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Lyla Loves Fashion appoints Brand Manager

Farah Banani has joined the Lyla Loves Fashion blog team as Brand Manager. Farah has previously worked as Account Manager at LOWE MENA, handling clients such as ADTV and MAF, and most recently acted as a creative services freelancer. In her new position with Lyla Loves Fashion, Farah will take care of all partnerships, collaborations and projects dealing with the blog.

“I am super excited to be joining one of the Middle East’s most recognised blogs,” says Farah. “Lyla Loves Fashion has definitely made its mark within the fashion industry and I look forward to taking the award winning blog to an international level.”

Zahra Lyla Pedram, Founder and Editor of Lyla Loves Fashion adds, “I am so happy to have Farah on board to really help Lyla Loves Fashion grow even further. She definitely thinks outside the box and will be a great asset to the development of the blog.”

Saffron Media welcomes Rickson Lucas

Rickson Lucas has joined Saffron Media as Business Development Director. Rickson brings with him a wealth of experience having spent the previous decade with ITP Publishing Group, most recently as Sales Director. In his new position, Rickson’s responsibilities will revolve around commercially growing Filmfare Middle East and Femina Middle East magazines, as well as ensuring that the team are constantly scaling new heights and pursuing new goals.

“I’m happy to have such amazing brands like Filmfare and Femina as my products,” says Rickson. “These lifestyle consumer magazine brands have been around for nearly 60 years, and it is a privilege for me to be representing the Middle East editions.”

Kevin Jones joins BPG | bates

BPG | bates, the Dubai-based advertising, design, events and activation agency, has appointed Kevin Jones as its new Strategic Planning Director. Kevin joins from Havas Worldwide Middle East, where he has been Strategic Planning Director since 2008. He will now work across all BPG | bates accounts, with a special focus on new business and will head the agency’s strategic planning department, as well as sit on the agency’s leadership committee.

“We are delighted to welcome Kevin to the team,” says Nick Clements, CEO, BPG | bates. “He brings a wealth of experience in strategic brand building with a focus on luxury, retail and household FMCG, and will further enhance the strategic guidance we can offer our wide ranging client base here in the region.”

Kevin adds, “I am very excited to be joining BPG | bates, a really dynamic agency with an impressive legacy. I’m looking forward to working with my new colleagues to help deliver big ideas for ambitious brands.”

Aby Thomas joins BNC Publishing

Aby Thomas has joined BNC Publishing as Managing Editor of Entrepreneur Middle East. Aby joins the team from ITP Publishing, where he was previously Editor of Facilities Management Middle East, and prior to this was a freelance journalist based in New York. As the new Managing Editor, Aby will liaise with the publication’s Editor-in-Chief, Fida Chabaan, to develop business-relevant content which engages readers across print, web and social mediums. He will also directly manage the in-house columnists, and facilitate the BNC Publishing team’s professional development, as part of its staff retention and growth strategy.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Fida and her team at Entrepreneur Middle East,” says Aby. “I’ve been following its work over the past few months and I’ve been very impressed by what they’ve achieved, so I’m quite excited to have my name attached to the publication!”

Fida Chabaan, Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur Middle East adds, “Appointing a Managing Editor for Entrepreneur Middle East was an arduous process. The right mix of dedication, skills and personality in a candidate for a senior-level position took me over six months to find. I was looking for a positive industry outlook, the willingness and ability to multitask effectively, and of course print, web and social media know-how. I consider Aby a valuable addition to the human capital of BNC Publishing.”

Sherry Tenorio moves on from Arabian Woman

Sherry Tenorio is moving on from her position as Senior Editor of Arabian Woman magazine. With publication of the magazine to be put on hold, Sherry will now be involved with a host of publications, taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief for Post magazine, a newly-launched lifestyle magazine dedicated to the diplomatic community in the UAE and Qatar, where she will oversee the editorial management of the publication. In addition to this, Sherry will take charge of luxury lifestyle and fashion title, Velvet magazine as the Resident Editor for fashion and beauty, and will contribute relevant content. Finally, as Co-Founder and Editor of online fashion and lifestyle portal, La Moda Dubai, Sherry will continue to be involved in editorial planning, writing, styling shoots and marketing.

“I’ve learned so much from my stint at Arabian Woman,” says Sherry. “I met a lot of amazing people, went to different and beautiful places, and experienced new things – I’m very grateful for having had the privilege of working for the magazine. But as they say, life goes on. It’s time for me to face new challenges and grow further; I’m terrified but excited to witness what happens next! I’m sure I will embrace the challenge and do well at Post, Velvet and La Moda.”

Microsoft fires global ad sales team

Tech giant Microsoft has laid off its global advertising sales team. The layoffs within the the Microsoft Advertising division are the result of the 18,000 proposed job cuts announced this summer, and are expected to affect staff members across the US, UK and other global offices, charged with selling advertising space across Microsoft’s MSN, Bing, Xbox, Outlook, Skype and Windows 8 properties. The executive team of Microsoft’s advertising division remains in place.

In the attempt to streamline the business towards profitability, the division is restructuring around more senior members of staff, focused on selling advertising solutions across its entire portfolio – stated above – rather than having large and separate sales teams for the different properties. In keeping with this restructure, former Advertising Senior Director of Strategy for global accounts and agencies, Bruno Fiorentini Jr., has been promoted to the Head of Microsoft Advertising’s global accounts and agencies team. Additionally, Microsoft Advertising has promoted Stephen Kim to lead the Microsoft Advertising worldwide marketing organisation. Previously General Manager of Microsoft Advertising’s global creative solutions team, Stephen will be responsible for driving worldwide trade marketing and consumer audience marketing for Microsoft Advertising.

The closure of Microsoft Advertising has been under speculation for some time, as the company had only a 2.45 percent share of the global display advertising market last year. The market is currently dominated by Google, which had a 31.92 percent share, with Facebook claiming 5.82 percent.

Heather McDonald joins Linktia

Heather McDonald has joined content production group Linktia as Partner and Business Development Manager. Having been in Dubai since 2008, Heather has worked with Alchemy Films, first as a Producer and most recently as General Manager. In her new role, Heather will oversee Linktia’s business development, with a focus on building long term relationships with new and existing clients.

“Having worked as the General Manager for Alchemy Films for the past six years, the transition to Linktia provides a fantastic career growth opportunity,” says Heather. “Linktia is a group of market leading companies and dynamic individuals, with brands including Alchemy Films, Aperto Middle East, arabianEye, Bareface, Corbis, Magnet and The Studio. To work with such an interesting range of industries and promote brands like these is a thrilling position to be in!”

Lindsay Judge joins Gulf News Magazines

Lindsay Judge has joined Gulf News Magazines as Group Fashion Editor. Lindsay was most recently with ITP Publishing where she was Fashion and Beauty Editor for Ahlan!, looking after all fashion and beauty content both online and in print. In her new role, Lindsay will oversee the fashion content for Gulf News Magazines, including Aquarius, alpha., Friday and Watch Time, as well as supplements.

“It’s great to be working with so many exciting titles,” says Lindsay. “I’m really looking forward to having the opportunity to work across such a broad spectrum of magazines.”

Surena Chande joins La Femme

Surena Chande has been appointed as the new Digital Content Writer for La Femme magazine’s online platform. Remaining with the Pinpoint Media Group team, Surena moves across from Good Taste magazine where she was a Writer for the past year, overseeing the content and production for style and home as well as contributing to the events, travel and food sections. In her new position, Surena will produce fresh and exciting content for the La Femme website, in addition to managing La Femme’s social media pages.

“Digital journalism has been a path that I have been eager to pursue since university,” says Surena. “So I’m very excited to embark on this new journey with a magazine brand as respected as La Femme.”

Bianca Alcaide joins CMM

Bianca Alcaide has been appointed as Coordinating Officer for Continental Multimedia (CMM). Previously a Creative Services Coordinator with Al Tayer Group, Bianca oversaw orders from manufacturers and clients regarding art materials, as well as coordinating with the finance and logistics departments. In her new position, Bianca will coordinate with the PR’s from different brands about their new products or fashion lines, and will collect product placements and press releases for publications.

“There’s definitely truth in the saying – find a job that you love and you won’t have to work another day,” says Bianca. “I’ve certainly found mine and i’m really excited to have joined the team at CMM!”