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ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller wins at the Gold Standard Awards

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ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller has been named ‘Middle East Consultancy of the Year’ at this year’s Gold Standard Awards. The award aims to celebrate corporate affairs and corporate communications professionals across public affairs, strategic communications and stakeholder agreement sectors in the Asia Pacific and Middle East region. The event also recognised ASDA’A in the category of ‘Social Media Communications’ for its use of digital channels to engage with stakeholders.

“The Gold Standards, which is the most prestigious awards of its type in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, recognises the best of the best and we are thrilled with our wins, which recognise the world-class standard of the work we do,” says Sunil John, Founder and CEO, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. “Our team works tirelessly to produce work of the highest quality and such recognition only fuels our passion to deliver excellence.”

 

Hanover acquires Bell Pottinger Middle East

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Hanover Middle East has signed an agreement to acquire all the assets of Bell Pottinger Middle East. The acquisition will include a name change to Hanover Middle East and will continue to focus on strategic consultancy advice in the financial services, healthcare, technology, media and telecoms sectors as well as maintain its creative agency, The Playbook.

The agreement will also see the appointment of a restructured senior team from both agencies. Jonty Summers will take on the combined business in addition to his role as Managing Director at Hanover. While BPME’s Archie Berens, previously Managing Director will be appointed to the role of Chairman and Amy Piek previously Associate Partner to the role of Director.

MENA Effie Award winners announced

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Winners of the MENA Effie Awards has been announced following the conclusion of its ninth edition of the awards on November 15, 2017. Held at the Armani/Pavilion, Armani Hotel Dubai, the awards focused on establishing a gold standard of creative marketing brilliance across the region. The event saw major wins for FP7/CAI winning the Grand Prix, while other winners include PHD Dubai for Most Effective Media Office of the Year and FP7/DXB for Most Effective Agency Network of the Year.

“2017 saw tighter budgets, increasing pressure to deliver revenue and growing competition in the industry, but despite this high-pressure environment, marketing professionals have upped the ante with new levels of innovation, creativity and resourcefulness,” says Alexandre Hawari, Co-CEO, Mediaquest. “This is what we look for in our award-winners, who have all successfully faced the challenges by finding ever more strategic and targeted ways to reach audiences and deliver a solid return on investment.”

VICE Arabia launches operations

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Global media brand, VICE Arabia has launched operations across the region. Headquartered in the UAE, vice.com./ar provides a mix of locally and internationally produced video programming, as well as editorial and social content targeted at the region’s youth population.

Islam Alrayyes takes on the role of Editor-in-Chief and brings a wealth of experience in the Middle East media industry, having previously worked as Editor-in-chief at Sport360 and Head of Digital Content at admcsport.com, part of Abu Dhabi Media. In his new role, he will lead the team of writers, editors, directors and producers to launch its digital operations across the region.

VICE Arabia’s Managing Director, Jason Leavy will handle broader operations and comes with over 20 years of media, communications, publishing and marketing experience. Jason most recently worked with Edelman DABO as Managing Director and will now work alongside the editorial, content and commercial teams. He will be responsible for VICE Arabia’s creative and strategic development across all mediums as a part of the brand’s expansion plan across the region.

Reporting to Jason Leavy is Firas Breais – Head of Sales, Ciaran Bonass – Creative Director and Anas Al Hakim – Senior Creative.

Also joining the new team from its UK office is Aws Al-Jezairy who holds the role of Managing Editor, having helped launch VICE News in the UK. Emma Hill is Head of Production, Badar Salem and Wael Mamdouh are Online Editors, Ameer Daou is Social Editor and Majd Abi Ali is Audience Development Manager.

“VICE Arabia will bring together pan-Arab youth and stand out as the platform for them to tell their own stories and talk about what matters to them,” says Islam Alrayyes, Editor-in-Chief, VICE Arabia. “In a region woven in a rich cultural fabric and with increasingly prominent new voices and talent – from innovators to artists – VICE will showcase the work of those making an impact.”

 

TechRadar expands into the Middle East

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Global technology platform, TechRadar has partnered with regional technology brand, Tbreak as a part of its expansion into the Middle East. The partnership will see both brands combine their resources to publish content to a wider audience with a name rebrand of its platform to TechRadar.com. The agreement will also see TechRadar’s existing editorial team work closely with the Tbreak team to provide their audience with a blend of globally relevant industry coverage and product reviews, alongside local news and insight specifically tailored to the region to strengthen their existing and global reach.

“We are very excited with this new partnership,” says Abbas Jaffar Ali, Director, Tbreak Media. “TechRadar is a highly-respected brand and with their expertise, we are looking to take technology journalism to a whole new level in the Middle East.”

Pinpoint Media Group makes new acquisition

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Dubai-based media company, Pinpoint Media Group has acquired the complete publishing and online roster of Edgar, Altitude and Yachts magazines. The acquisition of the luxury lifestyle titles, previously owned by LuxMedia Middle East, will enable Pinpoint Media Group to reach a new group of readers and commercial entities in print, while also expanding an online presence in line with the company’s strategic goals in the region.

“The acquisition of LuxMedia Middle East’s publishing assets allows us to offer our clients a broader portfolio suited to a wider range of brands under their control,” says Darren Hodgkin, Chief Executive Officer, Pinpoint Media Group. “Edgar, Altitudes and Yachts have built solid reputations in both the GCC and globally, and each will complement our existing roster in their own right. I look forward to developing the titles further, expanding the successful events program and growing the digital presence of each masthead in line with the overall vision of our modern day global publishing house.”

Assaad Kassis takes on new role at UM MENA

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UM MENA has appointed Assaad Kassis to the role of General Manager of its Saudi Arabia office. Having joined UM MENA’s Dubai office in 2010, Assaad most recently held the role of Regional Business Director, where he managed brands such as L’Oreal, Hershey’s and The Coca-Cola Company. In his new role, he will focus on growing the local business of UM MENA by augmenting the implementation of their product services for existing client business and simultaneously focusing on new acquisition. He will also work on ensuring UM’s regional client teams have heightened on-ground presence and are consistently plugged in with the local Saudi Arabian market.

“I can’t think of a better candidate than Assaad to lead our Saudi Arabia office at a time where our focus will be to continue strengthening our product line for local partners and expand our operations,” says Joe Nicolas, Regional Managing Director, UM MENA. “This is also an extremely exciting change for our Saudi Arabia office as Assaad has proven to be highly pragmatic and an organisational visionary and he will definitely be taking that with him in his new role.”