MIDDLE EAST
18 FEATURE
21 Dec21 D ember 2008
THE NAMING
NA
MI
NG
SHAME A
WARARD
D
AA well-choswell chosen nen name can trame can transcend description, endowing a
city’s landmarks with near mythical status—Burj al Arab, the Em-
pire State, Big Ben. Not all naming efforts, however, are quite so
illustrious…
Honourable mention: You have to wonder about the RTA’s de-
cision to flog the naming rights to its Dubai Metro stops. Think of
the great subway stations of the world—London’s Baker Street,
Paris’s Hôtel de Ville, New York’s Times Square … Rani Chunks
Station doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it.
Award winner: Emaar, keen to find a name to fit the majestic
dimensions of its upcoming fountain—a 150 meter-high mega-
squirt—offered a Dhs100,000 prize to the person who came up
with a winning suggestion. After a prolonged and hard-fought
INNO
VA
TION
competition, the name of the fountain was finally revealed:
Dubai Fountain.
AW
ARD
The last year provided ample evidence that the Gulf re-
gion is among the most innovatey on the planet…
Honourable mention: Dubai property developers
have created an alternative to the Gregorian calendar;
the Flexi-Cal, as it is called, allows for a single month
to last for as long as 250 days, depending on the extent
of the delay.
THE SIZE
IZE
Award winner: Regional advertising agencies, slated
MA
TTERS A
WARARD
D
in 2008 for creating so-called ‘proactive campaigns’—
ads created specifically to win awards—have found a
an even better way of keeping those trophy cabinets
Eager to demonstrEager to demonstratte to the world e to the w
stocked up… create your own trophies!
that the downturn hasn’t dampened
the city’s thirst for superlatives, a ven-
erable Dubai institution announced
that it is about to introduce the world’s
largest building wrap…
Award WWiinnernne : DIFC
THE WHINEYS
WH
IN
EY
S
Earlier this yearEarlier this year, MMeedia Wdia Week
commissioned an insider’s look
at the Khaleej Times relaunch
from a former KT employee.
What we received, about 20 sec-
onds before we went to press,
amounted to little more than a
bitter, bizarrely disjointed exer-
cise in personal axe-grinding.
Here, then, a brief excerpt from
our runaway Whiney recipient,
THE HURD
HU
RD
Y-
2008…
GURD
Y A
WARARD
D
To illustrate how estranged
the board of directors is from
the real goings on on the shop
The Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Author-
floor, an advisor on the paper’s
ity, in an effort to boost the number of Swedish tourists visiting
relaunch recently commented
the emirate, hired Swedish firm Anderson PR to extol its virtues
to me about staff morale: “Oh,
among residents of the Scandinavian country. Media Week asked
but it’s much better now.”
branding experts to suggest taglines for the effort…
Surprised, I simply said; “No
Honourable mention: There’s Vodka in Ajman!
it’s not.”
Honourable mention: Not as Bad as it Sounds!
“Well, there might be one ex-
Award winner: It’s Got Roundabouts!
ception,” he said.
www.mediaweekme.com
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