MIDDLE EAST
REGIONAL NEWS
The Economist gets the Memac touch
International affairs publication set to boom in the region thanks to new branding strategy
By PAUL McLENNAN/News editor
Memac Ogilvy is a great company which will
ddo a good job for us.”
UAE Memac Ogilvy will try to boost The Economist’s Locally-distributed copies of The
readership by building the magazine’s brand awareness EconomistE , which has a worldwide print
across the Emirates. circic culation of more than 1.3 million, will
A deal signed last week will see the agency manage The concoc tinue to contain the same content as US
Economist’s integrated communications campaign, as and Eana uropean editions.
part of a worldwide restructuring of The Economist Group “There is great interest in the publication
to bring the company and its products closer to customers and in getting news frana om the rest of the world
and markets. The news follows last September’s opening of ininto the Emirates. Marketing in this economic
the group’s Middle East headquarters in Dubai Media City, ene vironment is a difficult challenge but we
done to further develop its business in the region. think thertht e’s great demand for the product
Susan Clark, The Economist Group’s managing director and we’ana ve seen circulation increase all over
of the Continental Europe, Middle East and Africa region, the world becatht use our editorial content is
tells Media Week that the local market presents a “ripe” timely,tit ” says Clark.
opportunity. “Building awareness of The Economist brand Ronald Howes (pictured), regional
will play an important part in increasing circulation in the managing director of Memac Ogilvy GCC, says
region,” she says. “The full shape of the project has not been the agrtht eement will enable the agency to, “act
decided but it is likely to include advertising. Previously we as ambassadors in building aasa wareness around
didn’t have a local agency; we worked with AMV BBDO out a ra a enowned global publication for the region,”
of London. For this open-ended account we only spoke to while rw einforcing the agency’s position as
two agencies—Memac Ogilvy and the local BBDO office. “360-degr“3“ ee brand stewards”.
Record number of entries for journalism awards
Industry bash to
MIDDLE EAST More than 3,000 entries Maryam Bin Fahad, executive director of
for the Arab Journalism Awards have been Dubai Press Club, says the high number of entries
received by Dubai Press Club—an increase of represents a major milestone for the award
19 per cent on last year’s event. program and applauds the fact Mauritania is raise cash for kids
The awards, now in their eighth year, participating for the first time this year. She adds,
received a total of 3,113 entries spread across “In order to ensure transparency, the judges
13 categories from 19 Arab countries. have been drawn from as wide a geographical
Entries from Egypt outnumber all other area as possible within the Arab world.”
countries and represent 32 per cent of those The most popular category was Investigative
received, followed by Saudi with 10 per cent, Journalism with 16 per cent of total entries.
Kuwait with seven per cent and Lebanon with four An overwhelming majority of 76 per cent of
per cent. The UAE managed just six per cent—but entries came from male journalists, a trend
organisers say this is due to fewer publications which organisers would like to see reversed.
being produced in the Emirates compared with The date and venue of the Arab Journalism
other more densely populated countries. Awards will be announced shortly.
DUBAI The who’s who of Dubai’s media love potential sponsors to come forward.
Gala PR firm to invest in KSA then Lebanon
scene will gather at the Westin hotel “Of course the recession has had an
in Jumeirah on April 30, for The Big effect and charity events are one of the
MIDDLE EAST Gala Xposure plans to acquire majority stakes in two regional agencies Ball 2009. first things to suffer. But The Big Ball is an
this year as it looks to boost its presence beyond Dubai. The annual event, presented by Blink important advertising industry initiative.
The firm, which specialises in PR and event management, plans to purchase a 51 per Studios, is in its third year and will see It’s the only event where people from all
cent stake in Jeddah-based Zanzzara, followed by a stake in Lebanon’s HNS agency. The hundreds of media personalities gather to sectors get together without awards.”
agencies—with which Gala has an existing partnership—will be rebranded under the raise funds for underprivileged children. Funds raised through the event
Dubai company’s name. Founder Barry Kirsch, who is also head are distributed by UNICEF to schools
“We’re going to start with Zanzzara, and we’re waiting for the right moment in of BKP Music, tells Media Week there has affected by war or civil unrest. This year,
Lebanon,” Amr Al Husseini, managing partner at Gala Xposure tells Media Week. “We’re been a lot of interest despite the recession. schools in Gaza and Lebanon will receive
buying shares in these companies, hopefully by summer. The Saudi market has a huge “Table sales have not started yet, but donations, as will the Dubai Autism
potential—we’re going to concentrate on building that.” already big agencies and production Centre. Local celebrity appearances,
Husseini adds that the cost of the deals is still under negotiation. Gala’s clients include companies have been in touch. We have entertainment, an auction and dinner will
Emaar, the Turkish Tourism Board and Injaz. It recently organised a number of ‘flashmob’ not issued our sponsorship offering yet— all form part of the evening. For details
events in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to promote HP laptops. that will happen this week—but we would visit www.thebigball.org.
www.mediaweekme.com 08 FEBRUARY 2009 / 05
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