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Mitch Williams joins Serviceplan Middle East

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Dubai-based integrated communications agency, Serviceplan Middle East has appointed Mitch Williams to the role of Social Media Director. With experience in the media industry, Mitch previously worked with Wunderman MENA as Social Media Brand Manager and most recently with Create Media Group as Social Media Director where he managed the social media division and drove the overall direction of the clients. In his new role, he will head the agency’s social media division and lead the strategic direction of the company offering while growing and managing the social media team.

“I am super excited to be joining Serviceplan Middle East team and having the opportunity to work with them on building the social media team,” says Mitch.

In The Hot Seat – James Gaubert

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James Gaubert, CEO at Bruce Clay Middle East tells TMN about his current role and what he thinks about the marketing industry in the Middle East…

Name: James Gaubert

Age: 37 I think, I tend to lose count!

From: London, United Kingdom

Current job title: CEO, Bruce Clay Middle East.

When did you first arrive in Dubai? 2010

Where did you work prior?

Since living in Dubai I have primarily worked for digital agencies. I previously worked with LBi and most recently with MRM//McCANN. Now I’m heading up Bruce Clay Middle East.

What were your first impressions of the marketing industry in the Middle East?

To be honest, not great. When I first listened to radio advertisements, watched advertisements on television and saw some of the websites large companies have in place, I was shocked. It was like stepping back in time – thankfully that has changed.

Has your opinion changed much?

Yes, massively. The Middle East has turbo-charged its marketing efforts, particularly on a digital front. I think this is largely due to influence from overseas, particularly if I look at some of the talent we have here now, the adoption curve for things like mobile and social media in this part of the world is incredible. We as a region should truly embrace technology!

Tell us about your current role…

I currently head up a digital marketing agency, Bruce Clay, and I love it! We work with some amazing clients and employ a great bunch of people who genuinely care. I love the variety – within one week I can be helping out with automotive, retail, electronics, F&B, financial services, pharmaceutical and e-commerce clients – as well as managing and growing an agency – it’s definitely a full-time job!

What challenges do you face?

Finding good digital talent in this part of the world has always been a problem. Having said that, this is becoming easier. The other issues, I’m afraid to say are all driven from clients – payments coming in on time and cashflow is certainly one of the things that keeps me up at night.

How would you rather be contacted at work?

Telephone – we don’t use that enough anymore – I always think you can achieve far more over a quick call than over the back and forth of email and messenger.

Has social media taken over the marketing industry in the UAE?

Yes, we actually started life as a pure play SEO agency. As it stands today, we have more social media clients than anything else. It’s raw, it’s real and it’s the number one way to communicate with your consumers. Brands are embracing it in this region and it’s really exciting.

How has content become a marketing strategy in the UAE?

I think content has always been at the core of any marketing strategy. What excites me is that the way consumers are digesting content has changed. Thanks to channels like Snapchat, Facebook Live and Instagram stories, content has to be live, it has to be now – we as consumers no longer want to find out about something after it has happened, we want to be there and experience it now!

Has the UAE target audience redefined digital marketing strategies and success compared to other countries?

I’m not sure it’s got anything to do with the specific target audience here, it’s just a sign of the times – things are changing, not only in the UAE.

How would you describe yourself at work?

Awesome!

What inspires you?

Creativity, pushing the boundaries, being different and making people say wow!

Five things you can’t live without?

My mobile phone, my dog, dark chocolate, exercise, back catalogue of the TV series, Friends.

If you weren’t in your current role, what would you be doing?

Backpacking around the world, without a care in the world.

If you could have one work wish granted, what would it be?

To have clients who don’t ask for a discount and who pay on time – the rest is a piece of cake!

What’s your most used social media platform?

This is a hard one! First thing in the morning, I look at Facebook for anything business or work related, then I’m all over LinkedIn and when I’m taking photos of my lunch, it’s Instagram!

STARZ play signs TV content agreement

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Dubai-based subscription video on demand (SVOD) service, STARZ Play has signed an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television Distribution. The agreement will see 20th Century Fox provide TV content for STARZ Play subscribers across their platform in the Middle East and North Africa. The deal will also focus on bringing more Fox produced movies and TV series to establish their presence in TV across the region.

“We are delighted to be working with 20th Century Fox Television Distribution to bring its content to STARZ Play,” says Khaled Benchouche, Senior Vice President, Programming and Acquisition, STARZ Play. “This deal meets the rising demand for premium OTT titles and recognizes the unique opportunities available to the MENA region.”

Panache welcomes new Agency Director

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UAE-based events and production agency, Panache Middle East has appointed Aniysha Seyfferdt to the role of Agency Director. With over 13 years of experience, Aniysha previously worked with Landmark Group as Marketing Manager and most recently at Collyer Lessick as Event Projects Manager. Following the rebrand of the agency’s XPRNC arm to Panache XPRNC, the agency will include management for corporate event services and will see Aniysha oversee its operations as well as manage its conceptualisation and activities of high profile events across the Middle East.

“When we met Aniysha her adaptability, creativity and experience struck a chord with us,” says Niladri Mondal, Director Strategy, Panache Middle East. “We are thrilled to welcome her leadership and knowledge to the Panache family and look forward to the new direction of XPRNC.”

PRCA joins hands with media intelligence firm

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The Middle-East edition of PRCA, PRCA MENA has collaborated media intelligence agency, LexisNexis. The12-month partnership aims to provide members of PRCA with the best practices and market insights as well as special offers on a range of media monitoring and analysis tools.

“LexisNexis is delighted to partner with PRCA MENA in the Middle East region,” says Jeremy Shayler, Business Development Director, LexisNexis Middle East. “This is an exciting new venture for both parties and demonstrates our joint commitment and support of the local Middle East market for public relations and communications professionals. Our relationship brings a fresh approach to the media monitoring and analysis space and will help drive world-class expertise and practice in the region. We look forward to sharing our global best practice and thought leadership with PRCA MENA and their PR agency and in-house communication professional members.”

Cicero & Bernay expands into Turkey

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Public relations consultancy, Cicero & Bernay has signed a new affiliation with Turkey-based PR and social media agency, Miya PR & SM, to expand its operations to Turkey. The affiliation will see both parties combine their strength and capabilities to shape and deliver creative communication strategies, as well as collaborate on client projects and new business efforts across the region.

“This partnership empowers both of our agencies to provide high-quality communication campaigns in a key market at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and we are delighted to offer our clients enhanced PR capability that an affiliation with C&B brings,” says Burcu Meriç Durak, Founder, Miya PR & SM. “I believe that our understanding and insights perfectly complement each other and that through our combined efforts we will deliver the best-in-class communication campaigns for our clients.”

The evolution of the PR Industry

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Isabel Tapp, CEO and Founder, AllDetails Middle East offers her thoughts on the evolution of the PR industry in the region and how PR agencies can adapt to the enormous changes today…

“I strongly believe that all good PR firms these days need to be integrated – incorporating a mixture of PR, marketing and social media as a bare minimum. Of course, this goes hand in hand with traditional specialisations of crisis communications and media relations.”

To put it simply, just as communication evolves, so must PR. I have been working in public relations and marketing my entire life, representing some of the world’s most prestigious brands and the way we worked a decade or so ago, is not the way we work now. Of course, the core principles of traditional PR remain the same, but as we have seen a rapid move to the digitalisation of the communications industry, thanks to both the internet and social media, our practices and strategies have also needed to move forward.

As the owner of an agency that specialises in public relations, I have made a conscious effort over the past few years to approach my recruitment process differently. Instead of solely looking to hire people with an extensive background in agencies, I am looking to hire a team with individual skill sets from a variety of backgrounds – I have qualified journalists and ex-editors forming the core of my senior management team, as well as staff experienced in graphic design, digital marketing and event management. It is because of this wide and varied skill sets amidst a relatively small team that we are able to call ourselves a multi-service communications agency or a hybrid, as I like to refer to us.

I strongly believe that all good PR firms these days need to be integrated – incorporating a mixture of PR, marketing and social media as a bare minimum. Of course, this goes hand in hand with traditional specialisations of crisis communications and media relations.

The principles of PR remain the same, but the change comes in the form of control and direction, by constructing communications strategies for clients that centre on content, both creation and distribution. This incorporates public relations, social media and marketing across traditional and new media and is something that all should be involved in, from the Communications Director to the junior account executives, each person bringing with them a fresh idea and different sense of perspective. The underlying motto does not change – ‘understand your audience’, this is the foundation for great content creation.

I have seen a greater need for having creative and innovative thinkers as part of a team – people that are up to date with current media and global trends, but also possess the foresight to see what is just around the corner and then construct creative strategies for clients in order to capitalise on these new developments. This is effective from not only a public relations point of view, but also a sales and marketing one – ultimately, what all clients want is more sales.

Content creation is key. Having good storytellers at the core creates good stories, whether this is through a traditional press release, social media or curated content for thought leadership – this is the reason why agencies should employ a multi-lingual team. With good content, amplifying it to the target audience is much easier and the creation of avenues for distribution / publication subsequently opens up. The great thing about the skill of storytelling is that with digital PR there are no creative boundaries – you can now engage in ways, which I would once have never imagined possible and that I think, is rather exciting.

We are witnessing a time-lapse view on changes to communication thanks to the rise of social media and the internet – it is now up to agencies to adapt and adapt quickly. For example, traditional print media which was once the core of public relations outreach, is now complemented online by a supporting website which also runs the content. This marks the change in which the world is now digesting information – thus, the internet is immediate.

By constantly adapting our skill sets, agencies are able to work in such a way that tactics of traditional public relations such as press release distribution, reputation management, event coordination and crisis communications are still valid, but now we need to understand SEO and measurable digital tactics too, in order to ensure that our clients get the maximum return on investment. Social media influencers are a great example of where PR teams have had to learn relatively quickly to understand and build contacts with an entirely different form of media altogether. These digital influencers can have just as much brand authority, sometimes even to a greater reach and engagement than traditional media and should not be ignored.

In my many years of working in PR, there has never been a more exciting or challenging time for communications professionals. Adaptability and flexibility must surely be the most important characteristics of any PR professional in this time of change and instantaneous information.

indaHash launches in the MENA region

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Influencer technology platform indaHash has partnered with digital solutions company, Future Tech Media to launch its operations in the Middle East and North African region. The partnership will see the newly launched platform connect brands and agencies in the MENA region directly to the global social influencers, to create content marketing campaigns for the regional and international markets.

“We are excited to formally launch our platform in the MENA region to support brands and agencies in influencer marketing at scale,” says Barbara Sołtysińska, Founder, indaHash. “The MENA region is ripe with opportunity and this market is accelerating much more quickly than others. It is a great time to bring our platform to this region and our first campaign is already proving a great success.”