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Rahman Risilia joins MCG Group

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MCG Group has appointed Rahman Risilia to the role of Managing Director – MENA of its recruitment brands, MCG& Associates and Kemistry. With 16 years of experience in recruitment across the marketing, digital, communications, IT and sales sectors, Rahman has worked with Mackenzie Jones Middle East as Sales, Marketing, Digital Manager and most recently with Simply Digital ME as Director.  In his new role, he will work alongside the Global CEO of MCG Group, Justin McGuire and take full control of the Dubai office.

“MCG& Associates and Kemistry are reputable and global recruitment agencies and I’m thrilled to be joining at such an exciting and crucial time for the business,” says Rahman. “I am looking forward to working with the talented team and building on what is already an amazing brand, by implementing a proven service delivery model, customer engagement plan and to centre our place as the number one agency within the advertising, marketing and digital space.”

PR is a commitment, not a short-term fling!

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Shraddha Barot Amariei, Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer at White Label Media Group, talks about the benefits of growing an agency in the Middle East and how long-term partnerships help the client…

I started White Label Media as a passion project, back in 2012 and has purely grown based on referrals. Humble beginnings with no office and a one woman show to 15 people. I have been working in this region for over a decade and passionately built my networks from the ground up.

“Working in PR is a tricky thing. To the public view it’s a quick snapshot, a brief story, one off event, flash of a product placement or a clever co-marketing opportunity. Internally, those relationships took months, even years to build in order to offer communications strategies, PR operations and marketing services to our clients that will provide a magical moment of exposure.”

I realised early on that this is a long-term game. Respect is earned from your peers and clients when you don’t buy into the short cuts and when your company’s culture is built on a genuine vision, and the grueling practice of trial and error. To truly build a successful business is hard work and requires tremendous sacrifice. Regardless of what industry you’re in, there is no such thing as a fast solution to staying in business. Our job is to understand the struggles that clients face and identify them on a human level before we make a positive impact on their business. Working in PR is a tricky thing. To the public view it’s a quick snapshot, a brief story, one off event, flash of a product placement or a clever co-marketing opportunity. Internally, those relationships took months, even years to build in order to offer communications strategies, PR operations and marketing services to our clients that will provide a magical moment of exposure.

The trick is in order to identify those magical opportunities you have to know the brand inside and out. It’s completely in the client’s best interest to work hand-in-hand with an agency so they can fully understand the ethos of the brand, the heartbeat, the vision, the voice and the destination. Being an insider, gives the PR agency competitive advantage to seek out creative ways to use PR successfully. At White Label Media, we work as part of the team. We don’t believe in a rigid contract because we know that PR is a lot more then just a task list, it’s a relationship. PR is a back and forth exchange that needs support, love and guidance, all directed towards the same goal.

The struggle lies in getting clients to understand the long-term game, not to mention the variety of what PR is aside from press releases, social media and the occasional launch event. It’s a common theme for clients to switch agencies for every little project, starting from scratch each time. This likely leads to the client being unsatisfied with the work and wanting more. They don’t understand how the fee equals the product or the value of the network that the agency has. As the saying goes, your network is your net worth. The days, months and years of endless meetings, conversations, parties and networking that it took to build a powerful network that you can use to navigate success for your clients is invaluable. In order for it to be used properly the agency needs to know the brand from A to Z.

Our job as agencies is to educate the market, help them understand the benefits of a committed relationship, a lot like our personal lives! You get out, what you put in. By putting time, effort and dedication in PR, we become committed on a long-term basis and not just for the short term, which earns loyalty – and loyalty buys you opportunities that are endless.

Katch International makes new hire

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Dubai-based integrated communications agency, Katch International has appointed Sean Hahessy to the role of Creative Copywriting Specialist. With a degree in English History from University of Limerick and five years of writing and editing experience, Sean has worked with Skydive Dubai as Content Writer and Editor, and most recently with Sahara Real Estate as Learning and Development Manager. In his new role, he will be responsible for writing, editing and curating content across multiple channels for Katch’s portfolio of clients.
“I am delighted to be moving back into a more focused writing and creative role with an expanding team who are just as excited to tackle new challenges and evolve,” says Sean. “There’s a great energy here at Katch and it’s definitely going to be an interesting role dealing with varied clients across sectors.”

Amy Piek is promoted at Bell Pottinger Middle East

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Bell Pottinger Middle East (BPME) has promoted Amy Piek to the role of Director. Having been with the agency for over three years, Amy was previously Associate Partner and assisted in building the firm’s Financial Communications & Investor Relations practice.

In her new role, she will work alongside fellow Director Tim Falconer (Dubai) and Archie Berens, Managing Director (Middle East) to facilitate in the separation of Bell Pottinger Middle East from the current owner Bell Pottinger Private Limited in the UK, which is to be put into administration.

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity for us.  As an independent and financially secure business with a strong and experienced team in charge of its own destiny, it will now be open to us to consider a whole range of options,” says Archie Berens, Managing Director, BPME, Middle East. “Our company has a long and proud tradition of working in the Middle East and it is now up to us to continue to build on that.  With my fellow directors Tim Falconer and Amy Piek, I cannot wait to get started on the next stage of the journey.  We are especially pleased to have been able to promote Amy, who has thoroughly deserved this and has a key role to play in our future.”

Sasan Saeidi joins J. Walter Thompson

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Global communications agency, J. Walter Thompson has appointed Sasan Saeidi as the new CEO for the agency’s gulf operations. Having previously worked with FP7 as Managing Director, McCann group in Dubai since 2011, Sasan brings with him 18 years of experience in strategy, account management, business development and has led teams in North America as well as the MENA region across many sectors. In his new role Sasan will be leading the Dubai, Kuwait and Qatar teams on network projects, leading group pitches and driving the agency’s development agenda in the region as well as leveraging best practices and talent performance in the interests of clients and their brands.

“J. Walter Thompson is a pioneering communications agency both globally and locally and I’m truly excited about the work and positive transformation we are going to be doing,” says Sasan. “I look forward to working with some great talent, and ensuring we create a castle of world-class ideas that are responsible, innovative, drive our clients’ businesses and shape culture. Throughout this journey my plan is to help implement a culture that positions the agency as the best “creative consultancy” in the region for brands and businesses, one which will also compete globally.”

Caroline Rowe joins Media One Hotel

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Media One Hotel has appointed Caroline Rowe as Director of Marketing and Communications. With over 10 years of global marketing strategy experience, Caroline previously worked in Shanghai with Three on the Bund in the Communications department and in New Delhi as a PR consultant for Perfect Relations. In her most recent position with the Taj hotel in Business Bay Dubai she assisted with the opening of the property and worked as a consultant across numerous digital projects in the UAE.

In her new role, Caroline will use her global expertise to assist the Media One team in bringing a fresh, digitally driven approach to its marketing and how the hotel communicates the brand’s message to the region.