle the PR activities for international skincare brand Orlane in the UAE. Started in 1947, Orlane proved to be a forerunner of anti-aging skincare by becoming the first brand to use “truly active” ingredients in its products. The founding principle of Orlane anti-aging skincare [...]

Google integrates comScore into its ad technology

Google is bringing real time branding metrics into its ad technology via an integration with comScore, the company announced yesterday. The integration will allow both publishers and advertisers to instantly monitor whether their campaigns are hitting the right age and gender metrics, and adjust accordingly. Additionally, it will give brands access to some of the real [...]

Choueiri Group appoints exclusive media rep for AMSI in Turkey

Turkey-based leading independent media representation house, SatisOfisi, recently announced its appointment as the exclusive and official local media representative office in Turkey for Choueiri Group’s  Arabian Media Services International (AMSI) – which acts  as the exclusive media representative of MBC Group – the Middle East North Africa region’s largest  entertainment and media conglomerate. Made effective  as [...]

Corporate courtesy

  Twitter took the social media sphere by storm in 2006 when it launched. “What is it? Why should I join? What should I tweet?” were the micro-blogging platform’s standard questions. At one point, Twitter became a diary for many, reporting where they were going, what they were eating, etcetera. Having initially completely missed the [...]

Google makes push for brand dollars with advertiser-driven private exchanges

  Direct-response advertisers have largely embraced programmatic buying, where ad dollars are matched with impressions in an auction-based real-time environment. Brand advertisers? Not so much. Google is hoping to change that with what it is calling “custom brand exchanges,” a reverse-engineering of the private publisher exchange, which have become commonplace. Unlike a typical private exchange [...]

Carat Wins MasterCard’s $250 Million global media business

MasterCard has selected Carat to be its new media agency across most of the globe, retaining incumbent UM only in Latin America. The marketer spent $126.6 million on domestic measured media in 2012, the last full year of available spending data from Kantar Media. Globally, the company spends about $250 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The latest [...]

du launches social media Ideathon for The Government Summit 2014

  In the run-up to The Government Summit 2014, which du is supporting as a headline partner, the telecom operator has announced a social media Ideathon on Smart Ccity initiatives. The initiative is geared towards creating public-driven momentum, gathering ideas in the process, and gathering feedback on the public’s impressions and aspirations for a Smart [...]

TNS holds Executive Forum panel on the UAE’s digital and mobile landscape

  Understanding how people tick is still a competitive advantage, according to Matthew Froggatt, chief development officer of TNS, a worldwide custom market research organisation. Opening the recent TNS Executive Forum panel, Froggatt told over 50 UAE-based delegates that content remains one of the most important ingredients in marketing communications. “In today’s digital and mobile world, [...]

Arab Advisors Group releases “IPTV in the Arab World 2014” report

Strategic research company The Arab Advisors Group has released a report in late January 2013, titled “IPTV in the Arab World 2014”. The 104-page report, which has 77 detailed exhibits, provides a comprehensive analysis of the IPTV availability in the Arab world, IPTV services providers, their bundled packages and lists of the offered free to air and [...]

Pokeware launches in the region, signs partnership with Paypal

  Global online payment system PayPal has announced its partnership – a revenue share agreement –  with Pokeware, an advertising tech company, to offer further benefits to both Pokeware’s merchants and customers.  The partnership allows Pokeware’s MENA merchants to offer PayPal as an additional payment method to their customers. Pokeware and PayPal’s collaboration will give [...]

Brightcove launches in Dubai

Brightcove, a leading global provider of cloud services for video, has announced the expansion of its operations with the opening of its office in Dubai UAE. The Dubai office will serve as the central hub for Brightcove’s business development and marketing efforts in the Middle East and Northern Africa region. The new office will be [...]

Bruno El Adem appointed GM at Momentum Mena

Momentum MENA has appointed Bruno El Adm as general manager of its Abu Dhabi office, effective immediately. He will be responsible for overseeing operations for the omni-channel and integrated communication agency in the UAE capital, with a focus on driving new business. With a 15-year track record in the regional industry, El Adm joins Momentum [...]

Facebook MENA appoints client partner for the retail and eCommerce channels

  Facebook announced today the appointment of Narain Jashanmal as client partner, Retail and eCommerce for the MENA region. He will be responsible for leading Facebook’s retail and eCommerce sales in the region, and for positioning Facebook as the preferred media platform among senior executives in the industry. Narain Jashanmal brings with him over 10 [...]

Huawei appoints Serviceplan Middle East as advertising strategy partner

  As part of its 2014 strategy to widen awareness of its services across the region, Huawei – a leading global information and communications (ICT) solutions provider, announced a partnership with Serviceplan Middle East, the Dubai arm of Europe’s largest owner-managed independent agency. This partnership will see Serviceplan develop Huawei’s ongoing advertising strategy in the [...]

The Film House launches in the region

Based in Qatar, production company The Film House has officially launched in the region a year on from its soft operational launch. Established by Justin Kramer as chief operating officer, and Omar Khalifa as director of production, the Film House relocated into its flagship offices in early January. Kramer, an American filmmaker and artist, started [...]

Iyad Zahlan leaves JWT

  Iyad Zahlan has allegedly left his position as creative director at JWT Beirut due to difference in opinion with the agency’s management. No comment has yet been received from the agency regarding the reasons that led to Zahlan’s departure, but JWT Beirut has confirmed that Nicolas Geahchan has been appointed interim ECD in the [...]

Armed With Facebook retargeting, Shazam plans to survive the social TV shake-out

Shazam, which was introduced in 2002 and eventually became both a must-have smartphone app and a dogged survivor of social TV attrition, remains unprofitable as it invests, according to executives, in its long-term success. Under CEO Rich Riley, the former Yahoo exec who took the reins last April, it’s also trying to get on the [...]

Arabnet announces winners of the UAE Developer Tournament

A group of young web and mobile developers gathered last Saturday at the ArabNet Developer Tournament, the second in a series of regional tournaments for developers spanning six Arab countries: Lebanon, UAE, Jordan, Kuwait, KSA, and Qatar. The tournament, which was held with the sponsorship of telecom operatpr du UAE, and in partnership with Dubai Internet City [...]

SkyHigh Advertising partners with Communic8 to enhance service offerings

SkyHigh Advertising, an integrated, full-service marketing and communications agency based in Dubai, has announced its newly formed partnership with Communic8, an internal communications and HR consultancy based in Canada. The partnership between the two firms will bring new approaches and understandings to how to prepare  eams and a vision for the EXPO 2020, building a [...]

Nesquik collaborates with The Mob for “Shu Sharib” campaign

  Following a pitch that involved eight agencies, Nestlé’s ready-to-drink chocolate powder milk brand, Nesquik, collaborated with and chose creative agency The Mob to launch and promote its social media platforms. “The Mob presented us with the most creative strategy and campaign idea coupled with the most innovative digital and below-the-line solutions. The ideas presented [...]

du receives Best Tech Social Media award from Tbreak

Telecom operator du has announced its win of the Best Tech Social Media Award at the annual Tbreak Awards, a technology and gaming awards in the Middle East. The award was accepted on behalf of du by Arun Kumar, digital Communication team representative at du.  “du is a worthy winner of the Best Tech Social Media Award, for [...]

College Group to rebrand as Instinctif Partners

Global business communications consultancy, College Group (including leading brands College Hill, The College, College Public Policy, Policy Action, Green Issues Communique, Stockheim Media and Instinctif) announced that it is rebranding and unifying its business operations under one single brand, Instinctif Partners. This move sees all its operations – 20 wholly owned offices across 12 countries – take [...]

Arabnet Beirut 2014 to take place in March

According to regional digital conference Arabnet, online advertising spending totals $ 300 million in the MENA region today, and is increasing at a 37 percent growth rate a year to reach one billion dollars in 2017. “Online advertising is an essential driver for the growth of Arab web and mobile businesses. With the increase of [...]

PayPal and Pokeware announce partnership

Leading online payment solution PayPal has announced its partnership with Pokeware, an ad tech company.  The partnership allows Pokeware’s MENA merchants to offer PayPal as an additional payment method to their customers. Pokeware and PayPal’s collaboration will give online businesses a one-stop-shop payment solution that encapsulates local ATMs, mobile phone systems, major credit cards, and [...]

CESP unveils report findings on tview

  Following a six-month audit process undertaken by French media research audit firm CESP, and commissioned jointly by the EMMC (Emirates Media Measurement Company ) and Choueiri Group, on behalf of TV station MBC and Dubai Media Incorporated, a 70-page report findings and recommendations were shared today with key stakeholders. The report found that the [...]

DMS wins media representation for Kooora.com

  Digital Media Services (DMS), the digital arm of Choueiri Group, recently announced that it has been appointed as the Exclusive Media Representative for Kooora.com, the Middle East-based online destination for global and regional sports. Kooora.com is a digital platform aimed at sports fans and enthusiasts with a focus on football, as well as a [...]

Omnicom taps Mindshare’s Zonfrillo as head of global trading

In its latest move to staff up a central media buying hub, Omnicom has tapped Mindshare‘s Andy Zonfrillo as its CEO of global trading. Zonfrillo will report to Barry Cupples, CEO of global investment for Omnicom Media Group, the network that houses Omnicom media agencies PHD and OMD, as well as data hub Annalect. The agency declined to comment. Zonfrillo spent [...]

The art in contemporary Arabic branding

As the Middle East thrives with new business and development opportunities, there is an increasing need for creating new and modern Arab identities. However, branding is still a young and somewhat misunderstood industry in the region. Design decisions are often based purely on aesthetics rather than strategic considerations and are unduly influenced by personal tastes [...]

It’s time to shift the focus from mobile to mobility

In an industry that’s obsessed with tapping into the Zeitgeist, we talk about mobile as though it’s the bright and shiny new object in marketing. Are we kidding? This year, smart phone penetration in the United States will hit 80%, tablets will overtake sales of PCs, and already about half of online traffic is taking [...]

ZenithOptimedia appoints new chief digital officer

ZenithOptimedia has hired a leading digital strategist to head up the network’s global digital capabilities. Stefan Bardega has been appointed chief digital officer, ZenithOptimedia, and will join the London-based ZenithOptimedia Worldwide division in March. Reporting to Belinda Rowe, global managing partner at ZenithOptimedia, Bardega will set the vision for how digital will elevate the network’s [...]

Google MENA appoints Memac Ogilvy as PR agency of record for the UAE

Effective January 1, Google has announced the appointment of Memac Ogilvy Public Relations (MOPR) as agency of record for the UAE. As part of the agreement, MOPR will be responsible for supporting Google’s communications in the region. “Google is one of the most exciting and innovative brands in the world. Google products and services sit at [...]

Nokia collaborates with JWT Dubai for new campaign

In collaboration with JWT Dubai, Nokia has released a new campaign targeting Filipinos working in the UAE. Under the title “I’m coming home”, the campaign features visuals inspired by Teks cards, playing cards that contain comic strips and texts placed within speech balloons, which Filipino children collect traditionally. Based on the insight that Filipinos working [...]

Digital Media Forum to hold third annual edition

The ever-evolving digital media landscape and the increasing primacy of the digital form of communication will be two of the topics under discussion at the third annual Digital Media Forum (DMF); set around the twin platforms, ‘The Digital Experience: Challenges and Dynamics’ and ‘Recognising Achievements,’ the forum will take place on April 23 and April [...]

Chronic polychronism

It is a constant challenge for anyone developing any piece of communication to convince people to give a portion of their time to pay attention to what is being communicated; and in this very quest, a long list of research tools and methodologies have been devised to attain insights to what people might find interesting, [...]

JWT partners with AUD for integrated marketing communications course

Following successful partnerships with a number of European and American MBA and academic programmes, JWT Dubai announced its partnership with the American University in Dubai (AUD), for the university’s “Integrated Marketing Communications Development” course, covering the full second semester of the 2013-2014 academic year. By assigning the agency’s managing director, Michiel Hofstee, as the guest [...]

Zenith Optimedia identifies six future trends for the next 25 years

Media network Zenith Optimedia has released a report on the transformation of high street retailing “from the place where we buy products and services to a hi-tech world where we experience and interact with brands and products, in both real and virtual environments.” The report, “2038:Six trends for the next 25 years”, is part of [...]

Rubix Labs Jeddah keeps busy

Rubix Labs, a fully-fledged and specialized creative traditional, web and social media agency headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has released several works over the past month. As the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s exclusive social media partner, and sponsor of the Hayya Jeddah 2014 shopping festival – which started on January 16 and will end [...]

The Network Communication Group expands operations

The Network Communication Group (TNCG) has announced the launch of its Equation Media – the group’s media planning and buying unit-operation in Beirut. Supporting the vision to grow the Equation Media Network and elevate the group’s media offering to current and prospective clients, the group’s AGA Beirut media department has been merged under Equation Media. The [...]

Abu Dhabi Racing appoints Newgate Communications as its PR agency

Abu Dhabi Racing has appointed Newgate Communications UAE as an advisor on its public relations and communication strategy. Abu Dhabi Racing is an Abu Dhabi-based company working on a number of initiatives designed to bolster the emirate’s presence in the global motorsport field. Through strategic partnerships,  Abu Dhabi Racing is working to dually promote the [...]

Booz & Company releases report on value retention for publishers in MENA

In the MENA region – and despite healthy population growth – readership levels of newsprint have started to decline. And, although there are new readers entering the readership age profile, approximately 70 percent of them are skipping the print versions and becoming digital-only consumers. These developments are, in turn, challenging MENA newsprint publishers’ business models, [...]

IPG Mediabrands elevates Henry Tajer to global chief operating officer

IPG Mediabrands, the media innovation arm of Interpublic Group , announced today that  Henry Tajer, currently executive chairman of t IPG Mediabrands Australia, has been elevated to the role of global chief operating officer at IPG Mediabrands, reporting directly to global CEO, Matt Seiler.  Tajer is charged with accelerating the global growth agenda set forth [...]

It takes two to tango

I was fortunate enough to have spent 20 years in this region working on both sides of the fence as a client, and once as an agency advocate. When I was on the agency side, the blame was directed at clients for not being focused, not being decisive when it came to making bold decisions, not [...]

Liquid Thread sponsors scriptwriting contest at the 2014 MENA Cristal festival

Liquid Thread, media agency Starcom MediaVest Group’s branded content arm, is sponsoring the “Scriptwriting for Brand Content” contest at this year’s MENA Cristal festival, which takes place on February 6 at Lebanon’s Mzaar Kfaerdebian resort. In order to cultivate and encourage the creation of more Arabic content in the region, Liquid Thread and Starcom MediaVest [...]

PHD releases book on gamification

Game Change, the latest book from global media and communications agency PHD, discusses how “gamification” can be harnessed and applied as a business model for the future. Although gaming has an unfortunate capacity for attracting negative headlines, Game Change explores the growing evidence and opinions from a number of commentators who argue that gaming can actually be a [...]

OMD wins digital strategy account for Beiersdorf

After a  review featuring a number of digital agencies, Beiersdorf has selected OMD to lead, design and execute its comprehensive digital strategy. This move builds on the media services already provided by OMD, which include communications planning and investments, digital display, social media, performance marketing and analytics. Roster digital agencies were also invited to the [...]

Kantar report unveils the “Billionaire Club” for brands

The first-ever worldwide ranking of global brands, the Brand Footprint Report, launched by Kantar Worldpanel, indicates that even leading brands have room for improvement in certain markets. The brand ranking reveals that thirteen global brands are being chosen by consumers more than one billion times a year- and this gives them a place in the “Billionaire [...]

UAE posts largest number of Instagramers in the Arab world

In a recent report released by Phil Gonazlez, co-founder of Instagramers Gallery - a virtual photo gallery based on a massive photography platform, which enables users to share their photographs with the world -  the UAE ranked number 1 among Arab countries in using Instagram, followed by  Saudi Arabia , Kuwait , Lebanon, Morocco  and Egypt [...]

YoungNetwork launches The Brand Leaders

Recently set up Dubai-based marketing agency, YoungNetwork, launched yesterday “The Brand Leaders”, the first online platform in the Middle East gathering opinions of marketing managers and communication directors working in the region on the future of marketing and communications. The website will host short videos with testimonies from representatives of main brands from all sectors of business, [...]

Omnicom Media Group announces MENA Leadership Award winners

Omnicom Media Group MENA has presented two leadership awards rewarding its offices for a strong performance in 2013; the ‘OMG MENA Leadership’ award went to Chadi Farhat, while the ‘Best OMG Office Leader’ award was given to Rania Hafez of OMD Egypt. Previously the general manager of OMD Lebanon, Chadi Farhat quickly made his mark [...]

We need to talk

Remember the days when our dads would take our whole family for shopping at that same old supermarket? Our mums would then proceed to stock up on all items in bulk for each and every one of us, without even needing to ask what we would prefer. Compare those days to where we are now, [...]

Georges Joujou appointed ECD at Havas Worldwide Dubai

Georges Joujou has left his position as managing and creative director at M&C Saatchi Levant, and has been appointed executive creative director at Havas Worldwide Dubai. Joujou holds over 25 years of experience in the advertising industry, having previously worked at multinationals including Leo Burnett, BBDO, JWT, and FCB, and created several books and newsletters [...]

The cybersecurity blogger hackers love to hate

The people who dislike cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs aren’t subtle. In early January, Krebs got a bag of poop in the mail. That was better than the time last summer when he received 13 packets of heroin. Both were way, way better than the day last March when a SWAT team descended on his doorstep, [...]

MRM Dubai announces two key hires

Digital agency MRM Dubai, part of the Middle East Communication Network, has announced the appointment of two new key members of staff, effective immediately.Both based at MRM Dubai, Cara Brennan has been named as digital account director, and Mohandas Alle as analytics manager. An Irish national, Cara has more than eight years in digital marketing [...]

CNN Arabic redesigns website

Atlanta-based Cable News Network (CNN International) has re-launched its Arabic website yesterday, CNNArabic.com, after the portal marked  its 12th anniversary. The new website includes a range of new features, some of which are not yet adopted by other Arabic sites in the region, according to Peter Bale, VP and General Manager of CNN Digital International. [...]

Foodonclick.com launches Arabic website

Following its recent expansion into Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, online food delivery portal Foodonclick.com  has announced the launch of its new Arabic interface. The latter is equipped with new features that will make ordering food online  more convenient and accessible. Foodonclick.com’s enhanced functionality and new filtering mechanism makes navigation and search simple and quick, while the menu [...]

OMD appoints new director of ideation and innovation

Media agency OMD has appointed Haytham Zoghby as its director of innovation. Zoghby will be tasked with leading and revitalizing Ignition, the agency’s innovation arm. Driven by OMD’s motto of “Insights.Ideas.Results”, the goal of this appointment is to drive even harder the flow of cutting edge ideas that enable better business results for OMD’s clients and [...]

Entourage retains Google brand activation account

PR, marketing and events firm Entourage has announced that it has been retained as the lead agency to plan, advice and implement the biggest brand activation projects in the Middle East. “Entourage have been delivering award-winning brand activation projects for us ever since the Think Travel event on the World Island in 2012. Following the [...]

OOX wins flydubai account

Digital ad monitoring agency OOX has won the flydubai account, and will be providing the low-cost airline with online advertising monitoring services. “We genuinely believe that our competitive online advertising monitoring service will  help enhance flydubai’s competitive visibility in the digital advertising place,” says Liana Majed, co-founder at OOX.

McCann Worldgroup strengthens global creative leadership

McCann Worldgroup  has announced that it has hired Rob Reilly as creative chairman, and promoted Linus Karlsson to creative chairman of Commonwealth, the McCann Worldgroup agency dedicated to the global Chevrolet account. Also, Andreas Dahlqvist has been named chief creative officer of Commonwealth and president of the McCann Creative Leadership Council. Karlsson and Dahlqvist respectively had [...]

Edelman appoints new general manager for the UAE office

Public relations firm Edelman announced today  the appointment of Nicola McAlpine as general manager for the United Arab Emirates . McAlpine will lead a team of over 70 staff across Edelman’s offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and will play a key role in planning and supporting its expansion in the Middle East. She will also [...]

JWT MENA releases “10 trends for 2014″ report

JWT MENA has released its second annual trends forecast  for the near future, spotlighting how the hyper-connected progressive Arab is at the centre of many of the region’s trends.  Transitional times in the Middle East and North African countries – where economic uncertainty and social tension are driving cohorts to take responsibility for shaping their [...]

Pico International Dubai launches sustainability division

Total brand activation service provider Pico International Dubai has officially launched its sustainability division. The division offers solutions in waste management, carbon footprint management, and intelligent energy saving designs and materials. Moreover, Pico had achieved the ISO 20121:2012 certification in November 2013, also known as the “event sustainability management system”, on November 28th 2013, making it [...]

Blue Rubicon launches in Dubai

Blue Rubicon, a UK-based strategic communications consultancy company specialized in reputation management, announced today the launch of its second international office, to be located in Dubai Media City. The news follows the announcement in September of Blue Rubicon’s first international office in Doha, Qatar. The UAE office will be headed by Simon Buerk as managing [...]

Grace & Garbo launches UAE photographers’ forum

Lifestyle PR and communication agency Grace & Garbo has announced the launch of its new photography platform, “CAPTURE”. A 3-day photography seminar, “CAPTURE” is an interactive session for professional and emerging photographers, designed to unite the industry for dialogue and information exchange.To be held at Light House Studio in Al Quoz, “CAPTURE” opens on January 23 [...]

DABO & CO announces key appointments

Independent integrated communications agency DABO & CO has announced a series of key appointments to its growing multi-national team. The move will significantly add to the existing talent at the firm as it looks to meet the growing demand for sophisticated communications services in the market. Leading the series of strategic appointments, Alexandra Williams joins [...]

Leo Burnett MENA wins big at the global Cristal festival 2013

Leo Burnett Worldwide was named Network of the Year at the 2013 Global Cristal Festival, which convened in December in the alpine city of Courchevel, France, and which is traditionally the last festival of the year. The global network was also recently awarded the same title at the  2013 EPICA International Creative Awards festival held in Paris during November.  [...]

YouGov releases its 2013 BrandIndex Annual Buzz Rankings

International research consultancy, YouGov released its 2013 BrandIndex Annual Buzz Rankings across 14 countries yesterday. YouGov’s proprietary BrandIndex tool assesses the daily brand health of more than 500 brands across 20 sectors in the UAE. BrandIndex rankings are based on a brand’s BrandIndex Buzz score, which measures the positive or negative trajectory of a brand [...]

JWT Kuwait launches “Live Feed Philippines” campaign for Haiyan Typhoon relief

Multi-million album selling artist Sami Yusuf and advertising agency JWT Kuwait have teamed-up once again to help the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) provide aid to those who need it most, with the continuation of their “Live Feed” campaign – “Live Feed Philippines”.  The campaign seeks to encourage donations on behalf of those hardest [...]

Coke releases interactive mini-bottles to commemorate world cup

  Continuing a history of special-edition bottles capitalizing on big events, Coca-Cola on Wednesday is introducing 18 mini-bottles in Brazil to commemorate soccer’s World Cup there this summer. Designs represent World Cup host countries from the past, such as Argentina and Japan, and the future, including Brazil, Russia and Qatar. The bottles (which contain no [...]

Abu Dhabi taxis to feature interactive adverts this month

Starting this month, the Abu Dhabi taxis will greet their passengers with interactive touch screens, reported the National last month. The screens will show ads that are location and time-relevant since the Taxi Media system uses a GPS system that tracks the vehicle. “For example, McDonalds can advertise breakfast in the morning, changing the advertising [...]

BPG | bates appoints new chief executive for Lower Gulf markets

BPG | bates the advertising, creative and marketing services arm of the BPG Group, which is one of the largest marketing solutions groups in the MENA region, has announced the appointment of Nick Clements as its new chief executive for the Lower Gulf markets. Nick brings with him wide ranging experience and a proven track [...]

Ghaneely from Mobinil with Amr Diab

KIA Optima Game changer ad

Rising star in the Qatari industry

How has the advertising industry in Qatar developed in the past four years? Change is the only constant in any industry and that is highly applicable to advertising. We live in an age where the audience is no longer just an audience. Consumers control the conversation and they get to choose what type of advertisers [...]

New beginnings for Serviceplan Middle East

Why was Plan.Net rebranded to Serviceplan? The rebranding is a consequent move for the Serviceplan Group, after two years of putting structures in place to develop our internationalization strategy. With this move comes the establishment of Serviceplan International, headed by CEO Markus Noder and managing director Christian Barth. For the Middle East region, the rebranding [...]

The Aegis Academy is here to stay

What is the story behind the Aegis Academy? Every company invests in its people’s knowledge and development, and for improving their products and services. The Aegis Academy is our platform for learning and development at the company. It officially launched in Q3 2013, however it is an internal initiative. The first time I proposed the [...]

The three things media companies must change—now

The list of businesses that barely survived the digital revolution is lengthy. Record stores and music companies, video stores, newspaper publishers, and others such as cable operators are increasingly threatened. These businesses have been forced to shutter or reinvent themselves in the new age of media. In many cases, their partners—even those that weren’t directly [...]

Havas global CEO David Jones leaves to launch tech startup

  In a surprise move, Havas announced that Global CEO David Jones is leaving the company immediately, to become co-founder and CEO of a new tech business launching next month. Yannick Bollore, who just became chairman of Havas at the end of August, said in a call with analysts and journalists that he will take [...]

FP7/DXB recognized in 2013 Midas Awards

The Midas Awards World’s Best Financial Advertising™ announced today the 2013 Midas Report rankings. Unveiled in 2010, the annual Midas Report recognizes and ranks the most successful global companies in the financial and marketing communications industry. The Midas Report creative ranking system is based on points earned for winning entries and provides a historical account of the highest ranking [...]

First culturally inspired social network

  The year 2014 might hold more emergence of social media networking sites, if the launch of new image sharing social networking website www.iyaeko.com is an indicator. The site is aimed at promoting images that showcase the very best of world cultures/heritage through inspiring attires, fashion, make-up, events and designs. The Iya Eko platform, which [...]

Digital, a business transformation serving a global 360 vision

  December 1998. I started my internet career at one of the first European e-commerce websites. At the time, we used to call it New Information and Communication Technologies. In 2013, 15 years later, some of these technologies are still seen as ‘New’. But while in some countries seniors are stigmatized just when their experience [...]

Study shows how people put a limit on their social networks

  Despite the way that mobile technologies and social networking sites have made it easier to stay in touch with large numbers of acquaintances, a new study has shown that people still put most of their efforts into communicating with small numbers of close friends or relatives, often operating unconscious one-in, one-out policies so that [...]

The Network Communication Group holds regional management meeting

The network Communication Group recently held its first official regional management meeting in Beirut. The three-day meeting was presided over by the Group’s Chairman, Roger Sahyoun and CEO, Saad El Zein and witnessed the attendance of regional management from the group’s varied disciplines and seven offices that are present in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Jeddah, Riyadh, [...]

McCann Worldgroup strengthens global creative leadership

McCann Worldgroup today announced that it has hired Rob Reilly as global creative chairman, and promoted Linus Karlsson to creative chairman of Commonwealth, the McCann Worldgroup agency dedicated to the global Chevrolet account. Also, Andreas Dahlqvist has been named chief creative officer of Commonwealth and president of the McCann Creative Leadership Council. Karlsson and Dahlqvist respectively had been [...]

Facebook appoints new executive creative director

  Facebook appointed Scott Trattner as the executive creative director. Previously, he was one of the executive creative directors of Media Arts Lab, Apple’s advertising agency. Trattner co-created the Mac vs. PC campaign, which was touted as campaign of the decade (2000’s) by ADWEEK. Prior to his work in advertising, Trattner worked as a graphic designer and interactive art director.

Spend on in-app advertising grows to almost $17 billion by 2018, says research

  In-app mobile adspend will reach $16.9 billion by 2018, up from $3.5 billion last year, a new report from Juniper Research has found. According to the report, growth will be driven by several key factors including improved targeting capabilities, as well as a trend for more effective interactive rich media ads to be deployed [...]

Vodafone puppet accused of inciting terrorism in Egypt

  Vodafone is threatening to take legal action to defend its reputation after the marketer was accused of using a sock puppet to send encrypted messages inciting terrorism in Egypt.  The video ad in question features Abla Fahita – a gossipy widow who has been a popular social media character in Egypt since 2011 — [...]

Starcom MediaVest Group MENA names new head of data & analytics

  Global media agency network Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) appointed Ryan Murdoch to the position of Head of Data & Analytics – covering the MENA region as well as emerging markets. As part of his new role – effective immediately – Murdoch is responsible for delivering data-driven analytics and strategic support to SMG’s cross-disciplinary team. [...]

Stretching it out

The first question that anyone who is running a marketing budget should ask is, of course: how do we know that we are getting value for money? This question is both more important and harder to answer in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries than in other parts of the world. It is more important, [...]

Ad units in magazines’ iPad editions climbed 16 percent in 2013

Ad units in magazines’ iPad editions climbed 16 percent in 2013, according to a report out on December 23 by MPA-The Association of Magazine Media-  and Kantar Media. The report, which looked at 69 magazines with monitored print and iPad editions, is a hopeful sign for traditional publishers stymied by secular headwinds affecting print media. [...]

TRA to protect consumers from misleading marketing communications

  The Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) is building the core ICT regulatory framework for the UAE’s burgeoning knowledge economy. In particular, the TRA supports the UAE’s ICT sector by safeguarding competition to protect the interests of subscribers, enhancing the readiness of e-services, encouraging investment, innovation and development, whilst facilitating a broader ecosystem for human capital [...]

Drama series dominated Arabic series productions in 2013, says research

  Arab Advisors Group analysis of 21 production houses in eight countries reveals that the production houses produced a total of 40 Arabic television series in 2012 and 32 series in the first eight months of 2013. “Arab Advisors Group analysis revealed that the majority of productions for 2012 and the first eight months of [...]

Reckitt Benckiser names four shops to global media roster

  Reckitt Benckiser has named four shops to handle its global media-planning and -buying account following a review, the company said, including Aegis in the US, which replaces Publicis Groupe’sZenithOptimedia. Publicis remains on the global RB roster along with fellow incumbent Havas and newcomers IPG Mediabrands and Aegis. RB reported it spent $1.8 billion last year on “brand equity [...]

Digital driven innovation to adapt how business, consumers and others connect

  Digital technology will continue to provide new connections, revenue streams and communications channels for brands, consumers, charities and businesses according to leading global media agency network, Mindshare. Wearable technology and particularly health-related devices, have finally become affordable, accurate and accessible, but that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the [...]

Mashreq moves its media account to PHD

  Following a recently concluded four-way review, Mashreq has moved its media account to media agency PHD, part of Omnicom Media Group. “PHD demonstrated excellence in strategic planning and a radically new approach to data to drive effectiveness,” said Ambar Brahmachary, SVP Head of Marketing & Customer Experience at Mashreq. “What PHD’s team brought to [...]

Wearing it out

  As most readers of this fine publication will already know, a company’s intellectual property, including brands and trademarks, are some of the most valuable assets. Companies, both small and large, invest a lot of effort and expense over many years to build their brands. However, in many cases, they neglect to build an intellectual [...]

How to best use Twitter for marketing brands

  How is the MENA region faring in terms of Twitter penetration? MENA is the fastest growing market in the world when it comes to Twitter penetration, as we have 300 percent year-on-year growth within the region. The UAE, KSA and Egypt have some of the highest numbers in Twitter penetration and active users, with [...]

Havas Media is no longer the underdog

  Havas’ Q3 results were better in some markets, such as the MENA region, than in others. What do you think is driving this success? This year has been quite fantastic for us in the Middle East region. Obviously, the Emirates account win, among others, was a factor in our success. To retain business means [...]

Facebook rolls out Custom Audiences for small businesses

  Early in November, Facebook announced objective-based ad buying — an easier way for businesses to buy Facebook ads based on the objectives that matter to them. Soon after that, the social network decided to further enhance ad buying by giving every advertiser, including small businesses, access to Custom Audiences targeting. The online marketing tool [...]

MBC’s Arabs Got Talent is a social TV succes

  MBC didn’t have any strategies to promote Arabs Got Talent (AGT) online when it launched in 2011. In fact, the show only started its digital presence midway through the season, says Fouad Masoud, MBC’s social media manager. “When we started the first season of the show, we didn’t have any clear plan for promoting [...]

A year in the UAE’s search: Google’s top searches of 2013

  Google announced its annual Year End Zeitgeist, a look at 2013 through the collective eyes of the world on the web, offering a unique perspective on the year’s major events and hottest trends based on searches conducted in the United Arab Emirates. This year’s trending searches for queries and people show growing interest in [...]

Rise and shine

  It’s that time of year again, when Communicate releases its annual rankings of the Creative Agency of the Year and the Media Agency of the Year, to show who won big in 2013. The list is based on a tally of all of the campaigns produced in 2013 and their wins at the Dubai [...]

AdZouk launches two new divisions

  AdZouk, online advertising portal, have launched two new divisions aimed at heightening results by increasing click-through and conversation rates. The Data Division will provide advertisers with a more refined targeted reach, with bespoke solutions in the Rich Media Division offering high campaign performance. AdZouk is using enhanced Google technology, plus in-depth data collection and [...]

IAA hosts first Global Apprentice Conference in Dubai

  The International Advertising Association (IAA) recently held a two-day conference for junior and senior undergraduate students and young industry professional delegates. The first in a series of international career conferences by the association, the Global Apprentice Conference featured live direct speeches and panel discussions. Speakers included: Faris Abouhamad, IAA chairman and world president; Marc [...]

Zain’s 2012 annual report announced Grand Winner at ARC 2013 Awards

  Regional mobile operator Zain’s 2012 annual report, designed by M&C Saatchi MENA and titled “Believing in the Power of Dreams”, grabbed a multitude of accolades at the ARC 2013 Awards. Honoring outstanding achievements in annual reports, the 2013 ARC Awards, organized by MerComm Inc, had 20,000 entries from 34 countries across the globe. With [...]

Drop of hope for Lebanon’s Blue Gold water project

Under the patronage of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the Civic Influence Hub (CIH) launched the Blue Gold of Lebanon project – a five-year plan for the management of the water sector in the country – on Tuesday, December 10, at the Phoenicia Hotel. The event hosted more than 1,000 figures, including decision makers, politicians and [...]

Tim Wilkinson appointed chairman of Bell Pottinger Middle East

  Bell Pottinger, an international communications company, announced the appointment of Tim Wilkinson as Chairman of its Middle East operations.  Wilkinson, previously a partner at the firm, will continue to be based in Dubai, with a focus on senior client relationships and counsel.

Puma appoints JWT New York as global lead creative agency

  Sports company Puma has appointed advertising agency JWT New York as its lead creative agency. Effective immediately, JWT will assume a leadership position over all Puma advertising and creative on a global basis, with reach across North America, Europe, Latin America, APAC and Middle East/Africa. Over the last three months Puma’s new management team [...]

Luca Linder elevated to president of McCann Worldgroup

  McCann Worldgroup announced that it has named Luca Lindner President of McCann Worldgroup. Lindner was previously president for the Americas, Middle East and Africa. “Luca is a true globalist and has established himself as one of the industry’s most experienced multiplatform and global marketing leaders,” says Harris Diamond, CEO of McCann Worldgroup Lindner first [...]

YouTube Rewind: What we watched in 2013

  It’s that time of the year again when YouTube releases the videos that everybody was talking about in 2013 — the YouTube Rewind! Here are the YouTube MENA Rewind list for most trending videos in the region. Most Trending Videos for 2013 Wanasah | Jamila “Tini Warwar” جلسات وناسة | جميلة “تيني ورور Arab [...]

Millward Brown opens in Jeddah

  Millward Brown, a media and communications research company,today opened its newest office in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Millward Brown has been conducting research assignments in Saudi Arabia for several years but is now establishing a permanent presence in the country. The new operation will be led by Piotr Chodakowski. Chodakowski will report directly to Prashant Kolleri, regional managing [...]

Leo Burnett’s book to challenge perception on Saudi market

  Due to its unique conservative culture, the Saudi market has long been approached with ignorance and discouragement to do something courageous, extraordinary, purposeful, meaningful and relevant to the Saudi people. For this, Leo Burnett and its Saudi office Strategic Planning Director Ahmad Abu Zannad have decided to challenge this fact in their upcoming book: [...]

Global media economy set to accelerate in 2014, says Magna Global

In its latest study of global media owner advertising revenues, covering 72 individual countries, MAGNA GLOBAL estimates that revenues grew by +3.2% in 2013 to $489.6 billion. This is in line with their previous forecast (+3.0% published in June 2013). As the world economy gradually accelerates in 2014, so will advertising spending. Global advertising revenues [...]

YouTube released most watched video ads in MENA

  With the explosive growth of YouTube around the globe, it has become a powerful medium for brands to bring original and engaging campaigns to life reaching global audiences, including right here in MENA. Google has decided to share the best practices of creativity with Communicate through the Youtube Ads Leaderboard. The Leaderboard is a [...]

Initiative KSA hosts digital workshop for Mobily

  The changing media landscape in Saudi Arabia was the issue addressed at a workshop for Mobily, the KSA telecom network, which was held in Riyadh recently. Organized by media agency Initiative KSA, the event shared the latest developments in digital buying and mobile usage from a user perspective. Mobily presented the findings of its [...]

TBWA\RAAD to celebrate Christmas with underprivileged children

As part of its CSR activities, agency TBWA\RAAD Lebanon has turned its end-of-year party into an occasion through which employees can bring joy to others during the festive month.“We Found Mary, Help Her Find Christmas” is an event that it organizes to spread the Christmas spirit among those who are deprived of its joy. While [...]

Mindshare Beirut wins Waterfront City business

A new addition to the portfolio of Mindshare Global Media Network’s Beirut office is the Waterfront City account, which it acquired following a pitch made by seven top agencies, which included OMD, MEC, and Vertical. Starting December 2013, Mindshare Beirut will oversee Waterfront City’s media operations, which includes managing its communication channels’ strategies, implementation and [...]

Souq.com bags Digital Business of the Year

  E-commerce portal and online megastore Souq.com recently won the ‘Digital Business of the Year’ category at the first ever Arabian Business StartUp Awards. The awards ceremony, which aims to recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of the country’s small business sector, took place recently at Dubai’s Emirates Towers and featured the attendance of the [...]

Mobile to drive growth in global adspend over the next three years

  Advertising is set to see the strongest sustained period of growth in ten years, with global adspend growth forecast to rise from 3.6% in 2013 to 5.3% in 2014. Growth is then set to increase to 5.8% in 2015 and 2016. The principle engine of this growth will be mobile technology, which is expanding [...]

Study: what would Qatar’s residents give up to access the internet?

  Doha-based Agency 222 announced select results of ‘State of the Net’, an online survey launched to get a better understanding of the current digital consumer in Qatar and their attitudes and intentions towards digital and other media. The research saw 580 Qataris and expatriates take part in an on-line survey with data collected between [...]

Kantar Worldpanel’s new global ranking of the most chosen FMCG brands

  Kantar Worldpanel’s Brand Footprint Ranking reveals the strength of brands in 32 countries around the world, across the food, beverage, health and beauty and homecare sectors. It uses a new metric called Consumer Reach Points which measures how many households are buying a brand, known as penetration, and how often based on the number of [...]

Study: Facebook is key influencer in users’ travel plans

  Achieving success in the US$2 trillion global travel and tourism industry depends on the ability to understand and influence consumer choices.New research has found that people’s travel plans are increasingly being shaped by the activity of friends and family on Facebook. The study targeted Facebook’s top 20% active users in the UK, Germany and [...]

ZenithOptimedia to launch new global media network in 2014

  ZenithOptimedia is to launch a new global media network in order to drive business growth and to further develop communications specialisms across the group. The network will operate alongside Zenith and Optimedia and the other businesses within the ZenithOptimedia Group: Newcast, Performics, Moxie, Engauge, Ninah and Sponsorship Intelligence.  Under the working name of Project [...]

Google: majority of small and medium-sized Businesses are not online

  Google recently commissioned research to understand the online presence and advertising behavior of privately-owned small companies (size of 250 employees or less) in the UAE, KSA and Egypt. The results showed Emirati, Saudi and Egyptian SMBs are missing the economic value of the web. More than two-thirds didn’t even consider having a website and [...]

RBBi appoints new director of media

  User Experience, user Interface andpPerformance marketing agency RBBi has appointed Osama Romoh as the director of media. Having previously worked as the head of media at Dubizzle, where he established their in-house media agency, Osama brings nine years of digital marketing experience with him to the role. “Osama represents the philosophies of RBBI very [...]

DABO & CO wins three MEPRA awards

  DABO & CO, the integrated communications company, won three awards at last night’s fifth Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards. DABO & CO’s latest success brings its total MEPRA Awards to 15 since the annual event was launched in 2009, including ‘Agency of the Year’ in 2010 and ‘Mid-Sized Agency of the Year’ [...]

Banking on the future of marketing

  Ten years ago, no marketing professional or banking business owner could have predicted how the banking business has evolved. Since most transactions today are electronic, in some countries Internet banking is starting to provide more revenue than branches. Even conversations on social networks took the lead as the primary criteria for whether customers trust [...]

McDonald’s Lebanon shines at the Marketing Awards Show in Dubai

McDonald’s Lebanon won the Best Social Media Strategy Award for its “Tastes of the World” campaign at the Marketing Awards Show, held in Dubai in November. In April 2013, McDonald’s Lebanon introduced three limited-edition burgers from three different parts of the world under the “Tastes of the World” campaign. Marketing co-ordinator at McDonald’s Lebanon, Alissar [...]

Middle Eastern consumers expect more in return for their loyalty, says study

  Many brand loyalty programs are failing to deliver on the things that matter most to customers in the UAE and KSA, according to a new report published by global loyalty agency ICLP. The report, ‘Driving greater loyalty in the Middle East’ identifies the ‘Loyalty Chasm’, the gap between what is important to customers in [...]

Ketchum Raad ME won big at MEPRA Awards 2013

  For the second consecutive year, Ketchum Raad wom many awards in the healthcare sector at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards held last night. The event, which is the only dedicated program for the PR industry in the region, recognized the Ketchum Raad ME team as Best Practice in Healthcare & Services [...]

Mindshare’s “Art of Adaptation” takes place in Dubai

  Media agency Mindshare hosted yesterday the “Art of Adaptation” event, highlighted the new trends in media with motivational speakers who shared best practice in making the most of adaptation in life, business and media. Speakers included former Formula 1 Grand Prix Champion David Coulthard and The Economist’s Global Head of Digital and Content Strategy [...]

Men outspend women during holiday season: ESPN Survey

  As marketers duke it out in the critical holiday sales season, they’d be wise not to forget about a key demo: men. Yes, men — who outspend women during almost every annual holiday, according to a study from ESPN Research and Analytics. While women often shop without buying and visit multiple stores, men expect [...]

Dubai startup Hajjnet creates virtual guide app for Umrah

Hajjnet, a Dubai based startup has just released a smartphone Umrah (pilgrimage) guide to support pilgrims with full social media integration.  UmrahSalam is a mobile app that offers pilgrims the real-time, location and process based support they need to focus on the spiritual aspects of fulfilling their religious obligations. Features include prompting pilgrims to read [...]

LPG® appoints Majlis PR as PR partner

  LPG®, a brand in cellular stimulation under the Bella Concept Medical Equipments Company, has appointed Dubai-based communication agency, Majlis PR & Events to represent the brand in its PR activities across the UAE. Majlis PR & Events is a member of the Worldcom Public Relations Group, an international partnership of independently owned public relations [...]

Facebook: This is the season to go mobile

  Approximately one in every five minutes spent on mobile is on Facebook, leading marketers to use Facebook mobile for both branding and commerce/direct response messages, especially in this year’s abridged holiday season. What are people doing while they wait in line at stores? They’re on their phones, looking at Facebook. Nicolas Franchet, Facebook’s head [...]

ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller launches PSB in the Middle East

  ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller, the Middle East’s public relations consultancy, launched the first Middle East office of Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), the global market research firm and electoral pollster famous for advising President Bill Clinton and the former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on winning election campaigns. Headquartered in Dubai, PSB Middle East will offer corporate [...]

Serviceplan opens regional headquarters in Dubai

  German communications agency Serviceplan recently announced its foray into the Middle East region with the launch of its regional headquarters in Dubai. Serviceplan’s digital arm has been operating in the region for almost 4 years under the name Plan.Net. With the launch of its Middle East operations, Serviceplan has over 26 offices in 23 [...]

Lowe MENA wins Masafi account

  Lowe MENA has been awarded the regional creative duties for Masafi; this includes the brand’s complete range of products. With immediate effect, Lowe MENA will take the up reins for Masafi’s through-the-line communications in the Middle East, across all its offerings. “We are extremely excited to be associated with such a prestigious and historical [...]

Sasan Saeidi talks about FP7/DXB’s winning streak at Effies MENA

  Sasan Saeidi, managing director of FP7/DXB, talks about the success of his agency in 2013.

FP7/MENA cleans up at the 2013 GEMAS Effies Awards

  FP7/MENA was awarded ‘Network of the Year’ and FP7/DXB was named as ‘Agency of the Year’, at the 2013 GEMAS Effie Awards, held in Dubai on 20th November. In addition to these headline accolades, FP7/MENA was also awarded a total of 13 Effies – two golds, six silver and five bronze awards – out [...]

Zombie and cannibal products killing consumer brands, says study

  Companies have been damaging their business by launching ‘zombie’ and ‘cannibal’ products that eat into their profits, according to a UK study by global research consultancy TNS. ‘Zombie’ products fail to provide long-term growth, acting as a ‘dead weight’ on the company, while ‘cannibal’ products simply transfer customers from other products in the  portfolio, [...]

Comcast, Charter said to weigh bid to buy and divide Time Warner Cable

    Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications Inc. have discussed a joint bid for Time Warner Cable Inc. to divide its assets between them, people with knowledge of the matter said. The talks between Comcast and Charter were preliminary, and a Time Warner Cable breakup is one option amid several under consideration, said the people, who [...]

First 2014 jury presidents announced for Dubai Lynx

  The organizers of the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity have announced the first presidents that will step up to lead juries during the event. Graham Fink, Chief Creative Officer of Ogilvy & Mather, will head the Film, Print, Outdoor, Radio and Print Craft jury, as well as the Integrated jury. Fink has created [...]

Industry celebrates Effie Mena Awards 2013 winners

  The Effie MENA Awards 2013, the region’s premiere marketing awards hosted by Gulf Marketing Review (GMR), concluded its most hotly contested edition yet at a glittering presentation ceremony at the MusicHall, Zabeel Saray, Palm Jumeirah, on November 20, 2013. Vodafone won the Grand Prix award for its Fakka from Vodafone: How to make small [...]

Bartercard appoints Cicero & Bernay for public relations

  Bartercard has announced that it has appointed public relations organization Cicero and Bernay to handle its corporate communications activities in the region. The commercial brokerage company, which established its name through providing exchange of goods and services, has around 1,000 card holders in the UAE and is keen to expand its operations across the [...]

The Ritz-Carlton adds a twist to its print ads

  The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and Sayidaty, the Pan Arab female weekly magazines, have announced a new partnership with a leader in image-recognition and augmented reality, Blippar. This partnership was created by the hotelier’s media agency, MEC. The Ritz-Carlton and Sayidaty are using Blippar technology to bring physical magazines to life in a three dimensional [...]

Arabic Web Days launches to boost Arabic language on the Internet

  Google announced the return of Arabic Web Days, an initiative to boost the amount of Arabic content on the Internet. Arabic Web Days, which was launched last year, aims to bridge the gap between the number of Arabic speakers online and the percentage of Arabic content on the web. The effort is conducted in [...]

ADCB launches a new brand identity

  Selected after a pitch process, StartJG was commissioned by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank to assist with its ambitious rebrand project. StartJG helped ADCB evolve its identity, branch interiors, visual style, marcom collateral and tone of voice. Work began in February 2013, with the identity unveiling and new branch launch in November 2013. StartJG redesigned [...]

New book to help overcome big data chaos

  Author Lisa Arthur has recently published a book titled “Big Data Marketing: Engage Your Customer More Effectively and Drive Value”, which aims to decipher the world of big data and drive richer customer engagement. The book made its debut at DMA2013, an annual global event for data driven marketers, held in Chicago last October. [...]

MOOVETEAM to showcase Google Glass™at EIBTM

  MooveTeam, exhibiting at this year’s EIBTM, in the new Innovation Zone (www.eibtm.com/izone) have recently confirmed that they will be integrating Google Glass with the latest version of their gaming platform, which will be showcased at EIBTM 2013 (www.eibtm.com). The addition of Google Glass to the MooveTeam gaming software will allow attendees of the leading [...]

New Dubai-based social media website to launch next year

  Dubai-based software programmer Amir Jahanlou and his team have developed ‘Alacut’ social media portal. Using web and app programming as well as a human-based intelligence, the website acts as a filtering spot where content from various users and channels are evaluated by the common sense of the collaborative crowd. The team has already developed [...]

Crayons Communications wins digital Account for Enchanteur

  Following a multi-agency pitch, Crayons Communications has been appointed as the Digital Media Agency for Wipro Unza’s brand – Enchanteur.  The campaign has been activated by setting brand Enchanteur on social media platforms, and the agency will continue to oversee all digital activity for the brand right from digital media planning and buying to development.  

McCann Health named global agency network of the year

 McCann Health was named Healthcare Agency Network Of The Year at the 2013 Global Awards—The World’s Best Healthcare & Wellness Advertising, held in New York & Sydney. For the second year in a row, McCann Health earned the title of Healthcare Agency Network of the Year, taking home 3 Global Awards and 23 Finalist Certificates. [...]

Aspectus PR appoints junior account manager

Global communications and PR agency, Aspectus PR, has appointed Laura Iley to the role of Junior Account Manager within its energy PR practice. Based in the agency’s London office, Laura will play an important role in handling the energy team’s expanding client base.  Previously based in Aberdeen, Laura brings five years in-house marketing experience in [...]

Media Lotus: ADFEST introduces new category

  If you’ve been involved in creating an innovative media campaign this year, enter ADFEST’s inaugural Media Lotus category before the deadline closes on 10th January 2014.  ADFEST’s Media Lotus category celebrates media innovations in Asia and the Pacific (including Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East). The category consists of 14 sub-categories to reflect the diversity [...]

YouTube proves big for Gillette Fusion ProGlide campaign

  A study in Saudi Arabia focusing on Gillette Fusion ProGlide’s latest advertising campaign was successful in reaching more than 74 percent reach for their target demographic. The campaign utilized television and YouTube ads with YouTube providing 17 percent reach. Furthermore, YouTube had a 5.9 percent incremental reach Vs. TV reach. The study, conducted by [...]

Can Vice build YouTube’s first huge news channel?

  There is a glaring hole online for news video. Vice wants to fill it — but it won’t be easy YouTube wants to be in the news business. The world’s most popular video site has identified news as an “emerging” area internally, believing teens and tweens will come to YouTube for all the latest. [...]

Papa John’s launches Creative review

  Papa John’s has put its advertising account into review. The account is currently at ZGroup, a unit of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Zimmerman. The review, which will focus on creative only, was initiated following several months of evaluation of the brand’s advertising needs, according to a press release. Zimmernman has declined to participate in the review. [...]

HTC begins global PR review

  HTC’s global PR head resigned recently after only four months on the job, but that’s not stopping the Taiwanese mobile device manufacturer from conducting a global agency review, according to people familiar with the matter. The company isn’t wasting any time as it looks for broad PR support in various global markets, including the [...]

Sports Industry Awards (SPIA) to return in 2014

  The Sports Industry Awards (SPIAs) will return for a second edition in 2014 following the success achieved by this year’s inaugural event, organizers Sport360° announced on Tuesday. The SPIAs seek to reward outstanding events, organizations, brands, sponsors and facilities that have contributed to making the Middle East the world’s leading international sports hub. The [...]

Fouad Masoud – What works for Social TV

  Fouad Masoud, Social Media Manager at MBC Group, talks about Social TV in the region.  

Resolution to offer more services as demand increases

Resolution, Omnicom Media Group’s third global network, is expanding its service offering in the MENA region following the integration of digital specialist services previously provided at holding level. In addition to performance marketing services, including search, programmatic buying, content marketing and behavioral targeting, Resolution will now offer social media and mobile marketing services as well. [...]

MCN Group names new regional managing director of UM MENA

Advertising network East Communication Network (MCN) announced Chris Skinner as the new regional managing director of UM MENA. Skinner joins UM MENA after a six-year tenure at IPG’s Mediabrands in Hong Kong, where he led UM and Initiative as managing director and led integrated campaigns for The Coca-Cola Group, Boots International, Cathay Pacific, Exxon Mobil, [...]

AME: New app for blind people

Chris Telesford is the longest serving member of World Renowned Moorfield’s eye Hospital, and was born with a rare sight condition called Bilateral Coloboma of the optic disc and was told he would never be able to operate on his own without help. He defied the odds and eventually built his own computer at the [...]

Dominique Delport: Agility is the name of the game

  Global managing director of Havas Media, Dominique Delport, weighs in on the controversy surrounding the mega merger of Publicis Omnicom. Watch what he had to say.   For the full interview on winning the Emirates account, challenges facing the region and more, check out our December issue.

It’s about time

  By the time you go through this feature, your company’s reputation may have been irretrievably damaged, or bolstered unexpectedly, or – as in most cases so far – neither here nor there… We used to speak of being “in the age of”: the industrial age, the post-industrial age and the leisure age, which came [...]

Living Room’s new causal office invites open thinking

How could wearable technology shape up communication tomorrow?

  Is your smartphone the last thing you check before you go to bed and the first thing you grab in the morning? Do you feel that it’s an extension of your personality, without which life would be unfathomable? If you relate to any of the above, don’t be alarmed. You are just part of [...]

Abu Dhabi-based media company twofour54 celebrates its fifth anniversary

  The year 2008 was ominous for the global economy, and even more so for the local one, as we know only too well. Fortunately, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, wasted no time in bailing out its neighboring emirate by handing $10 billion to Dubai, which total debt alone stood at $80 billion. [...]

“In the Boardroom” chooses creative approach for branded content

  Independent agency, Madison Advertising, launched a web show in October titled In the Boardroom. The show is broadcast exclusively on the business vertical of Communicate’s publisher Mediaquest’s digital media platform, Dotmena – the platform hosts business websites such as AMEinfo and Kippreport. Presented by Dubai One’s Omar Butti (for Arabic) and Tom Urquhart (for [...]

Belong Interactive offers Azzam a career reboot

  Sometimes people reach a point early in their career when they realize they want to do something different. However, that wasn’t the case with Pierre Azzam. After a 27-year career as the COO Lower Gulf of leading communications group Impact BBDO, Azzam needed a break. “It was an informed decision on my part to [...]

L’Oreal USA moves digital media to Digitas

  L’Oreal USA has named DigitasLBi as its new digital media planning and buying shop, replacing Publicis Groupe sibling Moxie Interactive, Atlanta. The shift follows a review that also included teams from WPP and Havas as finalists, said Marc Speichert, chief marketing officer of L’Oreal Americas. “We were very impressed by the Digitas analytics team, so that was one of the key determining factors,” he said. [...]

Twitter raises $1.82 Billion in biggest tech IPO since facebook

Twitter raised $1.82 billion in its initial public offering, the largest IPO by a technology company since Facebook Inc.’s debut in May 2012. Twitter sold 70 million shares at $26 each after offering them for $23 to $25, the San Francisco- based company said in a tweet, valuing the short-messaging service at $14.2 billion. Goldman [...]

Google PR account up for grabs

  We have just learned from Google that the company is pitching its account among some PR agencies in Dubai. Google has been with PR agency Ketchum Raad Middle East for two years.

Strathclyde Business School UAE hosts “Branding yourself in the social media age”

Strathclyde Business School UAE in partnership with its Dubai Alumni Chapter hosted last October the forum “Branding Yourself in the Social Media Age”. The panel included Ron Bradfield, director of Strathclyde UAE and associate dean of the Business School; blogger Hisham Wyne; Marissa Woods, founder of ImageFactorUAE and Alexander McNabb, director of SpotOn PR. Wyne countered [...]

JWT Cairo and Vodafone Egypt win Grand Prix at 4A’s

  Advertising agency JWT Cairo’s Vodafone “Fakka” campaign has won a Gold and the Grand Prix at this year’s American Association of Advertising Agencies’ (4A’s) Jay Chiat Awards for Strategic excellence in advertising.  Adding the new wins to Fakka’s list of accomplishments at awards shows in 2013, the campaign is now the most internationally awarded [...]

Insignia PR launches office in Dubai

  Insignia Hospitality Solutions and Insignia Travel Media Group launched a PR diviosn, Insignia PR. Focusing primarily on the luxury travel, hospitality and lifestyle industry, Insignia PR will provide representation for destination brands, including international hotel groups, boutique properties, leading restaurants and lifestyle venues and the arts and culture segments. Headquartered in Dubai with offices [...]

Facebook’s ad business is doing great, but teen engagement is becoming a problem

It was a good news-bad news quarter for Facebook. First the good: Facebook’s ad business is firing on all cylinders. The company handily beat estimates on profit and revenue. Prices for its news-feed ads are climbing. And Facebook is now getting 49% of its revenue from mobile, up from 14% a year ago. Then this: [...]

Leo Burnett Dubai appoints new executive creative director

Leo Burnett Dubai has announced the addition of Brazilian native André Pereira Nassar as executive creative director, effective December 1, 2013. Working under the guidance of Bechara Mouzannar, Leo Burnett MENA chief creative officer, and Kamal Dimachkie, Leo Burnett MENA executive regional managing director, Nassar will be responsible for projects in the UAE and Lower Gulf.  [...]

And the winners are….

Congratulations to the winners of The Marketing Awards Middle East 2013…   Best Social Media Strategy  McDonalds Lebanon- Think Media Labs   Best Social Media Strategy – Retail  Visa Inc. (Dubai Shopping Festival)   Best Social Media Strategy – Financial Services  Emirates NBD   Best Social Media Strategy – Government  RTA, Dubai- McCollins Media    [...]

ZenithOptimedia celebrates its 25th anniversary

ZenithOptimedia is today celebrating its 25th birthday. On 30 October 1988, Zenith Media opened for business in a converted warehouse in Paddington, London. Created from the media buying departments of Saatchi & Saatchi, BSB Dorland and KHBB, it went on to become the first worldwide media “dependent” agency. From its original UK base, Zenith Media [...]

New digital marketing service ikoo Premium debuts

Digital marketing solution provider ikoo has announced the launch of ikoo Premium, the hi-end advertising solutions that extends higher brand awareness and better Return on Investments on advertising. The new ikoo Premium solutions associate with premium sites which offer high quality content, and generate higher traffic from the right audience as also extends better site layout, [...]

Middle East shoppers begin to embrace online shopping, says research

While the mall still reigns as the ultimate shopping destination in the Middle East, e-commerce is quickly gaining pace and is set to become one of the biggest growth areas for business in the region. So says a new report released by Aimia, a global leader in loyalty management and the company behind Air Miles [...]

Starcom MediaVest Group launches Zero Dot

Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) announced today that it launched a new unit at the company, Zero Dot, a new generation of brand consulting, experience design, strategy and original creation of content. While the unit launched officially today, Zero Dot has already been driving new ideas for clients, including Procter & Gamble brand Cheer, who recently [...]

AMRB launches client services hub in Saudi Arabia

AMRB, a research consultancy part of Kantar Group, has announced the launch of a client service hub in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The agency, headquartered in Dubai, has had Operations offices in Jeddah and Riyadh since 2001, and has now expanded its presence in the Kingdom with the set up a local client service hub. In [...]

Bayt.com reveals results of personal branding poll

Regional job portal Bayt.com recently revealed the results of its poll titled “Personal Branding in the Middle East and North Africa”, collecting between August 16 and September 19 from 8,154 respondents in 13 countries (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, KSA, UAE). Generally, more than half of the respondents (54.3  percent) claimed [...]

J&J is curiously absent from Twitter — does that matter?

On the eve of Twitter’s IPO, one of the largest advertisers in the U.S. has remained largely absent from the social network. Johnson & Johnson is taking a pass on delivering its brand messages in 140 characters or fewer. The consumer-goods and health-care giant has accounts aimed at foreign markets and a few corporate handles like @JNJNews, [...]

Chime Communications PLC aquires JMI

Chime Communications PLC today announced the strategic acquisition of JMI, a global marketing firm focused on motorsports. JMI will become part of its sports marketing division, CSM Sport & Entertainment. In a deal announced by CSM Sport & Entertainment Executive Chairman, Lord Coe, and JMI Founder & CEO Zak Brown, Chime acquires JMI as a [...]

MENA ad industry at a crossroads

There’s a distinction between growing fast and growing up. The distinction is apparent in any overview of the current state of the MENA region’s advertising industry. We’re achieving impressive growth, but we’ve not yet matured. Maturity is distinguished by mature behaviour by industry players with a long-term vision rather than a limited commercial agenda. Sadly, [...]

Olivier Gers joins Starcom MediaVest Group as global president, LiquidThread

Olivier Gers has joined Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) as Global President, LiquidThread, SMG’s branded entertainment content unit. He will be based out of the SMG London office and will report to Brian Terkelsen, CEO of MediaVest, who will continue to have executive oversight over LiquidThread in addition to his MediaVest role. In his new role, [...]

Mediaquest to represent online media network d1g.com

Mediaquest, a leading media and publishing company in the Middle East and North Africa, has acquired rights as media representative of d1g.com. As media representative, Mediaquest will cater and reach out to entities interested in advertising with d1g.com. Mediaquest will exercise its reach in the GCC to provide services to advertising clients on behalf of [...]

OOX extends services to Kuwait

Online advertising monitoring  company OOX has launched in Kuwait on October the 1st 2013. The market conditions in and around Kuwait indicate that it is a fast and upcoming market in the MENA region, and according to OOX’s reports of the initial test data, there is no other online media monitoring service that currently exists. [...]

New general manager for IPN Beirut

Impact Porter Novelli has appointed Myrna Mrad Khoury as general manager Levant for its Beirut office. Khoury has led creative engagements for brands such as Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Crest, Herbal Essences, MTN, Brand Protection Group Lebanon and many more in the Near East region. She was part of the We Initiative, a program for Women [...]

What Google’s Hummingbird update means for small business

On the eve of its 15th birthday, Google turned the tables and gave the Internet a shiny new present: Hummingbird, the search giant’s largest search algorithm update since 2001. The search engine’s recent overhaul — which affects 90% of searches — aims to filter “fluff” content that is created solely for nabbing search engine optimization [...]

Strathclyde Business School to host forum on “Branding yourself in the social media age”

Strathclyde Business School UAE in partnership with its Dubai Alumni Chapter is hosting a forum for professionals called ‘Branding yourself in the social media age” on 28th October, 2013, in Dubai. Key thought leaders confirmed to present their views on personal branding include Alexander McNabb – Director of Spot On PR; Hisham Wyne – Social [...]

Arthur Sadoun named CEO of Publicis Worldwide

  Succession planning is continuing at Publicis Groupe, where Arthur Sadoun — the young French ad exec who’s been running the ad holding company’s namesake shop in Europe — has been promoted to CEO of Publicis Worldwide. It represents a big vote of confidence in a young star to see if he can ascend through [...]

Nomad Productions lands Omnisport’s Contract

  UAE video production company Nomad Productions has taken over the MENA Region video sports news gathering contract for multi-platform sports news service, Omnisport. Under the new contract, Nomad Productions will be responsible for providing Omnisport with breaking sports news, exclusive interviews and features from across the Middle East and North Africa. Omnisport, a division of [...]

EZStore.me to help small retail businesses go online

  EZStore.me, an initiative which aims to help boost SMBs by empowering them to go online was launched earlier today. EZStore.me is a result of the joint collaboration between Aramex, Google, PayPal and ShopGo. The initiative works by empowering small business owners to take their businesses online and expanding their sales channels. The initiative will [...]

The Night of the AdEaters coming to Dubai

  Industry veteran Jean Marie Boursicot is bringing the global event, The Night of the AdEaters, to the UAE  between 27 and 29 October at Madinat Jumeirah Theater with more than 200 top commercials will be screened at this event. Since 1981, The Night of the AdEaters has been a big advertising showcase in more [...]

Connecting the dots

How do you see business growing in the Middle East region? The MENA region is very interesting for us, because it is one of the few areas in EMEA that is growing fast. This growth is very exciting, because if you look at traditional Western Europe markets, apart from the UK, they are sliding down. [...]

Measure of time: Ipsos MENA celebrates a milestone

What are Ipsos MENA’s major milestones over the past 25 years? Local market research and media company Stat was born in Lebanon in 1988, amid war and turmoil. The purpose was simple: To help clients build their marketing business plan in line with their consumers’ needs and expectations – to allow them to reach the [...]

Digital native

Why did you choose not to have a central office for BPG Maxus? We’re not doing it as a fad or anything. We have been the fastest-growing agency for the past four years and we’d like to carry on with that kind of momentum for the years to come. We have a certain game plan, [...]

One-on-one with CEO of McCann Worldgroup

How do you see the Middle East region faring, when compared with the rest of the world? Clearly, the US has the biggest growth [in the industry] right now – North America is very strong. Europe is stable, but not really progressing, while Asia continues to grow, albeit at a slower pace than it used to. [...]

History in motion: The Dubai Moving Image Museum

  The Dubai Moving Image Museum, located on the first floor of the MCN Hive building in Tecom, is the third such museum in the world and the first of its kind in the Middle East region. As the name implies, it focuses on the history of moving images, from the first primitive cave drawings [...]

FP7 MENA launches new Erbil office, welcomes new managing director

  FP7 MENA announced that it has launched a new office in Erbil, Iraq. The new entity will be known as FP7/EBL and was founded to serve the needs of FP7’s select regional partners that required more involved representation on the ground in Iraq. Although based in Erbil, the new FP7 office will serve as [...]

It’s complicated: recruiting talent in Dubai is a daunting task

  Ask the heads of most agencies in Dubai about what their biggest challenges are and, often, the answer will be hiring and then retaining talent. Even globally, these are not easy tasks. Competitive organizations need to ensure that the grass is greener on their side of the fence to really grow. Sometimes that translates [...]

Facebook: MENA active daily users surpass 28 million, 50% return daily

Facebook has revealed for the first time official figures showing the number of people who use the service throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Every month, 56 million people are active on Facebook across the MENA region, with 50% of those returning on a daily basis.  The number of active daily users surpassed [...]

UM names new regional investment director

Media agency Universal McCann (UM) announced the appointment of Ziad Chalhoub as its new regional investment director. He will be based at UM’s Hive headquarters in Tecom and will report to Rizk Naifeh, executive vice-president of MCN Media. Chalhoub’s remit will see him overseeing all media trading in the GCC and the Levant for UM’s [...]

Facebook to give users more say about ads in their news feeds

  Facebook is updating its ad algorithms to give users more say about what kinds of ads they see in their news feeds. An offshoot of a push that began this summer to provide users with more information about the organic posts in their news feeds, the company is trying to make the way it targets ads [...]

Gothard is CEO of Traffic Digital

Dominic Gothard has left his role as SVP of DDB to join Traffic Digital as CEO. Previously he founded and ran Face to Face for 10 years as group managing director. Traffic is headquartered in Dubai with its wholly owned production facility in Karachi. Founding Partner and Chairman Johnny Huntington sees Gothard’s arrival as statement [...]

Aegis Media study highlights consumer attitudes in Morocco

Media network Aegis Media has announced the Moroccan results of it globally Consumer Connection System (CCS); a research, that studies consumer attitudes towards the most important media channels and how they engage and use any touch point that can influence buying behavior. Within Morocco, it was clearly evident that TV is still king in regards [...]

Zee Entertainment appoints new country manager for KSA

Zee Entertainment has appointed Samer El Hajj as the new country manager for Zee’s Arabic and Asian channels in KSA. Earlier, Samer served as the Business Development Manager in Riyadh for Al Khaleejiah Advertising & Public Relations, where he was responsible for sourcing new business while growing existing clients.

Game tactics can make marketing work harder

The notion of marketing success is increasingly linked to a brand’s ability to have consumers talk about it, connect with it, like it, in other words, engage with it. The question for many marketers is how to translate this in business performance, through a change of behavior or an increase in transactions. PHD’s annual conference, [...]

Mobile technology conference highlights region’s challenges

The increasing influence of mobile technology in telecommunications marketing was the subject under discussion at a major seminar held yesterday in Dubai. Branded as ‘a conference with a difference,’ the event was organized by Initiative, a UAE-based media communications network and examined the challenges and opportunities presented to industry operators in a digital age that [...]

Leo Burnett bids farewell to Peter Bidenko

  Leo Burnett Dubai today announced that Peter Bidenko and Leo Burnett have mutually agreed that Peter would move on from his role as the Regional Executive Creative Director for UAE and the Lower Gulf region after two and a half years with the agency. Kamal Dimachkie Executive Regional Managing Director says, “Peter who worked [...]

LG Sweden unveils “tweeting” refrigerator

  LG Sweden has turned to Twitter to raise awareness of its new refrigerator range. To get people talking about its “door-in-door” technology, it has set up a “tweeting” refrigerator that will send out a message, with an attached live-streamed video, every time its door is opened. The fridge’s first destination is the TV-production company Baluba, [...]

BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs just months after rebranding

  Smartphone maker BlackBerry is laying off 4,500 employees and planning to record a $930 million to $960 million write-down on its inventory due to poor sales of its new line of phones, the company said today. The company is also working with accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to evaluate the company for potential acquirers, according to [...]

MBC’s “offensive” Hitler ad sparks protest

  The Anti-Defamation League has protested an “offensive and outrageous” Saudi TV ad which depicts Adolf Hitler singing praises to promote MBC channel’s September film line-up. “This offensive and outrageous campaign trivializes the Holocaust by turning Hitler into a cartoonish poster child,” Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), said during a [...]

Mindshare partners with OOX for Kuwait Launch

Media agency Mindshare has finalized an exclusive partnership with premier digital media company OOX for its October launch in Kuwait. The media monitoring service provides quantitative and qualitative competitive online monitoring and alerts across a multitude of websites, categories, brands, and campaigns, supplying the industry with the right tools to aid in making well-informed business [...]

Omnicom Media Group MENA and haystack international co-launch Integral Sense

Omnicom Media Group MENA’s research consultancy, Integral, and haystack international, a sensory and marketing research consultancy with headquarters in Belgium, have signed an exclusive deal to co-develop an innovative research offering in the Middle East.  The result is the creation of a dedicated neuro-communications unit in Dubai, Integral Sense. The partnership will see Haystack combine [...]

BMB reveals new corporate identity

ICT solutions provider BMB recently unveiled its new corporate identity, which included a new logo and a new website. BMB’s corporate logo is formed by overlapping characters, with three different variations, each representing the company’s three different divisions: BMB Direct, BMB Move and BMB Reach, specialized in the Enterprise Content Management, Enterprise Mobility Solutions and [...]

Hill+Knowlton Strategies appoints new general manager for its Saudi operations

Hill + Knowlton Strategies announced today the appointment of Ibrahim Al Bloushy as general manager of the firm’s operations in Saudi Arabia reporting directly to Sconaid McGeachin, regional president and chief executive officer for India, Middle East, Africa and Turkey. Al Bloushy is the first Saudi national to be appointed as general manager in the [...]

SMG promotes Rayan Hajjar to management team

Starcom Mediavest Group has just promoted Rayan Hajjar to its management team. Hajjar, who previously was head of trading for P&G AOR, will now be fully in charge of P&G AOR in the UAE, while leading Vivaki-MENA region digital trading. This promotion is based on Hajjar’s impressive performance on several fronts

Brands bet millions that Apple’s iTunes radio scales quickly

Like any new service, iTunes Radio will have zero users when it launches on Wednesday. More important, one of the key platforms for Apple’s highly-anticipated streaming music service, the iOS 7 mobile platform necessary to run iTunes Radio on iPhones and iPads, is also being released for the first time today. But that doesn’t seem [...]

MCN Group launches Capella

Middle East Communication Network (MCN), an advertising and marketing communications agency networks in the MENA region,  announced the launch of Capella, a new specialized entity that will employ  media tools to guide strategy  through consumer insights, research and performance analytics. Capella was conceived to leverage the ever-increasing volumes of Big Data being generated by brands [...]

New director of strategy at The Brand Union

Branding agency The Brand Union has appointed Aneesh Sharma as director of strategy. Sharma has over ten years of experience with the regions international branding agencies. He worked for the European operations of the New York Times Company and Pfizer. He has also worked on a range of projects in various industries throughout the Middle [...]

The art of innovation

We now live in an age of experience. After years of using the Internet, we have become increasingly accustomed to a certain level of engagement with various technologies. The Apples, Googles, Amazons and Facebooks of this world have transformed us into a digitally savvy consumer base. The demand for a richer and more meaningful user experience has been [...]

Aegis launches Posterscope MENA

Last week, Aegis’ global out-of-home (OOH) agency, Posterscope, opened its first office the Middle East. Based in Dubai and joining a network of 48 offices, the agency says it will be introducing out-of-home planning and buying. Most importantly, it will be introducing research throughout the region.   Watch our full interview with Annie Rickard, global [...]

The price is right

Marketers today are asking the million-dollar question: How much should you spend on digital? And advertisers struggle to answer this, because rules and benchmarks are shifting. The answer is dependent on many factors, each unique to a brand. So we, the agency’s genies, use all of our tools and theories and recommend why a particular [...]

Hand in hand: SEO and PR must form partnerships

If there was a sign that PR and SEO need to align themselves, then the story of Google’s Panda and Penguin is a modern-day fable that teaches us that to avoid extinction, we need co-operation. Let’s first understand what Panda and Penguin algorithms are and how these “white-and-black-cap” animals are dictating performance marketing online. In [...]

Home-grown talent: Interviewing SMG’s Rayan Karaky on his new role

How did SMG decide to have you oversee emerging markets from Dubai, in a role that didn’t use to exist here? SMG divides the market into three categories: the dynamic, the emerging and the core. This division is based on priority, size, growth base, etc. We have a global commitment to achieve a certain level [...]

Online video ads are breaking out

With more than 300 million video views a day and two hours of uploaded content every minute in the MENA region, online video has grown by 20 percent since October 2012, according to figures from Google. The study also shows that Saudi Arabia is the largest consumer (per capita) of YouTube videos in the world [...]

YouTube expands monetization and partnership reach in the Arab World

After launching eight local domains in MENA, YouTube is extending the reach to the rest of the GCC to include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman. A local version of YouTube means that people who visit the site will see on the homepage the most popular videos in their home country along with those that are [...]

RAKBANK bags gold for AMAL TVC

RAKBANK was announced the winner of the 2013 Summit Marketing Effectiveness Award (EMEA) for the integrated launch campaign of AMAL, the Bank’s Islamic Banking division. RAKBANK’s campaign was chosen from 812 entries from around the globe, judged on strength of concept, quality of execution, and ability to persuade.  To promote the introduction of AMAL in [...]

Zee Entertainment launches “Film Hindi” channel

Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Asia’s television provider, has launched the Arabic channel “Zee Film Hindi,” dedicated entirely to Indian cinema. Deriving its name from an old Arabic phrase that refers to Hindi movies in the 1980s, “Film Hindi” caters to Indian cinema fans across the Middle East. According to a statement by Zee Entertainment, the channel [...]

Ad Age survey: What advertisers really think about Facebook

In 15 months, Facebook changed from an experimental channel where marketers were reluctant to invest deeply to a mature part of the mix where they’re continuing to increase spending. That was the consensus of 1,200 Ad Age subscribers polled in a survey done in conjunction with RBC Capital Markets in August — the third such [...]

Millward Brown Firefly shares case studies on successful ads in MENA

Last Tuesday, at the launch event of Millward Brown Firefly, Rakesh Kumar, Chairman-Global Firefly Board, Meredith Bourgery, Global Client Partner & Jihane Bouziane, Account Director, Dubai, shared findings on what makes different ads successful in the MENA region, a study that was conducted using  proprietary tool, Ideablog. Social networking sites have fundamentally changed the way [...]

MEPRA hosts social media forum

The importance of social media to the region’s public relations industry and the thirst for more knowledge among PR practitioners on the subject was reflected in the highest attended MEPRA event to date, the MEPRA Social Media Forum on Monday. Carine Duvignaud, general manager of MEPRA said that almost without exception, everyone today in the region is a user of social media at some level and interest in the subject – especially [...]

GITEX Technology Week 2013 aims to exceed ROI expectations

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) revealed that GITEX Technology Week 2013 is poised to become the most comprehensive edition yet in the event’s history. Running under the theme “Lets Create, Disrupt and Re-imagine Together”, the 33rd edition of GITEX Technology Week 2013 runs from October 20-24 at DWTC, with Dubai Internet City (DIC) a strategic [...]

Apple expected to increase marketing presence abroad with low-cost iPhone

Apple announced on Tuesday that it will start selling a lower-end, less costly version of the iPhone in an effort to find new markets in the U.S. and abroad where the Android mobile ecosystem has become dominant. The new, cheaper phone will not have all the features of the newly-announced iPhone 5S and will be [...]

Performics MENA has a new director

Zenith MENA has appointed Farhad Miah as Director for Performics’ UAE operations. During his prior stint at Performics London, Farhad was Group Account Director heading up Microsoft across EMEA, and was the lead in winning ASUS’s multimillion dollar pure play performance digital account across Europe. In his new remit, Farhad will continue to drive client [...]

Ad spending rises 3.5% in second quarter, with a little help

After holding ad spending flat in the first quarter, marketers increased their spending in U.S. measured media in the second quarter by 3.5% from the quarter a year earlier, according to data released today by Kantar Media. Their spending totaled $35.8 billion, Kantar Media said. “Ad spend has now increased for six consecutive quarters and in [...]

Digital Republic wins Unilever account

Unilever Middle East has assigned independent agency Digital Republic to handle its “Unilever Careers” social media portals. The agency will look to build the portal’s presence across the MENA region in four territories, to reach and interact with university students and potential candidates by aiming to guide, inspire and educate their fans on employment at [...]

GSK consolidates $1.3B media account with Omnicom and WPP

GlaxoSmithKline, the pharma and consumer-health giant, has consolidated the bulk of its global media buying and planning account with WPP media agency network GroupM, while keeping Omnicom’s PHD as its lead media agency for the United States. PHD will also add a global comms planning assignment, as well as the media business in Canada to its remit, according to [...]

Kit Kat introduces new website

Hot on the heels of its newly announced partnership with Android, Kit Kat has introduced a newsleek, sexy and mobile-themed website that both borrows from and satirizes smartphone and tech campaigns. Much like the candy’s new “The Future of Confectionery” spot, which parodies tech commercials’ frequent claims to present “the future of [insert industry]” through superior designs and features, [...]

Intigral launches digital idea incubator

Digital agency Intigral has launched AFKAR.me, a full-spectrum digital sector start-up and entrepreneur incubator. AFKAR.me  will source, incubate and develop innovative business ideas from start-ups and entrepreneurs. The MENA region is experiencing monumental digital growth and is forecast to grow by three times to evolve to an estimated $18 billion opportunity by 2018. With the [...]

LinkedIn grows to one million members in KSA

LinkedIn, a large professional network with more than 238 million members worldwide and nine million in the MENA region, today announced it has surpassed the one million professional member milestone in KSA. The growing LinkedIn member base in KSA is indicative of the growing interest in professional networking as well as the depth of talent [...]

Will disgruntled customers buy Twitter ads to air grievances now?

Disgruntled fliers taking to Twitter to vent their grievances about airlines has become commonplace. But a consumer turning one of those 140-character complaint into an ad? That’s something new — and marketers should have a plan to navigate this new potential route for consumer complaints to go viral.  British Airways had to learn the lesson [...]

The Arab World had thirteen competitive fixed voice markets by August 2013, says report

Twenty fixed line operators in fourteen Arab countries served around 26 million fixed voice subscriptions by end of March 2013, down from 26.3 million by end of 2012; a drop of 0.9 percent. A new report from Arab Advisors Group analyzes and ranks 20 fixed voice service operators in fourteen Arab countries by end of [...]

Crayons communications wins NMC Healthcare

Digital agency Crayons Communications announced its partnership with NMC Healthcare to manage their digital campaigns. NMC Healthcare is a large private health care provider in the UAE with two main businesses namely – healthcare, comprising hospitals, day surgery centers, medical centers; and NMC Trading which covers the distribution business for pharma, FMCG, Veterinary and Education [...]

CMO Council hosts Ethical Brand Forum in Dubai

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, in partnership with Social Enterprise Week, will present the Ethical Brand Forum on September 17, 2013, at the Meydan IMAX Theatre in Dubai. The event will include a screening of the acclaimed documentary The Naked Brand, along with an exclusive keynote presentation and interactive Q&A session with the film’s [...]

APCO appoints chief creative officer

APCO Worldwide named Marilyn Fancher as its first official chief creative officer, founder and CEO Margery Kraus announced today. Fancher has been with APCO for nearly 20 years, leading the development of StudioAPCO and helping to grow the firm’s global creative capabilities. The appointment acknowledges Fancher’s leading role in developing APCO’s creative services. Fancher brings [...]

The GCC Government Social Media Summit 2013 launches in Dubai

The annual GCC Government Social Media Summit began today, and featured several thoughtful perspectives on the future of social media in the GCC. GCC Government Social Media Summit 2013 Chairman, Fadi Salem, director governance & innovation of Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, delivered a keynote address on The Impact of Social Media in the [...]

The sky’s the limit

Earlier this year, Dubai International Airport (DXB) was ranked as the world’s second busiest international hub, registering almost six million passengers in March 2013. According to the monthly traffic report issued by Dubai Airports, passenger traffic surged to be the highest since August 2012.These numbers are important to advertisers and brands as they can reach out [...]

Havas on a roll

Amidst a flurry of new wins and victories over challengers, Havas Media seem poised to take over the market aggressively. The French-based group not only won LG’s bulk global media account over Mindshare back in May, but also announced in June that it had retained the Coty account. Then it retained the regional Chanel account [...]

New technology magazine debuts

A new English-language magazine covering technology news from around the region, and internationally, has been launched from Dubai by Voize Media. TechVoize includes coverage of apps, gadgets, smartphones, innovations, technology tutorials, tips and tricks, reviews and computer security. The free monthly magazine is headed editorially by Kess Daniels who can be contacted at [email protected]

P&G moves Herbal Essences to Wieden & Kennedy

Wieden & Kennedy is solidifying its role as one of Procter & Gamble Co.‘s favorite agency partners. The packaged goods giant has moved the global Herbal Essences hair-care creative account to the Portland-based independent from Atelier, a unit of Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, the company said. It’s a shift that gives W&K its biggest product brand win [...]

Ethical Brand Forum to take place in Dubai

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, in partnership with Social Enterprise Week, is announcing the inaugural Ethical Brand Forum, a knowledge exchange focused on ethical branding. It will take place on Tuesday, September 17th, 2013  at the Meydan IMAX Theatre in Dubai from  7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. An invitation only CMO Council MENA Advisory Board meeting will be held prior from 3:00 [...]

Study: Consumers more likely to shop on mobile devices than PCs

While the “Year of Mobile” remains elusive for advertisers, it appears to have already arrived for e-commerce. Smartphone and tablet users are more likely to visit a retail website or app than desktop computer users, and more than a third of visits to the top 50 e-commerce sites come exclusively from mobile devices, according to [...]

Twitter hires first commerce chief for social shopping push

Twitter hired Nathan Hubbard, the former president of Ticketmaster, as its first head of commerce, part of a push to enable shopping via short postings on its social website. Mr. Hubbard, 38, started at San Francisco-based Twitter this week, said Jim Prosser, a spokesman for the online social service. As commerce chief, Mr. Hubbard will [...]

Hershey picks UM for global media

The Hershey Co. has selected Interpublic’s UM as its global media buying and planning agency following an eight-month review. Hershey, which has significantly boosted its ad spending this year, had used multiple media agencies across the globe. U.S. incumbent media shop Omnicom Group‘s OMD participated in the invitation-only review along with Publicis Groupe’s Zenith. The assignment includes paid media such as TV, print, [...]

Timberland, Kenneth Cole track shoppers who opt-in for deals

Would you trade your location data for an in-store discount? That’s the idea behind Swirl, a mobile app now being used by retailers like Kenneth Cole and Timberland in Manhattan and other cities. The app can target those with a declared interest in designer duds or tough terrain footwear, and even if they’ve perused a [...]

Publiseek to connect journalists and PR professionals

Publiseek is a free online media request service that connects journalists looking for sources and experts with the PR community and the general public. Launch softly last in June, it quickly has spread through word-of-mouth among the UAE’s public relations community, says David Haddad, founder of Publiseek. “At the moment, most PR agencies in the [...]

Pehla joins OSN entertainment

Pay-TV network OSN has acquired South Asian pay television provider Pehla Media and Entertainment. The acquisition brings nearly 40 channels in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam languages to OSN’s portfolio. The network also announced that it would have exclusive rights to the ICC Cricket World Cup, as well as premium Bollywood and cricket content. [...]

Real-time ad spending growing faster than expected, says research

Real time, automated digital ad buying is growing so fast, even the forecasts can’t keep up. Revising its forecast up from earlier this year, eMarketer released a new report predicting advertisers would spend more on real-time bidded (RTB) advertising in 2013 than originally estimated. The report put the total U.S. RTB spending in 2013 at $3.34 billion, [...]

Starcom loses Emirates to Havas

  Emirates airlines’ estimated $157 million media account moves from Starcom to Havas Media.

Yahoo is no. 1 in traffic, per comScore

It’s only one month, but it probably bodes well for Marissa Mayer, who a few weeks ago celebrated her one year anniversary as Yahoo CEO. According to comScore, her Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company drew more unique visitors (roughly 197 million) than any other U.S. Internet company in July for the first time since March 2011, besting rivals Google [...]

Cheil Worldwide appoints new creative director

South Korea based advertising network, Cheil Worldwide, has appointed Omar Al-Jabi as creative director for its Middle East and North Africa operations. Al-Jabi , who previously headed up the creative departments at FP7 and Memac Ogilvy, will manage the creative department and will aim to drive new business by developing the agency’s creative credentials.

iTunes Radio to debut in September with McDonald’s, Nissan, P&G, Pepsi

Tunes Radio, Apple’s answer to Pandora, is set to debut next month with a handful of high-profile brand partners including McDonald’s, Nissan, Pepsi, Procter & Gamble and possibly one or two more brands, according to people familiar with the negotiations. The deals range from the high single-digit millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars and include [...]

Energizer shifts marketing duties for several brands to JWT from Grey

Energizer Holdings is moving marketing duties for a slew of brands from one WPP agency to another. The personal-care business that’s been handled by Grey will now be realigned under sibling shop JWT, according to executives familiar with the matter. The move comes as Energizer this summer stated it will begin focusing more on “brand development activities” for [...]

JWT’s latest report highlights dreams of Arab Millennial

Advertising agency JWT MENA released a new report titled “Summer Voltage deep dive” that provides interesting facts about the dreams and aspirations of Arab youth. It aims to show “how the archetype of Arab Millennial is evolving beyond being material collectors to experience collectors.” Polls were carried out in six key MENA markets – KSA, [...]

DraftFCB named lead agency for Aramark

It’s operating without a CEO, yet DraftFCB has managed to pick up the account for foodservice and uniform supplier Aramark after a review. It marks the marketer’s first-ever agency of record relationship. Up until now, Aramark, which claimed $13.5 billion in revenues in 2012, worked with a host of agencies on a project basis. The Philadelphia-based company [...]

Yahoo appoints television veteran Dawn Airey as SVP of EMEA

Yahoo has appointed Dawn Airey as senior vice president and lead of the company’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operation, effective immediately. Airey will be based in the company’s London office and will report to COO Henrique de Castro. Beginning November 1, Christophe Parcot, who has served as Yahoo’s interim lead of EMEA, will [...]

He did it his way

What was the highlight of your career? When the former US president, Ronald Reagan, was about to leave the White House, he invited 20 members of the media for a Friday lunch. Only two people were invited from France, I was one of them. Someone asked him: “What was your best day in the White [...]

Bloomberg BusinessWeek and United Media Services partner on Middle East edition

United Media Services International FZ LLC (UMS) and Bloomberg Businessweek recently announced their agreement to publish English-language and Arabic editions of Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East. The first issue of the English-language edition of Bloomberg Businessweek Middle East, which will publish twice per month, will hit newsstands on 1 October. The targeted circulation of the magazine [...]

ikoo launches video advertising solutions

Digital marketing agency ikoo has launched new video advertising solutions in the region, titled ikoo Video. The region is currently experiencing a surge in online video consumption, thanks to advanced telecommunication networks, which have facilitated better connectivity. The changes in consumer behavior in online space are also playing a pivotal role in shifting viewership more [...]

Majority of FTA satellite channels catering to Arab World are privately owned, says reserach

The number of Free to Air (FTA) satellite channels targeting the Arab region continues to grow. The FTA landscape had a major growth of 599 percent in the number of FTA satellite channels, which broadcast in SD between January 2004 and May 2013. Based on Arab Advisors Group research, by May 2013, the total number [...]

Groupon to go global via affiliate marketing platform

In recent years, Groupon’s been teaming up with 100,000 deals and coupon bloggers to run commission-based ads on their sites. Today, the Chicago-based company announced Groupon Partner Network (GPN), a self-serve affiliate marketing platform for bloggers and other publishers that want to make cash pitching deals to their readers. The GPN platform, for the past [...]

Google patents “Pay Per Gaze” advertising for Google Glass

Google Glass users will soon see ads that are charged to advertisers on a “pay per gaze” contingency. Google has filed a patent for its new technology, which will work in both online and offline modes. The patent was granted to the tech giant on Tuesday. Google doesn’t specifically list Google Glass, but it does [...]

ADIB launches BusinessPulse portal

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB), an Islamic financial services institution, announced the launch of BusinessPulse; a portal aimed at providing advice and support to small and medium-sized businesses in the UAE. Launched in association with Zawya, BusinessPulse went live on July 1 and has been designed and produced by successful organizations in business, finance, and [...]

Al Jazeera America debut approaches, with fewer commercials

By Jeanine Poggi Al Jazeera America will have fewer commercials than other cable TV networks when it begins transmitting on Tuesday. The cable news network will air just six minutes of commercials per hour, compared with about 15 minutes to 17 minutes on other news channels, CEO Ehab Al Shihabi said during a call with [...]

Could Publicis-Omnicom merger kill Cannes Lions’ Holding Company of the Year Award?

By Ann-Christine Diaz , Rupal Parekh The proposed merger of Publicis Groupe and Omnicom to create the biggest ad giant the industry’s ever seen threatens the fate of one of the most coveted honors given out every summer in the South of France: the holding company of the year award. Issues of unfair advantage have [...]

Dentsu profits weighed down by costs related to Aegis acquisition

  By Anita Chang Beattie Dentsu Inc.’s bid to become a truly global agency company is showing results, with revenue in yen from markets outside of Japan quadrupling, according to quarterly data that include results of the former Aegis Group for the first time. Revenue was up 60.7 percent in yen for the first fiscal [...]

Half of Iraqi TV viewers watch Arab Idol

A new comprehensive survey from research company, The Arab Advisors Group, probed the media consumption habits in Iraq and revealed that news, reality shows and Arabic series are the most popular types of TV programs watched in the country. The survey also revealed that the vast majority of respondents who watch TV prefer to watch [...]

Mobile drives digital time spent in the US, says research

The average adult will spend over five hours per day online, on non-voice mobile activities or with other digital media this year, according to a study by eMarketer, compared to four hours and 31 minutes watching television. Daily TV time will actually be down slightly this year, while digital media consumption will be up 15.8 [...]

Hubert Boulos named CEO DDB Middle East

Hubert Boulos, JWT MENA’s Head of Planning since 2011, will shortly join DDB as CEO Middle East, based in Dubai. Prior to joining JWT, Boulos was the Managing Director of a DDB affiliate in the region. This would be the first time  that a head of an agency comes from a planning background in the MENA region.

BRAG snags Evian, Badoit accounts

Live marketing agency BRAG won all regional live marketing activations of 2014  for mineral water labels Evian and Badoit. The win came following the agency’s successful activation of Evian’s “Baby and Me” App, which was created in Dubai at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Jumeirah Beach Walk  (JBR) and Mall of Emirates, as well as [...]

VIMTO uses camera technology in Ramadan commercials

Arabian beverage VIMTO is rolling out its Ramadan television commercials, which make use of high-speed camera motion control technology. The commercials, “Beginnings” and “Late Nights,” have been developed by advertising agency RASAS and use the new SPIKE high-speed camera to capture the movement of VIMTO being poured. Invented by German production house The Marmalade Creative [...]

Ketchum Raad wins AUBMC account

  Following agency review involving eight of the region’s leading PR consultancies and conducted by the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) to reinforce strategic communication of its 2020 Vision, Ketchum Raad, TBWA\RAAD’s PR arm, won the strategic communications account.   Rana Alley, director of strategic planning and communications at AUBMC  says, “With the [...]

HAVAS Media Middle East renews Coty account

Havas Media Middle East has retained the media planning and buying for global beauty company Coty, following a competitive pitch. Since the regional inception of Havas Media Middle East (formally MPG Middle East) in 2005, Havas has handled Coty’s media strategies throughout the Middle East. Past media campaigns have included working with brands that include, [...]

DABO & CO wins Qantas account

  Qantas has appointed Dubai-based communications agency DABO & CO to help build awareness of the airline’s Dubai services to travelers across the Middle East and wider GCC. DABO & CO will assist in positioning the Qantas brand as a premium carrier for business and leisure travelers to both Australia and the UK following the [...]

Publicis and Omnicom said to be in merger talks

Publicis Groupe SA (PUB) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC) are in late-stage talks about a combination to form the world’s largest advertising company, reports Bloomberg. The deal is likely to be structured as a merger of equals. However, it’s said the talks could still collapse. With a market value of more than $30 billion, combined, Publicis and Omnicom could overtake current [...]

Facebook adds Islamic Hijri calendar for birthday feature in Saudi Arabia

Coinciding with the start of the Holy month of Ramadan, Facebook announced today the launch of a new feature for birthdays, aimed at people who wish to use the Islamic Hijri calendar. The new feature is an addition to the Gregorian calendar and will be rolled-out first to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with other [...]

Moving on

What’s your issue with Prince Al Waleed? He was the wrong partner. He doesn’t understand television. We had our differences from the beginning. I made the wrong decision and our venture went nowhere. Things started to go downhill when I was outvoted on the decision to fire LBC Sat’s media rep, Choueiri Group, and instead hire [...]

Cheil MENA celebrates 40th anniversary with launch of new vision

South Korean advertising network, Cheil Worldwide, celebrates its 40th anniversary by launching a new vision and corporate identity.   “Ideas that Move” represents a new solution-based company that specializes in scientific systems and methods that will enhance its global competiveness. This includes operating the agency across specific areas of expertise, integrated to ensure it can [...]

Performics’ “Life on Demand” highlights social media trends in the Middle East

Marketing agency Performics MENA last July conducted a “Life on Demand” study on the growing role of social media in the Middle East, and its ever-evolving impact on daily life. Data for the survey was collected online, and included a staggering 2,042 respondents – aged 15-64 – with at least one social network account and [...]

New methods of PR measurement validated by results, but slow to be adopted

The Middle East PR industry’s second annual survey of PR practitioners and top executives in the region shows that although 72 percent of communications professionals believe Advertising Value Equivalencies (AVEs) do not constitute effective PR measurement, 63 percent still rely on them to measure a campaign’s effectiveness.   The 2013 survey by PR agency Ketchum [...]

DABO & CO wins The Ritz Carlton aacount

Communications agency DABO & CO has been appointed as the new retained PR agency for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. following a multi-agency pitch.   The integrated communications agency will be managing all corporate communications for the luxury brand.   DABO & CO will also provide regional PR support for eight properties across the GCC, [...]

Aviamost recognized as best Russian magazine in the UAE

Aviamost, a Russian language magazine in the Gulf published by MediaMost Publishing, was recently awarded Best Russian-language Magazine at a ceremony marking Russia’s National Day held at the Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. Launched in 1996, Aviamost, which means “Air Bridge” in English, is a monthly, comprehensive Russian language magazine in the UAE.  The magazine is distributed [...]

FP7/DXB wins Harvey Nichols – Dubai creative account

Following a multi-agency pitch process, FP7/DXB has won Harvey Nichols – Dubai’s creative account. The pitch was called in March and lasted over several rounds, with four final candidates. FP7 will address tactical requirements through the establishment of tangible KPIs and deliverables across all media and touch points.

Counting forward

Trading desks and consolidated digital media platforms are one of the most talked about topics in the Middle East’s digital industry today. The fact that agencies now use more biddable digital in their media mix brings exciting opportunities into the space of new consumer data, better planning visibility and an improved and much more holistic [...]

Aspectus PR appoints new Account Manager to its Financial Services practice

Global communication Aspectus PR appointed James Reynolds to the role of Account Manager in its  Financial Services PR practice. Reynolds has more than five years’ experience as a communications professional in Financial Services, Energy, Technology, Law, and Professional Services. Last year, he played a role in launching Xchanging’s ‘Xuber’ commercial insurance software provider to the market, and he has previously [...]

Motorola Rolls Out First Ad for Moto X Smartphone

Motorola has set a patriotic tone for its Moto X smartphone campaign, the company’s first since being acquired by Google last summer. The ad will run as a full-page spread in the July 3 editions of The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Washington Post, Motorola said. It’s Motorola’s first ad [...]

New global chief strategy officer at Initiative

Media agency Initiative has named Sarah Ivey executive vice president, global chief strategy officer. Ivey is Initiative’s first worldwide head of strategy. She was formerly director of communications planning worldwide for the company. Ivey joined Initiative in 2000 as vice president, strategic planning and later became general manager of Initiative Canada.

Lowe MENA grabs some RTA accounts

Following a multi-agency pitch process, Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has awarded creative agency Lowe MENA the strategic through-the-line communications brief for its Dubai Metro, Marine Transportation and integration projects.

AllDetails Middle East Joins Tourism Trademark

PR agency AllDetails Middle East is now a member of Tourism Trademark, a global PR network in the tourism and travel industry, and an international organization of independent marketing and communications agencies. The members of the network work across countries, while the individual agencies maintain their independence and local specialization.

Bags of gold

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity wrapped up on June 22, with many wins for the MENA region – although no Grand Prix. This year, the annual advertising and communications awards saw 35,500 entries from all over the world. Close to 12,000 delegates from 95 countries attended a week-long program of exhibitions, screenings and [...]

The young and the restless

We cannot talk about Arab youth without mentioning social media and its sweeping takeover as a form of communication, expression and entertainment. Granted, the term has become redundant and overused by advertisers and researchers alike, but the underlying effects of the revolution that is social media are undeniable. The Arab youth have invested so much time [...]

Fatafeat announces Ramadan line up

  Discovery Networks’ recently acquired food channel, Fatafeat, announced a new series for its Ramadan season.  The new shows, which began to air on 24 June, will be complemented with the launch of the network’s new website www.fatafeat.com. Some brands have already endorsed the new shows, such as Samsung. The channel has around 55 million [...]

Arabic online news portals increase focus on online advertising, reveals research

New research from the Arab Advisors Group analyzes and compares the 2013 online advertising rates for nine online news portals targeting the Arab World. The selected portals include regional and international news content, in addition to business, financial, sports and entertainment content. Arab Advisors Group’s research revealed that three out of the nine analyzed news [...]

More than 70% of active users access Facebook from a mobile device

  In a talk on how Facebook affects brand marketing at the ArabNet Digital Summit 2013, Eric Edge, head of marketing communications for EMEA at Facebook, stated that more than 70% of active users access Facebook from a mobile device. “Facebook’s newsfeed is the most engaging feature. It is interesting because it provides one strategy [...]

Dentsu Inc. names new executive officer

Dentsu Inc. has appointed Jerry Buhlmann, CEO of the Dentsu Aegis Network and Aegis Media, as an executive officer of Dentsu Inc. Buhlmann’s role will be to contribute to the business strategy of Dentsu Inc.’s global strategy outside of Japan and to drive further growth in this arena. He takes up his  new position on [...]

New general manager for Carat Morocco

Media agency Carat MENA appointed Aicha Adile as general manager of Morocco. Adile, whose previous role as media director within agencies such as Top Publicité/Publicis and Drive Dentsu, joins Carat with over 20 years of industry experience.   As head of the wholly owned Moroccan office, Adile will be charged with growing Carat’s Moroccan presence [...]

Ex-Virgin Atlantic CEO joins StartJG

  Steve Ridgway CBE has joined international agency StartJG as non-executive chairman. Ridgway recently retired from his role as chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, after almost 25 years with the airline. StartJG ME’s partnerships include, Virgin Mobile MEA, BankDhofar, ADCB, Qatar Airways, Emaar and Dubai Airports.

Sayidaty revamps its look

Lifestyle magazine, Sayidaty, published weekly in Arabic and monthly in English, has launched a new look in June, including an overhaul in content and layout, as part of its policy to introduce changes every three years. Mohammad Fahad Al-Harthi, Sayidaty’s editor-in-chief, says: “The revamp was based on questionnaires, published in the magazine and on its [...]

Hard engagement

The modern online audience is defined by its right to be eclectic. With so much choice and digital white noise to divert eyeballs and attention, this increasingly mobile and nomadic readership can be viewed as a fickle flock. Publishers know this all too well, yet advertisers – seeing the rising tide of online and mobile [...]

Souq.com launches new regional advertising campaign

  Souq.com has recently launched its first regional advertising campaign in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt titled “Happiness in Every Box.” Featured across a variety of platforms, including online and TV, the advertisements are a two-part storyline and showcase the unexpected reactions of some entertaining characters, as a Souq.com delivery interrupts them. It [...]

Mindshare Holds Management Meeting for Key Stakeholders

  Media agency Mindshare organized a management meeting to review the agency’s performance and establish a business plan for the coming five years. The gathering was held at the Grand Hills Broumana, Lebanon from June 5– 7 and drew in key directors and executives from across the MENA region. The assembly began with a detailed [...]

Sham advertising

Of all the challenges the Syrian ad industry now faces, its biggest has little to do with the crisis If our queries into the state of Syria’s ad industry amid bloodbaths bordered absurdity, they were surprisingly met by calm and collected industry professionals, who have, in a now set behavioral pattern across the turbulent Levant [...]

And… action. Or not

Are there too many obstacles in the way to allow Dubai’s production industry to grow Should we have enjoyed it while it lasted – even if it was only for a short while? The region’s production business peaked in 2011 when, according to reports, it contributed AED150 million to Dubai’s economy, with total budget for feature [...]

Target audiences that lose business

  Abhijat Sharma, regional director freshness and insight at MediaCom, begs for an audience targeting more in line with reality Fifty percent of advertising is wasted, the trouble is, I don’t know which 50 percent,” said Lord Leverhulme. Better data availability and large media investments over the past decade or so, have been the biggest catalyst [...]

Turning tables

  PR firms are coming out on top, Fred Cook, CEO of GolinHarris Worldwide, tells Communicate    In light of the worldwide crisis, how is PR faring globally? From a PR perspective, we can do extremely well in a market despite its advertising trend. If you don’t feel you can advertise, it’s much more economically effective [...]

Right priorities

  Dominique Delport, global managing director of Havas Media Group and chairman and CEO of Havas Média France, says that agility is now the key to success  How did the network’s rebranding under the single Havas name translate in terms of business on your media activity? This was not just a case of rebranding; it [...]

Copy that, copycat?

  Why imitation is not the best form of flattery and the consequences of copying He could have sworn he had never seen it, but Drive Dentsu’s regional executive creative director, Alain Shoucair, could not escape the uncanny similarity between a 1992 French ad for Volkswagen, “Pour avoir la paix” (“For peace”), and his 2012 billboard [...]

Going once, going twice..

  How real-time bidding is becoming the new kid on the block The instant winner of this year’s Superbowl advertising lineup wasn’t a multi-million dollar TV spot with celebrities or half-naked women. It was cookie brand Oreo’s humble and straightforward tweet, reading “Power out? No problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” Posted during the [...]

Go get ’em

  Saatchi & Saatchi X’s Dina Howell on why consumers and shoppers are two different things It can’t be easy being a retailer in Dubai, especially when you have to compete for consumers’ attention against an indoor ski slope and the world’s largest fountain – which happens to be adjacent to the world’s tallest building. [...]

People power

  Mark d’Arcy, Facebook’s director of global creative solutions, relishes the dialogue that now has to prevail between brands and consumers   Between social network and advertising media, what is Facebook today? Facebook was founded on the vision of making the world more connected. That’s not just a slogan on a poster; it’s really our [...]

Brave new world

  Tom Bernardin, CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide, tells us why the agency of the future is created in the present How do you see the work coming from the region evolving? It has been evolving quite nicely. You have seen the success that [a number of our offices in this region] has had with all [...]

Heavy metal

  It was awards distribution night at the seventh edition of the Dubai Lynx awards For seven years, the Dubai Lynx Awards have celebrated the best of creativity in the region, becoming a fixture that many in the industry look forward to as a prelude to the ultimate goal – Cannes. There was to be [...]

Disrupting disorder

    Ramzi Raad, CEO and chairman at TBWA/RAAD, on how his agency will change the rules in Lebanon   Why launch at this difficult time for the industry in Lebanon? The Middle East advertising industry has developed on a set pattern: agencies were established by Lebanese pioneers, creatives, who have gone and studied abroad, and [...]

Giving content wings

Alberto Chahoud, Red Bull’s area communication manager MEA, explains why his company’s branded content strategy is so successful    Branded content is all the hype today. However, most players still have a hard time identifying what it is exactly. What would be your definition? For several decades, consumers have been at the center of marketing strategies; [...]

Once upon a time

  Iain Jacob, president of dynamic markets at Starcom MediaVest Group, says media agencies now have to tell stories too How are media agencies evolving today?  The divisions that we draw between agencies – the ad agency, the PR agency, the media agency – are becoming less and less relevant. There’s a merging of expertise. Media agencies definitely [...]

Lowe frequency

  Columbian Jose Miguel Sokoloff, global CCO of Lowe and Partners, says creativity is listening to what people really need   How is communication’s new state of play changing creativity? When I was young, advertising was like throwing a bowling ball. You had the relative weight of the idea, you had a strategy, you stood [...]

The right search

  Caroline Ernst, director UAE of digital measurement firm Performics, explains why holistic search management drives results Have you ever walked down the cereal aisle in the grocery store and wondered why one company has more shelf space than another?  Similarly, have you conducted an online search and seen one brand dominate the results in [...]

The end of social TV?

  How #SocialTV jumped the shark   Before the dawn of the so-called social-TV phenomenon – the intersection between social media and TV – things were so much more complicated. Pre-Twitter (which launched in 2006) and pre-Facebook (born in 2004), it was totally a chore to find out what people thought about TV. Sure, you [...]

Mobile app-eal

  Is mobile an infatuation or a life changer? Depends on how you do it   All of the cool brands are doing it. Whether it’s through the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry or Windows, everyone is on board towards being smartphone savvy. There’s little surprise at the rising popularity of mobile as a new medium, considering that whether [...]

Brands’ secret marketing weapon

  Smart annual reports make consumers take notice Design judges at the 2012 Cannes International Festival of Creativity had a “Cocoon” moment. They ran in and out of the jury room with the glee of 5-year-olds, having just gotten their hands on a magical piece of work from Serviceplan, Munich. On the surface, it was [...]

Down to earth poets

Paris-based agency Buzzman expanded to the Middle East with plans to make a difference in the region George Mohammed-Cherif, CEO and creative director of France and the Middle East; Thomas Granger, general manager of France and the Middle East; and, Adil Zghaoui, Dubai executive manager, say Buzzman will bring to the Middle East digital communication [...]

In the pink

  Christina Ioannidis, founder and CEO of London-based marketing to women consulting firm Aquitude, tells brands how to grab women’s loyalty Can male marketers understand the female psyche? This question immediately evokes images of Mel Gibson’s fruitless attempts to understand “What Women Want”. The truth is that as a consumer demographic, women are the hardest [...]

Dare to Look?

“Keep Calm and Carry on”, the most popular Internet meme of the year, sounded like some sound advice for the regional communications industry, in the face of a simmering political scenario and stunted global and regional ad spend. Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia had predicted in March, that global ad spend would grow by 4.8 percent in [...]

The global citizen

The CEO of PublicisGroupe, Maurice Lévy, says the future will be about respecting all differences How has the global communication sector fared in 2012? The state of the market today is extremely interesting; it was relatively good globally, even though Europe was suffering a bit – and there was nothing dramatic there. But since the [...]

Eyes on the Horizon

Rafic Saadeh, chairman and CEO of Horizon Holdings, explains BPN’s introduction to the region and his massive plans IPG has launched this month in the region its third global media agency, BPN. How will the transition between your own media network, Brand Connection, and the new IPG network be managed? IPG Mediabrands includes Universal Media, [...]

Wider vision

Lebanese production taps into new territories In January 2012, post-production house The Gate announced it was closing its, and Lebanon’s, only Kodak Cinelab, and stopping the resale of Kodak film stock, marking the end of an era in Lebanon’s production industry. “We have been postponing this decision for as long as we could. However, the [...]

PR mavericks

Independent network Four Communications makes bold moves in the GCC   Present in Dubai since 2004, London-based integrated com firm Four Communications has faith in the GCC, where it has been enjoying steady growth. With offices also in Abu Dhabi and Muscat, Four has increased its portfolio of clients to include Etihad Airways, IATA, The British [...]

Coexistence or competition?

Alex Saber, chairman of VivaKi MENA, says traditional and digital media should be seen as complementing one another, rather than competing In the wake of the digital revolution, most industry constituents were quick to predict the demise of traditional media – spanning both print and broadcasting. After all, digital distribution was steadily sweeping the globe – seemingly trouncing longstanding [...]

Let the games begin

Gaming is offering new avenues to the advertising industry. Here is why…   Gaming has come a long way from the16-bit cassettes jammed into plastic consoles, or even Mario Bros., which was considered nothing short of state-of-the-art in the 1980s. In fact, if Mario and his brother were to take a virtual walk in the [...]

Is green fading?

Shoppers are growing resistant to eco-friendly premium pricing    As businesses ramp up marketing efforts to save the planet and regulators ready new guidelines to police them, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that consumers aren’t paying as much attention – at least if it’s going to cost them more. A Green Gauge survey by GfK released [...]

Heads in the cloud

  Cloud computing is saved by its own murky marketing Cloud computing should be suffering a PR crisis of epic proportions. But it’s been saved, in part, by its own hazy marketing. On August 3, Mat Honan, a senior reporter for Wired, had his digital life destroyed by hackers. They started with Honan’s Amazon account, [...]

Talking to you

Are addressable TV ads finally ready for prime time?   If you watch US TV, chances are you’ve come upon Mayhem, the devil-may-care character who is seemingly everywhere in commercials for insurance firm Allstate. But in one new instance, the character will be decidedly less mass market, appearing to talk to only a select few [...]

The next newsroom is digital

  Why it’s time digital agencies invested in a creative newsroom   Lately there has been a lot of talk about the need for brands to become more like content publishers to remain relevant to their consumers. For those with short memories, that chatter usually gets deafening about once every decade, as consumer behaviors (and [...]

Hired via @socialmedia

Online is where both recruiters and job seekers are increasingly going. But all should know about the various pros and cons. Communicate tells you why   The Middle East job market is bustling with more pings, tweets, follows and likes than ever before. If the social media sphere is where it all happens nowadays, then [...]

Two faces of the digital coin

Everybody talks about online these days, but some are better positioned than others   Ari Kesisoglu, managing director-Middle East North Africa at Google, and Hussein Freijieh, commercial director at Yahoo! Maktoob, each answer three questions on the evolution of digital in the Middle East. Their companies compete fiercely, but they make similar assessments and set [...]

Controlled revolution

  Credibility, cautiousness and conservatism are the new pillars of Egypt’s communication industry. For now   Over the past 18 months the events that followed Egypt’s “digital revolution” and led to the toppling of former President Hosni Mubarak have split the Egyptian people in two: the disappointed and the doomsayers. Hopes of a genuine transition to democracy, [...]

Living social

  Arab youth have a heavy social media consumption and usage. Social media is where brands have to be. Here is how   No wonder connecting with youth is a key priority for many brands in a region where a majority of the population is under 25. Even if they may not be the brand’s [...]