7Days to go weekly

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7Days is to become a weekly publication starting from January 1, 2017. The Dubai based newspaper will now focus on its digital presence and be published as a bumper weekly edition every Thursday.

“The time has arrived for us to take bold decisions that enable us firstly to continue to operate profitably and then continue to build on the core competencies that have been developed over the past 13 years in first-class content creation, distribution and customer engagement,” says Mark Rix, Chief Executive Officer, 7 Days.

Claire Sharrock, Managing Editor, 7days adds “Our 7DAYS print title will reflect its new status as a quality, free, weekly newspaper. The Thursday edition will see an increased focus on community issues and lifestyle as well as analysis. Our unique personality and reporting style much loved by our readers will continue as normal.”

Motivate and Motivate Val Morgan hosts UAE Cannes Awards

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Motivate and Motivate Val Morgan, the official representatives of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the UAE, hosted this year’s Cannes Lions Awards in the Motivate offices located in Dubai Media City. The awards were presented by Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner and Group Editor in Chief at Motivate as well as Avinash Udeshi, Chief Operating Officer at Motivate Val Morgan. This year’s winning agencies included; Memac Oligvy Dubai, Y&R Dubai and The Classic Partnership Advertising Dubai.

“Over the years, media and creative agencies have worked hard to bring home more and more awards across a range of categories at the Cannes Lions Festival in France,” says Ian Fairservice, Managing Partner and Group Editor, Motivate. As the official representative of the festival in the UAE, we would like to commend this year’s winning agencies and we look forward to see many more wins at next year’s festival.”

Simon Bower joins Socialize

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Socialize has appointed Simon Bower to the role of Media Strategy Director. Previously Digital Director at OMD London, Simon has over seven years of experience in media and will now head Socialize’s media businesses as well as oversee strategies for key regional clients. He will also be working alongside Managing Director Akanksha Goel to evolve the agency’s performance-media offering across the region.

“I’m looking forward to exploring the media dynamics in this exciting, evolving region and bringing my experience to bear at an agency where I can make real-impact to the business.” Says Simon.

Akanksha Goel, Managing Director, Socialize, adds “We are extremely excited to have Simon on the team. His combination of experience with network agencies and mature European markets will help bring a different point of view that drives further growth for our clients. We will be able to leverage his skills across programmatic, data and analytics to provide a comprehensive media offering that further bridges the gap between creative and technology.”

Arab News appoints Faisal J. Abbas

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Former Editor of Al Arabiya News Channel‘s English language service, www.alarabiya.new/English, Faisal J. Abbas will be the new Editor-in-Chief of Saudi Arabia’s English language daily newspaper Arab News. Part of Riyadh-based Saudi Research and Marketing (SRMG), the Middle East’s largest integrated publishing company, Arab News was established in the region in 1975 and has been home to a number of influential English-speaking Editors as well as Journalists and Faisal will be working to take the publication global. Having joined the Al Arabiya News Channel in 2012, Faisal worked to relaunch and expand news coverage of the channel’s English language digital platform. Associate Editor Ammar Aziz will now handle interim management of the service.

“Faisal is among the most prominent Saudi journalists on the international scene,” says HH Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohamad bin Farhan Al-Saud, Chairman, SRMG. “He brings an impressive track-record of successful media brands re-launching as well as expanding newsroom operations. This appointment falls in line with SRMG’s future vision of taking our titles to new heights by empowering young Saudi media leaders capable of meeting the aspirations of the new generation who are today’s biggest media consumers.”

Jensen Matthews launches in the UAE

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New marketing and communications agency Jensen Matthews, has launched in the UAE. Located in Dubai, Jensen Matthews was established by Loredana Matei, who is also the Executive Director, to focus on combining creativity and technology as one unique concept. The agency aims to help companies as well as organisations accelerate their growth, profitability and market presence utilising tools such as; digital marketing, social media and corporate communications.

“Dubai has a lively start-up community and Jensen Matthews’ vision is to become a trustful partner by helping corporate clients reach their strategic goals and assisting local/regional talents in making their first steps into the entrepreneurship world,” says Loredana Matei, Executive Director, Jensen Matthews. “Our target at Jensen Matthews is to combine both strategic thinking with creative thinking and this makes us Ideapreneurs.”