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Festival of Media MENA reveals award winners

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Winners of the Festival of Media MENA Awards 2017, in partnership with Mediaquest, has been announced following the conclusion of the third edition of its conference on April 26, 2017. Held at the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel, the awards focused on the evolution of the media industry to celebrate the best in media thinking and communications across the region. The event saw major wins for Starcoms winning Agency Network of the Year, OMD UAE for Agency of the Year and MEC MENA for Campaign of the Year, while other winners also include Garage 366 for Best Use of Mobile, Magna Egypt for Best Engagement Strategy and MediaVest | Spark for Best Social Media Strategy. The winners were judged by a panel divided into two groups and chaired by Asad Rehman, Director of Media at Unilever MENA and Nick Graham, Director of Global Digital Marketing and Media at Huawei for the event.

“It is a privilege and a great responsibility to be asked to chair an awards ceremony that is as prestigious as the Festival of Media MENA,” says Asad Rehman, Director of Media, Unilever MENA. “Too often we are in the office with our heads down, but judging gives us the opportunity to open the windows and see what else is happening in the region.”

Debonaironline.com launches new look

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Dubai-based media company, Pinpoint Media Group has re-launched its men’s online lifestyle publication, debonaironline.com. The revamped website will include an expanded e-commerce platform to offer a range of clothing, footwear, accessory and grooming products. The platform will also feature a stronger synergy between the magazine’s editorial content and products in its online store for its readers, suppliers and advertisers to access from across the region.

“The website boasts of a carefully curated mix of items that fit the magazine’s DNA and align with its mandate of offering readers access to luxury lifestyle content and products,” says Darren Hodgkin, CEO, Pinpoint Media Group. “This means readers get the high-quality editorial content Debonair is known for supplemented by products related to the articles.”

One – Source launches in the UAE

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PR professional Sharon Fernz has launched new marketing and PR agency, One – Source in the UAE. With over 12 years of experience in the PR and marketing industry, Sharon previously worked in India with Lowe Lintas as Account Manager, at Ogilvy Public Relations as Account Coordinator and most recently in Dubai with RSA Logistics as Assistant Manager – Brand and PR. The Dubai-based agency will offer services that include media relations, strategic partnerships, brand sustainability campaigns, copywriting, content creation and concept development to clients across the UAE. The agency will also provide expertise, knowledge, ideas and advice to clients to enhance their brand equity and corporate reputation across the GCC region.

“Giving up a nine to five job to go out alone is a very overwhelming thought, but I have had so much support since I made the decision,” says Sharon. “I strongly believe in the quote ‘you never lose in business you either win or you learn’ – I am very excited to see what the future holds.”

New launch at House of Comms

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Dubai-based integrated communications agency, House of Comms has launched new creative division, experiential. The new division will focus on helping clients build their brands using non-traditional, high-impact and event management solutions. The launch of the new division will also see the appointment of Laura McCartney as Head of experiential, bringing with her over seven years of experience and having previously worked with Edelman Dabo as Account Director. In her new role she will work across House of Comms’ portfolio of clients and oversee the experiential operations as well as the development of creative strategies for the new division.

“The most successful campaigns I’ve worked on previously have been those where integration was at the heart of the project, allowing for the best possible results for clients,” says Laura. “House of Comms was a natural fit for me personally, where I can build on my experience with some amazing clients but also take on more truly integrated communications campaigns. I’m hugely excited!”

Arab News partners with online polling firm

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Saudi Arabian-based newspaper, Arab News has signed an exclusive partnership with online polling firm, YouGov. The new partnership will see YouGov conduct regular polls in relation to the MENA region to help shed light on regional views towards international events. The agreement will also produce credible research on international opinions on Arab affairs and allow its findings be published on Arab News’ print and digital platforms starting in May, 2017.

“In an era of fast-moving news cycles, information overload and ‘fake news’, there could be no better time for a media brand to invest in quality, credible research such as that produced by YouGov,” says Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief, Arab News. “This inevitably means that Arab News readers will enjoy a series of highly insightful research-based reports which will, in turn, bring us closer to understanding the hearts and minds of the region.”

Times of Oman wins at Asian Media Awards

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Times of Oman has been awarded a gold medal at the Asian Media Awards 2017 in Malaysia. Held by the World Association of Newspapers (WanIfra), the event saw Times of Oman win a gold medal in the category of magazine infographics to recognise its high publishing standards for it’s 2016 national day’s detailed supplement, as well as a silver medal in the newspaper graphics category.

“The graphics team can be rightly proud of their work, especially for the ‘land of frankincense’ supplement that not only looked amazing, but smelled good too – as the pages were infused with frankincense,” says Scott Armstrong, Chief Executive Editor, Times of Oman. “It was a beautiful product and worth remembering that the online version of this project also scooped Gold for Data Visualisation at the Middle East Digital Awards in Dubai just last month.”

Cannes Lions 2017 Jury revealed

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Motivate Val Morgan, the official representatives of Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has named this year’s jurors from the UAE set to judge entries from across the region. The members of jury will include Josephine Younes, Creative Director of McCann FP7/DXB, Elda Choucair, CEO of PHD MENA, Sascha Kuntza, Creative Director of Memac Ogilvy and Firas Medrows, Executive Creative Director of DDB Dubai. The upcoming festival will see a panel of jurors categorised under radio, promo and activation, direct and media in the UAE to shortlist and announce the winners at the event ceremony from June 17 – 24, 2017.