John Defterios joins Arab News as a contributing Columnist for the newspaper’s print and digital platforms. With over 36 years of experience in Journalism, John currently works with CNN as Editor and Anchor of CNNMoney Emerging Markets, as well as hosts the Marketplace Middle East show. Arab News will now feature John’s content on Middle East markets and businesses as well as exclusive reports and interviews from Marketplace Middle East.
Entrepreneur Middle East has appointed Tamara Pupic to the role of Managing Editor. Previously Editor of Arabian Business StartUp, part of ITP Media Group, Tamara reported on the developments across the MENA startup and SME industry. Prior to starting her career in journalism in 2012, she worked in the international trade policy development field with more focus on the World Trade Organisation law. She is also the founding President of Club Alpbach Belgrade, part of the European Forum Alpbach, a Vienna-based organisation fostering interdisciplinary dialog in education, business and politics. In the UAE, Tamara has also helped establish United World College, UAE National Committee, the regional branch of the London-headquartered organisation of 17 international colleges. In her new role, she will join the editorial team and work with the Editor-in-Chief, Aby Sam Thomas on Entrepreneur Middle East’s editorial content across its digital and print channels.
“As Managing Editor, Tamara will be working with me and my team at Entrepreneur Middle East to develop editorial content and further our presence across our print, web and social channels,” says Aby Sam Thomas, Editor-in-Chief, Entrepreneur Middle East. “Tamara comes to us with a wealth of experience in the MENA entrepreneurial ecosystem and I look forward to having her fresh ideas to help continue to differentiate the Entrepreneur Middle East brand and its mission.”
Dubai-based advertising company, International Advertising Services (IAS) Media has appointed Dana Ksaybi to the role of Vice President – Digital Division. With over six years of experience, Dana previously worked as Digital Solutions Specialist at Bayt.com, AMEinfo and most recently Thomson Reuters, where she provided digital solutions across the Reuters publications. In her new role, she will work closely with Vice President, Binu Matthew to handle the accounts for Reuters and The Washington Post with a focus on harnessing strategies and effective solutions to engage audiences with the regional titles.
“Established 25 years ago in the region, IAS Media continue to enjoy strong relationships with some of the World’s foremost publishers,” says Ali Asgar Mir, Founder and Managing Director, IAS Media. “Having Dana on board will greatly strengthen our ability to connect the region’s leading marketers and their agencies with these publishers.”
Conde Nast Traveller Middle East, part of APP Media Group has appointed Sarah Hedley Hymers to the role of Digital Director. With over 27 years of experience in journalism, Sarah previously worked with Ahlan! Group where she joined as Group Director and most recently held the position of Editorial Director. In her new role, she will oversee all digital operations for Conde Nast Traveller Middle East and develop creative strategies to execute across all digital platforms.
Global communications agency, Grey Group MENA has promoted Nadim Khoury to the role of Chief Executive Officer. With over 24 years of experience, Nadim previously worked with Saatchi & Saatchi as Account Director before joining Grey Group as Account Director and most recently held the position of Chief Operating Officer. Nadim will take on his new role in Dubai, where he will report to Nirvik Singh, Chairman and CEO, Grey Group Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and oversee the Grey Group’s operations across the MENA region.
“It is an incredible honour to lead the Grey office as the network embarks on its 100th year,” says Nadim Khoury, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Grey Group, MENA. I am committed to driving further growth in order to provide greater value to our clients, associates and stakeholders. I believe 2017 is shaping up to be a year of tremendous potential.”
Global media intelligence firm, Meltwater has launched new business tool, Executive Alerts. The real-time executive tool will provide users with the most critical insights about their company and competitors as well as the industry, sent directly to their smart devices. The Executive Alerts will also include features such as on-demand reports, multi-lingual supported monitor and instant summary messages.
“Senior executives across all functions and sectors need accurate, real-time data from outside their company to make sound decisions and Executive Alerts empowers them to do just that,” says Zubair Timol, Director of Strategy EMEA, Meltwater. “With billions of conversations taking place online every day, it’s previously been impossible to keep up with what’s being said about your brand and the industry it operates in, but that changes now.”
The Organic Pharmacy has appointed TishTash Marketing & Public Relations to represent the brand across the region. TishTash will manage media relations and press office for the organic beauty brand as well as be responsible for building its reputation and awareness in the Middle East through effective PR campaigns.
“We are thrilled to work with another well reputed beauty brand and welcome The Organic Pharmacy into the TishTash family,” says Natasha Hatherall-Shawe, Managing Director, TishTash Marketing and Public Relations. “We are very much looking forward to being a part of their continued growth in the region.”
Ivan Isakovic, CEO and Art Director, Al Karam Creative Solutions elaborates on the need and impact of clean design and how it can bring in the bucks…
“Good design is not just a pretty face – it structures and organises the data, while highlighting key facts that will direct the reader’s attention toward all the relevant information that they need…”
People are visual beings and are subconsciously attracted to clean and concise design. Good design is not just a pretty face – it structures and organises data, while highlighting key facts that will direct the reader’s attention toward all the relevant information that they need, without having to painfully sift through a mass of unsystematic data. What most businesses fail to understand is that an initial investment of appointing an experienced designer can drastically increase your chances of getting recognised and creating an impact.
An essential characteristic of effective design is to avoid excessive detail and clutter. While relevant images and rightly placed icons definitely make for more appealing reading material, the overuse of images could easily make a professional document look like a cafeteria menu, which is not something that any potential client or reader would even glance at. Too many unnecessary and haphazardly placed visuals will only distract and confuse the reader, making it difficult for them to pin-point exactly what they’re looking for.
Another important factor while appointing a designer is confidentiality. For example, commissioning someone to design your business plan would involve handing over confidential information and facts about your business to a complete stranger. You should always be sure that your hard work is in safe hands. Most start-ups understandably would want to save every possible penny, but opting for a less-expensive alternative could put your business and goals at risk of being exposed in an unprofessional and unethical manner. I always and strongly recommend that all businesses, start-up or not, should only appoint reputed and established designers/agencies to handle such confidential data.
What I have noticed is that most businesses often pay very little attention to the design of the one document that defines the core and foundation of a brand, its investor-proposal. With the massive sea of companies flooding the market today, how does one make sure their brand stands out? The hunt for the right investor is hard enough and making sure your agency or organisation gets recognised is another challenge by itself. How can you increase the probability, if not make sure that your proposal catches the attention of a viewer amongst the rest?
What most people fail to understand is that just like any other branding material, a well-designed business plan (yes, that is a thing!) is essential when it comes to creating a name and image for your brand. When an investor has to shuffle through dozens of proposals in a day, each one with massive amounts of data cramped into a few pages, it is quite likely that yours may go unnoticed if it too looks like an uninteresting printed word document.
Nice presentation shows dedication, attention to detail and commitment to the idea. Appointing a professional graphic designer to develop your business plan will ensure that all crucial information about your brand is communicated to your targeted audience through a well-presented document. A visually appealing and to-the-point plan will engage the reader with your brand, with all relevant data presented in an orderly manner. This facilitates smooth flow through all the content that you aim to put across while spotlighting important facts.
So don’t take the easy way out by selecting a cost-effective designer without any research. Securing the right investor is key to a successful business and investing in an experienced designer with a clean track record will not only ‘face-lift’ an ordinary investor-proposal through concise design, but also ensure client-designer confidentiality.
Global media company, Conde Nast has launched Vogue Arabia’s first print issue, available for sale from March 5, 2017, across the MENA region. Following its digital launch in October, the March issue will be published in English with a prominent Arabic section that aims to reach and engage the diversity of readers across the region. The new issue also features supermodel, Gigi Hadid on the magazine’s cover and is titled ‘Reorienting Perceptions’ in English and ‘An Eye on the East’ in Arabic.
“Vogue Arabia is a magazine with the authority and insight needed to capture the creativity of a distinctive, evolving and often misrepresented part of the world,” says Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, Editor-in-Chief, Vogue Arabia.
Following the launch of its Dubai office, UK-based integrated communications agency, Flourish has secured the account to handle all PR operations for Samsung Gulf Electronics CRM. Flourish will be responsible for all PR activities and will provide digital and creative strategies across Samsung Gulf Electronics’ consumer product portfolio to create awareness of its presence across the Middle East.
“This is a great win for Flourish and we’re delighted to be able to bring our experience of Samsung CRM, gained in the UK and in Australia to the Gulf region,” says Richard Hartson, Managing Director, Flourish. “In short, we really feel we have something unique to offer and can make a valuable contribution to the long-term success of Samsung Gulf Electronics CRM.”