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Image Nation launches “Quest for Talent”

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Image Nation launched their ‘Quest for Talent’ today across the Middle East and North Africa, in a bid to find potential TV personalities to appear on new channel, Quest Arabia. The channel will reach 45 million households across the MENA region and will appeal to a demographic of Arabic speakers, with a specific focus on male-orientated content at key times in the schedule. It will screen a combination of regionally-produced original material and content from Discovery’s library of non-fiction shows which will be edited and repurposed for the regional audience.

Applications for ‘Quest for Talent’ are open to men and women aged from 18 – 40 from across the MENA region, no media experience is necessary as Quest Arabiya will provide all the training and support necessary to launch a successful TV career. All applicants will need to do is make a short film using their phone, capturing their personality and enthusiasm.

“This is an exciting opportunity for us to uncover new talent in the region, as we build a diverse team capable of creating and delivering top-quality regional content,” says Eeman Al Ansari, Programming Executive, Quest Arabiya. “It’s an incredible opportunity for people in the Middle East to break into television and receive the support and training they need for a career in this dynamic and challenging industry.”

To apply, send your submission to talent@imagenation.ae

For further information, contact Haydn Galloway at haydngalloway@sevenmedia.ae / +971 (0)52 850 0865

Advertyze Network launches

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Advertyze Network, an agency providing high-quality digital marketing solutions, launched at a gala ceremony in the Grand Hyatt Dubai last night, with movers and shakers from the advertising industry in attendance. The network will act as a digital advertising resource, aimed at marketers to aid online advertising by allowing them to like and share successful adverts, gain reports based on activity and use an auto ad builder to create adverts within minutes.

“We at Advertyze Network are super excited by the outstanding reception at the launch event, but not surprised by the response from the market,” says Saad Siddiqui, CEO, Advertyze. “After all, the innovations on offer are exactly what advertisers need and these will be among the most talked-about, and most used digital tools to impact audiences.”

For further information, contact Rabie Riman at rriman@entourageintl.com / +971 (0)4 429 1270

Leo Burnett Beirut wins three Facebook Awards

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Leo Burnett Beirut represented their region as the only Middle Eastern company to receive Facebook Awards in 2015. The agency won both Gold (New Frontier) and Silver (Facebook for Good) awards for their work with non-governmental women’s rights organisation, KAFA, as well as a second Silver (New Frontier) award for their ‘Keep Walking Lebanon’ campaign for Johnny Walker. Other international recipients of the Facebook Awards included Droga5, McCann Lima and LA RED.

The Facebook Awards were established to celebrate the best creative work on Facebook, as chosen by leading creatives in the industry. They recognise excellence in campaign execution, as well as creative growth and evolution on Facebook, with judges looking for inspired work that challenges industry attitudes towards content publishing. A party will be held on June 24, 2015 in Cannes to celebrate the winners of this year’s awards.

Twitter CEO to step down

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Twitter’s Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo is set to step down from his position on July 1, 2015, having been in the role since October, 2010. The former entrepreneur will remain on Twitter’s board of directors and the company has iterated that Costolo’s departure is his own decision to move on from his role, and that this move will have no financial impact for stakeholders. Former colleagues have praised Dick across Twitter, using the hashtag #ThankYouDickC.

While Twitter’s board hunt for a new permanent CEO, Jack Dorsay – a co-founder of the social networking site, as well as the first person to send a tweet when it launched in 2006 – will act as Interim Executive Officer.

Al Jazeera English wins at Online Media Awards

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Al Jazeera English online won three awards at the Online Media Awards in London on Thursday, June 11, 2015. The awards were for Best Technical Innovation, Best Use of Photography and Outstanding Digital Team of the Year, and they were judged by an independent panel from the British Journalism Review.

The Best Technical Innovation and Outstanding Digital Team of the Year titles were awarded for the Palestine Remix project, which was a network-wide initiative allowing users to access some of Al Jazeera’s documentaries on Palestine. The project also included interactive maps and timelines to help users understand and contextualise the Palestine issue. The Best Use of Photography award was given for Al Jazeera’s Portrait of a yogi, which was a photographic exploration into the power of yoga to unite people across cultural and physical divides.

“This recognition by our peers is a testament to Al Jazeera’s efforts to find new ways of storytelling, and to explain complex issues to a global audience,” says Imad Musa, Head of Online, Al Jazeera English.”Our team is small but incredibly passionate about what they can create, and it’s great that our peers agree that they are the best digital team in the world. We will continue to push the boundaries of original journalism and innovative design.”

For further information, contact pressoffice@aljazeera.net

OK! Middle East promotes Lucy Wildman

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OK! Middle East has promoted Lucy Wildman to the position of Acting Editor in the absense of Gemma White, who has commenced maternity leave. Lucy has over 12 years of experience in journalism in the UK as well as the UAE, and has been Deputy Editor of OK! Middle East since December 2013. In her new role as Acting Editor, she will oversee the day-to-day running of the magazine, as well as manage supplements and brand extensions.

For further information, contact Lucy Wildman at lucy.wildman@itp.com / +971 (0)4 444 3000

CNN’s Connect the World to go on tour

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CNN’s flagship news and current affairs show, Connect the World with Becky Anderson, is taking to the road this month, for a month-long tour. Beginning in Cairo, the programme will head to Amman and Beirut, before ending in Istanbul.

In each location anchor Becky Anderson will present a range of live programming and feature content, including interviews and analysis of the issues that matter in each location and beyond. Topics will vary for each location, but will encompass breaking news as well as culture, society and politics. On the final day in each location the team will host a special segment called CNN Café, which will see Becky take the show to the people in a live broadcast on location.

A range of digital content supporting the programme will be found on the show’s blog page, www.cnn.com/connect, and CNN Arabic will be supporting the tour, publishing a range of related content for Arabic-speaking users on CNNArabic.com as well as via social media. Both CNN.com and CNN Arabic will be interacting with audiences, asking users to send in suggestions and pictures to guide the editorial content both on TV and online.

“There is so much to explore and discuss in each of these locations, and we also want to add a truly interactive element to these special programmes,” says Becky. “This is about democratising the narrative, hearing the voices from the region on the stories resonating here and beyond. It promises to be a fascinating few weeks in some of the world’s most vibrant cities.”

For further information, contact Kimberly Lobo at kimberly.lobo@ketchum-raad.com / +971 (0)4 425 8979

Secret Squirrel wins Ultimate Blogger Award

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Karen McLean, aka The Secret Squirrel, won the Ultimate Blogger Award at the Cosmopolitan Middle East 2015 Fabulous Female Awards, held on June, 9, 2015, for her blog, www.secretsquirrelfood.com. The Awards were presented at a ceremony held at The Act, in the Shangri-La hotel, Dubai.

The blog, which launched in July, 2013, is based on Karen’s love for simple, natural and healthy food, and her philosophy that healthy food can be made fun. Karen acts as the creative mind, photographer and chef behind the blog and is currently based in Dubai.

“I’m super excited and so honoured to win the Cosmopolitan 2015 Fabulous Female Award for the Ultimate Blogger,” says Karen. “It always puts a smile on my face that I can inspire people to live a happier and healthier life every day. It feels so nice to be recognised for all my hard work and to be surrounded by such an inspiring group of women. I’m so happy to be given this amazing opportunity and I will continue to do what I love.”

For further information, contact Karen McLean at info@secretsquirrelfood.com / +971 (0)56 614 8840

Abu Dhabi Media Summit to be held in 2016

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The sixth edition of the Abu Dhabi Media Summit (ADMS) will be held from April 5, 2016 – April 7, 2016 by The Media Zone Authority – Abu Dhabi. Powered by twofour54, the summit’s topics, agenda and key speakers will be announced shortly and will be in line with twofour54’s vision to promote Abu Dhabi as a leading hub in the global media industry.

Under the theme of ‘Driving and Sustaining Future Media in MENA and Beyond’ the last edition of ADMS was held in November, 2014 and attracted over 1,300 local, regional and international attendees. The summit has previously hosted Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, and key representatives and industry leaders to discuss the future of media in the MENA region and the world.

The Abu Dhabi Media Summit is held once every two years to host a number of industry leaders to build on Abu Dhabi’s position as centre of innovation in the Arab world.

For further information on the summit, visit www.admediasummit.com

For further information, contact William Royce at william.royce@twofour54.com / +971 (0)50 614 6653

Dentsu Aegis welcomes Simon Woodward

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Simon Woodward has joined Dentsu Aegis Network as Head of Amplifi Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Having previous agency experience with Universal McCann, GroupM and Mindshare across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Simon was most recently Global Head of Agencies & Media Management at Microsoft Mobile Devices. In his new role, Simon will be based in Dubai reporting to Michael Nederlof and working with the teams of Abdalla Bibi, Head of Trading UAE and Siddhi Dhavale, Director of Amnet and Digital Buying.

“I am delighted to take this new role to lead such an integrated platform in MENA,” says Simon. “With the growing trends of convergence and globalisation, an agency’s media functionality needs to evolve beyond media efficiencies and rates. I believe Amplifi, which is structured to work collaboratively with our media, digital and technology partners, will bring out the best media performance and business outcomes through a cooperative approach.”

For further information, contact Sara Paye at sara.paye@dentsuaegis.com / +971 (0)4 447 4996