Welcome

The Dubai Lynx awards seem a long time ago now because so much has taken place in the last two months, but it was a very

good demonstration of the fact that people in this industry are making every effort to keep with the pace or even exceed the pace of global advertising.

Since the awards, there has been a lot of work done behind the scenes at the IAA UAE Chapter, a great deal of thinking and doing. What I would like to give you is a glimpse of the vision and the mission that we in the IAA have put together as a result of this thinking.

We have two types of instruments for achieving our objectives.

Firstly, we have invited professionals and consultants to handle our PR.

Dear friends...

Sami Raffoul President IAA UAE Chapter

Grand Prix awards go to Egypt and UAEThe winners of the first Dubai Lynx Awards, the new leading creative advertising competition for the Middle East and North Africa, were revealed at the inaugural Awards Ceremony which took place at the Dubai Media City amphitheatre, attended by over 1,200 guests.

After selecting a shortlist of 388 ads from the 1,679 entries submitted, the jury awarded a total of 111 Dubai Lynx trophies.

The Print category was the strongest with a total of 39 winners, followed by Direct

with 22, 17 in Outdoor, 14 in TV/Cinema, 12 in Interactive, four in Radio and three in the Integrated category.

The UAE won the most awards (88) followed by Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia each taking home seven trophies and Bahrain taking home two.

The Print Grand Prix went to Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for the Olay ad ‘Undo’.

The Outdoor Grand Prix was awarded to JWT Cairo for the Lipton Green Tea ad ‘Lipton Tree’.

The sponsors of the inaugural Dubai Lynx Advertising Awards, which were held on March 19, 2007, met at the offices of the International Advertising Association’s UAE Chapter in Dubai Media City to collect a souvenir in recognition of their support for the awards. They were joined by Mohamed Al

Mulla, Director of Dubai Media City, and Sami Raffoul, President of the IAA UAE Chapter.

Representatives from left are: Xerox Emirates Marketing Manager Belal El Banna, Khaleej Times Assistant VP Marketing Haroon Qureshi, Kassab Media Director Salim Barkett, AME Info General Manager Ziad

Khammar, Motivate Publishing Group Editor and Managing Partner Ian Fairservice, IAA UAE Chapter President Sami Raffoul, Dubai Media City Director Mohamed Al Mulla, Gulf News Promotions Manager Naheed Patel, MBC Director Corporate Branding Sharif Badreddin, Adline Media General Manager Ramzi

Bahous, MIS Gulf Managing Director Marwan Kai and Gulf News Broadcasting Radio 1 & 2 Station Manager Mutaz Bseiso.

Plans for the 2008 edition of the Dubai Lynx Advertising Awards are underway and will incorporate a three-day Advertising Festival culminating in the Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony and gala dinner.

Leo Burnett Cairo won the TV/Cinema Grand Prix for the Melody Channel campaign Private Lesson and Hulk.

The Interactive Grand Prix was won by Lowe Mena Dubai for the Axe Deodorant commercial Females.

Fortune Promoseven Dubai took home the Radio Grand Prix for the Chiquita Bananas campaign Eye of the Tiger, My Way and Smells Like Teen.

The first Direct Grand Prix was awarded to TBWA\RAAD Dubai for the Standard Chartered Bank Account Quick Account ad.

The jury decided not to give a Grand Prix in the Integrated category.

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai were honoured with the first Agency of the Year trophy with JWT Dubai coming in second place and Team/Y&R in third.

A total of 25 top creatives from 17 countries were split into two teams to judge the Dubai Lynx Awards at a series of meetings held in Dubai in March. The winning work can be viewed at www.dubailynx.com\winners.

Secondly, we have done some renovation and restructuring, particularly a fresher and more streamlined website, to match the same spirit of the vision, mission and strategy.

AdVocate magazine will also illustrate it through writing. Every article and story in the magazine will breathe the same spirit as the IAA and will increasingly form a part of our strategy of communication.

Of course we were delighted with the Dubai Lynx in its first edition, but our minds are already on 2008. To do this effectively, we need to move across the year with regular updates on the Dubai Lynx 2008 until the culmination of a grand event next year.

We want to accompany people through the process of entering the awards, whether it is through the

model of previous events or guiding them through the deadlines of submissions to ensure a successful entry.

Our hope and desire is that when the juries do their work, they will be stunned by every single submission.

We don’t want a situation where not all of the judges were convinced by the merits of a piece of work or by the work submitted in a particular category.

We want them to say they have been stunned by the work in every single category. We look forward to achieving these results together in the months ahead.

� LETTER

AdVocate

IAA CONTACTS

President Sami Raffoul

Vice-President Lance De Masi

General Secretary Faris Abou Hamad

Treasurer Ghassan Harfouche

PO Box 71104, Building 8 Dubai Media City

Dubai, UAET: +971 4 390 3232F: +971 4 390 8362

iaauae@emirates.net.aewww.iaauae.org

ADVOCATE CONTACTS

Group Senior EditorRiyad Mickdady

EditorVicky Kapur

Deputy EditorsDavid Banks

Gopal BhattacharyaAmelia Shepherd-Smith

Chief Sub EditorLeah Fielding

Sub EditorsTania RichardsNick Cooper

DesignerPaul Sterry

Group Advertising ManagerShawki Abd El Malik

Senior Advertising ManagerLincoln Rajendran

AdVocate is designed and produced for the

International Advertising Association,

UAE Chapterby

Motivate PublishingPO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE

T: +971 4 282 4060 F: +971 4 282 7593www.motivate.ae

Printed by Rashid Printers

� DUBAI LYNX AWARDS

AdVocate

Gold galore at Dubai’s creative extravaganzaWITh OVER A ThOUSAND OF the Middle East’s most creative people in one place, it was hard not to be inspired by the Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony. It was a night of laughter, good-natured banter and plenty of cheering as advertising luminaries from across the world compared notes with their Middle East counterparts.

Organised by the International Advertising Festival (Cannes Lions) in association with the UAE Chapter of the IAA and supported by Dubai Media City, there could be no better entertainment on the night than to see some of the short-listed entries in each category.

Everyone went away infused with a little more creative fuel to renew their imaginative streak, suitably inspired to begin next year’s award winning campaigns. Vincent Fichard and Marc Linevedt

Lina and Sami Raffoul with Tanvir and Pratibha Kanji Joanne Arbid and Malek Atassi Jonathan Harries , Jury President

Zeina Elhaj with Khaled and Nicci Habbib Kasia and Abouhamad Faris Sarah Locke ,Anthony Dalton , Rob Belgiovane and Simon Shellian

Emily Haddad and Nevine KanjManal Khater , Chermine Assadian and Dima KronfolJoseph Ghossoub, Mohamed Al Mulla and Ian Fairservice

Joanna Chaker , Piya Ajit and Diana GeballyNazgol Eskandri , Christian Loos and Andrew Darkan Mohammed Al Noori and Philip Thomas, CEO of the International Advertising Festival

Tonic Communications win Gold for their ‘Sony Microvault’ Interactive campaign.

� DUBAI LYNX AWARDS

AdVocate

Advertising is the winner in a night of thrills and surprisesIN ADDITION TO Saatchi & Saatchi’s success, other notable teams celebrating a Lynx-winning night included Leo Burnett, Tonic and JWT.

Leo Burnett’s network of offices across the Middle East clocked up no less than 11 Lynx Awards and the highlight for the company was undoubtedly winning the Grand Prix for the TV/Cinema category. This was picked up by Leo Burnett’s Cairo office for its two campaigns for the Melody Channel, titled Private Lesson and Hulk. The quirky and humorous ads featured an unlikely Lycra-clad superhero and his ‘campaign against boredom’.

In addition to the Grand Prix Award in the TV/Cinema category, the Dubai office also picked up a Gold Award for its campaign for the Tide washing powder product (pictured right).

There were two Silver prizes, one in the Outdoor category for LB Beirut’s campaign for Kellogg’s and another in the Direct category for LB Cairo’s Procter & Gamble campaign.

LB’s Bronze awards came in the Print and Interactive categories to recognise campaigns for Kellogg’s, Sony, GMC Yukon, AMAM and

GMC, gained by LB Dubai, Arc Dubai and the LB Beirut office.

Dubai Lynx recognition for Leo Burnett followed success at the Cristal MENA awards in Lebanon in February, where the company picked up 16 awards for work that came from all across the company’s regional network. Leo Burnett MENA also picked up a Bright Star Award from the global Leo Burnett company for its work throughout 2006.

Top accoladesThe ultimate accolade of ‘Agency of the Year’ went to Saatchi and Saatchi Dubai. Runner up was JWT Dubai, while Team/Y&R Dubai came in third.

JWT’s tally at the Dubai Lynx Awards means it can claim the title of the most awarded company in the region for the second year running.

JWT performed well and was short-listed for 68 of its adverts. The company posted success across its entire network, with shortlisted entries from JWT’s network offices in Bahrain, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Dubai, Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh.

JWT converted its short-listed adverts into three Gold,

seven Silver and seven Bronze Awards in five different categories, in recognition of work by the Dubai, Cairo, Beirut and Bahrain offices.

The highlight of the night saw the agency take home the Grand Prix award for its extraordinary outdoor Lipton Tree campaign for Lipton Tea in Egypt. Meanwhile, JWT’s TV, Print and Direct Marketing category campaigns for AIG Insurance, Amnesty International and Double A respectively, earned the agency three Golden gongs. Campaigns for Vodafone and

Guinness saw JWT win Silver awards, whilst the agency’s work for Kit Kat Chunky and Pfizer won Bronze awards.

“The biggest win for me is the extraordinary spirit that binds this network. The deep-seated desire to better ourselves and to set our sights on a higher ideal is our greatest triumph,” said Ramsey Naja, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Middle East & North Africa.

Chafic haddad, Executive Creative Director, JWT Dubai added: “The Dubai Lynx Awards was an amazing night and a great night for the whole

industry. I think we deserve the wins as a network. We busted our backsides throughout the whole year and it paid off.”

JWT were another company mirroring a superb showing at the Cristal de la MENA awards earlier in the year.

The company, which celebrates its 141st anniversary this year, ranks as the fourth-largest, full-service network in the world. Its parent company is WPP.

Brandcom Middle East’s clever integrated campaign for Axe (pictured above, left) also scooped up a Gold Lynx.

A Gold award in the Print category (Magazine and Newspaper - Household) went to the ‘Out’campaign by Leo Burnett Dubai for Procter and Gamble’s Tide washing powder.

Brandcom’s clever integrated campaign involved ‘guerilla’ ad stickers.

Brandcom Middle East’s Dubai team hit the jackpot with their Axe deodorant Integrated campaign.

STEvE LANE AppoINTED DIREcToR of ThE

DUBAI INTERNATIoNAL ADvERTISING fESTIvAL

Following the successful launch of the Dubai Lynx Awards, the new leading creative advertising competition for the Middle East and North Africa, Steve Lane, currently Sponsorship Manager of Cannes Lions, has been appointed Festival Director of the annual Dubai International Advertising Festival, which will debut in March 2008.

The new three-day Festival will be staged by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and their partner Motivate Publishing, and will bring to the region a series of high-profile seminars and other initiatives aimed at giving creative inspiration, learning and networking opportunities to the advertising and communications people working in the region.

The Festival will culminate in the presentation of the Dubai Lynx Awards, independently managed by the Cannes Lions team.

Festival CEO Philip Thomas said: “Steve has not only driven the commercial revenues for the business but has also come to understand the complex workings of running a festival. His Cannes Lions knowledge will stand him in good stead as he develops the Dubai event from this year’s highly successful Lynx Awards into a full-blown festival, modelled on Cannes and rivalling any regional festival in the world.”

Mohamed Al Mulla, Director, Dubai Media City said: “We are delighted to hear of Steve Lane’s appointment as Festival Director of the Dubai International Advertising Festival and will be giving the whole team our full support in the build-up to the first event in 2008.”

The newly appointed Steve Lane said: “Having witnessed the incredible support and enthusiasm that the first Dubai Lynx Awards received from the industry, I’m immensely excited about taking up this challenging role.” He continued: “It will be an honour to organise a great event for the region.” Steve, who has been with Cannes Lions for three years, will be based in Dubai and will take up his new role on August 1, 2007.

10 DUBAI LYNX AWARDS

AdVocate

A BREAKDoWN of ThE DUBAI LYNX cATEGoRIES

pRINTThe Print category kept the judging panel occupied for several hours, and they gave Gold Lynx awards to 18 ads, including Fortune Promoseven’s series of ads for Sony’s Microvault storage device and JWT’s hard-hitting work for Amnesty International, which used the staples in the centre of the pages as a restraining tool holding down the men depicted in the ads.

But the Grand Prix went to Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for its Olay ad Undo, which cleverly used two pots of the moisturising cream to resemble the CTRL and Z buttons on a keyboard, which represent the ‘Undo’ command.

oUTDooRThe Outdoor Grand Prix was handed to JWT Cairo, for its ambient work for Lipton Green Tea. Rather than using traditional poster media, the agency cut shrubbery into the shape of a cup of saucer – complete with the Lipton bag label hanging over the side.

Elsewhere in the outdoor category, there were Gold Awards for Lowe MENA, for its risqué men’s changing room towels for Axe; Impact BBDO Jeddah for Pepsi International Swimming pool; and Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for its Sony Cybershot T7 Wallet ad, which used a subtle message to drive home the thinness of the camera.

Tv/cINEMAOne of the highlights of the evening was the TV/Cinema category, with the winning ads played to the audience on a big screen above the awards stage.

The Grand Prix went to Leo Burnett Cairo for a duo of ads for the Melody TV channel, which featured a rotund superhero in slapstick escapades. Judging by the laughter from across the amphitheatre, the judges got this one spot on. Dubai-based independent agency Tonic Communications picked up two Gold Awards, for its Sony Kick ad, which shows two young men playing football with an old TV set; and for its Nando’s Ramadan ad, which gave a humorous twist to the traditional fasting period.

Golds were also handed out to Drive Communications Jeddah (Toyota Land Cruiser); JWT Dubai (AIG Insurance); and Saatchi & Saatchi Beirut (Animal Welfare).

INTERAcTIvEThe Grand Prix in the Interactive category, which includes online and digital campaigns, went to Lowe Mena, for an ad for Axe deodorant entitled Females, which turned the word ‘male’ into ‘females’ to demonstrate the supposed lure of Axe to the opposite sex.

There was just one Gold winner in this category, which was awarded to Tonic for its work for Sony Microvault.

RADIoFortune Promoseven stole the show in the Radio category. Its trio of ads for Chiquita Bananas not only picked up the Grand Prix, but also proved to be the highlight of the evening for many in the audience.

The team recorded renditions of three tunes – Eye of the Tiger, My Way and Smells Like Teen Spirit – with the voiceover artist using just the word ‘banana’ as lyrics.

The ad, which had many laughing out loud, goes to show that sometimes the most simple ideas are the most effective.

DIREcTThe first Dubai Lynx Direct Grand Prix went to TBWA\Raad Dubai for its work on Standard Chartered Bank’s Quick Account.

The direct mailer used the creative idea that opening the account was as quick and easy as microwaving a meal, taking the consumer through the simple procedure step-by-step.

TBWA\Raad also picked up a Gold for its work for the Trillion for Lebanon charity, which turned the idea of a tourist brochure on its head to remind people of the suffering in the region.

There were also Golds in the Direct category for Lowe Mena for its Axe towels; JWT Dubai for Double A printer paper; and Wunderman’s Ouch It Hurts! ad for Adobe.

INTEGRATEDThe weakest showing in the inaugural Dubai Lynx came in the Integrated campaign category, where the judges were unable to find a Grand Prix winner.

There was, however, one Gold trophy, which went to Brandcom Middle East, for its multimedia campaign for Axe deodorant.

The company’s success follows Bronze World Medals at the New York Festivals (NYF) International Advertising Awards for campaigns that also included an Axe campaign.

Desert driveDrive Communication’s Jeddah office won the Gold Lynx Award in the TV and Cinema category (Cars) in recognition of its 2006 Global Positioning System spot for Toyota Motor Corporation/Abdul Latif Jameel.

The ad shows a Toyota Landcruiser stopping, indicating and making a turn in the middle of the desert, following the directions of the on-board GPS.

Ramzi Barakat, the Regional Creative Director for Drive Communication said, “Winning Gold from an international panel of judges shows not only how far the region has come creatively in a short space of time, but also that Drive is well and truly in the vanguard of the region’s creative output.”

Drive communication is a joint venture with Dentsu, the largest independent advertising agency in the world, and has full-service offices in the Middle East and North Africa regions.

One of the surprises of the evening was the lack of recognition for the Snickers ad from Impact BBDO and X-Ray Films, featuring the Red and Green Men concept.

The commercial has already gained cult status and has been in the top 10 listings on Ad-Critic and You Tube.

In the words of one prominent Creative Director in the region “…The idea is solid and the film is very well executed. All of us were convinced the commercial would take the Lynx Grand Prix.” Nevertheless, the commercial is tipped to do very well at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes this June.

Enviable ideasA press reception took place prior to the awards ceremony on 19 March, at the Radisson SAS Dubai Media City hotel. It was an informal gathering to give media representatives the opportunity to meet and talk to the jury presidents and members of the jury, as well as the organisers of Dubai Lynx and sponsors.

Fred Koblinger, Award Jury President for Integrated, TV-Print and Outdoor categories, said: “Out of my three categories Integrated was the weakest, which is why we didn’t award a Grand Prix.”

however, he added that the standard was otherwise high: “A lot of people in the industry had the impression that this is a nice place to come on holiday, but some people were really slightly surprised that there was some really good material.

“There was some stuff that I would have liked

‘fan’ — JWT’s Print Silver winner for Nestlé / Polo Mints.

JWT’S pRIzE-WINNING poRTfoLIo

‘Tv Room’ — Silver-winning Print ad for Boecker Pest Control.

Print Gold (Magazine) winner ‘Abused’ for Amnesty International.

JWT Cairo’s campaign for Vodafone Wireless Office won Outdoor Silver.

‘Guinness glass’ seats by JWT for Old Vic won an Outdoor Silver.JWT Cairo’s Lipton campaign was awarded the Outdoor Grand Prix.

AdVocate

DUBAI LYNX AWARDS 11

WINNING ENTRIES

Dubai-based Tonic Communications won the Gold Lynx Award in the TV/Cinema Category (Restaurants & Fast Food Outlets) with ‘Ramadan Kareem’ for Nando’s Restaurant. The ad was created in collaboration with Filmworks Dubai.

Saatchi and Saatchi’s ‘Undo’ campaign for Olay was the Grand Prix winning entry in the Print category.

TV/CINEMA GOLD

PRINT GRAND PRIx

Jury Presidents Fred Koblinger (above) and Jonathan Harries.

to have done. The overall standard was on a par with any other part of the world.

“The only difference might be the fact that there is not so much outstanding material as you get in Cannes, but you have to understand that it is the best material from all around the world.”

Jonathan harries, World Chief Creative Officer for Draft FCB and Jury President, said the Dubai Lynx proved that creative talent is often found in some really unexpected places.

“For example, if you look at our global network a lot of the creative talents are here in the Middle East,” he added.

“We have something called a ‘Creative rumble’ in which we bring in people from five or six different countries to solve a problem for a specific country and we use one or two of our Middle East creatives for that.”

So what questions did the judges come armed with when they approached the Dubai Lynx?

harries said it was a difficult balance to achieve.

“When I was invited to be a Jury President there was

some discussion at the time about whether in an emerging market you have to be lenient in order to encourage people, or whether you hold people to the same standards as anywhere else in the world,” he said. “I thought a lot about it and decided that while we might take into account of where the Awards are taking place, we are obliged to maintain very exacting standards and ask whether it has been executed well.”

So how quickly could the Middle East become the next big market for advertising?

harries said: “Great advertising that works well is an extremely important driver of marketing and markets as a whole so advertising has to become very important for the economy as a whole.

“We have a saying that all great advertising is creative, but not all creative is great advertising. That is a trap that people fall into because they are aiming to put their work into award shows. Awards are good, but they are not what you should live or die by.

“That’s something that scares me, when I see people doing that because it is a dangerous and shallow approach.”

Saatchi leads the pack

Ed Jones of Saatchi & Saatchi celebrates after his team won the Print category of the Dubai Lynx Awards with their ‘Undo’ campaign for Olay.

SAATChI & SAATChI emerged as the first Dubai Lynx Agency of the Year, thanks to its consistent trophy-winning performance across all categories, which enabled it to fend off strong competition from JWT (second) and Team Y&R (third).The awards were presented after agencies from across the Middle East descended on the UAE at a glittering gala dinner on March 19.

The event, held at the Dubai Media City amphitheatre, saw no less than 111 trophies handed out. Earlier, a panel of international judges had reduced the 1,679 entries down to a shortlist of 388 ad campaigns.

Windy weather in the build-up to the outdoor

event failed to deter the enthusiasm of more than 1,200 guests, many of whom came armed with horns and rattles in order to support their agency. And, following a lavish buffet dinner, they settled back into their seats to hear the winners revealed.

The Print category was by far the strongest, with 39 winners, followed by Direct category with 22. There were 17 trophies in the Outdoor category, 14 in TV/cinema; 12 in Interactive; four in Radio; and three in the Integrated Campaign category.

The UAE won the battle of the nations, taking home more awards than any other country. Its haul of 88 left the rest in the shade. Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia each took

home seven trophies, while Bahrain scored a brace.

In each media category, there were gold, silver and bronze awards up for grabs, provided the work reached the required quality threshold. And the most stellar work in each category was awarded with the coveted ‘Grand Prix’ title.

The judging panel consisted of 25 creatives, who were selected from around the world. Jonathan harries, worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Draft FCB Group, USA headed the TV/cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio jury. Fred Koblinger, CEO, PKP Proximity & BBDO holding Austria chaired the Direct, Interactive and Integrated jury.

12 NEWS

AdVocate

“While some of the journalists are highly critical of the region’s ‘PR machine’, there is a great deal of constructive criticism and occasional praise, which will help agencies and corporate communications departments better understand the day-to-day concerns and frustrations of the journalists they deal with,” continued Mullan.

Ben Smalley, MD of MediaSource, said: “There’s no excuse now for PR people who said they did not know what the media people were thinking.”

Among the key findings of the Mediasource/Insight survey are: n Nearly two thirds of journalists receive up to 20 press releases a day, yet 55 per cent say they actually use less than 10 per cent of the releases they receive. Asked to rate the importance of press releases as a news source, 74 per cent of the Arabic-language media believe them to be either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important, compared with just 56 per cent of the English-language media.

n 80 per cent of English-language journalists admit to either ‘often’ or ‘sometimes’ deleting emails from PR agencies without actually reading them, while a more forgiving 60 per cent of the Arabic media confess to the same practice.n ‘On the record’ briefings are the most significant source of stories for the region’s journalists with 85 per cent of all respondents rating them as either ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ important. n When asked whether they would be more likely to use a press release if it came with a gift, 41 per cent of Arabic-language journalists and 19 per cent of English-language journalists replied ‘yes’ or ‘maybe’.

Ben Smalley, Managing Director of MediaSource, which publishes the Middle East & North Africa Media Guide and represents global PR tool Mediadisk in the region, said: “When asked ‘What is the most irritating practice that PR professionals engage in?’, both the Arabic and English-

language press were unanimous in the opinion that sending material which has no relevance to their publication was the single greatest annoyance.

“The ‘scattergun’ approach adopted by some PR practitioners can be highly counterproductive – one editor even confesses to blocking the receipt of emails from PRs with a history of sending irrelevant releases ‘despite the risk of missing out on genuinely good material’.”

The questions were also designed to reveal insights into regional journalism.

“When asked to comment on the current state of their own profession, the Arabic-language media have a brighter view than their English-language colleagues,” stated Oliver Blofeld, Managing Partner, Insight.

“More than half of the Arabic-language press (57 per cent) rate the quality of journalism in the region as either being ‘very good’ or ‘fairly good’, but the majority of the English-language press

(56 per cent) believe it is only ‘okay’. “Conversely, 80 per cent of the English-

language press believe standards of journalism are ‘improving’, while only 40 per cent of the Arabic-language press feel the same, with 29 per cent believing standards are ‘staying the same’ and 31 per cent thinking they are ‘getting worse’.”

When it comes to the external pressures journalists feel when writing stories the way they want to, the majority of both the Arabic and English-language press (41 per cent) felt they were under no external pressure, although a substantial minority (32 per cent) found government rules and regulations to be a factor.

The full Insight/MediaSource Middle East Journalist Report 2007, which includes over 500 direct quotes from regional journalists, can be purchased online through the Middle East & North Africa Media Guide website – www.middleeastmediaguide.com for US$150, or by emailing requests to admin@insightmiddleeast.com

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Continued from page 1...

Ziad Khammar has been appointed General manager at amE info (www.ameinfo.com), which calls itself the leading online business resource in the middle East.

Ziad joins the Emap-owned business as it enters a new phase in its development. he will use his business, marketing and web expertise to build on the success of the amE info site, which is visited by more than 800,000 people every month.

his move comes after four years in charge of eWorks, the online arm of

AME Info boosts management team with new GM

THEOne casts Lowe as star of the showFolloWinG a lEnGthy and hotly-contested casting process to find a star advertising agency, thEone has, after much deliberation, finally appointed lowe mena to orchestrate the funky home fashion brand’s future marketing extravaganzas.

in early February, thEone rocked the advertising world of dubai by bringing together 16 of the UaE’s hottest agencies, as well as one from sweden, in the region’s first-ever mass pitch briefing session.

always unconventional, Thomas lundgren, the founder of thEone set up a challenge for any agencies interested in his company’s business.

First came what was dubbed as a ‘rock ‘n’ roll’

Golinharris Was named large Pr agency of the year 2007 at the eighth annual PRWeek awards ceremony held in new york City on Thursday, march 8. This prestigious award

GolinHarris selected as Large PR Agency of the Year 2007

recognises financial and client growth, client retention, and Pr creativity and innovation.

The PRWeek awards, sponsored by PRWeek magazine, showcases and recognises the best practices in public relations and are among the highest accolades in the public relations industry.

Ziad hasbani, managing director of Golinharris in dubai commented, “This award reflects on Golinharris internationally, and we are extremely proud to be part of such a well-respected team. in the GCC we have grown to become one of the leading Pr agencies with a portfolio of blue-chip clients including The dow Chemical Company, Kraft Foods, mastercard and many others. We have an established track record and look forward to the challenges of the year ahead regionally in

the middle East and globally.” Upon winning the award

it was said by PRWeek that “Judges were unanimous that all-round, this [Golinharris] was a highly impressive firm that had a year of which it could really be proud.” Judges also praised Golinharris’ strategy of looking forward as it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. Golinharris’ publication, The Next Fifty Years, highlights a number of future-focused initiatives developed by the agency. in addition, they recognised Golinharris’ dedication to client service and its reputation as one of the best agencies to work for.

President and CEo Fred Cook stated, “it is very gratifying when our peers recognise the progress we have made over the past few years. This is a very important

FoUr rEsEarCh agencies have presented their proposals for new television audience research in saudi arabia.

They were assessed by the Project illumination Board (PiB), which consists of the leading advertisers, media agencies and tV channels.

The PiB invited the researchers to present a meter-orientated measurement technique that would best reflect tV viewing behaviour in saudi arabia.

The research agencies were also asked to make proposals for a so-called Establishment survey, to recruit a representative sample of households and respondents that will participate in the research.

a third element was the need to time and record tV footage.

Further talks and negotiations with the research organisations are expected. a contract for research is expected to be signed this year.

TV audience research in Saudi Arabia

Ziad Hasbani, MD, GolinHarris Dubai.

distinction for our company because it recognises our team’s excellent work and dedication and reaffirms that Golinharris is truly a leader in the Pr industry.”

in addition to taking the highest honour in one of the event’s most competitive categories, Golinharris also won technology Campaign of the year award for its work with nintendo of america and the positioning of the Brain Age video game, as well as Employee Communications Campaign of the year award for its work with Piedmont hospital for the development and implementation of its employee referral programme.

These extraordinary honours are the latest additions to Golinharris’ growing list of industry accolades, including its recent selection as PRWeek magazine’s Editors’ Choice.

business presentation, ‘thE Thomas lundgren Breakfast show’ – hosted by lundgren himself.

Then the agencies were set a 24-hour pitch-qualification task of writing and performing a rock song which demonstrated their understanding of the brand.

While 11 local agencies rose to the challenge and qualified, only eight pitched in the end, those dropping out citing resource and time constraints, amongst other reasons.

Five swedish agencies were also vying for the position, but it was lowe that finally came out tops, delivering award-winning performances in terms of both strategy and creative work.

Publicis Graphics, where he oversaw significant growth and worked with clients such as British airways and hewlett Packard.

Khammar, who has lived in dubai for nearly 20 years, has a degree in business from the american University of Beirut, as well as holding qualifications from the Chartered institute of marketing and Webmaster. he will lead a team of 25 staff in his new role.

“amE info is an unrivalled brand here in the middle East, and i am relishing the challenge of taking it to new heights,” Khammar said.

“The site has seen continued progress since it began, and our next phase of development will reinforce amE info’s position as the leading online business tool in the region.”

richard Baker, managing director of Emap Business in the middle East, added: “Ziad’s experience will be invaluable in this exciting period of growth. he is a proven leader and his management expertise will greatly enhance the strength and depth of the management team at amE info.”

AdVocate

NEWS 13

Leo Burnett and Arc sweep MENA Cristal AwardslEo BUrnEtt GroUP of Companies mEna led the way at the mEna Cristal awards ceremony, the festival dedicated solely to the recognition of advertising talent in the middle East and north africa. Winning a total of 16 awards across its various offices in the region, leo Burnett mEna demonstrates its internationally recognised creative edge and network-wide pursuit of excellence.

in its second year, the Cristal de la mEna is a festival dedicated to the middle East and north africa region and to its work, executed in French, arabic or English. it was created by the mondial de la Publicité des Pays Francophones in méribel, itself one of the most prestigious award ceremonies in the world. The first edition was held in Casablanca, while this year’s event took place in the heart of the middle East, in Faraya mzaar, lebanon.

nearly 750 campaigns across all media categories were submitted by agencies throughout the middle East and north africa – making it the most comprehensive and holistic awards competition in the region. submissions were reviewed by an international jury led by Jacques séguéla, Worldwide Vice-President & Chief Creative officer, havas Group, one of the industry’s most celebrated global stars.

The winners were announced during the festival, held at the interContinental mzaar hotel. in the 10 categories, leo Burnett received 16 top awards, including two Grand Prix awards for tide and re-lebanon. orG, firmly establishing the agency as the most awarded in the region. arc, the direct & interactive marketing agency, earned five awards, lB dubai earned eight awards, lB Beirut earned two awards and lB Cairo earned one award.

Bechara mouzannar, regional Executive Creative director for leo Burnett said during the ceremony: “after last year’s success, our impressive showing at the second Cristal de la mEna proves once again that when it comes to creativity and excellence, leo Burnett stands out. to all the creative teams i say, ‘Congratulations and the bar is set higher for 2007’.”

in addition to the awards ceremony, the festival hosted many workshops and conferences, one of which was led by Farid Chehab, Chairman & Chief Creative officer of leo Burnett mEna. in his presentation entitled ‘nobel or Cannes?’ Farid Chehab described the road to discovery and its connection to creativity, tracing the similarities between a scientist winning a nobel Prize and a creative honoured by a Cannes award. The conference was followed by a luncheon that gathered many of leo Burnett’s clients and other invitees.

Food passion and Western music — Arab television ‘comes of age’taKhayal Entertainment, the arab-owned diversified film production and satellite broadcast entertainment company, unveiled plans that see it becoming a major player in the regional market. The company, which launched its pan-arab broadcast music and entertainment operation at the turn of the year, plans to accelerate the roll-out of its strategy to turn its two channels – much arabyeah and Fatafeat – into home viewing addictions.

“in a matter of weeks the two channels we launched on nilesat have acquired cult status. We are ready to move onto the next stage that will see takhayal become the owner of one of the most popular entertainment strands in regional broadcasting.

“We were confident that the business model was right, to buy into world-wide success stories, such as much music Canada and Food network Usa, but we have still been amazed at the response and at how quickly each channel has developed a committed following. much arabyeah’s music offering is based on programming from its Canadian counterpart – the most popular satellite broadcaster of youth music in north america producing ratings well ahead of rival mtV – has been a massive hit with regional audiences. They have really taken to its winning formula of ‘video jockeys’ [VJs]

running local programmes and the best international entertainment shows, requests and announcements from dubai and lebanon, rather than a continuous flow of music videos, smss and interactive chat.

“While the music channel has been hugely successful the impact of Fatafeat, the first and only 24-hour food channel in the region, has, quite frankly, been unbelievable. There is nothing like this food entertainment channel on television in the region and top-notch world celebrities such as Emeril lagasse, nigella lawson, rachel ray and martha stewart, to mention a few, have tuned viewers in wholesale.” Fatafeat runs most of the programming in cooperation with one of the most successful franchises in television history: The Food network.

Viewers for both channels can now expect more locally produced programming and a greater depth to the arabic content.

details of its film production division’s latest initiatives are also to be announced following a round of negotiations with co-partners in the region and internationally. “after winning at the Cairo international Film Festival with two awards, for Best Film and Best director,” El deeb added: “Everything is in place for takhayal to become the region’s no.1 entertainment broadcaster. There are some tremendously exciting developments ahead.”

Watanabe is Cannes 2007 Media Person of the Year

tns, a lEadinG GloBal market information company, announced that it is launching its 6thdimension online services in the middle East. These will include its 6thdimension online access panels, plus a full range of online solutions. The first phase will cover saudi arabia and the United arab Emirates, with other markets likely to follow.

mark Walton, tns regional director for 6thdimension interactive research for asia Pacific, latin america, middle East and africa said: “We have seen rapid growth since we launched our 6thdimension online initiative in the asia Pacific region in 2005. Extending our online services into the middle East is a natural development for tns and our clients – more markets will follow as we extend our services globally. With the introduction of the new middle East panels, tns will offer 6thdimension panels in 20 countries, with over three

million active panellists across north america, Europe, asia Pacific and the middle East.”

Walton added: “We expect our online services in saudi arabia and the UaE to be available within three months. as with all of our 6thdimension services, the new panels in the middle East will be supported by an extensive programme of validations and research-on-research. 6thdimension not only allows us to offer research solutions faster and more cost-effectively, but delivers consistently top-quality research through our fully-managed panels.”

steve hamilton-Clark, managing director of tns middle East, said: “We are extremely excited about this new development and the unique benefits it will bring to all our clients. tns is the world leader in online research and we are delighted that we will now be able to offer 6thdimension online solutions to the Gulf region.”

TNS to launch online research services in the Middle East

The triumphant team from the Leo Burnett Group MENA display their Cristal awards.

thE CannEs lions international advertising Festival will honour tsuneo Watanabe, the 81-year-old Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the yomiuri shimbun holdings, publisher of the world’s largest selling newspaper, with the media Person of the year award at this year’s Festival.

This award, which pays tribute to a prominent personality from the worldwide media industry, is given in recognition of tsuneo Watanabe’s leadership of The yomiuri shimbun holdings, which operates across a range of media including newspaper, magazine and book publishing, television, radio, film and video production, travel agencies, business school and sports.

The yomiuri shimbun holdings publish the 133-year-old daily newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s leading broadsheet with a combined morning and evening circulation of approximately 14 million, the highest in the world.

after studying philosophy at tokyo University, Watanabe

joined The yomiuri shimbun in 1950 becoming a Political Writer from 1952 to 1968. after just over three years as Chief of the Washington Bureau, two-and-a-half years as Commentary and analysis Editor and two years as associate managing Editor and Political Editor, Watanabe was appointed deputy managing director in 1977 followed by Chairman of the Editorial Board in 1979.

Continuing up the ranks, in 1980 he became managing director, then senior Executive director in 1983 before taking on the role of Editor-in-Chief in 1985. in 1987, he moved on to be

senior Vice-President followed by President, Editor-in-Chief of The yomiuri shimbun in 1991. Watanabe was appointed President and Editor-in-Chief of The yomiuri shimbun holdings in 2002 before finally taking on the role of Chairman of the Board, Editor-in-Chief in 2004.

“historically, Cannes lions has looked West when making this most important and prestigious award. This year we are looking East. in recognising tsuneo Wantanabe, we are honouring a leader who has contributed to building one of the great media organisations in the world, a leader who has the awesome responsibility of publishing the largest circulation newspaper in the world. a leader who has not just embraced press, but also tV, radio and a range of other media and business ventures,” said terry savage, Executive Chairman of the Festival.

The trophy will be presented to tsuneo Watanabe during the Press and Cyber lions awards Ceremony on evening of June 20, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes.

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Impact BBDO Dubai has attracted worldwide attention for its latest TV commercial for Snickers.

The agency’s 30, 60 and 90-second Don’t Stop ads, which were filmed on the streets of Jeddah, have occupied the top spot on leading advertising websites including adcritic.com and bestadsontv.com.

The ads have also generated more than 150,000 hits on video-sharing site YouTube.

Production and post-production was done by Amsterdam-based firms X-Ray Films and Valkieser Capital Images.

Set to the track Let’s Roll by Kuwaiti hip hop band Army of One, the ads show hordes of red and green traffic-light characters that come to life and battle each other. At the end of the films the green characters emerge victorious.

Tarek Abdallah, category development manager, Masterfoods Middle East, said the brief was to create an ad that broke new ground for the Snickers brand and that appealed to young Saudis.

“The character we wanted to embody was the hero, the character that enables you to achieve what you want to in situations that you feel are quite challenging,” Abdallah said.

“It’s a significant step up for the brand, a big leap forward in terms of producing world-class communication that has local relevance.”

Peter Russell, executive creative director for Impact BBDO in Dubai, said the ad represented a “step-change” for TV advertising in the Middle East.

WorldWIdE AcclAIM for DoN’T sTop SNIcKErS Ad lEd by IMpAct bbdo dubAI

thE UaE’s airWaVEs are set for a radical shake-up, after sir richard Branson’s Virgin radio international signed an agreement with dubai-based arab media Group.

The memorandum of understanding is expected to be the prelude to the roll-out of Virgin radio in the Emirates.

The move follows the launch of the newest addition to the country’s radio dial, The Coast 106.5Fm, which hit the airwaves in march.

Both broadcasters hope to improve standards in UaE radio, which remains a fringe medium for advertisers.

abdullatif al sayegh, Chief Executive officer of amG, said the prospect of Virgin radio was “exciting news for the entire community.”

he said: “Virgin carries an international format, it carries a lot of new ideas and concepts. it brings an

Virgin links with Arab Media Group for radio launch

international flavour and standards to the scene.”

al sayegh, who was named CEo of the year by the World CEo Forum last week for services to media, added: “We’ve signed a memorandum of understanding. i think within the next week to 10 days definitely we are going to be revealing something.”

singapore-based Virgin radio international already has stations in india and Thailand.

amG plans to enter the satellite tV market through its arabian Broadcasting network arm. it is expected to reveal a launch date for mtV arabia soon.

and it has ambitious plans to expand its media empire. al sayegh said he had met recently with mBC’s sheikh Waleed Bin ibrahim al Brahim and Prince al Waleed Bin talal, chairman of the Kingdom holding Company and owner of rotana.

“you’re going to see a lot of collaboration between us, mBC and rotana over the next few months,” he said.

The Coast 106.5Fm – backed by Fujairah media – will broadcast ‘adult contemporary’ music from the 70s, 80s and 90s, with the slogan ‘more music, less talk’.

state-of-the-art studios at dubai’s mall of the Emirates are set to be completed in may. Until then, it is broadcasting from temporary studios.

AdVocate understands that The Coast 106.5Fm will broadcast less advertising than existing stations, although bosses declined to reveal how many minutes per hour.

Waleed magazachi, operations director at the station, said: “We are going to play a lot more music than most stations. too much talking is the main complaint that people have about some radio stations.”

He added: “We researched this commercial in Saudi Arabia and have compelling evidence that Saudi consumers hunger for originality and high production values – contrary to what many people will tell you.”

Creative director Peter Russell and senior art director Jennie Morris from Impact BBDO in Dubai felt they needed a global production company to give quality to the concept. X-Ray Film Productions, an innovative production house based in Amsterdam was selected because of its wealth of experience in the Middle East region.

X-Ray’s founding partners are Sean Fitzpatrick and Sören Schmidt. During the past six years Sean has worked as a director in both Beirut and Dubai, making

commercials for clients such as UFA, BLOM Bank, Fastlink, Qatar Tourism and Omantel. Sören has a production pedigree forged in the heat of TV departments from large global players like Grey Worldwide in Germany. In January 2006 they pooled their talents and formed X-Ray Film Productions.

About 90 per cent of the “Red Man Green Man” film is CGI and X-Ray selected Amsterdam post house Valkieser Capital Images as their post-production partner. The background imagery was shot on location in Jeddah. Effects supervisor Hans Loosman and 3D chief Rolf van Slooten from Valkieser accompanied Sören to Jeddah for the shoot. Sören felt it was important to have the effects team on location to help set up the camera action.

The master of branding ponders an entry into Middle East radio.

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StudENt coMpEtItIoN hAIlEd AS lINK bEtWEEN AcAdEMIc ANd coMMErcIAl coMMuNItIES

The Coast 106.5 FM to launch from Mall of the Emirates

a nEW radio station, The Coast 106.5 Fm, is set to launch from studios currently under construction at mall of the Emirates.

it is being put together by the Fujairah radio network, a part of Fujairah media FZC, which has interests in the field of broadcasting and publishing. The company has appointed dubai-based 100 Publishing llC as a consultant on the creation and operation of the new radio station.

live 24-hour broadcasts are expected to start at the end of may 2007.

habib hammoud, Chief Executive officer of Fujairah media said: “Through the vision and direction of his highness sheikh hamad bin mohammed al sharqi, the ruler or Fujairah, we have been able to reach today such a level of development in the field of media in the emirate of Fujairah in a short period of time.”

MBC Group wins big at promaxBDA Arabia AwardsWith a total oF ninE gold and 10 silver, mBC Group was the company that walked away with the most awards last night at the 2007 promaxBda arabia awards.

This year’s awards included 28 categories ranging from Best television Promo to Best animation. mBC had a winning entry in 16 out of 28 categories.

sponsored by mBC Group for the third consecutive year, the awards aim to showcase local talent, reward innovation and creativity and improve the understanding of the link between branding and business performance in the arab tV landscape.

“Branding is definitely the major factor in creating a unique viewing experience and differentiating channels in the cluttered and competitive market environment of regional tV,” says Fadel Zahreddine, mBC’s Group director of Creative services.

“it would be great if advertisers moved beyond measuring eyeballs only and began measuring the impact of brand association and perception – that would encourage the industry to get branding and packaging right,” Zahreddine added.

Judging was completed for the third Packaging and Design Awards for Students, dubbed the Pandas, in April. Organised by Gulf Pack and Gulf Print, the region’s leading trade event for the printing and packaging industries, the competition allowed more than 200 students from 11 universities around the Middle East to showcase their work. The entries were displayed at Dubai Airport Expo from April 2 to 5.

The awards were conceived to encourage creativity and to foster a better understanding between the academic and commercial communities.

The popularity of the Pandas has increased and entries this year came in from Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain and the UAE. Virginia Kern, Chairwoman of

F&E, the organisers of Gulf Pack and Gulf Print, said: “Response to the competition has doubled and the quality of entries is outstanding. Eight design categories were included, all intended to be relevant to the region, to reflect the syllabi of local colleges and to have a commercial application.”

The judging team was chaired by a leading international design expert from the UK, Maureen Wayman, Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design at Manchester Metropolitan University. Other judges included representatives from the Pandas’ sponsors including Ernest Azzam of HP, Joe Karkour of Layout Middle East, David Steele from Motivate Publishing, Abdulla Ajmal from Ajmal perfumes, Maria Kallukaren of Al Nisr Media and Andrew Wilcox of Momentum. Judges discuss one of the student’s entries.

some of the striking programme intros employed by MBC.

Artist’s impression of the new studios in Mall of the Emirates.

MomentumSeven signed up for power tools marketingdUBai-BasEd momentumseven won the right to promote power tools firm deWalt in their sponsorship of Formula 1 in Bahrain. The marketing, promotions and event sponsorship firm carried out the contract to ‘activate’ the brand in the weeks leading up to the Bahrain Grand Prix, on april 13 to 15, as well as promotions during the event itself.

deWalt was the technical sponsor for the Williams team at the Grand Prix.

deWalt, who have signed a global sponsorship deal with Williams, were keen to make the most of the contract when the event was staged in Bahrain, according to ian lynagh, Creative managing director of momentumseven.

“The brand has a racing heritage because they sponsor nasCar in america as well and there is an obvious affiliation with cars and metal and things that are tough.”

momentumseven ramped up deWalt’s profile across the

region by organising a roadshow to 11 cities in five countries, targeting buyers of deWalt power tools. The roadshow was held outside key dealerships and consumers had the chance to take part in a ‘Pit-stop Challenge’, using deWalt tools to remove and replace a wheel.

The winners from each region won tickets and travel to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

lynagh described the campaign as a significant win, especially because the client is “on their wavelength”.

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Dubai Investments Park appoints Wellmark

dUBai inVEstmEnts Park (diP) has announced the appointment of Wellmark Communications as its exclusive media representative to promote and handle the sale of all their outdoor advertising opportunities within diP. Following a contract signed recently between omar al mesmar, General manager,

diP and mario arjan, General manager, Wellmark Communications, the dubai media City-based company will be responsible for the whole sales process including the installation, maintenance and lighting of the supplied advertising materials for all companies advertising within diP.

Wellmark is one of the market leaders in the UaE’s outdoor advertising domain and the company is keen to provide clients in diP with an integrated range of specialised services that will be offered with the highest level of creativity and professionalism. moreover, Wellmark will ensure that all the advertisements within the premises of the Park are in adherence to the regulations set by diP image and architectures.

omar al mesmar said, “diP which is a comprehensive self-contained zone is a unique concept in the middle East. it is a city within a city and has segregated residential, industrial and commercial zones and moreover it is easily accessible from sheikh Zayed road and Emirates road, in addition to being in proximity

to the upcoming Jebel ali airport. all these factors not only make the Park an ideal location to do business from, but also provide an excellent outdoor advertising setting.

“With an increasing number of companies realising the strategic importance of dubai investments Park as a location for outdoor advertising, we saw a need for the services of a professional organisation. Wellmark has a proven track record in handling outdoor advertising spaces in several strategic locations across dubai” he added.

mario arjan of Wellmark Communications said, “We are extremely pleased to be appointed as the exclusive media representative for dubai investments Park’s outdoor advertising prospects. This will be a good opportunity for us to demonstrate our

expertise in this field and help our clients maximise their brand visibility and mileage. several thousand people visit dubai investments Park each day as it is the UaE’s leading mixed-use industrial, business, residential and recreational development, making it an ideally suited location for outdoor advertising.”

diP, one of the most prominent business-oriented developments is the premier business park in the arabian Gulf by offering investors a tailor-made business and residential environment. The dhs1.5 billion multi phased project is spread over a total area of 3,200 hectares and is equipped with world-class facilities and services for manufacturing, housing, academic, research and development, distribution and logistics purposes.

Concept Group to represent Total Identity in GCC & IndiaConCEPt GroUP, a leading integrated marketing communications group in the UaE, has been appointed as sole ‘representative agent’ for total identity in the GCC and india, since January 2007.

The services involved in the partnership are offered through the establishment of a new division, Concept identity, which specialises in niche brand services such as the creation and management of corporate and brand identities, brand strategy development, product development, consumer branding, digital branding and retail design. Concept identity does not only identify and create opportunities locally, but will also acquire new projects in the GCC and india. Creation of a new brand identity for Concept Group and its seven companies will be the first project for the new entity.

“With the new union, Concept Group stands poised to provide our clients the key edge over their competitors by

building strong identities that stand free of contemporary brand clutter. moreover, as a service-driven organisation, we continually seek new ways to enhance our services, and this new extension rounds out the portfolio of services we offer,” said aldrin Fernandes, CEo, Concept Group.

“The partnership allows the group to have strategic development concepts, identity designs and implementation of corporate marketing communications under one roof and right here in dubai. This eliminates the need for any corporate or government body to look beyond the UaE for international advice on complete branding solutions,” said Eli Vlessing, manager, international Business, total identity.

The total identity network is an international franchise network of 10 European and asian identity agencies specialising in positioning, communication and design of corporate identities.Drive Communication

wins Canon PitchCanon middlE East, the sales and marketing operation of Canon’s imaging products and solutions for the digital home and office, has recently appointed drive Communication to provide full-service marketing communications for a number of its brand categories. drive was appointed after a six-way pitch, headed by mohamed salama, regional marketing manager for Canon middle East.

drive will look after home and office printer solutions, large format printers and peripherals, across the whole mEna region.

Johnny malek, General manager of drive Communication’s dubai office said, “This is a wonderful opportunity for us, we’re a growing regional communication network and we’re incredibly excited about starting to work on such a powerful consumer and business brand. Canon’s ambition in the region is second to none and we feel we’re perfectly placed to help them achieve it.”

Whilst the account will be managed from drive’s dubai office, the drive

communication network will also be responsible for gathering local insights and servicing local Canon distributor needs.

“With drive’s regional insights and Canon and dentsu’s portfolio knowledge we make a formidable team, one which has the necessary tools to make an impact in a very competitive market,” said malek.

drive communication is a joint venture with dentsu, the largest independent advertising agency in the world, and has full-service offices in the middle East and north africa regions.

Network TEN appoints ICLP to develop its digital marketing strategynEtWorK tEn recently appointed the sydney office of global loyalty marketing agency iClP to help develop its customer relationship management (Crm) strategy and to provide implementation support as part of its digital marketing plans. The first stage of iClP’s work for tEn is being delivered as part of tEn’s launch of ten.com.au ongoing, iClP will support tEn’s customer identity management objectives by delivering high-end database marketing services including, analytics, segmentation, marcomms planning, and execution of digital communications to drive advertising revenue for tEn.

iClP will work closely with tEn’s digital agency to supply Crm expertise and provide a

platform for the complete digital offering. This will ensure that tEn’s users can enjoy a seamless experience across the network’s digital properties, including ten.

com.ae and program sites such as Australian Idol and Big Brother.

damian smith, General manager, digital media, network tEn said iClP won

the business because it offered the strongest Crm solution. “iClP impressed us with their sophisticated proprietary Crm system, and their strategic, data driven approach to digital marketing. iClP will work closely with hyro to help us create the country’s best and most innovative digital network,” he added.

Jason de Winne, General manager, iClP dubai said, “This significant development would serve to enhance iClP’s global service offering and add to our extensive portfolio of world-class clientele.

“our global expertise combined with an in-depth knowledge of the local market will also improve our ability to partner the major television networks within the Gulf region as well.”

Aldrin Fernandes, CEo of Concept Group (left), with Eli Vlessing, Manager, International Business at Total Identity.

omar Al Mesmar, GM of DIp and Mario Arjan, GM of Wellmark.

AdVocate

NEWS 19

Gillette cuts a dashshaVinG Brand Gillette has been on the road in saudi arabia with what it claims to be the region’s first hands-on interactive bus.

The interior of the m3Power nitro bus was stripped and replaced with a lounge area and shaving booth. it is equipped with plasma screens and Playstation2 consoles, allowing young men to compete in football and car racing games.

Consultants will be on hand to offer shaving tips for the battery-powered ‘pulsing’ m3Power nitro.

The bus took a month-long tour of shopping malls and university campuses in Jeddah, riyadh and dammam.

ahmed El mahdy, Brand manager for Gillette for the arabian Peninsula, said Gillette was spending more money creating new platforms to interact with its arab consumer base.

“The use of the bus will allow us to bring the nitro experience to the doorsteps of our consumer base in the arab world,” he said.

MindShare MENA goes digitalas a stratEGiC stEP towards growing into the digital media sphere, mindshare mEna announced the establishment of their digital media company based in dubai under the name of mindshare interaction.

This came after the acquisition of igency, a leading dubai-based interactive media agency with a successful track record of managing key regional and global clients.

mindshare interaction comes with a vision to build a cutting-edge digital media unit within mindshare

mEna group to provide a full spectrum of digital media solutions to clients and partners. This move comes at a time when the internet is becoming a main-stream medium for the young and affluent generations, as well as all business professionals in our region.

samir ayoub, CEo of mindshare mEna explained: “over the past seven years, internet usage has grown significantly in our region. today many of our clients are active online and are demanding more diverse interactive

activities and a lot of research data about digital media.

“This move comes to ensure we offer our clients the best of knowledge and technology for all their digital media requirements. digital media is the way forward, we have seen this across many countries around the world, and sooner or later the arab world will have the same trend. We must be prepared for it,” ayoub added.

ad spend on internet in 2006 is estimated to be at Us$15 million across GCC countries versus only Us$1 million in 2002. samir Ayoub, CEo of Mindshare MENA.

KnoWlEdGE EConomiC City (KEC) has appointed award-winning saudi advertising agency 3Points advertising to handle its ad campaigns.

The sr25 billion Knowledge Economic City at al madinah is considered to be special among the six economic city projects announced last year by the saudi arabian General investment authority, because of its location in the heartland of islam.

KEC hopes to attract investment and expertise from around the world to help develop important knowledge industries in al madinah and provide up to 20,000 jobs in the region.

3Points, which was established by two former Procter & Gamble executives, Eissa Bougary and marwa. Qutub, has won seven sword awards, an international award, and an impressive line up of top clients in its relatively short lifetime.

KEC joins a line up of leading saudi organisations including saudi telecom, Kingdom holding, rabea tea, al-sawani, supreme Commission for tourism, United sugar Company, Barbican and savola, who have become clients of the agency.

KEC’s acting CEo, tahir Bawazir, said it was important that the project had the best people possible working for it and 3Points had the credentials that were needed.

Knowledge Economic City scores 3Points for advertising

“not only do they know the saudi market, but they know the importance of al madinah to the islamic world and how significant Knowledge Economic City is to that world.

“KEC is much more than another real estate project. it is a project that will focus world attention on al madinah as a centre for knowledge and training and i cannot think of a better advertising agency to take that message to the people,” he said.

3Points CEo marwan Qutub and Chief Creative officer Eissa Bougary said it was a blessing to be able to work on a project that was so important to muslims throughout the world.

“This is a unique and challenging project and one that we are excited to be part of,” they said.

KEC marketing and Pr director, mohammed Khoja, said 3Points had a reputation for innovation, sensitivity and success.

“it has been responsible for campaigns ranging from mBC4’s ‘it’s for you’ series to the ‘akim salatak’ (make your Prayers) campaign and it was that sort of versatility that won them the contract,” he said.

Earlier this year KEC appointed a combined team from Ksa-based afkar international and dubai-based Cicero and Bernay to handle its national and international public relations.

Cannes Lions 2007 Outdoor and Promo juries announcedcANNES lIoNS 2007 outdoor ANd proMo jurIES ANNouNcEd

The organisers of the 54th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival have announced the members of the 2007 Outdoor and Promo Lions jury.

Judging of the second Promo Lions competition, which commences on June 13, will be chaired by Geraldo Rocha Azevedo, President Integrated

Solutions, Neogama BBH, Brazil. The winners will be announced during the first of four awards ceremonies on June 18. Jean-Remy von Matt, Founder and Chairman of Jung von Matt, Hamburg, will lead the Outdoor jury who will start voting in Cannes on June 15. The winners will be awarded during the evening of June 19.

In 2006 separate juries were introduced to judge the Outdoor and Press entries and the Promo Lions competition was added to the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

PROMO LIONS JURY MEMBERSCountry Name Position

Brazil Geraldo rocha Azevedo President Integrated Solutions, Neogama BBH (Jury President)

Argentina peta rivero y hornos President & General Creative Director, Craverolanis BTL

Australia ben Welsh Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi

Austria Edda Müller Art Director, Freelance

Canada jane canapini Managing Creative Director, Capital C Communications

China hwee beng poh Executive Creative Director, Draftfcb

France Nathalie duneau Deputy Managing Director, Proximity Paris

Germany Matthias Kindler Chief Creative Officer, The Companies

India Srikant Sastri Managing Director, Solutions Integrated Marketing

Japan Kentaro Kimura Creative Director & Co-CEO, Hakuhodo Kettle

New Zealand Wayne pick Creative Director, Tequila\Auckland

Russia Sergey trofimenko Chairman, Point Passat

Singapore Ng tian It Executive Creative Director, Batey

South Africa jenny Ehlers Creative Director, King James RSVP

Spain luis Quesada Chief Creative Officer, Grupo Eñe

Sweden Monica born Copywriter, ÅkestamHolst

The Netherlands Markus ravenhorst Creative Director/Partner, Van Wanten Etcetera

United Kingdom john treacy Creative Director, Elvis Communications

USA tom hansen Senior Vice-President & Executive Creative Director, Wunderman Chicago

OUTDOOR LIONS JURY MEMBERSCountry Name Position

Germany Jean-Remy von Matt Founder & Chairman, Jung von Matt (Jury President)

Argentina Martín Mercado Partner & General Creative Director, WM

Brazil Mariana Sá Creative Director, DDB

Finland Zoubida benkhellat Partner & Art Director, Bob Helsinki

France chris Garbutt Creative Director, TBWA Paris

New Zealand philip Andrew CEO & Executive Creative Director, Clemenger BBDO

Singapore tay Guan hin Regional Executive Creative Director Southeast Asia, JWT

South Africa porky hefer Executive Creative Director, Lowe Bull Cape Town

Spain Antonio Montero lópez General Creative Director, Contrapunto

Sweden Mitte blomqvist Art Director, Storakers McCann

Thailand Weerachon Weeraworawit Creative Director, BBDO Bangkok

United Kingdom Malcolm duffy Creative Director, Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy

USA pete favat Chief Creative Officer, Arnold Worldwide

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Summit on PR measurement calls for ‘sound and progressive’ techniquesdUBai hostEd the middle East’s first summit on Public relations measurement in march.

The event was organised by mediaWatch, the middle East’s leading provider of media monitoring, research, distribution and evaluation services and was supported by the institute of Public relations (iPr). some 200 Pr and communications professionals attended the two-day summit at the habtoor Grand hotel.

mediaWatch’s managing director, mazen nahawi, said that the middle East Pr industry had been a ground-breaking event.

“the Pr industry in the middle East is growing at a rapid pace, driven by the economic boom the region is enjoying and the fact that an ever increasing number of international and local companies see the practice of Pr as an integral part of their marketing mix,” he said.

“nevertheless, there is still a need for the industry to prove its value through sound and progressive measurement techniques. this summit allowed us to examine and discuss issues in continued development, refinement and implementation of measurement techniques and standards for the public relations field.”

speakers included david michaelson, Phd, managing director of david

Motivate appoints Marketing Manager

National Bonds appoints four firms to push growth

national Bonds Corporation (nBC), pioneer of the first sharia’ah-compliant national savings scheme in the UaE, has appointed four new dubai-based marketing agencies to develop its communications in the region.

The newly appointed agencies include impact BBdo as the brand creative agency asda’a for Public relations, mediaVest as the media agency, and red for event management. The review process of the agency partnerships was managed by the regional partner of agency assessments international, iK Consult.

The new team of agencies takes over after 11 successful months for national Bonds, in which over 250,000 people have invested in national Bonds, 10 millionaires announced and over 163,000 prizes distributed to bond holders.

nasser bin hassan al shaikh, Vice-Chairman and CEo of the national Bonds Corporation, said: “While national Bonds has grown impressively since its launch in march 2006, we recognised the need to move it to the next level and grow its profile to be

the most well-known savings brand in the UaE. Paving the way for our international expansion, we wanted the best in the communications business to help us achieve our vision, and we got them.”

national Bonds is an innovative scheme open to all UaE residents and visitors. it offers a safe and credible savings option with attractive annual returns while simultaneously providing an opportunity to win dhs1 million every month and more than 16,000 prizes.

motiVatE PUBlishinG has appointed adam Woolcock as marketing manager.

a management and marketing graduate from the University of Queensland, australia and winner of the mitchell media Creativity

michaelson & associates, and a long-term member of the Commission on Public relations Evaluation and measurement of the institute for Public relations, around which the middle East summit and awards were based.

he was joined by Katie delahaye Paine, the founder and managing director of KdPaine & Partners llC. she is also the publisher of the first blog and the first

thE araB mEdia Forum has honoured sheikh Waleed bin ibrahim al ibrahim, Chairman and Chief Executive officer of the mBC Group, for his contribution to the overall development of the professionalism and success of the arab media.

The arab media Forum announced its decision at a meeting in amman, Jordan.

ali al hedeithy, mBC Group director General, received the award on behalf of sheikh Waleed from the

Arab Media Forum honours MBC ChairmanPrime minster of Jordan, dr ma’roof Bakhit.

The award was determined by a poll in which more than 2,000 arab media professionals participated to select a shortlist of those who have contributed to the positive development of arab media.

Commenting on the award, sheikh Waleed said: “it reflects the professionalism of mBC’s approach to broadcasting, and the leading role mBC has played in the progress of arab media throughout the region.”

sheikh Waleed confirmed that mBC Group remains committed to better performance, and will continue to provide new and innovative media options according to audience demand and the subsequent strategies developed by the group.

“mBC has been able to successfully build a portfolio of brands without cannabilising our flagship – mBC1. Ultimately, we’ve done what every other broadcaster in the region wants to do: diversify our offering to grow our market share by delivering

quality content, viewer reach and relationship and a continuing consistent growth in ratings,” concluded sheikh Waleed.

al hedeithy expressed his pride in accepting the award on behalf of sheikh Waleed and said: “he has a clear vision of the future of the media industry and this is reflected clearly in the professional performance of the group.”

in 2006, sheikh Waleed was awarded the Knight of the arab media award by the arab league for his role in the arab media industry.

MBC Group DG collects the award on Al Ibrahim’s behalf.

OMD ME hosts its first Creative Masterclassomd middlE East highlighted its focus on creativity by running its first omd Creative masterclass, an event dedicated to sharing the principles and benefits of creativity in the media. some 120 client and agency executives attended the one-day conference on march 18 at the Jumeirah Beach Conference Centre.

the event was organised in partnership with london-based Csquared, a media creativity consultancy and publisher of Cream magazine, media & marketing Europe and CmdGlobal. the programme featured presentations by omd and

Csquared senior executives, as well as marketers and the author of Advertising Is Dead, Long Live Advertising, tom himpe.

“Creativity, in marketing in general and in media in particular, is a critical differentiator for both us and our clients,” said shadi Kandil, general manager of omd dubai.

“Creativity is obvious in every brief we receive and clients have expressed a keen interest in learning more about it. this event was designed to ensure that marketers and agency executives are on the same page and develop their creative policy together.”

Competition in 2005, adam joins after spending the last three years working for one of australia’s largest advertising agencies.

he will report to the Group marketing manager Josephine raybould.

newsletter for marketing and communications professionals dedicated entirely to measurement and accountability.

a wide range of topics were covered including: aligning measurement to business objectives; resource libraries; dashboards; field studies; surveys; best practice; how to measure output, outcome and outtakes; and measuring the impact of Pr on sales.

Nasser bin Hassan Al shaikh, Vice-Chairman and CEo of National Bonds Corporation (centre) among the agency representatives.

AdVocate

NEWS 21

Blue packaging boosts food sales among health conscious consumers

intErnationally renowned colour psychologist angela Wright has revealed that health conscious Europeans are more likely to be drawn to foods with blue packaging.

in a sample survey of approximately 100 people, oKi Printing solutions found

that 76 per cent of respondents believed blue packaged products to be a healthier option than alternative (yet equally low-fat) brands.

Participants were presented with two brands of breakfast cereal, orange juice and a yoghurt drink, and were

asked to choose between the blue branded product or a generally colourful product.

Wright says companies keen to promote the low-fat content of their food would be wise to use blue in the packaging: “The 76 per cent agreement rate comes as no surprise to me. Blue is not a natural food colour, however it can be wisely used in the marketing of low-fat foods as it encourages people to eat less. Blue is the colour of the mind and evokes a sense of responsibility, tending to encourage us to be on our best behaviour so unconsciously consumers believe the product is lower in fat than other brands.”

Blue is also a key colour for producers who want to emphasise the freshness of their product, as it conveys messages of hygienic efficiency and reliability.

additionally, orange is a popular colour in food promotion and packaging across Europe, from brands such as Uncle Ben’s to Jacob’s Crackers. it evokes associations with food, warmth, sensual enjoyment and abundance – disposing consumers to feel hungry and indulge themselves – encouraging them to buy more.

Food manufacturers can apply colour psychology to increase the appeal of foods, or make buyers feel hungrier, but other businesses can also apply colour psychology to maximise their sales. Using eye-catching and colourful communications printed in-house is a cost effective and easy way to inject colour into point-of-sale materials such as posters, 1.2m length banners and a5 flyers.

John ross, General manager oKi Printing solutions middle East, says: “at oKi Printing

MCN Academy’s UAE Nationals Training Programme CommencesthE middlE East Communications network (mCn) academy has commenced its inaugural UaE nationals training and Employment Programme in advertising and marketing communications. The programme was successfully launched in partnership with the University of Wollongong in dubai, dubai Waterfront – a nakheel company – and the Emirates nationals development Programme.

Thirteen UaE nationals have commenced the programme in the abu dhabi and dubai offices of mCn. nationals gain hands-on work experience while acquiring specialised work-related skills and networking within the advertising industry. all new recruits start the Programme as trainee managers with a handsome remuneration package and a permanent work contract after successfully completing the 10-month tenure of the Programme.

aisha mohamed al mawed, one of the trainees, said that the Programme meets her expectations and also said “The Programme is very encouraging and helpful for starting my career in graphic design.” Fellow trainee manager, haleema Jaber, who is working in the strategic Brand Planning Unit said “i’m enjoying the programme and feel excited every day i reach my desk and review what my plans are. The aspect that i like most is the way my mentor guides me... it’s a very important division and i learn new things every day… it’s a good opportunity.”

fortuNE proMoSEvEN rEGIoNAl crEAtIvE coNfErENcE looKS AhEAdFortune Promoseven Creative Directors from across the Middle East and Africa met at a special Creative Conference in Dubai. Conducted over two days (Feb 8 and 9) at the Fairmont Hotel, the conference was an interactive session of sharing information and ideas, brainstorming and learning led by Milka Pogliani

from McCann Europe. Fortune Promoseven is the

Middle East affiliate for McCann WorldGroup, and this was one of the many knowledge-sharing initiatives that the agency conducts in synergy with their global partners – McCann. Milka Pgliani is the Chairman of the McCann European Creative

Council EMEA – Europe, The Middle East, Africa and the Chairman and Executive Creative Director McCann Worldgroup Italy. She has taken part on the juries of the most important international advertising festivals. (Eurobest and Golden Drum).

As a Creative Director she has won many international

awards including the Grand Prix, gold, silver and bronze Lions at Cannes Festival and other awards including the New York Festivals, Cresta International, London International Advertising Awards, Art Directors Club of New York, Art Directors Club of Europe, Eurobest (London), besides prestigious Italian creative awards.

solutions we want organisations to understand the value and importance that using colour effectively can bring to their business. Colour should be considered at every step – in branding, packaging and sales promotions. By applying colour psychology techniques and our affordable, award-winning printing solutions, businesses can achieve real standout and enhance sales.”

angela Wright’s colour affects theory proves that human responses to colour can be predicted regardless of nationality, age, culture or gender. as a result, businesses, organisations and individuals can, for the first time, use a proven scientific method to influence human reactions so that they can achieve their desired outcome.

more information on colour affects theory can be seen on www.colour-affects.co.uk

al JaZEEra hostEd its third annual forum ‘media and the middle East: Going Beyond the headlines’ at the sheraton doha resort & Convention hotel in Qatar in april. al Jazeera, by virtue of its proximity to the main hotspots in the middle East, brought together

international media leaders, journalists, authors and scholars to discuss and debate critical issues facing the profession in covering the middle East and the developing world.

World renowned investigative journalist seymour hersh addressed the forum, as well as the

acclaimed academic lawrence lessig, along with other influential names such as Fahmy howeidy, martin Bell, azmi Bishara, abdulbari atwan and michael oreskes. tayseer allouni, al Jazeera’s correspondent in spain, made a special presentation via a satellite link contributing to a panel on war reporting.

sessions in this year’s forum explored the growing influence of politics on media and vice versa, media credibility in times of conflict, the role of the media in building bridges or walls, and case studies from the middle East and africa on the practical aspects of ‘in-depth journalism’.

Fortune promoseven’s creative talent from across the MEA region assembled in Dubai.

Al Jazeera goes ‘Behind the Headlines’

22 NEWS

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EVEry yEar, PUndits have predicted that dramatic changes in marketing will occur due to the convergence of digital and broadcast media, the erosion of mass audiences, and the restructuring of the media and advertising industries. These changes have never really begun to occur until now.

many marketers have been left behind by this changing environment, but some have thrived. super Cmos like mary minnick at Coca-Cola and Jim stengel of Procter & Gamble have become architects of their

Ads reach into the digital agecompanies’ growth agendas, taking into their portfolios such functions as innovation.

“in virtually all areas of the globe, including the middle East, we are starting to see the impact new technologies can have on marketing,” said Karim sabbagh, Vice-President, Booz allen hamilton. “marketing executives in this part of the world, as well as elsewhere, are in danger of being left behind if they don’t evolve with the times. The technological revolution is occurring everywhere.”

new technologies are allowing marketing companies to tailor advertisements for the smallest of audiences. technology now allows commercials to be individualised for audiences as small as a few neighbourhood blocks in size. Booz allen hamilton has found that winning marketers who utilise new technologies well can be defined by several notable characteristics:n They shift spending and management attention to digital media, and use those media to more effectively influence

consumer purchasing behaviour. n They develop formats to promote interaction with audiences, especially their most likely consumers.n They create new research approaches and metrics that measure outcomes, not inputs. n They combine ‘above-the-line’ advertising (TV, radio, and print) and ‘below-the-line’ marketing (promotions, sponsorships, events, public relations) in new two-way, integrated campaigns.n They create their own branded entertainment assets and appeal to customers directly through them.n ‘In-source’ new skills and capabilities to achieve greater sales impact and other measurable results.

advertising budgets aren’t increasing, but the amount allocated to online advertising is increasing dramatically. marketing executives have to cope, or else. The online audience is so important, that to many marketing executives surveyed by Booz allen hamilton, the new ‘prime-time’ audience is between 9am and 5pm, when most people are using computers.

some marketing companies and executives are getting left behind, but the culprit behind their laggardness is not incompetence, but rather an ingrained culture in the companies they work for. many companies simply do not see online advertising as a reasonable area to spend in.

marketing executives are now being required to change their roles entirely and become immersed in the world of their customers. Enormous volumes of data are needed to process what consumers want and how they want it. many new metrics will, at least in the short-term, be compiled by marketing companies in an effort to

truly understand the group that they must advertise to.

What does the future hold for marketing executives and marketing companies? Booz allen hamilton predicts that leading media companies will in-source much stronger relationship marketing and experiential marketing capabilities to enable the targeted consumer dialogue and lead a generation that marketers crave. The distinction between ‘above-the-line’ and ‘below-the-line’ marketing will continue to blur, and in general, the requirements for success in the marketplace will be more demanding and more complex.

Though the challenges are great, the rewards are considerable. at no other time has the potential been so great for smart players, whatever their size, to invent new rules for the game. at no other time have marketers and media companies possessed so many compelling platforms to entertain and engage the consumer.

“The tools that marketers have at their disposal are considerable; the key is finding capable individuals who know how to use those tools,” said Karim sabbagh. “The importance of finding executives with these abilities cannot be underestimated. We are witnessing dramatic changes in technology and consumer culture. Companies will have to cope and evolve, or face extinction.”

The challenges are numerous, with both companies and executives challenged with the task of finding out whether they are capable of taking on a marketplace, that to put it mildly, is unpredictable. The coming months and years will truly be both a revolution in the approach of marketers to marketing, and a revelation as to which marketers are capable and incapable.

profIlE: KArIM SAbbAGhKarim Sabbagh is a Partner and Vice-President with the communications, media, and technology practice at Booz Allen Hamilton, based in the firm’s Riyadh and Dubai offices, and leads the firm’s telecommunications and media engagements in the Middle East. He focuses on economic and business development assignments primarily in the context of large-scale privatisation and strategy-based transformation

programmes. His recent work covered strategic, regulatory, business and marketing planning, along with business model redesign in the context of the telecommunications and media sectors.

Karim holds a PhD in strategic management from Century New Mexico University. He also earned an MBA, with a concentration in finance, and a BBA, with a concentration in marketing from the American University of Beirut.

Horizon FCB to launch Noor Islamic Bank horiZon FCB has bagged the creative brief for the yet-to-be launched noor islamic Bank in dubai.

it is understood that the agency fended off competition from several large network agencies in dubai to win the business.

horizon FCB has already finished work on a logo for the

sharia’ah-compliant bank, and will create an above and below-the-line campaign for noor’s launch in 2008. media planning and buying will be done by omd.

alan Firmin, horizon FCB’s Creative director, said the agency’s creative department had been spurred on by noor’s openness to ideas.

“The communication style will be appealing to everyone – it’s going to be one of the most interesting briefs that we’ve had for a long time,” he said.

“at all levels of the organisation they are very open to creativity and they’re pushing us creatively probably more than any other client has.”

hussein al Qemzi, Group CEo, noor investment Group, said: “launching the world’s largest islamic bank is a challenge that requires determination, hard work and tremendous concentration.

“With horizon FCB as a partner, we feel confident this project is bound to succeed.”

Eddy azzam, managing director of horizon FCB, said the input of the bank itself woulf be vital.

he added: “The vision and objectives of the bank may be challenging, but they also inject enthusiasm and reinforce a commitment to excellence throughout the agency.”

24 NEWS

AdVocate

Most Awarded Media Agencies

2006 2005

Rank Agency Points Rank Agency Points

1 OMD 206 1 OMD 161

2 Starcom MediaVest 116 2 Starcom MediaVest 150

3 MindShare 107 3 ZenithOptimedia 95

4 Mediaedge:cia 69 4 Mediacom 80

5 Universal McCann 64 5 MindShare 64

6 Mediacom 59 6 Mediaedge:cia 53

Gunn report names OMD as most creative agencyFor thE third consecutive year, global media communications agency omd has been named the 2006 most Creative media agency by the prestigious Gunn report for media.

The Gunn report for media is the industry standard for evaluating media creativity, ranking agencies according to their performance in the top industry awards shows around the world. most importantly, it

recognises the vital role media agencies play in today’s highly competitive and fragmented communications environment.

The Gunn report for media rates agencies on a point system based on awards won in 53 annual award competitions worldwide. omd received the highest number of points, 206, and saw the most dramatic increase of any media agency over last year, up from 161 points in 2005.

“Creativity is a huge differentiator in the market,” said Joe Uva, President and CEo, omd Worldwide. “it has become a competitive advantage for our clients, providing exponential value to a communications programme. to make an impact on consumers today, advertisers must continue to inspire new, inventive and insightful ways to truly connect with and influence them.”

Brandcom ME aligned as regional partner for LiptonddB WorldWidE, part of omnicom Group inc, has appointed dubai media City-headquartered Brandcom middle East as its key regional communication development partner for the lipton tea account for africa, the middle East and turkey.

ddB Worldwide was earlier awarded the global lipton tea alignment by Unilever.

The appointment of Brandcom middle East does not affect any other ddB global or pan regional accounts in the market. td&a ddB continues to work with ddB global clients.

“the middle East is an increasingly important region for ddB and our clients with significant growth anticipated in the future,” Patrick Ehringer, President of middle East and africa said.

“our decision to partner on lipton tea

with Brandcom middle East stems from the agency’s proven track record with Unilever brands in the region.”

Brandcom middle East is a highly awarded full-service agency and it recently won four accolades for Unilever’s axe brand at the dubai lynx 2007 awards.

“We are delighted with our appointment to the lipton tea account and look forward to this opportunity to expand our portfolio of work for Unilever,” said ajay shrikhande, CEo of Brandcom middle East.

ddB middle East and africa has 22 offices in 19 countries within the middle East and north africa, organised into hubs: Egypt, north africa (algeria, morocco, tunisia), levant ( Jordan, lebanon, syria), Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Ksa, UaE, oman, Qatar), africa (south africa, mozambique, nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe) and Pakistan.

aBU dhaBi national Exhibitions Company (adnEC) completed construction of the new abu dhabi national Exhibition Centre in February, heralding a new era of exhibitions in the capital with a state-of-the-art purpose-built venue. The opening of Phase 1 provided more than 28,000 square metres of gross exhibition space, and has a total gross floor area of 94,000 square metres. Phase 2’s completion in 2008 will add a further 27,000 square metres of gross exhibition floor space, a 6,000-seat multi-purpose conference hall, an additional 14 meeting rooms, 30,000 square metres of outdoor exhibition space in a central plaza, and parking for 8,000 cars – creating one of the middle East’s largest purpose-built exhibition and convention facilities.

ADNEC appoints Turret Media as media partner

The new venue offers a wide range of media opportunities designed for exhibitors and exhibition organisers to make the most out of their activities at the venue.

turret media, recently appointed by adnEC as the official media partner for the venue, is entrusted with the selling of media in the concourse and the outdoor areas of the venue. Paul Vincent, adnEC sales & marketing director explained on the award of the tender: “turret was chosen from among its competitors because of its understanding of the media requirements of the management of the exhibition centre, and their ability to balance these requirements with those of the exhibition organisers, as well as the exhibitors and sponsors.” ali Faour, Chief Executive at

turret media added: “We understand the intricacies involved in presenting a cohesive media landscape to the visitors of the centre, providing exhibitors with maximum exposure, while safeguarding adnEC’s aesthetic considerations and fulfilling the media requirements for the exhibition organisers.”

outdoor media remains one of the region’s most effective methods of advertising. during specialised events, this gains added impact because the media is focused on its target customers, rather than at wider segments of the population. “Visitors to exhibitions are coming to a destination that is specifically tailored to their needs. They are visiting with the intention to discover, evaluate, compare, and purchase. We are in the enviable position of providing the beneficiaries of media at the exhibition centre with the means to make the most out of their exposure to a focused target market that is poised for taking action,” added Gary Gilmour, sales director at turret media.

adnEC is expected to host over 30 events this year, growing to over 50 in 2008. These events will have a ripple effect throughout the capital, creating jobs, developing business opportunities, stimulating infrastructure development, and acting as a catalyst for growth and an economic engine for the capital. This is forecast to deliver dhs19 billion in economic opportunity over the next 10 years.

Dnata Cargo scoops top international advertising awarddnata CarGo, operator of dubai international airport’s cargo terminals, scooped the top honour at the recent air transport World (atW) 2007 advertising awards.

The annual atW awards recognise excellence in advertising in communicating key company attributes to customers. Evaluations were carried out in Washington dC and winners were chosen from several industry categories from the preceding year.

The award was presented to ismail ali albanna, Executive Vice-President dnata, at the atW awards ceremony in Washington, dC, attended by hundreds of international airline industry professionals.

When presented with the award, albanna said: “it is extremely gratifying to win this award on behalf of dnata Cargo. We are pleased that our commitment to maintaining a high quality of advertising has been recognised.”

advertising agency, leo Burnett, in cooperation with Corporate Communications, used an image of a giraffe to illustrate the company’s exceptional reach; the impact of the illustration was acknowledged by the judges. an atW judge said: “This is the sort of ad that stands out because the unusual ‘non-industry image’ drew

the judges’ attention to the copy which does a great job of communicating just how much dnata Cargo cares. lastly, the play on words in the headline was not lost on the judges. The ad has a lot of heart. The point of this ad was well made and taken.”

The atW awards programme, launched in 1974, has gained importance over the years in becoming one of the most valuable advertising honours a company or person in the airline industry can achieve.

Ismail Ali Albanna, Executive Vice-president Dnata, receives the advertising honour at the ATW Awards ceremony in Washington, DC.

Innovative display solutions distinguish ADNEC’s offering.

A BPA local advisory, the Middle East Advisory Board, has now been implemented, which will provide input from the local

buyers and sellers to BPA Worldwide, so that both of these key groups give a regional perspective on the BPA’s global rules and audit standards. Currently, the BPA has advisory boards across the globe, in Canada, Europe, Asia and now the Middle East. It is through these regional boards that the BPA is able to track developments and trends in various regional markets, ensuring that BPA services remain relevant – and, indeed, ahead of the curve – and that audit data is fresh and accurate for publishing members and advertisers.

As a base for the regional board, the BPA has established its offices in Dubai and is already looking to expand its staff on the ground in order to service its local members. A locally based auditor for the region is expected to join the team early this year, and with all locally based staff being fluent in English and Arabic, the BPA is confident that it will be able meet the needs of all of its members in the region. Though the first meeting took place last year on October 30 in the UAE, future meetings will be conducted in other countries that are important to the regional media industry, depending on the composition of the advisory board and its recommendation to the association’s board of directors.

Comprising of 25 members, the Middle East Advisory Board will include 12 media owners and 13 advertisers and advertising agency representatives, all of which have to be selected and appointed by the Chairman of the BPA Worldwide Corporate Board. Currently, only 13 members have been selected, seven advertisers and agencies and six media owners. However, as BPA membership in the region expands, it is anticipated that the board members will soon increase to the planned allocation of 25 members.

Glenn Hansen, President and CEO at the BPA, who chaired the first Middle East Advisory Board meeting in Dubai, said he hoped to see other Arabic publications sign up for audits as a result of Akhbar Al Arab’s decision. “The predictions are that now we have two Arabic language newspapers, one from Oman and one from the UAE that will continue to spur demand and encourage other newspapers and magazines. Up until now, English language press has largely got press attention, but I think that that will now begin to shift, and we will begin to see more of the Arabic press submitting for circulation audits,” says Hansen.

In order to stay impartial and above board, the regional board will have no input in actual audits being conducted by the BPA in the Middle East, and will focus on a number of functions that are specified in its charter. The board is expected to

While Arabic publications anxiously await the outcome of the Akhbar Al Arab audit, the BPA takes another step forward to assuring the region that it’s here to stay.

In for the long haul26 AUDITING

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provide regional perspective and expertise to the international board of directors for the BPA in areas of administrative matters, legislative issues, judicial procedures against members found in violation of BPA rules, education and advocacy for media auditing as an industry best practice, and regional employee relations and opportunities. The board will also serve as a clearing house for members of the BPA in the region, where they can raise issues of interest or concern to the board of directors and technical committees.

When the Audited Bureau of Circulation (ABC) walked out of the region last year, there was speculation as to whether the BPA would follow suit and auditing would make its way out of the Middle East altogether. However, the BPA took the opportunity to be a monopoly in the region and to see it through. Within the last six months, the BPA has seen a significant increase in the number of publishers applying for circulation audits, with BPA membership in the Middle East rising from 39 at the beginning of the year to 48 at the start of November 2006.

When asked about the recent interest from publishers, the BPA attributed it to two prime reasons. Firstly, driven by ongoing outreach programmes, the BPA is heavily investing in training and education among publishers, advertisers and agencies, and the message is starting to filter through.

Members are seeing the value of audited data and the benefits of it are starting to reflect on their businesses.

Secondly, the efforts of Circulation Audit Steering Organisation (CASTOR), International Advertising Association (IAA) and Gulf Cooperation Council Advertising Association (GCCAA) to make audited data a standard for media planning in the region are placing pressure on publishers to seek out the BPA and become a member. In months gone by, there has been a real PR drive from all bodies to highlight the regions’ need to audit, and advertising sales guys are loosening their ties and are starting to feel the heat.

Not surprisingly, the UAE is leading the way in terms of the overall number of titles audited by the BPA, with 44 members and applicants coming from UAE-based publishers. This has clearly been the effect of the targeted efforts of CASTOR, IAA and GCCAA, as they have all focused intently on the UAE for the past year since CASTOR’s inception.

However, other countries are joining and the BPA has already welcomed members from Oman, Jordan and Bahrain. Serious inquiries from publishers in Qatar and Lebanon are starting to seep in, as well as exploratory inquiries from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt.

Aspen Aman, Business Development Manager Middle East for BPA Worldwide, says: “As markets mature and change throughout the region, media audits will become a standard part of a publisher’s marketing package and a standard tool in the media planner’s kit. It is still, however, too early to say if countries are resisting auditing and the BPA”.

Only after the Middle East Advisory Board has had a chance to asses each country and work with all areas of the region, will the BPA really be able to select countries that need to be targeted with further education.

As for the divide between Arabic and English audited publications in the region, Akhbar Al Arab is only the second Arabic daily to join the BPA. Since the implementation of auditing in the region, the Arabic press has been widely criticised for not guiding the media industry towards greater transparency and accountability when it comes to claimed circulation figures. Impressively, Oman’s weekly paper, Al Isbou’a, published by Apex Press and Publishing, is the only other Arabic language paper to step up to the plate, and have become members of the BPA. In a recent interview, Hamid Maammer, Deputy General Manager at Akhbar Al Arab, said its decision to be audited was in response to what he claimed were exaggerated circulation figures being touted by other newspapers.

“We want to conform to international standards, especially when it comes to our circulation numbers, and try to bring some clarity into a market where some publishers claim high circulation numbers that are not accurate,” he said.

With a January 1, 2007, deadline set by the CASTOR already passed, unaudited titles may well start to feel the pressure, as some of the largest spending advertisers in the region have committed to completely cutting out or severely reducing their

ad spend with such titles. Already six additional publications have now applied for audits: Auto Trader, Emirates Airline’s Open Skies, Portfolio, TV & Radio magazines published by Motivate Publishing, Business Islamica and Capita magazines from Tradewind Business Media. In response to the sudden interest from publishers, BPA’s Hansen said: “I think the numbers will increase substantially from 48 by the year end, optimistically maybe as high as 100.”

In order for advertisers to always be assured that auditing figures are kept up to date and accurate, the BPA requires all its members to be audited twice a year. The BPA uses the publisher’s biannual circulation statements to carry out thorough auditing. If a member does not choose to renew its membership and subsequently does not go through the rigorous biannual audit, then the publication is not permitted to use the BPA logo. In order to maintain absolute accuracy, the BPA follows a unique approach to media auditing, by collecting the data from the publishers and sending them to two separate auditors to ensure that the publisher can be confident that final figures are exact, precise and integral.

While the circulation audit for print media is paving the road for many opportunities, auditing for online media is certainly proving to be a powerful tool that publishers can use to differentiate themselves from the competition, in a region which is becoming highly competitive.

“Among the most compelling reasons are the operational baseline and check that an audit brings to a publishing company. The intricate process analysis, in terms of auditing the print runs, distribution and circulation database management, sends a very compelling message to the market that the publishers have corporate transparency and have been audited by an internationally recognised brand such as the BPA. Audits are seen as an integral part of due diligence when publishers are looking for international partners or investors are evaluating opportunities in the media,” says Aman.

One such recent international investment was Associated Newspapers, which acquired 60 per cent of the local newspaper 7Days. As a member of the BPA, the newspaper’s last audit showed its circulation to be at 70,906 copies, solely in the UAE, a figure which Associated Newspapers has said it will aim to increase to a whopping one million copies. In a bid to reach its seven figure goal, the paper has also announced that it will revise its printing schedule from six days a week to a full seven days, as the title of the paper suggests.

The BPA also offers its members advice on business operation during the audit, working with the publisher to identify problem areas in the business, and where positive changes or developments could take place to assist in the growth of the publishing house. Members find this advice and unbiased guidance useful and will often implement suggestions made by the BPA to further develop the business. As a strict non-profit organisation, the BPA farms all funds back into its own company growth.

Improving member services is a prime focus for the BPA, and with regular internal systems being updated, it ensures that its audits utilise the latest technology.

One such project underway in the BPA is a $2 million investment in new online software which will be implemented this year. A package which runs live, NextGen is a web-based solution, which will assist in BPA audits across the globe. Once logged in, a support screen will be displayed offering live assistance to the circulation manger that may have questions or need immediate advice with his audit or membership. With online tutorials already available on the BPA website, teaching members and non-members on how to read circulation statements and how to use the BPA Track report, support services are constantly being reviewed, updated and monitored.

Talking about the on-site free training which the BPA offers to media buyers and advertisers, Aman says: “Over recent years, the BPA has conducted training for ad agencies’ media buyers and planners on how to use an audit report as an effective tool in their marketing strategies and campaigns. Working closely with the industry to raise awareness about the importance of auditing and transparency has been key to highlighting the opportunities that having an audited publication presents to the advertisers, as well as publishers.”

One obstacle in the region currently seems to be the misconception of how much membership costs at the BPA. A publisher keen to move forward in the process was hesitating over the cost involved as he was under the impression from colleagues that annual membership was in the region of a million dirhams. No wonder a proportion of publishing houses are not approaching the BPA. After discussing this with Aman, she clarifies pricing and says: “An average audit will cost in the region of $11,000, and that’s for the first year with the additional joining fees. The annual membership costs will drop the year after that, so when I talk to publishers who are selling a full ad page at $5,000, it comes down to a mere two ads per year”.

And the BPA is already proving its point that audits give publishers real long-term benefits, which far outweigh the cost of two ad sales. With the CASTOR deadline already passed and advertisers putting pressure on publishers, it seems only logical that publishers at least get the BPA in the door and find out what membership is suitable for them.

With the regional board now set up in the Middle East and memberships increasing rapidly, the BPA is adamant that it is already entrenching itself into what some say is a region which generously rewards long -term investment. There is hardly any wavering in Aspen’s voice when we talk about other auditors possibly entering the market.

“The BPA believes in the Middle East, and is solidly investing in it as a region and media market which is serious about international standards. Other auditors may come and go, but the BPA is proving that it has entered this region on a permanent basis, and I am confident that all our efforts and investment are not going unnoticed,” she concludes.

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As consumers spend more money across the Middle East, this helps stimulate total advertising expenditure throughout the region and prompts advertisers to increase their budgets across different mediums to tap into the purchasing practices of their prospective customers.

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Tightening the belt

share of viewing time for the top 10 stations in the UAE has been dropping year-on-year.

“What is further exacerbating the issue with advertisers is not only the rising cost, but also the ‘double digit’ media fragmentation. In TVC, during the last decade, penetration of satellite channels has grown across the region. Egypt’s access to satellite channels grew from 6 per cent in 2002 to 55 per cent in 2006. In print, over 70 new titles entered the market in 2005,” says Jan Zijderveld, Chairman, Unilever Middle East.

The key decision when allocating media budgets is driven by the cost of reaching a target consumer, taking into account the amount of clutter that exists in that media channel and how effective it will be to focus on a particular demographic when executing a targeted campaign.

“With the increased advertising cost and fragmentation in media, advertisers will follow their global counterparts and will inevitably start exploring new media channel opportunities, including in-store and non-traditional media. It is all about the ROI (Return on Investment) factor,” says Zijderveld.

An additional contributing factor to the slowdown surrounding TV advertising is that the appealing 15-30-year-old segment is now spending an increasing amount of time away from their television sets on other media such as the Internet and gaming, which is having an adverse effect on their viewing time. In order to target this demographic, the general consensus is that there is an unavoidable shift that is bound to occur, where advertisers and companies will have to change the way they communicate with their potential customers, and their sole reliance on a 30-second ad slot on television a few times a day will no longer work for them.

“At the end of the day, each medium stimulates the consumer in a different way, which means that an increase or decrease in TV advertising doesn’t necessarily affect advertising on other media. The exception would probably be FMCG brands, but it all depends on the campaign’s communication objectives,” says Alladi.

Getting down to the nuts and bolts of the situation, it appears that TV is battling to stake its claim, where print advertising still accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the advertising pie within the region. “This is largely due to the fact that only international clients have the budgets to create expensive TV commercials. All other clients with medium to small budgets, and even big clients with limited geographic scope, tend to boost their print and outdoor budgets. The question here is not about budget shifts to accommodate TV, but a focus on media purification,” says Nizar Abou Saab, manager planning, MindShare.

In the midst of all of this, the television broadcasting industry as a whole finds itself in a quandary, and will have to make some significant changes to survive in current market conditions. Over the course of the last two years, the TV market in the Arab world has undergone a period of rapid change, with the emergence of over 250 TV stations that are all vying for the estimated $1.9 billion that is available in TV advertising.

While this may appear to be a large sum of money on the surface, the advertising revenue outlook is looking grim. The majority of TV advertising in the region is sold during prime time slots, and sources have revealed that many TV and satellite stations are offering discounts of up to 95 per cent to attract new business. This has had an inevitable knock-on effect, where in an attempt to grow revenue and to compensate for low unit prices, broadcasters have expanded their prime time offerings by filling segments to the brim with commercials, which has led to cluttered, oversaturated airspace.

“The resulting clutter could be counterproductive in the long term as it leads to deeper discounts on the less effective ad spots,” says Ahmed Galal Ismail, a Booz Allen associate. “The overall outcome in many cases is deceasing marginal net revenues for broadcasters in the near term with limited net revenue growth potential over the long term.”

With advertising being greatly undervalued by some broadcasters, competition for viewers is getting tougher and has placed additional pressure on programming and broadcasting costs as a direct result. Looking around the region, annual programming budgets for TV channels are in the region of $5 million for a simple, library-based channel and anywhere up to $65 million for channels with their own production or foreign rights programming such as Friends or Desperate Housewives.

“To match the heightened viewer expectations, TV broadcasters are investing heavily in upgrading

ON ThE BACk OF ThIS, the Middle East has yet again seen healthy increases in advertising expenditure for TV, print and outdoor. With the increase in demand, rates have naturally been hiked up, which creates a strain on overall advertising budgets on an organisational level and prompts marketing managers and advertising agencies to be more selective on where they spend their budgets. The general consensus amongst most people across the region is that TV is fast becoming the most sought after advertising medium, but results published by the Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) have identified a significant 26 per cent drop in 2006 when compared to the previous year’s figures while newspaper advertising increased by a solid 12 per cent.

This trend may be indicative of what is happening in international, established markets where companies are changing focus and are beginning to invest heavily again in print, moving away from television. Take P&G in the United States, for instance, which came to an internal decision that it was oversubscribed to TV, and is now dedicating more of its overall budget to print, where the medium commanded 28.2 per cent of P&G’s $1.6 billion outlay for the first half of 2006.

“In the first half of 2006, P&G’s TV investments represented 69.3 per cent of the total, a figure below 70 per cent for the first time since 2001,” says Sridhar Alladi, Regional Strategy Director, OMD Middle East.Their move was echoed by other leading

international advertisers such as Unilever, Clorox and Johnson & Johnson in North America, which also slashed TV advertising in favour of print. TV, as a prominent share of marketers’ media budgets, fell below 50 per cent (to 45.1 per cent) for the first time in decades, while print was bolstered by budget re-allocations and rose 12 points to 37.7 per cent.

The likelihood of this trend being replicated in the Middle East is very probable, and the TV broadcasting industry as a whole will need to tread wearily to avoid any financial disasters. There can be no denying that TV is an extremely effective medium and is probably the best channel in terms of mass reach.

But in the Middle East, where a handful of broadcasters are in control of 60 per cent of the potential viewers, it is evidently clear that this is not a black and white market. While countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia have enormous populations, this theoretically translates into low costs per thousand, but in reality vast numbers of the viewing audience have low literacy levels when compared to smaller, more educated populations like Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

“While TV remains a key medium for many product categories, its dominance is being challenged, both globally and regionally. Consumers now have access to new technologies that help them control their viewing and can edit out commercials if they want,” says Alladi.

The massive increase in choice has also led to fragmentation of TV audiences, and the total

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the aesthetics of their screens and in acquisitions of foreign formats such as Fear Factor and Survivor,” says Richard Shediac, Vice-President, Booz Allen.

As broadcasters fight to secure rights to top tier international programmes, viewers in the Middle East will ultimately be the biggest winners as the industry continues to grow and attempts to find its feet and, rocking backwards and forwards trying to generate quality and innovative television offerings.

With all this going on, and with advertising revenues not covering costs for many operators, the pay TV sector in the Middle East has grown by an astonishing 40 per cent over the past several years. With a combination of massive investments and oversupply of free-to-air channels, this will more than likely drive a change in the industry’s financial landscape.

There are currently over one million pay TV subscribers in the pan-Arab region, most of which are using a combination of packages provided by Showtime, Orbit and ART. Crunching the numbers reveals that pay TV has now reached over 5 per cent of the overall market and ranges in numbers from 3 per cent in Egypt to 29 per cent in the UAE. The potential for pay TV operators is likely to go through a period of strong growth that will be driven by socio-economic factors, particularly in densely populated and affluent countries such as Saudi Arabia.

Free-to-air broadcasters, such as Dubai’s One TV station, have also made some significant investments in modernising and enhancing the quality of their programming, but the danger for the bulk of these operators is that the long-term future could be bleak due to a history of irrational ad sale practices and oversupply of channels filling this sector.

Pay TV will continue to be fuelled by its unmatched ability to strengthen its premium content, and the gap that presently exists between pay TV and free-to-air channels will only widen with time, leading the industry to a scenario where many free-to-air channels will have no choice but to switch to a subscription model that will allow them to secure better quality programming, which in turn will attract higher levels of advertising. An ideal example of this has been the formation of Al Jazeera’s premium sport channel.

In the midst of the activity where new channels are springing up and others are changing focus, the biggest challenge still facing prospective TV advertisers is the lack of a clear measurement and monitoring system. The publishing industry has tried to clean up its act with the formation of Circulation Audit Steering Organisation (CASTOR) in a bid to provide its advertisers with audited circulation figures. Yet, with all the various TV stations that operate in the region, there still isn’t

“At OMD, we created the first continuous TV audience measurement survey in 2002. A representative panel of Arab adults in Saudi Arabia is still being interviewed every day, which gives a wealth of data for planning and buying purposes,” says Alladi.

Companies such as Unilever have had to rely on diary-based TV audience measurement systems where the research data was being published a couple of times a year. In a market where the Saudi TV market alone is worth in excess of $300 million, it’s little surprise that large players such as Unilever found the existing system unacceptable.

This has led to the introduction of the Peoplemeter initiative (also referred to as Project Illumination) and has been spearheaded by members of the GCC Advertiser’s Association, TV

stations (MBC, LBC, Rotana, Saudi TV and Dubai TV), as well as media agencies such as MindShare, Starcom, OMD and Media Edge.

“The Peoplemeter initiative will provide a common currency across the TV industry that everyone can subscribe to, enabling advertisers and agencies to buy media space more effectively and allow channel owners to review the programme grid and maximise revenue,” says Zijderveld.

The first round of funding has been completed for this ambitious project with an unconfirmed amount already being invested by the region’s leading media agencies. This newly formed group has appointed Dutch-based Pointlogic as the company to oversee the data collection process. “This [Peoplemeter] is very exciting, because it will harmonise our work with agencies and media owners, and will allow us to finally speak the same language,” says Alladi.

But the subject of Peoplemeter has not been without controversy. Upon speaking to a highly respected source that has been involved in the Peoplemeter from the outset, and who wished to remain anonymous, it was revealed to AdVocate that to this point, not a single metre had yet been installed to deliver useful results, which casts some questions about the project. At best, only test machines have been installed, and according to the source, the hardware tender has yet to be signed.

Pointlogic, the software and mathematical component of Project Illumination, refused to respond and go on record about its level of commitment to the Peoplemeter initiative, which suggests that perhaps all is not well on the road to television advertising enlightenment.

Existing issues aside, the television industry is in dire need of a solid system that can provide TV advertisers with reliable data, which would in turn provide them with the correct levels of information to help them make better decisions in achieving marketing and branding targets. While it will never be possible to get 100 per cent accurate data in the television segment (and even Project Illumination has fundamental flaws), at least a way will be paved that will allow advertisers to invest in television advertising more confidently – a level of confidence that the industry as a whole urgently requires.

The challenge from that point forward will be for advertisers to ensure that their brands will be seen by the correct audience in the right context and at an accepted frequency level to ensure that their message is absorbed. how long it will take to attain the level of required transparency remains to be seen, but the regional television industry needs to do something soon if it is to halt the slide and reverse international advertising expenditure trends.

SHADES OF GREY: The Middle East, where a handful of broadcasters are in control of 60 per cent of the potential viewers, it is evidently clear that this is not a black and white market.

There is an urgent need for a TV monitoring mechanism to allow advertisers to manage their budgets effectively. Channel owners can manage their programme inventory a lot better as well. Right now, it’s akin to shooting in the dark.

one uniform or reliable measure to show advertisers how many people are really tuning into a specific channel or watching a particular programme.

“There is an urgent need for a TV monitoring mechanism to allow advertisers to manage their budgets effectively. Channel owners can manage their programme inventory a lot better as well. Right now, it’s akin to shooting in the dark,” says Unilever’s Zijderveld.

This lack of accurate data makes it nearly impossible for advertisers and their agencies to truly evaluate the performance of TV advertising. There are still many channels where clutter is a huge issue and that advertisers have to ultimately deal with when making decisions, which often results in lower than expected brand exposure that can in turn have a negative impact on the consumer.

In that same breath, there have been many attempts to create a common currency for TV audience measurement in the Middle East. Most have failed spectacularly or merely fizzled out, and the onus

fell on agencies to come up with their own devices to help deliver credible data to their clients.

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When looking across the total television landscape, viewer patterns in the Middle East are similar throughout the year with the exception of the Holy Month of Ramadan, where Muslims’ lifestyles and habits are completely altered, resulting in a drastic spike in television viewership. During the course of the year, the Middle East’s prime time segment runs from 18.00 through to midnight, which occurs later and runs longer than the prime time slots in Europe, which are considered to be from 19.00 till 22.00.

The prime time trend is heightened during the course of the Holy Month across the region, and communication experts are of the opinion that the modified daily living patterns during Ramadan lend themselves perfectly for television advertising, especially in markets such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia that have large populations, which take Ramadan extremely seriously. During the course of this month, work schedules are cut back to as little as half-days in some industries in order to allow devout Muslims to fast from sunrise to sunset, resulting in more free time.

What causes the TV viewing spike is that during Iftar – the evening breaking of the fast – families gather during their meals and, increasingly, it is believed, congregate in front of the television set, where they enjoy a variety of different programmes ranging from Arabic series to game shows. As a result, ratings are thought to stay high well into the night, in some instances untill 2.00 or 3.00 in the morning, and advertising breaks are frequent. General interest channels have traditionally been the strongest and have been successful in attracting and retaining family audiences. On the back of these high numbers of viewers, this is naturally a very good time for broadcasters to cash in.

The two most pertinent examples in this segment are MBC and LBC, channels with true pan-Arab reach, whose programme grids combine a wide-ranging selection of popular viewing genres such as Arabic movies, series, variety shows and the news. Ramadan is also a time for television stations to launch new and exciting programmes because for about a month, they have a captive audience, and this ultimately helps them secure advertising on the back of these shows in select time slots.

Last Ramadan, as an example, saw the launch of Freej, the Middle East’s first 3D animated series, which debuted on Dubai TV and Sama Dubai. Freej tells the story of four elderly UAE women living in a secluded modern day Dubai suburb and is the creation of Mohammed Saeed Harib who directed the 15 standalone episodes, each of which ran for 15 minutes. Apart from new programme launches, TV channels tend to broadcast their best Arabic serials and comedies to capitalise financially on the back of their higher numbers of viewers during the course of the lunar cycle.

For months in the build-up to Ramadan, producers, actors and screenwriters collaborate with TV stations and networks to come up with new and addictive shows in a bid to keep viewers in front of the TV well

PRIME TIME TRENDS IN THE MIDDLE EAST — PLANNING foR RAMADAN 2007

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Rose Badreddine, Research Manager, Mindsights.

into the night. In fact, MBC plans for Ramadan 2007 have been in place for months, which really goes a long way to showing how important this period is for a broadcaster.

Due to the fact that broadcasters have higher than normal audiences that keep their eyes glued to their sets through Grade-A programming, it isn’t uncommon for advertising rates to be doubled, especially in markets such as Egypt. As a result, many select brands spend more than half of their annual TV advertising budget during the Ramadan period

and in the two to four week build-up to the Holy Month. While some industry insiders warn that Ramadan

has become over-commercialised, the rush on local free-to-air channels is not waning, and viewing patterns seem to dictate a shift of viewers from satellite pay TV to local transmissions, which is seen by some as a move away from Western programming to local, Arab viewing options for a month at least.

FMCG companies and telecom operators are traditionally amongst the biggest spenders due to the fact that consumer outlays rise drastically over this period, which reflects the higher advertising costs. This really is a crazy time for television advertising and the general rule of thumb is that an hour drama should air between six to nine commercials. But the Middle East has never really been big on rules and there have been reports in Egypt where extremely popular shows such as Youssra have been subjected to 20-minute commercial breaks.

With the spike in increased viewer numbers and a consumer shopping frenzy at annual highs across the region, all media buying and planning for TV spots during this period has been solely based on the historical performance of each channel coupled with a qualitative assessment of Ramadan programmes that are airing. The obvious issue with this system is that it doesn’t deal with the current TV line-up and programming grid if channels have switched timings, genres of shows or upgraded their overall programming from the previous year. The only way to counteract this is to have a daily tracking system for the duration of the month.

While there are systems that are currently being developed such as Peoplemeter (Project Illumination), there is no clear deadline as to when systems of this nature will be fully

operational, and many industry experts are throwing possible dates around such as end of 2008 before Peoplemeter is fully entrenched. In a market that is devoid of reliable data in the TV sector, MindShare Group launched an in-house research company last year called Mindsights with the objective of trying to track media consumption habits and consumer insights in TV, radio, print and cinema across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait on a daily basis.

Mindsights, under the guidance of Rose Badreddine, the division’s Research Manager, has developed a system called Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) that allows them to gather much needed information, especially in the TV sector. CATI relies on a team of interviewers who conduct 15-minute daily interviews with viewers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Consumers are selected at random, and once a household has been contacted, a random respondent is then again selected, and has to match up to the preset daily quota of respondents. If, for instance, the quota for a certain demographic has been reached (too many men or women in a certain age group, for instance), interviewers will no longer pursue responses, and will look at scheduling those respondents for a future date.

This form of research has helped put Mindsights on the map. For the first time planners at MindShare were provided with daily viewership data in Saudi Arabia over the course of Ramadan thanks to its newly formed division. Mindsights helped them to continuously re-optimise TV planning by changing programme selections and budget allocations based on programming performance rather than unreliable historical trends and data.

“Ramadan has come and gone, but it really is a critical month for the advertising industry. It’s the focal month of the whole year for advertising, where viewership patterns are completely reshuffled. As a company, we consider Saudi Arabia to be the main market in the region, because it’s where 70 per cent of clients’ budgets can get spent, and the ad revenue during Ramadan is massive. While we appreciate that all research agencies do Ramadan surveys, what we have done is to set a new trend to provide the media planners with daily updates of data,” says Badreddine.

Mindsights data focused, amongst other things, on Iftar viewing audiences and revealed an unprecedented figure of 72 per cent across the region. The most popular programme aired across all channels and stations immediately after Iftar in the Gulf was by far and away MBC1’s hit comedy Tash Ma Tash, which was watched by over 50 per cent of the viewing audience. “Ramadan represents annual crunch time, and puts each channel’s insight into its viewers’ tastes to the test,” says Mohammed Al-Mulhem, MBC Group Director of Marketing, public relations and Commercial. “We’re very happy with the success our programmes have achieved so far, and it reinforces our confidence in our market and viewer insights, and comes as further proof of our audience’s trust in our brand.”

It becomes clear that MBC’s runaway success over the course of the past Ramadan, having statistically aired eight of the top 10 shows, can probably be largely attributed to their focus on family viewing, and building on traditional Ramadan consumer behavioral patterns. “These are really fantastic results, and we’re glad that they have all been reached and agreed on by professional and unbiased research companies using scientific and objective methodologies,” added Al-Mulhem.

One of the most interesting discoveries to emerge from Mindsight’s Ramadan survey featured Saudi TV’s comedy called Abou Shalakh. On the first day of Ramadan, the show secured a 24 per cent rating, but subsequently nose-dived to 10 per cent, indicating that the viewers were either unimpressed with the quality of the show or that there was something else airing in the same time slot that was more appealing. With Tash Ma Tash’s dominance, other channels were left to fight it out in the lower rating brackets revealing LBC’s Al Imbratora at 16.00 with a 5-6 per cent rating and Dubai TV’s Egyptian series, Awlad Al Shawarih, at 18.30 with the same rating.

Other previously suspected facts were confirmed by Mindsight’s study too, which revealed that comedies and Egyptian series were by far the most popular television offerings, with music, the news and foreign movies, which were previously thought to be relatively popular by many international research companies and agencies, being largely ignored.

Driven by the success of the results from the last Ramadan, the agency plans to offer syndicated studies for subscribers to Mindsights’ service in the future. This is, however, still very much in its formative stage, but there is little doubt that the company’s CATI system may enjoy more accurate results than hi-tech offerings such as Peoplemeter, which is perceived by many as being fundamentally flawed as a solution because of its reliance on high levels of commitment and interaction from its active respondents.

While CATI is by no means perfect, “This data is accurate and immediate and we feel that this is something that gives us an edge over other agencies,” concludes Badreddine.

Ramadan might still be some months away, but now is definitely the right time to consider its impact on budgets and planning. As a critical time for the ad industry, it forms a focal point of the whole year where viewing patterns are completely reshuffled.

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Companies and brands from across the GCC were honoured for their excellence in marketing during the GEMAS

(GMR Effectiveness in Marketing Awards) presented in Dubai on February 23, 2007.

More than 700 marketing and media professionals attended the glittering gala presentation ceremony at the Madinat Jumeirah which saw regional and international names vie for the region’s top marketing awards.

The GEMAS were launched by Gulf Marketing Review (GMR) in 2004 to support the development of marketing and best business practices across the GCC and to promote accountability within the marketing function.

Both regional and global companies triumphed across the dozen categories with many local brands and companies collecting top awards. Interestingly, several winners from last year’s awards only managed to secure runner-up awards this year; testament to a generally improved standard of nomination.

The star of the night was Masterfoods who took the overall Gold Grand Prix award for its regional M&Ms Miss Green campaign for last year’s successful introduction of a green M&M variant. The judges considered the campaign outshone all the other nominations with its innovative use of the green diva. Other brands taking Grand Prix trophies were Mall of the Emirates, taking silver for its launch campaign and Dubai Duty Free who bagged the bronze award.

The Grand Prix is awarded by GMR and cannot be entered. Gold, silver and bronze awards are decided by the judges and selected from the category winners.

Regional banks dominated in the first category, New Product Launch, with Abu Dhabi Commercial

GCC marketers honoured in marketing awards

Bank taking the GEMA and Qatar National Bank taking the Highly Commended trophy.

Best New Brand Launch went to Mall of the Emirates which has quickly established itself as a ‘must-visit’ destination since launching in 2006. The judges were particularly impressed with the marketing campaign that led to an impressive footfall of more than 20 million and a significant over-target sales achievement.

Taking a GEMA to KSA again this year are Aujan Industries which won in the Sponsorship category for its Barbican Movie Club campaign.

Other winning entries were Emaar Properties for its IPO in Saudi Arabia, Parachute brand, Glad the bags and wrapping film brand, Dove and General Motors for its Hummer launch, while Inmarsat and Intel were joint winners in the Corporate Social Responsibility category.

Barry Gray, Managing Director, Gray Business Communications, said: “The quality of scrutiny and a high standard of judging are imperative to the integrity of these awards. The key requirement for the GEMAS is clear and measurable objectives, in order to thoroughly asses the true effectiveness of each entry. Nearly 300 entries were received across 12 categories, which the judges have been rigorously reviewing for the past two months. We are proud to be recognising these outstanding achievers tonight, and highlighting the excellent work that we have in this region.”

This year’s Chairman of the 9-member GEMAS judging panel was Paul Gostick, International Chairman, The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK.

Category sponsors were: The Economist, TNS, Canon, American Express, Zawya, DHL, Al Waseet, MMI, Nokia, BBC World, Cadillac and Gulf Marketing Review.

StARcoM MEDIAVESt clIEntS StAnD outFive Starcom MediaVest Group MENA clients were recognised in six categories during the GMR Effectiveness in Marketing Awards (GEMAS) 2007.

The awards, which include the Grand Prix Gold for the M&M Miss Green Launch and three winner citations, follow the MBU’s strong showing at the inaugural Campaign Middle East Media Planning Awards held in December, where the team took home 12 prizes, including six golds.

“Good communication campaigns will always succeed, firstly and most importantly in the marketplace, by continually connecting and captivating consumers across a variety of touch points,” said Philip Jabbour, SMG MENA Group Director, Marketing and Business Development.

Jabbour noted that campaigns like these are made possible by developing partnerships with clients and deepening these relationships to the point where training and brand education is an ongoing process on both sides.

In addition to the Grand Prix, SMG campaigns were named ‘Winner’ in three categories: Best Use of Print Media for ‘Hummer – Like Nothing Else’, Best Use of TV for ‘Snickers Desert 4x4 Football’, and Integrated Communications for ‘M&M Miss Green Launch’.

Tarek Abdalla, Category Development Manager for MasterFoods, said integration was a natural result of a creative concept built around a ‘celebrity visit’. “Miss Green was to become the new ‘Simone’ and like any star visiting Dubai, she would get exposure on radio and TV, in magazines and at VIP parties. The campaign reached our audiences across a variety of relevant contact points, all serving to drive awareness.”

SMG campaigns were ‘Highly Commended’ in three categories: Brand Development Extension (or Relaunch) for ‘From Bath to Bed Pampers Active Baby’ and ‘H3 Introduction’, Integrated Communications for ‘Hummer – Like Nothing Else’, and Sponsorship for Kraft ‘Cook with Mother’.

The 2007 GMR Effectiveness in Marketing Awards (GEMAS): Aujan Industries was recognised for its youth marketing ability, picking up the Sponsorship award for the Barbican campaign.The company also received ‘Highly Commended’ awards in the Brand Development and Integrated Communications categories for its work on the Rani soft drinks brand.