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CNN launches CNN Style

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CNN International has launched CNN Style on TV, following the successful launch of CNN.com/Style last year. The first 30-minute Monthly CNN Style show was aired on CNN International on Saturday, April 9 and was fronted by Journalist and Author Derek Blasberg. The programme will aim to be at definitive events in the style calendar such as biennales, expos, fashion weeks and design festivals, with upcoming episodes coming from New York’s Met Ball, Milan Design Week and the Venice Architecture Biennale, amongst others. The new launch will also feature across the CNN International network with segments and reports all featuring under the CNN Style banner, such as The Invitation – a new regular feature that will air during prime time shows CNN Today and The World Right Now with Hala Gorani. 

“Luxury advertisers and premium brands naturally turn to CNN when they want to connect with upmarket audiences at scale,” says Cathy Ibal, Sales Director, CNN International. “CNN Style coming to TV further strengthens our proposition to such brands following the commercial and editorial success of CNN Style launching on digital platforms last year. I’m already seeing strong interest from advertising partners as we develop a broad range of brand solutions around this unique cross-platform editorial product.”

Al Arabiya English launches blog section

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Al Arabiya English has added a blogs section to its website, to focus on additional areas of interest outside of politics. The section will feature a host of international writers covering fashion, beauty, career coaching, nutrition and fitness, there will also be features from sports, politics, business and art bloggers who will add to the topics covered. The new blog section will be edited by Eman El-Shenawi and the section’s inaugural blog piece was written by Sultan al-Qassemi, a commentator on Arab affairs and art in the region, on why the Middle East must embrace placing art online.

“Our lifestyle page has become one of the top three traffic generators on our website and it was through that we had the idea to launch the blog section,” says Faisal Abbas, Editor-in-Chief, Al Arabiya English. “Although we are known for politics, we thought we’d give those who write on nutrition, sports and life in general an opportunity to write for our website.”

GN Publishing launches Baby&Child

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GN Publishing has today launched Baby&Child magazine, a new title dedicated to all parenting topics ranging from pregnancy to pre-school in the UAE. From the team behind Aquarius, Baby&Child is available quarterly from leading retailers for AED 20, with exclusive distribution through Marhababy, Baby Souk, DB Babies and Mumzworld. The brand also has an active Mummy Morning events calendar, daily social media and will shortly launch www.babyandchild.ae.

“Since we launched the Aquarius Baby supplement in May 2014, our mums have been asking us for a magazine and website as they desperately want access to locally relevant parenting advice as well as real life stories and support from mums in the UAE,” says Louisa Wilkins, Group Editor, Baby&Child. “They loved how our Baby supplement was open, honest and supportive of new parents in the UAE  and they wanted more of it… so here we are delivering their wishes!”

Katie Heskett, Associate Publisher, GN Publishing Women’s Lifestyle Group, adds “For the past two years, we have been talking to our Baby&Child audience, either through the pages of Aquarius Baby or at our monthly Mummy Mornings. We know what our readers want as we are engaging with them every month thanks to our active and engaged community of mums. With 80,000 babies born in the UAE every year, there is a lot of support needed for new parents and we’re excited that Baby&Child will be able to be part of their journey as a family.”

Cannes Lions launches Young Lions PR competition

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Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2016 and PRCA MENA are launching the first Young Lions PR competition in the Middle East and North Africa. The competition aims to discover the leading young creative PR team globally and will see teams of two competing for the prize, with all teams having gone through a pre-selection process in their own country set up by local Cannes Lions representatives. PRCA will be handling the competition to find a team to represent the MENA region.

“Cannes Lions is committed to showcasing and developing global talent through its extensive programme of training and competitions,” says Steve Latham, Head of Talent and Training, Lions Festivals. “The Young Lions Competitions provide an opportunity for rising stars to demonstrate their abilities and creativity in front of some of the most influential names in the creative communications industry. We’re delighted that the PRCA are coming on board to help deliver this incredible opportunity to young PR talent in the MENA region.”

Francis Ingham, Director General, PRCA MENA and Chief Executive, MPRCA, ICCO, adds “We are delighted to be conducting the inaugural Young Lions PR competition for the MENA region. Not only does this offer a brilliant opportunity for young, creative minds, but it also demonstrates the growth of PRCA MENA and it’s reputation on the international stage.”

 

Snapchat launches Chat 2.0

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Snapchat has evolved it’s chat offerings in one update. The newly launched Chat 2.0 will allow users to send multiple chats to other users, start talking or video chatting immediately and provides the option for voice notes as well as video chats. The update will also see the introduction of Auto-Advance Stories which now automatically loads new stories into a continuous stream and lets users skip through or exit stories quicker. Snapchat will also be refreshing its terms of service and privacy policy in an effort to make these clearer. These updates are a potential new way for brands to enhance communications with their customers through live stories and creative content, with chats becoming more interactive and now allowing for video, text, audio and drawing to take place simultaneously within the same interface.

AL Publishing launches

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Arabic content group AL Arabic has now split into AL Publishing and ALP Content Services DMCC, which will specialise in content creation and Arabic translation. Based in Marina Plaza Tower, Dubai, AL Publishing will initially focus on flagship title AL Business, as well as six other specialised publications; AL Press, AL Medicine, AL Technology, AL Style, AL Travel and AL Culture. The seven publications and their online platforms will be managed by 12 people across the Middle East and the company will be headed up by Dr Ali Mohamad, who will also be Editor-in-Chief of AL Business.

“AL Publishing comes today to compliment the efforts AL Arabic has offered the Arabic content industry over the past three years,” says Dr Ali. “We wanted to have our unique markup in the market, via focusing on specialised titles and high quality Arabic content, as evident by selecting the Arabic definite article AL as our umbrella brand. Our launching portfolio includes seven titles, with three more and a print flagship in the pipeline. Our goal will always be to offer Arabic readers high quality content and purposeful information or in other words, to be faithful to what journalism truly is.”

AdFalcon and Rubicon Project form new partnership

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Mobile advertising network and data platform AdFalcon has formed a strategic partnership with global automation technology provider Rubicon Project to launch a new local mobile advertising exchange in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – AdFalconX. The new partnership will offer a potfolio of advertising inventory for mobile aiming to offer the best ROI for media agencies, advertisers and publishers.

“We are thrilled to announce this strategic partnership – the first of its kind in the region,” says Wael Quader, CEO and Co-Founder, AdFalcon. “Rubicon Project’s technology will diversify AdFalcon’s offering and enable programmatic buying of our inventory, providing our advertisers and publishers with multiple options and targeting capabilities to deliver the best results.”

Julien Gardès, MD, Southern Europe and MENA, Rubicon Project, adds “AdFalcon has established itself as the mobile advertising leader in its region. Our own pedigree in automated digital advertising now spans across all devices and joining forces with AdFalcon will ensure that AdFalconX is the most premium offering that we can deliver to publishers and advertisers alike.”

 

Sky News Arabia launches football app

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Sky News Arabia has launched a new application dedicated to the world of local, regional and international football that will allow fans to keep up to date with the latest football news via their smartphones and tablets. The app will allow users to check live scores, learn more about team formations, club rankings, top scorers and final results, as well as access in-depth analyses and commentaries and is currently available for free on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

“This application is the result of Sky News Arabia’s business philosophy of continuous innovation and development of products for the benefit of our followers across all platforms,” says Nart Bouran, CEO, Sky News Arabia. “This latest addition to the Sky News portfolio reflects our keenness to provide football fans with all the latest news about clubs and star players along with a wide selection of statistics, photos and videos. This application is the perfect compliment to our programs and sports news on Sky News Arabia TV and radio, including the popular Malaeb program.”

Boguslavsky & Co launches Social Cult

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Marianna Boguslavsky, Managing Director of digital strategy agency Boguslavsky & Co has launched Social Cult – www.socialcult.co – a social media marketing startup aimed at independent films with limited budgets. Currently in its initial launch phase, the website will also soon have an eCommerce component.

“There is a significant problem with the current state of the indie film marketing industry – phenomenal, ground-breaking independent films are not getting enough traction because they aren’t marketed effectively,” says Marianna. “Most indie filmmakers and producers have little budget and we feel that negatively influences the way films are marketed so we want to help change that if we can.”

BPA Worldwide to release concurrent data

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Global assurance provider BPA Worldwide will release concurrent audience metrics for 41 consumer titles and six newspaper brands in the Middle East, for the six-month period that ended December 31, 2015. The top-line figures in the Trend Report About Circulation (TRAC) cover media with operations in four Middle Eastern countries: Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Included in the report are the headline average qualified circulations and other channels, including web traffic ‘average unique browser’, social media and apps downloads for the most recent December 2015-ending BPA brand reports.

“The concurrent release of audience data for consumer and newspapers based in the region helps level the playing field in the marketplace,” says Rana Hariz, Director, Middle East Operation, BPA Worldwide. “Media buyers and advertisers can turn to this single report and make an accurate evaluation of audience metrics between brands before they buy.”