Global communications agency, M&C Saatchi has been appointed to represent Tourism Australia. Founded in 2004, Tourism Australia is a government agency that aims to promote Australia to the world as a destination for business and leisure travel. M&C Saatchi will lead the creative output for Tourism Australia globally with China, the UK and South East Asia.
Broadcast PR specialists, markettiers MENA has appointed Lucy Davies to the role of Account Director. With over seven years within the agency in London, Lucy most recently worked with a variety of clients including DMCC, L’Oréal, Volkswagen and Audi. In her new role, Lucy will be responsible for overseeing client management, introducing new innovative routes to engage with audiences while driving the agency’s offerings when it comes to live streaming, video news releases and producing podcasts to mobilise audience behavior.
“After seven years being based in the London office, and supporting the UAE, I’m excited to make the move full time,” says Lucy. “It’s an ever changing landscape for PR professionals in the Middle East and I look forward to driving further growth and supporting the expansion in the region and beyond.”
Cheryl King, Managing Director, markettiers MENA, “Over the past few years Lucy has been supporting the MENA team from our London headquarters, and has been instrumental in helping to drive our growth as a broadcast specialist in region. Her relocation to Dubai is testament to her passion for the region and how she has quickly embraced the needs of the market, evangelising broadcast and its power to reach core and new audiences. We’re excited to welcome Lucy to our team on the ground as we continue to introduce and work with our clients on impactful routes to mobilise behaviour.”
Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) has appointed Richard Millar to the role of Global President. With over 14 years of experience within the agency, Richard most recently held the role of CEO in the agency’s UK branch. H+K will also see the appointment of Lars Erik Grønntun to the role of Global President. Lars most recently held the role of Chairman and CEO. In their new roles, they will work together to accelerate and maximise the global resources and enhance the agency’s strengths while overseeing all operations.
“The new structure enables us to tap into the best talent regardless of geography or practice,” says Richard. “It means that our teams will have access to the latest thinking, strategy and insight to help them shape meaningful and impactful careers and to deliver outstanding creative work. I am excited to be part of this change in partnership with Lars Erik and Jack.”
“I am honoured to have the opportunity to assume this leadership position,” says Lars. “Having led our operation in Europe, Middle East and Africa, I believe that my understanding of local markets together with our international mind-set and reach is transferable to a global stage. I very much look forward to taking a model that has worked very well for us in EMEA and putting it to work at a global scale.”
Jalou Media Group is excited to announce the international digital launch of lofficielarabia.com in October 2018, and the relaunch of the print edition, L’Officiel Arabia, in spring 2019.
One of the leading French luxury fashion titles for over 100 years, the L’Officiel brand is owned by Jalou Media Group, a family-owned business based in Paris and led by CEO, Benjamin Eymere. The relaunched Middle Eastern incarnation of the title will be published by Dubai-based agency, Chalk Media, headed by Managing Director, Sidharth Saigal.
A combined English & Arabic title, with 10 issues per year, L’Officiel Arabia will be distributed throughout the Middle East on an initial print run of 37,000 copies, and comprises an editorial mix of locally-produced and international content from more than 30 international L’Officiel editions.
With the debut of the digital platform in both Arabic and English, lofficielarabia.com is a fully-integrated digital newsroom offering consumers both local and international coverage of high fashion, beauty, accessories, art, travel and lifestyle, and joins the L’Officiel digital network, reaching millions of consumers across the globe.
“In the last 30 months, we have transformed a 100-year old media company into a digital lifestyle hub”, says Benjamin Eymere, CEO of Jalou Media Group. “We are reaching an audience of millions of people across the world by connecting curated lifestyle content from our presence in 30 international markets, making L’Officiel truly a global platform.”
Published in partnership with Chalk Media, the L’Officiel Arabia team will be led by Editor-in-Chief,Boba Stanic, who boasts a 15-year career in arts, culture and fashion in the Netherlands and the UAE. A highly regarded architect, with a successful design business in Amsterdam, Boba has collaborated with a variety of international designers, studios and museums throughout his multi-faceted career, and frequently speaks on a variety of art and culture seminars and workshops across the globe.
Joining him is Lucy Wildman, who will take on the role of L’Officiel Arabia’s Deputy Editor and Fashion Director. With a 20-year journalistic career in both the UK and the UAE, Lucy brings a wealth of experience in fashion, beauty, lifestyle and celebrity journalism to the title, having previously worked on some of the biggest weekly and monthly publications in the region, including Ahlan!, Architectural Digest, Conde Nast Traveller, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, Hello! Middle East, OK! Middle East, The Rake, Revolution and Scene.
“We are extremely excited about our association with Jalou Media Group and with the digital launch of lofficielarabia.com, followed by the print edition early next year”, said Chalk Media’s Managing Director, Sidharth Saigal. “L’Officiel Arabia is set to provide the Middle East’s digital consumer with an unrivalled insight into the latest regional and international luxury fashion and lifestyle news and features, as well as access to the global L’Officiel brand through it’s unique ‘cloud’ feature format available in both Arabic and English.”
Dubai-based event management agency, Custard has appointed Michelle Clarke to the role of General Manager. With a wealth of experience as an events professional, Michelle previously worked with leading brands in the MENA region and England for over 15 years. She most recently worked within the agency where she held the role of Client Services Director. In her new role, Michelle will be responsible for the leadership of the business and team, oversee operations and event delivery.
“I’m delighted to have been granted the opportunity to become Custard’s General Manager,” says Michelle. “I’m looking forward to working hard with our amazing team to achieve even higher levels of creativity and event execution, to ensure we are providing our clients with world class events!”
Global creative agency network, We Are Social has launched a new report known as Braving the Backlash. Created by its UK office, the report aims to offer practical advice on how brands can approach sensitive issues in their marketing while properly managing hate speech and negativity online. Braving the Backlash explains why all brands need an anti-hate policy, how to create one, and where to display it. The report also introduces a new ‘Three Rs Model’ to help brands and community managers successfully categorise and respond to hate speech online.
“Diversity has become a core issue at the heart of our industry, as brands and advertisers increasingly look to speak out on societal causes which resonate with them,” says Nathan McDonald, Co-Founder and CEO, We Are Social. “However, there is still a clear lack of understanding as to how these conversations – and indeed, campaigns – can be properly managed online without those involved having to fear backlash from certain groups online. This report aims to help to address some of these concerns, and offers brands and marketers a roadmap on how to effectively tackle negativity head on. It’s something we as a group are incredibly proud to stand behind.”
Dubai-based public relations and social media agency, JPd PR has launched its London office as the first stage of its global expansion plans. Having launched in Dubai in 2016, JPd PR has opened its new office to reach out to key clients and help them design and execute campaigns and communication tactics. The agency’s key clients include Telr, Carlton Hotels and Suites, Bebuzzd and Fiona Environs – they will also work towards gaining more clients and awareness across the globe.
“Having launched in 2016, JPd PR has reached great horizons in the GCC market,” says James Pass, Director, JPd PR. “London is just a stepping stone into the global market, and we look forward to making many more such announcements, this year. We forecast exciting times ahead and envision growth for the agency.”
Dubai-based PR agency, ASDA’A Burson Marsteller (BM) has received the PRWeek Global Award for Best Campaign – Middle East/Africa. The awards took place on May 15, 2018 at Northumberland Avenue in London. The agency secured the award for its 9th annual ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey.
“The PRWeek Global Awards recognise the best of the best, and we are thrilled to have earned this award for our work on the 9th Arab Youth Survey,” says Sunil John, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller. “This international level of recognition from our peers fuels our commitment to deliver excellence for the benefit of our clients and our industry in the Middle East. The Arab Youth Survey is a real passion project that ignites our spirit as an agency. It has long served as the biggest platform to echo the voices of this region’s largest and most influential demographic – Arab youth. Winning the Best Campaign award for the Middle East and Africa only adds to our commitment to delivering more ground-breaking campaigns.”
Full-service advertising agency, FP7/DXB has appointed Olly Robinson to the role of Executive Creative Director. With a wealth of experience in advertising, Olly previously worked in the UK and most recently with FP7/DXB as Senior Creative Director. In his new role, he will continue to build the agency’s creative reputation with clients and oversee the development of new initiatives within the creative department.
“I am stoked to be named as FP7’s Executive Creative Director,” says Olly. “In FP7’s 50th year the agency is still going from strength-to-strength, we’re winning new business and doing effective, award-winning work for our clients. My role is to keep that momentum going, hire great talent and do work that makes us and our clients famous.”
Dubai-based luxury public relations agency, Z7 Communications has been appointed to represent SWEAR across the Middle East. Established in the UK in 1995, SWEAR is a luxury sneaker brand that offers customers the option to digitally create their own personalised sneaker. Z7 Communications will handle all PR operations and use its expertise to strengthen SWEAR’s profile across the Middle East.
“We are excited to be adding ultra-cool brands such as SWEAR to our ever growing portfolio of luxury fashion brands,” says Zeina El-Dana, Founder and Managing Director, Z7 Communications. “We look forward to successfully launching this exclusive brand and further developing and positioning SWEAR as the customisable designer sneaker brand in the region.”