Luke Britton has joined the BBC Good Food Middle East team as Sales Manager in the run up to its sixth birthday issue next month. Luke is responsible for new business as well as The 25 Guides series, which include the UAE Brunch Guide and the Dubai F&B Guide.
Toh PR’s ever-increasing portfolio of clients now includes Vintage Bloom – a luxurious floral studio offering international floral trends.
Founded in 2011 by floral designer Nada Gokal, Vintage Bloom offers creative vision, vast experience and passion for crafting magical moments.
Lesley Wright has been named as the new Editor at Hype: Powered By Mixmag magazine, the nightlife and music guide, available free, weekly, throughout the UAE. Previously Editor of world-renowned dance music title DJ Magazine in London for nine years, Lesley started her new role at Motivate Publishing this week.
“I’m really thrilled to be joining this exciting new title,” says Lesley. “The UAE’s music and club scene is fresh and exciting and we’ll be capturing that in Hype, bringing international DJs and bands to a local audience and supporting the army of city-based promoters who have created such a thriving scene.”
Weber Shandwick MENA announced today its partnership with Aramex, the global logistics and transportation solutions provider. Following a recent competitive pitch process, the public relations agency was appointed Aramex’s strategic communications consultant.
As Aramex continues to diversify its business and expand into new emerging markets, the company was looking for an established international agency to help develop and implement a global external and internal communications strategy.
“As Aramex experiences unprecedented success, we were looking for a communications partner who shared our values and who could support us across all areas of our business,” explained Hussein Hachem, Chief Executive Officer of Aramex. “We believe Weber Shandwick MENA will play an integral role in helping drive our brand agenda in the region and develop communications strategies that advance our business goals of growth and expansion.”
Weber Shandwick MENA will work with Aramex to enhance and roll out a PR programme that improves the company’s financial communications, media relations and stakeholder engagement. The agency will also build capacity in its corporate, investor and internal engagement functions to strengthen the Aramex brand.
“We are delighted to be the official agency of record for Aramex and this win reinforces Weber Shandwick’s position as one of the top PR consultancies in the market. Aramex is a true Arabian success story and the company’s entrepreneurial spirit has always been at the heart of its business achievements. We look forward to working with Aramex to take its communications to the next level and position the company as one of the leading global logistics and transportation companies,” said Ziad Hasbani, Chief Executive Officer of Weber Shandwick MENA.
Style.com Arabia has announced the launch of its iPhone app, available now in the iTunes App Store. Pledging to bring the latest and greatest fashion news from the Middle East and around the world, the app will cover the world’s leading fashion shows, parties and people. An iPad first edition will be available soon.
Style.com Arabia launched in October 2012 as Condé Nast’s first fashion publication for the Middle East – and the first ever Arabic publication.
Natasha Hatherall, Managing Director of boutique PR agency, TishTash, has announced Future Kids Accelerated Learning Centre (FKALC) as the agency’s latest account win. Offering preschool programmes and accelerated learning activities, FKALC offers whole brain training using a right brain education approach, which encourages children to use the brain as effectively as possible.
“We’re really excited to welcome Future Kids to our portfolio of clients,” says Natasha. “It’s a fascinating concept – one that we’re sure will be extremely popular in the UAE.”
Communications advisor, David Banks, questions the effectiveness of reputation insurance as a means of crisis management
Reputation is transacted in a currency called ‘trust’. You can’t convince someone that you’re trustworthy by paying your way out of a problem – you can only do it by demonstrating and proving that you deserve their trust.
What do business leaders fear the most? Surveys show their biggest fear is ‘reputation risk’ – in other words, the danger that their company will suffer a major PR crisis so significant that it brings a financial loss. After high-profile disasters such as the BP oil spill and the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship, where reputation damage was closely followed by financial woes, it’s not surprising that reputation risk now tops the list of corporate financial concerns.
In many ways it’s a victory for PR professionals that the subject of reputation is now at the top of the corporate agenda, but it’s insurers who are positioning themselves to gain the most. So-called reputation insurance is being offered by some of the most credible firms in the insurance industry and is already available to corporations in the Middle East.
In exchange for a regular premium, the insurer will provide a payout that is designed to help bring a company out of its reputation crisis. At least that’s the idea. The insurance payout is often tied to a public relations campaign, which is supposed to assist the crisis-hit company for a fixed number of weeks. PR professionals reading this might already be feeling uneasy about this financial ‘solution’ to reputation and will have some serious questions about it, just as I did.
How much can a new PR agency achieve after the crisis has hit? What happens when the plug is pulled on the agency’s help? How would the media and an angry public react to a crisis-hit company receiving an insurance payout? There were 24 questions like this and I interviewed journalists, social theorists, public relations experts and risk managers in an effort to find the answers.
One of the most telling question and answers was, “Would the media view a reputation insurance claim negatively?” The answer, after interviewing more than 80 journalists was an overwhelming negative response. The vast majority of mainstream journalists said their view of a crisis-hit company would suffer if they found out the crisis had led to a reputation insurance claim. Furthermore, journalists also said they would be suspicious and dismissive of any communications response that was triggered by an insurance policy rather than appearing as a genuine desire to be contrite or to put the record straight.
The reason this is important is that for a company in the middle of a reputation crisis, perception of management behaviour matters a great deal. When these perceptions are hindered, it could make the crisis deeper and longer. What it comes down to is this: Every company’s and every person’s reputation is transacted in a currency called ‘trust’ and not money. As soon as anyone tries to transact reputations in money, they are perceived to be doing the wrong thing. You can’t convince someone that you’re trustworthy by paying your way out of a problem. You can only do it by demonstrating and proving that you deserve their trust. When trust is broken, the only answers are sincerity, apology and a change of behaviour.
The insurers offering reputation insurance admit that the policy only provides an answer to the cost of a PR response and does not guarantee that public trust will be repaired or even improved. Furthermore the insurance claim pays for only a short duration of the overall crisis lifecycle. Most policies refer to PR support of several weeks or months, whereas PR textbooks show that the lifecycle of a serious reputation crisis – the type that is insured – often lasts for years.
With all things considered, could it be the real risk lies in the reputation insurance itself?
David Banks is an independent communications advisor who specialises in the insurance industry. Based in London, David spent four years living in Dubai, UAE, during which time he edited the Middle East’s first English language insurance magazine and established the region’s first insurance and reinsurance awards.
Connect with David on Twitter @DavidJBanks
NAME: Matthew Fortune
AGE: 27
FROM: London, UK
JOB TITLE: Web editor, What’s On
When did you arrive in the UAE? August 17, 2013
Where did you work prior? Daily Mail/Mail Online – reporter and sports news editor.
What are your first impressions of the media industry in the Middle East? First and foremost it appears chock full of genuinely lovely people, all willing to lend an ear or some advice on settling in to a new country. The industry’s attitude is progressive and therefore exciting, and frankly I can’t wait to become fully immersed.
Tell us about your new role? I’ve left newspapers behind to take up the role of ‘web editor’ at Motivate with the primary aim of launching a site to partner with the print edition of What’s On. We want to make WhatsOn.ae the go-to place for residents and tourists as they look to get the very best of life in Dubai and beyond. We’ll cover everything – and a little bit more – already so brilliantly packaged in the magazine. We want WhatsOn.ae, with its breaking news and special features, to be your homepage.
What challenges are you facing? Having come from one of the top six news websites in the world (140million unique visitors a month) to one that doesn’t even exist (0,000,000 uniques!) has been quite a shock to the system, as has the change of pace from churning out breaking news. Getting to grips with a new lifestyle and city will also be challenging, but I know that my willingness to try everything once will stand me in very good stead moving forward.
How do you plan to make your mark? By delivering an original, innovative and ultimately successful website that the good folk of the region will wonder how they ever lived without.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job? At the moment it is seeing the daily development of our site as we move towards delivering a product that continues the excellence set by 34 years of print editions. I hope as time progresses I will take great pride in being behind the region’s most useful and entertaining website.
How do you find the PRs in the region? So far, so good, but limited in my short time here. Fear not, though, I want to know you all know as soon as possible and count many of you as friends in the not-too-distant future.
What’s your pet PR peeve? False niceties. If I make a mistake (it happened once in 2007, I think), or let you down, don’t sugarcoat it, because I won’t do the same. Working relationships are always more profitable for all concerned when at the heart of it is trust, honesty and friendship. In my previous role, the best content came about on both sides when journalist and contact/PR were more than just ’emailers’. Let’s grab a coffee, talk it out – loudly if needs be – and see how all parties can come out winning.
What advice can you offer PRs seeking coverage in your magazine? Know WhatsOn.ae better than I do.
Work calls via Landline, mobile or both? During work hours, it is best to call the office, but I am always on the end of my mobile, unless Arsenal are playing…Emergencies happen in this industry, so if at 11pm you see something that isn’t right on the site, call me, and I will always do my best to help out.
Describe yourself in five words. I’ll leave that for others.
What’s your most overused word or saying? I sign off almost every discussion with ‘cool, yep’. I hate myself a little more each time I do it.
Five things you can’t live without? Cinema, Spotify, good food, my coffee machine (although I currently am living without it as it is back in London)… and PRs!
If you weren’t a journalist, what would you be? (**avoids making joke about being in PR**) Whether or not I’d be capable is up for debate, but I’d love to have been a chef.
Matthew is the new Editor of www.whatson.ae. Say hello by emailing matthewf@motivate.ae or pick up the phone and chat on +971 (0)4 427 3091
Gareth Rees has taken over as Editor of Emirates Airline’s inflight magazine, Open Skies, published by Motivate Publishing. Previously Food Editor of What’s On magazine, Gareth was promoted to Deputy Editor of the multi award-winning monthly title in January 2012, and now replaces former editor, Conor Purcell.
“As anybody who has picked up a copy on an Emirates flight will know, Open Skies is not your typical inflight magazine,” says Gareth. “I worked with my predecessor, Conor Purcell, for 18 months, commissioning some of the industry’s most talented writers, designers, illustrators and photographers, and I will continue to work with the team to challenge perceptions of what an inflight magazine is and can be, whilst putting my own stamp on a title that has already won numerous awards. I hope to win more.”
The Qode, the Dubai-based communications and events agency, is proud to announce signing LUSH KSA as a regional account and will be handling all press relations for the brand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Account manager, Rania Kfoury, who has worked on LUSH UAE for the past year and Lush Lebanon for the last few months, will be the main point of contact.