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Winners of the MEPRA Awards 2014 announced

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The winners of the MEPRA Awards 2014 have been announced. Celebrating the achievements of the Middle East’s PR industry over the last 12 months, a record-breaking 161 entries for this year’s MEPRA Awards were whittle down to 17 winners.

MEPRA Agency of the Year was awarded to Weber Shandwick MENA, while Memac Ogilvy Dubai won the Best Campaign award for The Autocomplete truth initiative and Mubadala won the In-House Team of the Year. A total of 10 agencies and organisations won for their creativity and execution, with Weber Shandwick, Memac Ogilvy and Hill+Knowlton Strategies winning multiple categories.

The winners were selected by a distinguished jury of marketing and communications leaders from across different sectors and organisations. The jury selected entries that exemplified best practices from across five categories – issue identification, research, strategic approach, planning and execution. Entries were received from across the region, extending to Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, as well as the UAE.

“The judges noted the quality of the entries this year, and they were impressed by how well the winners had managed to convey the underlying issue, the depth of research undertaken, the thought behind their strategic approach, the amount of planning which went into the winning campaigns and the quality of the execution,” says Carine Duvignaud, General Manager, MEPRA. “This year’s award-winning campaigns, agencies and organisations prove that the region has moved beyond what is traditionally viewed as a function that only embodies media relations to a profession that adds real value to the bottom line in terms of reputation building, issues awareness and incremental business.”

The full list of winners for the MEPRA Awards 2014 is as follows:

Sectors & Services 

  • Best Consumer Goods Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Tunisia – Delice
  • Best Consumer Services Campaign – House of Comms – Bounce: The Free-Jumping Revolution
  • Best Consumer Services Campaign (Highly Commended) – Hill+Knowlton Strategies – WWE Riyadh Tour 2014
  • Best Corporate Reputation & Image Campaign – Weber Shandwick MENA – The DGC-X-Factor! How DGCX Transformed Its Regional and Global Profile
  • Best Corporate Social Responsibility & Environmental PR Campaign – Blue Rubicon – Action on Diabetes Ramadan

Campaign

  • Best Government Communications Campaign – Hill+Knowlton Strategies – Inspiring a Sporting Generation – Qatar National Sports Day
  • Best Health Car & Services Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – Break Away from Psoriasis
  • Best Business to Business Campaign – Weber Shandwick MENA – Credit Where It’s Due! Raising Understanding of S&P’s Role in Regional Capital Market Development
  • Best Internal Communications Campaign – ENEC – 123 Tarkeez

Techniques 

  • Best Integrated Campaign – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – The Autocomplete truth
  • Best Launch Live Event/Stunt – DABO & CO – The Launch of Nokia Lumia 1020: Reaching New Heights
  • Best Use of Media Relations – Mojo PR – ICAEW
  • Best Use of Social Media & Digital PR – Atlantis the Palm
  • Best Use of Sponsorship – Hill & Knowlton Strategies – ‘Winning the ultimate World Cup battle of the brands for Adidas’

People and Agencies 

  • Agency of the Year – Weber Shandwick MENA
  • In-House Team of the Year – Mubadala
  • Best Overall Campaign of the Year – Memac Ogilvy PR Dubai – The Autocomplete truth
  • Dave Robinson Award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year – Becki Willis, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
  • Dave Robinson Award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year (Highly Commended) – Rijosh Joseph, DABO & CO

Shaheena Abbas joins house of comms

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Shaheena Abbas has joined the team at PR and communications agency house of comms as Senior Account Manager. Shaheena brings with her extensive PR and marketing experience from the UK and Dubai, having worked previously in a number of consumer, technology, F&B, healthcare, fashion and retail brands. In her new position, Shaheena will play a key role in supporting the growing portfolio of house of comms clients.
“house of comms represents everything that I love about this industry,” says Shaheena. “Their fresh approach, dynamic and growing team, and a real focus on client delivery makes me very excited to be a part of the team. With such a diverse and interesting portfolio of clients, this is an excellent opportunity for me to work on some very exciting and creative campaigns across the region.”
Kaja Weller, Founding Partner of house of comms adds, “It’s been an excellent start to the year for the business. We are continuing to develop our client base and focus on delivering results for our clients, across the Middle East. We are very pleased to bring Shaheena on board to further strengthen our existing talent pool and to support the agencies continued expansion.”

House of comms appoints new Account Director

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House of comms announces its newest recruit, Joanna Agnew, who joins as Account Director to support a wave of recent client wins. Joining from DABO & CO, where she previously headed up accounts such as BMW Group Middle East and JW Marriott Marquis Dubai/Marriott International, Joanna brings to the table a wealth of local, regional and international experience.

“I’m really excited to be joining the company at such an exciting time in its development,” says Joanna. “I’m looking forward to working with the team to create strategic and targeted campaigns that deliver real results for clients across the region.”

Abby Wilks, founding partner of house of comms, adds: “It has been a fantastic first year for the business, during which we’ve focused on organic growth, building a strong and solid client base and, above all, delivering excellent results for all of our retained and project clients. Joanna is the perfect new addition and we very much look forward to having her as part of our senior management team.”