New Middle East Communications Manager at Estée Lauder

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Estée Lauder Middle East has appointed Hannah Raven-Wright to the role of Middle East Communications Manager. Hannah most recently worked with Edelman DABO as Senior Account Manager, where she worked across a range of consumer PR accounts including Majid Al Futtaim Holding, MINI Middle East and BMW Middle East. In her new role, she will manage the PR, communications and influencer campaigns for three of Estée Lauder Middle East’s brands; Bobbi Brown, Clinique and Aveda from strategy through to execution.

“I am thrilled to have joined the Estée Lauder Companies,” says Hannah. “It is extremely exciting to be looking after three brands I have been a consumer of for many years.”

GraziaME.com goes live

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Grazia Middle East has launched its new digital platform, GraziaME.com. The new website aims to deliver a mix of fashion, beauty, celebrity news and luxury content directly to its audience, complementing its print and social media channels for a complete 360 conversation. The new website will also feature a combination of editorial and ecommerce, with Grazia Shop that will enable readers to shop covetable curations by the Grazia team as well as host takeovers by a coterie of Instagram celebrities and selected brands.

The new website will be lead by Olivia Phillips, Deputy Editor of Grazia Middle East. She will oversee the content and contribute strategies for the growth of the digital platform.

“This is an emotional day for Grazia Middle East,” says Alison Tay, Editor-in-Chief, Grazia Middle East. “We’re so excited to offer our readers more ways to connect with and contribute to conversations about how we can all make a difference in the world and to extend the brand’s reach further in the GCC.”

Jennifer Gibson goes freelance

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Jennifer Gibson, former Editor of good magazine, part of Motivate Publishing has gone freelance. Having joined Motivate in 2016, Jennifer has over 15 years of experience in journalism and has worked on as well as contributed to a number of titles including VIVA, Hello! Middle East, What’s On Dubai, Emirates Man, Emirates Woman, Jumeirah, The National, The Telegraph and Gulf News. She also worked in broadcasting as News Presenter and Commentator on Dubai 92 as well as Dubai Eye. Following her relocation to the UK, she will continue to work across publications in the UAE and UK as a freelance Editor.

“It has been an honour to edit good magazine since August 2016, to work with an incredible team of brilliant people and to meet so many of the innovators, entrepreneurs, environmental activists and charity campaigners who are doing so much to take community life here in Dubai forward,” says Jennifer. “The time has come for us to make a move to be closer to our families, but I look forward to continuing to work with so many of the brilliant editors and journalists I’ve met during my time here – and to the opportunities my continuing work here will allow for lots of visits to escape the Scottish weather!”

Shortlist for Young PR Lions MENA 2018 announced

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PRCA MENA has released the shortlist for this year’s Young PR Lions MENA competition to find the best young PR professional in the region. Eight teams have been shortlisted to win the accolade this year and one of them will be heading to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to take part in the international competition from June 17 – 21, 2018. The shortlisted teams include BPG Cohn & Wolfe, Edelman, Golin MENA, Hill + Knowlton Strategies, Q Communications and Weber Shandwick.

On March 19, the shortlisted teams will be asked to deliver a five minute presentation explaining their PR campaign and the winning team will be announced on March 20.

Geometry Dubai welcomes new Executive Creative Director

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Brand experience agency, Geometry has promoted Julian Hernandez to the role of Executive Creative Director of its Dubai office. Having joined Geometry in 2015, Julian worked as Executive Creative Director of the agency’s Hong Kong office, where he mentored the creative team and led the creative output across its list brands including Coca-Cola, Huawei and Pernod Ricard. In his new role, he will focus on creativity with an emphasis on genuine local insight to shape the agency’s new approach to shopper marketing.

“I’d like to see more culturally relevant work coming out of our office and the use of non-traditional channels to influence consumers in unconventional ways,” says Hernández. “The old ‘surprise and delight’ approach has never been more valid – even in our complex region – so that’s what we’re aiming for across a wider scope of touchpoints. To do so, we need to surprise consumers with brand experiences that enrich their lives, rather than interrupt them.”

Momentum/CAI appoints new Managing Director

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Momentum, part of Middle East Communications Network (MCN) has promoted Lina Fateen to the role of Managing Director of its Cairo office, Momentum/CAI. Lina joined MCN in 2002 as a part of FP7/CAI and most recently held the role of Deputy Managing Director at Momentum, where she worked on relaunching the agency as a full independent brand experience agency. In her new role, she will report to MCN Egypt’s CEO, Sahar El Zoghby and lead her team to produce award winning work to drive clients’ business award-winning building a brand reputation and setting standards of excellence for future openings of Momentum across the MCN network.

“My career at MCN has been a fantastic journey of valuable insights and experiences enabling me to build and foster a successful organisation with the right people here at Momentum/CAI,” says Lina. “And now with the continued opportunity to lead this company, I am excited to unravel the next steps in developing strong synergies with our clients for further award winning success.”

New Executive Creative Director at Tonic International

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Dubai-based independent creative agency, Tonic International has promoted Joao Camacho to the role of Executive Creative Director. Having joined the agency in 2016, Joao most recently held the role of Creative Director, where he restructured the creative team and transformed it into a high-level competitive department. In his new role, he will work on developing the digital aspects of the agency to build stronger, more loyal relationships between brands and its consumers, utilising the data as well as analytics at hand to drive the agency’s creativity.

“Creativity is not a service, it is a product,” says Joao. “I firmly believe that by treating creativity as a product, it sets the tone of an agency and truly accelerates its clients’ businesses. The services that an agency provides with creativity are a given, the way to do better is a combination of creative factors and discipline.”