Search Results for : Advertising

Parody advertising is a double-edged sword. It can be pretty effective, but it can also backfire spectacularly. To understand what works and what doesn’t, Communicate spoke to Jaison Ben, Creative Director at Publicis Middle East, who was behind the campaign for Nescafe 3in1’s new packaging, unveiled earlier in the year. How to know when parody […]

Neticenzy, a Dubai-based digital marketing agency with a focus on social media, recently won TikTok’s B2B account. Communicate had a relaxed chat with Fadi Khater, Founder & Managing Partner, to discuss this big win and more. Much more. Your PR announcing Netizency’s TikTok win does not read like the typical PR. It was kind of […]

Imad Jomaa, Founder and President of Lebanon-based holding company JGroup, explains how he sees programmatic in light of JGroup’s recent investment in FoxPush, a Dubai-based full-stack solution for publishers and digital advertisers. How fast is the programmatic ad market growing in the region and what is driving this growth? Programmatic advertising is growing rapidly across […]

TikTok For Business shares exclusive video tutorials with Communicate to help clients optimize the way they use the short-form video app’s new self-serve advertising tools, launched last July to empower small and mid-size businesses throughout the Middle East region. Campaign structure For starters, here is how TikTok’s Ad Manager organizes campaigns and assets on the […]

Group M releases their mid-year report for the MENA region, which forecasts the future of spending in the region’s media industry for the remainder of 2020 as well as 2021. In 2019, MENA advertising spend declined by 5.8%. This year, the number is expected to reduce even further as the industry faces a dual-shock from […]

How Covid-19 is changing the business and the industry at large, according to Mullen Lowe’s Chief Executive Officer of Middle East and North Africa. How is the Covid-19 crisis reshaping the marketing and advertising industry in MENA? The impact of Covid-19 was a sudden shock that forced everyone [in the industry] to quickly find solutions to […]

How Covid-19 is changing the business and the industry at large, according to Memac Ogilvy’s Chief Executive MENA, and Ogilvy’s Chief Digital Officer EMEA, and Executive Partner Worldwide.  How is COVID-19 reshaping the marketing and advertising industry in MENA? When it comes to any major social or cultural transition, it takes time for us to be able to fully […]

Partnership aims to drive change via actional insight generation on issues that matter most to the advertising & marketing sector.

How Covid-19 is changing the business and the industry at large, according to Group M MENA’s Chief Executive Officer. How is the Covid-19 crisis reshaping the marketing and advertising industry in MENA? The time has come to ‘re-optimize’ everything from brand purpose, positioning, company structures, processes and growth strategies. Consumers have become far too picky and […]

Consumers look to businesses to feel more positively about how these brands support society. A recent global study by Kantar on Twitter shows that, in fact, only 8% of people believe that brands should stop advertising during the global pandemic. This has been especially evident in the month leading up to Ramadan, when there has […]

How Covid-19 is changing the business and the industry at large, according to DDB’s Chief Executive Officer for the Middle East. How is the Covid-19 crisis reshaping the marketing and advertising industry in MENA? There’s a lot of conversation going on around this subject. But with specific mention to the region, Covid-19 has accelerated our pre-existing structural problems. The […]

“And they may only win some creative award for trying, says Ahmad Abu Zannad, Regional Strategy Director at Leo Burnett MEA.” As we are going through the Covid-19 pandemic, we see brands tempted to play a more impactful role. Yet, at times, audiences are suspicious about the intentions behind these actions. For instance, when an […]

“The main problem is certainly a lack of education around the subject,” said Yves-Michel Gabay, Managing Director of MEA at programmatic agency Gamned. With people confined to their homes due to the current situation, many professionals have taken time out to learn new skills in various subjects. In response to this growing trend, many firms […]

Kunal Gupta, CEO of digital media technology provider Polar, shares learnings from past recessions so that we can better address the covid-19 crisis.

Kunal Gupta, CEO of digital media technology provider Polar, shares five reflections for the advertising industry in the age of coronavirus. 1. Spend decreases in obvious advertising categories will be offset by overall digital growth. Travel represents 9% of digital ad spend and in the past day alone, three of my clients have shared they’ve […]

As the podcast space in the Middle East continues to grow and evolve, Communicate shares some recent insights from social media analytics and listening tool, Talkwalker on where the MENA region currently stands. In July 2019, data released by Markettiers MENA stated that there were 1.3 million podcast listeners in the UAE alone, which is more […]

Ramadan is just around the corner and advertisers are busy planning for the busiest season of the year. During the holy month, user activity on social media platforms rises as well, providing brands with key information about consumers’ behaviors and interests. Twitter shares exclusively with Communicate its latest Ramadan Insights research, unveiling how brands can best connect […]

According to the report released by the international marketing intelligence service, global advertising spend is set to rise by 7.1% to $660bn this year, guided by a 13.2% growth in internet investment. Quadrennial events such as the US presidential elections and the Summer Olympic games in Tokyo are expected to help TV spend to rise by […]

Lebanon is now in the throes of a deep political and economic crisis that had been brewing for years, and the communication industry is hit hard. Naji Boulos, founder of Jicebe Creative Consultancy, former Managing Director of Memac Ogilvy Lebanon, and past president of the IAA-Lebanon chapter gives a harsh but realistic assessment. What is the […]

Vishal Badiani, creative strategy lead-MENA at Snap Inc., Regardless of the platform, there is no doubt that people are willing to spend time on experiences that catch their attention. The challenge is that the window of opportunity on traditional formats is shrinking. For better or for worse, people can choose to do many other things […]

With the rise of e-commerce shopping, redirection of advertising budgets towards digital over mainline, integration of influencer marketing as part of the marketing mix, Group M MENA released a report to help marketeers understand the key trends that are going to dominate the industry in 2019 and beyond.   Trend 1 – Most of the […]

The digital arm of the Choueiri Group will oversee advertising operations of ZEE5, the largest and most comprehensive OTT platform for Indian content globally in the Middle East. ZEE5’s content caters perfectly to not only the South Asian diaspora in the Middle East but also the local population that loves Bollywood movies. The platform offers […]

By Aida Saharoui I have been active in the GCC digital agency ecosystem for the past eight years, and seem to still witness a lot of questionable practices when it comes to agencies’ practices in the region and worldwide. With the support of Communicate, we have listed the top 5 things that any business should […]

Saudi Arabia is set to host the region’s first-ever Global AI Summit in March 2020 to promote the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies. The Summit will take place in Riyadh on 30th and 31st March, and will be the leading international forum to advance AI and create knowledge sharing and interchange among global AI […]

The idea of creativity is very modern and hip, partly because the concept of creativity itself is very recent. That’s not to say that ancient cultures, societies, and civilizations were not creative – creative production has accompanied homo sapiens since the dawn of humanity. It only means that they had not conceptualized the creative process […]

Social media platform Snapchat just announced it signed 18 new video shows produced in the region for Discover, its subscription-based video content feature. In the era of online streaming, content has become more diversified and region-specific. An increasing number of brands and production houses are working with streaming and social media platforms to create and […]

By Elie Aoun, CEO of Ipsos Connect I have been working in research, media research in particular, for the last 27 years. That’s the only thing that I’ve done. Throughout these years, I witnessed many changes and transformations, always – or at least most of the time – for the better. I used to see […]

Bayan Ishtaiwi, digital media manager at Vizeum, discusses YouTube Premium and what it means for marketeers. Anyone who utilized YouTube as a media channel will probably know that it can be one of the most impactful channels to boost brand awareness and ad recall; not only that, but also driving conversions if you are leveraging […]

“We were able to fully realize the potential Facebook holds in delivering incremental reach and driving effective performance. This campaign was a true testament to the benefits one can derive from marrying the right proposition with the right audience.” - Saba Omaish, Head of Marketing at OSN

Technology has already transformed the way we shop, it is believed that more people are increasingly shopping using their devices daily. That said, there has been an increase in technology at the point-of-sale and as part of overall retail operations. This means more data from the offline world.  We spoke to Liquid’s CEO Sachinn J Laala […]

To many over-the-top (OTT) providers, an ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) service is merely a tool to garner interest and funnel viewers to their higher revenue-generating subscription video on demand (SVOD) products. As a result, they don’t feel the necessity to innovate around advertising. By failing to think outside the video-advertising box, though, they’re missing […]

As the industry grows worldwide,“the core principles of marketing effectiveness and growth actually remains the same,” said Traci Alford, Effie Worldwide’s President and CEO in an interview with Communicate. However, Alford explains the significance of maintaining a vision that ensures that the short term and long term plans are aligned in order to maintain the […]

By Adam Kleinberg Direct-to-consumer (DTC) business models have been heralded as the antidote to disruption. From the moment Unilever wrote a billion-dollar check to a unicorn, virtually every brand that sells a product in a store has been tripping over themselves to figure out their DTC strategy before they get Dollar-Shave-Clubbed upside the head. The […]

Around the Clock Communications (ATC) is the new exciting name in the UAE advertising scene. We have a big mission to disrupt and change the communication industry. With our offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut and soon-to-open Riyadh, ATC comprises an inspiring hive of specialists, ready to handle every facet of communication, to deliver a […]

By Ana Julia Olivera Advertising plays a significant role in today’s world. Countries have relied heavily on branding themselves to attract tourists and bring in foreign investments. It has become more evident, through research, that nations benefit from corporate brand advertisements that are in line with their nation brands. In turn, increasing their soft power […]

By Divya Ariga As virtuous as the “We should all be feminists.” $860 t-shirt from Dior may be, it does not attempt to look at the complex power relations which men and women present by merely existing. It is important that marketers and communications professionals absorb the idea that feminism, has real-world implications, that through simply […]

By Alex Maalouf Let’s forget all of the buzz words. Instead, let me ask you this. How much do you rely on the internet? Would you rather forget your wallet or your phone? Or are they one and the same today? It may feel like we’ve lived in a digital world for years, but we’re […]

Publicis Groupe has launched Digitas, a connected marketing agency, in the Middle East, earlier in May 2019. The agency is set to provide brands in the Middle East with access to a  diverse expertise across data, strategy, creative, media, and technology all under one roof. We spoke to Tony Wazen, Chief Executive Officer Middle East of […]

By Mike Proulx With four simple words printed on a slide behind Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg during his recent F8 keynote, 15 years of social media playbooks essentially vanished: “The future is private.” Indeed, in what felt like a snap from Thanos’s infinity gauntlet, Facebook is pivoting to messaging apps as the foundation […]

By Justin Choi The world wide web celebrated its 30th birthday this past spring. That’s three decades’ worth of growth and evolution for an experiment whose entire purpose was to encourage freedom and decentralization of information and communication. Unfortunately, this open, free global information network has never worn heavier shackles than it does today. Today’s web […]

In a statement to the press, PRCA announced  Ahmad Itani, Founder and CEO of Cicero & Bernay Public Relations (C&B), has been selected to be the Vice Chairman of  the leading PR association for MENA. PRCA MENA was launched in 2016 with the aim of raising standards in PR and communication. The association exists to […]

Programmatic Advertising is bringing more accuracy in targeting for far more competitive cost. So the next question for the advertisers is : In-House or Outsourced ? This video walks us through understanding the internalization for brands that have the resources to recruit and train for programmatic advertising.   This series about programmatic advertisement is published […]

By Tony Stanol With a tighter candidate market and industries like tech firms and consultancies vying for advertising talent, mistakes in the hiring process are costlier than ever to agencies. I agree with 360i’s Jared Belsky’s recent article and know that we can “make it better, together.” I’ve learned countless lessons from my 11 years of […]

Publicis Groupe MENA announced in a press statement the resignation of Alex Saber, Chairman of Publicis Media MENA. The company said in a statement that Alex will leave office end of May. “Alex has played a critical role in the development, growth and success of Publicis Media in the region. He is leaving to start […]

The role of media trader is to buy advertising space to reach on the precise audience only, using a strategy that will help in achieving the company’s digital objectives. The trader uses Real-Time Bidding (RTB) to buy the advertising space. The trader is in charge of optimizing on an hourly/daily basis the campaigns in progress. The […]

By Kelly Ehlers It’s the new “synergy.” It seems that in every pitch meeting and thought leadership piece (including this one!), we’re talking about an omnichannel approach to communications. This often leads to the question, “What does omnichannel even mean?” Let’s dig into what’s behind this trend: Omni-what? Sharing a prefix with popular words such as omnipresent […]

Snapchat has announced partnership with advertising partners for the debut of its new advertising product, Commercials. The Snapchat Commercials are an unskippable, six-second ad unit that are exclusively run on premium partner content called Snapchat Shows. According to the company, TV networks and entertainment studios are reimagining popular series for Snapchat, with shows across entertainment, sport, food […]

By Alex Malouf Is there any company more ubiquitous than Google? The company is everywhere, serving up billions of search engine results every day, powering our phones, helping us with our emails, providing even the directions for us to take. You know you’ve made it when your brand name becomes a verb. Google hasn’t been […]

According to Accenture Technology Vision 2019, an annual report from Accenture, the enterprise is entering a new “post-digital” era, where success will be based on an organization’s ability to master a set of new technologies that can deliver personalized realities and experiences for customers, employees and business partners. This year’s report, under the title  “The […]

Amazon is trying a new way to take its Alexa digital assistant mobile by developing wireless earbuds that mirror Apple’s popular AirPods. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant is readying earbuds with built-in Alexa access for as early as the second half of this year, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The headphones will look and act […]

It’s that time of the year (officially, at least) where one has reason to scare and be scared. So, to spook things up we asked a bunch of people from the agency world to tell us what scares them the most. Here’s what they said: Louise Roberts, managing director, MullenLowe Open            […]

There’s no shortage of skeptics and believers when it comes to blockchain technology, but the biggest question as it applies to digital advertising is pretty basic: What actually makes sense? The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Tech Lab last week revealed details of a Blockchain Working Group pilot program that is designed to answer that question. The […]

The Dubai-based marketing and advertising industry body Advertising Business Group (ABG) has announced its plans to tackle a number of key industry issues and making new appointments during its first AGM. ABG Chair Sanjiv Kakkar, who is Unilever’s executive vice-president across MENA, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, outlined two key initiatives: The first is to […]

In conversation with Pui Chi Li, head of marketing for the Middle East and Africa region of Xerox’s Developing Markets Operations.  What are the challenges you have faced because of being a woman? The transition to a working mother has been one of the greatest challenges to date. Prior to children, I had total control […]

By Waseem Yakdi, CEO, Zia Creative Network Once considered to be incomparable, the relation between creativity and return on marketing investment delivering effective and staggering profitability has now become a new normal in the current advertising scenario. Now, in agencies, planning departments work much more closely with creative departments. Amid economic uncertainty, there is greater […]

By Moe Jawhar, executive creative director of Serviceplan Group ME Advertising during Ramadan can increase your sales and raise your brand awareness if you bear three simple rules in mind. The holy month of Ramadan is with us, so be ready to read multiple articles from many experts discussing its impact on advertising, media consumption, […]

1. What do you love about this industry? I love the speed of change in our industry…it is changing every week. The way we are able to send, receive and capture information about personal messages, business messages and marketing messages is mind boggling. I also love the power of this industry to form and change […]

Mark Zuckerberg faced House lawmakers for the second day in a testimony that lasted, touching on everything from how President Trump’s supporters are treated on Facebook to the way the company gathers data on people who don’t even use its service. Zuckerberg was on Capitol Hill for the second consecutive day to answer questions from […]

Joe Marchese has been vocal about shifting the TV ad marketplace to focus on consumer attention since taking over as head of ad sales at Fox Networks Group less than a year ago. At an recent event hosted by Fox and attended by rival TV executives, high-profile talent, media buyers and marketers, he will begin […]

The role of advertising and media industry role in restoring humanity social, emotional and physical health by Tarek Ayntrazi, CEO, Generation C The advertising industry has a unique opportunity to regain relevance and assert its indispensable role in influencing and regulating the type of content that is funded by advertising dollars. Advertising played a crucial […]

Pinaki Banerjee, global program director, Ipsos Connect UAE on breaking the stereotype and empowering women through advertising Given the role that women play in deciding on the everyday brands used in households, women are central characters in many advertisements. Traditionally in many developing markets, stereotypes were often used to portray the role women played. Most […]

Communicate caught up with Simon Davies, managing director EMEA, Quartz to discuss new media’s approach to advertising Respectful, un-intrusive and relevant. That’s the advertising motto of Quartz. Launched in 2012, the publishing platform describes itself as a “digitally native news outlet for business people in the new global economy.” We caught up with Davies to […]

By Ayman Jaber, digital strategy professional For those who have spent their entire careers in the Middle East, the advertising landscape is a repetitive one. The typical ad exec’s lifecycle consists of an array of two-year-long positions, moving from agency to agency, culminating in either switching over to the marketing side or creating a new […]

By Bjarne O., co-founder and chief visionary officer at Baroque Worldwide We are fortunate to be experiencing a significant paradigm shift, not only in the business world, but also in the entire world. A fundamental change in our view of how we have to think, feel and work in order for our soul and businesses […]

Sometimes advertisements and brand activities seem so bizarre, you can hardly believe it! Table fans that can take you to the moon. Chocolates that let you travel time. A vertical soccer match high in the air, 10 storeys off the ground to be precise. You think that’s impossible? Lo and Behold. Adidas proves nothing is […]

Global marketing and communications group Publicis announced the signing of a strategic partnership with internet giant Tencent earlier this week at the Viva Technology Paris, a leading event devoted to start-ups and innovation.   Tencent, operates popular social and media platforms in China, and this partnership is claimed to be the first of its kind […]

One morning, my daughter came up to me and asked me to write a birthday message on a greeting card she had made for her friend. I told her she could have easily obtained a card from a gift store. Instead, her answer surprised me. She said, “When connections matter, how you communicate counts.” In […]

By Ahmad Abu Zannad, regional strategy director at Leo Burnett MENA When he accepted his honorary 2014 Clio award, Jerry Seinfeld, known for his observational yet sarcastic style, made some interesting observations on the role of advertising in people’s lives. One of the things he said was, “I love advertising because I love lying.” He […]

Open ad management company for multiscreen campaigns, Sizmek, announces its partnership with Future Tech Media, which aims to provide regional advertisers access to ad technology products.  Starting in January 2016, Future Tech Media will become Sizmek’s official partner across the MENA region, utilizing its open technology methodology and data intelligence to help advertisers create cross-platform […]

Let me start by asking you the much-debated question – which came first, the chicken or the egg? Many scientists and researchers have come up with expert theories and explanations, only to contradict each other. An equivalent situation arises in engineering and science, and is known as a circular reference, wherein a parameter is required […]

Publishers can now sell native and mobile video ads programmatically through Google’s DoubleClick, the company said last Friday. The ads can be sold through either DoubleClick’s open auctions or the private marketplaces run by publishers and can appear on websites or apps. The system will soon enable buyers to purchase an ad to run across […]

Pinterest introduced a feature on Monday that allows users to search for products with pictures instead of words. Dubbed visual search, the technology might make searching for that rondeau pot for your kitchen a little easier. For example, a user looking at an image of a living room could zoom in on a lamp and […]

A year after first mooting a subscription model for users wanting to avoid ads, Google announced the launch of YouTube Red on October 21. Costing $9.99 per month, YouTube Red provides subscribers with access to all YouTube videos without ads, as well as original content featuring prominent vloggers such as PewDiePie, Lilly Singh and Joey […]

Google’s YouTube unveiled a paid version of its video-sharing service, a new source of revenue for parent company Alphabet Inc. as the Internet giant tries to make the website more profitable and fend off competition from other premium content sites. The new service, called YouTube Red, will cost $9.99 a month and is available beginning […]

Whether an agency calls its work environment its “culture”, “dynamic”, or “DNA”, creative industries have tried to set the bar high when it comes to adding incentives beyond salary and generic benefits packages. As Sasan Saeidi, FP7 UAE’s managing director, says, “This industry is very demanding, especially in this part of the world where things […]

Communicate is proud to announce the publication of it’s first book, which will be released along with the magazine’s October issue. De-Commoditizing the Ad Industry: How Ad Agencies Can Reinvent Themselves and Enjoy Exponential Growth is the first piece in a special collection series from Communicate and it’s publisher, Mediaquest. Penned by Leo Burnett MENA’s […]

If marketers are surprised today by how much more automated ad-buying costs than traditional methods, they have a new state of shock and awe ahead of them, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said Wednesday in a talk during Advertising Week. “Advertising is going to get exponentially more expensive,” Armstrong said. That’s because every time e-commerce makes another purchase […]

Global media agency Starcom Mediavest Group (SMG) just announced a corporate rebranding initiative. Alex Saber, chairman of Starcom Mediavest Group MENA and VivaKi MENA, explains the reasons behind the company’s latest global refurbishment and the effect it will have on its MENA operations. Velocity marketing was a core reason behind the makeover, as Saber explains: “We […]

“Welcome to a commercial for Hulu’s new commercial-free option,” intones an elegant, bespectacled gentleman in a new TV spot. He’s sitting in a wingback chair with a thick book on his lap; there’s a roaring fireplace to his right, a teapot on a table to his left. “And now we’re reading from the dictionary,” he declares […]

I was in a pitch today and digital was dominating the entire conversation. Clients were engaged, the presented material was mind-blowing and the client was ready to allocate his entire budget to digital. After the pitch, this client’s plan was to move the digital investment from 15 percent to 40 percent and to drop investments in TV […]

The advertising industry is filled with a wide range of characters. They are often stereotypical and some of them need to be alleviated. From idealistic creatives to hardcore finance people, there are numerous classifications of advertising staff. But how does one look beyond stereotypes and reach equilibrium? After years of working with recruiters in the advertising industry, there […]

The power of Apple is rarely in the new technology it brings to the market, but the new behaviors it popularizes. From mobile payments to near-field communication, MP3 players to smartphones, Apple is rarely first to market — but with its brand, vast market share, swelling coffers and ability to make the complex seem simple, […]

Recently, a small survey pushed out by Communicate in a effort to get a pulse on the MENA region’s PR industry showed that the region’s PR professionals believe that Instagram is the social media platform with the greatest potential. The platform seems rather self-aware of its potential, as recent news is saturated with details of Instagram’s latest […]

As the digital media and advertising industries come to grips with the rise of ad blocking, so is one of the industry’s more prominent organizing bodies. A month before Apple revealed in June that later this year it would enable ad blocking on its mobile Safari browser, the Interactive Advertising Bureau broached the topic during its board […]

The Washington Post, a daily American newspaper announces the appointment of IAS Media to lead the sales of international advertising in the MENA region. Currently, available on numerous media platforms including worldwide web, social and mobile, The Washington Post reaches over 54.4 million online unique global visitors. “We are extremely proud and excited of this new partnership with […]

The Twitter Publisher Network (TPN) was launched by the company last year to help advertisers connect with their audiences beyond traditional Twitter engagement using measurement, targeting and creative tools through mobile apps. This product has been tested and Twitter has taken the feedback gained to expand the TPN to include the Twitter Audience Platform. Through […]

At first glance, marketing and advertising seem to be different terms to describe the same thing: getting a product or service sold. In fact, although they both contribute to the same end objective, they are distinct from each other and each has its own process. Understanding the difference between marketing and advertising will help you […]

Providing employee ownership is one of the most important ways to satisfy creative cravings and independence. Do not give them too much direction; instead, let your employees know that they are the main owners of the task at hand.  That feeling of ‘ownership’ will boost their creativity as they look for new ways to indulge […]

  Find your ideal audience Young Millennials and mothers are important customers for a wide range of brands this Ramadan season. Historically, we also find that most brands value social influencers and entertainment enthusiasts and reaching them effectively means achieving marketing objectives. Young Millennials are the largest consumer segment in the world today with over […]

Innovation is hard because ‘solving problems people didn’t know they had’ and ‘building something no one needs’ look identical at first,” said Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of enterprise cloud company, Box. While advertising may be able to do the latter, we’re not sure how good it is at the former. That’s probably why we’ve […]

Ben Maher, executive director for EMEA at Mashable, spoke at the first-ever Festival of Media MENA held in April this year on the topic of mobile. On the stage, Maher laid down a challenge for creative agencies to become device agnostic so their campaigns can work across devices and formats. Intrigued by the challenge and […]

Blast off Upon the launch of Criteo’s new Dubai office, coming this summer, the company’s presence was felt at the recent ArabNet, where Communicate got to chat with Gregory Gazagne, executive vice president of EMEA with Criteo. The performance marketing technology company has had a remote presence in Dubai since 2012, but with a local […]

MediaCom has been recognized as the world’s leading media agency by RECMA, the independent research organization charged with the in-depth assessment of global media agency network performance. The results were published this week in RECMA’s authoritative Network Diagnostics report, with MediaCom ahead of Carat, OMD and Starcom across 19 qualitative metrics designed to measure agency […]

Headquartered out of Colorado in the US, ICOM Network refers to itself as the “world’s largest network of independent advertising and marketing communications agencies spanning more than 65 countries”. The brand recognition of ICOM Network in the MENA region is quite slim. This could be due in part to the fact that ICOM is only […]

In an era of multi-device ownership, the opportunity to identify, engage, acquire and retain customers more efficiently and effectively across multiple digital devices, sounds great for brands, doesn’t it? Brands can even track consumers as they switch connection points from WiFi to 3G, or from a personal hotspot to a dongle. So why isn’t cross-device […]

Communicate chats with International Advertising Association’s (IAA) UAE chapter President, Hani Ghorayeb for an insider’s perspective on the local talent pool as well as what initiatives he believes should be taken, going forward, to promote the industry. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the local talent pool? Over the years, I have seen the […]

The role of women in Saudi Arabian society is undergoing a subtle but steady change. More women are working – not just in the private and public sectors – but also running their own businesses. In 2012, two Saudi women, judo-player Wojdan Shaherkani, and 800-meter runner, Sarah Attar, participated in the Olympics for the first […]

The Network Communication Group (TNCG) houses four agencies under it: AGA-ADK that is probably best described as a creative agency, Pencell PR & Events, digital agency Wetpaint and media agency Equation Media. Yet, it seems that the group and its agencies are rather quiet, whether that’s on the awards front or hosting and participating in […]

  **Statutory warning: This article contains the words “stereotype” and “cliché” a number of times and there are only so many synonyms we could find. In 2013, Raha Moharrak became the first Saudi woman to conquer Mount Everest. In 2014, Major Mariam Al Mansouri became the first female F-16 fighter pilot in the United Arab […]

BUZZEFF launches its first online video advertising campaign reaching the market of Nigeria for its strategic customer Kaymu.com, to promote online shopping community services to Nigerians internet users. Buzzeff’s continental expansion started in 2012 from North Africa to the Middle East and now in 2015, it moves to sub-Saharan regions. Buzzeff recently released Kaymu (Africa InternetGroup) video advertising. […]

Exponential Interactive, digital advertising specialist, has launched a new pricing model for online video ads to help advertisers and publishers to make it easier to buy and sell video advertising. Called CPME, it’s a hybrid model combining the best of the current CPM (cost per thousand) and CPE (cost per engagement) pricing models. CPME works […]

While being unemployed might lead some to despair and frustration, others find inspiration in this frustration. Clearly, Lebanese ad man Omar Boustany belongs to the latter category. After working for 14 years in the regional advertising industry, Boustany left his position as creative director at Havas Dubai a year ago, and remains unemployed till today. […]

Joe Maari, director of digital strategy at OMD, on how ad blockers affect digital media and the advertising industry. I’ve been using the Adblock Plus plugin on my Firefox browser (yes, I don’t use Chrome) since it released version one, years ago. I do have a few excluded websites like Facebook and popular news and […]

In a move designed to meet the growing needs of current and future clients in Qatar, OMD has officially launched operations in the country with a new office in Doha. Until now, the communications planning network was servicing its portfolio of Qatari clients from Lower Gulf in Dubai. The decision to open a local operation comes after the […]

Usually, around this time of the year, some colleagues and I peer into our crystal balls to predict the year ahead in media and advertising across the MENA region. This year, I’m taking a slightly different approach. Without a doubt, I will peruse the countless predictions and forecasts, discussing with others what they mean for […]

As international and local media digressed into the infrastructural and economic implications of Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid win in November 2013 – which, according to an infographic released by Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) MENA in early 2014, generated some 161,525 tweets, of which 118,083 were congratulatory and 82 percent were on announcement day – the […]

Xaxis, a global programmatic media and technology platform, announces the official launch of operations at their new MENA branch. With the regional headquarters in Dubai, Xaxis MENA will help advertisers with multi-channel, programmatic campaigns. The debut of Xaxis introduces the MENA region to a second-screen solution, Xaxis Sync, through which advertisers can sync their TV […]

Digital monitoring agency OOX has added Alrai Media Group Kuwait to the list of local and international publishers using the OOXmonitor service. In 2004, Alrai Newspaper merged with Alrai TV to form Alrai Media Group. Soon after forming, the Group introduced alraimedia.com. “Given Alrai’s reputation as a leading publishing house in Kuwait on print, TV and now online, […]

To mark the 100-year anniversary of the Coca-Cola bottle, the company is celebrating with a year-long campaign that includes new advertising, a music anthem and a series of art exhibits featuring works from some of the world’s leading contemporary artists including Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Peter Blake. On Nov, 16 1915, the bottle was […]

The Gunn Report for Media, the global evaluation of media creativity, innovation and effectiveness, has today released its 2014 Media Report, summarizing the overall media performance in the year January to December 2014 based on the results of the most important global, regional and national Media creative award contests spanning 42 markets. Highlights from the […]

In an industry where there is never a shortage of funny stories about ludicrous requests made by clients, isn’t it strange that we rarely ever hear an agency’s response to such requests? Could it be that our responses are simply drowned out by the roars of laughter after hearing the “make the logo bigger” story for […]

  The second session of the IAA Debates was held at the IAA premises on May 18, with industry leaders presenting their views on the subject:“Who Should Lead: Media or Brand Agencies?” The panel, which was made up of industry leaders, Tarek Miknas, CEO at FP7; John Antoniades, CEO at Starcom Mediavest Group; and, Fadi […]

While the economic crisis pulls Jordan’s advertising industry underwater, digital is saving it from drowning Back in June 2011, Communicate Levant’s cover story about Jordan was predicting a bright online future for the kingdom. To a certain extent, it has been proven right: the Internet penetration rate that was hovering at 27 percent then, reached […]