CNC and Capital MSL to merge

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CNC – Communications and Network Consulting – and Capital MSL, have announced their intention to merge. The combined consultancy will adopt the CNC name and offer clients a stronger international network and broader advisory capabilities. This step will considerably strengthen the overall group offering, as well as add a prominent Middle East and emerging markets presence – including offices in Abu Dhabi and Dubai – to CNC’s network.

The new CNC will begin operations on January 1, 2015, with 11 offices in eight countries working on more than 200 mandates globally. It will continue to offer a broad range of integrated strategic communications services, including financial and corporate communications, reputation management, crisis and issues management, internal and change communications and public affairs. As part of the MSLGROUP network, the combined operation will leverage the skills of strategic and financial communications sister consultancies, such as Kekst & Company in the US and JKL in the Nordic region, in addition to expanding its presence in Asia and Latin America.

Richard Campbell, Founder and CEO of Capital MSL and Roland Klein, currently Managing Partner of CNC London, will be joint Managing Partners in London as well as overseeing the growth in the Middle East. Claire Maloney and Nick Bastin, both shareholders and Managing Director’s of Capital MSL, will become Partners in the new firm, alongside the existing 10 Partners in the CNC Group.

“Since Publicis Groupe’s acquisition of CNC in 2012, it was clear that not only did we advise clients around similar issues, but that we also had the same vision for the future,” says Richard Campbell, Founder and CEO, Capital MSL. “It makes strong strategic sense to combine the two networks to create an impressive international organisation of real scale, serving our clients as their most trusted advisor. After a successful and highly enjoyable thirteen years of growth as Capital MSL, we are convinced that this is the right step for our colleagues and clients, helping them to realise their own ambitions on a more international stage and in a more complex communications environment.”

OMD Predicts 2014 to focus on trends in marketing

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The 2014 edition of the OMD Predicts conference will focus on the aggregation of the three most fundamental trends transforming the practice of marketing. The sixth in the series of events designed to help marketers and media professionals future-proof their strategies, OMD Predicts will explore the way innovation, content and technology are reshaping marketing. Scheduled to take place on November 10, 2014, the conference will be held at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray’s Music Hall and is expected to gather more than 250 delegates.

OMD Predicts will bring international and regional experts to share insights and best practice to help marketers embrace and capitalise on the trends of content, technology and innovation – the three threads that are profoundly altering the way brands communicate with consumers. Guy Hearn, Chief Innovation Officer, Omnicom Media Group APAC, will discuss how showcasing media creativity in brands’ communications will separate the leaders from the followers. He will also highlight how to harness the innovation process and how it impacts advertisers, agencies and the media.

Content is becoming less the context for brand messaging and increasingly the message itself. In keeping with this, Shawn Amos, Founder and CEO of Freshwire, will focus on how brand storytelling and content marketing is evolving to add value to both brands and consumers, particularly in the context of evolving and emerging technologies.

Technology, perhaps the most transformational trend of all, will be the topic of a session presented by Whetson’s Founder, Thimon De Jong. Drawing from his experience on human behaviours, Thimon will explore the three most significant technological shifts that will alter not only brand communications but also business models.

“Planning for the future is never an easy task, but with OMD Predicts, we are aiming to establish a solid foundation from which one can start,” says Nadim Samara, Managing Director, OMD UAE & Lower Gulf. “Thanks to the knowledge and vision shared by this year’s speakers, future-proofing communication strategies will become a lot more achievable and fruitful. Rather than anxiety, this knowledge will allow us to look to the future with agility, anticipation, excitement and confidence.”

Patronage confirmed for Arab Woman Awards UAE

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His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development, has confirmed his patronage and attendance at the Arab Woman Awards UAE 2014. The awards aim to raise public awareness of significant achievements by Arab women in the region and to provide young women with inspirational role models.

Established in 2009 by ITP Publishing, the Arab Woman Awards has awarded over 220 inspirational women from the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across a diversity of fields that include business, fashion, entrepreneurship, charity, media, government and literature. The Arab Woman Awards UAE 2014 will be presented on November 25, 2014, at a red carpet gala dinner, and will be attended by His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, over 400 female VIP guests, as well as members of the royal family.

“The Arab Woman Awards play an important role in recognising the contribution of women across all walks of life to this nation,” says Her Excellency Ameera Bin Karam, Chairperson of the Sharjah Businesswoman Council and honorary Chairperson of the Arab Woman Awards UAE Judges Board. “I am pleased to be involved with the Awards, and am impressed with the strength of the nominations we have received this year. It is also an honour to have His Excellency Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan offer his support and patronage to the 2014 Awards.”

Other members for this year’s Judges Board include Dr Manal Taryam, CEO of Health Care Services & Noor Dubai Foundation; Manal Atayal, Director General at Sharjah Museums Department; Nada Al Lawati, Founder of S.E.E.D Group and Board member SBWC; Alia Mazrouei, COO of Mazrouei Holdings and Co-Founder of Just Falafel; Nadine El Chaer, Editor-in-Chief of Ahlan! Arabia and Nadine Y. Maalouf, Owner of the SME Advisory Group.

Sue Holt, Deputy Managing Director of ITP Consumer and Founder of the Arab Woman Awards adds, “We are delighted that the Awards yet again fall under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, and that he will be present at the actual awards ceremony at the end of November. His Excellency has been actively involved in encouraging and supporting women’s education and contribution to the growth of the UAE and so he is an ideal patron for our awards.”

NPI renews strategy focus for 2015

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Following a rebranding campaign in the summer of this year, npimedia (NPI) now plans to focus on the development of its concierge portfolio of magazines as of 2015. NPI currently has the largest single portfolio of audited titles in the UAE, with all five concierge editions – including concierge Arabic, Chinese and Russian – standing alone in the market as the only magazines in these languages with a guaranteed circulation. NPI will be further developing these titles, as well as enhancing its offering with a new and innovative digital platform, launching at the end of the year.

NPI’s strategy for 2015 will be centred around consolidating and developing its existing media brands, having decided to refocus efforts and move away from contract publishing works that are not directly aligned with long-term development objectives. In line with this, NPI has made the decision to cease publishing The Dubai Mall Magazine, produced on behalf of Emaar Malls Group.

“We have had a very successful collaboration with Emaar Malls Group over the last four years to establish a new title in the market that elevates The Dubai Mall brand,” says Rob Nicholas, Managing Director, NPI. “It is both well respected and well supported, and we leave the magazine in a fantastic position for 2015.”

MOJEH magazine to increase publishing frequency

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As of March 2015, MOJEH magazine will extend its publishing frequency to 10 editions throughout the year. Created in 2011, the luxury fashion title has recently progressed from bimonthly to monthly editions, and is soon to launch a standalone editorial platform – MOJEH.com – which will provide the same rich content as its print companion with dynamic exclusives, tailor-made for an online audience.

“We have a constant desire for improvement and a deep commitment to fashion and luxury,” says Mojeh Izadpanah, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, MOJEH. “So, we are delighted to announce that we will be publishing 10 editions of MOJEH per year from March, 2015.”

BPA Middle East releases semi-annual report

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BPA Middle East has released its semi-annual report. Included in this is the release of brand data across the region for the six-month period, which ended June 30, 2014. The brand data reports on figures for newspapers and magazines that have opted to be BPA-audited, and include the headline average qualified circulations and other channels such as web traffic “average unique browser”, social media and apps downloads from the most recent June 2014 – ending brand reports. The figures cover media with operations based in seven Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar and UAE.

The semi-annual report also shares which communication agencies BPA Middle East has been engaged with throughout 2014, as well as the activities they have been involved with, in a bid to educate the market-place about the importance of a third-party audit. These include Starcom Mediavest, OMD, Mindshare Media, Drive Dentsu, Magna, Carat, Dubai Healthcare City, Four Communication and Mediabourne.

BPA Middle East touches on moving towards greater transparency in its semi-annual report, stating the need for accurate data to allow advertisers and media buyers to make valid decisions based on well-calculated return on investment. Significantly, the report notes how few Arabic publications have taken the opportunity to follow the international best practice of opening their processes to independent audits. Of the 95 media brands in membership at BPA Middle East, only nine (9.5%) are ‘Arabic’ publications.

As of January this year, the BPA Middle East office has 105 members and applicants, broken down into the following representation:

Consumer magazines – 50%
Business publications – 19%
Events and expositions – 15%
Consumer applications – 9%
Newspapers – 7%
Events/expositions confidential – 1%
Newspaper applicants – 1%

To access the complete data, refer to the BPA Worldwide Reports Library at www.bpaww.com.

Entourage announces initial results of ETA ad campaign

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entourage marketing & events, in partnership with the Egypt Tourism Authority (ETA), is pleased to announce the initial results of their ETA ad campaign, “Masr Wahashtouna”, which has brought an increase of 40 percent in tourist numbers to the country from the Middle East. entourage has led the media strategy for this targeted tourism campaign by designing a strategic plan and media implementation of the campaign’s advertisement over print, TV, outdoor and a variety of digital outlets, resulting in Egypt being back up to the top five tourist destinations in the Middle East.  

“We are honoured to gain the trust of the Egypt Tourism Authority and to promote Egypt as a tourist destination in this critical time for Egypt and the region,” says Mohammed Tayem, Managing Director, entourage marketing & events. “Because of the timing for the launch of this campaign – right before the presidential elections of 2014 – our team was required to design the right strategy that not only reaches the target Arab region, but also entices their response. How we implemented this strategy was of upmost importance, given that Arabs make up a very large portion of tourists to Egypt.”

Harper’s Bazaar Design Awards unveils shortlist

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The inaugural Middle East Design Awards, hosted by Harper’s Bazaar Interiors, has today unveiled its shortlist of nominees. The Design Awards, which aims to recognise and showcase the huge pool of talent within the retail and design brands across the region, will take place on October 29, 2014, at the Oberoi Hotel, Dubai.

The shortlist includes highly recognised and creative brands, such as Pierre Frey for Best Textile Brand, PR Emirates for Best Furniture Story, Harlequin Group and Jo Malone for Most Innovative Brand and Lacroix Maison @ Galleries Lafayette and Armani Casa for Best Fashion to Furniture Brand.

“It was with great difficulty that the judging panel managed to narrow the shortlist down to the four brands we have chosen for each category, but we are very happy with the shortlist,” says Rue Kothari, Awards Spokesperson, Harper’s Bazaar Interiors Design Awards. “The calibre of the entries was very high and we would like to thank all those that entered. We look forward to announcing the winners next week alongside the Emerging Designer of the Year Award and making the Design Awards a staple in the Middle East’s events calendar.”

The awards event will form part of the schedule of events at Downtown Design 2014. To view the full list of nominees, visit www.harpersbazaarinteriorsawards.com.