Tom Norton has joined the team at Esquire Middle East as Digital Editor. Tom brings with him experience in both the men’s and lifestyle digital sector, having worked previously as a Staff Writer for maxim.co.uk in London. As previous Editor of Sound & Stage Middle East for over a year, Tom continues at ITP Publishing to oversee all digital editorial content for esquireme.com.
Gemma Champ has been appointed as Acting Editor for La Femme, covering maternity leave for Pinpoint Media Group’s Group Editor, Jola Chudy. Working remotely from the UK, Gemma will oversee all content until Jola’s return on October 19, 2014. Having previously lived and worked in the UAE, Gemma has specialised editorial experience in luxury fashion for various UAE and international titles.
“I’m really looking forward to taking on such a beautiful magazine,” says Gemma. “La Femme has a genuine point of difference in an exciting women’s magazine market and I hope to maintain the high editorial standard that Jola Chudy has already set here.”
Performance PR has undergone a full rebrand, inclusive of a name change to Performance Communications. Founded in London in 2002 and launched in Dubai in 2010, the sports and automotive specialist unveils a new brand identity to represent more accurately the agency’s breadth of offering and international expansion over recent years. Performance Communications has recently extended its reach across Europe to support clients in 12 countries, and is also increasingly engaging in communications activities in Asia and Africa.
“As Performance PR, we built our reputation on successfully delivering the highest standard of PR support to our clients, wherever they were active,” says Ian Drinkwater, Co-Founder and Director of Performance Communications’ Middle East office. “Re-branding as Performance Communications may appear to be a small name change, but it is reflective of the blurring lines between PR, marcomms and the media landscape. We now employ an ever-expanding toolbox to deliver content and our name needed to mirror that.”
Active PR has added to its technology portfolio by securing Secunia in the Middle East. A global player within the IT security ecosystem in the niche of vulnerability management, Secunia equips corporate and private customers worldwide with vulnerability intelligence, vulnerability assessment and automated patch management tools to manage and control vulnerabilities across their networks and endpoints.
“We are delighted to add such a strong IT security player to our client portfolio,” says Louay Al Samarrai, Managing Partner, Active PR. “We are experiencing greater awareness and demand in the Middle East for cyber security solutions and moving from a responsive to a preventative mode, so as to proactively and sustainably prevent cyber-attacks from happening.”
Sahira Ladha has joined the TCApr team as PR Manager. Formerly with GolinHarris as PR Manager in Dubai, Sahira led key blue chip accounts for the agency. In her new position, Sahira will manage TCApr’s two main clients – Monte–Carlo SBM and Constance Hotels and Resorts, along with handling the English copywriting and media relations.
“I am very pleased to have joined this small team of talented professionals at TCApr,” says Sahira. “We are keen to deliver the best to our clients and cater to the growing demands of PR for the luxury hospitality industry.”
Nominations for the Emirates Woman Woman of the Year Awards 2014 are now open. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, Emirates Woman Woman of the Year honours women of all nationalities who make a difference in the UAE. Nominations are open to the public now, and can be made at www.emirateswoman.com/awards, with the nomination process due to close June 30, 2014. The winners will be announced on November 5, 2014, in a ceremony taking place at the Montgomery Golf Club in Dubai. The headline sponsor for the awards is Al Ghurair Centre.
TOH PR has won the account to represent Lulu Guinness as its public relations agency in the GCC. The first Lulu Guinness store will launch in July 2014 in Dubai, and is the result of a franchise partnership with AMZ Group. The British designer’s collections of outré bags and playful accessories are currently stocked in the UK, New York, London, China, Thailand and Tokyo.
“The team and I are delighted to have been awarded the Lulu Guinness PR account,” says Sophie Toh, Founder and Managing Director, TOH PR. “Lulu’s iconic designs surpass being classed as mere fashion accessories and are becoming collectable items in their own right. With our agency’s experience in the luxury sector and very real connections to the region’s influencers, we feel best placed to tell the Lulu Guinness story to a new, Middle Eastern audience.”
Online Lifestyle Network (OLN) has launched Arabic cooking platform JustFood.tv. With a collection of exclusive videos, recipes and chefs, JustFood.tv aims to create a platform that will provide women and men with expert advice to embrace cooking in the region. The new website launch complements OLN’s existing network of Arabic digital magazines, which include Nawa3em.com, gheir.com, Ra2ed.com and Chababs.com as well as OLN TV, the lifestyle and entertainment platform that streams video content in the Arabic language.
“With JustFood.tv we were looking to create a hospitable and sociable experience,” says Rudolf Jabre, CEO, OLN. “So, it was essential for our users to be able to easily explore premium content. We also wanted to showcase JustFood.tv as an ideal partner for brands and advertisers to create great culinary and consumer experiences in the region, as food and cooking represent a rich area in the digital world today. We’re very excited for the possibilities ahead.”
Zoya Sakr Jabre, Group Editor-in-Chief of OLN adds, “The food culture has evolved and changed so much in the last decade, and is about much more than sustenance; it’s about health and creativity. JustFood.tv reflects the food revolution in our culture, whilst also celebrating the Middle East’s exuberant and eclectic tastes.”
Lucy Torchia has joined the team at ITP Publishing as the new Editor of Sound & Stage Middle East. Prior to joining, Lucy was Editor for Read magazine at WhiteFox Media, where she managed a small team of editorial and design staff. Lucy takes over from Tom Norton who remains at ITP working on the consumer floor at Esquire.
NPI – formerly Nicholas Publishing International – has undergone a full rebrand and redesign, which includes renaming the company’s full title to npimedia (NPI). Established in 1997, the UAE publishing company has unveiled a new name, brand identity and logo as part of a dynamic evolution to change the shape of the company, in a cultural sense as well as the outward projection of the NPI brand. NPI’s portfolio includes five editions of Concierge magazine (Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Arabic, Russian and Chinese), as well as The Dubai Mall Magazine, Rotana magazine and a portfolio of eight meetings industry magazines – meetme and meet destination guides.
“As part of our renaming, we have also rolled out a new brand identity for the company,” says Rob Nicholas, Managing Director, NPI. “For too long we have focused on elements of our portfolio and paid less attention to the umbrella under which they fall. We felt that the company needed a brand presence that is at least as strong and engaging as our core media.”