On 5 June, Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) hosted an internal event at its Dubai headquarters entitled M-LEAP – an initiative by the SMG Mobility department aimed at pushing mobile thinking. The initiative was attended by over 50 SMG employees, comprising both senior and junior digital and traditional media specialists, as well as representatives from Google, Facebook, InMobi, Boost and InterMotion.
The event began with a string of presentations by industry experts on the subject of mobile adoption – and how this fast-growing trend is slowly revolutionizing the Middle East’s media landscape. The speakers also discussed their respective roster of services.
Attendees were then divided into seven teams of 10 people, and were given a comprehensive mobile brief for two products to respond to, with each team allocated five minutes to showcase its work. “The SMG Mobility event proved to be a great success, serving as an engaging platform for industry peers to join forces and, together, lead the movement towards mobile,” said Dimitri Papadimitriou, associate director, digital and business development, VivaKi. “In recent years, the rapid rise of mobile has redefined the very fabric of the region’s media space; this initiative aimed to help shift digital mindsets and accelerate mobile transformation.”
Papadimitriou added: “The ideas presented as a result of the briefs and collaboration with the partners were truly impressive. In fact, some of the mobile solutions provided have potential to be implemented as part of SMG’s overall media strategy for certain clients.”
