MIDDLE EAST
NEWS 03
21 December 2008
New campaign honours
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Qatar’s National Day
PR awards in ’09
Local industry association seeks sponsors for next year’s
inaugural event to honour the best in the region
By BEN FLANAGAN/Contributing editor
rently being sought from within
the PR industry, as well as among
MIDDLE EAST A regionally-fo- local media organisations and
cused PR awards will be launched venues such as hotels.
next year by the Middle East Pub- “We’re also looking for people to
lic Relations Association (Mepra), help out with logistics or to be part
which is currently searching for of the judging panel,” says Hill.
sponsors to fund the event. Mepra is planning to host a
The new awards scheme will be symposium in the first quarter of
open to all public relations com- next year which will be accompa-
panies working with Middle East- nied by new research into the re-
based clients, and is currently at gion’s public relations industry.
an “early planning stage” under a It will also hold several events
taskforce led by Haroon Sugich of at which journalists can meet
QATAR Telecoms company Qtel rolled out one of its most innovative PR agency Traacs. PR workers to address what Hill
brand campaigns as part of the country’s National Day celebrations on “It’s important for the profes- calls a lack of “trust and respect”
Thursday. Its aim was to celebrate Qatar’s heritage by using a mix of sion to be able to recognise its top between the two professions.
above-the-line, digital and below-the-line channels to reach the widest performers, to allow the industry Mepra currently has 24 agen-
possible demographic. to showcase what it’s doing, and to cy members—including Hill &
At the heart of Qtel’s campaign was a specially-commissioned TV ad that make people really proud of their Knowlton, Impact Porter Novelli,
represents Qatar’s journey as a fast-developing nation. It was supported by an work,” Rebecca Hill, executive di- will be able to include their acco- and Promoseven Weber Shand-
integrated campaign across newspapers and online media. rector at Mepra, tells Media Week. lade within their promotional ma- wick—and has recently changed
Adel Al Mutawa, executive director of group communications for Qtel, Winners of the regionally rec- terial in a bid to attract new clients. its membership structure in an at-
says: “We saw an opportunity to deploy our communications capabilities in ognised awards, according to Hill, Sponsors for the event are cur- tempt to attract further members.
support of a national goal. Qtel wanted to use its resources to bring the whole
community together at this important time.”
Qatar also saw the launch of Al Doha TV, which was broadcast for one
week over the National Day celebrations. Lambie-Nairn won the contract to
create the channel and content (pictured), ahead of six other agencies.
THE BIG PICTURE
Brands
offered
Bus shelters work!
Core
treatment
DUBAI Publicis Groupe Media
has launched a dedicated enter-
tainment division, Core, which
will promote brands beyond
above-the-line advertising. The
new team will produce creative
content for its clients and pro-
mote them through sponsor-
ships and product placements.
Core’s head of department,
Wael Hattar, says the unit joins a
small number of entertainment
DUBAI The first study into Dubai’s out-of-home (OOH) industry, com- divisions, such as OMD’s Fuse.
missioned by Right Angle Media, recorded a 90 per cent success rate for A variety of mediums includ-
bus shelter advertising. The result of the research—which was carried
I’LL BE BACK IN DUBAI
ing comics, art exhibitions and TV
out by Mars Media Services to measure advertising effectiveness in the
The Dubai International Film Festival was the chosen location
shows will be used. Future projects
OOH sector—was perhaps not surprising given that Right Angle owns all
for the first screening of the Terminator Salvation movie trailer,
will depend on ad budgets in 2009
of the bus shelters in question.
the fifth film in the famous time-travelling cyborg friend-or-foe
but Hattar says he is working to en-
Meanwhile, Dubai Festival City has been showing off its new Dhs1.3
franchise. Previously starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and now
courage clients to be “active, rather
million video floor, installed by set and stage specialists IBS Decor. DFC’s
with Christian Bale as John Connor, the film will be released in
than reactive”, adding that this
Festival Centre is the first UAE recipient of the technology which displays
May 2009. The film’s director, ‘McG’, spoke at the festival hinting
advice will be backed up by Pub-
electronic ads on a screen built into the floor. The new form of OOH will
the next instalment may include Middle Eastern locations.
licis Groupe’s ROI and by positive
cost a sole-use sponsor Dhs100,000 per month. word-of-mouth reputation.
digital therapy
www.cyber-gear.com
www.mediaweekme.com
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