Region’s talent honoured at MENA digital awards

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The region’s top digital advertising talent has been honoured at the second ever MENA Digital Awards ceremony, the only awards programme in the region dedicated to celebrating marketing in the digital industry. The event concluded the two-day Digital Media Forum (DMF) 2015, which attracted 500 industry stakeholders from across the MENA region and beyond to discuss the latest developments taking place across the digital landscape.

Big winners were Leo Burnett MENA, who won the Grand Prix Award as well as a number of awards across several categories including two golds in Digital Cause Marketing, a gold in Best Digital PR, a gold in Best Use of Social Media, a silver in Best Performance Campaign, a bronze in Best Use of Video and a bronze in Best Use of Mobile. Omnicom picked up the Network of the Year award, and OMD picked up the Agency of the Year.

Other notable winners included Initiative MENA, who garnered two silver awards for their work for KFC, under Best Application Mobile/Tablet and Best Use of Mobile, as well as two bronze awards under Best Integrated Media Campaign and Best Use of Video. Socialize Agency received two gold awards, BBDO collected one gold, three silvers and a bronze and Proximity picked up a gold, two silvers and a bronze. Other awards under different categories went to UM MENA, Ogilvy, Buzzman, OMD MENA, PHD and Sama Dubai.

“The MENA Digital Awards is the only marketing industry awards programme in the region that focuses solely on the digital sector,” says Najla Semaan Mazboudie, Managing Director of Spot On Media Services and Events, owner and founder of DMF and the MENA Digital awards. “It was established last year to honour success and excellence in the sector, thereby helping to promote the best in digital marketing planning, creativity, innovation, and effectiveness.”

Kat Lebrasse wins Grazia blogger of the year

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Dubai-based blogger Kat Lebrasse has won Grazia blogger of the year at the 2015 Grazia Style Awards. Kat has a background in retail fashion and has worked with publications such as Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Emirates Woman and Grazia Middle East. Her blog – lebrasse.com – focusses on Kats personal style, as well as her style inspirations and various other interests which include health, beauty and travel.

“I feel so grateful and excited to be awarded blogger of the year,” says Kat. “I’m so proud of my blog and what I’ve achieved over the last 2 years and it’s the most amazing feeling to know that my hard work is also appreciated and acknowledged by the industry. I’m on top of the world right now and I can’t wait to see what the future brings!”

Weber Shandwick is a great place to work

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Weber Shandwick has been honoured by the Great Place to Work Institute UAE, by being ranked number seven among 15 shortlisted organisations for this year’s ‘Top Companies to Work for in the UAE’.

The Institute, part of a global research, training and consultancy firm, recognises the best workplaces in over 50 countries worldwide by evaluating each participating company through a Trust Index survey and Culture Audit. These evaluations address management credibility, employee engagement, job satisfaction, as well as pay and benefits programs, hiring, communication and development.

“We are delighted to have been selected as one of the Top 15 best companies to work for in the UAE for the second consecutive year,” says Andreas Keller, Managing Director, Dubai, Weber Shandwick MENA. “It’s always a great achievement when you can balance the management of a fast growing business while still providing your employees with a positive working environment. The management can set the blueprint for success, but it’s really down to the employees who create the environment and make the agency what it is today.”

Henkel named Advertiser of the Year at Dubai Lynx

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The 2015 Dubai Lynx Advertiser of the Year has been awarded to Henkel, the owner of household brands such as Persil, Fa and Pril, as the advertising festival’s award ceremony got underway at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena last night. The title is given to a MENA advertiser that has demonstrated inspiring innovative marketing for its brands and embraced creativity from its agencies.

“Achieving success through business results is motivating and inspiring,” says Mohamed Siam, Regional Marketing Director, Henkel. “However, what makes it even better is when we can turn our trademark into a love mark with consumers. This can only be done through creative communications that build a bridge between the brand strategy and the consumer needs in the most entertaining way. This award is proof to us that we are moving in the right direction. We will continue to excel in our communications and commit to consistent development. It will be an honour to add more prestigious trophies to our collection in the near future.”

Philip Thomas, CEO of Lions Festivals adds, “Henkel are worthy recipients of this award due to their phenomenal marketing efforts, which have resulted in creative advertising that proves itself to be innovative and inspirational time and time again.”

Tbreak Awards 2014 winners announced

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The winners of the third annual Tbreak Awards were announced last night at a ceremony held at The H Hotel, Dubai, highlighting the best in the Middle East’s technology and gaming industry. Hosted by Tbreak Media – which publishes Tbreak Tech, IGN Middle East and AskMen Middle East – nominations for the awards were based on products reviewed by the team at Tbreak.com, with winners being selected by a public online voting system as well as a panel of expert judges.

“It’s always a pleasure to recognise and award the best from the industry,” says Abbas Jaffar Ali, Director, Tbreak Media. “The Tbreak Awards are our way of honouring the outstanding products, services and companies from the Middle East each year.”

With a number of subcategories in each section, the Tbreak Awards were divided into the Technology Awards, with the Sony Xperia Z3 Dual winning Best Phone and GITEX Technology Week picking up Best Industry Event; the Technology Awards as judged by the public, with Souq.com being awarded as Best Online Retail and dubizzle taking home the Best Regional App, the Video Games Awards, which saw Forza Horizon 2 (Microsoft) winning the Best Press Launch and the Best Gaming Event going to GAMES14; and finally the Video Games Awards Judged by Public Vote, with Geekay Games securing the Best Gaming Social Media and Sony Playstation Middle East awarded Best Gaming Brands.

The full lineup of winners can be found on www.tbreak.com.

Patronage confirmed for Arab Woman Awards KSA

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Her Royal Highness Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud, CEO of Alfa International and Al Hama LLC, has reconfirmed her patronage and position as Chair of the Judges Board for the Arab Woman Awards KSA for the second consecutive year. The Awards aim to raise public awareness on the significant achievements by Arab women in the region and to provide young women with inspirational role models.

Established in 2009 by ITP Group, the Arab Woman Awards has to-date recognised over 230 women from the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across a diversity of fields that include business, energy, entrepreneurship, charity, media, government and literature.

“Year after year the Arab Woman Awards has provided a platform where similar minded women can come together and thrive in their accomplishments,” says HRH Princess Reema Bandar Al Saud. “It is a great privilege to be part of such a noble award ceremony that not only highlights the important contributions of women in the region but also imparts inspiration for the next generation of young Saudi women.”

Other Judges Board members for this year’s awards include Lina Al Maena, Founder of Jeddah United Sports Company; Amina Al Jasim, prominent Saudi fashion designer and Founder of Dar Bresam Fashion; Lateefa Alwaalan, Founder and General Manager of Yatooq and Basma Felimban, internationally recognised Saudi artist.

Sue Holt, Executive Director, ITP Consumer and Founder of the Arab Woman Awards adds, “We are proud to be able to provide a platform for such talented individuals and a means of celebrating their success. The standard of nominees is high in KSA as the women are highly educated and very determined individuals.”

With nominations flooding in for exceptional women from across the Kingdom, the 2015 Arab Woman Awards KSA is expected to present the richest field yet of inspiring women. There will be twenty awards provided as there has been an addition of four new award categories this year – New Media, Finance, Energy and Legal. The winners will be presented at a female-only gala dinner held at the Faisaliah Hotel in Riyadh at the end of March, hosted by celebrity presenter Diala Makki.

BR Comms wins at SME Stars of Business Awards

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Dubai-based PR, marketing and design consultancy, BR Communications, has been named the ‘Best New Business in 2014’ during the SME Stars of Business Awards held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. The annual event, organised by CPI Media Group, recognises the most outstanding SMEs in the GCC region through 22 categories. Currently in the UAE, the number of SMEs is estimated to be around 327,000, with total revenue of USD234 billion.

“We are truly honoured to be recognised for this category,” says Bahaa Fatairy, Managing Director, BR Communications. “Since launching our business in December 2013, we have been striving to make a mark in the region’s highly competitive communications and media industry. The award definitely serves as motivation for us to continue doing our best in delivering value-added service to our clients. SMEs are undoubtedly the backbone of any nation’s economy, and platforms such as the SME Stars of Business Awards are ideal in celebrating the achievements of these businesses.”

Winners of the MEPRA Awards 2014 announced

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The winners of the MEPRA Awards 2014 have been announced. Celebrating the achievements of the Middle East’s PR industry over the last 12 months, a record-breaking 161 entries for this year’s MEPRA Awards were whittle down to 17 winners.

MEPRA Agency of the Year was awarded to Weber Shandwick MENA, while Memac Ogilvy Dubai won the Best Campaign award for The Autocomplete truth initiative and Mubadala won the In-House Team of the Year. A total of 10 agencies and organisations won for their creativity and execution, with Weber Shandwick, Memac Ogilvy and Hill+Knowlton Strategies winning multiple categories.

The winners were selected by a distinguished jury of marketing and communications leaders from across different sectors and organisations. The jury selected entries that exemplified best practices from across five categories – issue identification, research, strategic approach, planning and execution. Entries were received from across the region, extending to Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, as well as the UAE.

“The judges noted the quality of the entries this year, and they were impressed by how well the winners had managed to convey the underlying issue, the depth of research undertaken, the thought behind their strategic approach, the amount of planning which went into the winning campaigns and the quality of the execution,” says Carine Duvignaud, General Manager, MEPRA. “This year’s award-winning campaigns, agencies and organisations prove that the region has moved beyond what is traditionally viewed as a function that only embodies media relations to a profession that adds real value to the bottom line in terms of reputation building, issues awareness and incremental business.”

The full list of winners for the MEPRA Awards 2014 is as follows:

Sectors & Services 

  • Best Consumer Goods Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Tunisia – Delice
  • Best Consumer Services Campaign – House of Comms – Bounce: The Free-Jumping Revolution
  • Best Consumer Services Campaign (Highly Commended) – Hill+Knowlton Strategies – WWE Riyadh Tour 2014
  • Best Corporate Reputation & Image Campaign – Weber Shandwick MENA – The DGC-X-Factor! How DGCX Transformed Its Regional and Global Profile
  • Best Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental PR Campaign – Blue Rubicon – Action on Diabetes Ramadan

Campaign

  • Best Government Communications Campaign – Hill+Knowlton Strategies – Inspiring a Sporting Generation – Qatar National Sports Day
  • Best Health Car & Services Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – Break Away from Psoriasis
  • Best Business to Business Campaign – Weber Shandwick MENA – Credit Where It’s Due! Raising Understanding of S&P’s Role in Regional Capital Market Development
  • Best Internal Communications Campaign – ENEC – 123 Tarkeez

Techniques 

  • Best Integrated Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – The Autocomplete truth
  • Best Launch Live Event/Stunt – DABO & CO – The Launch of Nokia Lumia 1020: Reaching New Heights
  • Best Use of Media Relations – Mojo PR – ICAEW
  • Best Use of Social Media & Digital PR – Atlantis the Palm
  • Best Use of Sponsorship – Hill & Knowlton Strategies – ‘Winning the ultimate World Cup battle of the brands for Adidas’

People and Agencies 

  • Agency of the Year – Weber Shandwick MENA
  • In-House Team of the Year – Mubadala
  • Best Overall Campaign of the Year – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – The Autocomplete truth
  • Dave Robinson Award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year – Becki Willis, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
  • Dave Robinson Award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year (Highly Commended) – Rijosh Joseph, DABO & CO

Weber Shandwick named MEPRA’s Agency of the Year

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Weber Shandwick MENA has been named Agency of the Year by the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) at the MEPRA Awards ceremony, which was held in Dubai last night. Weber Shandwick MENA also took home separate awards for ‘Best Corporate Reputation and Image’ for its work for DGCX (Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange) and ‘Best Business to Business Communications’ for its work with Standard and Poor’s. Honourees for each category are selected by an independent industry panel based on information gathered during the regional awards process.

“Winning MEPRA Agency of the Year is both a great achievement and a recognition of our commitment to creative excellence in a competitive marketplace with increasingly high best practice benchmarks,” says Ziad Hasbani, CEO, Weber Shandwick MENA. “I am delighted for my talented colleagues across the region who strive to achieve outstanding results for our clients day-in, day-out. However, we will not be resting on any laurels. We are driving forward a transformation of our business, which will ensure that we continue to stay ahead of the regional communication trends and place centre-stage the recognition that creativity and digital offerings are now key. We are confident that this award win will be the first of many.”

Effie MENA Awards 2014 winners announced

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The winners for this year’s Effie MENA Awards have been revealed. Taking place on Wednesday November 19, 2014, at The Meydan Hotel in Dubai, approximately 1,500 invited guests attended to celebrate the campaigns, advertisers and agencies that have had the most measurable impact over the past 12 months.

The Effie MENA Awards 2014 was expanded this year to incorporate 23 classes of achievement; with categories including: ‘Best Youth Marketing Campaign’, ‘Best Use of Social Media’ and ‘Most Effective Agency Network of the Year.’ Corresponding with the rise in the number of categories was an increase in the number of entrants, with submissions 75 percent higher than the previous year. Mediaquest – the media organisers behind the event – noted that the increase in categories and nominations reflects the dynamism of the regional marketing industry and the innovation currently being seen in the sector.

“This year’s Effie Awards were the biggest to date, featuring the largest number of nominations and the greatest number of categories for inclusion,” says Alexandra Hawari, Co-CEO, Mediaquest. “The diversity of marketing forms and approaches that we are now witnessing across the region necessitated the introduction of new classes of achievement in order to fully acknowledge the impact on audiences that have been achieved with unique techniques.”

The evening saw FP7/DXB awarded with an impressive haul of seven Gold Awards, coming first place in six categories, including ‘Best Use of CSR,’ ‘Best Youth Marketing Campaign,’ ‘Banking, Finance & Insurance,’ ‘FMCG,’ ‘Single Media Activation,’ and ‘Brand Experience.’ The organisation’s array of impactful campaigns that had measurably resonated with audiences in the region resulted in it receiving the ‘Most Effective Agency Network of the Year’ title.

Cairo-based Media Direction OMD was awarded the ‘Best Use of Social Media’ award for their Barakat and Super Teta campaign, which was conducted on behalf of Vodaphone Egypt. JWT DXB and Carat DXB’s ‘I’m Coming Home’ campaign for Microsoft Mobile Devices saw the agency awarded in the ‘Telecommunications, Mobiles & Internet’ category, while JWT Cairo and Starcom MediaVest Group – also from Cairo – impressed the judges to win the ‘New Product’ category with their ‘Cinnamint’ campaign for Mondelez Egypt Foods.

All of the 23 category winners are now eligible to participate in the Effie Global Effectiveness Index. The scheme incorporates data from 40 worldwide Effie Award competitions to determine those in the industry that have had the most measurable success on a global scale.