Posts

Dubai Lynx 2018 Jury Presidents announced

Dubai Lynx 2018 jury presidents announced Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has invited ten high-profile international jury presidents to lead the juries at the Dubai Lynx Awards 2018. Set to take place from March 11-14, 2018 at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena, the award aims to honour creative excellence and communications across 18 categories including PR, film craft, media and the newly launched healthcare award. Leading the panel of jurors will be John Mescall, Global Executive Creative Director and President Global Creative Council at McCann Worldgroup – Global, Nadja Bellan-White, EVP and Global Brand Management at Ogilvy & Mather, EMEA, and Sue Daun, Executive Creative Director at Interbrand, UK.

“Our juries are at the heart of the Festival, reviewing work from across the MENA region and the jury presidents play an extremely important role in guiding the discussions that define and award the most creative campaigns,” says Jose Papa, Managing Director, Cannes Lions. “Over the past number of years we’ve worked tirelessly to include highly talented women as leaders of these juries and I’m honoured to say that this year we have managed a 50 – 50 split of male and female jury presidents.”

Five Minute Focus – Dubai Lynx 2018

With Dubai Lynx coming up, Team TMN sits down with Thea Skelton Festival Director at Dubai Lynx, to find out what to expect from the upcoming event…

When is Dubai Lynx 2018 and where will it be held?

Dubai Lynx 2018 will take place at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena, Dubai from March 11-13 with the Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony to be held on March 14.

Tell us about the concept behind Dubai Lynx…

Dubai Lynx is the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region’s annual event for the creative communications industry. The Festival brings people together to learn, network, be inspired and celebrate the brilliant creativity that comes from the region.

As a sister Festival to the globally renowned Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity, Dubai Lynx is part of an influential network and its premium global standards makes it well respected as one of the most credible awards and festival in the creative sphere within the region.

How will Dubai Lynx 2018 be different compared to the previous years? Tell us about the new aspects…

This year we have a new focus on healthcare, including a specific ‘Healthcare award’ andCreativity in Healthcare Communications Stage’. We are also expanding our startup offering with a dedicated ‘Startup Stage’, designed to unite start-ups, brand partners and agencies along with ‘The Business of Creativity Stage’, which will explore the business and management of creativity and offer advice and guidance on the practical aspects of business in the creative sector.

What are the challenges you face to make each year’s event different and meaningful?

The biggest challenge we face is raising the bar even higher each year. We bring a mixture of big name celebrities, industry legends, fresh faces and ideas to the stage along with experimental formats, and it’s really important for us to continue to do this and provide attendees with the best experience possible.

Can you tell us more about the awards/categories themselves?

The Dubai Lynx Awards celebrates the best creative work in MENA and have been doing so for the past 11 years. They’re all about recognising, nurturing and setting the standard for brilliant creative work in the region’s creative communications industry each year.

Do you have any feedback or tips for submissions, to help them stand out?

Feedback from our jury usually includes reminders to keep your submissions concise and provide clear examples of what the campaign achieved. If you’re considering entering but need some help, we have a team of experts who manage each award category from the very beginning of the process right through to coordinating the winners picking up their awards on stage. Their knowledge is encyclopedic and you can ask their advice or assistance at any time by emailing awards@dubailynx.com.

Who will be judging the entries for the Dubai Lynx Awards and Competitions?

The juries at Dubai Lynx represent the full breadth of the creative, design and digital communities. With over 2,600 entries from across 22 countries last year the breadth of experience and the global remit of the jury members is essential in ensuring that the benchmarks are set to the highest standards possible. The full jury line up will be announced in the coming months.

Who will be speaking at the event?

All kinds of creatively-minded people come together at Dubai Lynx. Each year we see a selection of top brand leaders, award-winning creatives, start-up founders, innovators, broadcasters, directors, marketers, artists, musicians from across the region and across the broader global creative community.

The line-up for the Dubai Lynx Festival 2018 will be confirmed closer to the Festival but to get a flavour of the event, take a look at who spoke at last year’s event through the website.

What will be the key topics of discussion at the event?

There is no specific theme, but all sessions have creativity in some form at their heart. Themes vary each year based on what the industry puts forward to discuss, ranging from creativity that drives inclusivity and modern storytelling to using technology as an enabler of creative communications.

What has been your advertising strategy in the region?

Dubai Lynx is a joint venture between Cannes Lions, the International Festival of Creativity and Motivate, with the support of Choueiri Group, Dubai Media City (DMC) and in association with the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA). These are fantastic partners with exceptional teams who help us share the Dubai Lynx message.

Is Dubai Lynx open for anyone to attend? What is the registration process?

Of course, anyone can attend and we encourage those with a passion for creativity and innovation to come and be inspired. Each year, the Festival attracts thousands of delegates from across the region and further afield including, advertisers, brands, fintech, governments, healthcare providers, innovators, media agencies and owners, production companies, startups and technology companies.

Passes can be purchased by visiting the website.

What is the reaction you expect, following the event?

We exist to recognise and celebrate the best of MENA’s creativity. The Awards Ceremony is always an incredible event as it demonstrates the quality and variety of regional creativity, which is showcased by the Festival. The connections made at Dubai Lynx propel people, brands and businesses, which is what drives us to make it better each year.

What kind of changes are you hoping to promote and encourage with this event?

We introduced an ‘Innovation Award’ last year to support and strengthen the efforts of the MENA region in becoming a global innovation and technology hub. This has grown and developed at a phenomenal rate with some of our Startup Alley participants taking their companies globally. This year we’ve launched a ‘Healthcare Award’ in consultation with the local industry. There’s a thriving scene of specialist healthcare agencies across MENA who are producing some truly innovative and pioneering work in a challenging sector. We envision that this area will grow in the coming years and it will be exciting to see how Dubai Lynx can help life-changing creativity in the region to flourish.

Dubai Lynx makes new appointment

Dubai Lynx has appointed Kamille Marchant to the role of Event Manager. Kamille has experience in the events industry having founded ThoughtFire, her own events and PR agency in South Africa and most recently worked across healthcare exhibitions such as Arab Health and Building Healthcare in the MENA region. In her new role, she will attend events for the advertising and communications industry and take the lead on event operations as well as support the delivery of Dubai Lynx to the highest possible standard.

“I couldn’t be prouder to join the Lynx team and such a well-respected event,” says Kamille. “I look forward to strengthening and building relationships in the industry.”

Dubai Lynx award winners announced

Dubai Lynx, the International Festival of Creativity has announced winners for this year’s awards ceremony that took place on March 8, 2017. With over 2,500 entries across 17 categories, the awards celebrate excellence in creative communications in the MENA region.

Pierre Choueiri, Chairman and CEO, Choueiri Group was honoured with the ‘Dubai Lynx Advertising Person of the Year Award’ and Coca-Cola Middle East was awarded the ‘Dubai Lynx Advertiser of the Year’. Winners of the Grand Prix awards included:

  • Memac Ogilvy & Mather Dubai for ‘Branded Content & Entertainment’ as well as the ‘Innovation’ award
  • Walter Thompson Beirut for ‘Creative Effectiveness’
  • Grey MENA Dubai for ‘Design’
  • The Classic Partnership Advertising Dubai for ‘Direct’
  • Blue Barracuda Dubai for ‘Film’
  • Walter Thompson Dubai for ‘Film Craft’ and ‘Radio’
  • Leo Burnett Beirut for ‘Grand Prix for Good’
  • Leo Burnett Dubai for ‘Interactive’
  • Walter Thompson Riyadh for ‘Media’
  • FP7/TUN Tunis for ‘Mobile’
  • TWA\RAAD for ‘Promo & Activation’
  • Y&R Dubai for ‘Outdoor’, ‘Print & Publishing’ as well as ‘Print & Outdoor Craft’
  • BBDO Worldwide for ‘Network of the Year’
  • Impact BBDO, Dubai for ‘Agency of the Year’
  • OMD, Dubai for ‘Media Agency of the Year’
  • Good People, Lebanon for ‘Lynx Palm Award’
  • Carine Howayek and Anirudh Shiva from J.Walter Thompson and Garen Yabremian from HSBC for ‘Young Lynx Integrated Campaign’
  • Marc Baakliny and Toni Tannous from J. Walter Thompson Riyadh for ‘Young Lynx Print Competition’
  • Yar Berjawi and Sasha El Jurdi from FP7/DXB for ‘Young Lynx PR Competition’
  • Amir Daou, Roshni D’Souza, Waqas Maqsood and Heena Makhijani from SOCIALEYEZ Dubai for ‘Twitter Live Young Lynx Competition’
  • Hanin Hassan from American University in Dubai for ‘Masar Student Creative Award for Print’
  • Asma Al-Aloosi from American University in Dubai for ‘STC Integrated Student Award’
  • American University in Dubai for ‘University of the Year’

“The Dubai Lynx awards exists to celebrate and champion creativity, while reflecting the ever-shifting branded communications landscape,” says Terry Savage, Chairman, Dubai Lynx. “This year saw submissions from 22 countries, including a first from Sudan and an increase in some more of the traditional categories such as ‘Print and Outdoor’. The evening brought to a close the three-day festival, which was attended by over 2,300 creative communications professionals this year and the work that was awarded really demonstrates the essence of creativity in the region.”

 

Custard to set up meeting hubs at Dubai Lynx

Dubai-based event management agency, Custard has partnered with Dubai Lynx to set up meeting hubs at the upcoming event. Through the hubs, the agency aims to draw attention to the importance of being able to conduct meetings in a private and professional environment, while maximising time at an event. The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity is set to take place from March 5-7, 2017 at Madinat Jumeirah Arena.

“Dubai Lynx brings together clients and teams from across the region and the wider world for three days to celebrate creativity in MENA,” says Emma Farmer, General Manager, Custard. “Naturally this lends to many high level face-to-face meetings being arranged, but ends up with people heading back to their offices to conduct their meeting in an appropriate environment. The hubs will give people the opportunity to book a fully equipped and air conditioned meeting room on site, removing the need to host meetings off-site and allowing delegates more time to experience the festival.”

Dubai Lynx announces Advertiser of the Year

The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has announced that Coca-Cola Middle East will be awarded the 2017 Advertiser of the Year. The award honours and embraces advertisers in the region for their innovation in creative communications.

“We are extremely proud to be honoured with this award.,” says Tolga Cebe, Marketing Director, Coca-Cola Middle East. “At the Coca-Cola Company, we continuously strive to engage with billions of consumers and make everyday moments special. We always challenge ourselves to enhance the way our brands connect with consumers leveraging both global and local insights. This award is a wonderful recognition for Coca-Cola and our agencies here in the region.”

New award at Dubai Lynx

The Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity has announced the launch of a new award category, The Innovation Award. The new award celebrates technological creativity and aims to support and promote the development of innovation across the industry. Ben Jones, former Chief Technology Officer, AKQA, has been elected as the Jury President for the new addition to Dubai Lynx. Entries for all award categories are open from November 24, 2016 with an ‘early bird’ rate until January 24, 2017. The final deadline for all entries is February 7, 2017.

“I can’t wait to be part of Dubai Lynx. I have always believed that the western world lives in isolation to the reality of greatness that comes from MENA and further afield. For me, innovation is the perfect blend of simplicity, thoughtfulness, naive excitement, timing and the ‘retrospective obvious’,” says Ben Jones, Jury President, Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity 2017. “It’s often in the new ways we communicate to the fresh business models that are created and quite often this is where the excitement lies and often without huge spend. These pillars shone through many of the entries from different categories at last year’s awards and I’m excited to see what entries come through this year.”

Dubai Lynx announces press conference

The 2017 Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity press conference will be held on December 5, 2016 at the CNN Building, Dubai Media City. The conference will focus on new initiatives for 2017, including the launch of an ‘Innovation Award’ and additions to the festival programme.

The press conference will be presented by Thea Skelton, Festival Director, Dubai Lynx, with panellists Terry Savage, Chairman, Lions Festivals; Ian Fairservice, Vice Chairman, Dubai Lynx; Khadija Al Bastaki, Director of Business Development, Dubai Media City; Hani Ghorayeb, President, IAA-UAE Chapter; Walid Yared, Chief Marketing Officer, Choueiri Group and Faisal Bin Haider, Chief Executive Officer – Printing and Distribution sector, Dubai Media Incorporated.

Dubai Lynx announces judges

Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity 2017 has invited eight high-profile international jurors to judge The Dubai Lynx Awards. The festival will take place from March 5 -8, 2017 at Madinat Jumeirah Arena. Closing the festival on March 8, 2017, the awards ceremony will honour creative excellence in film, print, outdoor, radio, direct, promo and activation, media, interactive, film craft, print & poster craft, design, mobile, PR, integrated, creative effectiveness and branded content and entertainment advertising and communications.

“The jury presidents are a core element in ensuring that stand-out work rises to the top and leads the way for the year to come,” says Thea Skelton, Festival Director, Dubai Lynx. “We’re delighted to have such an experienced line-up to lead the discussions on creativity in MENA with their respective juries.”

Emma Farmer joins Custard Communications

Events agency Custard Communications has appointed Emma Farmer to the role of General Manager. With over ten years of experience in events management, Emma previously worked with Centaur Media, UK as the Events Manager and most recently with Dubai Lynx as the Festival Director. In her new role, she will be joining the agency’s management team to oversee the strategic planning and representation of to meet their clients’ needs across the UAE.

“Strategically, now is the time for us to leverage our reputation and experience in the region to further strengthen our position as an industry leader,” says Nicola Holmes, Co-Founder, Custard Communications. “Emma has a fantastic track record and brings passion, strategic vision and clients’ needs to the heart of everything she does.”

Emma adds “I am very proud to be joining Custard, particularly at such a significant time for the company. I am looking forward to working with the team and driving the company forward.”