Posts

Omnicom MENA ranked third best employer in UAE

/0 Comments/in /by

Omnicom Media Group MENA has been recognised as the third best employer in the UAE by the Great Place to Work® Institute. In its third year to participate in the survey, the Group has moved up four places in the global research and management consultancy’s ranking of the country’s 15 best employers. In its assessment, the Great Place to Work® Institute notes that Omnicom Media Group MENA’s keen focus on work/life balance makes it a leading example of how to integrate health and wellness into a company’s culture.

“As the field widens, staying in the top 15 gets harder every year, and improving our position so significantly is a remarkable feat. It is a very clear endorsement of the policies and practices we have put in place,” says Elie Khouri, CEO, Omnicom Media Group MENA. “This benchmark is a very important factor of our talent management approach and we deeply value not only the feedback but also the inspiration it provides us. The results speak for themselves and we couldn’t be more humbled by the endorsement of our teams.”

 

Omnicom Media Group award key achievers

/0 Comments/in /by

With business results that exceeded expectations across many of its operations in 2013, Omnicom Media Group MENA presented two leadership awards to standout staff members. The OMG MENA Leadership Award went to Chadi Farhat, while the Best OMG Office Leader Award was given to Rania Hafez of OMD Egypt.

Previously the general manager of OMD Lebanon, Chadi Farhat quickly made his mark in his first year as the new Regional Executive Director of Investments at Omnicom Media Group MENA. He strengthened and reorganised the investment teams within the group to deliver the strongest results for our clients. Farhat also introduced new processes and working models to increase the effectiveness of the function. By reinforcing the collaboration with all offices, business units and divisions, he enhanced the group’s holistic and integrated approach to clients’ investments.

Rania Hafez, General Manager of OMD’s Cairo office was also recognised for her efforts, despite the market facing significant socio-political unrest. She delivered double-digit growth in billings and grew revenues substantially. Far from being conservative in her approach, Hafez also solidified OMD’s position as Egypt’s only fully integrated media agency after expanding its digital capabilities to include creative and development. What’s more, the office’s awards performance led OMD to being named Communicate’s Media Agency of the Year.

“The energy that our teams put in the pursuit of excellence in every fact of our operations, even in the face of uncertainty, is truly remarkable,” says Elie Khouri, CEO, Omnicom Media Group MENA. “What Chadi and Rania have done is to raise the bar further still and our recognition of their achievements is not only deserved, it also acts as a benchmark and an inspiration for the rest of us.”

OMD named Media Network/Agency of the Year

/0 Comments/in /by

OMD, part of the Omnicom Media Group, has been named the Media Agency/Network of the Year by Communicate and Campaign Middle East as revealed in both magazines’ latest editions. Consolidating business wins from the previous year as well as retaining or securing 14 new ones in 2013 has demonstrated the value of OMD’s first-mover advantage in digital, performance, social and mobile marketing, as well as analytics.

“OMD has thrived on its culture of innovation and challenging the status quo. This approach has served us well and it keeps on giving,” comments Elie Khouri, CEO of Omnicom Media Group MENA. “It is the relentless spirit among the team that propels OMD upward and forward. Being the media agency of the year is something we aim to achieve every day on every one of our accounts.

DABO & CO continues winning streak at MEPRAs

/0 Comments/in /by

Integrated communications agency DABO & CO added three further MEPRA awards to its already impressive tally at last night’s fifth Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards. The latest awards sweep takes the company’s total MEPRA awards tally to 15 since the annual event was launched in 2009. Past awards include ‘Agency of the Year’ in 2010 and ‘Mid-Sized Agency of the Year’ in 2012.

DABO & CO triumphed with three awards out of the four categories entered picking up Best Integrated Campaign – DABO & CO & Marriott International: ‘The Launch of the JW Marriott Marquis’, Best Use of Media Relations Consumer or Trade: ‘Canon at Gulf Print 2013’ and Best Practice Consumer Goods: ‘kate spade new york’.

“The annual MEPRA Awards is a major highlight for us as an agency and we are thrilled to have walked away with three awards in recognition of our integrated and results-driven approach to communications,” says Managing Partner, Camilla d’Abo. “Yesterday’s MEPRA awards were the perfect celebration of an industry that has come of age. In light of yesterday’s Dubai Expo 2020 win, the Middle East’s PR industry is on the threshold of an amazing period in its evolution and I am confident that this will bring further opportunities to showcase world-class campaigns emerging from the region.”

Jason Leavy, Managing Director, added: “The 2013 MEPRA wins are the perfect way to round off another exceptional year for the agency. Not only have we recently moved to new state-of-the-art offices to accommodate our continued growth, but we have a stronger than ever talent pool combining exceptional local talent alongside international industry heavy weights, and we are looking forward to an even better 2014.”

Ketchum dominates Healthcare at MEPRA Awards

/0 Comments/in /by

For the second consecutive year, Ketchum Raad dominated the healthcare sector at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards held last night. The event recognised the Ketchum Raad ME team as Best Practice in Healthcare & Services for their partnership with AstraZeneca Gulf on the Safe@Heart campaign.

The campaign, targeted at Gulf Nationals who are at risk of heart disease, those who have been diagnosed with a heart condition or those who have had a heart attack, has resulted in over 5400 people taking part in heart health screenings and hundreds signing up for a 12 week programme that encourages them to make easy yet impactful changes in their daily habits to benefit their health.

“Healthcare is a packed space with a lot of important messages vying for an opportunity to be heard,” says Nicola Gregson, Managing Director Ketchum Raad Middle East. “Campaigns need to be intelligent, strategic and extremely well executed to capture the media’s attention and reach their target audience. I couldn’t be more proud of my team for their success with Safe@Heart. We are expanding our healthcare offering in 2014 and look forward to partnering with our existing and future clients to deliver even more impactful and effective communications across the sector.”

Abigail Dawson, Account Director and Regional Healthcare Lead at Ketchum Raad Middle East added, “This is the second year in a row we have received the Best Practice Healthcare and Services award and we are truly proud to be taking it home again. Projects like Safe@Heart are the reason we are in communications. As a healthcare team, we are genuinely passionate about working with our clients to help them achieve their business goals as well as communicate with patients and customers and empower them to change their lives positively.”

FP7 does the double at 2013 Effie MENA Awards

/0 Comments/in /by

FP7 won a historic double at the Effies 2013, sweeping Network of the Year and the FP7 Dubai office winning Agency of the Year.

Tarek Miknas, CEO of FP7 MENA was ecstatic at the huge metal tally and the crowning achievements. In an emotional mail to all FP7 staff he wrote, “I thank everyone in this network for contributing to our transformation. I travel from market to market, and I see how hard we are all working to turn our agency into the one we’ve always wanted. You are all stars and I am seriously proud to be among you everyday. Please do take your new title of The Most Effective Agency very seriously as we intend to hold onto this position beyond 2014!”

Sasan Saeidi, who spearheads the FP7 UAE operation added: “Effies is the future of our industry and all our clients are demanding more accountability and responsibility for our communication ideas, every day. Effies, is creativity with purpose. An award that celebrates the creation of ideas that create impact and results. This is what we should all be doing every day. Nothing is more important.”

 

International recognition for McCann Worldgroup

/0 Comments/in /by

McCann Worldgroup was recognised in Advertising Age & Creativity magazine’s Annual Awards Report as the third most “Creatively Awarded Network,” with McCann Melbourne ranked as the most “Creatively Awarded Agency.”

This recognition comes in a year in which McCann’s creative awards performance netted it honours as “Agency of the Year” in New York and as “Network of the Year” in both Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific, along with other major creative awards recognition globally. The Advertising Age & Creativity magazine report also recognised McCann Melbourne’s “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign for Metro Trains Australia as the “Most Awarded Campaign” of the year and its creative leaders John Mescall and Pat Baron as the two highest-ranked creative directors in the entire global advertising industry.

“This is a terrific achievement for the entire McCann network, highlighted by the tremendous success of our Melbourne office,” said Harris Diamond, Chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup. “The recognition across categories from digital to integrated, film to design, is a testament to the great work all of our staff has been doing around the world. This is work that not only continues to win the admiration of our peers, but also drives our clients’ businesses forward.”

Along with this record of creative recognition, McCann this year added several new global and regional clients, including the consolidation of the Chevrolet business globally, the addition of Zurich Insurance and SABIC to the network’s global roster, and new U.S. clients including the U.S. Postal Service, Lockheed Martin and Jose Cuervo.

entourage honoured at Dubai SME 100 Awards

/0 Comments/in /by

entourage marketing and events were honoured at the prestigious Dubai SME 100 awards that took place yesterday. Key management were present to receive the industry recognition at the award ceremony that took place at Dubai World Trade Centre, in the presence of HH Sheikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority.

“At entourage we don’t just work for awards but for results for our clients, this approach is now being recognised by the guardians of industry,” says Mohammed Tayem, Managing Director of entourage. “Personally I am extremely proud of my team and thank our clients to giving us a chance to serve them.”

SME 100 is a premier ranking of Dubai’s 100 top performing SMEs, launched by the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development (Dubai SME).