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Search Results for : Communicate

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Industry
February 25, 2021
The Changes In Media Consumption Around The World
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Industry
February 25, 2021
New Research Shows Popularity And Reach of YouTube in UAE And Saudi Arabia
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Industry
February 25, 2021
No Title
man
People
February 24, 2021
George Maktabi : "The Level of Gaming In The Kingdom Is So Evolved"
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Industry
February 23, 2021
The Value of Chatbots In Delivering a Great Customer Experience
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People
February 22, 2021
Meet Ines Blanfuney
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Industry
February 22, 2021
The State of Influencer Marketing In 2021
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Industry
February 21, 2021
Broadcast TV Spend Fell $34bn Worldwide In 2020 According to New Data by WARC
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Industry
February 21, 2021
Let's Talk About Substack
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Industry
February 21, 2021
Youtube Shorts Will Be Launching Next Month
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People
February 19, 2021
Edmond Moutran Has Passed Away
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People
February 18, 2021
AR As the Next Step for Outdoor
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Industry
February 18, 2021
Pay Attention to These Trends In 2021
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Industry
February 17, 2021
The Agents That Will Influence Online Commerce In 2021 and Beyond
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Industry
February 16, 2021
52% of Internet Users in the UAE Use Social Media Platforms to Research About Brands
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People
February 15, 2021
What We Learned From The Latest State of Podcast Industry Report
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People
February 15, 2021
Mullen Lowe Raises Awareness On a Grave Issue
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People
February 14, 2021
Streamlining Video Streaming
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People
February 14, 2021
Hussein Kandil: "Hardees' First Complete Rebrand in More than Three Decades Comes as We Seek to Reinvent Ourselves For Generation Z"
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Facebook Hub
Masterminds
February 11, 2021
How Memac Ogilvy and Lexus Built a Seamless Online Car-Buying Experience with Facebook
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Industry
December 17, 2020
Collaboration: the Key Creativity Accelerator?
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Industry
October 04, 2020
Audio Marketing: Are You Ready to Talk the Walk?
Industry
July 05, 2020 The Truth About Programmatic

Communicate‘s latest issue is out. This quarter, we explore the intricacies of programmatic advertising. Deep-diving into this complex world, we look into the various stakeholders and how they interact, the issues that this growing industry faces – from ad fraud to the phasing out of the third-party cookie – and what the future has in […]

Ad Fraud
LEAD with ABG
June 08, 2020 ABG and Mediaquest Launch LEAD Initiative

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

Culture
October 10, 2019 When Art Is Controversial

What is art? Is art a concept or an object? Who decides: the artist, the critic or the public? These questions have fueled discussions for decades, as this selection shows. Each has had some effect on the global art scene and has driven it forward. Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, 1917Widely seen as Duchamp’s most famous […]

Industry
October 09, 2019 Decoding Subconscious Metaphors

By Erhan Ecevit Today everyone who works in consumer insight business knows it’s getting difficult to get to the key insight that will differentiate brands in the marketplace. In traditional market research, we tend to ask consumers what they do, when, where, why? We ask them but then are they saying the truth? or maybe […]

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OMD Corner
OMD Corner
October 06, 2019
Saleh Ghazal On Managing Multi-Country Teams
Industry
October 03, 2019 Challenges and Opportunities In The Communication Industry

By Sarah Longbottom There have never been so many challenges facing the communications industry. Technology, AI, diminished brand trust, balancing truth with public interest, and the impact of social corporate responsibility are just a few of the key issues the industry is grappling with today. This industry is tasked with identifying current and future challenges […]

Industry
October 03, 2019 The Power Of Visualization

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde is on a mission to upscale the conversation about humans’ future. Instead of focusing on what people know scares them, Roosegaarde creates projects that tickle humans’ curiosity about the future, by merging technology and art in urban environments. His Roosegaarde Studio constantly comes up with a stream of innovative creations, such as the Smog Free Project, that […]

Culture
October 01, 2019 The Curious World Of Memes

Memes are more than a fad. They have become legitimate means of expression, communi- cating an entire cultural idea or theme in a singlevisual (words, sounds, pictures, gestures, etc.) and spreading from person to person. Originally coined in 1976 by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins to describe the cultural counterpart of a gene, the term ‘meme’ […]

Industry
September 30, 2019 Saudi Tourism Trends To Be Analyzed At MEPRA Majlis In Riyadh

By Elias Jabbe The Middle East Public Relations Association will host its inaugural Leadership Majlis in Saudi Arabia on October 21 at the Hyatt Regency Riyadh Olaya after several editions in Abu Dhabi. According to a press release distributed by MEPRA Executive Director Sabrina De Palma, the UAE-based nonprofit is dedicating the KSA MEPRA Leadership […]

Industry
September 29, 2019 Ad Exchanges Spend $235 Million On Disinformation Websites

In a study published, recently, by the London based Global Disinformation Index (GDI), an estimated $235 million is spent annually on websites that are designed to mislead the public and spread disinformation. The advertisers do not necessarily know the business practice of the websites. The study analyzed programmatic advertising on 20,000 misinforming domains around the web. […]

Industry
September 26, 2019 Only The Brave Will Reap The Benefits Of Creativity

By Leo Premutico There’s an old saying in screenwriting: If you want to reveal the truth of a character, dial up the pressure and force him or her to make a choice. Well, it seems a choice is being forced upon our industry, and I think it’s a great thing. A recent Forrester report, “The […]

Culture
September 26, 2019 Exploring Creativity Through Arts

Built on the Jaddaf Waterfront in Dubai, the Jameel Arts Center is an independent initiative that aims to act as a dynamic platform fostering dialogue between the many contemporary art players in the UAE, the Middle East and South Asia. Founded in November 2018 by Art Jameel (an organization that supports artists and creative communities), […]

Industry
September 23, 2019 Using Social Media For Signs Of Distress!

Embrace, an awareness support network based in Lebanon, has partnered with the social media giant Facebook to support the ongoing campaign “Talking Saves Lives.”  The campaign  has been developed to mark the Embrace Lifeline (1564)- which is the first suicide prevention helpline in Lebanon and the Middle East. “A lot of people resort to social […]

Industry
September 23, 2019 ON.DXB For Media

Dubai Media City has announced the launch of ON.DXB, which is a new regional festival that is designed to support industry growth and talent development in the media, entertainment and content development industries.  The inaugural ON.DXB will take place at the Sound Stages in Dubai Studio City from 21 – 23 November and will feature […]

Industry
September 17, 2019 Online Video To Reach 100 Minutes A Day in 2021

In its fifth edition, Zenith’s Online Video Forecasts 2019  report, it is forecasted that the average person will spend 100 minutes each day watching online video in 2021, which is up from 84 minutes this year, In other words, that’s the equivalent of watching 25 continuous days of video in 2021. “The amount of time people […]

Culture
September 15, 2019 Why Creativity?

The September print edition of Communicate is out this week, giving an in-depth look at creativity. There are many reasons why we chose to focus on this topic. First, whether society defines creativity as a way of life, a scientific mechanism or even some sort of magic, it is a phenomenon that makes our lives more […]

Culture
August 28, 2019 More Netflix Movies in Theaters

Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” which stars Robert De Niro, and Al Pacino and produced by Netflix, will appear in theaters few weeks before the movie makes its debut on the streaming website. This announcement comes months after negotiations between Netflix and major theatre chains in the U.S. This move is described by some as Netflix […]

Industry
August 27, 2019 Snap Adds New Updates to Lens Studio

Snap Inc. has announced today Lens 2.1, a new update to Lens Studio, Snap’s lens app makes it possible for anyone to build Augmented Reality (AR)  for Snapchat. Lens Studio is an open platform to all  creators, advertisers, designers and others.  “This means that partners and advertisers may use Lens Studio to create Lenses that […]

Industry
August 18, 2019 AI Reflects The Biases Of Its Creators

Last February at the World Government Summit 2019 in Dubai, Christine Lagarde, the first woman managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), sat in front of her audience and gave them some news: “AI and the fourth industrial revolution will have a more severe impact on women than men,” she told the crowd, explaining […]

Industry
August 07, 2019 Why Google Is Looking For New Search Providers In The EU

After it was fined a record-breaking $5 billion for not following antitrust laws in the EU, search giant Google recently announced that, starting early 2020, Android users in Europe will see a new choice screen allowing them to choose between four search providers, including itself.  “Next year, we’ll introduce a new way for Android users […]

Industry
August 06, 2019 Can’t Buy Me Likes!

By Ethan Jakob Craft After a trial run in Canada that’s been ongoing since May, Instagram announced on July 17 that it would be hiding publicly visible likes from users in six additional countries—Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand—in the name of shifting away from the app’s emphasis on popularity. And while its […]

Industry
July 31, 2019 Capital One Data Breach Raises Questions Over Tech Companies’ Security

In the latest of big data beaches, bank holding company, Capital One Financial Corporation, released a statement discussing a breach in their database. The breach has allowed an unauthorized individual to gain access to  sensitive information of millions of their customers. Capital One stocks went down by 5.73 percent in response to the incident on […]

Industry
July 30, 2019 Faking the future?

Fake news may be a top concern for media, politics and society in general, but they’re only the first stage in another worrisome development. Indeed, when the reality of fake news exploded into public view with the 2016 US presidential elections, the concept of invented information created and disseminated to purposefully confuse, manipulate and/or polarize […]

Industry
July 29, 2019 The Art Of Benefiting From Other Brands’ Misfortunes

By Halley Theodore There’s a German word, schadenfreude, that describes one of our basest, yet most satisfying, emotions. Quite simply, schadenfreude is the pleasure we take in the misfortune of others. (Schaden = damage, and freude = joy). It has no real equivalent in English. Off-brand Muppets sang about the joys of schadenfreude in the musical […]

Industry
July 24, 2019 Snapchat Attracts 13 Million New Daily Users

Snapchat added 13 million daily users in a breakout second quarter, thanks to the viral explosion of a pair of augmented-reality filters that pulled in more than 200 million users in just two weeks. It’s a significant boost in traffic that has renewed the company’s credibility with advertisers, who are starting to pile into the platform. On Tuesday, Snapchat shared its second-quarter results, reporting […]

Industry
July 24, 2019 Feasting On The Five Layers Of Innovation

By Ana Andjelic  Alan Turing, WWII-code-breaker and precursor of artificial intelligence, is the new face of the UK’s 50-pound “note” (bill). The entire thing is noteworthy, but most captivating are Turing’s words inscribed on the note: “this is only a foretaste of what is to come and only the shadow of what’s going to be.” This […]

Industry
July 23, 2019 Data Protection Law 2019: DIFC Evolution

By Sharvari Alape The DIFC Data Protection Law No. 1 of 2007 is due to be modified soon with the new proposed Data Protection Law [2019] draft being circulated for consultation.  The GDPR’s replica effect globally has led many state institutions to review their data protection laws. Various  jurisdictions in the region are re-evaluating their […]

People
July 21, 2019 Book Review: Overthrow II Will Inspire A New Breed Of Challenger Brands

By Luca Allam Adam Morgan coined the term ‘challenger brand’ in his 2009 publication Eating the Big Fish and co-authored PHD’s 2012 book, Overthrow: 10 ways to tell a challenger story. Both books explained the traits of the different challenger attitudes and illustrated how to embrace their behaviors. In many ways, they made it easier to […]

Industry
July 14, 2019 CoPHEE Safeguards Encrypted Data?

By Afreen Khan  Researchers at the New York University (NYU) Abu Dhabi have designed a microprocessor that provides data privacy using cryptography. The project which is the first of its kind, works on protecting data from leakage, with an aim to limit the threats and vulnerabilities.  The team behind CoPHEE, the microprocessor, is led by […]

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LEAD with ABG
February 24, 2021
Nishe Consulting Appointed Auditors for UAE Media Measurement RFP Process
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Industry
February 22, 2021
The Emerging Trends Shaping the Future of Brands in Saudi Arabia
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Industry
February 21, 2021
Get Your Ultimate Entertainment Experience
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
February 14, 2021
Rotana Audio Visual Appoints Choueiri Group's Digital Media Services (DMS) - KSA, as its Exclusive Advertising Media Representative
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Industry
February 10, 2021
Five Ways SMBs Can Scale Up Their TikTok Campaigns While Maintaining a Solid ROI
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People
February 10, 2021
MCN Announces Karim Slim as New Regional Managing Director at MRM
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Industry
February 09, 2021
IPG Mediabrands’ Latest Media Responsibility Index Proves Top Platforms Have Responded Favorably to Network's Media Responsibility Push
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Industry
February 09, 2021
Google Calls on Arab Internet Users To do a Privacy Check
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
February 04, 2021
Choueiri Group’s C-Media Appointed as Exclusive Media Representative for Al-Nahar TV and Al-Nahar Drama Channels
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LEAD with ABG
Transparency in Influencer Marketing
February 03, 2021
New LEAD Engagement Targets Lack of Transparency in Influencer Marketing in UAE
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
February 03, 2021
Abu Dhabi Media Appoints Choueiri Group’s Media Sat As its Exclusive Advertising Media Representative
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
February 02, 2021
E-Commerce and the Future of Effectiveness in KSA and the UAE
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People
January 31, 2021
Omnicom Media Group MENA Appoints Luca Allam as Chief Executive Officer of PHD MENA
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Culture
January 28, 2021
Google Arts & Culture Helps Preserve Maslawi Cultural Landmarks Using Technology
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Industry
January 25, 2021
McDonald’s RICC Strengthens Partnership with MEmob+
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People
January 21, 2021
How 180 MENA Aims to Be Part of the Region's Culture of Progress
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Industry
January 20, 2021
The Right Message, for the Right Audience, at the Right Time and in the Right Place
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Industry
January 20, 2021
Ogilvy Names David Fox as CEO Middle East and North Africa
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People
January 20, 2021
The Effects of the Pandemic on Customer-Brand Interactions
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People
January 18, 2021
A Deeper Look at the Surging E-Gift Cards Market
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Industry
January 17, 2021
Global Creative Agency 180 Launches Middle East and North Africa Hub
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Industry
January 14, 2021
Dentsu Brings iProspec and Vizeum Brands Together
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Industry
January 14, 2021
The TikTok Year in Review, Celebrating 2020 Creative Excellence in MENA
Industry
January 13, 2021 W7Worldwide and Bupa Arabia Advise Healthcare Companies to Communicate Now
Bupa Arabia and W7Worldwide release guide to bolster healthcare companies' brand reputation during the pandemic.
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Industry
December 22, 2020
TikTok For Business Launches Ads Academy in MENA
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
December 21, 2020
Newly Appointed Chief Growth Officer at “CG Digital” and New COO Appointed at DMS
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People
December 20, 2020
The Role of Education in the Marketing Industry
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Industry
December 20, 2020
Epica Awards 2020 Winners Announced
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People
December 17, 2020
Majid Al Ibrahim Appointed MBC GROUP Board Representative and Sam Barnett as the New CEO
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People
December 15, 2020
How did Businesses Perform During the Peak Period in E-commerce in MENA?
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
December 13, 2020
Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) Renews its Media Representation Contract with Choueiri Group’s MEMS
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People
December 10, 2020
Manuel Bordé Promoted to Global Chief Creative Officer of Geometry/VMLY&R COMMERCE
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People
December 10, 2020
Emirates Airline and Visa’s Mohammed Ismaeel Crowned Winners at Inaugural GCC Awards from The Marketing Society
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People
December 09, 2020
Twitter Announces #BestofTweets 2020 in MENA
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Industry
December 08, 2020
#ThisHappened on Twitter in 2020
People
December 07, 2020 Marketing and Communications During the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Iman Ghorayeb speaks about the changes that are here to stay in the B2B marketing and communications sector.
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People
December 07, 2020
Mazen Hayek Leaves MBC Group to Pursue New Opportunities
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Facebook Hub
Masterminds
December 06, 2020
Facebook Brings Marketing Partners Program for Agencies to MENA
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People
November 30, 2020
OMG MENA Appoints Maroun Hassoun as Regional General Manager of OMD MENA
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
November 24, 2020
🎧 UAE Music Lovers Speak Out: Why Being Local Matters to Them
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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
November 22, 2020
How Did the Pandemic Impact Retail in KSA?
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People
November 17, 2020
Viya App Uses Technology To Get Back to Basics
Industry
November 08, 2020 Brand Ripplr Changing the Game in the Influencer Marketing Space
Brand Ripplr, a state-of-the-art influencer marketing platform based in the UAE making a big splash in the influencer marketing sector, has just secured $1million Series A investment from the Dubai Angel Investors and other individual investors.
People
November 04, 2020 A Conversation with Netizency’s Fadi Khater on Winning TikTok

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 […]

People
October 25, 2020 Adapting to the New Normal: Video Content Strategy after Covid-19
Justina Rude, Co-Founder of video production company Evamotion, provides tips on how brands can scale up their marketing efforts to create compelling, inspiring, and actionable videos.
Industry
October 13, 2020 Arab News Launches Research and Studies Unit

New department will commission papers and host expert debates, policy briefings by high-level officials. Arab News, the Middle East’s leading English-language daily, has announced the establishment of a new Research and Studies Unit (RSU). Based at the newspaper’s headquarters in Riyadh, the new unit will deliver thought-provoking studies written by a team of acclaimed resident […]

Industry
October 06, 2020 Arab News Correspondent Hosts “Special Election Coverage” on Detroit radio

The Arab News Newspaper, the leading English language newspaper of the Middle East with bureaus in Chicago and New York, is sponsoring a special weekly radio program “The Ray Hanania Show” on the U.S. elections hosted by Arab News US Correspondent Ray Hanania. “The Ray Hanania Show” is brought to you by the Arab News […]

Industry
October 01, 2020 How Four Brands Connected with the #SaudiNationalDay2020 Conversation on Twitter

In recent years, #SaudiNationalDay has been a key conversation topic on Twitter. In fact, the Saudi flag emoji was tweeted 27 million times globally in the past year (1 Sept 2019 – 1 Sept 2020, Twitter Internal). With more audiences turning to the platform – marking the highest ever quarterly year-over-year mDAU (monetizable daily active […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
September 29, 2020 Pierre Choueiri Issues his First Comments on the Non-Renewal of the Partnership Between MBC Group and AMS FZ LLC
Tackling the non-renewal of the partnership between MBC Group and AMS FZ LLC after nearly 16 years of sustained commercial growth, Pierre Choueiri: “We’re proud of the mutual trust, record growth and shared successes with MBC Group, over 16 years. New partnerships with top industry players in perspective.”
People
September 24, 2020 Sign of the Times

While brands and advertisers claim to place inclusivity at the top of their agenda, they often fail to engage with communities with hearing impairments, rarely including sign language options in their campaigns. However, some organizations are recognizing the problem and strive to find a solution. Alwaleed Philanthropies, an NGO chaired by HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin […]

Industry
September 10, 2020 Explore the MENA Programmatic Maze
Who does what in the regional programmatic ecosystem? Communicate maps it out for you.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
September 08, 2020 Research on Advertising Perception – Intensive Hair Care Category
Choueiri Group’s Data Team has prepared another research series focused on the “Intensive Hair Care” category in KSA and how advertisers can benefit from key insights and staying on top of their consumers’ expectations and preferences. This week’s particular remit takes a closer look at “advertising perceptions” surrounding the category and how fresh insights can help brands to unearth untapped audience segments or behaviors, which could potentially fuel their communication plans.
Industry
September 06, 2020 Given lemons? Make lemonade

 Rahul Agarwal, VP Product Partnerships at digital media technology provider Polar, explains the opportunity for programmatic advertising in the pandemic crisis. Programmatic advertising, like every other industry, has not been immune to the negative effects of the current pandemic. As countries around the world were locking down their economies in the beginning of Q2, brands […]

Culture
September 02, 2020 Je Suis Beyrouth – I am Beirut – انا بیروت

Designed and created by UAE-based, Beirut-born Indian Mohana Rao to stand in solidarity with the people of Beirut, the concept and artistry of the ‘Je Suis Beyrouth’ motto reflect the majestic Lebanese evergreen cedar tree topped by an endlessly burning guiding, luminous flame. Together with the UAE’s Red Crescent and in collaboration with the Lebanese […]

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People
September 02, 2020
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OTT vs TV
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
August 26, 2020 Brands Can Now Get Behind Disney Soundtracks On Anghami

Anghami, the regions largest and most loved streaming service, announced today a new collaboration with The Walt Disney Company Middle East in which brands are able to reach millions of consumers through various branding and media solutions alongside hit Disney movie soundtracks.

Industry
August 26, 2020 It’s Sound Logic

By Sachin Mendonca, Strategy Director at Geometry MENA. Every brand is fighting for their share of attention online, against the backdrop of a limitless pool of exciting content that’s constantly growing. Yet, we find that the behavior of spending time around a single piece of content decreases by the minute. There’s simply too much [content] […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
August 20, 2020 What Are ‘Zoomers’ in the Region Watching?
Continuing to take a closer look at how the Covid-19 Pandemic has given rise to an entirely new and very significant TV audience – GEN Z “Zoomers” – in the MENA region, AETOSWire’s latest research piece (powered by Choueiri Group’s Data Team) identifies the most popular content (Top 5 Series) which this audience segment has been tuning into. With media consumption on the rise and TV viewership in particular soaring to new heights, this information is aimed at benefiting brands seeking the most impactful advertising and sponsorship opportunities which TV can deliver today.
Industry
August 19, 2020 The Top 10 Audience Data Insights You Need to Customize and Convert Your Content

While marketeers understand their target market holds the key to business success, they sometimes miss the mark when it comes to engaging them. If a brand fails to add value through personalized touchpoints, then, in the words of Arianna Grande, it’s “Thank you, next!” With today’s digital economy characterized by disruption, customized communication is not […]

Industry
August 17, 2020 The Four Pillars of Sustainable Marketing

By Rohit Jaiswal, COO, Dabur International Ltd If you prefer a brand because it is ethically sourced, locally produced or it contains components made from recycled material, then you are a consumer that values sustainable solutions. Sustainable marketing enables a company to build relationships with consumers, by letting them know they are important to the […]

Industry
August 16, 2020 How to Tell Effective Stories Through E-Commerce Today

By Darren Hodgkin, CEO of PPMG A website is more than a window to your store. In 2020 it is your store; as important as your brick and mortar, stand, or stall. For web-only brands, it is the one sales environment they have and as crucial as the products they sell. While visual merchandising tells […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
July 28, 2020
Gen Z Is On TV All Over The World
Industry
July 28, 2020 Gen Z Is On TV All Over The World

The latest research installment powered by Choueiri Group’s data team takes a closer look at how the Covid-19 crisis has brought about a significant surge in TV viewership for Gen Z “Zoomers” around the globe. The findings serve to inspire regional brands to tap into the wide spectrum of marketing opportunities that TV can deliver […]

Industry
July 23, 2020 Gaming Up Content

Gaming has become one of the most profitable entertainment spaces in recent years but brands in the region have yet to dig into it. Why? Haven’t you heard? Since last September, French couture powerhouse Louis Vuitton has been designing outfits for Riot Games’ free-to-play video game League of Legends’ virtual characters. What’s more, Louis Vuitton […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
July 14, 2020
Gen Z is on TV – Discover our Latest Insights
Ad Fraud
LEAD with ABG
July 09, 2020 The Cost of Ad Fraud is Predicted to Hit $87 Billion by 2022. Here’s How to Fight Back

“Fraudsters will take money from wherever they can get it, and if you’re not paying attention they’re going to take it from you,” said Dr Augustine Fou during an interactive discussion on ad fraud organized by the Advertising Business Group (ABG).

Culture
June 28, 2020 A day in the life of…

Cortlan McManus, Head of Content Practice at Publicis Media. I work with great people who inspire me to be better than I would be myself. I get my hands dirty in <code> to think of internal products that allow us to make better products for our clients. We think about people – their problems – […]

Industry
June 22, 2020 Tackling Fraud and Waste with Blockchain

Nadim Karam, Senior Director – Planning at Hearts & Science, explains how blockchain brings scalable trust to the digital marketing industry. It is no secret that the digital marketing ecosystem is riddled with complexities and inefficiencies. In fact, fraud and waste within digital marketing have been doubling every two years on average, and there are […]

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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
June 21, 2020
Ramadan 2020 – How Consumers in MENA Adapted to the Unusual
Industry
June 17, 2020 From the Small Screen to the Silver Screen

Saba Omaish, OSN’s Head of Marketing, explains how the MENA broadcaster challenges us on TikTok to keep our eyes peeled for the world’s best entertainment. What do you do when you have a massive list of amazing TV shows and movies to watch and only 24 hours in a day to watch them in? Keep […]

Industry
June 07, 2020 How TikTok Engaged Users to Celebrate Ramadan’s Values

Rami Zeidan, Head of Video and Creative at TikTok, explains how the platform’s creative community united to come up with virtual Ramadan traditions during Covid-19. The holy month of Ramadan has always been a time of togetherness marked by reflection, gratitude, charity. This year, with social distancing measures in place, universally-enjoyed Ramadan traditions were, in […]

Industry
June 07, 2020 How Brands Celebrated Ramadan 2020 on Twitter in MENA

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 […]

Industry
June 02, 2020 Mind Over Market

Rajat Kaura, Head of Creative Strategy at Radix Media MENA, explains how mindfulness can increase a brand’s share of voice thanks to its relevance and impact on the consumer’s life.  Jack Kornfield, American author and Buddhism practitioner, once told a tale of his Buddhist master out on a walk with his students. They came across […]

Industry
May 31, 2020 The Spotify Experience

Digital Advertising Specialist Chris Gregory-Pasha reflects on what the Joe Rogan deal really means for the future of podcasts on Spotify. Hands up who only started listening to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast during lockdown and quarantine? Me too (I typed that one-handed). Spotify announced recently that it has entered into a multi-year, rumored to […]

Culture
May 25, 2020 A New Culture

Hearts and Science’s Sonia John (left), Associate Director – Digital Transformation, and Achrafe Mami (right), Associate Director – Biddable Media, discuss the future of company culture and their five key work-from-home learnings. 1. Work-life balance: Start your day with the right intentions Achrafe Mami:  When I initially started working from home, I was determined to […]

Industry
May 24, 2020 How Does KFC’s New Blockchain Program Work?

KFC launches an innovative blockchain program for its digital advertising and media buying, making it the first QSR (Quick service restaurant) brand in the region to do so. Communicate got a chance to speak with Ozge Zoralioglu, Chief Marketing Officer at KFC, to learn more about this new step, and what it means for the digital media buying […]

Industry
May 21, 2020 Welcoming a Cookie-less Future

Jessica Usenbor, Platforms & Capabilities – Programmatic Lead at OMG, explains how Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies will in fact help the industry go back to basics. The deprecation of the third-party cookie is an opportunity for advertising to get back to its essence and focus on its core objective: to build customer trust […]

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Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
May 20, 2020
Reaffirming the Performance and Power of TV
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
May 19, 2020 Reflecting On An Unusual Ramadan
The Choueiri Group’s data team examines how the Covid-19 pandemic is impacting the lives of Arabs in the UAE and KSA during the holy month of Ramadan. From the evident shifts in Ramadan activities to restrained and new spending habits- the research also focuses on consumer mindsets, once the lockdown begins to ease. The ongoing research initiative is aimed at supporting regional brands during the current crisis and equipping brand custodians with a better understanding of their audiences.
Programmatic
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
May 18, 2020 Empowering the MENA Programmatic Ecosystem
Bruno Bianchini, Head of Global Partnerships MENA at Google, talks buying models, challenges, opportunities and solutions for a growing programmatic landscape in the region.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
May 17, 2020 The Impact of Covid-19 on News Consumption in the UAE
In this installment of our ongoing series on the unprecedented Covid-19 situation and its impact on media and advertising, Middle East Media Services (MEMS) present the latest data findings from their partners Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI). The findings depict, how online news readership, amongst Arab audiences in the UAE is continuing to surge across both of the UAE’s leading news platforms ALBAYAN.AE and EMARATALYOUM.COM. Registering massive increases in both the number of unique users as well as page views, DMI ‘s market-leading online Arabic dailies represent an unrivaled opportunity for brands seeking higher returns on their advertising investments.
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Programmatic
May 13, 2020
Making a Good Impression
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
May 13, 2020 Say It With a Song with Anghami Studios
By Ramy Al-Kadhi, Commercial Manager at Anghami
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
May 11, 2020
Cross Generation Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
May 07, 2020 MBC Group’s Ramadan 2020 – The Story Keeps Getting Better
Following on the update that was shared at the beginning of Ramadan- the latest research figures which spans the first 10 days of the holy month, show that MBC Group’s #Stayathome operation is still continuing to chart a remarkable, ongoing growth trajectory.
Industry
May 05, 2020 Remembering What They Learnt

Babyshop celebrates Ramadan using children’s words of hope and compassion. At a time when many brands are trying to spread messages of solidarity and positivity, Landmark Group’s children retail store chain Babyshop hit a high note with “A World We Deserve,” a film released globally on the eve of Ramadan to, in these peculiar times, […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 30, 2020 MBC Group’s Ramadan 2020 – A Superlative Record-Setting Season
As forecasted earlier, the surges in TV and VOD viewership due to the Covid-19 #Stayathome situation has resulted in the region’s leading broadcasters achieving record performance figures.
Culture
April 30, 2020 Agora Images: #ClimateChange2020

Last week, the world celebrated its 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Looking back; it’s scary to see how much damage mankind has caused on Mother earth, and why the fight to preserve the environment is now more important than ever. Yet many still remain oblivious to the impact they’re causing on the planet. For those […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
April 29, 2020
Enabling Brands To Win Greater Consumer Attention During These Unprecedented Times
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 28, 2020 MBC Group – Hosting a Record Breaking Ramadan Television Season
Aligned with the projected growth forecasts shared earlier, the latest research findings spanning the first two days of the holy month clearly depict, how the increase in TV viewership due to the Covid-19 #Stayathome situation has resulted in a record-breaking Ramadan 2020 performance from the region’s leading broadcasters.
Industry
April 28, 2020 Ad Colony Survey Findings Reveals Increase In Mobile Usage During Ramadan

Mobile advertising platform, Ad Colony unveils some interesting findings on consumer behavior on mobile as the holy month of Ramadan begins. The company surveyed people throughout the Middle East and North Africa about mobile usage during the Ramadan season. Respondents typically aged from 25 to 44 years. The key highlights of the survey are as follows […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 27, 2020 Ramadan 2020 – Shahid Doubles Its Plays in MENA
Based on the recent data since the beginning of the holy month, Arabian Media Services International (AMS) witnesses the unprecedented increase in VOD viewership due to the Covid-19 #Stayathome situation. It has also resulted in a record-breaking Ramadan 2020 performance for MBC Group’s OTT platform Shahid.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 26, 2020 Debugging TV Myths During Ramadan
Stepping into the Holy Month of Ramadan, MBC Group’s latest report sheds light on some common misconceptions, and offers an informative guide on how they can help brands create impactful TV advertising during this peak period. By cutting through the clutter with increased ratings/time spent, MBC Group through its valuable network of TV channels can help brands improve their performance and stand apart at a cost that is both efficient and competitive.
Industry
April 26, 2020 Facebook’s Guide for Businesses and Brands Adapting to Ramadan in the New Reality

The impact of social distancing as a result of the COVID-19 crisis has been felt across industries and sectors, with technology and social media playing a critical role in connecting people, communities, and businesses – this is even more pertinent given the imminent start of Ramadan. Amid this difficult period, it has become even more […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 23, 2020 MBC Group Anticipates Record Breaking Viewership During Ramadan
Ramadan has always been the month that delivers the greatest impact for brands and TV advertisers across the Arab world. With the holy month just around the corner, MBC Group’s Covid-19 induced #Stayathome initiative is anticipating record-breaking TV and VOD viewership figures during the upcoming Ramadan 2020 season. For the highest-impact advertising opportunities, look no further than Ramadan with MBC Group.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 21, 2020 How Covid-19 is changing Consumer’s Daily Life in KSA
In under a month’s time, the COVID-19 outbreak has swiftly transformed how millions of Saudi residents live out their daily routines. Powered by Choueiri Group’s Data Team, their latest report presents insightful findings into how the pandemic is impacting Arab consumers’ purchasing behavior and how the new ‘indoor living’ lifestyle is affecting their consumption of media. The survey was conducted over two waves, in order to track significant changes amidst the evolving COVID-19 backdrop.
Industry
April 19, 2020 COVID-19 Social Conversations In MENA

Talkwalker used its social media search engine tool, Quick Search to dive into the online conversations happening in the MENA region around Covid-19. Here are the insights: The conversation clusters around Covid-19 in the Middle East includes insights from various sources as such as media, consumer and social data. The main conversation topic that is […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 19, 2020 MBC Group Identifies the “Series” Genre To Be Popular During the Pandemic
While MBC Group’s #Stayathome operation continues to gain momentum amidst the current pandemic, the region’s leading broadcaster has identified the “Series” genre to be a clear favorite with its growing audience base. This success reflects on MBC Group’s long-standing commitment to delivering highly-innovative, premium entertainment programming, primed to meet the expectations of Arab audiences and regional advertisers alike.
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
April 16, 2020
Anghami Introduces Community Support Plan
Culture
April 15, 2020 NYUAD Brings Art and Music To the Masses

The Arts Centre at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) recently held its first-ever live virtual open mic poetry night. Communicate got a chance to speak with Bill Bragin, Executive Director at NYUAD’s Arts Centre to understand what kind of challenges he faced and what opportunities live streaming offers the institution. What exactly is a “live […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 15, 2020 MBC Group – Tuning into Another Week of the Ultimate in TV Entertainment
After closely monitoring the evolution of the Covid-19 situation, and its precise and ongoing impact on TV Advertising, the latest weekly data findings (from March 29-April 4) are once again indicative of MBC Group’s unmatched leadership and potential for advertisers.
Industry
April 14, 2020 Advertising in the Age of Coronavirus

Kunal Gupta, CEO of digital media technology provider Polar, explains how the communication industry can seize opportunities and face the unprecedented challenges of these covid-19 times.

Industry
April 14, 2020 The History of Advertising During Recessions

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

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 13, 2020 Television – At the Core of Entertaining Arabs in Saudi Arabia & UAE
In the fifth installment of their series on the unprecedented Covid-19 situation and its impact on TV Advertising, Middle East Media Services, owned by the Choueiri group compares data findings compiled over the last two weeks of March, to the findings of the same period in February 2020 in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These depict how TV viewership, as well as the time spent on TV entertainment, have significantly increased for Arab audiences across both Dubai TV and Dubai ONE.
Industry
April 12, 2020 Will Quibi Get Pushed Around in the Playground?

Digital Advertising Specialist Chris Gregory-Pasha on how Quibi could disrupt the OTT landscape, or not… Launching a brand new short-form streaming service in the middle of a global pandemic – utter madness or disruptive brilliance?Well, in reality, it’s probably a bit of both… Quibi, for the uninitiated, is the brainchild of Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founder […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 12, 2020 MBC Group – The Destination for Entertainment Content Amongst Arabs in the UAE
In the fifth installment of their series on the unprecedented Covid-19 situation and its impact on TV Advertising, Arabian Media Services International compares data findings compiled over the last two weeks of March, to the findings of the same period in February 2020 in the UAE. These depict how the ever-increasing appetite for MBC Groups’ entertainment content across all of its channels, has led to a substantial increase in both the broadcaster’s reach and share of audience figures during the period under review.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 09, 2020 Viewership Growth Increases as MBC Group’s #STAYATHOME operation continues
Launched at the onset of the Covid-19 situation, MBC Group’s #STAYATHOME operation continues to chart new levels of growth, providing the ultimate in entertainment and informative content, with an aim of increasing the number of people glued to their screens at home and keeping them there for longer periods of time. For the week ending April 4th, the region’s leading broadcasters have once again registered remarkable increases in “time spent” across all of their TV channels and VOD platform.
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Programmatic
April 08, 2020
A Tool to Remain Top-of-Mind
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Programmatic
April 08, 2020
Programmatic: From Buzzword to Key Opportunity
man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
April 07, 2020
Brands To Benefit From Generating Leads in a Brand Safe Environment
Industry
April 06, 2020 Advertising in the Age of Coronavirus

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 […]

Industry
April 05, 2020 Safeguarding Our Greatest Asset

Dimitris Tsouroplis, Director of Human Resources at Crescent Enterprises, on how human capital development is a priority in the face of a Fifth Industrial Revolution. Industrial development is taking place at an exponential rate, and human capital development is hot on its heels every step of the way. So, what do we do while we […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 05, 2020 MBC Group – An Indispensable Companion during Hard Times
In the third installment of their series on the unprecedented Covid-19 situation and its impact on TV Advertising, Arabian Media Services International (AMSI, part of the Choueiri Group and the exclusive media representative for MBC Group) take a closer look at data findings that illustrate, how MBC Group has firmly established itself as a trusted companion to Saudi audiences, seeking premium entertainment during these testing times.
Industry
April 02, 2020 Covid-19 has Ushered in a New Era in Crisis Communications

Adnan Bashir, Senior Manager for Corporate Communications at Sigma Systems, explains how the job of communications professionals will never be the same.  It goes without saying that a cloud of uncertainty now hangs over us all – and is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon. In the last few weeks, we have witnessed a cataclysmic disruption […]

CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 02, 2020 MBC Group’s #STAYATHOME Operation Registers Significant Growth
At the onset of the unprecedented covid-19 situation, MBC Group launched its #stay_at_home operation in March, aiming to provide the ultimate in entertainment and informative content, luring people in to stay glued to their screens at home. After three weeks, the region’s leading broadcasters have witnessed unprecedented growth levels in time spent on TV across all of their TV channels and VoD. The period spanning March 22-28 registered the highest increase since the “Stay at Home” operation was launched.
CG Updates
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
April 01, 2020 The Impact of Covid-19 on TV Content Consumption in KSA
In the second installment of their series on the unprecedented covid-19 situation and its impact on TV advertising, media (AMSI, part of Choueiri Group and the exclusive media representative for MBC Group) takes a closer look at data findings focused on VoD and TV content consumption behaviors in KSA.
Industry
March 30, 2020 An Inside Look at Producing Ramadan Content on Snapchat

 Henry Windridge, Head of Brand – MEA at Discovery and Rowan Ashraf, Snap Content Manager at UTurn, talk about creating content on Snapchat for their respective brands and share some insights into how consumers interact with content differently on the platform, during the holy month of Ramadan.  What do you like the most about Snapchat? […]

Industry
March 29, 2020 A Call to Action

Reda Raad, chief executive of communications group TBWA\RAAD, on how true leaders should address the current crisis. Just a few short months ago, the year ahead looked promising and prosperous. Now, the talk is of mere survival. The sheer scale of the unfolding crisis has led to panic and paralysis on a global scale, but […]

Industry
March 29, 2020 Social Pulse during Social Distancing, an Evolving Conversation

Hanin Hamade, Manager, Data Sciences Practice – Publicis Media, explains why and how brands should keep an eye on the booming social media chatter around the pandemic. It is no secret that 2020 has been off to a rocky start. Conversations around covid-19 have no border and are not siloed to specific audiences; we see […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
CG Updates
March 29, 2020
How COVID-19 Is Impacting TV Advertising
Industry
March 22, 2020 Brand Communications During Times of Crisis

People seek clarity and guidance from businesses as well during times of crisis. Eimear Lambe, Director of Twitter Next, EMEA and Stephanie Terroir, Head of Twitter Next, MENA, share tips on what brands should keep in mind while communicating with their audience during these troubling times.  Since the emergence and subsequent outbreak of COVID-19, there […]

Industry
March 17, 2020 Snapchat Shares Hacks For Ramadan 2020

Social media has become a haven for users to share intimate moments with friends and family. Snapchat is no stranger to such moments and expects to see a lot of those kinds of moments during the holy month of Ramadan. Vishal Badlani, Creative Strategy Lead at Snap Inc. MENA shares a few hacks which will […]

Industry
March 10, 2020 COVID-19: A Case in Point For Employee Response Communications

Lara Hadjetian, Head of Employee Experience Practice at Edelman, explains what organizations need to consider when communicating with their workforce in times of a public health crisis, as they capture the learnings from COVID-19.   The COVID-19 outbreak has created challenges around the world, going beyond public health. As the global community mobilizes to contain […]

Industry
March 09, 2020 Diversity, Doubt and Dialogue: The Road to Building Authentic Empowerment

By Nisha Patel, Head of Xaxis MENA talks about the need to keep the topic of gender diversity an ongoing conversation and not just during a special occasion.  The value of gender equality in businesses is proven, with inclusive companies reporting 19% higher innovation revenue than others. However, despite its benefits, this issue is too often only […]

Industry
February 26, 2020 How to Communicate a Successful Merger and Acquisition

By Komal Mishra, communications specialist at Active DMC Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can often create uncertainties and discomfort for employees and stakeholders. An effective and accurate communications strategy can ease some of this stress. Without it- you run the risk of rumors, perplexed brand messaging, disappointed employees and distrustful customers. Here are a few tips […]

Culture
February 13, 2020 The UAE, a Hub of Languages and Evolving Translations

Matteo Ippoliti, Founder of translation company Langpros, explains how translation can help bridge the cultural gaps in such a diverse country as the UAE.  The United Arab Emirates is one of the most diverse countries in the world in terms of culture and language, owing to its history and incredible economic growth that attracts millions […]

Industry
January 29, 2020 Goodbye Cookie Monster?

Bayan Ishtaiwi, digital media manager at Vizeum, explains how Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies is going to scramble the market. There is not a single person I know that wasn’t targeted with an ad after browsing content somehow related to that ad. To the point that we often hear the words ‘creepy,’ ‘annoying,’ ‘too much,’ […]

Content
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
January 28, 2020 Eyes on the Ball

Gregg Fray, Owner of Seven Media and Seven Studios, explains why the key to a successful creative process is to always start with the end: know who you’re talking to and what your content is meant to achieve.

Industry
January 22, 2020 Why Transparency is Fundamental for Strengthening Client Relationships

By Mateen Agha, SEO Lead at ForwardPMX Paid search marketing enables businesses to advertise their products and services by sponsoring listings on a search engine or websites like Google. It is known as PPC (pay-per-click) because the advertiser pays every time their ad is clicked. More and more brands are beginning to recognize the importance and see […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Content
January 09, 2020
The Future of Traditional Marketing
man
OMD Corner
OMD Corner
January 05, 2020
Nadine Labaki on the Importance of Storytelling and its Social Impact
OMD Corner
OMD Corner
December 19, 2019 Best Wishes from OMD

As 2019 draws to a close, here are some of the wishes from the OMD team for 2020.

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Data & Measurement
December 19, 2019
The Power Is in the Detail
Industry
December 09, 2019 Protect Your Brand From Influencer Fraud

Taghreed Oraibi, business director at BPG Orange, shares tips on how to address the issue of influencers lying about their real Instagram following. Influencers play a significant role in driving consumer attention to marketing campaigns, especially millennials. According to research conducted by BPG Group in 2017, 94 percent of in-house marketeers in the UAE believe […]

Industry
December 08, 2019 Zero-Click Searches and What They Mean for SEO

Mateen Agha, SEO Lead at ForwardPMX, explains what brands can do when Internet users don’t need to click on anything to find answers. It has probably happened to you. You searched for something on Google and found the answer right on top, without clicking on any link. This is a ‘zero-click search:’ a search query that […]

Industry
December 02, 2019 Winning the Battle for Attention with AR

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 […]

man
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
Data & Measurement
November 21, 2019
Driving Data Towards Marketing Excellence
Industry
November 21, 2019 Maximizing Creativity

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, explains why a good brief is well worth your time Effective marketing is a collaboration, with the client and creative working as one. Avoid misunderstandings and poor results with a clear plan of action. A thoughtful, detailed brief gets your project off to a good start. Start off […]

Industry
November 18, 2019 The Most Important Things You MUST Request from your Digital Marketing Agency

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 […]

OTT vs TV
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
November 14, 2019 DEEP DIVES WITH CHOUEIRI GROUPHow Intigral Places Saudi Arabia on the OTT Map
Intigral CEO Hamoud Al Rumayan explains how his company is changing viewing habits in Saudi Arabia, while supporting the kingdom’s vision for the future.
Industry
November 14, 2019 No Laughing Matter

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, explains why you should take humor seriously. A little humor lightens the day and helps build connections Depending on the brand, amusing your target audience can be a highly effective strategy As with any creative approach, it has to be done right to work well The case for […]

Industry
November 13, 2019 The Forgotten Art of Storytelling in the Age of Video

By Gregg Fray, owner of Seven Media and Seven Studios There’s a school of thought that suggests humans are unique among animals due to our ability to tell – and believe in – stories. We’re able to engage huge numbers of our species using facts woven together as narratives, and through fictional stories that get […]

man
Facebook Hub
Masterminds
November 12, 2019
Max Fashion Driving In-Store Sales with Facebook
Industry
November 10, 2019 How to Create More Data-Driven Campaigns

 By Reem Masswadeh – Director of Client Servicing at Cicero & Bernay Public Relations. In the current marketing world, it is important to efficiently use every tool that is available to you, to be able to keep up with your competitors. While PR is not often looked at as a data-driven field, especially when compared to other areas of […]

Industry
November 07, 2019 How Long Is Too Long?

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, talks attention spans and advertising. There are multiple mediums for your message, but each requires its own approach. Attention spans are in high demand – adapt accordingly! Good creative involves managing the content load wisely. The importance of customizing copy The art of marketing has evolved dramatically over […]

Industry
November 06, 2019 From Public to Personal: the Changing Face of PR

By Tariq Al Sharabi, MD at Cicero and Bernay Public Relations. Technological disruptions and digital progressions have impacted the world in ways that are complex and multifaceted. Consequently, all industries are facing a constant evolution. The communication and public relations (PR) sector is no different, with the field being in constant flux, always adapting, witnessing […]

Industry
November 04, 2019 How Digital is Transforming the Tourism Industry

By Elías Jabbe The ongoing impact of digital on the tourism industry in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia emerged as a popular topic of discussion at the annual MEASA Aviation Show in Dubai on October 14. The event, which has been organized for several years by Terrapinn Middle East, featured tracks such as […]

Culture
November 03, 2019 Rouge, the Color of Passion

The self-described circus for adults Rouge shows how creativity can express itself in many forms. Communicate spoke to director Elena Kirschbaum. A mix of acrobatics, cabaret and burlesque, award-winning, Australia-based Rouge is a different kind of circus that manages to inject a healthy dose of creativity in a discipline that sometimes goes in circles, constantly […]

Industry
October 31, 2019 Why Honesty Is Your Best Policy In the Digital Age

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, explains how authenticity is everything for a brand. Respect the intelligence of your customers – they will repay you. Credibility, not overpromising, is the best way to set your brand apart. Keep your marketing materials clear and focused on real benefits. In a 24/7 online world, we’ve never […]

Culture
October 30, 2019 The Creative Surplus

By Ed Barnfield, the winner of Communicate’s creative fiction competition! I wrote a novel last week,” says Fatima. “It took me three hours.”We are meeting in the virtual café at Morningside. Fatima has chosen a cartoon elephant as her avatar, although she insists on keeping her trademark sunglasses and earpiece, which is disconcerting. I’ve gone […]

Industry
October 29, 2019 MEPRA Hosts Inaugural KSA Leadership Majlis in Riyadh

By Elías Jabbe PR industry leaders and journalists gathered at the inaugural Middle East PR Association (MEPRA) KSA Leadership Majlis in Riyadh on October 21, to discuss the evolution of the PR industry in Saudi Arabia. This year’s “Impact & Influence”-themed edition was documented on MEPRA’s social media platforms as it happened at Hyatt Regency […]

Industry
October 24, 2019 Oppo’s Mission to Become a Premium Brand

With the advent of 5G technology in the region, Mobile brands are in the race to reposition themselves in the fast-changing market.  Communicate spoke with Norman Zhang, Marketing Director, Oppo Middle East, in an exclusive interview, about the company’s efforts in developing a premium brand image.   How significant is the Middle East market for Oppo? What […]

Industry
October 24, 2019 The Art of Collaborating

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, explains how to get the most out of your copywriter. Trust is important in the creative process. Let the agency make recommendations and guide your choices. While you may know your business inside out, leave actual writing to those who know writing best. Give detailed feedback, but always […]

Industry
October 23, 2019 Facebook and Agencies, a Give-and-Take Relationship

Patrick Harris, VP-global agency development at Facebook, sat in an exclusive interview with Communicate to discuss how the social media giant is adapting to these challenging times. How did your system of agency partners develop? [Early on] we hadn’t yet figured out the role the ecosystem would play, how Facebook would invest to make sure […]

Industry
October 22, 2019 How Did We Get Here?

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 […]

Industry
October 21, 2019 YouTube Premium and Advertising: Is it Time to Work More with Content Creators?

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 […]

Industry
October 21, 2019 Is Data the Road to Creativity?

Hamish McPharlin, head of Insights at BBC Global News, says that, understood and used the right way, data can fuel creativity. If there is something that media companies are not lacking in, it is data about their consumers. With the rise in connectivity and an ever-increasing connected user base, we know about our audiences more than […]

Industry
October 20, 2019 What’s Wrong With Effectiveness?

 Melissa Moubarak, strategy & data director at UM MENA, describes her experience as a first-time Effies MENA judge. As a first time judge at the MENA Effie Awards this year, it was with anticipation and a little trepidation that I reported to the judging room. Hoping to play it cool when in fact I didn’t […]

Industry
October 17, 2019 Finding a Voice for Your Brand

Rami Abughazaleh, from copywriting agency Yala Creative, shares some tips from a writer’s perspective. Credibility is key: speak to your audience in a voice they recognize and understand. Once you establish a communication style, be consistent. Maintaining a tone of voice builds brand awareness and trust.   Tone is everything You wouldn’t address a boardroom […]

man
Facebook Hub
Masterminds
October 13, 2019
How Jaguar Land Rover Created 175 Ads in 10mins
Industry
October 13, 2019 How Digital Performance Marketing Disrupts The Traditional School of Digital Marketing?

By Aida Saharoui First things first, let’s start by explaining what Digital Performance Marketing is, and how it is positioned in the Digital Marketing Sphere. Digital Performance Marketing is the field of Digital Marketing that focuses highly on data. It is no longer a matter of visibility only but mostly efficiency. Decisions in performance marketing […]

Culture
October 10, 2019 Agora Images: #Family2019

Over the past couple of months, photographers from all corners of the planet have submitted their best family shots to the #Family2019 Contest organised by AGORA images. 

Industry
October 09, 2019 Twitter Apologies For “Inadvertently” Used Emails For Ads

Twitter has issued a statement apologizing for unintentionally using contact of users, emails and phone numbers, to enable target advertising. The company said that they are unable to say how many people have been affected. The company added in the statement that a third-party marketers might have reached Twitter users based on contact details. They added […]

Industry
October 09, 2019 84% of UAE Influencers Do Not Disclose Branded Content

Bukhash Brothers, the UAE based celebrity and digital marketing consultancy, said that trends within the influencers market spanned lack of transparency in disclosing content. In a  survey findings  released by the firm,  results indicated that 84 percent of the UAE influencers do not disclose branded content or brand partners, while only 44 percent reveal ‘paid […]

Industry
October 08, 2019 Anghami Partners With Snapchat To Promote Talent

Anghami, the leading on-demand music platform in the MENA region, announced today a partnership with Snapchat through which they will promote regional talent from MENA to the world. “The innovative partnership will feature Anghami’s English and Arabic music in Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses, for the first time giving Snapchat users in MENA the opportunity to […]

Industry
October 08, 2019 Social Media Third-Largest Advertising Channel

Advertisers will spend more on social media platforms than on print for the first time this year, according to Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts.  According to the report , advertising expenditure on social media will grow 20 percent in 2019 to reach US$84bn, while advertisers’ combined expenditure on print, newspapers and magazines, is expected to fall […]

Industry
October 08, 2019 Aramco Film Generates 13 Million Views On Twitter

To celebrate Saudi National Day, Saudi Aramco created an educational film  featuring the journey of the country through key historical milestones, using Twitter as the main channel to connect with its audience. The interactive film showcases the civilizational and developmental shifts witnessed by the Kingdom, one era after another. By detailing the Kingdom’s transformation, the film […]

Industry
October 07, 2019 From Deal Loyalty To Real Loyalty

By Kashmira Motiwalla Successful brands and retailers know that customer loyalty is invaluable. Earning and building loyalty has been a retail priority for decades, growing into its own mini-industry.  Loyalty done well can be transformative. According to retail company Bluecore, repeat customers generate 40 percent of retail revenue; on average, they are 130 percent more […]

Industry
October 06, 2019 Adylic To Start Operation In MENA

Omnicom Media Group MENA has announced in a statement  the opening of the regional operation of its dynamic creative specialist agency Adylic. Adylic works in data-driven, personalized creative advertising and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) solutions. The Dubai operation, Adylic’s seventh in the world, will serve the Middle East/North Africa region (MENA), said the statement. Raouf […]

Industry
October 06, 2019 Global Advertisers Establish Cross-Media Measurement Principles

An advertiser-focused group has launched a global initiative to make the advertiser voice heard on the topic of cross-media measurement, said a statement of the group. The ‘Cross Media Working Group’ is the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and key advertisers from WFA’s Global Media Board including EA, Mastercard, P&G and Unilever. The group said […]

Industry
October 06, 2019 Accenture: Playing Safe Is Risky

According to a new report from Accenture to be released this week, disruption from innovative digital technologies could put more than US$575 billion of Middle Eastern companies’ total value at risk. The report notes that while executives are aware of the threat of disruption, they are not prepared for it; nonetheless, appear reluctant to invest in the […]

Industry
October 06, 2019 Evolving The Arab Podcast Culture

By Hanisha Lalwani With only a handful of companies within the region experimenting with podcasts, this on-demand audio medium remains largely untapped. “Since we first launched the forum, our ecosystem has evolved,” said Hebah Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Kerning Culture, the organizer of the forum. She added that an increasing number of people are turning […]

Culture
October 03, 2019 Agora #Music2019

Agora images are a free-to-use app social app. The app is for the global photography community, with more than 3.5 million users from across 193 countries. On a weekly basis the app’s  users – amateurs and professional photographers – can participate in a photography competition through the it. The app organizers said that they are on a mission […]

Industry
October 02, 2019 UM’s Global CEO On New Focus Points

As Global Chief Executive Officer, Eileen is responsible for UM’s global strategy, direction and operations, overseeing global management for UM’s client. We speak to her about the challenges their clients are facing, whilst the company’s eagerness in including different people to ensure delivery.

Industry
October 02, 2019 Surkus Launches In The UAE

Surkus, a multi-sided experiential marketing platform has made its debut in the United Arab Emirates. This announcement follows international roll-out in markets including the US and Hong Kong with over 750,000 engaged users around the world, a statement said.  The platform will be headquartered in Abu Dhabi’s Hub71 startup ecosystem. Surkus said in the statement […]

Industry
September 30, 2019 Why Did Forever 21 File For Bankruptcy?

Forever 21, the retailer once beloved of young women seeking a fast fashion fix, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy late Sunday night. This move has been described by the New York Times as a “reminder of how quickly the retail landscape is transforming.” Chapter 11 in the U.S. law helps postpones a US company’s obligations to its creditors. Which […]

Industry
September 29, 2019 How Acquiring 1st Party Data Helps

By Hussam ElHage Have you ever thought what element(s) within Emails and SMS’s that hold(s) the real value?  Hint: it is not the ad copy. It is something called PII data, which most of us in agencies do not really deal with; as agencies almost exclusively deal with 3rd party cookie data. PII or Personally […]

People
September 26, 2019 Infiniti Defines Itself As A Progressive Challenger Brand

By Max Al Awaad Infiniti Global Head of Marketing and Comms, Phil York, discusses with Communicate the communication direction that the luxury brand is taking. This year, the brands celebrates 30 year anniversary. Despite the challenges the brand has been facing in different international markets, the brand views itself as a progressive challenger brand.  

Industry
September 25, 2019 Google Experiments With Its Own Contextual Ads, As Privacy Legislation Looms

By Garett Sloane Google is experimenting with contextual ads at “much lower costs” when it comes to marketing its own products—even as it leads the way as one of the most vocal proponents of the power of personal data for targeting ads online. Marvin Chow, Google’s VP of marketing, peeled back the curtain on the […]

Industry
September 25, 2019 Careem: Start Something!

Careem, the regional transportation network, has launched for the first time a global campaign that communicates a call to “Start Something,” which aims to reinforce the company’s brand purpose. While the campaign targets “everyone,” it specifically looks at “people with passion and ambition for a better future, people that are proud to be part of […]

Industry
September 25, 2019 Egypt Ranks Highest Of Smart Phone Mobile Gamers

In a research conducted by AdColony with On Device Research within several regions, Egypt ranks the highest in number of smart phone mobile gamers in the world followed by Brazil and Russia. The research was conducted across 15 countries in the Middle East, and other regions. Within the Middle East, the companies looked at KSA, UAE and […]

People
September 24, 2019 Saudi Entertainment Startup Telfaz11 Expands To Dubai

By Elías Jabbe  Riyadh-based entertainment startup, Telfaz11, have been on an international journey after creating immensely popular short films and video series such as Khambalah, Top 5 and Alkhallat that have amassed billions of views on YouTube.  Following their launch in 2011, a presentation of their short films in Los Angeles at the 2017 Saudi […]

Industry
September 22, 2019 Group Partnership Wins Back DEWA

Group Partnership, a WPP company, said that they have won back the DEWA creative services account following a five-way pitch. According to the company, they will be mainly be responsible for working on the marketing and communication strategy as well as developing all creative campaigns for the entity. In addition, they said that they have […]

People
September 22, 2019 Tony Bourached New CEO Of Mindshare MENA

Tony Bourached is announced as the new CEO of Mindshare MENA, as of October 1st, 2019. Bourached is the current Regional Digital Director for Mindshare. His marketing career started back in the UK before he joined Mindshare Saudi Arabia in 2010 as Head of Digital. During his time in Saudi Arabia, he was tasked to establish the first fully dedicated digital department within […]

Industry
September 19, 2019 SVOD Arabic Content is Expanding in KSA

By Ziad Issa   The last decade showed us many changes in media consumption, where everyone almost accesses the internet, smartphone, and social media. The technology is shifting the use of audio and video-based content. In Saudi Arabia, over the top (OTT) has not yet taken away significant reach from linear TV as it has […]

Culture
September 19, 2019 Why Egypt Tourism Needs Isobar?

Isobar, a global digital agency part of Dentsu Aegis Network, has been selected as the digital agency of record for the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Board (ETPB) earlier this month. According to a press statement, Isobar will be driving digital strength and brand loyalty through a  digital media strategy across seventeen key markets including the GCC, […]

People
September 18, 2019 The Creative Behind Youtube Hit Taal

Mustafa Al Abdullah, the man behind Middle East’s latest hit song “Taal” – is also a music director , songwriter and composer who is believed to be on his way to reinventing the music landscape. Through his work, Abdullah is keen on putting  Iraqi musicians on the global map through changing the Iraqi music scene. […]

Industry
September 17, 2019 New 3D Camera Mode in Snapchat

Snap Inc. has announced the launch of 3D Camera Mode on its application Snapchat. The company said that with  the new feature, Snapchatters can create Snaps that “change in perspective depending on how users view them on their phones.” “With the introduction of depth and interaction, Snaps can capture even more detail about how the […]

Culture
September 17, 2019 Controversial Ad Campaigns

Creative work does not guarantee agreement by everyone in the room. Some of the work might fail to convey the intended meaning, others are just marked as red. Despite that, brands must continue in pushing their ceilings to convey the messages that they want. We have showcased a few examples of multinational companies that has […]

Industry
September 16, 2019 CINE-JAM Reconnecting You To Your G.I.A

By Muriel Aboulrouss Everything I create or teach is based on my  personal experiences and my journey of self discovery. I do not pretend to set new definitions or rules as I do not believe in either. I am guided by pure intuitive impulse.  I believe that the road to move people is to provoke […]

Industry
September 16, 2019 Is CSR The Best Way To Connect?

Taqeef, a UAE-based air-conditioning solutions company, has focused its efforts on building a brand image that is friendly to its surroundings. It has created “iMatter” which is a CSR initiative that is designed to “reflect the company’s core values of social responsibility and empowerment,” as described by the company. The program is  STEM education program […]

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September 15, 2019 How OSN Achieved 6.3X Increase In Online Sales

“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

Industry
September 15, 2019 Bringing Chris Hemsworth To The Desert

Bayut.com, a UAE property portal, recently launched their TV commercial starring Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth. The agency, Crayons Communications, said that the choice of Chris Hemsworth was due to his position as a Hollywood A-lister and was making news in the world with the release of Avengers – Endgame and Men in Black movie. The ad […]

Industry
September 13, 2019 Youtube MENA Launches Music Streaming Service

By Max Alawwad Youtube has launched music streaming service in MENA earlier this week. According to the company the amount of music content  watched on their platform has reached to 60 percent, every year, within the past three years. The following is an interview with Tarek Abdalla, regional director of marketing at Google Middle East and North Africa, […]

Industry
September 12, 2019 What Are Facebook Ads?

By Max Alawwad Facebook has come under scrutiny, on multiple occasions,  for its handling of the user’s data. One of the recent events was Facebook paying hundreds of contractors to transcribe audio clips of users from its Messenger app. The social media giant, alongside other tech companies, have been accused and fined on multiple events of mishandling […]

Industry
September 11, 2019 Lessons On Effective Marketing Tools

WARC, the global authority on advertising and media effectiveness, has released the 2019 MENA Strategy Report that outlines successful key marketing trends in the region. “This year’s entries demonstrated a more robust style of strategic thinking across the region that generated some impressive returns,” said Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor, Case Studies, WARC in a statement.  The […]

Industry
September 10, 2019 It’s Time to Change The Way We Think About Creative

By Michele Iozzo Just a few years ago, you could clearly distinguish between banners for brand awareness and banners for sales conversion. With different key performance indicators (KPIs), performance marketing and brand departments co-existed with minimal interaction. Today, marketers need to ensure consistency across all channels, and performance ads often don’t meet those standards.  It’s […]

People
September 10, 2019 Spotify Expands In MENA?

By Maximilian Gower  On MENA level, Spotify have shared “Culture Next” which was a study with lifestyle bloggers from around the region to understand their insights. The study looks at Gen Z and Millennials. It was in partnership with research agency Culture Co-Op. The report outlined five trends including but not limited trends such as band […]

Industry
September 09, 2019 How The U.S. Open Became A Branded Juggernaut

By Brian Braiker Evans Nguyen flits inside a giant glass box, hitting a tennis ball against a digital backboard with a moving target on it. The clock is ticking as he scrambles to bank the ball off the wall as many times as he can. He has 90 seconds to move a digital Mercedes sedan across […]

Culture
September 08, 2019 Reflection From Gen Z

By Mai Al Khouri I have realized that stepping out of my comfort zone, while maintaining pragmatism, is an essential component to working in communications. For me, it is important to be constantly aware of this, especially in Lebanon, where the economic, political, and social spheres are as tense as ever, with the added geopolitical stress. […]

Industry
September 08, 2019 Hotter Is Cooler!

Earlier this summer, Burger King Kuwait introduced a concept “Hotter is Cooler,” which aimed to interact with the temperatures in the country.  This is not the first campaign in which the company works on interacting more with the community it lives with. Burger King and agency Memac Ogilvy has been working together to deal with […]

People
September 05, 2019 The Power Of A Brand

Jamie Angus is the director of the BBC World Service Group, which is the service that provides news in English and the other 42 languages globally, on TV Radio and Online. He began his career working for Radio4 after graduating from Oxford University. After which he rose to become the lead of the service. In […]

Industry
September 04, 2019 Lessons Learned From Kimono Crisis

By Denise Lee Yohn Kim Kardashian West eventually caved to the social media backlash that arose from her decision to brand her new line of shapewear Kimono, opting for the less culturally inappropriate Skims instead. But that doesn’t mean all brands now need to ensure their naming decisions pass muster with customers. Certainly we have entered an era in […]

Industry
September 03, 2019 Why Did Audi Work With Marvel Characters?

A blockbuster film association is seen as a significant investment from both a brand and product perspective, said Sebastien Auguin, Marketing Director at Audi Middle East to Communicate. Auguin added that with traditional advertising, the company would “never reach” such a large audience for such an extended period of time. “An important factor is the very […]

Industry
September 02, 2019 Meet Twitter Head Of Video Solutions

Twitter announced today it has appointed Samantha Billingham as Head of Video Solutions for the Middle East and North Africa region. The move is another step, the company said, to provide video content solutions to advertisers.   In recent news, Twitter has  allowed advertisers to pay only for completed views. “The client gets charged for only […]

Industry
September 02, 2019 A Chat With TikTok!

Since January 2019, TikTok has been ranked the top downloadable app behind WhatsApp and Messenger. The app is believed to be popular among the younger generations who could use it to upload their content using elements such as music and effects. The app’s technology sheds a light on how the algorithm is designed to bring […]

Industry
September 01, 2019 6 Tips To Maximize A New Business Success

By Andreas Keller  As the summer holidays come to an end and the business community returns to town, get ready for a flurry of new business PR briefs to hit the market. Sorting through which opportunities to go after and how to win the ones you prioritize can be challenging. After over 10 years of […]

People
August 29, 2019 Changes In Retail Impacts IMC

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 […]

Industry
August 26, 2019 AI Will Rework, It Won’t Replace!

By Imad Lahad There is no hiding from the fact that artificial intelligence (AI) is gradually changing our world, one industry at a time. Perhaps in no greater way than in government communications. Earlier this year in Dubai, we witnessed a moment that clearly captured this sentiment. International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde was being […]

Industry
August 25, 2019 Remove The Dots To Save Water

In collaboration with Memac Ogilvy, Jordan’s water utility organization known as Miyahuna, removed the dots from the Arabic spelling of logos, in an attempt to alter the word’s meanings. Therefore, highlighting the importance of a few single drops. The campaign named “Don’t underestimate the dots” used this technique to help people understand the significance of […]

Industry
August 22, 2019 How To Future-Proof A Brand

By Drew Neisser Shortly after arriving as the CMO of NetApp, Jean English hit a wall. Charged with writing a new story for the $6-billion-data-storage company, English presented what she thought was a winning direction to their customer advisory board. With refreshing honesty, she recalls that “They hated it.” Slightly chagrined, she “walked out the […]

People
August 22, 2019 OMG MENA Announces New Hires

Omnicom Media Group’s data, analytics and technology consultancy Annalect, announced in a press statement, two new senior executives in the Middle East and North Africa region. “Andreas Frangeskides has joined as Director-Marketing Solutions, while Oleksandr Cherviakov is now the consultancy’s Senior Manager-Business Solutions,” said the statement. OMG also said in the statement that they hired Joubran Abdul Khalek […]

Industry
August 21, 2019 Facebook Rolling Out “Clear History” Tool

Facebook is finally starting to roll out a new feature allowing users to see which advertisers have their data and prevent them from using that data to target ads. On Tuesday, the social network revealed a new option to delete “off-Facebook activity.” The company first mentioned its interest in such a product more than a […]

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Masterminds
August 20, 2019
Ooredoo Telecom Kuwait, A Rejuvenated Brand
Industry
August 20, 2019 Meet Gambit, A New Addition

Gambit Communications, a local independent agency, has announced its launch late July in the Middle East market. Gambit Communications is named after the opening move of the game of chess. “The name is also a double-entendre because the phrase ‘make an opening gambit’ also means ‘to start a conversation with someone’, and in our field […]

Industry
August 19, 2019 Make Peace With Silence

By Mario Morby Words like violence Break the silence Come crashing in Into my little world Enjoy the silence.  Lyrics from one of, if not, the greatest song of the 90s?  Don’t know. Maybe.  As much as I’d like to debate music from the 90s that would sort of contradict what I’m about to say, which […]

Industry
August 19, 2019 Climate Deniers Enjoy Media Coverage Globally

In an attempt to offer “balanced” reporting, media globally offers climate deniers with no scientific background space to oppose scientists. This revelation came in a study which has been recently published.  The study analyzed,  media coverage from 2000 to 2016, after scanning around 100,000 media articles, bylines, citations and mentions. The study found that with […]

Industry
August 18, 2019 Are Countries Ready For Insta-Tourists?

In recent news authorities at Bali, an Indonesian Island, have asked tourists to either behave or leave their land. This warning came after an incident that was posted on Instagram about a couple from Czech Republic who acted disrespectfully at a temple in Bali. The incident has caused locals to ask for a tourist boycott.  […]

Industry
August 15, 2019 WARC 2019 Effective Innovation Report

WARC revealed the Effective innovation Report – Lessons from the 2019 WARC awards, which highlights the key innovation trends for effective marketing.  The report itself includes opinions from judges who highlights the ideas that have transformed a business or disrupted category conventions and delivered major results. The WARC awards feature some of the marketing industry’s […]

People
August 15, 2019 How To Reinvent A Well Known Brand

By Drew Neisser ADP’s chief marketer Lorraine Barber-Miller explains the benefits of re-imagining an already successful brand. Most B2B marketers can only dream about having nearly 100 percent awareness among their targets.  But what if that awareness is limited to one aspect of your business, how do you broaden perceptions without losing the essence of […]

Industry
August 14, 2019 Why Facebook Hired Contractors?

Facebook Inc. just completed a massive fine of $5 billion settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission following the probe on its privacy practices. However, the social networking giant came under scrutiny over its privacy concerns as another violation by the company has been reported a few hours ago.  According to a report by Bloomberg […]

Industry
August 14, 2019 How To Stay Safe Using A Public Wi-Fi

In a recent survey, security company Bullguard, found that 79 percent of public Wi-Fi users are at a risk of being hacked when they choose their connection. Through public Wi-Fi, hackers can set up what appears to be a legitimate gateway but it is actually malicious and can steal people’s sensitive information. According to a statement […]

Industry
August 12, 2019 Up In The Cloud

By Vinod Krishnan Viewers are watching more content than ever before, with expectations for nearly endless content choice anytime, anywhere and on any screen. To innovate and stay ahead of viewer demands requires the adoption of technologies and solutions that accelerate content production and delivery.  Today, cloud technology has the power to fundamentally change how media […]

Industry
August 11, 2019 David Droga On What Happened With Accenture

By Brian Braiker There don’t seem to be as many big, outsized personalities in advertising as there were in previous generations. Think Ogilvy, think Burnett, think Bernbach. It’s something that David Droga—himself no shrinking violet—says he thinks a lot about. “It bugs me,” he says. He’s certainly doing his share to shake things up, though: The […]

People
August 08, 2019 Creating The Platforms For Arab Comedians

By Sharvari Alape  Stand-up comedy is a global form of expression that provides a new space and stands away from other traditional means of connecting with societies. Comic form of expression is not new to the region; however, stand-up comedy has been around for two decades old, placing our region many years behind the world […]

Industry
August 08, 2019 Data, The New Treasure Trove

It’s every company’s dream to know the real-time location of its audience, deeply understand them and know exactly how, when and where to speak to them. Data mining companies specialize in providing brands with such information, ensuring campaigns’ cost-effectiveness by harvesting and analyzing data. However, these firms and how they operate are still not well […]

Industry
August 07, 2019 Publishers Must Prep For A Cookie-Less World

By Erik Matlick Amid heightened concern around consumer privacy, Google is the latest browser developer to make policy changes that impact the use of cookies. In strengthening the privacy protections within its Chrome browser, Google has made it easier for users to block third-party cookies and harder for tech companies to fingerprint. With consumers bombarded by targeted ad […]

Industry
August 05, 2019 Why Embrace Digital Workforce?

By Sharvari Alape  Technological advancements through digital innovations are driving companies to transform their workforce. According to a report by Research and Markets, the global market is set to reach USD 24 billion by 2023, proving a strong growth in workforce transformation.  Praj Calthorpe, Deputy General Manager, Condo Protego, told Communicate  that the workforce transformation […]

Industry
August 04, 2019 Are Marketing Teams On The Struggle?

By Sharvari Alape Over the past few years, we have seen companies consolidating the Chief Marketing Officer roles into “chief growth officer” and other titles that incorporate commercial and sales posts.  Hence, the layoff of 400 marketing employees by Uber, made last week, was just another hit in the wall by some who see companies […]

Industry
August 04, 2019 Do Clients Pay For What They Get?

With a growing necessity to operate cost-effectively within the market, more clients on a global level are stressing to have a transparent relationship with the agencies. Various research has recorded misunderstandings between clients and agencies, what they have agreed upon in terms of their work. There are multiple reasons why these misunderstandings occur. Stewart Morrison, Managing […]

Industry
August 02, 2019 Uber LayOffs Third Of Marketing Team WorldWide

The riding giant Uber has announced earlier this week a layoff of third of its’ global marketing team.  Some of the members of the marketing team in the Middle East and North Africa has been affected. Overall around 400 employees has been let go worldwide. According to a sheet that went viral, the employees within […]

Industry
July 31, 2019 How CMOs Can Use Research And Insights To Their Best Advantage

By Drew Neisser Most new CMOs arrive with a mandate to find ways to make marketing more effective. Ironically, only a small percentage ask for or are given the time they need to assess the situation—let alone provided the time they would need to research a meaningful customer insight that could have a material impact on […]

Industry
July 27, 2019 Amazon Gives Publishers Ability To Arrange Commercials

By Garett Sloane Amazon has struck a deal with The Trade Desk and Dataxu, two sources of online advertising, to deliver commercials to Fire TV. On Friday, Amazon announced the new arrangement developed for media companies that stream video on Fire TV. The video publishers can now set up what are known as private marketplaces to […]

Industry
July 27, 2019 Over-The-Top Services Demand A Next Level Ad Experience

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 […]

Industry
July 25, 2019 Research Reveals Cyber Security Issues

According to a cyber security research conducted by both VMware and Forbes Insights, only 25 percent of the business leaders across Europe, Middle East and Africa are confident in their current cyber security. “The current security practices are not 100 percent fit in the digital era,” said Rasheed Al-Omari, Principal Business Solutions Strategists SEMEA at […]

Industry
July 24, 2019 TBWA/RAAD Announces Launch of New Creatives Deck

Internationally accredited advertising agency, TBWA, announced in a press statement today, a change in its creative team in their Dubai headquarters, which according to them, will be working at full potential immediately. The new creative structure is being led by Executive Creative Director Manuel Bordé, who will be responsible for all creative output. The team also […]

Industry
July 23, 2019 Seeking Diversity In The Technology World

One of the main challenges viewed in adopting Artificial Intelligence is the gender biases available in the data. Hence, as part of an ongoing discussion on creating a non biased data, companies are looking into various ways to ensure the role of women throughout the process.  We spoke to Francesca Gori, Regional Director of Legal […]

Industry
July 22, 2019 Why Jawwy Launched A Post-Ramadan Campaign?

Saudi Arabian Telecom brand, Jawwy, launched a Ramadan campaign in both cities Riyadh and Dubai, almost two months after Ramadan. They said their campaign is to encourage people to continue the generosity and kindness that they display during the holy month. With the support of FP7 McCann Riyadh and FP7 McCann Dubai, Jawwy found that […]

Industry
July 22, 2019 Google Closes ‘Incognito’ Loophole, Leaving Publishers To Rethink Paywalls

Google is closing a loophole that revealed when people were browsing in “incognito” mode, but the fix will leave some publishers defenseless against a certain breed of freeloading readers who can now jump their paywalls. By the end of July, Google says it will patch the glitch in its Chrome web browser, which allowed websites […]

Industry
July 21, 2019 Personalization, User data and Tech Are Key to Next-Gen Publishing: BBC

Notable for its news coverage, BBC.com  is also home for wide genres of content ranging from informative to entertaining topics such as lifestyle, science, culture, natural history and more.  The BBC team explains that real time and accumulated data plays significant roles in identifying the type of content audiences most likely want to engage with. […]

People
July 21, 2019 Inside The New Visual Identity Being Served Up At McDonald’s

By Ann-Christine Diaz For the everyday consumer, the name McDonald’s might summon a handful of singular images: the Golden Arches, a Big Mac, a red container of fries, Ronald McDonald. But just two years ago, if you surveyed the company’s advertising around the world, you’d find a completely different picture: jumbled messages comprising a mish-mash […]

Culture
July 17, 2019 For Advertisers, The Emmy Halo Effect Is A Thing Of The Past

By Anthony Crupi Advertisers looking to shill for their products and services within the context of an Emmy Award-winning series are once again more or less out of luck, as premium cable and streaming platforms gobbled up most of this morning’s nominations. Of the dozens of scripted, reality and variety series acknowledged today by the […]

Industry
July 16, 2019 Tips From The Gaming Industry On How To Create Brand Fanatics

By David Getson Video games inspire a level of engagement and fandom that most brands would kill for. Successful game brands are more than a recurring touchpoint in a fan’s daily life; they can become a meaningful part of a fan’s identity. As we look at current trends in games marketing, some emerge as critical […]

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July 15, 2019 Behind the Success of McDonald’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Campaign

“We live in an era of disruption; the speed and frequency with which brands connect with customers every day have been transformed dramatically, as consumers are more digitally connected. The key to success for brands is agility; that’s why at McDonald’s we are seeking progress over perfection. As marketers we need to have a high tolerance for risk, we recognized that we need to test new things, fail fast, spot the successes, and scale fast. We collaborated with Facebook because we knew that we could leverage data analytics and insights to help point us in the right direction, supporting our move from mass marketing to mass personalization. This is key to making our customers’ journey more memorable and providing an exceptional personal experience.” - Tarek El Kady, Senior Director, Marketing – McDonald’s MEA

Industry
July 15, 2019 Xavier Anglada On Leading Digital Transformation

Xavier Anglada, the Managing Director at Accenture Digital and Innovation Lead in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey, believes that companies have no other option but to innovate. “Innovation is not about waking up and thinking a great idea. It’s a very streamlined process of things you need to do to bring ideas that […]

Culture
July 15, 2019 Four Key Trends From A Culture Study

By Shavari Alape  UM, the marketing and media agency network of IPG Mediabrands, announced the launch of Remix Culture, the first culturally focused iteration of its annual Wave X study that tracks social and digital media usage in 81 countries.  The study concludes that resist, retrograde, reglocalize, and recreate are the four major trends that […]

Industry
July 14, 2019 Data Security – the Biggest Concern of Digital Times

By Laurent Sirgy In today’s hyper-connected world, data security and privacy are integral in everyday life. Data forms the very foundation of any modern digital enterprise. It drives everything from new user experiences to products and business insights.  Sharing data brings many benefits but carries a substantial amount of risk. Personal or organizational data can […]

Industry
July 14, 2019 How to Stay Influential With Influencers

By Pamela Kaupinen We are seeing sharp shifts in the social storytelling landscape lately, from new shopping features to hidden likes, and it is now more important than ever for marketers and brands to understand how to work effectively with content creators. Understand your partners In our global study of 300-plus social-media storytellers, more than half […]

Industry
July 14, 2019 How AI and Chatbots Can Benefit Any Organization?

By Professor Farhad Oroumchian The recent progression of technology has seen businesses shifting from traditional to digital platforms to interact with consumers. Organisations these days use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to carry out various transactional and business activities digitally. On such technique that has recently grown in popularity and application is the use of chatbots. A chatbot […]

Culture
July 12, 2019 Rebranding For Millennials

By Sharvari Alape Orikami Lab, a Dubai-based design innovation hub, has transformed “Spectrum Watches” to meet the present demands of the digital world. The two companies have collaborated together to deliver what is viewed as a “scalable and livable design system and narrative for the brand.” While  the brand enjoys immense success in the offline […]

Industry
July 11, 2019 How Neuroscience Equips Us To Become Better Creators

By John Clark We are in the midst of a shift in the perception about neuroscience. No longer do we regard it as just an interesting topic; we are now talking about neuroscience as a proven and useful tool. The conversation tends to focus either on the different technologies and their use in research and evaluation; or on learnings from behavioral […]

Industry
July 11, 2019 Twitter Fights Hateful Content On Platform

By Afreen Khan After the analysis of more than 8000 responses, Twitter has expanded their rules against hateful conduct to include language that dehumanizes others on the basis of religion. The announcement came in a statement to the press. Twitter conducted two months research backed up by feedback from its Arabic, English, Spanish and Japanese […]

Industry
July 10, 2019 Nielsen Expands YouTube In-App DAR Measurement to the UAE

Nielsen’s Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) Measurement  has been expanded to 26 major markets including UAE, South Africa, Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Turkey, among others. Nielsen is expanding its advertising measurement of YouTube’s mobile app. The measurement company announced a deal with Google that will witness the Nielsen […]

Industry
July 09, 2019 Facebook Has Become The Storefront For Direct To Consumer Brands

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 […]

Industry
July 08, 2019 How Advertisers Can Reconcile Branding and Performance?

By Tomasz Wnuk Digital advertising represented the largest portion of ad spend for Middle East marketers in 2018 at 52 percent— and that number will only grow, according to the 2019 Middle East Report on Travel Advertising published by SOJERN. Whereas, two in three (61 percent) travel marketers plan to spend more on digital in […]

Industry
July 08, 2019 Amazon’s Ad-Tech Advance on E-Commerce

By Nader Bitar Earlier this year I wrote about how Amazon tends to disrupt and realign any industry it chooses to lay claim to. Some seven months on, that turned out to be fairly prophetic as the e-commerce giant has now officially entered the ad-tech fray with the full might of Sizmek’s tech stack behind […]

Industry
July 08, 2019 Why OPPO’s Latest Campaign Is A Must See

With a strong record of creating cutting-edge phones that are as forward-thinking as they are innovative, OPPO seems to have taken the lead in exploring into uncharted territories with its latest OPPO Reno Series– a smartphone that has created a huge buzz in the Middle East for its large, uninterrupted screen with a sleek pop-up […]

Industry
July 07, 2019 Geolocation Data In The Age Of Privacy

We spoke to Puja Panuum, the Managing Director of Blis, about how companies can leverage geolocation data while maintaining people’s privacy. She said that in today’s age companies only work with others who are privacy conscious and take the matter seriously. Today, businesses use data very differently which is why it is considered the “new […]

Industry
July 07, 2019 CAFU Launches Crowdsourced Film Starring Kris Fade

By Afreen Khan CAFU has recently launched a film, shot and produced by themselves, titled “Faded Voice.” The film is an initiative to reward its fan base by crowdsourcing the plot from the customers in a creative manner. The campaign included a series of multiple films that were shot locally in Dubai, catching more than […]

Industry
July 03, 2019 How Linear TV Benefits From An Excess of Streaming Options

By Anthony Crupi The giddy excess of the Peak TV era has culminated in a sort of option paralysis among consumers, many of whom, when presented with a near-infinite number of entertainment choices, make none whatsoever. According to Nielsen’s newly released Total Audience Report for the first quarter of 2019, more than one-fifth (21 percent) […]

Industry
July 02, 2019 Why Facebook’s New Libra Coin is Good — and Really Bad — for the World

By Anne Connelly We’re at the edge of one of the greatest societal shifts since the separation of church and state. Ten years ago, with the creation of bitcoin, people were given the ability to digitally transact value without the need for a government to manage the system. Bitcoin marked the beginning of the separation […]

Industry
July 01, 2019 On Communicating For Luxury Brands

She launched Z7 Communications with a team of two, about twelve years ago, but now they are an agency of more than 40 employees. Zeina El-Dana, Founder and CEO of Z7 Communications talks to Communicate about the significance of investing in the company’s employees to be able to grow “without compromising on the exceptional standards.”   […]

Industry
July 01, 2019 What’s In A Name? That Which We Call Around the Clock

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 […]

Industry
July 01, 2019 MENA Mobile Speaks “The Language”

By Sharvari Alape  Invasion or Soqor Al Arab, is an Arabic language mobile game that has been launched in 2016. Since then, it has driven over 5 million registered users. Likewise, Salah Al Din which is the first IP game, has found fame. The game is  based on the historical TV series Salah Al Din- a […]

Industry
July 01, 2019 #KnitForRefugees: UNHCR and Twitter Launch Global Campaign

By Sharvari Alape Twitter, UNHCR, and the London-based Kniterate has launched a global Twitter campaign, #KnitForRefugees.  Mainly powered through social media, the campaign depends on retweets to spread awareness and raise funds. Once a tweet is retweeted, users get an automated response asking for donations. The campaign’s  initial launch has been in Dubai, after which it will […]

Industry
June 30, 2019 Reflections Of Cannes Lions 2019

By Nicola Mendelsohn The Cannes Lions Festival has never been more important. This gathering of the great and the good from the creative industries on the sun-drenched Croisette, has always been an opportunity to celebrate outstanding work from the past year and look forward to the emerging themes in advertising. I’m sure this will always be true […]

Industry
June 30, 2019 It’s Time For Media Agency Leaders To Suit Up

By Hallie Johnston We all know the doom-and-gloom headlines about the short lifecycle of CMOs, the squeeze on the agency business model and the continuous fragmentation in the media ecosystem. Never before in the history of marketing and advertising have clients and brands been as overwhelmed with new ways to connect with consumers. And while this […]

Industry
June 28, 2019 AR and The Advancements In Advertising and Media

By Faris Sibai  Augmented Reality (AR) is propelling the e-commerce industry into the future with a model that makes advertising not only personalized but fun for the user.  Augmented reality revenues are estimated to reach a staggering $14 billion in 2021, according to ARtillery Intelligence. This growth presents an exciting opportunity for marketers, as consumers […]

Industry
June 27, 2019 Alibaba Focused On Mission Not Competition

By Sharvari Alape  Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, has risen to be China’s largest provider of public cloud services, with eyes to expand beyond within the Middle East. During its inaugural Middle East and Africa (MEA) Internet Summit, Selina Yuan said to her audience that the company does not have competition because […]

Industry
June 27, 2019 Netizency: A New Marketing Partner for LinkedIn

By Afreen Khan LinkedIn announced a new content partnership with GCC-based digital marketing agency, Netizency. The partnership between both companies aims to provide multimedia content that should be both strategic and relevant to the market. Consumption of content varies across platforms in relation to the demographic that is being catered for. The company said that […]

Industry
June 27, 2019 Are Brands, Celebrities and Influencers A Match Made in Heaven?

By Bassam Mustafa Influencer marketing has seen a major growth spurt, and is currently all the rage. With football superstar Leo Messi kicking off the Expo 2020 Dubai video campaign, to Bollywood king Shahrukh Khan being locked down by Visit Dubai, the region has been bursting at the seams with celebrity and brand unions this year. But how […]

Industry
June 26, 2019 How Marketers Can Benefit From OND Data

By Dan Cantorna  Data is considered by many to be the oil of the 21st century. The success of any brand in today’s digital economy is ultimately dictated by its access to data and ability to interpret it. There is no question that you need to leverage your own customer data. However, brands need to […]

Industry
June 26, 2019 A Successful Brexit Campaign-That Has Absolutely Nothing To Do With British Politics

By Drew Neisser There’s tremendous pressure on CMOs to spend their budgets online, particularly at tech companies. For those with a couple of decades of experience, there’s even a reverse bias that if they don’t spend most of their dollars digitally, they’ll be perceived as out of touch. So, leave it to a couple of […]

Industry
June 26, 2019 The Inevitability Of Augmented Journalism

By Caline Malek As the Gulf prepares to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to bring a number of benefits to many industries, including the media sector. Indeed, robo-journalism – the automated creation of news article by an algorithm – is rapidly gaining ground around the world. Many prestigious media outlets […]

man
OMD Corner
OMD Corner
June 25, 2019
A Talk With Waseem Afzal
Industry
June 25, 2019 Google Is Testing A Carousel Format For Its Text-Based Ads

Google is testing a carousel format for text-based search ads on mobile, as the tech giant considers adding more inventory on tiny screens without disrupting user experiences. Presently Google allows a maximum of four ads displayed vertically on mobile search results, and marketers only pay when someone clicks. The carousel format would allow Google to present […]

Industry
June 25, 2019 Virtual Reality Unfulfilled Promise

By Muzammil Hamza Although Virtual Reality rung it’s announcement bells first in 2012, the “reality” aspect was still fictitious to mainstream users in the MENA region until mid-2015. Initial applications of the technology, and sneak-peaks of the gadgets involved spurred a global race to identify the next major market opportunities, especially among tech-enthusiasts, who expected the […]

Culture
June 23, 2019 Are We “All Just Prisoners Here, Of Our Own Device?”

By Dr Alun Epps There is no need to even slightly paraphrase the prophetic line from the Eagles staple that has become the author’s go-to phrase to describe the “black mirror” world that we have allowed ourselves to check out of any time we like (but never leave). To loosely quote Thomas Browne (1643) from […]

Industry
June 23, 2019 Launch of Microsoft Data Centers Amid Talks About 5G

By Afreen Khan Microsoft opens its first data centers in MENA, the company announced last week at an event held in Dubai. The two new data computing centers are based in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai and will be working on delivering Microsoft Azure, the cloud-based system, to the region. The technology giant believes that […]

Industry
June 23, 2019 The Takeaways From Cannes Lions 2019

By I-Hsien Sherwood and Ann-Christine Diaz Another Cannes Lions is wrapping, but don’t let its lessons fade away into the summer dog days. If you’d rather those memories stick like the floor of the Carlton Terrace, read on for a refresher. Whether you’re nursing a sunburn and a rosé headache or a grudge because you […]

Industry
June 21, 2019 Are Your Stories Actually Worth The Time?

By Alexander Jutkowitz It’s 8 a.m., and you step on to the subway [metro] to get to work. You automatically look down at your phone, and your scrolling thumb takes over, zooming through Instagram and going down the proverbial rabbit hole of everything from videos of your best friend’s Miami vacation to soul-shaking quotes about […]

Industry
June 21, 2019 The Connected World – How 5G Will Make Creativity Limitless

By Ayman Haydar You could be forgiven for thinking that 5G has been implemented, tested and been through several iterations given the amount of coverage it has generated in the last six months alone. We’ve always been impatient when it comes to waiting for the next big technological development and the arrival of this fifth-generation […]

Industry
June 19, 2019 WFA launches the Voice Coalition at Cannes Lions

The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) launches the “Voice Coalition.” The new group is designed to help brands understand more about the impact voice will have on the way consumers select brands. WFA  said in a statement that the partnership has been founded with Fast-Up Partners (FUP), in which the group has been created after […]

Culture
June 19, 2019 HBO And Droga5 Discuss ‘Game Of Thrones’ #FortheThrone Campaign

By Ann-Christine Diaz and Max Sternlicht At the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Ad Age sat down with and Alex Diamond, HBO’s director of consumer marketing, and Andy Ferguson, group creative director at Droga5, to learn more about the expansive “Game of Thrones” #FortheThrone campaign that kicked off the final season of the popular show—and which […]

Industry
June 19, 2019 Are Consultants The New Agencies?

By Hussam ElHage I am revisiting this article a year after I initially wrote it. Originally, I was going to discuss the new entrants to the advertising world; consulting firms. But now, they’re already here! Let me begin by saying that during my time working within media agencies, Accenture and other firms on a global […]

Industry
June 17, 2019 Sir Martin Sorrell: The Digital World

He turned an average-sized plastic manufacturing company into a marketing services giant with a market value of $20 billion. After 33 years of service, he left WPP in the midst of controversy, and within a month formed S4 Capital, providing digital marketing solutions to a broad array of clients. At age 74, executive chairman Sir […]

Industry
June 17, 2019 Anatomy Of Effectiveness

In alignment with the start of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, WARC, the global authority on advertising and media effectiveness, has released a white paper under the title of” “Anatomy of Effectiveness.” The white paper is meant for brand marketers and advertising agencies. The paper highlights five key priorities for brands seeking greater impact. […]

Industry
June 17, 2019 Digital Ads Account For More Than Half The Worldwide Market

By I-Hsien Sherwood Global ad sales growth will continue to slow this year, according to a new report from ad forecaster Magna. Ad revenue will grow 5 percent in 2019, nearing $600 billion worldwide—a drop from last year’s growth rate of 8 percent, but a slight uptick from Magna’s most recent forecast in December, when […]

Industry
June 16, 2019 The Trio That Created NIKE’S ‘Dream Crazy’

By Ann-Christine Diaz Tennis pro Serena Williams, skateboarder Lacey Baker and high school football player/homecoming queen Alicia Woollcott are among the athletes who “dreamed crazy” in Nike’s 30th anniversary “Just Do It” effort. But Nike dreamed crazy, too. The brand took a stand and threw itself into the center of cultural controversy by featuring former […]

Industry
June 16, 2019 Eltizam Focus on Branding

By Sharvari Alape Eltizam Asset Management Group is ready to work on its brand recognition, said Uros Trojanovic, General Manager, Strategy & Planning at Eltizam in an interview with Communicate. “Growth has been achieved not through brand awareness but other avenues. So in order to sustain that continued growth both in the UAE and also […]

Industry
June 13, 2019 #ArabLuxuryWorld19: Blockchains are the future?

By Sharvari Alape  The topic of blockchain is being increasingly discussed in the region as brands realize the potential behind the concept. Coinciding with the current market trends, the sixth edition of the Arab Luxury World 2019 dedicated a panel discussion among the industry experts titled, ‘Blockchain: is it the next luxury revolution?’ “Who here […]

Industry
June 13, 2019 The Notion Of In-Housing

By Mohamed Itani Let’s face it, some of you must have thought of or desired at some stage to manage your media in-house. Well, if you go by the saying “if you want something done right, do it yourself” then you must have actually gone beyond the simple thought of in-housing. Well, it also appears […]

Industry
June 13, 2019 Data Driven Marketing at The ALW 2019

By Afreen Khan The luxury world’s biggest conference in the MENA region, Arab Luxury World, returned for its 5th edition on the 12th of June 2019 with a changed perspective on the marketing of luxury goods. One that is described as not only  more inclusive but also open minded and forward-thinking, targeting a newer and […]

Industry
June 12, 2019 The Value Of Diversifying Data in 2019

By Puja Pannum Let’s face it, you can’t truly get to know your audience based on the content they read. Imagine someone reads a football article, for instance. Based on this information, it would be understandable if a brand thought that this person might want to buy some football boots, when in actual fact they have […]

Industry
June 11, 2019 Zenith Forecasts the Popularity of Mobile Internet

The fifth edition of the Media Consumption Forecasts by Zenith sheds light on the rise of mobile internet usage globally, along with the popularity of television and radio. According to the survey conducted across 57 countries, the amount of time people use on mobile internet is a collective of 3.8 trillion hours this year, which […]

People
June 11, 2019 OMG Mena Announces Three Promotions

Omnicom Media Group EMEA has announced three promotions at the top of its Middle East/North Africa (MENA) operations in a press statement. The regional CEO, Elie Khouri, has been promoted to chairman, while OMD MENA’s CEO, Nadim Samara, takes the same position at the regional holding and PHD’s CEO Elda Choucair moves to the newly […]

Industry
June 11, 2019 Fortnite Emerges As A Social Media Platform For Gen Z

By George P. Slefo A new study suggests that Fortnite has more in common with Facebook than Call of Duty, with the massively popular game emerging as a new kind of social network for a key demographic of younger consumers that brands covet. “Unlike other platforms and services, Fortnite uniquely combines benefits from gaming, social […]

Industry
June 10, 2019 Amazon.ae Witness Rise in Ad Awareness

Following the launch of Amazon.ae at the beginning of May, the brand has experienced a significant rise in its ad awareness within the UAE during the same month, said YouGov spokesperson in an e-mail. In a survey conducted by YouGov BrandIndex, the results show an uplift in the brand’s ad awareness increasing by +13.9 points, […]

Industry
June 10, 2019 UNHCR: Tell Individual Stories

With an aim to capture people’s attention and increase donations, the UNHCR has been telling the story of refugees differently. “The current realities of refugees have forced us to look out of the box and for non-traditional ways of how we as a UN agency want to communicate,” said Omer Elnaiem, Campaign and Advocacy Officer […]

Industry
June 09, 2019 Internet Ad Formats Are Increasing

A Research conducted by the World Advertising Research Center or WARC on Global Advertisement Trends for the year 2019 uncovered that online advertisement has indeed experienced growth and will continuously keep growing, thereby becoming the most frequented advertisement format for Global Media by 2020.  The expected rise in spend on internet ad formats is charted […]

Industry
June 09, 2019 What We Ramadan Marketers Can Learn From Christmas?

By Tahaab Rais Ramadan matters because it embodies values that help make people better versions of themselves, such as generosity, togetherness, empathy, kindness, giving, food and family-time, among others. Christmas matters too because it too embodies those great values too. Both occasions should be famous around the world and should be celebrated by everyone.  Christmas has […]

Industry
June 06, 2019 Advertising Is A Soft Power?

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 […]

Industry
June 06, 2019 Behind the Rebranding: C2 Comms

By Afreen Khan C2 Comms describes themselves as not just “any” advertising and branding consultancy agency, but importantly seekers of change and creating new perceptions.  The company that has lately announced a rebranding for itself, talks to Communicate about “reengineering of the way we approach the business of communication.” C2 Comms Managing director Roy Aftimos […]

Industry
June 02, 2019 The Drone Is The Message

By Paul Woolmington If “the medium is the message” was one of the most radical concepts of the 20th century, then a compelling question for the 21st century is this: What can now be defined as a medium? Marshall McLuhan’s famous theory, of course, is that the medium itself, not the content it carries, is what […]

Industry
June 02, 2019 Responsible Advertising To The Rescue?

By Sharvari Alape People experience ads everywhere. From sponsored ads on social media,  the in-between ads on TV to the enormous billboards on the streets. However, that does not mean they resonate with the advertisement on a level to spark an action. Comparatively, very few campaigns over the last years have tackled specific social  issues […]

Industry
May 30, 2019 WhatsApp Will Bring Stories Ads in 2020

WhatsApp, a free and popular messaging Facebook-owned app, is set to be no more ad-free. It its not clear when the exact date in which the ads will  be implemented into the platform.  “As we said last year, we will start showing ads in status in the future,” a WhatsApp spokesperson in an e-mail to Communicate. The announcement was […]

Industry
May 30, 2019 What To Consider Before Updating Your Brand’s Visual Look

By Jessica Wohl When Sears redesigned its logo late last month, it was intended to signal a new brand positioning, an attempt at freshening its image and a Hail Mary to connect with customers. The new design—a combination of a home and heart, with the new slogan “Making Moments Matter”—got a reaction out of people, […]

Industry
May 29, 2019 What Is It?

According to Facebook IQ, brands have 57.6 million more hours to capture attention during Ramadan due to the additional time spent on Facebook during that month. Hence, they say that “SHARED by Facebook” offers brands and people an easy-to-navigate platform to help them make the most out of these moments. So what is Shared by Facebook?   […]

Industry
May 28, 2019 How Can We Be Better Feminists As Marketers?

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 […]

Industry
May 28, 2019 The Post-Digital World – Are you really ready for what comes next?

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 […]

Industry
May 27, 2019 Publicis Groupe Newest Agency Digitas

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 […]

People
May 26, 2019 Social Entrepreneurship: A Stride Towards Social Development

By Nariman Zouheiry, Lebanon “Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.” – Bill Drayton, founder of international social enterprise promoter Ashoka. No one could have said it better than the father of social entrepreneurship himself. Drayton initiated […]

People
May 26, 2019 Rishad Tobaccowala On Growth Hacking Publicis- And Himself!

By  Brian Braiker Rishad Tobaccowala has logged nearly four decades at Publicis. Starting with a run at Leo Burnett and followed by stints as chairman of Digitas LBi and Razorfish, he spent some time in leadership roles at VivaKi and Starcom IP as well as other companies under the Publicis umbrella. Today he is the […]

Industry
May 23, 2019 Infiniti Focuses on Human Stories

Infiniti has been telling stories in the form of advertising. For them, digitization has changed the way brands are perceived today. “People come to the show room knowing the exact car they want,” said Karsten Jankowski, General Manager of Marketing & PR at Infiniti Middle East.  Hence, he explains that the brand uses all sort […]

Culture
May 21, 2019 ‘Game Of Thrones’ Finale Sets An HBO Record

By Anthony Crupi The much griped-about series finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” on Sunday night broke the premium cable network‘s all-time ratings records, as nearly 20 million viewers tuned in to find out who would get to sit on the Uncomfortable Pointy Chair. According to Nielsen live-plus-same-day data, the 82-minute “Thrones” capper averaged 19.3 million total viewers, […]

Industry
May 20, 2019 Badly Behaved Brands: Why Campaigns Need Consumer Insight To Succeed

By Mai Youssef The rise of digital media has reduced consumers’ attention span to that of a goldfish, which is less than 9 seconds. With consumers seeing over 5,000 ads a day, it’s no surprise that around 615 million devices globally are now blocking ads. With so many brands competing for a few seconds of […]

Industry
May 20, 2019 Mazen Jawad: Aspirations, Clients and Talent of Horizon Holdings

By Sharvari Alape Having started his journey 25 years ago with Horizon FCB, Mazen Jawad is the president of Horizon Holdings that is home for five agencies. He moves around his office with ease and familiarity as he reminisces, “I used to love watching commercials more than going to the beach with my family. I […]

Industry
May 16, 2019 What A WhatsApp Security Breach Means for Your Company!

By Afreen Khan Home of a 1.5 billion users worldwide, WhatsApp reported a security breach few days ago. The company, which  introduced “End-to-End Encryption” in 2016, asked users to update their WhatsApp mobile applications as the update contains a fix for a malicious hacking that was reported. The breach was discovered early May, in which […]

Industry
May 16, 2019 Nation Abu Dhabi, Majid al Futtaim and MBC Studios Signs Partnership

By Afreen Khan Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Majid Al Futtaim and MBC Studios, three of MENA’s most influential and major media companies, signed an agreement to come together in a coalition to create a major production platform for film and television related projects in the region. This partnership, they said, will facilitate the production of […]

People
May 16, 2019 Leo Burnett Bids Farewell to Executive Creative Director

Leo Burnett UAE and Lower Gulf today announced, in a press statement, that the agency’s Regional Executive Creative Director of Dubai André Pereira Nassar, is leaving the agency after more than five years to pursue other opportunities. “We are truly sad to see André leave us but we respect his desire to pursue other opportunities […]

Industry
May 15, 2019 Short-Form Video: Punch, Space and Courage

By Ahmed Hafez Younis “There’s no recipe for creativity.” If you walk around Facebook’s offices chances are you’re going to come across this poster. It truly reflects what we at Creative Shop believe. We also believe that to connect with today’s consumers in this mobile world, we must build for where they are and not where […]

Industry
May 14, 2019 A New Chapter In 1st Price Auction and Bid Shading

By Pedro Goncalves One of the strongest memories from my early days in advertising was the “EUREKA” moment, when for the first time, I was exposed to the biddable media concept. Words like Programmatic and RTB were still to come into use, but I felt strongly that whatever the official name, it will have a gigantic […]

Industry
May 13, 2019 Why Philip Morris Suspended Its Global Campaign?

By Sharvari Alape In response to a Reuters’s report, international cigarette maker Philip Morris has suspended their global social marketing campaign for their product IQOS. Reuters inquired about the company’s campaign that used an influencer who is under the age of 25. The campaign was designed to use young online personalities to sell its new […]

People
May 13, 2019 Ravi Rao Appointed CEO at GroupM MENA

GroupM, WPP’s named, Ravi Rao, CEO at GroupM Middle East North Africa (MENA), the group said in a statement. He replaces Filip Jabbour, who was appointed in 2015 when GroupM launched in the region and has taken the decision to step down. “Clients increasingly require services beyond media planning and buying, and I’m looking forward […]

Industry
May 13, 2019 Bahrain’s Future Government and Digital Transformation

Future government and digital transformation are driving Bahrain’s IT market, said the newly appointed Country Manager of SAP Bahrain. This transformation is with at an aim is to reach a record-high of  $186 million by 2021. Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 aims to foster economic diversification, which is why according to SAP, organizations are increasingly digitally transforming, […]

Industry
May 13, 2019 APCO Extends To Bahrain

APCO Worldwide expanded its presence in the MENA region with the opening of a new office in Manama, Bahrain, Brad Staples, CEO of APCO Worldwide, said in a statement. APCO’s office in Bahrain comes during a banner year for the company with 2019 representing the 35th anniversary year of the firm’s founding. Founded by Margery Kraus as […]

Industry
May 12, 2019 We’re Entering The Post-Social Era

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 […]

Industry
May 12, 2019 The Closed Nature Of The Open Web

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 […]

Industry
May 12, 2019 Programmatic and Branding

This video explains the importance of programmatic in branding. Accordingly, programmatic optimizes branding, nonetheless it is important to adjust the strategies from direct display to use in programmatic.   This is the last video of the series about programmatic advertisement is published in partnership with Gamned.

Industry
May 11, 2019 Say Goodbye To Gated Content And Hello To Conversation

By  Drew Neisser If Dave Gerhardt had his way, those annoying lead-generation forms that incessantly pop up on most B2B websites would simply disappear. As CMO of Drift, a company that enables live chat and bots for more than 150,000 companies, Gerhardt and his team have a vested interest in connecting sales teams with future […]

Industry
May 10, 2019 What Does Kerning Cultures $460K Seed Mean?

Kerning Cultures announced recently that they have  raised $460K. This news makes them  the first venture-backed podcast network in the Middle East with this capital. The seed round was led by 500 Startups, a global Venture Capital firm that has invested in companies. Podcast industry has been rising in the region and global wide. The […]

Industry
May 10, 2019 Nike Uses App To Stop Sneaker Returns

The world’s largest sneaker company is launching Nike Fit, an addition to its app that lets customers scan their feet at home and provides their proper size in various models. The company says 60% of people wear the wrong size shoe, and concern over fit has a material impact on consumer confidence. “This is something […]

Industry
May 08, 2019 Face To Face Collaborates With Expo2020

Dubai-based agency Face to Face has collaborated with Expo 2020 Dubai to create the event’s first advertising campaign featuring global ambassador Lionel Messi, the company said in a statement. Messi stars in a digitally-led campaign that’s focused on Expo 2020’s messages of “collaboration and unity.” The two-minute film will run across digital channels globally and […]

Industry
May 08, 2019 WhatsApp Could Boost Your Business

Terry Kane is the Regional Head of Auto, Finance, Telco & Travel for MENA at Facebook. His work as he explains is to help businesses understand friction within their process and solve it.   “So the the industry [travel] is usually fragmented,” he said in an interview. One of the processes he describes is the […]

People
May 07, 2019 New Vice Chairman of PRCA MENA Announced

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 […]

Industry
May 06, 2019 How Engaged Are Listeners With Their Radio Channels

By Rizk Haddad. On January 31, 2019, at 6am, all Shock Middle East radio brands introduced a clutter-free experience to our listeners and clients with ‘only two ads in a row’. We wanted to understand the consumer behavior around radio consumption and engagement better, and commissioned an independent research survey with IPSOS. This highlighted key insights […]

Industry
May 05, 2019 Twitter Launches #StartWithThem and #TwitterFronts Ahead Of Ramadan

By Elías Jabbe Twitter celebrated the regional launch of its global #StartWithThem and #TwitterFronts initiatives in March and April in both Dubai and Riyadh. Following its global #WhatsHappening motto that has been at the center of Twitter’s marketing campaigns over the past few years, #StartWithThem highlights the unique ways that Twitter has been leveraged in […]

Industry
May 05, 2019 What Is Internalization?

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 […]

Industry
May 05, 2019 Confessions Of An Advertising Recruiter: Tales From The Dark Side

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 […]

Industry
May 02, 2019 Mashreq Bank Appoints TBWA \ RAAD As Their Creative Agency

Mashreq’s in-house marketing and communications team has appointed TBWA \RAAD , part of Omnicom Group Inc., to work closer with the team in order to strengthen the bank’s position as the region’s most progressive and innovative community-focused bank. “Our data-driven disruption model questions and challenges normal conventions and we feel the rapid digital transformation of the […]

Culture
May 02, 2019 Tingling Sensations To Enhance The Experience

Burger King used an ultra-realistic autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) to create their latest advertisement launched within cinemas in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In the latest ad, an actor is seen drawing a tray with the meal towards him, and slowly biting into the sandwich. The 45-second cinema spot, with sound design by Elie Akl, highlighted […]

Industry
May 01, 2019 Artificial Intelligence Is Not Just Robots

Speaking at the Ai Everything conference in Dubai, Amy Webb, Futurist and Founder of Future Today Institute said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not about robots but about the future of humanity. She added that businesses need to think about AI holistically. The AI expert and bestselling author of ‘The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans […]

Industry
May 01, 2019 Facebook To Get A New Look

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rolled out a redesign of his social networking app with a focus on communities known as Groups, and a layout that loses the blue. On Tuesday, Zuckerberg opened Facebook’s F8 developer conference by announcing an overhaul of the apps, including the new look for the main property. Zuckerberg also laid out […]

Industry
May 01, 2019 Souq Is Now Amazon.ae

Amazon and Souq announced the launch of Amazon.ae, a new local shopping experience for customers in the UAE. The website Amazon.ae features over 30 million products from local and international businesses, including products previously available on Souq and five million products from Amazon US, the company said in a statement. Customers can shop on Amazon.ae […]

Industry
April 30, 2019 MMA Tackles Industry Trends at Impact Forum

By Elías Jabbe Pertinent topics such as mobile advertising, digital publishing and influencer marketer were discussed and further analyzed during the Mobile Marketing Association’s annual Impact Forum in Dubai. The forum brought in thought leaders working in-house  at global and regional companies to discuss the transformation of business through mobile. Among the speakers was Emre […]

People
April 30, 2019 Alex Saber Resigns As Chairman Publicis Media MENA

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 […]

Industry
April 29, 2019 Mobile Marketing Association hosts #ShapeTheFuture Forum in Dubai

By Elías Jabbe The Mobile Marketing Association returns to Dubai today to host the latest edition of one of its signature events: MMA Impact Forum. The Istanbul-based MENA & Turkey chapter of the global MMA is leading the organization of the annual forum in Dubai that unites marketers from various countries in the Middle East […]

Industry
April 28, 2019 Role Of Media Trader In Programmatic Advertising

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 […]

Industry
April 28, 2019 The 4 Ways Print Publications Can Reinvigorate Their Offerings

By Janet Levine There’s no shortage of headlines about storied print publications scaling back or shutting down entirely. Ad Age, for one, called it a category in “secular decline” in its 2019 Publishers A-List. From a media perspective, print publishers have a unique opportunity to reinvigorate their brands. If we treated these publishers the way […]

Industry
April 28, 2019 Going Viral Is Nice But Not A Strategy

By Jose Duarte When it comes to social, brands often still chase the all-consuming, elusive pursuit of virality. While many people can’t even describe what that means, clients and social media managers spend a lot of time seeking, or asking their agencies to get them the next viral moment that will rival moments like the famous […]

Industry
April 27, 2019 Amazon Spent $1.7 Billion on Video and Music in Q1

Amazon.com Inc. said it spent $1.7 billion on video and music content during the first quarter of this year, the first time the technology and retail giant has itemized the growing cost of providing streaming services to consumers. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Seattle company said it spent $1.5 billion […]

Industry
April 25, 2019 Media Digitization A Form of Outsourcing?

New exponential technologies, has led to the digital disruption and transformation of industries, organizations, and governments. Whether Cloud Computing (CC), or Robotic Process Automation (RPA), or Artificial Intelligence (AI), these technologies are taking hold in the Outsourcing and Shared Services (OSS) industry in the region.   Outsourcing was once focused only on the goal of […]

Industry
April 25, 2019 No More Copy-Paste

By Rishi Saxena Measuring impact is the big challenge. An average person in the Middle East is served over 1,500 online impressions a month and can see up to 600 marketing messages across different media channels within a day according to the results of a 2018 Nielsen benchmark study on MENA media trends. This does not […]

Industry
April 25, 2019 Podcast Ad Market Could Reach $1.6bn by 2022

WARC, the international marketing intelligence service, forecasts podcasts to account for 4.5 per cent($1.6bn) of global audio advertising spend by 2022, which his the double the expected investment of this year. The company said in a statement  that this forecast is almost double the $885m in expected investment this year. This expectation comes at the […]

Industry
April 24, 2019 Programmatic Advertising: Real Time Bidding

Our second episode takes us into Real-time bidding (RTB), which means the advertising inventory that is bought and sold on a per-impression basis via programmatic auction. This takes places while the page is loading. The bidding begins as soon as the user visits the webpage. The bid request is triggered from the publisher’s end that may include […]

Industry
April 23, 2019 Now’s The Time To Take Omnichannel Approach To Your Branding

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 […]

Industry
April 23, 2019 Snapchat Commercials: They Are Here To Stay

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 […]

Industry
April 23, 2019 The Tempest: We Are More than Content Diversity

Launched during SXSW in April 2016, The Tempest is a media company by women, for women, with a focus on media presentation of various groups across the world. Not only content wise, but also on employees level, and other levels of stallholders. Communicate spoke with  Mashal Waqar, the co-founder of The Tempest, a media company […]

Industry
April 22, 2019 Google Won’t Save Journalism, and it’s Naïve to Think Otherwise

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 […]

Industry
April 22, 2019 A Look At Post Digital Era

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 […]

Industry
April 21, 2019 What is Programmatic?

Programmatic advertisement is a term that describes a range of platforms, tools and services that have made digital advertising more automated and data-driven. Through this concept, advertisers can obtain digital media without pricing, so they can pay only for the relevant impressions they will distribute on the right audience. Programmatic allows real time flexibility and […]

Industry
April 21, 2019 Snapchat Ramadan Case Studies

1st Case Study: Emirates NBD Emirates NBD is a leading bank in the UAE. Part of their corporate marketing initiatives is to build and maintain brand affinity amongst the local UAE community. One way the bank does this is through tailored communications during cultural moments like Ramadan. Emirates NBD turned to Snapchat—an untapped medium and […]

Industry
April 20, 2019 Here’s The Solution To Bad TV ADs

By Eric Kallman I think it was Jeff Goodby who used to write about asking his cab drivers what commercials they liked. It was a good way of taking the pulse of the people for someone living in the middle of adland. So, recently I decided to do the same with my Uber drivers. “What […]

Industry
April 20, 2019 Amazon and Alphabet To Stop Boycotting Each Other

YouTube will soon be available on Amazon’s Fire TV while Amazon Prime Video will show up on Google’s Chromecast and Android TV devices. The frosty relationship between Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. thawed a little further Thursday when the two tech giants said in a statement that they would begin letting each other’s video services […]

Industry
April 18, 2019 Artificial Intelligence Influence on Storytelling

Whether there is an appetite or not they [brands] have to face the changes said Imad Lahad, Head of APCO’s AI Comms Lab, during an interview with Communicate . He spoke to us about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is moving at a pace that is 10 times faster than digital transformation. “Companies that won’t be […]

Industry
April 17, 2019 Three Ways to Focus Investments For Innovation and Transformation

By Christian Reilly For modern Chief Intelligence Officers (CIO), success is not about the technology; it’s about using technology to drive business innovation and value. It’s about providing an always-on, secure digital workspace — without a costly outlay of capital. And it’s about efficiently and securely expanding into new markets and regions. In other words, […]

Industry
April 17, 2019 How the Middle East and Africa is Getting Ready for 5G

By Femi Oshiga  The 5G future is beginning now across the Middle East and Africa.  With the technology expected to contribute billions to economies around the region, network operators are rolling out pilot deployments and making investments in communications infrastructure.   For example, GSMA reported that local operators in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are […]

Industry
April 17, 2019 AWS focus on Cloud in MENA

Bringing technologists in the Middle East together, Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit in Dubai was held on Wednesday, to connect, collaborate, and learn more about the AWS Cloud and the way organizations in the Middle East can leverage the cloud technology to innovate and grow. AWS had previously announced that it will launch the first […]

Industry
April 16, 2019 How Technology Can Aid Journalism?

Google announced it will launch the first Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge in Middle East and Africa (MEA) June 2019. The aim of the challenge as described by Google is to empower news innovators by showing newer ways of thinking in online journalism through development of new tools to elevate the industry. This initiative was announced […]

Industry
April 16, 2019 Gen Z Doesn’t Want to Buy Your Brand, They Want to Join It

By Mary Ellen Dugan Gen Z can create personal brands faster and more effectively than any generation that’s come before them. If you represent a brand or agency, that should give you pause for thought. Gen Z will make up 40 percent of all consumers by 2020. As this generation of digital natives has been […]

Industry
April 15, 2019 How Receptive are Audiences on Twitter?

The growth in the penetration and pervasiveness of the Internet and smart mobile devices, especially in MENA, has led to unprecedented social media usage in the Middle East, according to findings by a Twitter research team. Twitter commissioned NeuroInsight, one of the world’s leading neuroscience-based market research companies, to conduct a neuroscience study that looks […]

Industry
April 15, 2019 Crowd Analyzer Publishes its Annual Social Media Findings

An analysis of the languages used through social media shows that Arabic is a dominant language within Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE. Findings of the research reveals that 90 per cent of the posts, across the studied industries, were in Arabic, compared to only 10 per cent in English. However, the majority of the users […]

Industry
April 15, 2019 The Marketing Road to the Kingdom

There are four key ways to reach customers in Saudi Arabia, according to Mustafa Ismail CEO of Smaat, a digital marketing company, that works in the GCC and North Africa. They are culture, language, youth and influencers. Talking to an audience on Monday, he said that content for Saudi Arabia should provide cultural relevance, and […]

Industry
April 14, 2019 CEO of Havas Media Group: We Need to Engage to Make Meaningful Connections

In a conversation with Communicate, Peter Mears, CEO of Havas Media Group, reiterated the significance of looking at advertisement as a field that has changed within its ecosystem, yet the “fundamentals of the craft” remains the same. Considered one of the most powerful people in the advertisement world, Mears said that the craft is about […]

Industry
April 14, 2019 Millennials and Generation Z talent look for purpose not a job

By Stanislava Burianek We already know very well that Millennials represent a very significant spending power globally and even more so in the Middle East. They represent US$2.45 trillion in spending power, according to Adweek and according to Omnicom Group, 70% of them are likely to buy brands that support causes they care about. Subsequently, […]

Industry
April 13, 2019 Social Campaign: Personal Growth

Trio students at Middlesex University achieved winnings in both the Masar Student Creative Award for Print Competition, and the Student Integrated Award Competition at the annual Dubai Lynx Festival. Communicate will be publishing a three parts interview with them. The Third and final interview is with Melina Serrao, who designed a campaign to inspire personal growth and development. […]

Culture
April 12, 2019 Procter & Gamble Makes The Biggest Ask: Civility

By Jack Neff Marc Pritchard has asked a lot from digital media the past two years, but his latest ask may be the hardest to get — civility. In a speech to the Association of National Advertisers Media Conference in Orlando on Thursday, Procter & Gamble Co.’s chief brand officer called for a “New Media Supply […]

Industry
April 11, 2019 Social Campaign: Sense of Belonging

Trio students at Middlesex University achieved winnings in both the Masar Student Creative Award for Print Competition, and the Student Integrated Award Competition at the annual Dubai Lynx Festival. Communicate will be publishing a three parts interview with them. The Second interview is with Divya Ariga, who designed a campaign to empower blue-collar labour in the UAE. […]

Industry
April 11, 2019 Three Insights to Watch Out for During #RamadanOnTwitter

With Ramadan quickly approaching, advertisers are planning for one of the busiest months of the year. This also extends to the digital landscape, which experiences a significant increase in user consumption during this period and therefore a peak in the advertising industry. Twitter conducted an online survey with users who celebrate Ramadan in the UAE, […]

Industry
April 10, 2019 How Can Marketers Satisfy the Needy Customer of the Future?

By Puja Panuum It is safe to say that the relationship between consumers, content and brands has undergone seismic change in the last 10 years. Understanding the needs of the consumer has become much simpler because of the increasing availability of real-time data, which allows brands to target their messages in a way that marketers […]

Industry
April 10, 2019 Communications industry inspired to be braver

By Elías Jabbe The smoke has cleared after another memorable experience of learning during Dubai Lynx 2019. One of the key insights was the need to be braver and expand our comfort zones as humans and communications professionals. Through a series of panels held by The Marketing Society, Choueiri Group and the International Advertising Association, […]

Industry
April 09, 2019 Social Campaign: Reaching The Right Cords,

Trio students at Middlesex University achieved winnings in both the Masar Student Creative Award for Print Competition, and the Student Integrated Award Competition at the annual Dubai Lynx Festival. Communicate will be publishing a three parts interview with them. The first interview is with Rym Farran, who designed a campaign to promote adopting dogs. Rym Farran, created […]

Industry
April 09, 2019 China’s artificial intelligence supremacy

By Shelly Palmer We can chat all we like about human biases creating AI biases with our Western cultural ideology, but if there is going to be anything like an AI bias council, it should probably be held in Beijing, Shanghai, or Shenzhen. Chinese cultural and political norms are going to have a much bigger […]

Industry
April 08, 2019 Hotwire and The Hoffman Agency Form Exclusive Partnership in Asia

Hotwire, the global communications agency, represented in MEA through its exclusive partner Active Digital Communications, has announced an exclusive partnership with The Hoffman Agency to collaborate in Asia.  “Dubai-based Active DMC has many international clients across the world as part of our partnership with Hotwire. The addition of Hoffman into our partner network now allows […]

Industry
April 07, 2019 Facebook and Amazon take down the exposed records

Facebook has asked Amazon to take down the data bases, in response to millions of user information being exposed. Researchers at a cybersecurity firm, UpGuard, found user information, posted publicly on Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud computing servers. The data that was exposed has been used by a Mexican social media firm, Cultura Colectiva. The firm said in an […]

Industry
April 07, 2019 Amazon to develop Alexa wearable

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 […]

Industry
April 05, 2019 What marketers can learn from from Theranos and the Fyre Festival

By Jeremiah Rosen Recent documentaries about business scandals are captivating audiences. Take, for example, the behind-the-scenes looks at the infamous Fyre Festival disaster and the disgraced Theranos that have set social media ablaze with commentary and memes. Each company was founded and led by charismatic, well, liars who were convincing enough to dupe unwitting investors […]

Industry
April 04, 2019 Seize the technology to enjoy your growth

By Bianca Best The future is being incubated at our schools, but in the wrong way. Just ask education guru Ken Robinson, who delivered the stimulating Ted Talk about how schools are killing creativity. He spoke about an antiquated ethos that enforces learning by rote, an approach that yields little value later ‘out in the […]

Industry
April 04, 2019 Rethinking Neuromarketing

By Jack Neff It’s time to put on your thinking caps, or at least get test subjects to. Neuromarketing has gone from the realm of intriguing experiments with questionable merit among market researchers to an everyday tool for many brands. And it literally involves thinking caps, in that electronic sensors are used to measure brain […]

Industry
April 04, 2019 Middle East advertising budget for Instagram stories

by Volkan Çağsal, CEO of Adphorus Digital advertising was almost half of all advertising spend in 2018, and it keeps growing, with two in three travel marketers planning to spend more this year. The second biggest chunk of that advertising spend is going towards social media. According to Sojern’s State of the Industry Report which surveyed […]

Industry
March 31, 2019 8 key takeaways from Zenith’s latest Advertising Expenditure Forecasts

1. The growth of Internet advertising will drive global ad spend in 2019 Stronger than expected Internet advertising will drive 4.7 percent growth in total global ad spend in 2019 reaching $623 billion – substantially ahead of the 4 percent forecast made in the previous edition of the report, published in December 2018. Zenith forecasts […]

Industry
March 30, 2019 Groupe PSA appoints Science & Sunshine as creative agency for Peugeot Middle East

French automotive manufacturer, Groupe PSA, has selected independent creative shop, Science & Sunshine, to handle creative for Peugeot in the Middle East after a long pitch process involving several agencies. The Peugeot account is a significant win for Science & Sunshine, which turns three in April 2019. The agency will handle creative duties for the […]

Industry
March 28, 2019 News publishing in the digital age

By Alfonso De Gaetano, Director – Global Partnerships Emerging Markets at Google The news publishing business is facing a challenging and complex reality. First, people are consuming more news than ever before, from more sources than ever before. They learn about their world and form opinions in very different ways. On the open web, anyone can […]

Industry
March 27, 2019 Entourage expands to Saudi Arabia

After a series of new business acquisitions and a successful 2018, entourage is expanding into KSA. “This is the year of Saudi,” says entourage marketing and events chief Mohammed Tayem. “In line with the leadership vision of Saudi Arabia, and with trillion dollar investments towards boosting the economy, we are very excited to be partners […]

Industry
March 25, 2019 Why viewability is a problem for TVCs too; not just digital ads

TV commercials may not be so superior to digital ads when it comes to viewability as the industry believes. According to a new study from IPG Media Lab, 29 percent of TV commercials are not actually seen by viewers. The media agency worked with TVision to analyze six months of TV viewing behavior to assess […]

Industry
March 24, 2019 If someone you know works at Facebook, they probably knew your password

Facebook Inc. disclosed a flaw on its social network that made passwords of hundreds of millions of users visible to employees. However, the company says the issue has now been fixed. During a security review in January, Facebook found that the passwords were stored in a readable format, against its security procedures, but that they […]

Industry
March 22, 2019 Q&A with The Marketing Society’s Gemma Greaves & Khaled Ismail

[L: Gemma Graves; R: Khaled Ismail] Gemma Greaves is the chief executive at The Marketing Society and Khaled Ismail is The Marketing Society Dubai Chairman and vice-president of communications – Europe, Central Asia, Middle East & Africa Region – Tetra Pak Tell us about your Dubai hub, the progress since launch, and the kind of […]

Industry
March 21, 2019 Agile for a volatile reality

By Danielle Jamal, communication director, Leo Burnett Agile is an achieved buzzword status; a word we all currently love! A very critical component to today’s success; however, are agencies and brands equipped to embrace this methodology in order to cater for today’s rigorous demands? It’s still a hit or miss! Agencies have acknowledged the importance […]

Industry
March 19, 2019 Balcony8 appointed as creative communications agency for Waterfront Market

Communication architects balcony8 have been appointed as the new multi-disciplinary agency to represent Waterfront Market across a variety of channels over the course of the next year. The agency has been assigned to promote and grow the presence of Waterfront Market within the UAE working collaboratively with the marketing team. A state-of-the-art facility housing produce, […]

Industry
March 18, 2019 Women in PR: we mean business

Zainab Imichi Alhassan, co-founder of POP Communications, on taking our roles as communicators seriously At the age of twenty-two, I started working in public relations in the United Arab Emirates. Five years later, I now run my own agency. While the path has been filled with its challenges, as is with any serious and fulfilling […]

Industry
March 17, 2019 EXCLUSIVE: Anghami’s Rami Zeidan on podcasts and audio

Audio ads generated $1.6 billion in the US in 2017 – a 39 percent jump from the year before – according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) US podcast ad revenue rose a whopping 87 percent in 2017 (to $314 million from $169 million in 2016), according to a recent study by IAB and PwC […]

Industry
March 16, 2019 Why it’s time for a Snapchat and Instagram refresher

By Rebecca Koch, social media executive, 1000heads Dubai With nearly 12 million daily Snapchat users in the GCC and 42 percent of the region’s population on Instagram, there’s no mistaking that your audience likely lives online. Recent updates to Snapchat and Instagram have added even more opportunities to diversify your content offerings and interaction points […]

Industry
March 15, 2019 How many ad dollars did Facebook lose in the outage?

It’s not just Facebook and Instagram that were down for the count; the social network’s ads also ere offline. Facebook Ads Manager, the lifeblood of advertising, was out of order, along with the rest of the platform. Ads Manager is the self-serve advertising website that millions of marketers use to schedule their campaigns across Facebook, […]

Industry
March 14, 2019 #FacebookDown: For a few hours, we were back in the 90s

Facebook and its family of apps such as Whatsapp and Instagram all suffered an outage yesterday for several hours across multiple countries in the world, including the UAE, the US, Brazil, Lebanon, among others. It’s safe to say that for a few hours, people across the world were transported back to the 90s. Just the […]

Industry
March 11, 2019 M&C Saatchi wins Pizza Hut GCC’s creative account

Pizza Hut META has appointed M&C Saatchi as its new creative agency of record. The account covers the planning, creation and implementation of integrated communication campaigns for Pizza Hut across the GCC region. Following a pitch, involving several leading agencies in the Middle East, M&C Saatchi was awarded the account. The agency’s remit covers market […]

Industry
March 10, 2019 Top reasons why online Arabic content is key in your digital pursuits

By Léa Allam, social media account manager, Bruce Clay MENA After doing a quick Google search in Arabic, you’ll notice a significant difference in the search results compared to the same in English – both, from a quality and quantity perspective. With an estimated 420 million people around the world speaking Arabic and it being […]

Industry
March 09, 2019 Why brands need to reconsider advertising to women

By Yulia Klimacheva, head of brand strategy at Jpd Agency Today, we live in an unprecedented period in our history, where women in many corners of the world hold their own rights and stand equal alongside men. Which is why we have witnessed such a phenomenal growth in women entrepreneurship over the last two decades. From […]

Industry
March 08, 2019 Publicis Media merges Spark Foundry and Blue 449

Publicis Media is merging its Spark Foundry and Blue 449 media networks, bringing both under the leadership of Spark’s global brand president Chris Boothe. With this move, the new network deepens its presence in Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, MENA, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore and Spain, as well as other markets around the world. The change comes as […]

Industry
March 07, 2019 Bar Baar appoints ALISA PR as its PR Agency

Dubai-based independent communications agency ALISA PR has been appointed to handle all PR activities for Bar Baar, a ocial hub and gastropub located at Majestic Hotel, Bur Dubai. ALISA PR will be responsible for all PR operations and strategies to continue to build the reputation and create awareness of the brand’s exciting day and night […]

People
March 07, 2019 Isobar MENA appoints Ziad Ghorayeb as regional MD

Isobar MENA, part of Dentsu Aegis Network, has made a significant leadership change that will see Ziad Ghorayeb taking over as regional MD of Isobar MENA as Karim Khalifa steps down from his role as CEO of Digital Republic – the agency he founded before it was acquired by the group in 2016 – and […]

Industry
March 06, 2019 Horizon FCB wins California Garden’s strategic & creative duties

California Garden has awarded its strategic and creative duties to Horizon FCB Dubai. The agency will be responsible for the repositioning and launch of the brand and its range under its new brand platform. This includes brand strategy, the brand relaunch as well as the marketer’s portfolio of food products within this year’s calendar. Mazen […]

Industry
March 05, 2019 Netizency opens 3rd office in MENA

After six years of operation in the UAE and Qatar, Netizency is opening its 3rd office in Lebanon. The agency’s new location will be based in Beirut’s up and coming digital and creative hub, Beirut Digital District. “We have chosen Beirut as our new operation destination to work with some of the fastest and most […]

Industry
March 03, 2019 5 trends marketers need to know for 2019

By Michele Iozzo, Managing Director MEA, Criteo As 2019 gets underway, marketers in the Middle East have been busy planning for the year ahead and getting ready to address the challenges and opportunities that it will bring. 2018 has seen many dramatic changes in the data marketplace worldwide, which have fostered innovation and strengthened the […]

Industry
March 01, 2019 Marriott rebrands rewards program introducing ‘Bonvoy’

Marriott International is launching a global marketing campaign introducing Marriott Bonvoy, the new name that replaces Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). The campaign celebrates Marriott Bonvoy as a travel program with the tag line “Rewards Reimagined” through its 30 hotel brands. “Marriott Bonvoy expresses the joy of ‘good travel’ made […]

Industry
February 26, 2019 Why brands are abandoning YouTube… again

YouTube is trying to stamp out its second major brand revolt in as many years, putting executives on an emergency call with top marketers and agencies, and sending a memo to Madison Avenue to let advertisers know it’s working on a fix. The problem: Pedophiles are viewing videos of children, leave disturbing comments and then […]

Industry
February 26, 2019 OMD wins Beko’s media mandate for MENA

Following a competitive pitch, global home and small appliance brand Beko has consolidated its regional media account with OMD. The account was previously split between two networks, with OMD managing the brand’s activities in Egypt and Jordan. The appointment will see the agency cover 17 markets in the region for Beko’s full portfolio of products […]

Industry
February 25, 2019 Johnson & Johnson appoints Ampersand

Ampersand, a global specialist marketing and talent consultancy, has been chosen by Johnson & Johnson Middle East to run and manage its new Distributor Academy Programme across Africa, Middle East and Turkey. The two year appointment will see Ampersand develop and deliver a bespoke ‘classroom’ and video training syllabus to help J&J distributor partners’ sales […]

Industry
February 24, 2019 How customer understanding drives consumer convenience

By Mustafa Shamseldin, Senior Vice President Foods Category, Middle East, North Africa and Asia Pacific, PepsiCo While supermarkets, restaurants, and a myriad of other retailers and services providers are going online, the traditional vending machine has remained somewhat static. There have been minor upgrades over the years, such as accepting credit cards or selecting snacks […]

People
February 23, 2019 Lee Clow’s love letter to advertising is also his resignation… kind of

Lee Clow, the creative mind behind ads like Apple’s “Think Different” and Adidas’ “Impossible is Nothing,” is retiring. As of February 14, the chairman at TBWA/Media Arts Lab and director of Media Arts at TBWA/Worldwide is moving into an advisory role as chairman emeritus at Media Arts Lab. Clow joined the agency known as Chiat/Day (once nicknamed Chiat Day […]

Industry
February 22, 2019 Engendering customer loyalty in the digital age

By Sanjit Gill, GM, Middle East at Collinson The rise of digital-native retail brands offering highly competitively priced products with rapid home delivery services continues to increase pressure on the wider retail sector. Amazon, for example, with its low overheads and streamlined distribution service, has expanded into markets globally at the expense of many traditional […]

Industry
February 21, 2019 Mastercard’s Beatrice Cornacchia talks new logo, sonic branding & Storylab

In January, Mastercard erased its name from its logo. The red-and-yellow overlapping discs that have anchored its brandmark for nearly 50 years would, in most cases, stand on their own. In February, it launched its “sonic brand identity,” a lyrics-less melody that gives new meaning to brand jingles. The new work has one core, 12-second […]

Industry
February 20, 2019 Havas Media wins Bounce Middle East account

Following a competitive pitch process, Havas Media Middle East has been appointed as the media agency for Bounce Middle East. The partnership will see Havas Media ME handle the media strategy across the entire GCC region. Houda Tohme, managing director, Havas Media says in a statement, “We are thrilled to have won the Bounce Middle […]

Industry
February 20, 2019 All about Mastercard’s new visual and audio brand identity

When CES opened its doors in Las Vegas last month, Mastercard took the opportunity to drop some news: The company was erasing its name from its logo. The red-and-yellow overlapping discs that have anchored its brandmark for nearly 50 years would, in most cases, stand on their own. It’s not every brand that has the […]

Industry
February 19, 2019 What you need to know about DMS’ new digital ad performance solution

Choueiri Group’s digital media arm, Digital Media Services (DMS), has launched its latest digital ad performance solution “DMS Perform” at STEP Conference 2019 on February 13. As brands set out to compete in today’s cluttered markets, quality lead generation has become an increasingly more complex task. Marketers, in turn, want assurances that their advertising is being […]

Industry
February 18, 2019 Why Arabic content creation is a major business opportunity for content creators

With more than 420 million people around the world speaking Arabic, it’s surprising that only three percent of online content is in Arabic. We caught up with Her Excellency Maryam Eid AlMheiri – Director General of Abu Dhabi Government Media Office and Chief Executive Officer, Media Zone Authority – Abu Dhabi and twofour54 to learn […]

Industry
February 17, 2019 Why STC shut down all 220 stores in KSA for 1 day

2018 was a transformative year for Saudi Arabia, socially and politically, but also for brands.   One such brand is Saudi Telecom Company (STC) that closed all 220 branches across 118 governorates in the Kingdom’s 2.1 million square kilometers of territory on December 19 without any warning or prior notice.   Instead, STC went to its clients by redirecting […]

Industry
February 14, 2019 TBWA expands to Egypt through partnership with AB Group

TBWA\RAAD has announced a joint venture with AB Group to establish its presence in Egypt and expand in the wider North Africa region. The newly created AB\TBWA\Egypt is expected to bring an integrated vision and disruptive thinking to its client and industry collaborations by focusing on anticipating future trends and defining unique strategic platforms that […]

Industry
February 13, 2019 Hidden treasures: 1st party data

By Hussam El-Hage, digital marketing manager, Arabian Automobiles Buried treasure; the epitome of every pirate story. The infamous “X marks the spot” leads us to the hidden troves of gold and jewels; treasure chests filled to the brim with coins. Blackbeard’s hidden gold has modern age treasure hunters scouring the oceans casting their “prospecting nets” […]

Industry
February 12, 2019 Programmatic campaign success in 100 milliseconds

Almost 30 years ago, the first clickable banner was displayed on the Internet. Over the years, the digital and marketing industries have evolved, but banner ads remain one of the best advertising channels. Programmatic (especially in retargeting) is leading the charge by enabling ad buying automation and personalized displays based on their behaviour. Tomasz Wnuk, […]

Industry
February 11, 2019 MCG& forms strategic alliance with Daniel Marks

(L: Justin McGuire, Founder and CEO of MCG& Group; R: Dan Matthews, Founder and CEO, Daniel Marks) The recruitment and executive search firms Daniel Marks and MCG& Group have formed a strategic alliance to be known as DMCG Global. This partnership provides a global recruitment network of over sixty consultants covering territories including North America, UK, […]

Industry
February 11, 2019 Buzzeff acquired by Teads,

MENA-based online advertising company, Buzzeff, has been acquired by Teads, a Global media platform, to bolster online advertising services for regional advertisers while expanding their reach to international audiences. This is one of the first such acquisitions to take place in the advertising technology industry in recent years, specifically in the UAE, signifying the importance […]

Industry
February 08, 2019 The growing pains of communicators in the Gulf

By Alex Malouf The world of communications is changing. Read anything on the future of communications, and you’ll be served a dose of artificial intelligence (I’m still skeptical), the convergence of internal and external communications, the digital workplace and the like. Some knowledgable folks out there are even predicting that the role of communicators will […]

Industry
February 05, 2019 How Apple is fighting Facebook over data privacy

Facebook and Apple are in another fight over privacy and data after reports surfaced last week that Facebook built a consumer research app that opened a backdoor to iPhones. The phonemaker, which disabled the app, has accused the social network of violating its app rules. Apple and Facebook have had a contentious relationship since Apple […]

Industry
February 04, 2019 Wunderman Thompson reveals brand identity

In November 2018, WPP announced that it is merging J. Walter Thompson with Wunderman to create Wunderman Thompson. The merger saw Wunderman global CEO Mel Edwards becomes global CEO of the combined agency, with JWT global CEO Tamara Ingram becoming chairman of Wunderman Thompson. Now, it has revealed what the brand stands for: a “creative, […]

Industry
February 04, 2019 EXCLUSIVE: Q&A with SEMrush’s head of global marketing Olga Andrienko

The need for high quality content is stronger than ever before as noise and clutter – especially on social media – increases. But even more important is for this content o be searchable and visible. Enter SEO and SEM. Although search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) have been around for a long […]

Industry
February 03, 2019 Etihad Airways appoints Ampersand

Ampersand, a global specialist marketing and talent consultancy, has been appointed by Etihad Airways to run and manage its first-ever marketing excellence academy. The appointment will see Ampersand develop and deliver a training curriculum on all aspects of marketing and communication to help the Etihad Airways marketing team build on their existing skills. The bespoke […]

Industry
January 29, 2019 Gamned launches new programmatic consulting offer, Emerge

Programmatic media company Gamned, has launched a new offering called Emerge that combines data science and consulting to offer better insights to advertisers. Launched in 2009, Gamned expanded to the MEA region in 2016 with ex-MEC boss Yves-Michel Gabay at the helm. Just last year, it was acquired by French broadcaster TF1 Group as part […]

Industry
January 29, 2019 How to avoid the pitfalls of Gillette’s ‘woke’ commercial

By Laura Wasson, creative director at advertising agency, Madwell This is the age of “woke capitalism” and we are no longer selling products but ideas, values, movements. In theory, this is a positive thing, but it can go weirdly wrong: Witness the gulf between Nike’s inspired and risky Colin Kaepernick spot and Gillette’s tone-deaf #metoo commercial. To avoid the […]

Industry
January 28, 2019 Why Coke is NOT running an in-game Super Bowl ad for the first time since 2006

Coca-Cola will not run an in-game Super Bowl ad for the first time since 2006. Instead, the beverage giant this year will air a 60-second pre-game spot right before the National Anthem. The anthem, of course, has emerged as a polarizing moment in National Football League games since Colin Kaepernick in 2016 began kneeling during […]

Industry
January 24, 2019 The 3 Ps of using storytelling to connect with consumers

By James Pass, managing director, JPd Brands have moved away from the traditional approach of putting products first. Now marketers believe in storytelling to build meaningful brands. Storytelling is an essential marketing tool that helps brands develop communication that is memorable, emotionally engaging, and profitable. A brand story need not be overly elaborative; it just […]

Industry
January 23, 2019 Sick of gambling with your campaigns?

By Medina Beganović, managing partner, Via Media Here’s a fun fact: 90 percent of our decisions are subconscious. Why? Here’s another fun fact: people are highly irrational. And yet, we marketers conduct research, gather audience data, and mine it for insights in the hope of finding out what our audiences want, think and believe. The […]

Industry
January 22, 2019 OMD Egypt wins McDonald’s digital and social account

Following a four-way competitive pitch, McDonald’s Egypt has decided to award its digital and social media account to OMD Egypt effective January 2019. The account was previously managed by Digital Republic. This represents a major win for OMD Egypt as McDonald’s isn’t only a key client of the global network but also a highly innovative […]

People
January 21, 2019 FleishmanHillard Middle East joins Impact BBDO MENA group

[L to R: Lucy O’Brien, Dani Richa and Fouad Bou Mansour] FleishmanHillard Middle East has become part of the Impact BBDO MENA group of companies, which has been operating across the Middle East and North Africa region for more than 45 years. Both, FleishmanHillard Middle East and Impact BBDO MENA, are part of the Omnicom […]

Industry
January 21, 2019 The rise of D-to-C brands

Many of the hot brands in retail today didn’t exist a decade ago. But now, backed by big-time venture capital, new direct-to-consumer players are making enough waves in the retail landscape that heritage players are forced to pay attention. Larger brands caught dueling for consumer dollars might do well to adopt some of the marketing […]

Industry
January 18, 2019 Omnicom Media Group refreshes brand after 20 years

For the first time in 20 years, Omnicom Media Group has refreshed its brand identity system, including a new logo with the OMG acronym, a modernized logotype and new graphic elements. The system is based on three core tenets: the geometry in the letterforms of the logo, the concept of micro to macro pattern repetition […]

Industry
January 17, 2019 4 trends from CES 2019

By the numbers, CES is an impressive circus of gadgetry. The annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was spread out over nearly 3 million square feet last week, with 4,500 exhibitors showing their wares – the latest in 8K screens, giant drones, walking cars, robot pets and automobile prototypes that would make Bruce Wayne jealous […]

Industry
January 16, 2019 “Print remains the backbone of any brand campaign”

By Ayman Aly, senior regional marketing manager, Canon Middle East Most organizations have one aim: to grow their company into a successful business. The key to this is marketing the brand and the evolution of digital technology in the past decade has exponentially increased the choice of marketing channels. In the highly competitive area of […]

Industry
January 15, 2019 JUST IN: OMD wins media mandate for Zain

Following an extensive multi-agency review process, Zain Group, a Middle Eastern mobile operator headquartered in Kuwait, has appointed OMD as its new strategic media-buying partner effective immediately. The account was previously managed by Mindshare. This is the first telco account win for OMD on a regional level. Just recently, J. Walter Thompson was reappointed as […]

Industry
January 15, 2019 Will tomorrow’s marketer be an algorithm?

Bridging the gap between humans and data has become a critical aspect of any business with an online and offline presence, writes Naguib Toihiri, head of marketing at RBBi With the increase in technical advancements, Artificial intelligence (AI) has been this year’s topic of interest disrupting one industry after the other. According to PWC Middle […]

Industry
January 14, 2019 7 questions with Mars’ Daniele Calderoni on brand building

The key to effective brand management is creating a positive and memorable brand experience for customers. A brand experience is an ecosystem that exists around a brand or product, manifested in the sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioral responses evoked by a brand. The Brandberries interviewed Daniele Calderoni, regional brand and portfolio director of MARS, to get his take on […]

Industry
January 11, 2019 EITC appoints Start Design as its new brand design agency

Following a multi-agency pitch, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) has announced the appointment of Start Design as its new brand agency of record. The remit covers key areas such as brand architecture development, and brand and visual identity development in support of the digital transformation of EITC’s portfolio of brands, including du and Virgin Mobile. […]

Industry
January 10, 2019 Zain Kuwait concludes pitch; selects JWT

Following a pitch process initiated in Q3 2018, Zain Kuwait has selected incumbent J. Walter Thompson as its creative and communication partner. Commenting on the appointment, Najla Al Eisa, manager corporate communication and branding department says in a statement, “We value our brand and consumers more than anything, and as such believe that the creativity […]

Industry
January 09, 2019 Lightblue appointed lead creative agency for Ghawali

[Image: David Balfour, co-founder, Lightblue] Chalhoub Group’s luxury fragrance house Ghawali has appointed Lightblue as its lead creative agency. Lightblue will lead Ghawali’s marketing efforts in creative, content creation and experiential. Supported by Havas PR and Havas Media, the independent agency will steer the luxury house’s effort for the year to come. Commenting on the appointment, Anees […]

Industry
January 08, 2019 Volkswagen Middle East has a new social & digital agency

Following a multi-agency pitch process, Volkswagen Middle East has appointed Socialize as its social creative and digital media. The agency, which was recently acquired by We Are Social, will handle the brand’s social and digital strategy across the GCC, Lebanon and Jordan. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Volkswagen in the next stage of their category-leading marketing transformation. […]

Industry
January 07, 2019 Tired of 2019 predictions? Here are 5 hype-busters

By Dave Parkinson, co-founder, Brave & Heart It’s that time of year again. The 2019 predictions are flooding through. “Never has so much been said by those who knew so little…” For a change, here is something a little more fun versus the usual articles that come out at this time of the year. So, […]

Industry
January 06, 2019 9 agency resolutions for 2019

We are one week into the new year. Gym memberships and salad joints are both enjoying an uptick in business. But, resolutions aren’t just about physical fitness. We talked to agency folks and came away with 10 ways they plan to be a little bit better this year, and not in the calorie-counting way. Here’s […]

Industry
December 24, 2018 What’s happening in the world of PR today?

By Sawsan Ghanem, joint managing director and co-founder, Active DMC With IoT and the reality of our connected world today, the pressures on brands are unrelenting and their need for a PR partner and strategic content marketing consul, is a matter of necessity. Companies of all sizes, government bodies, personalities, NGOs and more all have […]

Industry
December 20, 2018 Lenovo appoints Leo Burnett for its PC business in MEA

Multinational technology company Lenovo has appointed Leo Burnett MEA as its advertising agency for the PC business in the Middle East and Africa. Leo Burnett will provide strategic support to Lenovo’s team while collaborating to develop a long-term advertising strategy to drive the brand’s business objectives. Claire Carter, marketing director MEA at Lenovo says in a […]

Industry
December 19, 2018 Global ad tech company Adform opens Dubai office

Adform, a global independent advertising technology platform, has opened its first office in the region in Dubai. The operation will provide on-the-ground support Adform’s existing Middle East clients while seeking new business. Pawan Setpal, who has more than ten years’ experience in digital advertising and adtech will be responsible for day-to-day operations. Setpal joins Adform […]

Industry
December 18, 2018 Lookback 2018: Is Facebook Watch just “time-killer” viewing?

Facebook Watch receives 75 million viewers a day, according to new statistics shared by the company. But despite its growth, the platform is still a fraction the size of its most important rival, YouTube, and some media companies are concerned by the platform’s ever-changing character. Making sense of the numbers The longer-form video platform launched […]

Industry
December 16, 2018 Why this agency’s trashy Christmas is a good thing

The UK alone used 125,000 tonnes of plastic wrapping last year, especially around Christmas 500 million canned drinks are sold over the festive period 13,350 tonnes of glass is binned every year during December and January And so, Omnicom Media Group MENA has dressed up the Christmas tree outside its building in Dubai Media City […]

Industry
December 15, 2018 4 things you need to know about SEO in 2019

By Mateen Agha, associate director – SEO, Bruce Clay MENA Quite funny how people keep asking “When can we stop investing in SEO?” We say. “SEO is done when Google stops changing/updating its algorithm and all your competition is dead.” And that’s never going to happen. Just last year, Google updated its algorithm 2,543 times; […]

Industry
December 14, 2018 How advertisers can stay ahead with digital video

By David Spencer, commercial director MENA, FreeWheel Video advertising is a highly engaging format and with digital video revenues and viewership across MENA set to grow more than 20 percent a year until 2021, it represents an exciting opportunity for advertisers to connect with audiences. But, to take full advantage of video, advertisers need to […]

Industry
December 12, 2018 Analytics 101 for Influencers: The Crash Course Nobody is Talking About

By Mayank Garg, Head of MediaCom Beyond Advertising, MENA The hottest buzzword of 2018 is quite certainly ‘influencers’. It doesn’t matter if they actually influence their millions of followers; they certainly carry the title in their Instagram bios and increasingly well-designed media kits. Influencer marketing is big business too. Advertisers globally are positioning themselves to […]

People
December 11, 2018 Unilever CMO Keith Weed to retire. Who will take his place?

Keith Weed is retiring as Unilever’s Chief Marketing and Communications officer in May after nine years on the job, the company confirmed. The news comes a week after the company announced insider Alan Jope would succeed Paul Polman as CEO effective the first of the year. Unilever has yet to name a successor to Weed. A […]

Industry
December 09, 2018 Havas Paris and Dubai win COFREX tender for Expo 2020 Dubai

Havas Paris has won the tender to work with the COFREX (French Exhibition Company) to enhance its influence strategy for the French Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai. COFREX has jointly engaged Havas Paris and Havas Dubai to develop and implement its PR and influencer strategy to promote France’s national ambitions at this global event […]

Industry
December 05, 2018 “It’s not TV, and it’s not digital video.” What really is AVOD?

For decades, free TV has coexisted alongside premium programming that requires a subscription to a cable or satellite service. Now that traditional TV content is shifting to the Internet, a similar dynamic is taking shape. Subscription streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are jockeying with a growing crop of free, ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) […]

Industry
December 04, 2018 Which brand replaced P&G as World’s Largest Advertiser?

Procter & Gamble Co. spent an estimated $10.5 billion on advertising and other marketing costs in the year ended June 2018 with little change from the previous year, according to Ad Age Datacenter. Yet, it was pushed to second spot this year on Ad Age’s World’s Largest Advertisers ranking of the 100 biggest spenders, which […]

Industry
November 29, 2018 Aviation & digital marketing: here’s how to have a safe flight

By Fernando Angulo, Global speaker, SEMrush.com Since childhood, I have been fascinated by aviation. Growing up it was exciting to follow stories about the planes, the pilots and the science of flight that rapidly developed and diversified into fixed wing and rotary types as well as the evolution of propeller and later jet power. Which […]

Industry
November 28, 2018 Mashable comes to the Middle East

Starting off as a digital media blog by Pete Cashmore in 2005, Mashable quickly went on to gain international fame and was bought over by American publishing and digital company Ziff Davis in 2017. Back in 2015, the then executive director for EMEA at Mashable Ben Maher told Communicate, “The good thing about us [Mashable] […]

Industry
November 28, 2018 Do marketers need to be concerned about over-saturation of social media?

By Josh Beckwith, Senior Sales Director, Middle East & Africa at Sojern Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last few years, you will have witnessed the rapid growth of social media impacting all aspects of how marketers reach and interact with their audiences. In fact, over three billion people use social media […]

Industry
November 28, 2018 Agency of the future: survival of the fittest

Image Credit: Illustration by Josh McKenna Two thousand eighteen is the new 1859, says Michael Kassan, MediaLink chairman and CEO. It was, of course, in 1859 that Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities, which kicks off with one of the all-time great first sentences: “It was the best of the times, it was […]

Industry
November 27, 2018 French broadcaster TF1 acquires Gamned

TF1 Group announces that it has taken a majority stake in programmatic media company Gamned, which was founded in 2009 by Olivier Goulon and Anthony Spinasse. TF1 Group aims to leverage the qualified audiences of its new digital arm with programmatic effectiveness to develop an integrated, innovative and high-powered multi-channel advertising offer. The acquisition is part […]

Industry
November 27, 2018 Here’s what you need to know about WPP’s JWT-Wunderman merger

In the latest in a wave of changes at the world’s largest holding company, WPP is merging J. Walter Thompson with Wunderman to create Wunderman Thompson. The news of the change comes two months after WPP announced the merger of legacy shop Y&R with VML. WPP’s new CEO Mark Read announced the news in a […]

Industry
November 21, 2018 Omnicom Media Group’s latest step to fighting ad fraud

Mobile ad fraud is on the rise and is estimated to have doubled since last year. Juniper Research has estimated that advertisers will lose some $19 billion to fraudulent advertising activities on online and mobile devices in 2018. The issue of app install fraud is a growing concern, particularly in the GCC. Therefore, Omnicom Media Group […]

Industry
November 19, 2018 IAB GCC launches after 9 years of deliberation

What is IAB? The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is an independent body aimed at benefiting the digital ecosystem through education, research, standards, guidelines and best practices. Founded in 1996, it is headquartered in the US and has 43 licensed IABs around the world. Why did it take nine years for IAB to get its GCC […]

Industry
November 12, 2018 Social media in 2019: Snacking, chatting & 3 other trends to look out for

By Tala Amin, social media director, Bruce Clay MENA With 2019 right around the corner, it is time to analyze the social trends for the coming year. So far, social media has continually stepped up its game when it comes to augmented reality, influencer marketing, and video content. With that in mind, we must ask […]

Industry
November 03, 2018 7 approaches to using Instagram Stories for brands

By Atif Altaf, associate marketing manager, and member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) Life is no more a straight road leading toward dreams; it is now a steep mountain to climb up high. Days from being ‘slow & steady’ are geared up to be ‘fast & ready’ for people to run, change […]

Industry
November 02, 2018 8 stats & facts every social media marketer needs to know

The unprecedented use of social media in the Middle East has seen people get addicted to their phone – even more than their partner – and so, of course, brands want to make the most of it by targeting audiences where they spend the most time i.e. social media. But, targeting them alone isn’t enough. […]

Industry
November 01, 2018 The reason behind loyalty agency ICLP’s rebrand

ICLP, a global loyalty agency, was founded in 1987 and has been present in the Middle East since 1993. It is now merging with loyalty, travel experiences, insurance and assistance businesses to become Collinson, which was incorporated in 1992. The company’s loyalty division comprises of three brands: ICLP; loyalty commerce specialism Collinson Latitude; and customer […]

Industry
October 31, 2018 Halloween Special: 9 things that are scaring agencies

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            […]

Industry
October 31, 2018 3 things to know about the company FutureTech media just acquired

Future Tech Media, an emerging market-focused digital solutions and technology business today announced the acquisition of Adzouk, a Middle East premium digital advertising network. Here are five things you need to know about Adzouk: It launched its own brand safety solution. Earlier this year, it launched 1tag Secure. The solution not only prevents brands from appearing […]

Industry
October 30, 2018 Everything is digital! But what about on-ground events?

By Jo Webber, commercial director at GES Middle East, full-service events and exhibitions provider The world is undergoing a radical change, and digitization is becoming a part of our everyday lives. With most industries adapting to market trends, the events sector has been quick to respond as well. The advances in technology have not only […]

Industry
October 25, 2018 EXCLUSIVE: Facebook is launching a new ad format in UAE, Saudi and Jordan

Today, Facebook is launching “Ad Breaks” in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. An Ad Break is a video advertising format that can either be a pre-roll before the video, a midroll during the video or an image ad in the player directly below the video. The feature allows publishers and creators to monetize their […]

Industry
October 25, 2018 JUST IN: OMD global bags Mercedes account

OMD has won the global media mandate for Mercedes as part of a global review, report industry sources. In the region, OMD works with another automotive client i.e. Nissan, and it is unclear at this point how the new global appointment will play out in the region. At the time of writing this, neither of […]

Industry
October 22, 2018 5 questions with Christos Solomi on programmatic TV

Christos Solomi is the executive director of programmatic at Omnicom Media Group MENA. 1. To a layperson, how would you explain programmatic TV? Most of the ads you see on your TV were planned and purchased weeks and often months in advance of the spot appearing on your screen. Everyone watching the TV channel at […]

Industry
October 18, 2018 Oath brings RYOT to the MENA region

Through a strategic partnership with Connect Ads, Oath, a Verizon subsidiary, is bringing global creative studio RYOT to the MENA market. The studio, which offers premium end-to-end content marketing solutions, is present in 14 countries around the world through a local affiliate or partner. Bringing its expertise in creative digital campaigns to the MENA region […]

Industry
October 18, 2018 Are ‘women empowerment’ initiatives actually empowering women?

Not even close, say some of the region’s top marketing talent at The Marketing Society’s latest Brave Conversations…  ‘Brave Conversations’ is a series of quarterly roundtables held by The Marketing Society and Communicate. The candid chats bring together marketing and advertising experts to discuss, debate and challenge both, new and existing topics that are of […]

Industry
October 16, 2018 VIDEO: Why Saudi Twitter users are big on shopping in November

Active user minutes increase by 12% – video active user minutes increase by 18% in Saudi 60% Saudi Twitter users have shopping plans specifically for November White Friday (or Black Friday depending which part of the world you are from) is a big opportunity: 21% of the 5.9 million tweets about shopping in MENA were about Black/White […]

Industry
October 14, 2018 How MMPWW went from MENA Market Place to MMP World Wide

MENA Market Place (MMP) describes itself as a “premium programmatic advertising marketplace enabling leading publishers and premium brands to better monetize their digital advertising inventory.” Sound familiar? That’s because the company first launched in 2014. A lot has changed since then. Nader Bitar, director, has replaced Vincent Pellilo, the ex-managing director, bringing with him a […]

Industry
October 13, 2018 REVEALED: The latest on Facebook’s privacy breach

Two weeks back, Facebook said it had discovered a data breach affecting 50 million users and had informed local law enforcement. Here’s a recap: There was a loophole in Facebook’s code for a feature called “View As” that lets people see what their account looks like to someone else. This allowed the hackers to steal […]

Industry
October 11, 2018 JUST IN: Agthia’s Al Ain Water appoints creative agency

Following a competitive pitch process, Abu Dhabi-based F&B company Agthia Group’s Al Ain Water has appointed Leo Burnett MEA as its creative agency. The agreement is effective from Q4 2018 and extends to the other water brands, Al Bayan and Alpin, and covers digital, outdoor and print advertising, in addition to social media. The agreement […]

Industry
October 11, 2018 5 reasons why GSK consolidated global account with Publicis

In May 2018, pharma and consumer-health giant GlaxoSmithKline started reviewing its massive global media account. The review included Dentsu and two incumbents – Omnicom’s PHD and GroupM. It has now decided to consolidate its estimated $1.7 billion global media buying assignment with Publicis Media effective next year. A bit of history In 2010, GroupM’s MediaCom – the then […]

Industry
October 09, 2018 Ford has finally selected a creative agency OUTSIDE WPP

Concluding a high-stakes global creative agency review that started in April this year, Ford has hired BBDO as its lead global brand creative agency. It will still keep WPP for significant pieces of the business, including media planning and buying, shopper marketing and CRM. WPP will also retain Ford’s multicultural and so-called “tier 2” dealer […]

Industry
October 08, 2018 JUST IN: Carat appointed for Dubai Parks & Resorts’ media duties

Following a competitive pitch process, Carat Dubai has been awarded the media responsibilities Dubai Parks and Resorts. The account was previously managed by Omnicom’s PHD since 2015. With a mandate to build brand equity of Dubai Parks and Resorts as a go-to leisure and entertainment experience, Carat will target residents of and visitors to Dubai […]

Industry
October 05, 2018 ‘QMR’ and ‘Entergagement’: buzzwords or marketing techniques?

By Nathen Mazri The 2007 Revolution What happened in the year of 2007? It has changed human beings’ course of thinking, action, behavior, and communication. Facebook, Twitter, AirBnB, GitHub, and Kindle all came to life creating a world revolution. The easy access and flow of information and knowledge at an accelerating rate has A new […]

Industry
October 04, 2018 Nat Geo has a new rep for ad sales in MENA

FOX Networks Group Middle East has appointed Value Branded Content (VBC) as its new advertising sales representative agency for National Geographic Abu Dhabi and National Geographic Kids Abu Dhabi channels in the MENA region following a regional review over the last few months. Commenting on the appointment Sanjay Raina, general manager and senior vice-president of […]

Industry
October 03, 2018 “Brand leaders and their agencies are often sitting in ivory towers unaware of their audience’s beliefs.”

By Christina Ioannidis, Chief Engagement Officer, Aquitude, a boutique brand engagement consultancy which works with corporations to engage with their main stakeholders i.e. their employees and customers Today’s marketers are operating in a market, which is shifting with demographics changing drastically. Generational divides, rifted by digital savviness and social changes, have created a complex marketing […]

Industry
October 01, 2018 WPP is merging Y&R and VML

WPP is officially merging Y&R and VML. VML global chief executive officer Jon Cook will lead the new agency, which will be called by an alphabet soup of letters: VMLY&R. WPP says the shop will be a “contemporary, fully integrated digital and creative offering to clients on a global scale.” David Sable, former global CEO […]

Industry
October 01, 2018 What has Ampersand been up to since its launch last year?

Exactly one year back, MCG& Group launched Ampersand, a talent consultancy providing L&D, search, strategic advisory and M&A services with Nick Clements – who was already group COO – at the helm. Today, the company celebrates its first birthday, several new client wins and a partnership with IPA to offer training and certification in the […]

Industry
September 30, 2018 Not again, Facebook

Facebook says it discovered a security breach earlier this week that affected almost 50 million accounts – out of the over two billion accounts on Facebook. The company says it has fixed the breach, which allowed hackers to take over people’s accounts. In a statement on Friday, Facebook said that it has informed law enforcement […]

Industry
September 27, 2018 MEPRA chair answers corporate governance issues

Last week, we published a piece by Alex Malouf who manages corporate communications for P&G across the Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa. He also holds (or has held) board positions for several communications associations including the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA), Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, International Association of Business […]

People
September 26, 2018 7 Questions to Joy Films’ Ali Azarmi

Ali Azarmi started his career in Advertising in 1987 in Publcis Graphics London Office and came to Dubai in 1993. He was the executive creative director at BBDO until he left in 2004 to work as an advertising consultant. In 2008, he established the Middle East branches of Joy Films UK ([email protected]) with his partner […]

Industry
September 17, 2018 Property Finder appoints J. Walter Thompson in UAE

Following a pitch process including multiple international agencies, Property Finder has chosen J. Walter Thompson as its communication partner for the UAE effective immediately. The agency has been tasked with managing the upcoming brand launch amongst other creative and communications duties. Hamza Chaoui, chief marketing officer, Property Finder says in a statement, “For this brand […]

People
September 16, 2018 Alex Malouf speaks out on MEPRA’s member selection & corporate governance

“It’s no secret that I care about the communications industry in the region. I’ve done more than my fair share when it comes to supporting people and organizations in becoming more aware of what good communications is all about, and why it’s central to building strong reputations. I’ve also spent years advocating for the adoption […]

Industry
September 12, 2018 Why Sorrell hopes WPP is not “broken” & his plans for S4

When asked what his biggest takeaway was after attending Burning Man earlier this year, Martin Sorrell had a ready response: “The importance of creative destruction and renewal.” A photo of the iconic Burning Man graced the first page on the prospectus of Sorrell’s new venture, S4 Capital. And to be sure, Sorrell himself has been […]

Industry
September 11, 2018 Choueiri Group’s AMSI appointed as media representatives for the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia

Choueiri Group’s AMSI recently announced its latest appointment as media representatives for the General Entertainment Authority (GEA) of Saudi Arabia. The tie-up effectively enables the region’s advertisers and brands to benefit from GEA’s leadership in bringing the most sought-after live entertainment offerings to the Kingdom. AMSI will retain the representation rights to sell advertising space […]

Industry
September 10, 2018 How 3 brands and 1 mobile ad company are changing mobile video ads

Independent mobile advertising platform AdColony teamed up with three Unilever brands to run interactive mobile video campaigns in what the company claims to be a regional first. The Unilever brands included Sunsilk, Brooke Bond and Jif, which used the Aurora HD interactive video ads. This format also gives advertisers the opportunity to measure attention of […]

Industry
September 10, 2018 Netizency now serving wagamama

Dubai-based digital marketing agency Netizency has added wagamama, the chain of Japanese-inspired restaurants in the UAE, to its menu of clients. In the UAE, wagamama is managed by RMAL Hospitality, a restaurant and hotel development business with a portfolio of international restaurant chains like Trader Vic’s, Marco Pierre White restaurants, and others. Netizency will start […]

Industry
September 06, 2018 6 things you need to know about the new Twitter and Facebook hearing

(Image: Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Credit: Bloomberg) Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey received praise from lawmakers for just showing up to hearings in the Senate on Wednesday, while Google’s refusal to send someone sufficiently senior to please the Senate Intelligence Committee was represented […]

Industry
September 05, 2018 Following rebrand, BPG Group holds 25th offsite

BPG Group celebrated its recent rebrand and renewed business restructure at the company’s 25th offsite on the QE2 floating hotel in Dubai. The Group unveiled the new structure in June by replacing BPG Bates, BPG Cohn & Wolfe, BPG Maxus and BPG Possible with two verticals: BPG Max, which will handle media and data just […]

Industry
September 03, 2018 From search to e-commerce: an all in one digital suite

Three million marketers around the world use SEMrush as their trusted data provider and all-in-one marketing suite with built-in competitor intelligence.

Industry
September 01, 2018 Ford just tapped this agency in the midst of global review

Ford launched its global review in April this year putting incumbent WPP’s Global Team Blue (GTB) under peril, especially at a time when the group deals with naming Martin Sorrell’s successor. Now, a few months later, Ford has tapped Wieden & Kennedy New York for a short-term marketing assignment that comes amid its massive global agency […]

Industry
August 31, 2018 These kind of companies are exempt from rules of political ads

Twitter, Facebook and Google have all been developing new ways of handling political ads since the 2016 election, when all the platforms were abused by bad actors spreading disinformation, including through paid posts. The platforms are all changing the rules on who gets to place political ads and what information the public gets to see about them. […]

People
August 30, 2018 1 week to go for WPP’s new CEO

The one executive who has persistently stood out as the likely successor to Martin Sorrell at WPP, Mark Read, is set to officially take the helm. Read is expected to be named as CEO of the world’s largest advertising firm as early as next week, according to multiple company insiders who asked not to be […]

Industry
August 29, 2018 Did Google & Mastercard’s secret deal just violate consumer privacy?

For the past year, select Google advertisers have had access to a potent new tool to track whether the ads they ran online led to a sale at a physical store in the US. That insight came thanks in part to a stockpile of Mastercard transactions that Google paid for. But most of the two billion […]

Industry
August 28, 2018 AstroLabs expands with new location and digital courses in the Gulf

By Elías Jabbe The summer is usually considered a calm time in the Gulf countries, when business grinds to a halt and vacations are the focus. Not at AstroLabs, the Dubai-based Google for Entrepreneurs hub which is home to a plethora of startups and offers digital training courses throughout the year. Following the opening of […]

Industry
August 25, 2018 100% CEOs in UAE vs 48% globally are investing in this to save retail

The retail industry in the region – especially in the UAE and KSA – has undergone massive changes in the last two years. Between 2011 and 2015, GCC retailers captured above-average revenue growth, margins, and returns, according to a McKinsey report. However, due to the instability of oil prices, the introduction of VAT, and new […]

Culture
August 24, 2018 #Kiki, do you love viral videos?

By Stacy Fernandes, communications executive at Active DMC By now I am sure you have heard of trending viral videos like the Ice Bucket Challenge, the Mannequin Challenge and now the ever-famous Kiki Challenge. Thanks to social media, these popular video challenges have started a global sensation. According to Complex.com, The Kiki challenge, which was […]

Industry
August 23, 2018 Volkswagen is getting serious but not about cars

Volkswagen AG mapped out details of its transformation from a mass manufacturer of cars to a provider of transportation services by unveiling a car-sharing service and promising digital acquisitions as part of a 3.5 billion-euro ($4 billion) push into next-generation automobiles. The plan will kick off in Berlin, where the manufacturer will put 2,000 all-electric […]

Industry
August 21, 2018 Is blockchain the solution to ad tech’s transparency dilemma?

By Puja Pannum, managing director at Blis MENA We can learn a great deal from the flurry of recent data scandals striking companies of all industries across the globe. And yet, the unavoidable crux of the issue is still at hand – data and advertising both massively lack transparency. Whilst an influx in data protection […]

Industry
August 14, 2018 Grey MENA wins big government account

Grey infamously lost the Revlon account globally as the cosmetic brand took creative duties in-house. But, closer home Grey MENA scored a big win through Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) marketing and communications assignment. The account was awarded to Grey MENA following a multi-agency pitch. Effective August 2018, the Dubai office of the agency […]

Industry
August 13, 2018 This ad format delivers 5X CTR

Appetite Creative Solutions, the creative technology agency for innovative digital solutions, has launched Liquid Skins, its Programmatic Guaranteed solution allowing high impact creative, delivered at scale programmatically. The fully responsive format works across desktop, mobile and tablet screens – enabling high-impact, creative solutions. For multi-device activations, it allows buyers to enable campaigns across multiple platforms from […]

Industry
August 13, 2018 What’s the role of empathy in the age of data?

No matter how much a consumer rationalizes their purchase decisions, ultimately it comes down to emotion. And that’s why today’s marketers and agencies need to pay attention to the emotions behind the data. One such agency, Omnicom’s RAPP, which classifies itself as a “high precision brand engagement agency”, is reinforcing the notion of empathy in […]

Industry
August 12, 2018 Another brand, another chat bot. Who is it this time?

Virtual assistants, or more simply chatbots, have been all the rage in recent times. Brands like Hamleys, Nissan and Emirates NBD are just a few who have deployed chat bots to engage with customers. Now, INFINITI has launched Idris, its new AI-powered virtual assistant that aims to helps customers with any product-related questions. Idris is […]

Industry
August 12, 2018 Redefining value exchange: Give brands your data AND get paid for it

Although it’s early days, brands such as McDonald’s, Staples and GM are paying cash and purchasing data direct from the consumer, giving literal meaning toward the notion that “data is the new currency”. Between regulation such as GDPR and scandals like those plaguing Facebook, consumers are aware more than ever of the so-called value exchange when using […]

Industry
August 12, 2018 The creative brand cheat sheet with Adobe’s Chris Duffey

Brands of today need to group their efforts on delivering the best ‘return on creativity’ to fuel their performance. It’s impossible for a brand to rise above the noise without creative strategies to help them shine. The current renaissance of technology has created huge challenges for brands, but they have also created a playground for creativity. […]

Industry
August 11, 2018 This tech giant is opening its 1st retail store

In the battle of online versus traditional and e-commerce versus retail, the former platforms have been touted as the clear winners. However, recent moves by tech companies seem to suggest otherwise. Despite the (over)hyped effectiveness of digital advertising, giants like Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat have all resorted to traditional media, like print and outdoor, to […]

Industry
August 10, 2018 Revlon replaces Grey but that’s not good news for other agencies

Grey is out as Revlon’s global agency of record after a year, the agency confirmed. “Our contract ran through June, and we both chose not to renew,” says Grey spokesman Owen Dougherty. The agency continued its work as Revlon got its internal agency up and running, he says. But the move does not mean good […]

Industry
August 10, 2018 Mars consolidates global media planning and buying with MediaCom

Mars, Incorporated, the global pet care, confectionery and food business, and one of the world’s biggest advertisers has appointed MediaCom to handle its media planning and buying duties across most of the company’s portfolio. The result follows a competitive pitch against Omnicom, led by Hearts and Science, and Publicis, led by Starcom. In 2014, Mars consolidated media planning […]

Industry
August 09, 2018 Tech-Talk: The 2018 phone war is just around the corner

This article first appeared on Communicate‘s sister site: AMEinfo.com Apple is a company that just reached $1 trillion in market cap and it is also getting ready for the new iPhone release. Samsung, on the other hand, just in time for the Note 9 release (August 9), is upping its ante by releasing adverts attacking […]

Industry
August 09, 2018 INFOGRAPHIC: Fatafeat’s 360 Ramadan Strategy

At Discovery, Ramadan is always a crucial period for us, and an opportunity to position Fatafeat – our flagship Arabic food brand – as the key destination for audiences across the Middle East during the month of Ramadan. This year, our Fatafeat Ramadan strategy was truly 360, with a diverse line-up of locally produced shows […]

Industry
August 08, 2018 Why is PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi leaving?

Indra Nooyi is stepping down as CEO of food and beverage giant PepsiCo Inc., handing the reins to a top lieutenant in a transition that will draw attention to the dearth of prominent female CEOs in corporate America. Nooyi, 62, will leave the role in October and remain chairman until early 2019. Ramon Laguarta, 54, […]

Industry
August 08, 2018 Thinking of starting your agency? Read these 14 tips

Successful independent agencies can make their larger peers seem bloated and inefficient. But is it easy to just start an agency from the ground up? We sat down with some of the biggest players in the smallest shops during the Small Agency Conference and Awards not long ago to find out what makes indie agencies tick, and […]

Industry
August 08, 2018 Love cooking but hate washing? This brand gets you

Earlier this summer, Finish, the leading dishwasher detergent brand launched a first of its kind – a contextual marketing digital campaign. It hinged around the love women have for cooking for their loved ones during the month of Ramadan & contrastingly, the hate they have for the dirty dishes this cooking creates. Read: Domestic staycations rate […]

Industry
August 06, 2018 Influencer marketing: the battle between BIG numbers and REAL influence

By Tanaz Dizadji, Founder & CEO of insydo & Brand Ripplr There’s no denying that when done right, influencer marketing is the most effective way to reach relevant audiences and build brand loyalty, which is why it will continue to spiral into a multi-billion dollar industry over the next five years. However, issues and concerns […]

Industry
August 04, 2018 7 tweets about the Burberry logo change that made us LOL

On August 3, Burberry unveiled its new logo marking the first change in 20 years. And people are not loving it. Here are a few tweets that made us LOL. 1. This company that was both truthful and funny I love the way Peter Saville purged the Burberry mark of everything superfluous, like personality, style, […]

Industry
August 04, 2018 Guess what Ikea is cutting from its marketing plans

In an effort to be more sustainable, Ikea is taking new steps. It’s cutting a big part of its marketing to apply the financial resources to a new US campaign. Beginning Wednesday, the 75-year-old Swedish retailer is doing its first national out-of-home push in the US, where it operates 48 stores, and hosting live catalog […]

Industry
August 02, 2018 Behind Burberry’s first logo change in 20 years

Burberry has changed its logo for the first time in 20 years, revealing the new look via an Instagram post. The British heritage brand’s new logo says “Burberry London England” in stark capital letters, replacing the softer, rounder font the company previously used. Riccardo Tisci, the star designer Burberry hired this year to revamp its […]

Industry
August 02, 2018 Why tech companies are pushing users to spend LESS time online

The rise of the Internet and smartphones – and their prevalence especially among the younger generation – has led to a multitude of consequences ranging from data privacy, election tampering to mental health disorders. The push to address the first two issues began much before the third but this year the momentum seems to be […]

Industry
August 02, 2018 This new move is great for Facebook users. But what about advertisers?

Advertisers are worried that Facebook is about to become a data desert as it deliberately dries up a once easy source of rich data on its users. On August 15, Facebook will shut down a program called “partner categories,” which gave its advertisers a way to tap directly into the largest consumer data brokers within […]

Industry
August 01, 2018 This is the 4th most used language online but has only 1% content

The Internet’s prevalence and the smartphone’s increasing penetration is seeing users turn to their phones for the simplest of tasks. And when they do, they aren’t typing only in English. In fact, Arabic ranked as the fourth most used language online in 2017. That’s why, Red Blue Blur Ideas (RBBi), a Dubai-based independent digital marketing […]

Industry
August 01, 2018 Video ad safety: an achievement or a choice?

By Issam Kink, associate director – digital planning at OMD Online ad safety has been a heated topic over the past couple of years with an emphasis on Video content. Setting a goal for video safety is a challenge for marketers who want to strike a balance between editorially controlled and user-generated content, especially with […]

Industry
July 30, 2018 What’s going on with this highly opinionated elder-millenial tree?

In July 2018, while a lot of Twitter accounts were being banned/removed, a tree was born. On Twitter. Enter Ghafa The Tree. Hello, my name is Ghafa, honoured to be the national tree of the #UAE . Over 250 years old…I stopped counting TBH. I give a Ghaf about the world. Do you? حياكم، إسمي […]

Industry
July 27, 2018 This e-commerce giant is making almost $5bn in ad sales

Amazon’s advertising business continued its ascent last quarter, hitting $2.2 billion in revenue – a growth rate outpacing even optimistic forecasts for the company. Yesterday, Amazon reported second-quarter results and advertising was again the brightest spot for the e-retailer, growing at 132 percent, its fastest-growing segment by far. Amazon’s total sales hit $52.9 billion, an […]

Industry
July 26, 2018 5 steps for brands to survive in a female-powered future

By Faith Popcorn, futurist, author, founder and CEO of marketing consultancy BrainReserve Twenty years ago, I said a revolution is coming in which women would supersede men. I guess I was a little early with this prediction (it’s a problem we futurists have) because it’s happening right now. As women forge ahead – pursuing higher education, […]

Industry
July 25, 2018 Netizency wins new client

Following a multi-agency pitch, Dubai-based digital marketing agency Netizency has won the social media business of Lenovo’s PC and Smart Devices business across the Middle East and North Africa region. The agreement with Netizency will cover strategy development, content creation and reporting for Lenovo’s business across the region, with the objective of building awareness and […]

Industry
July 25, 2018 Remember the age of robots taking over? Yeah, not anymore

By Adrianne Pasquarelli (Illustration by Doug Chayka) At the SoHo flagship of fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff in New York, the shelves are stocked with XXS, the smallest size available. But the store is not sizeist – those floral dresses and blush-pink leather jackets aren’t just for the petite. Consumers who grab a frock off the […]

Industry
July 25, 2018 J. Walter Thompson bags healthcare account

J. Walter Thompson Dubai has been named the Agency of Record for King’s College Hospital in Dubai. King’s College Hospital, which has been providing healthcare services for 175 years, aims to support HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid’s Vision 2021 to position Dubai as a world-class global healthcare hub. Commenting on behalf of King’s College Hospital […]

Industry
July 24, 2018 What will happen to PepsiCo’s in-house studio now?

Another high-ranking marketing executive is leaving PepsiCo. Kristin Patrick, whose duties have included overseeing the company’s in-house content studio, will leave the company by the end of this week. It was her decision to leave, according to a person familiar with the matter. Brad Jakeman, the high-profile president of PepsiCo’s global beverage group who left […]

Industry
July 24, 2018 This new technology might just make advertising more expensive

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 […]

Industry
July 23, 2018 Forget millennials. Here’s who you need to be thinking of.

By Ruth Bernstein, co-founder and chief strategic officer at Yard, a strategic image making agency Over the past few years, marketers across all industries and categories have been obsessed with millennials – how to reach them and build meaningful connections with their brands. This captivating generation has a unique sense of self and a nontraditional approach to life […]

Industry
July 23, 2018 Consumers looking for education as AI infiltrates our world

Consumers lack a full understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and are looking to businesses, government and academia for education, according to a FleishmanHillard report. The report highlights that 61% of all those surveyed believe the responsibility for educating the public about AI should be shared. The report, ‘Artificial Intelligence & Communications, The Fads. The Fears. […]

Industry
July 22, 2018 This move just made it easier for Snapchat to get on the media plan

Snapchat and Nielsen, doubling down on their partnership, are now offering marketers the ability to make targeted ad buys based on offline data, in a similar fashion to other popular social media platforms. A marketer can use Nielsen audience data, for instance, to target someone on Snapchat who purchased lipstick at a retail store offline. […]

Industry
July 22, 2018 Could Facebook’s investigation of this social analytics firm spell trouble for brands?

Facebook is investigating a social analytics company called Crimson Hexagon because of its potential dealings with a Russian organization and other concerns over how it handled private data. Crimson Hexagon, based in the US, provides social data analysis for brands by monitoring platforms including Facebook and Twitter. The brands it has worked with include Adidas, Samsung, […]

Industry
July 22, 2018 Why are Omnicom’s shares the lowest they’ve been in 9 years?

Omnicom Group suffered its biggest decline in nine years after posting sluggish results, renewing concerns that the ad giant can weather media disruption spurred by the likes of Google and Facebook. The stock closed on July 17 at $70.69, down nearly 9.5 percent from the previous day’s close after the New York-based company posted weaker-than-expected revenue growth […]

Industry
July 19, 2018 Etihad Airways launches WhatsApp services for guests

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has launched a WhatsApp Business solution, allowing guests to communicate instantly with the airline via the popular messaging app. READ: Online video viewing to exceed this much in 2018  The new service, which is the latest element of Etihad Airways’ digital strategy, will provide an enhanced […]

Industry
July 19, 2018 Customer Experience Group launches SmartCX

The Customer Experience Group has announced the addition of SmartCX to its family of agencies. “The new customer experience measurement, consulting, and data analytics business will further strengthen the leading position of the Customer Experience Group as the go-to aide to premium and luxury brands in need of powerful customer experience solutions,” noted a statement. […]

Industry
July 19, 2018 Huawei has a new ‘selfie’ phone. Is it worth (literally) dying for?

Millennials spend 1 hour every week on selfies – from clicking to editing – according to a 2017 study by design agency Now Sourcing and online eyewear retailer Frames Direct. 55 percent of social media selfies come from millennials, but Gen X follows with 24 percent and baby boomers with 9 percent. Selfies are an […]

Industry
July 19, 2018 Only 1 in 10 brands grew between 2014 and 2017, says Kantar analysis

New analysis by Kantar Millward Brown of 2000 brands measured in the BrandZ™ global brand equity database shows that fewer than 1 in 10 brands grew between 2014 and 2017. But Amazon, the quintessential disruptive brand, more than doubled its brand value in the same period simply by making more people’s lives easier and less […]

People
July 18, 2018 EXCLUSIVE: Yves-Michel Gabay on joining Gamned! as MEA MD

Programmatic advertising agency Gamned! made its entry into the Middle East in 2016. Now, two years later, it has appointed Yves-Michel Gabay as managing director and strategy advisor for the MEA region. This move is part of the agency’s global expansion and strengthening plans, which include a new office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to service […]

Industry
July 18, 2018 Digital revolution or TV evolution?

By David Spencer, commercial director MENA, FreeWheel The TV market is surging in Africa and the Middle East, and is expected to grow by 30 percent in the five years leading up to 2021. With its young and fast-growing population, the expanding middle class in Africa, and positive future development forecast in the region, the […]

Industry
July 17, 2018 Online video viewing to exceed this much in 2018

Global consumers will spend an average of 67 minutes a day watching online video this year, up from 56 minutes last year. By 2020 the average person will be spending 84 minutes a day watching videos online. In that year, China will have the keenest viewers, with the average person spending 105 minutes a day […]

Industry
July 17, 2018 Refreshing your brand? Here are 5 lessons to follow

Here are five lessons I learned whilst refreshing my brand, Bruce Clay Middle East. By Neal Patel, MD, Bruce Clay Middle East Stay true to your values Bruce Clay is globally known for performance search and is widely credited for coining the term ‘SEO’. That is some feat. The first thing we did locally was […]

Industry
July 16, 2018 Is video-on-demand the killer of TV or is the original tube part of our DNA?

With the emergence of subscription video-on-demand services (SVODs) such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, the media has been quick to foretell the demise of TV. But, is there any truth to those words? TV has remained a powerhouse and mainstay in modern life ever since its introduction in the 20th century. Many historical moments broke […]

People
July 14, 2018 Another senior agency exec fired due to violation of “code of conduct”

McCann Health has fired global chief creative officer Jeremy Perrott, after a complaint against him alleging a violation of the company’s code of conduct. He was terminated before the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last month. A spokesperson for McCann declined to comment on the nature of the complaint or the length of the […]

Industry
July 13, 2018 How independent agency Omnia is planning regional expansion

Omnia, an independent brand and digital agency based in Dubai, is officially announcing the opening of its new Jordanian office. Located in the capital, Amman, the new office is in response to the growing demand for Omnia’s digital expertise and will act as a digital development hub for the company’s growing roster of digital clients […]

Industry
July 13, 2018 Are you losing Twitter followers? Here’s why that’s a good thing

If you have noticed a dip in your Twitter followers recently, you’re not alone. Twitter has warned users and brands that it is purging more accounts from the service and they could see a dip in followers. The media-messaging service is focusing on locked accounts in its latest effort to clean up spam, bots and […]

Industry
July 12, 2018 MediaCom scores another global win

Shortly after winning the global adidas contract for media, WPP and GroupM’s MediaCom has scored another huge win. Hilton has selected WPP’s MediaCom as its media agency of record for cross-channel planning and traditional media buying following a review. A Hilton spokesman confirmed the selection to Ad Age in an emailed statement. “We selected MediaCom for its […]

People
July 11, 2018 Chief creative officer fired 1 month after Ogilvy rebrand

The Ogilvy Group has terminated the employment of its chief creative officer, Tham Khai Meng, after an investigation into his behavior following employee complaints, according to a memo sent to staff yesterday by CEO John Seifert. Seifert said he had been informed of employee complaints two weeks prior. Just last month, the group rebranded after […]

Industry
July 11, 2018 Move over Snapchat. There’s another player bringing AR ads.

We recently reported that Snapchat is testing new Shoppable Snap Ads, a format it is first using to promote its Spectacles camera sunglasses. Also, Snapchat is working with more brands on what it calls Sponsored Snappable ads, which are augmented reality games created by brands with the same technology used in games like Pokémon Go. Snapchat […]

Industry
July 10, 2018 4 things to consider before starting with live video on Facebook

Powered by Meltwater Middle East Since the introduction of Live Video on Facebook last year, brands, influencers and individual users alike have been using the feature to connect with their followers in an authentic, real-time setting. As with any new feature, it’s important for social media pros to consider how it fits into their content […]

Industry
July 09, 2018 The rise of consultancies: Not a Greek tragedy after all

By Christos Solomi, executive director – programmatic, Omnicom Media Group MENA With a name like Christos Demetrios Solomi, you can easily guess that I probably have some Greek in me. Growing up in a Greek household meant reading mythology was mandatory and consequently, you develop a strong understanding of the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy. […]

Industry
July 09, 2018 Digital meets outdoor in this latest partnership

Spending on the technologies and digital transformation that enable Smart City initiatives is expected to accelerate over the 2016-2021 forecast period, reaching $2.30 billion in 2021, according to research firm International Data Corporation. In light of this, digital outdoor company Elevision has signed a 10-year contract with DIFC that will see the installation of more […]

Industry
July 08, 2018 “The best way to market to women is NOT to market to women”

Recently, Twitter held a half-day event bringing together agencies, brands and publishers to shed light on female Twitter users’ behavior, mindset, and habits. With women now driving in Saudi – and 3 million* being expected to do so by 2020 – brands have found themselves a shiny new opportunity. While the short-term and direct impact […]

Industry
July 08, 2018 “It is unfair to say that digital is completely replacing TV”

By Abdallah Adra, senior regional manager, PMX MENA Who had ever imagined ten years back that spends on digital media or any other media could one day overcome the investments on TV advertisements? Whoever thought back in that period that what was offered as a free of charge media to support paid traditional media, would […]

People
July 07, 2018 WPP and Sorrell’s battle for this agency could cost him his shares

A battle between WPP and Sir Martin Sorrell’s new agency, S4, to acquire Dutch digital production company MediaMonks is turning ugly, with WPP threatening to withdraw share awards from Sorrell’s exit payoff if he goes ahead with the purchase. Speaking at Cannes about the potential competition between WPP and his new agency S4, he called S4 a […]

Industry
July 05, 2018 UPDATE: Mindshare confirms Pizza Hut win

Yesterday, we announced the news of Mindshare winning the media business of Pizza Hut, which is part of Yum Brands. The companies have now confirmed the win that consolidates the offline and digital business within one agency. The agency – and some of its partner agencies within GroupM – already works with Pizza Hut and […]

Industry
July 04, 2018 BREAKING: Mindshare wins Pizza Hut account

Mindshare MENA, part of GroupM, has won the Pizza Hut account. The account was previously handled by PHD for digital and Initative for offline media. Pizza Hut is part of Yum Group globally but Americana has the franchising rights in the MENA region. Americana moved its portfolio of clients from Initiative to Omnicom’s Hearts & […]

Culture
July 04, 2018 ABG out to tackle women and kids… in advertising

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 […]

Industry
July 03, 2018 What ‘TBWA Facebook Foundry’ means for the agency of the future

TBWA has partnered with Facebook for a custom training program that will be rolled out across its offices in Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Central and Eastern Europe. Called TBWA Facebook Foundry, the program focuses on “inspiration, learning, and creativity,” according to a statement by the agency. It is based on Facebook’s existing ‘Blueprint’ program, which […]

Industry
July 01, 2018 6 learnings from how Netflix handled Jonathan Friedland

Dawn Metcalfe is a Dubai-based executive coach and trainer who founded PDSi, a company that provides training, mentorship and coaching. She is also the author of two books: Managing the Matrix: The Secret to Surviving and Thriving in Your Organization and The HardTalk Handbook. Metcalfe’s second book is also a certified training programme offered by […]

People
July 01, 2018 7 questions with La Perle’s marketing director Dina Kfouri

1. What do you love about this industry?  In live entertainment, no two days are ever alike. Not even two hours. Being the marketing director of La Perle, I need to very quickly adapt to the everyday craziness, shift gears and get the entire team to keep up with the fast-paced environment. That unpredictability and […]

Industry
June 30, 2018 4 lessons e-commerce retailers need to learn from physical stores

By Meghna C. Hazarani, senior UX analyst, RBBi Last year I got the opportunity to work on an e-commerce site which was not only enlightening as a ‘UXer’ but also, as a user who finds an excuse to shop pretty much every day. The small details that lead to cross-selling, up-selling, and plain old selling […]

Industry
June 29, 2018 Dentsu Aegis Network expands in MENA with Merkle launch

Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) is expanding its MENA footprint with the launch of Merkle, a technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency. Merkle was founded as Merkle Computer Systems in 1971 as part of Merkle Press. In 1998, it was acquired by entrepreneur David Williams who is the Chairman and CEO of the company today. In 2016, […]

Industry
June 27, 2018 18 things you NEED to know about Google’s ad biz changes after 18 years

  Google is rebranding its ad business after 18 years. The changes are rolling out in July 2018. Google Ad Words is becoming Google Ads, which will represent the full range of advertising capabilities offered by Google. Google Ads will have a new campaign type for small businesses. DoubleClick and Google Analytics will no longer […]

Industry
June 27, 2018 Can a podcast replace a radio show?

Last week, we reported the end of Nightline – the 11-year-old evening talk show on ARN’s Dubai Eye 103.8. The show was hosted by James Piecowye, a professor at Zayed University and co-founder of Creative Mornings Dubai, who announced that he would be going ahead with a new podcast platform. “We are going to keep […]

Industry
June 26, 2018 Economy or equality: the driving force behind Saudi women taking the wheel

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia made history when it passed a Royal Decree in 2017 permitting women to drive in the Kingdom. The ban officially lifted on June 24, 2018 when women took to the streets albeit behind the wheel. This lifting of the ban means that Saudi Arabia will have 3 million female drivers […]

Industry
June 25, 2018 BREAKING: JWT retains STC, adds corporate account

J. Walter Thompson Saudi Arabia has retained the Consumer Business Unit (CBU) account for Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and additionally been awarded the operator’s Corporate Account, after a rigorous selection process across multiple international agencies. J. Walter Thompson KSA’s relationship with STC dates back to 2007 when the agency won the contract for the Al […]

Industry
June 25, 2018 ARN scraps Nightline after 11 years. What’s next?

Nightline, the evening show on ARN’s Dubai Eye 103.8 FM, has come to an end after 11 years. Hosted by James Piecowye, the show ran from 8 to 10pm on the channel. Other shows too are expected to be canceled with a slew of new shows, including a night time music show to be rolled […]

Industry
June 25, 2018 Is this World Cup sponsorship doing more harm than good?

The World Cup is a huge global phenomenon with more than 3 billion people watching it in 2014. This year, with the participation of four Arab teams, viewership in the region is naturally expected to be higher, which in turn, means that advertising spends during this period are also higher. The biggest chunk of spends […]

Industry
June 24, 2018 Fancy watching the World Cup in an Uber?

With 75 percent in the GCC considering themselves “extreme football fans,” it’s no surprise that the FIFA World Cup is garnering massive viewership from the region – more so given the participation of regional teams. And that raises the question of where local audiences are watching it. Thanks to a new deal the answer might […]

Industry
June 24, 2018 “I’m really focused on WPP more than I am on what Martin is doing.”

Wunderman Global CEO Mark Read was thrust into the spotlight in April when WPP announced that CEO Martin Sorrell was stepping down amid an unspecified allegation and that Read and his colleague Andrew Scott would step in as chief operating officers. Read had been floated in past years as a possible successor to WPP’s iconic leader, […]

Industry
June 22, 2018 Cannes is “back to business”: The Diet Coke edition

(Image credit: Illustration by Tam Nguyen/Ad Age) By Brian Braiker, editor, AdAge W. Somerset Maugham was onto something in 1941 when he wrote “the Riviera isn’t only a sunny place for shady people.” While still hilarious in 2018, there was significantly less shadiness – both in conference-goer behavior and as a reprieve from the blazing sun […]

Industry
June 22, 2018 Why this ad man doesn’t attend Cannes. Ever.

Do you do the Cannes Cannes?  By David Parkinson, co-founder, Brave & Heart I went to Cannes Lions. Once. It started well: flight into Nice, taxi to Cannes, take in the narrow streets with a sense of excitement in the air. The streets were thick with older dark-rimmed glasses in sailor tops mixed with younger preppy […]

Industry
June 21, 2018 74% of digital video budgets are being wasted on this format. Here’s where you should spend instead.

75% of the world’s data traffic will be video by 2020. Online video revenue in MENA to grow between 22% and 35% annually until 2021 So yes, users around the world are watching video – a lot more than they ever did, which explains why advertisers are increasingly spending more on digital video. But, much […]

Industry
June 20, 2018 5 ways TV advertising is getting a new life thanks to AT&T and Time Warner

TV is getting a new season thanks to AT&T’s deal with Time Warner. AT&T is a sleeping giant in the ad world. Now, with the US Department of Justice approving its $85 billion bid to acquire Time Warner, it’s about to wake up. What does it all mean for the advertising industry? Basically, more data, […]

Culture
June 20, 2018 9 things you should know about the AT&T-Time Warner deal

1. Wait, so what just happened? US District Judge Richard Leon that an AT&T-Time Warner deal can proceed. Essential background: In October 2016, A&T announced that it had agreed to buy Time Warner for $85 billion. But then Trump got elected. Trump made it clear, even before his presidency began, that he’s no fan of […]

Industry
June 19, 2018 EXCLUSIVE RAMADAN INSIGHTS PART 3: Was your campaign a HIT or a MISS?

The holy month of Ramadan is an introspective and spiritual time of the year, when people fast, pray, change their daily routines, catch up with their favorite TV drama series and spend more time with their near and dear ones. It’s also that time of year when television and digital screens are bombarded with commercials. […]

Industry
June 18, 2018 REVEALED: A new way of reaching your consumers

30% of audiences are estimated to block ads in 2018, in the US alone. 40% dislike Facebook ads 70% dislike mobile ads These numbers are clear evidence that audiences dislike common forms of advertising including text and video. Even with a more tailored and targeted approach, thanks to data, consumers don’t like the methods of […]

Industry
June 17, 2018 Is ‘integration’ swallowing individual agency brands?

When Campbell Soup Co. named Publicis Groupe the winner of a massive agency review for digital, creative and media, the press release contained a smorgasbord of buzzwords that have come to typify holding company-level pitches. Publicis will provide an “entire suite of marketing services and provide more accountability and flexibility than traditional marketing models,” its March […]

Industry
June 16, 2018 Consumers want privacy & marketers want data. Now what?

By Michelle Engle, senior vice-president, product, Valassis Digital The debate surrounding probabilistic versus deterministic cross-device tracking is nothing new. But with the rapidly evolving online landscape and technological capabilities, and with customers increasingly engaging across multiple devices, brands and agencies should be having a different conversation: They need to look beyond which targeting method to […]

Industry
June 16, 2018 “Cheap prices are a great marketing tool”

Image Credit: Illustration by Tam Nguyen/Ad Age Snapchat has replaced one problem with another, to advertisers’ potential benefit: Prices for ads on the platform have gone from ungodly to low, low, low. About two years ago, Snapchat was charging brands $300,000 to $500,000 to sponsor a Lens, an animated filter that transforms people’s faces in […]

Industry
June 15, 2018 Snapchat vs Instagram: who’s winning the social commerce battle?

Snapchat and Instagram are stepping up their shopping rivalry as they both work e-commerce into new areas of their apps. Instagram On June 12, Instagram brought shopping into Stories, the vertical-video section that was copied from Snapchat. Brands on Instagram will now be able to drop shopping bag stickers into their Stories and sell products […]

Industry
June 15, 2018 IHOP to IHOb: Did the marketing gimmick pay off?

Last week, international chain IHOP changed its name to IHOb in a marketing gimmick announcing its new range of (b for) burgers – instead of P for pancakes. Dear Internet, we abbreciate your batience. Now let’s see who guessed right. B-hold!!!!! #IHOb pic.twitter.com/Fh3SkZ7s3Y — IHOb (@IHOb) June 11, 2018 The build-up to the announcement saw […]

Industry
June 14, 2018 This is Ogilvy’s 4th big announcement this year

Following last year’s controversy that saw Patou Nuyteman replaces Edmond Moutran as Memac Ogilvy’s CEO, the agency has been on a roll. Just recently, the agency underwent a global rebrand after 70 years. The company reinvented its approach through a new client-centric, integrated structure that centralizes its offerings under what it’s calling its “Next Chapter”. In […]

Industry
June 14, 2018 What’s driving the Ogilvy rebrand after 70 years?

Previously known as Ogilvy&Mather, Ogilvy has restructured its operations under a new brand identity. Founded as Hewitt, Ogilvy, Benson & Mather in New York City in 1948 by the late David Ogilvy, the company grew into a global network that incorporates several brands such as Ogilvy Public Relations, and Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency.  John Seifer, […]

Industry
June 14, 2018 What House of Cards can teach us about content marketing

By Yasmine Abdelkhalek, Consultant, FTI Consulting (Image credit: Netflix) Companies are constantly striving to communicate their corporate narrative to their key stakeholders. Devising a comprehensive content strategy has always been integral to successfully build a brand and attract the right audience. With advancements in data science and data analytics, content strategists have been given a […]

Industry
June 13, 2018 RAPP Middle East drives ahead with new win

RAPP Middle East, part of the Omnicom network, has just concluded an extensive pitch process bagging a three-year CRM contract for a leading automotive client. The client is none other than BMW Group Middle East. The pitch included other companies including Accenture Interactive, according to industry sources. Just recently, however, BMW Group extended its relationship […]

Industry
June 13, 2018 BREAKING: We Are Social acquires Socialize

Socially-led creative agency network We Are Social, has acquired a majority stake in Socialize, the Middle East’s largest independent social media agency. The move, which is subject to regulatory approval, is We Are Social’s first acquisition, and extends its network to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) for the first time. We Are Social […]

Industry
June 13, 2018 INFOGRAPHIC: Why you should invest in audio ads

Audio, or an audio ad, has been around since the times of radio. Today, audio ads have taken on a new life thanks to streaming services like Spotify and more locally, Anghami. Audio ads generated $1.6 billion in the US in 2017 – a 39 percent jump from the year before – according to the […]

Industry
June 12, 2018 Souq has Amazon and now noon has eBay. But, what does it all mean for the regional e-commerce industry?

A year after what Goldman Sachs labeled the “the biggest M&A deal in the Arab World” i.e. the Amazon/Souq deal, Noon has announced its strategic partnership with US-based online auction platform eBay. About the deal The e-commerce platform, which saw a major investment from Alshaya late last year, will now fulfill eBay orders made on […]

Industry
June 12, 2018 Play time: 4 reasons why brands need to get into gaming (not Candy Crush)

From arcade games to high-end Playstations to Candy Crush… gaming has undergone a massive evolution. Through this evolution, somehow, it managed to stay away from the attention of marketers. There was no brand logo inserted in a Pac-Man or a video ad inserted in Space Invaders to continue playing. But now, with gaming making its […]

Culture
June 12, 2018 Note to marketers: “In the 21st century, a woman is no longer just a woman”

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 […]

Industry
June 12, 2018 EXCLUSIVE: Q&A with Publicis Media’s Alex Saber

On May 24, Publicis Groupe unveiled Marcel, its AI-powered platform that “advances transformation of the Groupe from a holding company to a platform, ushering in a new era of creativity and innovation,” it said in a press statement. Marcel was announced almost a year earlier in June 2016. Speaking at its launch in Paris, Arthur […]

Industry
June 11, 2018 Listen up: This ad format is making a comeback

There’s always a new medium, a new channel, to look out for in the world of advertising. The pervasiveness of the Internet and smartphones has created ample opportunities for audiences to consume content more frequently than they ever did. Publishers, on their part, have stepped up the game to provide more content in more formats […]

Industry
June 11, 2018 A year after is no-award policy, Publicis Groupe is going to Cannes 2018

In June 2017, Publicis Groupe announced that it won’t be participating in events and awards until July 1, 2018. In this year, it would focus on the development of Marcel, which it announced on May 24. Yet, we see the Groupe’s agencies winning some awards. Publicis Groupe clarifies in a statement that these entries have […]

Industry
June 11, 2018 Not participating in the World Cup? Here’s how you can still win

Image credit: Arsen Galstyan / AFP By Puja Pannum, managing director at Blis MENA The World Cup: whether it’s vuvuzelas or 7-0 thrashings, it’s the sporting event of the year that is sure, as always, to have a massive global impact. As for brands, it’s a crucial time to drive awareness and sales – Coca Cola, […]

Industry
June 10, 2018 What you need know about Facebook’s privacy blunder. Again.

The social media giant just can’t seem to catch a break ever since news of Cambridge Analytica broke. Two days in front of the Senate, one in front of EU officials, an FTC investigation, and hundreds of assurances later, Facebook has messed up yet again. On Thursday, it was revealed that the privacy of 14 […]

Industry
June 10, 2018 Dear publishers, Google’s got news for you

Publishers have many reasons to be unhappy with the walled gardens of Facebook but most recently they have been upset with Google’s moves as part of its GDPR compliance. Four major trade bodies that represent some 4,000 publishers from around the globe found themselves in a standoff with Google and its CEO Sundar Pichai in […]

Industry
June 09, 2018 Why GroupM’s Lindsay Pattison thinks Cannes Lions needs to move

By Lindsay Pattison, chief transformation officer, Group M Worldwide and Worldwide CEO, Maxus Global The ad business is gearing up for another trek to the south of France for the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. But this year, the sunny Mediterranean skies greeting us will belie more ominous, metaphorical clouds looming over our industry. […]

Industry
June 09, 2018 Which agency is in the driving seat for this $4.1 billion global client?

A global automotive client that spent $4.1 billion on advertising globally put its global creative account on review in April spelling bad news for incumbent WPP. The client is none other than Ford, which is currently with WPP’s Global Team Blue (GTB). The account has been under strain for months as the automaker began re-evaluating […]

Industry
June 08, 2018 These clients have just re-appointed Instinctif Partners

Instinctif Partners Middle East is an international business communications consultancy, which recently launched its ‘Content & Creative’ practice following a successful year that witnessed 58 percent revenue growth in 2017. It also won 11 new clients the previous year. Now, it has been re-appointed by Middle East asset manager Emirates NBD Asset Management, the wholly […]

Industry
June 06, 2018 Triangle MENA deploys two new products for the Saudi Broadcasting Authority

Triangle MENA (Triangle), a creative agency that specializes in building comprehensive online experiences, has successfully deployed two new digital products for the Saudi Broadcasting Authority – SBC TV & Shashtacom. SBC, a TV Channel that offers the KSA audience local to regional varied content, and Shashatcom, an on-demand video platform that delivers a wide array […]

Industry
June 06, 2018 Can you put a price tag on creativity?

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 […]

Industry
June 05, 2018 This is why hotel marketers have a soft spot for UAE residents

Hotels in the UAE are targeting residents of the country with special discounts and offers. While most tourist spots – and sometimes hotels – have special rates for UAE or GCC residents, there has been an increase in hoteliers offering such packages during Ramadan. One such brand is Jumeirah Group. “This Ramadan as a UAE […]

Industry
June 05, 2018 Socialize wins new account

Following a multi-agency pitch earlier this year, Socialize has been awarded the digital communications and social media mandate for Sony across the Middle East and Africa region. The account was previously handled by independent agency, Qrious. Socialize has been tasked with increasing awareness and interest around Sony’s diverse range of products across televisions, audio, digital […]

Industry
June 05, 2018 Marketing to Apple users just got A LOT harder & other lessons from WWDC 2018

Apple held its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) yesterday, June 4, unveiling new updates for developers and users. This time around there were no hardware announcements, but there are some pretty significant software updates that will have huge implications for marketers – especially considering that as of this year Apple has 1.3 billion active devices […]

People
June 04, 2018 Vogue Arabia: A master class in How to Lose Your Readers in 1 Day

“The choice of a Saudi princess for Vogue Arabia‘s [June] cover is completely tone-deaf.” These are the words of Husain Abdulla, executive director of Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, in a recent interview with NPR.  Vogue Arabia, published by Condé Nast in partnership with Nervora in the region, has been embroiled in one […]

Industry
June 04, 2018 Game on: Finally there’s good news for du subscribers

Yesterday, du released a statement saying that it’s in negotiations with Qatar-based beIN, the official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup 2018. Soon after, beIN released the following statement: “BeIN MEDIA GROUP announces that after lengthy negotiations it has not been able to reach to this day an agreement to continue its services over DU’s […]

Industry
June 04, 2018 Move over VR: here’s where 200 mn users are in 2018

The consumer VR software and hardware market size globally was $2.2 billion in 2017 It is expected to grow to $4.5 billion in 2018 But, 200 million people worldwide will be using mobile AR in 2018 vs 60 million in 2013 Virtual reality or augmented reality? [Tweet “VR offers an escape from the real world […]

Industry
June 03, 2018 Du vs Etisalat vs beIN: How can GCC viewers watch the FIFA World Cup

Excitement is high for the FIFA World Cup in the region with four Arab countries participating in it for the first time. The first game on June 14 will see Saudi Arabia and Russia kick off the tournament. A GCC-wide study by OMD shows that 75 percent consider themselves extreme football fanatics and 65 percent […]

Industry
June 03, 2018 JUST IN: Snapchat appoints sales rep in Kuwait and Egypt

Snap, which opened its Dubai office early last year, is headed by ex-Yahoo veteran Hussein Freijeh as managing director. He is supported by Jake Thomas, ex-LinkedIn, as head of agency development, and Rami Saad, ex-deputy COO of DMS, as head of content. Now, it has appointed Choueiri Group’s digital arm, DMS, to act as sales […]

Culture
June 03, 2018 LOOKBACK: Vogue Arabia’s bumpy ride since its launch in 2017

Vogue Arabia launched amidst much fanfare with its digital edition in October 2016 and first print issue in March 2017. Condé Nast International tied up with Dubai-based publisher Nervora for the regional edition. Since its launch, the magazine has been embroiled in controversy every now and again. Two of its biggest controversies involve a Saudi […]

Industry
June 02, 2018 Is it (finally) the end of ‘fake news’ on Facebook?

Facebook has been under fire for a multitude of issues ranging from data privacy to fake news. Now, after multiple complaints, hearings and GDPR, it has to fix at least some of them. But, first… Facebook has been saying for a long time that it has tied up with external fact-checkers but its stringent control […]

Industry
June 01, 2018 INFOGRAPHIC: Over 80% want to try NEW brands on this platform

23% of TV ad spends are during Ramadan, according to Ipsos 2017 research Viewers in Saudi Arabia (60%) and in Egypt (70%) actually prefer watching ads on YouTube to TV In MENA, users spend an extra 6 million hours on Facebook throughout the month Clearly, Ramadan is a peak period for advertisers with users spending […]

Industry
May 31, 2018 Is your voice assistant spying on you?

Image credit: Daniel Berman/Bloomberg By Shelly Palmer, CEO of The Palmer Group Some people believe that voice assistant Alexa is listening all the time. This is true. Some people believe that Alexa records every word for posterity. This is false. Some people believe that having an Amazon Echo increases their risk of being hacked. This […]

Industry
May 31, 2018 “Your work speaks for you more than your gender”

7 questions with  J. Walter Thompson Beirut’s creative director, Paola Mounla 1. What are the challenges you have faced on account of being a woman? To be frank, throughout my career, I have never faced challenges based on my gender. However, the industry as a whole still objectifies women – not in the workplace but in […]

Industry
May 31, 2018 TV or Digital: Who’s the king in Ramadan?

Ramadan is a peak period for advertisers as audiences purchase more as well as consume more content on different channels. The last couple of years have seen a gradual shift from TV spends to digital not only during Ramadan, but also throughout the year. However, Ramadan is one month during which both TV consumption and […]

Industry
May 30, 2018 This company’s rebrand means more good news for working women

In 2016, talent and recruitment group MCG Group launched a subsidiary recruitment consultancy, Hopscotch, to bring together professional women who prefer flexible working options and companies looking for quality, shorter term hires. The firm is headed by Helen McGuire, MCG Group CEO Justin McGuire’s wife, who is the former head of digital content at Impact […]

Industry
May 29, 2018 Do creative impressions work?

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 […]

Industry
May 29, 2018 Should sales and marketing share a budget?

By Stefanie Fernandez, head of sales solutions at LinkedIn MENA Sales and marketing alignment is becoming increasingly widespread as a business objective. There is a growing focus on sharing between the two departments – sharing knowledge, sharing resources, sharing credit. But one of the key questions, from an operational standpoint, is whether sales and marketing […]

Industry
May 29, 2018 Why this creative agency is launching a tech hub in the region

Creative agencies have been known to be slow on the uptake of technology with media agencies embarking digital and data quickly. That has now changed with multiple creative agencies building their digital offering. TBWA\RAAD, for example, has its own data department and manages digital and social for clients including Nissan. In fact, the agency’s CEO, […]

Industry
May 27, 2018 Advertising lessons from John Lennon and Mark Twain for this Ramadan

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, […]

Industry
May 26, 2018 It hasn’t even been 1 day and GDPR complaints have been filed against these 2 companies

There has been a huge hue and cry about GDPR as companies scramble to get their data and privacy laws in order. You would’ve known from the 10,000 emails you have received to opt-in to continue receiving newsletters and such. [Tweet “The EU’s GDPR went into effect on May 25 and on the same day […]

Industry
May 25, 2018 How has VAT affected e-commerce in the UAE?

Taxation is a globally accepted practice by the state to generate revenue and subsequently fund expenditures that sustain the operation of the government. For so many years, the people of the UAE were basking in the glory of a tax-free lifestyle, however, a year ago the government announced that VAT would finally take effect in […]

Industry
May 25, 2018 Television was just a device. “TV” will last forever

By Aiman Al Zyoud, CEO and founder, Charisma Group There’s a lot of talk about how TV is dead, and in a way that’s true. Gone are the days when families huddled around the television, or when you raced home to make it on time for your favorite show. The digital revolution has rendered the television […]

Industry
May 24, 2018 8 questions with Tetra Pak’s Khaled Ismail

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 […]

Industry
May 23, 2018 PHD just won a major global client

Following a pitch handled by UK-based media consulting company, ID Comms, PHD has won the global media account of British banking and financial services company HSBC. The incumbent was GroupM’s Mindshare. “We have selected PHD as our preferred Media Planning and Buying Supplier as they demonstrated strong strategic skills and advanced digital transformation capabilities,” Leanne […]

Industry
May 22, 2018 BREAKING: Careem appoints creative agency

Last month, we broke the news that Careem was looking for a creative agency. More than eight creative agencies including TBWA/RAAD, J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett are said to be participating in the pitch. [Tweet “Now Careem has announced that it has appointed TBWA/ RAAD as its global agency of record to lead brand […]

Industry
May 21, 2018 EXCLUSIVE RAMADAN INSIGHTS PART 1: What’s missing in your FMCG strategy?

This report addresses the important trends that impact the FMCG sector during the holy month of Ramadan in the MENA region, what marketing strategies FMCG brands adopt to connect with consumers, how FMCG brands measure the success of Ramadan-centric campaigns and, last but not the least, how FMCG marketers and advertisers need to catch up […]

Industry
May 21, 2018 EXCLUSIVE RAMADAN INSIGHTS: What brands need to succeed

The holy month of Ramadan is an introspective and spiritual time of the year, when people fast, pray, change their daily routines, catch up with their favorite TV drama series and spend more time with their near and dear ones. It’s also that time of year when television and digital screens are bombarded with commercials. […]

Industry
May 21, 2018 Unilever’s Closeup has a new creative agency

Unilever’s oral care brand Closeup has chosen J. Walter Thompson Dubai as its Agency of Record and communications partner in the Gulf region. The agency’s relationship with Unilever dates back to 1902 when a press ad in a US title marked the beginning of the longest-ever working relationship between an agency and a multinational client. […]

Industry
May 20, 2018 Two big brands have appointed Accenture. But, where are the agencies?

Just recently, Radisson Hotel Group appointed Accenture Interactive as its global experience agency to increase the digital presence of the company’s brands and hotels and transform the digital experience to improve customer acquisition and retention. Radisson has worked with Accenture Interactive previously to create a chatbot for the meetings and event planners. This new appointment will […]

Industry
May 20, 2018 How did Middle East brands capitalize on the Royal Wedding?

The royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was no private affair. Other than it being a widely covered occasion by all media outlets, it was also an opportunity for brands. That shouldn’t really be a surprise given the massive interest in the event. Google Trends reports a surge in the ‘Royal Wedding’ with […]

Industry
May 19, 2018 6 questions with Vittorio Bonori, Global President, Zenith

What do you love about this industry? The pace of transformation What do you hate about this industry? Nothing I hate, but sometimes I don’t like to see how old stereotypes still affect perception. If you could be in another profession, what would it be? The same. What’s the first thing you do when you […]

Industry
May 18, 2018 Another consultancy is launching content and creative services

International business communications consultancy Instinctif Partners Middle East launching a new ‘Content & Creative’ practice, responsible for advising on, developing and producing creative content across platforms and events. The capabilities of this division include branding & design; content development; corporate reporting; creative consultancy; digital; experiential events; and film & animation. The establishment of the new […]

Industry
May 17, 2018 Acquisition or collaboration: what’s the future for MENA startups?

(Image: TJ Lightwala, head of Future Adaptive Specialist Teams (FAST), Mindshare MENA) Magnitt, the startup for startups, has secured almost $1 million in seed funding $560 million was invested in MENA startups in 2017, up 65% from 2016 Digital startups in the MENA region have raised more than $500 million in equity investments in 2017 According […]

Culture
May 17, 2018 Can’t be in Saudi during Ramadan? You can watch the prayers live thanks to…

Ramadan is a time of togetherness, celebration, and spirituality for many Muslims around the world. Reduced working hours and a change in lifestyle lead to varying media consumption habits and purchase behaviors. On Facebook, for instance, activity across the MENA region peaks by 15 percent as 86 percent of Facebook users celebrate Ramadan. Its users, […]

Industry
May 16, 2018 Which agency is the latest to venture into e-commerce?

With e-commerce being valued as a $10 billion industry in the GCC, it only makes sense for brands to jump onto the e-commerce bandwagon whether it’s through their own online stores or marketplaces. Moreover, moves by Amazon, Souq and Noon.com, are changing the rules of the game for retail. Where do agencies fit in? As […]

Industry
May 15, 2018 Who’s leading the OTT space in MENA? No, it’s not Netflix or Amazon Prime

Demand for online video content around the world and in the region is growing with OTT players competing with traditional TV for a market potentially worth $1 billion by 2020, according to ATKearney. A recent report by GlobalWebIndex (GWI) shows that 31% of total TV viewing is spent on online TV in the MEA region. […]

Industry
May 14, 2018 PHD Egypt wins first client

Following the opening of its fifth office in the region, in Cairo, Egypt, PHD has announced the win of its first client: Huawei. The full media account was awarded to the agency following a three-way review. The pitch was triggered by Huawei’s ambition to provide innovative solutions for the Egyptian market and the need for […]

Industry
May 13, 2018 Advertising on Facebook in Ramadan? Learn from these 3 case studies

Ramadan is the Super Bowl of the Middle East with advertisers spending a majority of their budgets during the Holy Month. Due to reduced business hours and unusual daily schedules, users’ media habits and purchase behaviors also undergo a massive change. Time spent on online platforms peaks during the month, which is a goldmine for […]

Industry
May 12, 2018 Concerned about brand safety? There’s a new solution

Advertisers have been increasingly concerned about brand safety since The Times’ investigation revealed that big brands are inadvertently funding terror back in February 2017. At the time, major advertisers pulled out of YouTube resulting in an estimated $750 million loss. In fact, one of the biggest advertisers, P&G only recently started advertising on the platform […]

Industry
May 11, 2018 Campaigns today are based on these 2 things & that’s a problem

By Alex Malouf, IABC Chair for Europe, Middle East and North Africa Every now and then, I get asked to join a jury. Unfortunately, I’m not referring to a John Grisham thriller with all of the accompanying drama, but rather reviewing entries for advertising and communications campaigns. I love judging and diving into the materials; […]

Industry
May 09, 2018 Omnia boosts digital offering with this certification

(Adam Booth, MD with Mark Hopkins, executive digital director) UAE-based brand and digital agency Omnia has been growing rapidly with new appointments just recently. Now, the 52-member strong agency has boosted its digital offering with a Sitecore Gold certification. Sitecore is widely considered as a leading web content management system. Omnia’s recent Sitecore projects include clients […]

Industry
May 08, 2018 Digital ad ratings have arrived in the UAE

There has always been a general sense of dissatisfaction in the regional ad industry with regards to digital ad measurement and monitoring. That is now set to change with Nielsen’s launch of Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) in the UAE. DAR was launched in 2011 and is already used in more than 33 countries for campaign […]

Industry
May 07, 2018 IKEA has just appointed a new media agency

Following a three-month-long review process, IKEA Saudi Arabia has awarded its media mandate to Starcom MENA. With immediate effect, the agency will manage the strategic media planning and buying responsibilities for the multinational retailer with its franchisee in Saudi Arabia Ghassan Ahmed Al Sulaiman Furniture Trading Co. Ltd. “We look forward to our new partnership […]

Industry
May 04, 2018 Surge appoints Integrated Holistic Communications

International public relations and digital marketing agency, Integrated Holistic Communications (iHC), has been awarded the remit to deliver pro bono turnkey PR for global non-profit organization, Surge. The non-profit entity provides sustainable safe water and sanitation solutions for the world’s most vulnerable communities. Headquartered in the United States, Surge also has a regional presence in […]

Industry
May 02, 2018 Can machines help humanity? These apps are the answer

The impending takeover of humans by machines has caused many scholars and employees to stress about the future of the workforce and humanity at large. In all such scenarios, the future doesn’t seem to be good for humans. But now, these apps prove otherwise. Using advanced technology including blockchain and machine learning, these apps are […]

Industry
May 01, 2018 Which is Horizon FCB’s 2nd win in one month?

Horizon Group’s creative arm has been on the down-low recently. The agency won two big accounts last year, Al Hamra Group and Danone Nutricia. The agency also appointed a new deputy GM earlier this year following the appointment of an ECD in December 2017. However, this month, Horizon FCB is on a roll. It was appointed as Agency of Record and Creative Partner […]

Industry
April 30, 2018 Which are the 4 key factors of a successful influencer marketing strategy?

By Dalia Halabi, manager – brand entertainment, OMD While the social platform play may be new, influencer advertising certainly isn’t. Though the faces have changed and the vehicles have evolved, the psychology of influence remains the same. The success of an influencer campaign rests on the incorporation of the principles of reputation and persuasion to […]

Industry
April 30, 2018 How can publishers put an end to fake news?

There’s one word that saw a 365 percent increase in usage since 2016 making it Collins Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2017. That word is ‘fake news’. Although popularized in 2016 during the US elections – and since then by the US President – fake news is not exclusive to either; it is an all-pervasive […]

Industry
April 29, 2018 23% spend more than 25% of their budget on mobile. Why are the rest not spending?

Mobile budgets have increased since 2016, with 23% spending more than a quarter of their budget on mobile Over the longer term, those spending more than 25% of their budget on mobile will almost double by 2022 93% still use Facebook while only 41% use Snapchat for mobile marketing The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), recently […]

Industry
April 29, 2018 M&C Saatchi PR drives ahead with this new client

Following the acquisition of regional communications agency Expression, M&C Saatchi set up its Dubai operation in early 2016. Scott Feasey, founder and former managing director of Expression, is leading the Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices as CEO with creative partner, Ryan Reed. Now, M&C Saatchi PR UAE has been appointed to handle the communications strategy […]

Industry
April 29, 2018 What is CRO & how will it drive profitability for your website?

By Fadi Ali, CRO Manager, RBBi Every time I mention “CRO” to friends or associates, the usual response I receive is: “you mean A/B testing right?” In hindsight this is to be expected, a few years ago CRO never really existed. It has grown out of the digital revolution and is still evolving as a […]

Industry
April 28, 2018 Facebook, Cambridge Analytica and GDPR: what does it all mean for the Middle East?

By Alex Malouf, IABC Chair for Europe, Middle East and North Africa I was glued to my screen twice in the last month. The first video was of Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologizing for the Cambridge Analytica scandal, which is continuing to engulf the social media giant. The second also made for compelling viewing. A […]

Industry
April 28, 2018 Turning the page: Arab News’ new design philosophy

“Design is more than a logo. Design is a strategy made visible.” These are the words of Moira Cullen, vice-president of global beverage design at PepsiCo. And they couldn’t hold truer for Arab News. Arab News, and its home country Saudi, both have ambitious plans. Plans that have an air of openness, while paying homage […]

People
April 27, 2018 EXCLUSIVE: “As a journalist, I don’t think there is any place more interesting in the region than Saudi.”

The last time Communicate wrote about Faisal J. Abbas was in October 2016. He had only been a few days in his new job as editor-in-chief of Saudi’s English-language daily Arab News. The headline was “Good news for Arab News”. It seems our prediction was accurate. Back in 2016, when asked if he planned to […]

Industry
April 26, 2018 EXCLUSIVE: Zenith’s global president talks data and ROI

Starting as media research director at Optimedia Italy in 1995, Vittorio Bonori has spent the last 23 years with the Groupe, moving into his most recent role in 2016. Who better than a former data analyst and statistician to now lead the ROI agency as its global brand president? We caught up with Bonori to […]

Industry
April 24, 2018 BREAKING: TBWA\RAAD wins new account

TBWA\RAAD is on a high following its win as Agency and Network of the Year at the Dubai Lynx 2018 and bagging the du account from Leo Burnett. The agency is also believed to be pitching for Careem’s creative account. Mai Dubai, the Dubai-based bottled water company, has appointed TBWA\RAAD as its lead Creative Agency […]

Industry
April 24, 2018 BREAKING: Which is Horizon FCB’s latest win?

Horizon Group’s creative arm has been on the down-low recently. The agency won two big accounts last year, Al Hamra Group and Danone Nutricia. The agency also appointed a new deputy GM earlier this year following the appointment of an ECD in December 2017. Now, Horizon FCB has announced its latest win, Mercato Mall. Based […]

Industry
April 24, 2018 Why Google is mum about GDPR

Alphabet-owned Google continued to see its ad business grow in the first quarter, the company said as it reported earnings on Monday, but CEO Sundar Pichai offered little if any insight into the way imminent European regulations will affect its business – to say nothing of potential legislation out of Washington amid new attention to […]

Industry
April 24, 2018 Experts reveal why changing Facebook ad metrics make sense

Recently, Facebook announced some changes to its ad metrics. It is now labeling some metrics in Ads Manager as estimated or in development, to provide more clarity on how they are calculated and how advertisers should consider using them. These labels will appear in tool tips within the Ads Manager reporting table and in the […]

Industry
April 23, 2018 Waseem Afzal’s 4 tips to make e-commerce a success

By Waseem Afzal, general manager of OMD MENA’s e-commerce arm, Transact Every year, Seamless Middle East brings together experts and businesses from all over the region to discuss the future and challenges of payments, fintech, e-commerce and retail. In its 19th edition, I had the opportunity to moderate a roundtable discussion with some of the brightest […]

Industry
April 23, 2018 Find out how DMS is a step closer to bidding fake impressions goodbye

Transparency has been a growing concern in digital advertising, with ad fraud was estimated to cost brands $16.4 billion globally in 2017, according to WPP’s global agency, The&Partnership. In fact, nearly 20 percent of total digital ad spend was wasted in 2016. Companies have been looking for the best solutions to combat this issue with […]

Industry
April 23, 2018 There are going to be more Ramadan ads on YouTube this year, thanks to…

Ramadan is a peak period for advertisers with 23 percent of TV ad spends being spent in the Holy Month according to Ipsos 2017 research. During this time, video consumption also increases, YouTube reports. Why YouTube? According to Ipsos reports last year, Ramadan viewership on YouTube over the last three years has increased threefold in […]

Industry
April 22, 2018 Why P&G is ending its YouTube boycott after more than a year

One of the world’s biggest advertisers kept its ads off YouTube for more than a year because of concerns about inappropriate content. Now it’s returning to the video site, but a lot more selectively than before. P&G told its brands this week they could buy spots on YouTube. The company had stopped spending on YouTube in […]

Industry
April 22, 2018 $2.3 billion WPP client puts global creative on review. What now?

The review comes at a particularly bad time for WPP, which has been operating without a CEO since Martin Sorrell stepped down earlier this month. Since then, questions about the holding company’s future have swirled. Sorrell was known as being extremely hands-on with WPP’s clients. Though clients have been outwardly quiet about their thoughts on […]

Industry
April 20, 2018 These companies are actually making money off of GDPR

Companies offering help in meeting the European Union’s upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are bidding up the price on search ads for “GDPR” ahead of its launch on May 25. GDPR requirements are complex, and each country is likely to have different rules because the EU has left some 70 clauses open to interpretation. […]

Industry
April 20, 2018 Break-up or take-over: what’s next for WPP after Sorrell’s exit?

The beginning of April 2018 saw an investigation being launched into advertising legend and WPP chief Martin Sorrell over undisclosed alleged “personal misconduct.” Just a few days later, Sorrell stepped down as CEO and now WPP is on the hunt to fill his shoes. Why WPP is now vulnerable WPP looks vulnerable at the moment […]

Industry
April 19, 2018 BREAKING: Careem goes on pitch

The Middle East’s ride-hailing app Careem is believed to be on pitch according to industry insiders. More than eight creative agencies including TBWA/RAAD, J. Walter Thompson and Leo Burnett are said to be participating in the pitch. None of the agencies have replied to Communicate‘s request for an official comment yet. As of now, it […]

Industry
April 19, 2018 How this brand brought ‘intimacy’ into its marketing

‘Brand intimacy’ agency MBLM recently released its 2018 report, which is a study of brands based on emotions. The agency defines brand intimacy as a new paradigm that leverages and strengthens the emotional bonds between a person and a brand. Nikon ranked 8th on MBLM’s Brand Intimacy Index 2018 with a score of 57.7 – […]

Industry
April 19, 2018 Facebook says it’s adding new ‘privacy experiences’. Here’s what it’s not saying.

On April 4, Facebook updates or rather clarified its data use policy On April 10, it launched the Data Abuse Bounty program rewarding users with $500 minimum for reporting data abuse On April 17, Facebook announced compliances with EU’s GDPR to start with, which will be rolled out to everyone   It all started with […]

People
April 18, 2018 What you need to know about Buro24/7’s new HQ and CEO

In 2015, Communicate’s parent company Mediaquest started its joint venture with Buro 24/7, the international and contemporary news website covering fashion and lifestyle. At the time, Buro 24/7 has launched local versions in ten countries and regions, including Russia, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Ukraine and central Europe with plans to launch in another 12 countries. Now, just over two years later Buro […]

Industry
April 18, 2018 Who’s the latest to launch a content creator program?

‘Studios’ or training programs for creators on social media platforms have been all the rage with YouTube and Facebook setting up physical and online studios and trainings to help creators with equipment, advice, etc. Now, Snap has extended the capabilities of its ‘Lens Studio,’ which was launched last year. The Lens Studio and its extended […]

Industry
April 18, 2018 Saudi to soon have 50,000 digitally-savvy women – all thanks to this tech giant

  Online learning platform offers 100 lessons across 26 core topics, all in Arabic and free of charge Total of 200,000 people to be trained by INJAZ Al-Arab and MISK Foundation, with a target of 50% female participation 1 in 5 jobs in the Arab world will require digital skills that aren’t widely available today, […]

Industry
April 17, 2018 PepsiCo’s plans for Expo 2020 revealed

Expo 2020 now has 10 Official Premier Partners and two Official Partners The latest announcement has confirmed a F&B partner This is the first World Expo in the MEASA region  In the last 167 years, Expo 2020 is the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. […]

Industry
April 17, 2018 PHD open up a fifth office in the Middle East

Omnicom Media Group’s media arm PHD, which just last year extended its contract with DWTC and Huawei, has now opened a fifth office. The agency already has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh and Beirut. The new office is in the central district of Zamalek in Cairo, Egypt. “The move is in direct response to clients’ needs for the […]

Industry
April 17, 2018 WARNING: Only 4 in 10 CMOs to increase ad spend. But, where are these budgets going?

Just 3% of CMOs think they have the perfect internal skill set 72% are increasing content marketing budgets Only 25% say they make full use of data they have access to   A recent survey by marketing and advertising consultancy NewBase shows that globally CMOs are appreciating the changing media landscape, but the budgets show […]

Industry
April 16, 2018 Testing the Status Quo

By Melek Ourir, junior planner, J. Walter Thompson Tunis  Queen Kahena, the Berber warrior queen of 7th century Magreb, was a beautiful and passionate woman by all accounts. She was also a fierce military strategist and often rode at the head of her armies facing her enemies. Bold and alluring, she forever stands as a […]

Industry
April 16, 2018 Go (brand) safe or go home

By Jerome Mouthon, founder and chairman of Buzzeff MEA The Internet is home to nearly 1.8 billion websites and an unthinkable volume of content. However, content that is popular – and creates high engagement – is sometimes controversial or has a potentially incendiary message associated to it. It could be a news article about terrorism, content […]

Industry
April 15, 2018 Facebook will pay you $500 (at least) for reporting app that’s abusing data

Following the Cambridge Analytica controversy and Mark Zuckerberg’s consequent Congress testimony, Facebook is putting – or at least trying to put – measures in place to reduce data abuse through its platform. On March 21, Facebook announced the following developments as part of its crackdown on platform abuse: Investigate all apps that had access to […]

Industry
April 15, 2018 Following allegations on Sorrell, WPP is on a quest for a new CEO

Martin Sorrell stepped down as CEO of WPP following an internal investigation into misconduct, ending a 33-year career at the world’s largest agency holding company. The company announced that WPP Chairman Roberto Quarta would take over as executive chairman until a new CEO is appointed. Mark Read, CEO at Wunderman and WPP Digital, and Andrew […]

Industry
April 13, 2018 Is Google gaining ground during Facebook’s controversy?

Last week, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, appeared in front of the US Senate following the controversy brewed by reports that data firm Cambridge Analytica had improperly gained data on up to 87 million Facebook users. Since the Cambridge Analytica, users – and brands – have been abandoning the platform, even starting a movement, #DeleteFacebook. Now, according […]

Industry
April 12, 2018 Day 2 of Zuckerberg’s Congressional hearings gets political

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 […]

Industry
April 11, 2018 6 critical moments from Mark Zuckerberg’s day in the Senate

Image credit: Al Drago/Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg sat with a joint Senate committee of more than 40 senators in the first of two congressional hearings planned this week. He was called to answer questions about data analytics company Cambridge Analytica making off with data on up to 87 million Facebook users. Cambridge Analytica is being investigated in the US and […]

Industry
April 11, 2018 Arab News to become first ‘gender-balanced’ Saudi newspaper by 2020

Arab News will become the first newspaper in Saudi Arabia to have a gender-balanced newsroom, and it intends to achieve this goal in less than two years. The announcement was made at the opening on Tuesday of the inaugural Arab Women Forum at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). On behalf of editor-in-chief of Arab News, […]

Industry
April 10, 2018 All you need to know about Google’s exchange bidding

Google’s answer to header bidding, an approach to selling online ads that threatened its overwhelming dominance in that business, is becoming widely available now after two years of testing. Before header bidding, Google for nearly a decade built a seemingly unbreachable position in online ad sales that let it cherry-pick the best ad inventory from around the […]

Industry
April 10, 2018 P&G is unveiling three new agency models

Earth’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble Co., is “piloting” three new agency models that are fast taking over some of its biggest brands in its biggest countries. Among the most notable changes is a new yet-to-be-named multiagency agency led by Publicis Groupe and covering all of P&G’s North American fabric-care business. That business alone accounts for […]

Industry
April 10, 2018 Grey Beirut wins JTI’s account in GCC with focus on Saudi Arabia

Grey Group Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has won JTI’s account, to develop its brand management and communication in GCC with a focus on Saudi Arabia. With this win, Grey’s Beirut team has enlarged its portfolio in the tobacco industry, as it already holds the account of Nakhla Tobacco Company. The team will oversee […]

Industry
April 09, 2018 YouTube is now charging even for ads that are skipped

YouTube is launching a new skippable offering, called TrueView for Reach, that prioritizes reaching large audiences over completed views of a commercial. YouTube’s new ad product will cost advertisers even if the viewer presses skip. Kind of like TV. It is a variation of YouTube’s five-second skippable ads, and is designed for brands that are […]

Industry
April 09, 2018 FP7 Dubai wins major real estate client

FP7 Dubai has won the Dubai Properties account and will launch “multifaceted creative campaigns,” according to a statement. The relationship took effect in December which saw the launch of the 1/-JBR campaign. Now, FP7 Dubai has also been awarded Dubai Properties’ social media business social media business following an extensive pitch process over the past […]

Industry
April 09, 2018 Irwin Gotlieb on rebundling, industry mistrust and what he won’t do in retirement

Image credit: Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg Irwin Gotlieb hasn’t taken two consecutive weeks off in the last 48 years. That’s about to change. The GroupM chairman retired from his role just a few days ago and will now serve as an advisor to WPP. He tells Ad Age he’s committed to WPP CEO Martin Sorrell for at […]

Industry
April 08, 2018 Netizency signs on new real estate client

(L to R: Walid Sanjad, social media manager at Netizency; Vanessa Karlsson, digital and PR manager at Imkan; Tamara Habib, business director at Netizency; Michael Maksoudian, managing partner at Netizency; and Carine Neill, head of marketing at Imkan) Netizency has been appointed to manage social media for Imkan, an Abu-Dhabi based real estate developer with research […]

Industry
April 08, 2018 This tech brand is the latest to launch its e-commerce website

E-commerce is a burgeoning industry with AT Kearney expecting e-commerce in the UAE to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent per year up to 2020, while Frost and Sullivan estimate that the market could be worth up to $10 billion by 2018. In fact, according to Global WebIndex (GWI) 56 percent […]

Industry
April 07, 2018 Revealed: Is Facebook reading your messages?

Facebook has been in hot water over data privacy concerns over the last few weeks. And now, it seems as though Facebook is indeed reading – or at least, scanning – users’ messages. Basically, the company scans the text and images that people send each other on Facebook Messenger, making sure it all abides by […]

Industry
April 06, 2018 Martin Sorrell is being investigated. Here’s why.

WPP has confirmed that its board is investigating its CEO, Martin Sorrell, in response to undisclosed alleged “personal misconduct.” “The Board of WPP has appointed independent counsel to conduct an investigation in response to an allegation of personal misconduct against Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer of WPP,” the world’s largest agency holding company said […]

Industry
April 05, 2018 Du appoints new creative agency after 12 years with Leo Burnett

UAE telco du has been conducting its agency review since last year. The media agency review concluded at the end of last year with Omnicom’s Hearts & Science winning the pitch. The account was previously held by Publicis Media’s Starcom, which won the account in 2014. Now, industry sources report, the account is no longer […]

People
April 05, 2018 Saudi daily Arab News unveils new identity

Arab News editor-in-chief Faisal J. Abbas presents the award to veteran Saudi journalist Khaled Almaeena, former editor of Arab News Saudi English-language daily, Arab News, unveiled its new identity at the Arab Media Forum in Dubai last night. With a “2020 vision”, a new look and feel and a new tagline, “The Voice of a […]

Industry
April 04, 2018 It’s been 4 months and YouTube hasn’t stopped its 30-sec unskippable ads

YouTube is still showing 30-sec unskippable ads YouTube viewers have to sit through 30-second ads on videos from the site’s biggest partners despite the ban on the long-form commercials. YouTube video clips in shows from NBCUniversal, Viacom, Turner and other networks still run some 30-second pre-roll ads, even though the Google-owned site said it would […]

Industry
April 04, 2018 9 questions with Ramsey Naja, chief creative officer, J. Walter Thompson MENA

  What do you love about this industry? The variety. The fact that I learn something new, about mainstream or obscure industries and companies, every day. 2. What do you hate about this industry? The fact that it is buying the stupid, ignorant and preposterous message that it is dying. 3. If you could be […]

Industry
April 03, 2018 The new pitch process: shorter, faster, better

When Domino’s went looking for a new Hispanic agency, its executives demanded certain agency employees be present at pitch meetings – and not just the top dogs. “We said multiple times, ‘I don’t care how junior they are. If they’re working on my business, I want to meet them,’” says Karen Kaiser, vice-president of national […]

Industry
April 03, 2018 How much are marketers still spending on Facebook?

Though marketers such as Mozilla and Pep Boys have said they’re pulling spending on Facebook ads at least for now, advertisers across the board are more likely to keep buying there. They’re giving the social network the benefit of the doubt, calculating that its problems won’t taint them or both. “We at Clorox stand by […]

Industry
March 31, 2018 Serviceplan Group ME appointed on trio of XDubai projects

Serviceplan will provide full communications services for three XDubai projects: XPark JR, a 3,100m squared park located at Kite Beach XLine Dubai Marina, a zipline attraction running from Amwaj Towers to Dubai Marina Mall. XYoga, a year-long initiative encouraging the local population to participate in a series of Yoga sessions across Dubai The agency has […]

People
March 30, 2018 Ali Nehme to head Publicis Media’s global commerce capability

Publicis Media is launching “Commerce” as a Publicis Media global practice dedicated to commerce strategy, media and marketplace investment, as well as content and merchandising. Ali Nehme will serve as Global Practice Lead, Commerce, Publicis Media, and report into Digitas Global Brand President Michael Kahn, who will also serve as executive sponsor of the Commerce […]

Industry
March 29, 2018 Meraas has appointed a digital and media agency

Meraas has tapped independent agency Digital Willow, which is expanding its footprint in the Middle East with this win. “We are confident that our partnership will be a fruitful one, with our efforts to date being focused on two parts of the Meraas Leisure and Entertainment division: DXB Venues and Hub Zero,” says the agency in […]

Industry
March 27, 2018 This social media platform has added a new location-based targeting feature

As users spend more time on their mobile devices, being able to target them on-the-go is of increasing importance to advertisers. And now, Snapchat is starting to offer a new location-based targeting feature. Of course, Snapchat is no stranger to geo-data. Its Geofilter feature is hugely popular with 187 million users and so is Snap […]

Industry
March 25, 2018 Data privacy is not the only reason people are leaving Facebook

Brad Stulberg gets constant messages from Facebook to come back. It asks him to check in and see what he’s been missing since he stopped visiting in January. “Facebook texts me five days a week,” says Stulberg, 31, a writer from Oakland, California. “I get emails from them daily. It’s supremely annoying.” Stulberg is trying to […]

Industry
March 25, 2018 Tesla, SpaceX erase Facebook pages As Elon Musk joins #DeleteFacebook crusade

Elon Musk is hopping on the #DeleteFacebook digital bandwagon. The CEO of Tesla Inc. and Space Exploration Technologies tweeted Friday that he wasn’t aware there was a Facebook page for his rocket company. After being asked by a Twitter user to delete it, he responded, “will do”. Musk wrote back to another user who shared […]

Industry
March 25, 2018 Centrepoint partners with Anghami

Fashion retailer, Centrepoint, has joined forces with music streaming platform Anghami, in the Middle East, for a new season of “Anghami Sessions”. The collaboration will see the retailer supporting the concept, with the aim of nurturing musical talent from the region. The partnership has been facilitated by media planning agency, Wavemaker Global and will feature […]

Industry
March 23, 2018 Facebook’s Carolyn Everson goes on the defensive

Carolyn Everson, vice-president of global marketing solutions at Facebook, says she actually started her fix-it tour (our words) days before CEO Mark Zuckerberg ventured out to speak on the Cambridge Analytica affair. She called the company’s top advertisers on Saturday, the day after the company first acknowledged the harvesting of data from some 50 million Facebook users […]

Industry
March 21, 2018 Is it too late for Facebook to start auditing developers?

Image credit: Guillermo Gutierrez/Bloomberg Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally broke his silence about the abuse of data on the platform by Cambridge Analytica, promising to redouble efforts to safeguard user privacy after the exposure of the massive data breach. Since Friday, Facebook has been on the defensive over reports that Cambridge Analytica improperly obtained data […]

Industry
March 19, 2018 YouTube launches MENA’s first YouTube Space at Dubai Studio City

YouTube announced on Sunday the opening of the Middle East and North Africa’s first YouTube Space at Dubai Studio City, a facility dedicated to supporting the growing creator community in the MENA region by giving it access to a state of the art production space. The Dubai space marks the 10th such destination in the […]

Industry
March 17, 2018 Facebook suspends Cambridge Analytica finally. But why?

Image credit: Christophe Morin, Bloomberg Facebook has suspended Cambridge Analytica, a data company that helped President Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election and which may have collected data from 50 million Facebook profiles without their owners’ permission. The social-networking company said in a blog post Friday that Cambridge Analytica received some user data through […]

Industry
March 11, 2018 Twitter tests integration with outside buying platforms

Credit: Illustration by Mary Ellen Forte Twitter wants to be the easiest place for brands and agencies to buy ads in social media. According to advertisers who have been briefed about its plan, Twitter is seeking to embrace programmatic ad technology in a way that its more-closed rivals have avoided, by building pipes to connect […]

Industry
March 07, 2018 UAE marketing agency Acorn to expand to Australia

(R: Kate Midttun, Founder and MD of Acorn Strategy, and L: Annabel Amann, GM and head of marketing & communications) Acorn Strategy (Acorn), a homegrown, award-winning marketing and communications agency, announced today its global expansion into the Australian market with its first office opening in the city of Perth. Acorn currently has offices in Abu […]

Industry
March 05, 2018 Why are brands & publishers panicked even after Facebook has ended its alternate Newsfeed experiment?

In October 2017, Facebook announced that it is testing an “Explore Feed” for brands based on feedback that users would like to see more of family and friends. The test was carried out in six countries: Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala, and Cambodia. At the time, Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s head of news feed, said […]

Industry
March 05, 2018 Integrated Holistic Communications (IHC) announces new MD

Independent integrated communications agency, iHC, has appointed Alexandra Williams as managing director of its Dubai office. This move will see ex-MD Ian Hainey moving to the role of CEO. Williams has been with the agency since 2016 when she joined as an associate director. Prior to this, she has worked at Grayling and Edelman DABO. […]

Industry
March 05, 2018 WPP’s stocks saw the worst plunge in almost two decades. Then, why are experts saying ‘Don’t Panic’?

When the world’s largest holding company posts its biggest stock decline in almost two decades and predicts no growth for 2018, there will inevitably be questions over whether the holding company model is irreparably broken. It isn’t. On Thursday’s earnings call, WPP CEO Martin Sorrell said 2017 was “not a pretty year” for the company […]

Industry
March 04, 2018 This skin care company has renewed its contract with OMD

Following a competitive review involving digital and creative agencies, Beiersdorf (BDF) has reappointed OMD to manage its creative and digital assets. The new three-year contract is the latest development in a successful relationship that was established over 10 years ago with the skincare company. The agency started handling the client’s traditional media planning and buying […]

Industry
March 04, 2018 Is “attention” the new language for TV advertising?

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 […]

Industry
March 04, 2018 P&G sees better attitude among big digital players. Then why is it still cutting spends?

Big digital players have done much since he issued a challenge for them to get third-party audience verification, eliminate fraud and ensure brand safety a year ago, but Procter & Gamble Co. still has cut spending on them by 20 to 50 percent, chief brand officer Marc Pritchard said in a speech to the Association of National […]

Industry
March 03, 2018 4 things we learned at Mobile World Congress (MWC)

If there was a single conclusion to be drawn from Mobile World Congress – the wireless mobile industry’s largest annual event that was held in Barcelona last week – it’s that the smartphone makers, carriers and networks in attendance have roughly 5,000 reasons to be excited about 5G, or fifth-generation wireless system technology. “It’s really […]

Industry
March 02, 2018 Starcom Egypt wins Etisalat Misr account

Following an extensive pitch process with a heavy focus on both planning and buying capabilities that was carried out over the duration of a year, Starcom Egypt has been appointed to handle the Etisalat Misr account. The pitch involved Starcom and four of Egypt’s top agencies. The incumbent agency represented Etisalat Misr for over 11 […]

Industry
March 01, 2018 May we have your attention, please?

By James Russo, senior vice-president of client strategy & development, Turner Ignite Attention is “the act or state of applying the mind to something” and “a condition of readiness involving especially a selective narrowing or focusing of consciousness and receptivity,” according to dictionary definitions. Attention, then, is not merely seeing or viewing something. It is […]

Industry
February 28, 2018 What exactly is ‘purpose-driven marketing‘ and how Facebook is practising it

Image Credit: The Ad Council The Ad Council’s Lisa Sherman discusses pro-social initiatives with Facebook’s David Fischer in this first interview in a new series, “The Purpose of Purpose”. Lisa Sherman: There is a growing public expectation for private sector businesses to do their part in addressing social issues. How do you see this expectation playing […]

Industry
February 28, 2018 From tractors to BMWs, IoT goes mobile

One can’t talk about mobile technology without, well, mobility. And as it happens, mobility was a big theme on the first day of Mobile World Congress, the mobile industry’s biggest event, held annually in Barcelona, Spain. Mike Troiano, VP of IoT at AT&T (and, yes, that is a lot of letters) breaks down where mobile […]

Industry
February 26, 2018 If client servicing were digitized, would you be dealing with a robot? Well, not exactly

When it comes to client servicing, it’s time to digitize to optimize, says Tony Sarkis, media manager, UM MENA Digitization has transformed from a future or a trend, into an actual reality in current times, as evidenced in its presence within multiple sectors of our business ecosystem. To quote Jack Welsh, former CEO of GE, […]

Industry
February 25, 2018 What readers can expect from Aletihad’s partnership with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)

Abu Dhabi Media’s Aletihad newspaper has entered into a commercial partnership with The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). This partnership will enable Aletihad to leverage WSJ’s reporting and analysis to expand its readership and strengthen its digital news offering. The agreement that took place last week was was attended by Dr Ali bin Tamim, Director General […]

Industry
February 25, 2018 P&G and Unilever are cutting agency fees again. How much is it this time?

If you thought P&G had cut all it could from agency and production fees, think again. Chairman-CEO David Taylor said in an investor presentation that the company plans to reduce such spending by $400 million through the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021. That comes after a combined $750 million in such savings over the […]

Industry
February 25, 2018 After Kylie Jenner, is Maybelline also planning to leave Snapchat?

It’s not Snapchat’s week. First, Kylie Jenner said she doesn’t open the app anymore, and then a big consumer brand polled its followers to find out whether Snapchat is actually worth its while. On Thursday afternoon, L’Oreal cosmetics brand Maybelline New York said via Twitter that its “Snapchat views have dropped dramatically” and asked followers if Snapchat is […]

Industry
February 24, 2018 Is Kylie Jenner the reason behind Snapchat losing $1.3 billion?

Snap Inc.’s flagship platform has lost some luster, at least according to one social-media influencer in the Kardashian-Jenner clan. The Snapchat parent’s shares sank as much as 7.2 percent on Thursday, wiping out $1.3 billion in market value, on the heels of a tweet from Kylie Jenner, who said she doesn’t open the app anymore. […]

Culture
February 23, 2018 Who should lead change according to 70% of UAE residents? No, it’s not the government

A new study by communications and PR agency Edelman called the “Trust Barometer” has brought to light some interesting findings on trust in the government and media. The report finds that after China, the UAE is the world’s second most trusting country in government. Credibility towards a government official or regulator increased 11 points among the informed […]

Industry
February 23, 2018 Why Kuwait-based Caviar is amping up its Middle East expansion

L: Haitham Al-Hajji, Founder and R: Marwan Saab, MD and ECD at Caviar Kuwait-based advertising agency, Caviar, has confirmed that it is to open offices in the UAE and KSA as part of aggressive expansion plans for the Gulf and wider Middle East. Founded in Kuwait in 1999 by Haitham Al-Hajji, Caviar’s client roster includes brands […]

Industry
February 22, 2018 The 3+1 pillars of content marketing

By Alex Ionides, managing director of Silx This article focuses on what I call the ‘3+1’ pillars of content marketing, which we use for our client strategy and content framework. This kind of architecture enables us to see how every element fits in and contributes to the success of the whole campaign. Many people are […]

Industry
February 22, 2018 Aeroplane tragedies – the ultimate crisis communications challenge

By Victoria Cross, head of business resilience at Instinctif Partners on managing crisis communications  Managing any crisis is demanding, but of all the crises one of the most difficult to handle in communications terms must be when an aircraft crashes. Two starkly contrasting examples of how to handle, and how not to handle crisis communications […]

Industry
February 21, 2018 Savola Foods extends partnership with OMD

Following a statutory review of its offline media arrangements, Savola Foods has concluded its recent pitch with the appointment of OMD Egypt. The agency was already in charge of the FMCG manufacturer’s digital assignment and will now manage its full media brief for Egypt. The pitch, which took place last December, included the incumbent of […]

Industry
February 20, 2018 Garfield comes to Dubai in the form of a food-ordering mobile app

Bringing together ‘entertainment’ and ‘engagement’ – and food – co-founders Nathen Mazri and Pascal Haider have launched a restaurant dedicated to Garfield. Called “GarfieldEATS”, the restaurant lives inside a mobile screen in the form of a gamified food-ordering app. ALSO READ: How Amazon and Souq have improved their reputation “Fast food brands must now shift […]

Industry
February 19, 2018 Should advertising take responsibility for our health?

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 […]

Industry
February 19, 2018 Which platform is taking Facebook’s Gen Z audience?

Facebook is not just losing its audience, it’s losing its youth. The social network is expected to shed 18-to-24-year-old users this year for the first time, according to a new report from eMarketer, which predicts a 5.6 decline for the age group on Facebook. The analytics and data firm had already predicted a decline in usage of kids […]

Industry
February 18, 2018 Zia Creative wins Jaguar and Land Rover social media accounts

Dubai-based advertising agency Zia Creative Network has won Al Tayer Motors social media account for its luxury car brands, Land Rover and Jaguar. From content ideation to photography, video conceptualization, direction and post-production, the agency will be responsible for enhancing the brand’s image in the UAE across all social media channels. “With car shoppers turning […]

Industry
February 18, 2018 What’s it like to be a woman CEO in MENA? We ask Grayling’s Loretta Ahmed

This interview is a part of Hopscotch’s series The Leader Board, a regular feature, which highlights the champions leading the way to gender balance in our region’s workplaces. This month, it’s the turn of Grayling, a multinational global communications agency founded in 1981 with boots on the ground in 53 offices and over 1000 staff […]

Industry
February 17, 2018 Facebook Marketplace is coming to MENA in these 3 countries

Facebook has announced the launch of its Marketplace feature in Egypt, Algeria and Morocco, enabling people to use the platform to discover, buy and sell items. Available in Arabic on mobile and desktop, the feature is expected to be rolled out to iOS and Android users over the next few weeks to users in these […]

Industry
February 16, 2018 How Twitter and Emaar teamed up to promote Dubai

The biggest success of Emaar’s partnership with Twitter is its New Year’s Eve festivities in Dubai for the second consecutive year, which enabled live streaming the event to users around the world. The live stream was also accompanied by a Twitter timeline, featuring the New Year’s Eve related real-time conversation. The stream was available globally […]

Industry
February 15, 2018 REVEALED: Google data fuels industry effort to block ‘annoying’ ads

Google has confirmed to Ad Age that an industry trade body tasked with deciding which “annoying” ad formats web browsers should block largely used its data and research methodology to do so. The trade body, known as the Coalition for Better Ads, last year publicly presented the material in full with Google and 18 company […]

Industry
February 15, 2018 Visual media: the unstoppable revolution in the advertising world

By Waseem Yakdi, CEO, Zia Creative Visuals are worth a thousand words, and marketers are losing no time in realizing this. Show, don’t tell. The advertising world is taking a colossal leap in altering the cliché methods of brand promotion. Not very long ago was written content considered as one of the most robust formulae […]

Industry
February 14, 2018 Publicis Groupe creates new agency for auto client

Mercedes-Benz has hired Publicis Groupe as its global agency network for creative and digital transformation, following a six-month review. The assignment will span around 40 markets worldwide, but will exclude the US, Germany and China, which are handled by Merkley & Partners, Antoni and BBDO, respectively. Publicis Groupe will work closely with these other agency partners. The […]

Industry
February 14, 2018 What brands can gain from Snapchat opening up its API to all

Over the past year we have been undergoing a major push towards a programmatic business, says Snap. As Evan Spiegel said in the first annual earnings call last week: “Our advertising business changed profoundly over the past year as we migrated the sale of our Snap Ads to an automated auction. Over 90 percent of […]

Industry
February 13, 2018 Dubai Police launches new brand identity with Zia Creative

Dubai Police is launching a revamped brand identity based on the key values of innovation, security, and connection H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, gave the go-ahead for the new brand identity of Dubai Police due to the need to continue to […]

Industry
February 12, 2018 MCG& founder Justin McGuire to lead APAC expansion

Justin McGuire founded MCG& Group in 2010 as a talent consultancy. Today, the MCG& Group consists of four companies in four countries: MCG&Co, which is a specialist recruitment business in the communications, digital and tech sectors globally; Kemistry, which focuses on HR, finance and operations; Hopscotch, a women’s career platform, and the newly launched Ampersand, which […]

Industry
February 12, 2018 What Geometry’s global rebrand indicates

Launched in 2013, Geometry Global is a brand experience agency operating in 56 markets worldwide including Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, KSA and Egypt. Since its launch five years ago, the agency has now unveiled a new brand reflecting the changes in the industry – and the agency – over the years and its focus on omnichannel. […]

Industry
February 09, 2018 Babyshop has a new agency for creative marketing

Landmark Group’s kids’ retail store Babyshop has appointed FP7/MENA Dubai for its creative marketing duties for the Middle East. The decision comes after a pitch including incumbent Memac Ogilvy, J.Walter Thompson and Y&R, report industry sources. The agency will work with Babyshop across all verticals on its creative strategy and planning on digital, TV, print, OOH, […]

Industry
February 08, 2018 This is Audi Middle East’s lead creative agency

UAE-based independent agency Tonic International has been reappointed as Audi Middle East’s lead creative agency. The agency is responsible for Audi’s strategic positioning and campaigns in the region while supporting its sales and drive growth. The agency has been working with Audi Middle East for the past seven years. The reappointment will see an increased […]

Industry
February 08, 2018 Arab News launches Pakistan edition

Saudi-based English-language daily Arab News, is now launching its Pakistan edition, as part of the newspaper’s ongoing global and digital expansion. The service — available in English at www.arabnews.pk — covers news and views from Pakistan and the wider region, with a focus on Islamabad’s ties with Saudi Arabia and the Arab world. It is […]

Industry
February 06, 2018 What’s causing Snap’s shares to soar?

Image credit: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Snap shares soared by about 20 percent today on the strength of its unexpectedly upbeat quarterly report. Snapchat said it added 9 million daily users in the fourth quarter, its largest growth spurt since going public last year. The company reported fourth-quarter results as Wall Street was looking for signs of life […]

Industry
February 04, 2018 This luxury giant is changing e-commerce in the region

Chalhoub Group, which partners with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior Couture, Fendi, Louboutin, Berlutti, Saks Fifth Avenue, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, and Michael Kors, is set to take its digital transformation to the next level through e-commerce. Some of its brands such as Level Shoes, Wojooh, Tryano and L’Occitane are already e-commerce friendly. However, the […]

Industry
February 04, 2018 Wix.com gets Super Bowl offer it can’t refuse

(Image credit: Wix.com. Super Bowl 2017 ad.) Wix.com chief marketing officer Omer Shai woke up on the morning of February 1 to a surprising message from the company’s media buying agency: NBC had presented a “great offer” to buy a spot in the Super Bowl, according to Shai. It was just before 6am in Israel, where […]

Industry
February 02, 2018 What are liquid skins & who is bringing it to the Middle East?

Appetite Creative ‘Soul-utions’, a UK-based creative and digital advertising agency, has partnered with Dubai-based programmatic company MENA MarketPlace (MMP) to bring high impact units that can be traded programmatically. The partnership will see the launch of the ‘Liquid Skins,’ an ad format created by Appetite Creative that runs on all screen types across a range […]

Industry
February 01, 2018 INSIGHT: How advertising is empowering women

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 […]

Industry
January 31, 2018 Put your money where the data is!

By Danielle Jamal, communication director, Leo Burnett It’s been three years since I landed in the UAE and the same question still comes to mind: DMPs, dynamic banners, A|B, multi-variant, and programmatic, are all buzz words being discussed among agency and brand peers; however, are brands in the MENA region really using these capabilities to […]

Industry
January 31, 2018 Whitepaper: State of Search in the MENA airlines Industry

By Naguib Toihiri, head of marketing, RBBi  In recent years, traveler behavior has shifted dramatically with the Internet, especially when it comes to booking a trip. The digital space is now considered by many to be the main arena where airlines, online travel agencies, travel bloggers and airline review sites compete with one another for […]

Industry
January 30, 2018 Ampersand partners with IPA to provide industry training

Global marketing and talent consultancy Ampersand, which launched late last year, has partnered with London-based IPA to offer the “world’s best” advertising and marketing training across the MENA region, says the company in a statement. Ampersand was founded by Nick Clements and Justin McGuire, COO and CEO respectively, of the parent company MCG& Group. The […]

Industry
January 29, 2018 Jotun Powder Coatings appoints Netizency as global B2B social media agency

Dubai-based digital marketing agency Netizency has won Jotun Powder Coatings’ global B2B social media business. The agency will be responsible for developing content and analytics for the brand’s global Linkedin page. “Our business is mainly B2B-driven, and over the past few months, we have worked closely with both Netizency and Linkedin to truly understand how […]

Industry
January 25, 2018 What mobile movement data says about consumer behavior

By Puja Pannum, managing director, Blis MENA Retail marketing teams have learned that the more they know about their consumers the better they can tailor marketing strategies to their needs and secure their long-term loyalty. They’ve invested considerable resources into gaining insight into their shoppers, and have the necessary tools at their disposal to do […]

Industry
January 24, 2018 C&B retains Dubai Judicial Institute

Cicero & Bernay Public Relations (C&B) has retained Dubai Judicial Institute (DJI) as a client, and will be continuing to provide the entity with a comprehensive campaign that delivers strategic direction, thought leadership and media relations to fulfil its sector specific communication requirements. Dubai Judicial Institute – the entity that provides legal and judicial training […]

Industry
January 23, 2018 Emirates NBD now has three agencies handling its account

Emirates NBD has retained its creative agency of seven years, FP7 while adding Leo Burnett Dubai to the roster. FP7 will manage creatives and communications across all business units, while Leo Burnett will take care of the evolving brand needs, in addition to strategic sponsorships and CSR communications. The bank has also appointed Publicis Media’s Spark […]

Industry
January 18, 2018 Is digital the only way to connect with MENA consumers?

Global market research company YouGov believes that the only way to create an effective dialogue with consumers in the MENA region is through digital. As its mobile survey participation climbs to 61 percent in the Arab world, YouGov is making its research operations in the MENA purely digital. The company says that this decision falls […]

Industry
January 18, 2018 Sojern’s latest acquisition to increase Facebook adoption for travel

Sojern, a global demand engine for reaching travelers, has acquired Facebook & Instagram Marketing Partner (FMP) Adphorus, one of the leading FMPs specializing in custom advertising solutions for travel brands. According to Sojern CEO Mark Rabe, interest in Facebook marketing solutions has grown dramatically as the global travel sector continues expanding and marketers look for […]

Industry
January 16, 2018 Leaderships lessons from Justin McGuire

Right now, I’m sat in Sri Lanka at the end of a wonderful family holiday, reflecting on 2017 both professionally and personally and full to the brim with excitement on what 2018 will bring. I’ve run businesses for seven and a half years now and have seen some of them grow from my bedroom (literally) […]

Industry
January 11, 2018 The MediaVantage to represent Qunar.com in the Middle East

UAE-based media sales representative company The MediaVantage has been awarded the exclusive contract to represent Qunar.com, a search engine in the outbound Chinese travel space. This partnership enables The MediaVantage to sell advertising and commercial opportunities to clients and media agencies in the Middle East territory. The contract, awarded after a competitive pitch, includes representation […]

People
January 07, 2018 CEO Simon Hudson steps down as Brndstr goes global

After four years of leading Dubai-based creative tech firm Brndstr, founder Simon Hudson, has stepped down from his role as CEO. Having supported over 200 brands across eight countries and generating close to $5 million in revenue, Hudson is making way for a new executive team to help take the company from tech startup to international […]

Industry
January 03, 2018 Omnichannel personalization: why and how to get it right

By Stephane Paraiso, managing director of Azur Digital Long before the Internet and mobile phones, consumers have been accustomed to personalized relationships in their favorite stores where salespeople who knew their habits and preferences well would guide them accordingly. Consumers are nowadays connected and brands have become global. They expect personalized relationships with their favorite […]

Industry
January 03, 2018 How Gameloft is helping advertisers

5 mins with Yann Fourneau, vice-president of sales & marketing SEMEA, Russia & LATAM People usually know Gameloft only for creating mobile games. What can you do in terms of advertising? What are the different formats? Gameloft has actually been ranked world’s number 1 mobile game developer in downloads by App Annie for the second year […]

Industry
January 03, 2018 What is going on with telcos and data?

By TJ Lightwala, head of Future Adaptive Specialist Team (FAST) and Performance, Mindshare MENA Telco data provides user level, location data married with contextual or interest data. Hence, it is now highly possible to target a GITEX participant, at a certain location, at the time the event is taking place with the desired ad of […]

Industry
January 03, 2018 Dynamic creative optimization and programmatic

TJ Lightwala, head of Future Adaptive Specialist Team (FAST) and Performance, Mindshare MENA, lists the keys steps to take on the set-up of Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) with programmatic Streamline the workflow with your creative agency and production agency in terms of who’s going to own each stage of the process. It’s about overall efficiencies […]

Industry
January 03, 2018 What does innovation really mean?

TJ Lightwala, head of Future Adaptive Specialist Team (FAST) and Performance, Mindshare MENA, spells out the real meaning of innovation in today’s media landscape Innovation is often referred to in the context of cool, new pieces of technology which, in some way, shape or form utility and overall value, which ought to help both, demand […]

Industry
December 14, 2017 Enough with the jargon! says Hussein Dajani

By Hussein Dajani, general manager – digital marketing, AMI region (Africa, Middle East, and India), Nissan Motor Corporation So many new lingos out there, but do people really care? People don’t consume media in silo; they’re interacting with brands across multiple touch points and platforms, each on their own path to purchase. They don’t know […]

Industry
December 14, 2017 The citizen entrepreneur: a new face of the world economy

By Dr. Nicolas Narcisse, co-president of Thinkers & Doers Setting businesses in motion In today’s world, very few haven’t noticed that businesses in all fields are now facing a new challenge – the meaning challenge. Companies are indeed heckled by a widespread mistrust in the capitalist system, in consumption, globalization, marketing, media, etc. They find themselves […]

Industry
December 13, 2017 Kwanko launches in Dubai

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Paris, Kwanko is an online performance advertising company with offices in more than ten countries including Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Poland, United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and now in the UAE. Who? Kwanko started off as a French family-run startup in 2003. In 2004, it set up […]

Industry
December 13, 2017 Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto: How AI is transforming the PR industry

By Debjani Mukherjee, Consultant, FTI Consulting Gulf What do you think of when someone says Artificial Intelligence (AI)? For most people in the PR industry, it might inspire fear. Machine learning and AI automatically make us think that the logical reasoning and analysis function of our work can be taken away in an instant, and […]

Industry
December 05, 2017 INTEGR8 wins first account

Dubai-based creative communications agency, INTEGR8 has been appointed by LACASA Holdings to launch its upcoming Palestine-based shopping mall. Plans for the mall were first unveiled in September 2017, set to be the country’s largest shopping destination to date featuring over 200 retail, F&B, and entertainment units. INTEGR8 will handle all the branding, social media, and […]

Industry
December 04, 2017 Twitter introduces in-stream video ads in MENA

With 2.15 billion digital video viewers, representing 29 percent of the global population, in 2017, it’s no surprise that advertisers – and publishers – are turning their attention to video offerings. Now, advertisers in the MENA region can run in-stream video ads on the platform. Twitter’s suite of video ad products consists of: Promoted video […]

Industry
December 04, 2017 The Lego Group appoints Initiative as global media agency

IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative has been awarded global media duties for the LEGO Group following a competitive pitch process. Earlier this year, Initiative reinvented its product offering and positioning to find alternatives for clients increasingly struggling with advertising avoidance and shifts in consumer behavior. The agency now aims to lead clients through changes in the industry […]

Industry
November 22, 2017 Leo Burnett wins Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority account

Leo Burnett Dubai has acquired a new client, Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority after initial pitching rounds. The Publicis Groupe ‘Power of One’ approach was favoured by the authority because of its creative and strategic output that played an integral part in the final agency selection for its new campaign, says the agency in […]

Industry
November 19, 2017 ALISA PR launches new website

Following its recent opening, ALISA PR has launched a new website at www.alisapr.com. As part of its brand identity growth, the new site is designed to reflect its core values of truth, trust and transparency shared across relationships with media and clients as professional public relations practitioners. Alisa D’souza, Owner at ALISA PR says in […]

Industry
November 16, 2017 DWTC and Huawei extend relations with PHD

Two PHD MENA clients have extended their relationship with the media planning network after recently concluded competitive reviews. Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has renewed its contract after three years with the agency while Huawei has added Lebanon to PHD’s remit, which already includes the UAE. “Winning new business is always very rewarding but there […]

Industry
November 08, 2017 Twitter officially launches 280-character limit

In September, Twitter launched a test that expanded the 140-character limit to 280 characters. The test was met with mixed reactions – mostly negative, with many users expressing the need for an ‘edit’ option instead. Twitter has now gone ahead a