Anya Kotova wins Young Communicator of the Year

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Anya Kotova, Senior Account Director at Ketchum and based in Doha, has been awarded Young Communicator of the Year at the PR Week Awards 2014. Open to PR professionals in consultancies and in-house teams under the age of 30, the Young Communicator of the Year award honours outstanding achievement in handling PR campaigns, showing creativity, relevance to brief and results. The judges of the category also look for evidence of the nominees’ ability and willingness to extend their range of PR skills. Originally from Belarus, Anya joined Ketchum in 2007 and has previously worked with Ketchum New York and on clients which have included the Russian Federation, Gazprom, Troika Dialog, VTB Capital and FedEx.

“It’s an amazing feeling to be recognised by your peers for having your dream job,” says Anya. “The win is definitely a global team effort and I could not have done it without the support of a team that comes from the US, Canada, UK and the UAE.”

Jason MacKenzie, Managing Director of Liquid and one of the judges at PR Week Awards says, “Anya is a champion of the school of thought that PR is a force for good in society – and makes the case compellignly. She’s razor-sharp, talented and highly personable.”

 

CNN named #1 international news brand

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The latest IPSOS Affluent Global survey has confirmed CNN International as the leading international news brand, reaching an unrivalled four out of 10 upscale consumers and decision-makers across the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America.

CNN’s reach of affluent international audience is larger than all news competitors in every metric across TV and digital platforms. According to the IPSOS Affluent Global survey, every month CNN is currently reaching 40% of the international upscale population via TV and digital platforms – well ahead of BBC (29%), CNBC (14%), Bloomberg (11%) and Al Jazeera (11%).

On TV, CNN is the most watched international news channel for monthly (34%), weekly (19%) and daily (5%) reach. This is significantly ahead of the reach of other news channels’ TV reach – BBC (23% monthly, 13% weekly, 4% daily), Sky (21%, 13%, 5%), CNBC (10%, 5%, 1%), Al Jazeera (9%, 5%, 2%) and Bloomberg (8%, 4%, 1%).

CNN International is also excelling digitally, ranking in the number one position ahead of all news and entertainment brands with a 14% monthly reach. This compares to National Geographic (11%), BBC (11%), Discovery (9%), Bloomberg (5%), CNBC (5%) and Al Jazeera (3%). The IPSOS Affluent Global findings confirm CNN registering a global digital audience of 99 million unique visitors in comScore’s August data – over 25 million ahead of BBC (73 million).

“What is commonly referred to as the ‘CNN effect’ is our ability to deliver non-partisan, objective reporting from all corners of the world quicker and in more detail than anyone else,” says Rani R. Raad, Chief Commercial Officer, CNN International. “It’s this effect that connects with our consumers on TV, mobile, digital and social platforms, making CNN the worldwide news leader it is today.”

Abeer Salman joins Strategies International

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Abeer Salman has joined Strategies International as PR Manager. With a wide range of experience across PR and marketing roles – in-house as well as agency – Abeer was most recently handling the PR department of COS – a clothing brand under the H&M division – for Kuwait and Dubai markets. In her new position, she will manage the PR accounts for Clarins Group Middle East, Charriol and Al Fahim Italia – which includes fragrances from Versace, Moschino and John Richmond.

“I am delighted to be a part of this great team and am excited to see what the future brings at Strategies International,” says Abeer. “I am also looking forward to the challenges ahead and being able to develop and grow with the team.

TCApr appoints a new Account Manager

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Ellis Nicholls has joined the TCApr team as Account Manager. Ellis joins from London where she previously worked across fashion brands as Account Executive for IPR, and in her new position will represent five-star luxury hotels based in Monaco, the Maldives, Seychelles and Mauritius, as well as with the El Corte Ingles department store, with a primary focus on English media.

“After working solely on fashion brands within the UK market for three years, I am excited to not only work within a different field, but to experience a new market,” says Ellis. “It’s great to join a new team which boasts so many different working backgrounds and experiences – I’m definitely going to learn a lot!”

Namrata Manghnani joins The Indian Trumpet

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Namrata Manghnani this week joins The Indian Trumpet magazine as Social Media Executive and Editorial Support. Upon joining the team, Namrata will be writing engaging articles and creating communications content to promote the magazine, as well as managing The Indian Trumpet‘s online social media platforms.

“I’m looking forward to being a part of The Indian Trumpet team,” says Namrata. “I will be gaining valuable experience about what goes on behind the scenes of a magazine, and am excited to learn and grow as a writer as well!”

Logistics News ME magazine launches

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Logistics News ME magazine has launched across the Middle East. The monthly B2B publication will be circulated across the GCC, with most of the circulation concentrated in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. With 5,240 copies to be distributed on a complimentary basis to logistics professionals, as well as those in other sectors that cross-over with logistics, Logistics News ME provides focused, accurate and up-to-date business information and market intelligence on the supply chain management and logistics industry in the Middle East.

“We’re looking forward to the logistics B2B audience discovering our outlook on the industry and the implications logistics has on GCC business as a whole,” says Diarmuid O’Malley, Group Publishing Director, BNC Publishing. “Together with Logistics News ME Editor Malcolm Dias, we hope to keep the sector’s professionals informed and engaged with our content on a monthly basis.”

Courtenay Hamilton joins Fifth Ring

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Courtenay Hamilton has joined Fifth Ring as its new PR Account Executive. Previously based in Abu Dhabi, Courtenay was most recently with the Integrated Marketing and Communications sector at RedFilo Events. In her new role, Courtenay will provide essential support across a range of energy sector clients to develop and deliver PR plans that will have real, measurable effects on clients’ businesses.

“I am delighted to have joined the team at Fifth Ring,” says Courtenay. “I’m really looking forward to being involved with the dynamic and exciting industry that is the energy sector.”

eBay to launch its first global brand campaign

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eBay is launching its first ever global brand campaign entitled ‘Shop the World’, in preparation for the run-up to the Christmas shopping season. The brand advertising campaign officially debuts in the United States tomorrow and in the UK on October 20, with plans to roll out across Australian and German markets in the coming weeks and more countries expected to be added in 2015.

The campaign has been developed in partnership with Goodby Silverstein & Partners and seeks to show how anything – be it a marathon, music festival or film screening – can act as inspiration for consumers, highlighted by the purchasable items within white boxes that appear throughout the advertisement. Running across digital, television, mobile and social channels, the 60-second campaign will aim to showcase the vast range of over 800 million listings on offer at eBay.

“The strength of the eBay brand represents the strength of our business and our entire community,” says Richelle Parham, Chief Marketing Officer, eBay North America. “Whether you’re seeking street style from Berlin or the perfect guitar to unleash your inner Jimi Hendrix, you will find an unmatched assortment of authentic new and vintage inventory from experienced eBay sellers to help fulfil your passion.”

 

Zaid Al Farah joins Ketchum Raad

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Zaid Al Farah has joined Ketchum Raad as Account Manager. With extensive experience across in-house and agency PR, Zaid joins the Ketchum Raad team from Jordan, where he was most recently Senior PR Officer at Umniah. In his new role, Zaid will specialise in the automotive PR sector, working alongside Ketchum’s talented automotive PR team.

“Working for such a renowned company will without doubt add valuable experience to my career,” says Zaid. “I am really excited and looking forward to working for this leading PR agency.”

Sayidaty magazine to launch Arabic platform

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Sayidaty is set to launch an online Arabic shopping platform known as Sayidaty Mall. Going live at the beginning of November, 2014, Sayidaty Mall will offer a new shopping experience, providing users with extensive and detailed information about stores, malls and brands across Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as sourcing credible information about where to shop for specific brands, what discounts and promotions are available, and will showcase the latest collections from popular brands. Sayidaty Mall will also be the first Arabic social commerce website, where subscribers can earn points based on interaction with the website – sharing products they have bought, reviews they have given and what products they have purchased online.

“Launching Sayidaty Mall in Saudi Arabia is one of the many steps we are working on to cover the Arab region and the demands of the Arabic shopper both on and offline,” says Mr. Alharthi, Editor-in-Chief, Sayidaty and Al Jamila Magazines. “The second step will be covering the United Arab Emirates, in addition to launching Sayidaty Mall applications on mobile devices which will provide distinguishing features for the Arabic shopper.”