Search Results for : Mark

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

Interested in the fast-growing gaming community in the region? Communicate spoke with Mathew Pickering, Managing Director at gaming and esports communications agency Power League Gaming, to break it down for you. What does PLG do, exactly? Power League Gaming connects brands with Arabic gaming and esports audiences, primarily across MENA, of which 30% of the […]

A little more than a year ago, Majid Al Futtaim unveiled Share, its app-based lifestyle rewards program. A few months later, Covid-19 struck. Communicate sat with Kashmira Motiwalla, Head of the Share loyalty program at Majid Al Futtaim, to discuss what that meant for the newly-launched initiative. What impact did the pandemic and the lockdowns […]

Award-winning integrated creative network Ogilvy has released a new study titled “The Wellness Gap.” The study quantifies the gap between consumers’ wellness expectations of brands and how they judge delivery against those expectations in seven key sectors: food, snacks, skincare, airlines, hotels, cars, and banking. The study surveyed 7,000 consumers from 14 countries across four continents […]

Zeina Estwany Barakat, CCO ME & Partner at Product of the Year, on how innovation can be sparked by chaos. Businesses simply cannot operate as they used to. What made an organization successful in the past will no longer be possible after the Covid-19 crisis. Considering where we stand today, a quote by Albert Einstein […]

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

Khaled AlShehhi, Executive Director of Marketing & Communication at the Public Diplomacy Office in the UAE Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, tells Communicate how he got into marketing, what his work means to him, and how he sees the role of government communications. What is your background and when did you start in […]

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 […]

Market research company Global Web Index (GWI) has shared a new guide that provides insights into the essential changes in consumer behaviors and attitudes and the steps brands can apply to attract their attention in the post-lockdown world. But first, let’s lay the groundwork- the majority of the countries went into lockdown since mid-March. Since […]

Deepa Vaidyanathan, Head of Communications – IMEA at Procter and Gamble, explains why brands should care about being purpose-driven, and how to do that the right way. How would you define a purpose-driven brand? At P&G, we believe in being a force for good and a force for growth. As a company, we want to […]

Since it first unveiled its sonic identity in February 2019, Mastercard has been at the forefront of sonic branding. In an exclusive interview, global CMO Raja Rajamannar tells Communicate about the ins and outs of this strategy. What is a sonic brand, in your definition? A brand is nothing but an embodiment of the values, […]

Adnan Bashir, Senior Manager for Corporate Communications at Hansen Technologies, explains what you could maybe do better, or differently, in order to get your boss to listen and adopt your ideas. Ever since I made the fateful decision to switch careers and jump head-first into the unpredictable, yet exciting, world of corporate communications half a […]

Elias Karam, Strategic Planner at Publicis Middle East, explains why you should tap into lighthearted communications in times of crisis, and how to avoid blunders doing it. One of the quotes I found to ring most true in times like these is by Benjamin Franklin: “While we may not be able to control all that […]

Abdulrahman Inayat, Co-Founder of W7Worldwide, explains how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the communications industry in KSA and how his agency is helping businesses. The global outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on economies around the world. Saudi Arabia was no exception, especially during the first stages of the crisis when […]

Marwa Kaabour, Head of Marketing & Corporate Communication at Al Masaood Group, explains how an effective communication strategy brought the Al Masaood family closer during the pandemic. While some service organizations had the luxury of teleporting their service to a remote-work structure, others, industrial and automotive in nature, had to stay at the physical forefront […]

Katie Streten, Experiential Strategy Director at Geometry MENA, explains how experiential is an opportunity for greater connection. The current situation has CMOs in a bind. They are fully aware of the need to engage consumers and customers across multiple channels, and they are also aware of the benefits brought by those different channels. In other […]

Talkwalker, a global social listening and analytics company reveals the list of most loved brands globally as well as in the region. With the world economy experiencing a downturn, brand love can really help a brand grow and connect with the audience emotionally during this difficult time. Using Talkwalker’s enterprise social listening platform, the company […]

Digital advertising solutions provider Connect Ads is involved in both media representation and programmatic trading. Equipped with this broad perspective, George Skaff, Sales Director (Right), and Mohamad Jadayel, VP of Technical Operations (Left), explain how the region’s programmatic market is evolving.   What is the size of the programmatic market globally and in the region? […]

How Covid-19 is changing the business and the industry at large, according to FP7 MENA’s Chief Executive Officer. How is the Covid-19 crisis reshaping the marketing and advertising industry in MENA? The coronavirus has and will continue to restructure our everyday: actions, habits, feelings, need for safety and security, how we connect with others personally and […]

The fourth edition of Communiciate’s Virtual Events Series explores the strategies to consider while marketing a virtual event. With the increase in virtual conferences and webinars, it’s important to consider an effective strategy to stand out from the clutter and help drive awareness and registrations to the event. Read our best practices to set up a […]

Abdulrahman Inayat, Co-Founder and Director of KSA-based independent marketing communications consultancy W7Worldwide, on how to communicate with the community during the holy month.  The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that we are all part of one global community and dependent on each other. This year, the holy month of Ramadan lands amidst efforts across the […]

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, […]

Earlier Communicate covered the pros and cons of creating a virtual event and how it provides an opportunity for brands and organizations, who had events lined up for the year, a chance to showcase not only their planned event but also their resilience, in the face of adversity. For those who are confused about how to […]

Rami Zeidan, Head of Video and Creative at TikTok, explains how the platform has grown well beyond lip-sync and funny videos. What is TikTok today? TikTok is a short-form video platform for people who want to showcase their creative expression. [Initially,] creators wanted to react to certain songs or movie clips; that got us into […]

With the temporary closure of schools, parents are faced with a challenge on how to keep their kids occupied at home, while they manage their own workload. QiDZ, a family-friendly application created by mothers recently launched a sub-product called QiDZ at Home to solve this very challenge. The product offers free indoor activities that can […]

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 […]

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

The Michael Page salary and skills guide provides an overview of market and employment trends, including observations such as job seekers’ sentiments, while also highlighting salary trends per role within each industry. The report listed four key job market trends which were prevalent in the region: The top reasons for people living and working in […]

TikTok may be at the center of many controversies in the West, but it’s making a name for itself in the Middle East thanks to a smart celebrity-driven strategy, explains Hady Hajjar. 

What do you do when you’ve fallen? When you’ve been outnumbered and down on the ground? Do you stay down or do you get back up? Communicate lists the brands that are looking to bring the fight back to the table in 2020. Toys R Us  Earlier this year, the famous toy retailer reincarnated from the […]

“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And good things never die.”, says Andy Dufresne, the protagonist of the cult classic film, The Shawshank Redemption. In a time where turmoil is present almost everywhere, people look for hope to help guide them. These 50 photographs with the hashtag #Hope2019 are an illustration of the power of […]

Social Media has turned into a cultural phenomenon this past decade, with many unique platforms entering the space in hopes to become the most popular one among the lot. While there were many that succeeded, there were others that dropped the hat. Communicate lists the platforms that called it quits. MySpace Once regarded as the most popular […]

Snapchat has launched ‘Swipe up to call’, a new feature exclusive to users in the Middle East, which will make it easier for customers to connect with businesses through the platform. Swipe up to call literally allows customers to make a direct phone call with a business they see advertised on Snapchat – with no […]

The world’s leading data, insights and consulting company recently conducted a study on whether brands across different sectors have met the five performance pillars of customer experience. The sectors which were taken into account included shopping malls, furniture chains, retail banks, e-commerce,  after-sales service for cars, telecom services, and car insurance. The five performance pillars were: […]

WARC, the global marketing intelligence service, released its ninth annual Marketer’s toolkit for 2020. The toolkit is based on a survey of nearly 800 marketers around the world and interviews with 10 leading brand marketers and serves as a guide to help marketers be aware of the near-term trends, which will help them stay ahead in the market. The […]

Edition 1 of the Marketing & Sales Show opened its doors today at the Festival Arena in Dubai. The event gathered professionals from all across the region in one space to discover, discuss and develop ideas. The event is structured around six key streams: Business to Consumer (B2C) Marketing, Business to Business ( B2B) Marketing, Sales Innovation […]

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

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

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

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

Industry experts from various disciplines have joined forces to co-author a report that will define the trends to shape the industry in 2020. To understand this ever-changing landscape we’re currently experiencing; Talkwalker and Hubspot have gathered industry professionals from MENA and abroad to provide, insights, analysis, and actions that will shape the future of marketing […]

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

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

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

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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?   […]

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

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

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

By 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 […]

Muhammad Chbib may not be heading Tajawal as its CEO anymore, but his future plan is still brimming with his innovative ideas anticipated by the industry. He is currently working on a new online travel start-up, that is set to launch in the first half of 2019. The “trip builder” uses a combination of frontend […]

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 […]

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

By  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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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

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

‘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 – […]

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 […]

For the first time, L’Oréal Middle East is participating in the group’s international business game Brandstorm. The game offers an opportunity for students around the world to get creative and apply their ideas to engage with international brands. Brandstorm gathered 45 teams from 58 countries where the teams had to role-play as international marketing director […]

Abdulla Al Gurg In a continuous changing market environment, operational efficiency remains important. However, retailers are leveraging data and new technologies to optimize demand processes, attract and retain more customers, and drive future growth. Understanding consumer behaviour is necessary, albeit challenging, as it not only helps in marketing your products better by increasing their visibility, […]

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

I can recall a time when the most primitive mobile phones were a marvelous addition to our lives, when computers became household products, moving from a binary DOS operating system to the colorful world of Windows and, today, an application-driven environment. Nowadays, most innovations focus on bridging the gap between an individual and the wider world, […]

In July 2015, Aaron Lau, CEO of Cheil Greater China, was tasked with additional duties as the president of international [operations]. He sits down with Communicate to discuss what’s next for Cheil Worldwide and how a company with Korean roots won’t soon forget its past, but has its eyes on a more global presence. How […]

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

On September 18, it was revealed that German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) had been cheating its consumers and regulatory bodies in addition to lying to them. The wake-up call came when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a notice of violation to the company. Turns out that VW cars being sold in the US had […]

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

Facebook knows a lot about where you go online, but it also knows a lot about where you go in the real world. And now it’s going to start sharing some of that information with marketers. Starting in the US, Facebook will provide marketers with more information about the people in the vicinity of their […]

Today, people are talking about the world being engulfed by the digital forum – all communications are part of the digital era. All shouts of communication seem to be of the “digital” kind and the favorite phrase in everyone’s vocabulary is ‘digital marketing’. Why then do we still see print media in the market? Why […]

Data is arguably the hottest commodity in marketing, which makes it a tempting target for bad actors. But it’s not just Eastern European hacking networks that companies have to worry about. Marketers are also increasingly facing questions about how to keep other countries and even competitors out of their data troves. Data breaches in recent […]

Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) in many organizations have become bigger IT spenders than any other business function, including the CIO. This is because the role of the CMO has effectively moved to that of being the ‘chief digital officer’. Customer engagement and lifetime value expansion have become integral in the entire business process, whereas customer […]

Jack Gleeson, famous for playing King Joffrey on Game of Thrones, tried out the new HTC Vive virtual reality (VR) headset when the HTC Vive World Tour stopped in the UAE. He checked out the gear alongside Dave Fennoy of The Walking Dead and Adam Harrington of The Wolf Among Us video games. “Our VR […]

Purpose gives a greater meaning to everything. In any company, explaining why you do what you do can help give your employees, clients and consumers a sense of meaning. Perhaps ironically, we in the marketing services industry are often terrible at ‘selling’ what we do. And it is hurting us. A lot. We’re notoriously better […]

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

Sir David Brailsford had a difficult challenge ahead of him. The year was 2012 and the Olympic Games were on. The team he was coaching, British Team Sky, had not won a single major cycling tournament since 1966. Far from being discouraged, Brailsford approached the task by breaking down every single thing he could think […]

As marketers turn their attention to the youngest generation of consumers — those just on the cusp of hitting adulthood — the ubiquitous millennial headlines are quickly being replaced by “Five Things You Need To Know” about Generation Z, centennials, digital natives, the iGeneration or the latest generational jargon. This generation is so new that […]

Arabian Gulf league and Emirates have recently announced a three year, 25 million AED agreement making the airline the official partner and sponsor of the sports league. The aim of the sponsorship is to provide brand visibility at the Arabian Gulf Super Cup, which began August 15.  Advertising opportunities will be had by Emirates at […]

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

Recently, several Middle Eastern countries – even smaller cities and towns – have been promoting themselves through destination marketing campaigns. Following the Arab Spring revolution, the Middle East’s tourism market took a hard hit and as the influx of tourists started dwindling, governments began to realize the importance of destination marketing to put themselves back […]

National airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways, has announced the appointment of Cheil Network to assume global and social marketing duties. The network’s new responsibilities will include driving creative and strategy across all digital and social channels, in addition to support with performance-based marketing, analytics and reporting. Digital specialists, The Barbarian Group, that work within […]

Headquartered out of South Korea, marketing solutions company Cheil Worldwide has recently made the announcement that Aaron Lau will be president of International. Prior to his appointment, since 2012, Aaron was oversaw duties as president and CEO of Cheil Greater China, a role which he will retain in addition to his new place as President […]

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

The Ipsos 40th anniversary celebration will travel the globe this year, starting with Dubai in April and traveling to other global hubs like Shanghai, New York, Toronto, Istanbul, and ending in the founding city of Paris in October. Communicate has the opportunity to visit with Didier Truchot, one of Ipsos’ founders and global group president, during his […]

British entrepreneur, John Wilford, has launched a new marketing agency, JW International (JWI) to serve the Middle East region. This new business will be based on the same ethos as its sister business in the United Kingdom, Rave Communications. Founded 15 years ago, Rave has worked with brands like Cadbury, Graco, Warwick Business School and IRWIN Tools. JWI aims for […]

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

Matt McLean, strategy director at Action Impact, recently wrote a whitepaper titled “What Brand Experience Agencies Do”. The paper emphasizes the need for marketers to create brand experiences instead of one-way communications or stories. In 1960, Jerome McCarthy’s book Basic Marketing introduced the notion of the four Ps in marketing: product, price, place and promotion. […]

All expats living in the U.A.E have been through similar journeys. Getting off the Emirates flight not knowing what the next few weeks hold in store. Walking into the new work place bright eyed, looking around and seeing people from all over the world. Sitting with your new colleagues and finding out where they are form and how […]

The Western Union Company has launched a global program to mark the unveiling of their re-branded marketing platform, ‘This is WU’. The new program ‘WU Wish’ will encourage people to describe their hopes and aspirations for a family member or family situation, and the WU Wish program will make 10 of these wishes come true. The company’s new […]

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

  What did you think of Festival of Media coming to the region for the first time this year? I think it’s about time. Due to the way awards are structured here, they generally tend to lean more toward creativity, so they lack a certain level of rigor. What media companies have done here – […]

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

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

  The growth of the digital medium, including social and mobile, combined with the increasing consumption of online video in the region, has led marketers to complement traditional marketing with content marketing. “Brands are now challenged with evolving their strategies to not only create the volume of content required to satisfy consumer appetite, but to […]

Market-i, regional marketing research consultancy, won the ESOMAR Best Presentation Award for their paper on Mobile Technology in Marketing Research at the recent ESOMAR MENAP Forum 2015 at the Address Dubai Marina. This award was initiated in 2011 by ESOMAR to celebrate the most inspiring, effective and professional speakers and their ability to deliver an impactful, authoritative and engaging […]

Fitness First unveils new fitness philosophy based on the principles of behavioral psychology, an industry first, to encourage its members to go further in adopting a healthier and fitter lifestyle. The brands’ new philosophy focuses on motivating members to go further in life with the right balance of training, healthy eating and motivation. George Flooks, chief […]

Mechany Fashion LLC, regional franchisee of the internationally renowned children’s apparel retailer OshKosh B’gosh has launched a customer engagement program called The OshKosh Club. The program has been developed by Dubai-based digital loyalty platform UrbanBuz, and is available to customers in stores across the UAE.    “Following the success of La Cure Gourmande, we are […]

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

As part of a global initiative, Turner Broadcasting, parent company of Cartoon Network Arabic, has re-launched its second flagship kids brand, Boomerang, as an all-animation, youth-targeted network. Repositioned with a line-up of timeless and contemporary cartoons programmed for family co-viewing, the re-launch was made effective throughout the MENA region during the month of January. Drawing upon the […]

Just Falafel, the Middle East’s home grown fast-casual restaurant brand, has rebranded itself as JF Street Food, to reinforce its philosophy of serving the world’s oldest recorded street food. To further drive the rebranding, the company has collaborated with global fashion personality Asil Attar and her company Lead Associates. The collaboration will see Attar and […]

UAE based social media and digital marketing service provider Dubai Media Network (DMN) says that the ability of social media to amplify word-of-mouth marketing has been transforming the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) landscape in the oil-rich GCC region. Tariq Abu Samra, head of business development at DMN, says in a press statement that companies in […]

Hyundai has launched what it claims to be the Middle East’s first digital showroom, in an attempt to change automotive sales by providing customers with a more personalized and advanced experience. The Hyundai Digital showroom, which is located in Dubai, offers all the traditional features of a car showroom while addressing the needs of those […]

Today’s businesses are under increasing pressure to deliver results because of high demand and increased competition. As a result, organizations – local and global, big and small – are in need of marketing professionals with specialised skills who can stay ahead of rapidly evolving trends. The University of Roehampton’s new fully online MSc in Marketing degree programme was developed […]

A year after Johnson & Johnson brought Coca-Cola veteran Alison Lewis in as the first chief marketing officer of its consumer business, things are going well, with sales and share beating rivals from the over-the-counter drug business to skincare. Now, hoping to maintain momentum, she’s opening a whole can of Coke-style globalization on the historically fragmented company and its […]

Zomato, an app that’s like Google for eateries, has launched its revamped logo. Founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal says in his blog post that Zomato was “built for the love of food” and with this rebranding, the brand aims to put the heart at the center of it all. Goyal adds that the “logo transcends […]

  One of the largest retailers in the region, Centrepoint, which had positioned itself as Four Great Brands…One Destination has taken a strategic decision to change its brand image to Family. Fashion. One Destination. Research proved that the retail destination’s equity as a collective for family fashion held a large untapped opportunity and that dialing up it’s fashion equity […]

Mark Daou, founder and CEO of RPR, on how changes in the environment affect sales. A recent experiment conducted by Professor Charles Spence from Oxford University reveals that changes in the environment in which whisky is tasted might boost the spirit’s characteristics by up to 20 percent. In a specially designed bar comprising three rooms, […]

  In the first of its POY talks series, Product of the Year (POY), an independent awards program recognizing consumer-voted goods across 42 countries worldwide, held a panel discussion last week at Dubai’s MAKE Business Hub, titled: “Getting under the skin of shoppers”. The discussion revolved around future-shaping trends in shopper marketing research, intertwining technology, […]

  International branding agency Siegel gale released a report titled B2B Now. “Most business-to-business companies (B2Bs) still debate the ultimate business benefit of building a strong brand that everyday consumers can understand and relate to,” explains the agency in the report on the reasons behind undertaking the study, which surveyed close to 9,500 consumers and 450 business decisions-makers on […]

  When developers first starting building for Apple’s phones, in 2007, they were given one format for the four-inch iPhone screens. A larger format came along three years later, when the iPad debuted. Google, on the other hand, gave developers an array of options, so they could build apps for its ever-evolving cache of hardware partners […]

Coca-Cola has agreed to swap some brands and buy a 17 percent stake in Monster Beverage Corp. for about $2.15 billion, increasing its bet on the burgeoning energy drink market. The move is part of a deal that will include the transfer of Coca-Cola’s energy drinks NOS, Full Throttle, Burn, Mother and Play to Monster, according […]

  China’s food safety watchdog just cracked down on a new trend in China: juice packaged in fake medical blood bags. The drinks, priced in the $3 to $5 range, were inspired by US TV hits popular with pop culture-savvy young consumers. One was called the Vampire Diaries Drink. Some had a blood type printed […]

  Procter & Gamble Co. plans to divest, discontinue or merge more than half of its brands globally as it restructures to focus on its top 70 to 80 brands, says chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley on the company’s earnings conference call. The move comes more than 14 months after Lafley returned as CEO, and at the end […]

Despite widespread increases in content-marketing budgets, b-to-b marketers are still struggling to translate their content-marketing efforts into actual businesses results, according to a new study conducted by Forrester in conjunction with the Business Marketing Association and the Online Marketing Institute. Just over half – 51% – of marketers told Forrester their content marketing efforts are […]

  In the Lebanese shy sports marketing environment, some local brands are still making it After the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the recent UEFA Champions League, the next and biggest sports – and ad – event of the year, is the 2014 FIFA World Cup. “Leading Lebanese and global brands know that, every […]

  Visa, FIFA’s exclusive financial services partner for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, shared its global FIFA World Cup activation program across the Middle East, which is aimed at enhancing the sporting experience for millions of fans, clients and partners in 104 countries worldwide. The activation program features film and print spots starring Nobel […]

   The second coming of tobacco marketing is pouring millions into adland, a new report confirms. Last year, the largest e-cigarette makers spent nearly $60 million combined on advertising and promotion, with marketing budgets at some e-cigarette companies growing by more than 100 percent year over year, according to a report released in April by […]

  American marketers will again spend more on music sponsorships this year, much of it during the summer festival season that kicked off with the start of Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival last month in California. By the time Coachella concludes, it will have charged millions of dollars for connecting its millennial attendees with […]

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

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

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