2nd Dubai Lynx Awards entries cross the 2000 mark in 2008 March 29, 2008
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Advertising Awards, Advertising Events, Advertising in Arabia, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in Egypt, Advertising in Kuwait, Advertising in Lebanon, Advertising in Oman, Advertising in the Middle East, Advertising in the UAE, Arabic Advertising, Dubai Advertising Festival, Dubai International Advertising Festival, Dubai Lynx Awards, Lack of creativity in advertising, Outdoor Advertising, Outdoor Advertising in Dubai, Outdoor Advertising in UAE , 4 commentsThe 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards, part of the 1st Dubai International Advertising Festival to be held in Dubai, UAE, have received more than 2000 entries this year.
The awards for creative excellence in the Middle East have grown by around 20% by number of entries. 17 countries in the region are competing for the coveted Dubai Lynx trophies.
Entries for Dubai Lynx Awards 2008 - Break-up by category
As you can see, TV, Print and Radio categories have received almost as many entries as last year. The Outdoor category seems to have exploded this year jumping to almost twice the number of entries. Could this have to do with lots and lots of real estate ads? One hopes these are creative ones because size isn’t everything.
It’s heartening to see the new category ‘Media’ starting off strong with more than a hundred entries this year. Watching interesting media innovations would be interesting.
While Radio continues to reflect the little attention that is paid to it, and the general lack of creativity in the medium in the region, what is a little disappointing in the digital age is to see Interactive entries also trailing far behind press and TV.
The toughest competition is going to be in print as is obvious. Judging from last year’s entries and of course being a practising creative for half a decade here in the UAE, I had a feeling that Interactive and Radio would be easier to compete in, and that feeling was right after all.
The surprisingly low number of Integrated entries as opposed to single press, TV, outdoor entries may be the result of two factors. Some people feel that this region is less priented towards campaign thinking and more towards tactical one-off ads - resulting in some brilliant ads which cannot be strung together in a single campaign.
Also, at the time agencies were applying and submitting entries for Dubai Lynx, many people were finding it hard to understand the process of submitting ads as campaigns. What they were trying to figure out was whether 3-4 ads in a campaign have to be paid in full individually and submitted as ‘Integrated’ or is there another ‘Submit Campaign’ option. I think it was the former. Perhaps the ‘Submit Ads As Campaign’ process needs to be simplified next time.
What do you think is the reason for having more than 800 entries in Print alone and only 27 entries in Integrated? Are creative people in the region making brilliant ads but not brilliant campaigns? Are we too focused on short term creative flashes? Are our clients more concerned here about instant gratification?
Or did we just find it cheaper to submit many single ads than put lots of money on one campaign?
Your comments and insights and disagreements too are welcome in the ‘Comments’ section of this post…
Down memory lane: In the first Dubai Lynx Awards last year, this blog quite possibly had the world’s most extensive coverage with reports, views and pictures of winners. Have a look at these posts to get the feeling of what it’s like:
1. Dubai Lynx Winners (with pictures) Part 4 - Gold Winners in Print and TV/Cinema
2. Dubai Lynx Awards Winners Part 3 (with pictures) - Gold winners in Integrated and Interactive and Direct
3. Dubai Lynx Awards winners Part 2 (with pictures) - Gold Dubai Lynx for Outdoor advertising
4. Dubai Lynx Awards Winners Part 1 (with pictures and download links of Dubai Lynx winners): Global jury selects 111 top ads in the Middle East
Dubai Lynx Academy to sponsor 20 students for Dubai International Advertising Festival March 5, 2008
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Ad Blogging, Advertising, Advertising Agencies, Advertising Awards, Advertising Events, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in the UAE, Arabic Advertising, Art Director Job, Copywriter job, Copywriting, Dubai International Advertising Festival, Dubai Lynx Awards, Dubai Media City, Lack of creativity in advertising, Marketing , 2 commentsThe Dubai International Advertising Festival is based around the theme ’Learn to Win‘. And in line with that central theme, professionals and students from the advertising industry will have a chance to not just be inspired by award winning ads from the region and around the world, but also by the seminars and workshops that will be conducted by the top ad gurus like David Droga and Piyush Pandey.
Dubai Lynx announces Advertising Person of the Year Award in Dubai, UAE
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Ad Blogging, Advertising, Advertising Awards, Advertising Events, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in Egypt, Advertising in Kuwait, Advertising in Lebanon, Advertising in Oman, Advertising in the UAE, Arabic Advertising, Dubai Advertising Festival, Dubai International Advertising Festival, Dubai Lynx Awards, Farrukh Naeem, International Advertising Association (IAA), Lack of creativity in advertising, Marketing , add a commentThe 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony will honour the Advertising Person of the Year with a trophy at the first Dubai International Advertising Festival on 2 April 2008. This announcement was made at a press conference held by the organisers yesterday in Dubai Media City.
Advertising and Creativity in the UAE on the 35th National Day of the United Arab Emirates December 2, 2006
Posted by Farrukh Naeem at copywriterjournalist.com in : Advertising, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in the UAE, American Garden, Arabic Advertising, Copywriting, Etisalat, Home Centre, Leo Burnett, Marketing, The Classic Partnership, UAE National Day, du , 5 commentsThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrates its National Day on 2 December. Occasions and celebrations like this one are a good time to check out and compare ads - the playing field being somewhat level even though each brand might have a different take on the same occasion. Here are a few ads from the UAE that caught my attention. Your feedback is welcome, as always, in the comments section of this post.
American Garden Ad - Way to this man’s heart
Credits: Face 2 Face (Thanks to Mohamed Somji who has supplied the credits for this one and explained why this ad was taken off the mupies in the comments section)
The ad above was my favourite this year. Fresh, relevant to the brand, and very tasty looking. If you haven’t already noticed, I have a weakness for appetising ads.
du Ad - Don’t you just luuurv these cute beoble?
Credits: Is it Leo Burnett? They’re handling du, but I don’t know if this was created by du or by the guys responsible for Freej - Lammtara Pictures.
It’s just amazing the way du has adopted these adorable characters - excellent strategy to win the hearts and minds, at least of the local community. Freej is a local Emirati animation series which made its debut this Ramadan and du is the new telco in town in the UAE, now competing with Etisalat which had been the sole telco operator in the Emirates till earlier this year. Ready made brand ambassadors for du, solid corporate support for the film makers - I’m a believer in such strategic partnerships.
I wish they’d translate Freej and introduce expat characters in there too - to make both the series and the appeal international. If that does happen, remember, you read it here first. Hey, if you think of having a weird Indian character in there, you know who to call for writing the dialogues!
So, what do you think of these ads? Did you see or make any other that you would like to see on my blog? Comment, email, call - our lines are open, now…
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Advertising, Advertising in the UAE, United Arab Emirates, UAE, UAE National Day, Leo Burnett, The Classic Partnership, American Garden, Freej, du, Lammtara Productions, Creativity, Dubai, Marketing
