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Winners of IAA Ticket to Cannes Lions revealed

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Winners of this year’s IAA Ticket to Cannes Lions competition were announced last night at IAA UAE Chapter’s Dubai office. The competition aims to recognise young professionals in the advertising industry and saw Omar Tom from Leo Burnett, Elie Raad from AMS and Levent Donertas from TBWA/RAAD named as this year’s winners. Selected on the basis of originality, creativity and personal investment, Omar, Elie and Levent will move on to represent the region at the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity to be held from June 17 – 24, as well as be enrolled in the Young Lions Academies.

“The IAA Ticket to Cannes Lions not only makes young advertisers mine their own creativity and originality to further their careers, but also gives them a chance to learn from the best minds in the industry and apply that learning in the local market,” says Hani Ghorayeb, President, IAA UAE Chapter. “The three winners stood out because of their creative approach and their ability to elicit an emotional connection with their campaign. We wish them an exciting, enjoyable and fruitful week in Cannes.”

New appointment at LinkedIn

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Following the recent launch of its new features, Matched Audiences and Lead Gen Forms, LinkedIn has appointed Ziad Rahhal to the role of Head of Marketing Solutions, MENA. Ziad joins the professional network with over ten years of experience in the sales and marketing industry, having previously worked with Nimbuzz B.V as Managing Director, MENA, where he oversaw the launch of several digital advertising solutions across the region. In his new role, he will develop strategies for the growth of LinkedIn’s new products, which will enhance audience targeting, as well as oversee the progress of their existing features across the MENA region.

“With the recent announcement of the 500 million milestone globally, it really couldn’t be a better time to join LinkedIn and I am excited to be a part of the team,” says Ziad. “In the complex world of B2B buying, we are looking to help brands not only engage with professionals, but drive and convert leads – and it’s exciting to join a platform leading in this field.”

Omnicom Media Group MENA partners with digital analytics firm

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Omnicom Media Group has extended its partnership with digital analytics company, Moat, to the Middle East. Aiming to provide greater transparency in measurement and performance, Omnicom Media Group, the media services arm of Omnicom Group Inc. has been collaborating with Moat since 2014.

“This value of extending the partnership with Moat was obvious to us from the beginning,” says Dimitri Metaxas, Regional Executive Director-Specialist Companies, Omnicom Media Group MENA. “Its benefits extend to all parties within the industry, as it allows us to better understand all the measured parameters and deliver a tangibly stronger performance. This alliance helps us move into a new era of measurement, ensuring that publishers and media partners are well-aware of our commitment towards the brands and businesses that our agencies represent. This is the latest step we’ve taken to enhance our clients’ marketing and business performance better.”

Alexandra Venison joins Vogue Arabia

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Following the appointment of Manuel Arnaut as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Arabia, the title has welcomed Alexandra Venison to the editorial team as Beauty Editor. Having worked across fashion and beauty titles including Emirates Woman at Motivate Publishing and VIVA and Harper’s Bazaar Arabia at ITP Media Group, Alexandra will head up all beauty content in her new role.

M&C Saatchi PR expands into the UAE

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Public relations agency, M&C Saatchi PR, part of M&C Saatchi has opened its UAE offices as a part of its expansion plan into the region. The new PR division will increase M&C Saatchi’s existing businesses in the UAE and offer clients across the region a range of fully integrated creative communications services. The new launch will also see the appointment of Amy Brill to the role of Head of PR, having worked with clients such as Hilton, Kimberly Clark and Kenya’s Ministry of Tourism, Amy brings with her a solid background in brand and multi-markets. In her new role, she will head all PR operations at the Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices reporting to the Global CEO at M&C Saatchi PR, Molly Aldridge, as well as drive new business growth and ensure the delivery of quality and creative work.

“M&C Saatchi PR is a close-knit, yet truly global agency with expertise in delivering some of the industry’s best campaigns for the world’s top brands,” says Amy Brill, Head of PR, M&C Saatchi PR, UAE. “I look forward to bringing the same passion and energy that the global M&C Saatchi PR family is known for to this dynamic and fast-moving market. Watch this space!”

Major leadership changes at Edelman DABO

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Communications and marketing firm, Edelman DABO has undergone major leadership changes in the region following mass layoffs earlier this year. Camilla and Lucy d’Abo, founders of Dabo & Co, which in 2015 was acquired by Edelman and rebranded as Edelman DABO, will step down from their current roles and leave the agency. After seven years of working with the brand, Managing Director, Jason Leavy will also depart Edelman DABO to pursue new opportunities in the PR and publishing industry.

The new management transition will see Jason Galucci, previously CEO at Lexis UK take on the role of Managing Director, Brand at Edelman UAE. In his new role, he will oversee the combined Edelman DABO team and its operations across the country.

Alex Apthorpe will also be joining the agency’s new management team to take on the role of Director of Brand Experience and Creative for Edelman DABO. Previously Senior Vice President and Joint Managing Director for Jack Morton Worldwide – Middle East, in his new role, Alex will oversee the experiential team reporting to Galucci.

Festival of Media MENA reveals award winners

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Winners of the Festival of Media MENA Awards 2017, in partnership with Mediaquest, has been announced following the conclusion of the third edition of its conference on April 26, 2017. Held at the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel, the awards focused on the evolution of the media industry to celebrate the best in media thinking and communications across the region. The event saw major wins for Starcoms winning Agency Network of the Year, OMD UAE for Agency of the Year and MEC MENA for Campaign of the Year, while other winners also include Garage 366 for Best Use of Mobile, Magna Egypt for Best Engagement Strategy and MediaVest | Spark for Best Social Media Strategy. The winners were judged by a panel divided into two groups and chaired by Asad Rehman, Director of Media at Unilever MENA and Nick Graham, Director of Global Digital Marketing and Media at Huawei for the event.

“It is a privilege and a great responsibility to be asked to chair an awards ceremony that is as prestigious as the Festival of Media MENA,” says Asad Rehman, Director of Media, Unilever MENA. “Too often we are in the office with our heads down, but judging gives us the opportunity to open the windows and see what else is happening in the region.”

Arab News partners with online polling firm

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Saudi Arabian-based newspaper, Arab News has signed an exclusive partnership with online polling firm, YouGov. The new partnership will see YouGov conduct regular polls in relation to the MENA region to help shed light on regional views towards international events. The agreement will also produce credible research on international opinions on Arab affairs and allow its findings be published on Arab News’ print and digital platforms starting in May, 2017.

“In an era of fast-moving news cycles, information overload and ‘fake news’, there could be no better time for a media brand to invest in quality, credible research such as that produced by YouGov,” says Faisal J. Abbas, Editor-in-Chief, Arab News. “This inevitably means that Arab News readers will enjoy a series of highly insightful research-based reports which will, in turn, bring us closer to understanding the hearts and minds of the region.”

Times of Oman wins at Asian Media Awards

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Times of Oman has been awarded a gold medal at the Asian Media Awards 2017 in Malaysia. Held by the World Association of Newspapers (WanIfra), the event saw Times of Oman win a gold medal in the category of magazine infographics to recognise its high publishing standards for it’s 2016 national day’s detailed supplement, as well as a silver medal in the newspaper graphics category.

“The graphics team can be rightly proud of their work, especially for the ‘land of frankincense’ supplement that not only looked amazing, but smelled good too – as the pages were infused with frankincense,” says Scott Armstrong, Chief Executive Editor, Times of Oman. “It was a beautiful product and worth remembering that the online version of this project also scooped Gold for Data Visualisation at the Middle East Digital Awards in Dubai just last month.”