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Facebook At Work app goes live

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Smartphone app Facebook At Work has officially hit iOS and Android app stores. With the software still in the early stages of development, a select number of test companies are currently eligible to download the app. Significantly, while the app appears and works similarly to the public Facebook network, there will be no advertisements and no tracking or holding of user data. A key feature of the Facebook At Work app is ‘Groups’, which aims to replace the ever-growing and never-ending email lists amongst employees.

With the launch of this app, Facebook will be competing with several companies seeking the top spot for social networking in the workplace. Other such companies include IBM, who has already developed a workplace social-networking service called Connections; Microsoft, which acquired social-enterprise company Yammer in 2012 and Slack – an enterprise-collaboration tool that was most recently valued at approximately $1 billion.

The date for Facebook At Work being launched to a wider availability has yet to be confirmed.

Noor Bank launches brand campaign for 2015

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Noor Bank has launched a new month-long television commercial (TVC), starting January 2015, as part of a major brand-building initiative to coincide with the bank’s seventh anniversary celebrations.

The 30-second TVC targets investors and customers travelling to and within high footfall areas in Dubai. The brand film is set to air in-flight across 14,000 Emirates Airlines flights, as well as over 60 prominent screens at Terminals 1 and 3 of Dubai International Airport and across two giant screens on Dubai Mall’s walkways throughout January. In addition, it will play on a loop across Noor Bank’s ATM and CCDM displays in the city, the Noor Bank website and Noor Bank’s social media pages.

“The launch of the television commercial enables us to increase our brand visibility to a large cross-section of the Emirates’ population, including prospective investors and customers,” says Hussain Al Qemzi, CEO, Noor Bank. “As we mark our anniversary month, this brand film provides Noor Bank a flying start to consolidate the previous year’s accomplishments and rise to achieve greater success in 2015.”

In 2014, the Dubai-headquartered sharia-compliant bank underwent a major rebranding campaign that witnessed a transformation from Noor Islamic Bank to Noor Bank. The change was inspired by the rethinking of a number of internal touch-points, such as Noor Bank’s branches, websites and forms.

Havas Media launches LuxHub

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Havas Media Group has launched LuxHub, a global consulting division that will deliver media communications and marketing support for global luxury brands. Headquartered in Milan, the division will also launch across the Group’s established centres in London, Paris, Dubai and New York, with further expansion plans in Shanghai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Moscow later this year. Overseeing the strategic expansion for LuxHub is Isabelle Harvie-Watt, who has led plans for investment in a luxury division since her arrival as CEO Havas Media Group Italy in 2011.

“Luxury brands realise that they need to change the way they communicate,” says Isabelle. “Digital transformation is no longer an option. Growing online distribution and strong content strategies are the new norm. LuxHub is a great step forward to further closing the gap in language between agencies and luxury clients and the way luxury audiences are evolving.”

Dominique Delport, Global Managing Director of Havas Media Group adds, “Offering our clients the ability to connect to the luxury sector in a meaningful way has always been part of our strategy and I am delighted that we are now able to deliver this specialist consulting service to our clients on a global basis. The credibility we already have in this area, coupled with strong leadership from Isabelle to drive specialist teams in all the key markets, means we can provide new insights and innovative strategies both for luxury brands and brands who want to interact with the luxury audience.”

Isabelle Harvie-Watt and the LuxHub UK team, led by Tammy Smulder – who joins the team as Global Executive Director – will deliver their first study on luxury brands later this month. The project uses data from 1,000 people representing the top 10 percent of income earners in China, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, US, UAE and UK.

Mediaquest & C Squared to launch Festival of Media

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Mediaquest has joined with C Squared to launch the first-ever Festival of Media in Dubai. The partnership between two of the region’s leading publishers and events companies will bring the internationally renowned industry awards and networking programme to the city, with the inaugural event scheduled to take place on April 15, 2015.

“The Festival of Media has a well-earned reputation as being one of the foremost marketing and media events in the world and one that celebrates the very best in industry thinking,” says Alexandre Hawari, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Mediaquest. “The Festival comprises a number of components that marks it out as a global leader. These include an awards programme that recognises the very best marketing campaigns, an exhibition that enables vendors to promote initiative to prospective clients and several platforms that provide networking and thought-leader opportunities. In fact, the high quality of discussion and debate at the Festival has led to it becoming known as ‘the Davos of advertising.’

Launched in Venice in 2007, the Festival of Media Global was created to highlight key developments in the media sphere, such as consumer trends, branded content, advertising and social media. The Awards element was added in 2009, establishing the Festival as a leading media event on the international marketing calendar. The Festival of Media MENA will add to the pantheon of global Festival of Media events, which currently take place in Rome, Singapore and Miami.

Charlie Crowe, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of C Squared adds, “The Festival of Media is more than just an event, it is a movement. Since 2007, we have not only been reflecting the changes taking place in media, but we have also been part of shaping this change. After our partnership with our friends at Mediaquest, we now have the Festival of Media in four regions and we look forward to inviting media professionals and advertisers across the MENA to be part of the conversation.”

The Festival of Media Global Awards is one of the world’s largest advertising ceremonies, attracting work from more than 40 countries. The awards are judged by a senior panel of media agencies and advertisers and are open to all who are involved in advertising. The MENA edition of the Awards is expected to attract a multitude of entries that reflect the diverse array of media operators producing high-quality work in the pan-Arab region. Alongside the awards programme, The Festival of Media MENA’s one-day conference is set to feature seven to nine global media leaders who have been invited to offer their thoughts and expertise on a number of topical and pertinent MENA media subjects.

Boye Balogun heads up Future Tech Media

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Boye Balogun, former Region Head of Digital at Mindshare, has left the company to head newly established Future Tech Media as Co–Founder and Managing Director. Having been with Mindshare since 2012, Boye will now oversee Future Tech Media, a Middle East & Africa digital media solutions and consultancy business, which focuses on innovative digital solutions.

“We have a perfectly curated suite of innovative digital products across native advertising, mobile and video to help drive the next wave of digital advertising in this market,” says Boye.

With its first office currently open in Dubai, another is set to be established in Lagos to cater for the African region later in the year.

YouTube’s Seven Day Brief competition announced

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The MENA region’s creative community has been challenged by YouTube and Dubai Lynx to create an advertisement which aims to help a social cause through a competition known as The Seven Day Brief. Seeking to engage the MENA region and showcase the creative and interactive potential of YouTube as an advertising platform, the Brief will be released on January 14, 2015. Competitors will have seven days to answer the brief provided by a global NGO, producing a video ad that directly addresses the requirements.

The videos will be evaluated and judged by a panel which includes members of the regional advertising industry, with the finalists to be announced on January 25, 2015, and winners awarded at the Dubai Lynx on March 11, 2015. The winning team or individual will be granted a trip to Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2015 and Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity. Entries are open to those living in Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE and Yemen.

Promoted Pins to be made available to all partners

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As of January 1, 2015, Pinterest’s reservation-based Promoted Pins (available at a CPM) will be made accessible to all advertisers. Having launched a Promoted Pins beta for its brand advertisers eight months ago, the official announcement from Pinterest noted the following points that have been obtained from the beta –

  • Promoted Pins perform as good and sometimes better than organic Pins: brand advertisers achieved a 30% bump in earned media from their campaigns (that’s from people who saw a Promoted Pin and thought it was good enough to save to one of their own boards).
  • Engagement is strong: the average Pin is repined 11 times – this has also been found with Promoted Pins.
  • Promoted Pins perform long after a campaign ends: Pinterest saw an extra 5% bump in earned media in the month following the end of a campaign.
  • Auction-based Promoted Pins (CPC) are also seeing success: Many self-serve beta partners are seeing major gains in traffic and impressions. Pinterest is currently making tweaks to the product before it’s released to all businesses.

In addition to this, Pinterest has introduced the Pinstitute – a new program designed for brands to learn how to better connect with their target market, focusing on creative and measurement. As it stands, only a select number of brands and agencies have been invited to attend the quarterly held Pinstitute workshops, the first scheduled for March, 2015. However, a series of webinars and online learning tools are to be made available for small businesses.

POST magazine officially launches

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POST, a magazine tailored to the diplomatic corps in the UAE, Qatar and the Middle East region, has officially launched as of last week. Published by Imperial Publishing, the bimonthly magazine features articles on foreign affairs, diplomacy, history, culture, arts, as well as retail advice on lifestyle, travel and fashion. With a circulation of 5,000 complimentary copies, POST is available across consulates, embassies, business clubs, partner hotels and chamber of commerce offices.

“The region receives a number of publications targeting various groups, with the exception of the diplomatic community,” says Geronimo Imperial, Publisher, Imperial Publishing. “POST was envisioned to help create a stronger network within the corps in the region by nurturing a channel where members of the corps could become better linked and informed. The main readers of this magazine are very dynamic. Aside from taking care of their expatriates, they also tend to their national interests. They promote trade, tourism and healthier bilateral relations. Delegations of heads of states, politicians, businessmen and even celebrities come and go, and POST shall be at the core of these activities.”

MenaMarketPlace partners with PubMatic

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MenaMarketPlace has partnered with US-based PubMatic, a leading programmatic advertising platform, in an exclusive relationship that brings PubMatic’s global sell side platform (SSP) technology and services to MENA advertising buyers for the first time. The new partnership aims to capitalise on the increase in advertising spend predicted in the MENA region, which will rise to $5.7 billion by 2017.

“This strategic partnership with PubMatic will help publishers take advantage of the evolving media landscape, driving clear ROI for their digital ad inventory,” says Vincent Pelillo, Managing Director, MediaMarketPlace. “Through integrating with the industry-leading software automation platform that PubMatic provides, we have created the first premium programmatic marketplace for MENA publishers and media buyers.”

Rob Jonas, Chief Revenue Officer at PubMatic adds, “The catalyst for our expansion to the MENA region has been the tremendous publisher demand for the PubMatic platform across EMEA. MenaMarketPlace provides significant value to publishers looking to take more control of their digital ad inventory. Local and global ad networks, DSPs, trading desks and agency holding groups will now be able to reach targeted audiences in a premium online environment.”

The PubMatic One Platform technology includes Yield Optimisation and real-time bidding-based functionality, offering an automated and transparent solution to publishers and media buyers. Additionally, PubMatic’s platform innovation will include solutions that are expected to become increasingly relevant as the programmatic advertising market matures in the MENA region. These solutions include – audience and data management platform capabilities, as well as private marketplace functionalities that are already in place.

The Cash Collective launches app with Apple

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Online lifestyle magazine, The Cash Collective, has celebrated its first birthday with the launch of an app, now available in the Apple App Store. Launched in partnership with MediaQuest’s digital division MEmob, the app – also called The Cash Collective – allows readers to download the magazine for free onto mobile devices.

“I’m beyond excited to announce The Cash Collective app,” says Shannon Wylie, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Cash Collective. “In what may be the most exciting news for the magazine this year, we are now available in the Apple App Store. The new interactive platform, which has been months in the making and so worth the wait, now allows you to access The Cash Collective issue by issue, simply by downloading the app. We’ve launched the app with issue seven, so enjoy the read and future issues will be available soon!”