Mindshare wins at ME Event Awards

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Mindshare MENA was awarded Best Conference at the Middle East Event Awards, for this year’s annual media summit, titled ‘Content Decoded’. The WPP agency is a global media agency network helping clients to make collaborative and adaptive decisions across its paid, owned and earned marketing in real-time. The Middle East Event Awards were held at the Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai and recognised the region’s best events, across 22 categories including; Best Music Event, Best Use of Event Technology, Best Festival and Best Brand Activation.

“Our annual media conference was another smash success this year and we are proud that the Middle East Event Awards recognised the many original ideas that were integrated into ‘Content Decoded’ in order to surprise and engage attendees,” says Mouna Ajam, Regional PR Director, Mindshare MENA. “Our team looks forward to hosting many more conferences that address the most important industry issues we face today, using the agency’s signature out-of-the-box way of thinking.”

Phillip Westphal, Managing Director, Salt & Pepper Events, adds “We are honored to have been selected for Best Conference at the Middle East Event Awards. We always strive to leave an impact, so working with Mindshare’s innovative team was a great collaboration. We are extremely happy to be recognised with this award.”

Bride Club ME named Best Wedding Website in the UAE

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Bride Club ME has been named Best Wedding Website in the UAE at the Sharjah Bridal Fair Awards. The award was presented to Rhiannon Downie-Hurst, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Bride Club ME, from a pool of 10 shortlisted entrants.

“Winning this award is an honour and to see that our hard work is being officially recognised is an indescribable feeling,” says Rhiannon. “I am so proud of how far Bride Club ME has evolved since our launch in 2013 and we have many more exciting developments to come.”

Hill+Knowlton Strategies named EMEA Agency of the Year

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Hill+Knowlton Strategies has been named EMEA Agency of the Year at this year’s SABRE Awards in Berlin. The awards saw Hill+Knowlton nominated alongside other EMEA agencies Burson-Marsteller, Edelman, Ogilvy PR and Weber Shandwick, with the agency’s win being accredited to service innovation and significant client wins.

“Since consolidating our Europe, Middle East and Africa regions two years ago, a lot of people have worked hard to take H+K in the region to the next level,” says Lars Erik Grønntun, President and CEO, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, EMEA. “By implementing our regional strategy of connecting, converging and learning we’ve managed to take the agency to a new level, winning exciting new business, building stronger creative and content bids as well as strengthening our regional footprint.”

Golin MENA wins MENA Young Lions competition

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The Golin MENA team of Baseem Ayache and Anisha Sharme has won the MENA Young Lions PR competition with their ‘Mirror Mirror’ campaign, and will go on to represent the region at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, sponsored by the International Communications Consultancy Organisation (ICCO). This year was the inaugural competition, and saw over 20 entries from teams of two, all under the age of 30. Competitors were asked to respond to a brief from Friends of Cancer Patients, which performed as the client, and each team had 24 hours to form a creative and effective campaign.

“There was some really, really great work on display from PRCA MENA members,” says Frances Ingham MPRCA, Director General, PRCA MENA. “Sitting through the eight presentations, it was obvious that the future of our industry here in the Middle East and North Africa is incredibly bright. Many deserve to be in Cannes, but only one team could win and that team was, deservedly, Golin. Golin’s duo went all in – great ideas, rigorous strategy. Literally pitch-perfect presentation. And now they have the honour and the burden of representing all of the MENA countries in Cannes. Good luck Baseem and Anisha.”

Ylannis Vafeas, Managing Director, Golin MENA, adds “There is nothing more inspiring than being recognised for creativity, especially when creativity leads to change and good. We are so proud of Baseem and Anisha who will be representing the Golin MENA region in the Young Lions PR competition.”

JPd recognised as best business consultancy

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Dubai-based branding and communications agency, JPd has been recognised with a Business Vision Award from CPI Finance. Established in order to support businesses that have shown initiative and spirit across a range of industry sectors, the award was presented at a Gala Dinner held at Jumeirah Emirates Towers in Dubai where experts also discussed the business landscape and economic outlook for 2016.

“We are thrilled to be granted such an honourable award and be recognised for our efforts to date,” says James Pass, Managing Director and Creative Principle, JPd. “At JPd we’re committed to supporting entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs build strong business identities, which help to differentiate them from others in this saturated market.”

Anastasiya Golovatenko, PR Director, JPd, adds “This award proves that we are on the right track. We are a passionate team and are committed to the success of every business. Every day we help our clients build brands that people love to talk about.”

 

Dubai Lynx honours MBC Group Chairman

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The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has honoured MBC Group Chairman, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim with its Advertising Person of the Year award, to recognise his achievements in advancing the reputation and profile of the communications industry in the MENA region. Sheikh Waleed has been responsible for launching a series of successful TV channels which communicate to different audiences in the MENA region such as MBC1, MBC2, MBC MAX, Wanasah and MBC Drama. He has also recently been instrumental in rolling out HD channels that cover the worlds of movies, sports and entertainment as well as being one of the first Arab businessmen to launch a news channel – Al Arabiya, which has extended into a global network of correspondents and reporters with nearly 30 offices and Bureau Chiefs around the world. He was presented with the Advertising Person of the Year trophy during the Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony last night, which was attended by 1,800 people from the MENA region’s creative communications industry.

“Over the course of 25 years, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim has been responsible for multiple, significant contributions to the development of the media and entertainment industry in the MENA region and we are delighted that we could celebrate this during the 10th edition of Dubai Lynx,” says Terry Savage, Chairman, Dubai Lynx.

Weber Shandwick recognised as top employer

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Weber Shandwick has been recognised as the 7th Greatest Place to Work in the UAE 2016 rankings, during a ceremony that took place at the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray in Dubai. The ranking is part of a list of the nation’s best employers based on the confidential feedback of employees and an audit of management practices and this is the third year in a row the Weber Shandwick has been recognised. Great Place to Work is a global research, training and consultancy firm that identifies the best workplaces in over 50 countries worldwide.

“Our industry is centered on people and we are fortunate to retain some of the market’s most talented and creative individuals,” says Ziad Hasbani, CEO, Weber Shandwick MENA. “We greatly value our team and appreciate the efforts they have invested in delivering top quality work for our clients, but also in growing our agency.”

Maha Zaatari, Managing Director, Great Place to Work UAE, adds “Congratulations to all 20 companies that made it onto our 2016 list. The expansion of the list is testament to the value UAE companies place on human capital development. There is no doubt that this year’s competition was the toughest since we introduced the annual benchmarking program six years ago. The top 20 list makers truly understand how investing in their workplace culture leads to stronger business and people performance within their organisations.”

GNTECH.ae wins Gold for Best New Product

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GNTECH.ae, GN Publishing’s new technology website, has been named the Gold winner of Best New Product at the 1st WAN-IFRA Middle East Digital Media Awards held last night in Dubai. WAN-IFRA, The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, is a global network of 3,000 news publishing companies and represents over 18,000 publications in 120 countries. The Digital Media Awards, which first launched in Asia 2010, now take place in five regions, are judged by a group of global industry peers. Gold winners of the award are automatically entered into the World Digital Media Awards to take place in Vienna in October 2016.

“We’re really excited that GNTECH.ae has been recognised by WAN-IFRA as the best new digital product in the Middle East,” says James Hewes, Publishing Director, GN Publishing. “It’s been a thrilling few months for the brand, from the re-launch of the print product last August to the launch of GNTECH.ae in December. The award is the strongest possible endorsement for GNTECH.ae and a fitting tribute to our enthusiastic team for all their hard work.”

Gareth Kurt Warren, Online Editor, GNTECH.ae, adds “We are really honoured to win the gold award for best new product so soon after our launch. We put a lot of passion into the site and believe our love of all things tech comes across on screen to our audience.”

Omnicom wins at Sustainability Reporting Awards

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Omnicom Media Group MENA has received the Best First Time Sustainability Report award for its inaugural report at the recently held Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards. The document, entitled Leaving a Mark, not a Footprint, was produced by the communications holding group in accordance with the GRI G4 Guidelines and was deemed the best introductory report to be produced by an organisation in Asia last year.

Held in Singapore and organised by CSRWorks International, the awards ceremony recognised organisations for excellence in reporting their sustainability initiatives. A gala dinner event was attended by dignitaries from companies, non-profit organisations, embassies, trade associations, advocacy organisations and academic institutions and was presided by the British High Commissioner to Singapore, H.E. Scott Wightman.

“Our first report was a deeply meaningful exercise, that allowed us to define our values, identify our priorities and quantify the impact we intend to have on a number of fronts, both internally and externally,” says Elie Khouri, CEO, Omnicom Media Group, MENA. “This recognition validates our efforts to lead the way in the area of sustainability, in the region as well as the communications industry. We will continue to adhere to the most advanced guidelines and protocols, pushing ourselves to reach the highest levels of integrity in order to contribute to a more sustainable future for ourselves, our partners and our community.”

Cannes Lions to honour Marcello Serpa

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The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will honour Marcello Serpa with the Lion of St. Mark at this year’s festival. Recognised as one of the most awarded art directors in Brazil, having won over 160 Lions, his work has included the 1993 campaign for Guarana and the 2010 print campaign for Billboard;‘Britney’, ‘Eminem’, ‘Marilyn’, ‘Bono’ and ‘Amy’. Marcello will be presented with the Lion of St. Mark during the ceremony on Saturday June 25, 2016.

“The Lion of St. Mark recognises individuals who have made significant and outstanding contributions to creativity across our industry,” says Philip Thomas, CEO, Cannes Lions. “Marcello’s achievements are known the world over, but perhaps most notably he was responsible for taking home Latin America’s first Grand Prix in 1993. He’s since served on juries four times, twice as President and during his tenure, AlmapBBDO won Agency of the Year three times.”

Marcello adds “My life and career would be completely different, and probably a bit boring if Cannes Lions did not exist. Those small stairs to the stage are connected to me and I have always watched with envy and admiration some creative legends stand at the top of them. I feel honoured, dizzy and extremely happy to be recognised as a stand-out within the industry. This award is like giving a shot of adrenaline directly into the ego of anyone in the business.”