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Advertising blog by Farrukh Naeem, journalist and copywriter in UAE (Abu Dhabi, near Dubai)

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Dubai Lynx Awards 2008 - Pictures of winners in Print, Direct and Media May 10, 2008

Dubai Lynx Awards have passed and I have blogged about the exciting bits, before and after the awards. But my blog’s readers want more. The Dubai Lynx website has so much coverage this time, with shortlisted ads up there too open for anyone to lookup, I felt putting up the winners here was unnecessary.

But then, everyone loves pictures - and I do have some nice ones readers of the blog would like, taken by me from right under the stage (the press seats and my agency tables were at a distance so I just sat on the carpet - with all the journalist buddies - in true paparazzi style. Closer to the action.) 

So here goes another post with some great Dubai Lynx memories in pictures…

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Dubai Lynx awards winners and pictures April 4, 2008

Winners of the 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards were announced on 2 April in Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre on 2 April 2008.

The Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony was part of the 1st Dubai International Advertising Festival attended by over 1500 guests from over 17 countries.

A total of 180 Dubai Lynx trophies including Gold, Bronze and Silver were awarded. The competition was stiff this year with 513 ads making it to the shortlist from the 2023 entries submitted.

45 Dubai Lynx winners were declared for the Print category, Outdoor had 40 trophies, Direct winners were 28. Media was a new category introduced this year and it saw 24 winners. TV/Cinema had 20 winners, Interactive winners had 15 and there were only 4 winners in Integrated as well as 4 in Radio, the last two categories starting out with a very low number of entries.

Out of the 17 countries that partcipated in Dubai Lynx, advertising and media agencies in the UAE took home 127 trophies, followed by Qatar with 18 wins - thanks to FP7 Doha dazzling the jury with their work, Lebanon winning 12 trophies and Egypt grabbing 7 Dubai Lynx awards, including 2 Grand Prix. FP7 DOHA, Qatar, won the Print Grand Prix for EA Games BD Group entry called ‘Back Home’.

Leo Burnett Beirut won the Outdoor Grand Prix for Procter & Gamble’s ‘Natural Colours Change’.

Leo Burnett Cairo’s Melody Channel TV campaign won them the TV/Cinema Grand Prix. They had taken home the first Dubai Lynx TV Grand Prix for the same brand last year.

Bates Pangulf Dubai won the Direct Dubai Lynx Grand Prix for Dubai First credit cards ‘We Know Who You Are’ and in the Media category, the Grand Prix Dubai Lynx Award was won by JWT Cairo for Vodafone Egypt’s ‘Truck Stickers’.

No Grand Prix was awarded in the Interactive, Radio and Integrated categories, a weakness that I have earlier talked about in posts on radio and online advertising, and lack of campaignable thinking at times.

JWT Dubai was declared Agency of the Year with FP7 Doha coming in second, and Fortune Promoseven Dubai in third position.

MediaOne’s Abdul Shafeeq and Swapna Varma from the UAE were declared the winners of the 1st Dubai Lynx Young Creatives competition.

Useful links:
1. View Dubai Lynx Awards winners pictures and download winners list in Outdoor

Dubai Lynx shortlists, advertising seminars and workshops keep delegates busy on Day 1 April 1, 2008

The first ever Dubai International Advertising Festival and the 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards started off well on Monday, 31 March 2008.

Two things most looked forward to on this day were the shortlist of Print, Outdoor, Media and Direct categories and the chance to listen to David Droga - the first seminar after the inauguration of the festival by the Crown Prince of Dubai, His Highness Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Chairman of TECOM.

The shortlist announced today had a total of 383 entries - 195 in Print, 109 in Outdoor, 50 in Direct and 29 in Media. The overall standard looked pretty high this time.

The much awaited Droga5 seminar was packed with ad professionals eager to hear what one of the world’s hottest creative directors has to say about creating positive brand momentum. Seminars and workshops included those by Getty, Eardrum, IAA and EMAAR, Text Appeal and Jumeirah, Brandhome and Eurosport.

I met up with many friends in the ad business. Zeid Nasser of Adblog Arabia and MediaMe who’s come all the way from Jordan. Samer Marzouq of the Jazarah blog. Shehzad of Pirana Dubai, who has been on the jury of New York Festivals. Kerry Platts of Wunderman MENA, a wonderful CD to work with when it comes to Direct, who has been on the Cannes jury from UAE.

Amanda Benfell, the event’s PR and Press Manager, has been very helpful all along. The Press Centre is well equipped. The award-winning work showcased from Cannes and Eurobest makes one feel like a little, tiny dot in the creative universe.

If you’re at the Dubai Lynx, why not share your notes and experiences here? I’d be happy to post inputs from attendees on this blog for everyone’s benefit. And you’re most welcome to call me at 050 7151722 - maybe we could meet up for a coffee when I’m there. You could also show me your work if it’s made it!   

Dubai Lynx announces Advertising Person of the Year Award in Dubai, UAE March 5, 2008

The 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.

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Creativity and advertising in the UAE - The important role young creatives play May 25, 2007

Keeping you posted on the latest advertising, marketing and creativity trends in the UAE and worldwide, I’d like to recommend today’s Gulf News Friday article by the senior journalist Shiva Kumar Thekkepat.

The report is in the light of the recently concluded Cannes Lions Young Creatives 2007 competition, which pits the wits of young agency creatives under 28 years for a chance to represent their agency and country at the global level.

The global Gold winners will enjoy a full delegate registration to Cannes Lions 2008, including hotel accommodation courtesy of the Festival, and many other goodies, like an Apple iPod!

The winning work is made available to a real client, usually a non-profit/charity organisation.

In the Gulf News article, Shiva talks to Sheetal Rajan and Bilal Kerbaj of Arabian Gulf Advertising (AGA) Dubai who won Gold and Keshav Naidu and Umran Shaikh of Team Y&R, Dubai who won Silver.

And a little surprise - you’d see your favourite ad blogger in the feature too. I shared views on the importance of encouraging young talent. And the days when agencies here in the UAE insisted on only talking to people with ‘minimum 10 years of experience’. And what global creative bigwigs who were here during Dubai Lynx said about our standards of creativity.

Also, why I respect creative people in the Middle East because I believe we try harder (think the legendary ‘We Try Harder‘ campaign). Like when we get a brief to promote skin care without showing any skin. And sell lingerie but stay clear of any product shot. Well, you get the picture

Farrukh Naeem, copywriter and journalist, talks to Shiva Kumar Thekkepat of Gulf News on advertising and creativity in the UAETechnorati Tags:
Farrukh Naeem, Copywriter Dubai, Copywriter UAE, Media in UAE, Team Y&R, AGA, Young Creatives, Shiva Kumar Thekkepat, Keshav Naidu, Advertising Blogger, Arabian Gulf Advertising, Bilal Kerbaj, Cannes Lions 2008, Sheetal Rajan, International Advertising Association (IAA), Dubai Lynx, Copywriting, Friday, Dubai, Creativity, Apple iPod, Journalism, Life In The UAE, Gulf News, Advertising in the UAE, Middle East Advertising, Creative Awards, Advertising Awards, Advertising in Dubai, uae advertising, Marketing
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Dubai Lynx Advertising Awards: Shortlist winners awaited from 1,679 entries March 16, 2007

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UPDATE - Check out the LATEST posts on this topic:
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, 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
5. More about the author of these posts: Farrukh Naeem – copywriter, journalist and advertising blogger in Dubai, UAE

If you’re an editor looking for pictures and reports on Dubai Lynx 2007, or coverage of the advertising and marketing scene in the UAE and the Middle East, I could help. Feel free to mail me at farrukh_copywriter@yahoo.com or have a chat with me on +971 50 7151722 to discuss the possibilities.

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Dubai Lynx Awards 2007 shorlisted entries will be announced tomorrow 17 March at approximately 9:00 pm UAE time (1700 hrs GMT). Top creative advertising professionals from advertising agencies around the world are going through 1,679 entries that have poured in from 15 countries in the region to pick the ones that make it to the shortlist.

The Dubai Lynx 2007 judging process
The judging process is an interesting one - the same used at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. Judges cast their vote using an iPAQ via a wireless network. Any vote given by a judge for his or her agency in their own country or state is automatically discarded by the system.

As you have read in my previous posts, the inaugural Dubai Lynx Awards recognise creative excellence in the Middle East and North Africa region and are being organised and presented by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, in association with the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) and with the support of Dubai Media City.

Technorati Tags: Dubai Lynx, Creativity, Marketing, IAA, Advertising in the UAE, Dubai Media City

Campaign ME (Middle East) magazine could be back soon (we hope…) February 19, 2007

Campaign ME’s sudden disappearance, offline and online, and the cancellation of the Campaign Middle East Awards took the advertising and marketing fraternity in the UAE and Middle East by surprise as you must have read in my earlier post.

(In the picture: The last (hoping not) Campaign ME issue we received, dated 4th February 2007.)

My creative counterparts - copywriters, art directors - are in mourning because they loved to see their work featured in the pages of Campaign - they are sighing and saying things like: “At least tell us who won in the Campaign Awards.”

Samer Marzouq of Ad Blog Arabia shared our concerns over the fate of Campaign ME. 

More news is trickling in now and it’s these times when one misses the weekly publication more because any useful scoop on advertising would have been found in the pages of Campaign.

Roy Greenslade’s blog at Guardian Unlimited gives us a ray of hope that Campaign ME magazine may be coming back soon when it finds a new publisher.

Brand Republic’s report on 9 February had quoted Tim Bulley, Haymarket licensing director, referring to ITP - the publishers of Campaign in the Middle East under Haymarket’s licence, as saying: “We are willing to work with them to resolve the situation.”

On the other hand, grist from the blogging mill tells a different story.

Dubai Media Observer, the media critique blog that had also gone missing some time back, has come back with anonymous contributors. They have already said farewell to Campaign ME, because they believe that Haymarket is now in talks with Motivate - the other publishing giant in town.

Martin Diessner of Flip Media had mentioned something similar in the comments section of my earlier post. Dinesh Lalvani posted about it on the Flip Blog.

But Scott MacMillan, in his feature in Communicate, pointed out that Simon O’Herlihy, general manager of business development at Motivate, denied that they are taking over Campaign ME.  Scott’s also broken the news that the former editor of Campaign Middle East, Tim Addington, is leaving the Gulf to join Tim Burrowes at Reed Business Information in Sydney.

So I guess if we do have Campaign ME making a comeback, things will be different now.

Till then, we have Communicate published by Medialeader to bring us advertising and marketing news and AdVocate produced by Motivate for the International Advertising Association (IAA) UAE Chapter. 

Latest information on this can be posted in the comments section or sent emailed to me at farrukh_copywriter@yahoo.com

Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Creativity, Advertising in UAE, Advertising Publications, Haymarket, Campaign ME, Campaign Middle East, Campaign Middle East Awards, ITP, Motivate

Dubai Lynx 2007: World’s top advertising creatives to gather in Dubai, UAE February 7, 2007

Dubai Lynx, the inaugural advertising and communication awards honouring creative excellence across the Middle East and North Africa have handpicked the jury members from creative teams across the world.

Which means that once again Dubai is going to host some of the top personalities of the advertising world, after it made history last year by having the largest ever World Congress of the International Advertising Association (IAA). You can see pictures of the IAA event in my earlier entries on this blog.

As an agency creative, what pleases me most is that while the IAA event was swarming with the ’suits’ – this one’s the creatives’ night out. The judges are top creative people from around the world, the judged being adventurous creatives from the region. Also, in the past few award functions held locally, people have felt that the local interactive work needs to be judged by experts in interactive media - and Dubai Lynx has a dedicated jury for interactive submission. That should make everyone happy.

Needless to say - it’s a pioneering effort - a first time event in the UAE. Can’t wait to cover it!

Here are the creative people you’re likely to rub shoulders with at the Dubai Lynx…

Dubai Lynx: TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor & Radio Jury Members
USA, Jonathan Harries, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Draft FCB Group (Jury President)
Australia, Rob Belgiovane, Executive Creative Director, Belgiovane Williams Mackay
Germany, Amir Kassaei, Chief Creative Officer, DDB Germany
India, Ravi Deshpande, Chief Creative Officer, Contract Advertising
South Africa, Conn Bertish, Executive Creative Director, JWT
Spain, Jürgen Krieger, Executive Creative Director, Grey & Trace Barcelona
Sweden, Tove Langseth, Creative Director, Lowe Brindfors
Sweden, Adam Kerj, Executive Creative Director & Founding Partner, Saatchi & Saatchi
Thailand, Chukiat Jaroensuk, Chief Creative Officer, Euro RSCG Flagship
UK, Alasdair Graham, Creative Partner, Ogilvy Advertising

Dubai Lynx: Direct & Interactive Jury Members
Austria, Fred Koblinger, CEO, PKP Proximity & BBDO Holding Austria , (Jury President)
Australia, Chris James, Creative Director - Interactive, BMF Interactive
Finland, Kari Eilola, Creative Partner, Bob Helsinki
France, Valérie Lévy-Harrar, Chief Creative Officer, Euro RSCG 4D
France, Eva Klaass, Creative Director, Draftfcb
Germany, Olaf Oldigs, Executive Creative Director, KolleRebbe Hamburg
Italy, Fidelio Perchinelli, Managing Director, Assocuminicazione
Norway, Öystein Svaröd, Owner, Svaröd Direct
The Netherlands, Coen Weesjes, Creative Director, Downtown – Actionmarketing
Portugal, João Novais de Paula, President, DirectiMedia, Marketing Directo
South Africa, Nici Stathacopolous, CEO, Proximity#ttp
Spain, Stephane Sembinelli, CEO & Founder, SHOOT!
Switzerland, Roger Ruegger, Creative Director, FutureCom Interactive
Turkey, Salih Güngör, Creative Consultant, Guzel Sanatlar Saatchi & Saatchi
UK, Colin Nimick, Executive Creative Director, OgilvyOne Worldwide

“We are so pleased to have such gifted, well respected and prominent industry figures to judge the new Dubai Lynx awards. It’s important that agencies in the Middle East and North Africa benefit from their work being judged impartially by an international panel.”
- Phil Thomas
CEO of Cannes Lions, Eurobest and Dubai Lynx

Looks good, doesn’t it? What do you think? Is this going to make a difference in the region’s creativite benchmarks? Will more awards make us do better work? Will these make clients eager to try more courageous campaigns and take leaps of faith with their agencies?

Click the ‘Add comment’ link to express your opinion…

Technorati Tags:
Dubai Lynx, Advertising Awards, Cannes, Advertising, Creativity, Marketing, Advertising in UAE, Advertising in the Middle East and North Africa, Advertising MENA, Creative Awards, Dubai, Lynx, Advertising Agency, International Advertising Association, IAA, Dubai Media City

• About...

  Farrukh Naeem is an advertising copywriter and journalist based in Abu Dhabi, right next to Dubai, UAE.

  
  This blog aims to highlight news, views and opinions on advertising, marketing, corporate communication, PR and creativity in business.

  
  Feel free to email Farrukh at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com or have a friendly chat with him on his cellphone at 00 971 50 7151722 if you are:

  * an editor or journalist looking for insightful coverage of the advertising and marketing scene in the UAE and the Middle East

  * an eccentric creative director who believes good soulful copy isn't dead, yet

  * a brand manager or marketing communications chief wishing to have coffee with a copywriter who's studied Philip Kotler, heard Tom Peters, and can understand marketing strategies and annual reports

  * an advertising, marketing, media, or public relations professional with some hot, sizzling news, event or opinion you want me to feature on this blog

  * a young, enthusiastic person looking for simple tips for your advertising or journalism career but being brushed away by those who have made it big but forgotten how they, once upon a time, were like you too...

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• Copyright (c) 2008 Farrukh Naeem. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  No part of this blog including text, pictures, opinion, quotes, ads, illustrations may be reproduced, posted or published without the expressed written consent of the author. For permission to republish this blog's content, please write to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com. If you are in a rush, you can speak to me on +971 50 7151722. You are welcome to cite or quote text excerpts (not images) of this blog under Fair Use conventions provided that you credit the source as Farrukh Naeem and link back to www.copywriterjournalist.com.

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