This blog started its journey on 26 January 2006. Then, 98 posts and more than 2800 comments later, it’s still going strong.

The Guardian, UK has cited this blog. Regional ad publications and editors follow my blog and stories. Most have approached me to write for them at one point or another – and often, I have.

I was the first blogger to receive an official Press Accreditation for Cannes Awards managed Dubai Lynx, a great win for the ad blogging community in the Middle East. Numerous requests for insights, comment, reports, research and collaboration came my way through this blog.

There was even a time when I had to remove my telephone number from the pages here because my colleagues at work found my incoming calls ‘disturbing’. Needless to say – I loved it. To me, it is proof that my copy works. And I am always happy to help an ad friend in need.

My readers usually got immediate responses over the phone and as I write this, I think I have answered more than a thousand comments on my blog. Hard work? Yes. Waste of time, definitely not.

During these four years, creatives found jobs through this blog. Companies found talent. Freshers got guidance. Researchers picked up useful nuggets. Ad veterans found a place to share their wisdom. And rant too. Freelancers found amazing gigs.

Spammers found another place to sell more Viagra – but of course got caught by my spam filter. Sorry guys – I don’t need it. Yet.

Advertising icons of our time honoured this blog with their comments and feedback. People like the copywriting legend and Booker-nominated Indra Sinha and Drayton Bird – the king of Direct Marketing. I am humbled!

All of this has been possible thanks to you, dear readers.

Most blogs die when passion demands its price – hard, gruelling, selfless commitment. My posts were few and far between too at times when I just didn’t have the time.

But you, dear reader, kept coming back to my blog. Reading, commenting, checking if all was well. And asking for more.

You made me come back and write for you – and I was happy to do so. Even during the days when my personal life was falling apart and my career was going through its most challenging year. You kept the faith. So, I did too.

Thank you.

Here’s my tribute to you – your feedback and comments on my  copywriting blog <— click here to read

As for all those people who thought I was a fool spending too much time on this ‘blogging thing’, here’s my answer to why I blog and hope to continue doing so…

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And in passing leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints that perhaps another
Sailing over life’s solemn main
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dear readers, once again, thank you for keeping this blog and me going… stay that way!

As always – your comments are invited and looked forward to – comment on this post by clicking here

farrukh

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It was a bad time to be a copywriter.

While I was devouring the work of ad legends like David Ogilvy and Claude Hopkins, my creative colleagues were drooling over ‘no-copy’ ads in awards annuals.

The more eager I was to put the tried and tested direct marketing to use, the less interested my award-chasing creative partners seemed to be in any copy longer than a sentence. Awards, salary raises and adulation seemed to come only for ads with logos tucked in a corner and a visual pun sprawled from edge to edge.

Long copy was on its way out in this ADD prone world.

With internet marketing, things have started looking up for copy craftsmen again. Writers ruling the net are those whose copy brings in the clicks. Because everything gets tracked online. Every character. Every word. Good news for people who know which words pull best.

And as I celebrate the revival of the craft of copywriting, here’s a legend I would like to showcase today. Reading anything he writes – from his books to his ads to his Facebook updates – will inspire you to write long copy again. I promise you that.

Meet Drayton Bird.

David Ogilvy said that DB (as I like to call Drayton) “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” Yes, the David Ogilvy said that.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton Bird one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

Campaign magazine called him “the only universally acknowledged point of creativity in the direct marketing world”.

If, like me, you have spent a fortune throwing away your salary on ad books to perfect your craft, you could not have missed his authoritative work, “How to Write Sales Letters That Sell!”

DB now runs Drayton Bird Associates, blogs and posts really funny updates on his Facebook profile.

Like this one:

Just so you know what a dreadful bunch of low-lifes some of my clients are…

The following glorious piece of bad taste was sent to me by someone we’ve done the odd job for. I really do sometimes wonder where we find them.

A US army platoon was marching north of Fallujah when they came upon an Iraqi insurgent, badly injured and unconscious.

On the opposite side of the road was a British soldier in a similar but less serious state. The soldier was conscious and alert and as first aid was given to both men the platoon leader asked the injured soldier what had happened.

The soldier reported, “I was moving north along this highway and coming south was a heavily armed insurgent. We saw each other and both took cover in the ditches along the road.

I yelled to him that Saddam Hussein was a miserable, low-life scum bag who’d got what he deserved, and he yelled back that Gordon Brown is a fat, useless, lying one-eyed porridge wog and Lord Mandelson is a pillow biting old whoopsie.

So I said that Osama Bin Laden dresses and ponces about like a frigid, h****t-faced d***. He retaliated by yelling, “Oh yeah? Well, so does Harriet Harman!”

And, there we were shaking hands in the middle of the road when a f*****g bus hit the pair of us.”

If you have the same appalling sense of humour as my old client, pay on time, and need better results and good advice without being financially raped in the process, e-mail me at drayton@draytonbird.com. We should get on well.

This seductive invitation is limited by time as I am unbelievably old, and stringently limited by number (just four clients wanted) as I am involved in everything we do and very busy**.

Of course, you may conclude that I’m not too bright, as I mentioned this golden opportunity casually the other day but failed to stick in my email address – but if you go to www.draytonbird.com you’ll find lots of testimonials, many of which I didn’t write myself.

** Busy doing what? Putting the final touches to Commonsense Marketing – but I have this rather old-fashioned idea that I should not just pontificate but work on real stuff every day.

Now some of your readers will read this post and wonder what it was about. Pardon me. The others, yes – long copy isn’t dead, yet. Oh, and you might want to look up the last legend I featured on my blog – Indra Sinha. He actually responded to the blog. And got nominated for a Booker. It’s good to be in the company of giants, writing giants in my case.

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If you’re interested in this copywriting job in Qatar, mail your CV to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com immediately or call Farrukh on +971507151722

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Here’s a treat on the occasion of Christmas for all my blog readers in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, UAE and around the world… a Christmas tree made of Toblerone chocolates… treating chocoholics since 1868. Enjoy!

Christmas Tree Made of Toblerone Chocolate in Dubai, UAE

I had taken this picture last year at the Unlimited Power Online Conference at the Mövenpick Hotel Bur Dubai. That’s where I met Michael Koenigs of Traffic Geyser, John Carlton – the copywriting legend, Mike Filsaime known for his Butterfly Marketing, Russell Brunson, Barry Dunlop, Dean Hunt, Andrew Lock, Reg Athwal – active people in the internet marketing world.

If this tree isn’t intelligent, delicious advertising, what is? There was even a prize for guessing how many bars are in that tree. What was your favourite Christmas ad idea? Comments are open…

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I just had a detailed chat with Greg Sweeting, the General Counsel for twofour54. Greg is a solicitor with over 15 years of media law experience, and looked after Showtime’s legal affairs across the MENA region prior to joining twofour54.

Greg Sweeting, General Counsel, twofour54

Why twofour54?
“The reason why we exist here at twofour54 – it’s all about building the creative content industry in Abu Dhabi for the Arabic world for Arabic content,” says Greg, explaining the philosophy behind twofour54.

The freelance option was one that was much awaited – one can’t think of a production industry without freelance talent.

Why freelance?
“One of the key employment pieces that exist in all jurisdictions where there is a vibrant content and media industry is the ability for freelancers to work across many companies,” he agrees.

There are so many types of creative and skilled people who are recruited for specific projects and then move on to the next employer.

The only option to have such good people so far was by bringing them in on visit visas. But things are improving.

“It’s been necessary for us as a free zone to come forward in the media space to find an appropriate licensing structure to allow these individuals to be licensed to trade,” Greg says.

Where is the freelance demand coming from?
“There is a real need at Intaj for freelance staff and they’re getting busier and busier down there,” he replies referring to the production arm of twofour54.

“What we are keen to do is set up a structure where individuals work here at twofour54 for us and for other companies with a licence to do business at twofour54.”

So, now, with this new freelance visa option, creative/technical people related to content creation can stay here and work for more than one employer. Cool!

“It’s hopeless if you want to generate and build a sustainable content creation environment – to say ‘Thank you for coming for two months and doing a good job, go back to where you’re from.’ We want people, if they’re coming here regularly and have a good work flow here, to stay here and work here.”

What does it take to get a freelance licence at twofour54?
It’s quite a straightforward process, Greg says. You need to fit one of the categories they are issuing licenses for currently – mostly production skills. And it’s all online at the first level. Just submit your CV with references to check skills and credentials.

It’d help if you can show an employer ready to hire you from the zone. “I think it’d be misleading to allow people to apply for a license and then they’re stuck for work.”

How much does it cost?
Annual licence fees have been set at AED 5,000, with the first year licence fee discounted to AED 2,500 for those joining the scheme before 31 October 2010. Licensees are also required to pay a one-off refundable deposit of AED 15,000. Once a freelance licence has been issued, twofour54 will apply for a UAE residence visa for non GCC nationals for an additional cost of AED 1,900.

“We want people that are serious about their work. That deposit is refundable. We would only take money from that deposit if something went wrong and there was some financial liability owed to us or to the authorities,” Greg explains.

That is the only financial commitment that people have to make, he says. There is no requirement for people to take real estate space. “If you’re a camera operator, you need a camera – you don’t need a desk.”

Can we, non-Arabs, fit in too?
I ask him – what if an English scriptwriter writing for the Arab world, in English, wants to join? Is the focus only on Arab talent?

“You’re absolutely right. Our focus is Arabic content for an Arabic market and building up Arabic skills,” Greg says. At Tadreeb, the training academy at twofour54, courses are already being conducted to build up and groom skills like scriptwriting locally.

“I think we would be open to looking at people with those types of skills who were only English speaking provided that they had work and they’re down here and they were going to contribute to the broader environment.”

What comes next?
The biggest thing will be seeing how we expand that list of business categories, Greg says.

“If people start knocking on our door saying ‘I’m scriptwriter’ or ‘I’m a graphic artist’ or ‘I’m a musician’ – seeing how we expand that list out to address those types of more creative skills.”

Currently, the list of applicable categories is focused on technical skills. Next year, it will expand. To include creative and administrative skills associated with production work.

Interesting Facts About twofour54:

• By the end of 2009 twofour54 will have 60 regional and international partners developing quality media content from its Khalifa Park campus. This number will continue to grow significantly throughout 2010.

• twofour54’s business enabler, tawasol, has processed over 600 work visas for staff from these organisations, which enables them to live and work in Abu Dhabi.

• In its first 12 months of operation, twofour54 tadreeb will have put over 800 media professionals, from 27 companies, through more than 1.4 million man hours of training, spanning 55 courses. Around 30% of these students will have come from outside the UAE.

Launched at the end of September 2009, twofour54 intaj has already recruited 70 specialist staff for its five state-of the-art HD studios and 22 post production suites. It has bookings for more than 200 production days, which will result in more than 400 hours of TV programming being produced and more than 100 hours of live feed booked through its satellite teleport system.

So, now we have Dubai Media City, Abu Dhabi twofour54 and Fujairah Creative City offering freelance visas. Would love to know people’s experiences in each. Customer service? Red tape? Hidden costs? Scope of business?

Do you freelance or know a freelancer in the UAE? Do you think this step by twofour54 will help freelancers?

Comments invited…

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It will be the official element in all communication across the seven emirates, according to the Higher Committee for National Day celebrations headed by Abdul Rahman Al Owais, Minister of Culture, Youth and Community Development.

UAE National Day logo

Source: Gulf News

Creatives in UAE… get ready for those National Day briefs raining on you… aaaaaany time now! I’ve made my share as well. Mail me ones you are proud of – maybe you’ll see them here with due credits. Old ones will do too. Good for err… reference.

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But looks like no one’s learnt a lesson. Yet.

Blatant copy-paste advertising is still rampant. With no regrets. Sad!

Here’s an original big idea from my ex- creative partner Sherif Galal, senior art director at TBWA\RAAD Abu Dhabi, for a client we worked for together – ADAC (Abu Dhabi Airport Company) for UAE’s National Day last year:

The Original: ADAC's UAE National Day Ad 'Salute' by TBWARAAD

And here’s what was spotted by another friend from the agency – Joey Llovitt (yeah – you read that right) – on a DeviantArt portfolio:

Copycat Ad for Aerotech Aviation

Now, the original ad wasn’t one that you’d miss. It was on the front page of Adsoftheworld and still exists there – with more than 70 votes. It made it to the Dubai Lynx shortlist too, last year, but thanks to the F** agency’s creative director F***’s Fiasco many deserving ads lost to copycat ads as you read on this blog earlier.

News has it that some people very high up had a very good feeling when they saw Sherif’s ad on the UAE National Day. Perhaps, it’s the original ad’s goodness which makes it attractive to steal.

“I feel really bad… but at the same time, it’s an indication that the ad was so good,” says Sherif, with his trademark laugh. Imitation might be flattery, but ripping-off is the lowest form of life, noted one of the commentors in response to the copied ad on Deviant Art.

The copy-cat ad was posted on DeviantArt by the ID bluemp, traced back to one Mr. Md Naeem (LOL… he shares my surname) a 27 year old web designer from Pakistan.

I have been blogging about creative plagiarism and ethics in advertising for long now, as readers of my blog know. So, I decided to put these ads up but also give the offending party the benefit of doubt. I spoke to Naeem and asked him what the story is. And it only got worse.

He said: “What I upload on my website is not done by myself. This is one of my friend. He done that.”

So, we have a copied ad, that too posted in someone’s portfolio who says it’s not an ad done by him.

Well, someone’s done it.

Some poor client has paid for it.

And now that the word is out, some agency and creative better pay for this sheer laziness and insolence.

I asked Sherif what he thinks should be done now. And here’s what he said.

“Everyone should know. The company that this guy sold the ad to should know. I would stop him working in advertising. It would be like a lesson to other people not to steal work. “

Sherif Galal
Senior Art Director
TBWA\RAAD Abu Dhabi

Friends in the industry like Louai Alasfahani of the anubisblog fame (notoriety, rather) invest considerable time exposing creative stealing in the region.

Perhaps with these name and shame posts, we will be able to rid our agencies and industry of the kind of scum that copies other people’s ads, puts them in their portfolio and brings everyone a bad name.

Has your work ever been stolen?

What would YOU do if this happened to you as a creative?

Comments (and curses) are welcome…

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The state of copywriting in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Potential Client (PC): Hello… is it Mr Farrukh? Do you do copywriting?
Me: Yes, how can I help you.
PC: I have some text for my brochure. It’s all written. I have done it myself. Can you look at it?
Me: Do you need help with editing it?
PC: No… no. Just read it and maybe, make some changes. Like, make it more beautiful? You know…
Me: Ok, if you could email it to me please – I’ll have a look and let you know what I think.
PC: How much will it cost?
Me: I will let you know once I have seen what shape the writing is in.
PC: It’s just a few sentences. I have already written it.
Me: Sure, it could be just one line – but if you need professional copywriting, it will come at a cost.
PC: Can you write a few ‘catchy’ phrases as well with that – you know, as a ‘gift’? 3-4 at least?
Me: You mean a tag line? Does your brand have one?
PC: No, but my wife and I have some ideas – maybe you could add to that? Just as a friend.
Me: Sorry, I don’t work that way.
PC: But it’s only 2-3 lines. Don’t tell me you will charge hundreds of dirhmas for that.
Me: Taglines are worth a lot more. How much do you think ‘Just do it‘ is worth?
PC: Ok, ok. You just make my brochure text beautiful and catchy. My neighbour and grocery guy can give me a few catchy lines. For free.
Me: I’m sure they can. I wish your brand luck though.
PC: Thanks. Do you also do ‘copyright’? Maybe you can copyright the slogan we come up with.
Me: Um…no. I don’t copyright. You might not need to.
PC: What if it’s really good… you know… and some big brand copies it?
Me: We’ll see.

Another day in the life of a freelance copywriter in Abu Dhabi… Ahlan Wa Sahlan!

[Disclaimer for dummies: The conversation above is a 'dummy' conversation, meaning fictional. If it has any resemblance to a person or brand, alive or dead, blame your wild imagination, not me. It is also not in any way associated to the delicious copy in the picture above.]

Do you have a similar conversation to share? Comments are welcome…

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Money follows ideas, it’s often said. So, if you’re a cool, talented Arab with a big idea for an online, TV, or film project, Abu Dhabi’s a great place to be.

You get the idea, and we’ll get you the funds and support. That seems to be the motto for ‘creative lab‘ launched today by twofour54 ibtikar, the media industry funding and support pillar of twofour54 Abu Dhabi.

twofour54 ibtikar: creative lab offers grant funding and business support to talented Arab individuals from the UAE and across the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. If all you’ve got is an idea, you can now benefit from seed funding, development guidance and planning by creative lab to get your dream project off the ground.

Depicting the journey of an idea at creative lab

Funds could be granted ranging from US$1,000 to US$50,000 if you can demonstrate creativity and originality in your idea for television, radio, film, publishing, online, mobile, music, gaming or animation. Game?

And guess who’s leading the lab? Tarek Ghattas – who used to be the head of TV Production for JWT Egypt. Most recently, Tarek produced the reality game show Fear Factor Extreme. He has also worked with MBC, National Geographic, Future and Rotana.

And if you’re still wondering what the numbers 2-4-5-4 stand for, these are the geographic coordinates (latitude 24 north, longitude 54 east) for Abu Dhabi.

twofour54 is an Abu Dhabi government initiative and an integral part of its 2030 plan, which seeks to diversify the Emirate’s economy and establish the Emirate as the cultural capital of the Middle East.

twofour54 has three key pillars: twofour54 tadreeb (the training academy), twofour54 ibtikar (innovation and support) and twofour54 intaj (state-of-the-art production facilities) supported by business enabler twofour54 tawasol (one-stop-shop).

twofour54 has already attracted the who’s who of the media world – CNN, BBC, Thomson Foundation, Financial Times, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and regional media brands.

Some of the hottest courses and workshops also take place at twofour54’s tadreeb. I’ve already got the prospectus but need to take out time and good dough for the digital journalism course. I wish I had the time.

But right now, I think I should have a big idea. I am not an Arab though. But I am told my ancestors were from the Hejaz. Do I qualify?

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The 2008 Unlimited Power Online event which I attended was packed to capacity

Participants at UPO 2008 listen with rapt attention on cool ways to succeed online

For internet strategists like me, it was a dream come true to personally meet online experts like Michael Koenigs of Traffic Geyser, John Carlton – the copywriting legend, Mike Filsaime known for his Butterfly Marketing techniques, Russell Brunson, Barry Dunlop, Andrew Lock, Reg Athwal and more who presented at the first UPO event last year in Dubai.

Ram and Gautam Ganglani of Right Selection, and Ernesto Verdugo, the world-travelled ‘entertrainer’ whose events almost always get overbooked in Dubai, made it possible for people in the UAE to meet and learn from some of the world’s best minds in the online industry.

Last year, Ernesto had promised me at the first event that he will aim to bring even bigger names to Dubai and UAE soon – on my wish list were Frank Kern and John Reese. And he’s coming closer to that promise this year with the 2009 Unlimited Power Online conference.

Panel discussion at the 2008 Unlimited Power Online event in Dubai

Unlimited Power Online 2009
Making Money Online, Attracting Customers, Boosting Sales, Creating Buzz

At a time when so many brilliant and hard working friends in advertising and marketing have lost their jobs in the recession, it’s the internet industry which is BOOMING!

While tradiational 9-5 jobs are being cut by the hundreds (and we in the UAE have seen our share of job losses) online freelance opportunities are rising for creative people like me – copywriters, art directors, direct marketers. And now more than ever, there is so much scope to work from home doing what you are good at, even earn more than what your job could get you by learning how to succeed online.

The Unlimited Power Online event comes just at the right time again in Dubai. Read more at the event page.

This year, Unlimited Power Online will be held on November 20th & 21st, 2009 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates at the Centre Point Auditorium of the Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre.

2009 Unlimited Power Online Dubai – Speakers’ credentials and their agendas

• Rosalind Gardner: author of the “Super Affiliate Handbook: How I made $436,797 in One Year Selling Other People’s Stuff Online” – how you can money online by simply promoting other people’s products
• Raymond Aaron: Best Selling Author and America’s popular Success & Investment Coach – how you can make money doing what you love
• Harlan Kilstein: NLP Neuro-Linguistic Programming Copywriting Expert – how you can use words to persuade people to buy from you
• James Schramko: Internet Marketing Mentor, Business Automation, List building, SEO and Traffic Generation Expert – how you can create multiple sources of income with multiple revenue streams.
• Simon Coulson: UK’s popular Internet Marketing Coach, Creator of the Internet Marketing MBA and the Internet Business School – how you can start an online business from scratch and generate profits on automatic pilot
• Ron Ipach: President of Direct Hit Marketing Inc. Author of “The Lazy Man’s Way To A Successful Life” – how to work less, earn more and live life to its fullest
• Andrew Lock: Maverick Marketer, Creator and Presenter of “Help! My Business Sucks!” the popular Marketing WebTV Show – how to create your own profitable WebTV show on a shoe string budget
• Dean Hunt: Outrageous Marketing Genius known for Buzz Marketing and Creative business Strategies – the 11 myths of business success and and why nothing can hold you back except yourself
• Jimmy VEE and Travis Miller: authors of the best selling book: “Gravitational Marketing” – how to naturally attract customers who pay more, stay longer and refer repeatedly new customers to your small business using both online (video & social media) and offline (radio, print & direct mail)
• Dave Crane: NLP Master Practitioner life coach & Unlimited Power Online 2009 MC
• Reg Athwal: Co-Founder & Chairman of ‘OneTVO’

What you’ll learn at Unlimited Power Online Dubai

How to come up with breakthrough ideas for products and services to sell online.

How to develop a powerful USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for your product.

How to identify the best target markets and niches for maximum selling leverage. Locate and evaluate cost-effective or free vehicles for reaching MILLIONS of potential customers online. (E.g. YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc)

How to create or find sources for obtaining ANY product you want to sell on the Internet.

How to properly price your product, create premiums, and test offers.

How to write winning e-mail marketing sales letters and promotions

How to generate massive traffic to your site and build your own email customer list.

How to increase your site’s rankings with important search engines.

How to build Web site traffic through Google and other pay-per-click advertising.

How to profitably convert website visitors into paying customers.

How to ‘Up-sell’ and ‘cross-sell’ online customers for maximum profits.

How to create your own profitable WebTV show on a shoe string budget.

How to build huge, responsive e-mail lists that generate huge cash flow – month after month.

How create multiple streams of income from a portfolio of simple little web sites.

How to operate a turn-key, automated business that slings off cash night and day.

How to create relationships and gain the trust of your customers so that they will order from you over and over again.

I can’t wait to learn all of this as the freelance work I do for my clients is focused around corporate blogging, social media marketing, list building, automating income streams, using Facebook, Twitter and blogs to create customer engagement for brands, etc. So, I’d want to be in the front row, taking it all in.

My blog readers who live in Dubai will know that most of Ernesto’s events held here end up having more attendees than there are seats – so if you’re thinking of going, make sure you book early.

The price will be lower for early bookings and fast action bonuses include preferred VIP seating, preferential registration, free access to a surprise bonus event and a chance to meet one or more speakers personally, free access to the exclusive Speakers Reception for maximum networking opportunities.

An early booking will get you the complete 2008 Unlimited Power Online audio recordings pack FREE (the event cost $997.00 to participate), digital audio of this year’s presentations (some may not be recorded).

Event: Unlimited Power Online Dubai 2009
When: November 20th & 21st, 2009
Venue: Centre Point Auditorium – Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The regular conference fee per delegate is $997 but IF you book early, you’ll pay only $397.00.

There is a money back guarantee by the organisers too. If any participant feels that he isn’t getting his money’s worth, he can ask for his money back before the first day’s lunch – that’s their guarantee. (Event fee is at the end of the post).

Click here to: book your seat now at the 2009 Unlimited Power Online conference.

PS: If you’re flying in from outside UAE for the event, there is chance I could arrange a free hotel stay for you – let me know at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com

The internet gurus I met at Unlimited Power Online 2008

Michael Koenigs, CEO of Digital Cafe and the brain behind Traffic Geyser

John Carlton, the legendary online copywriter, of MarketingRebel.com and SimpleWritingSystem.com

And the return gift…

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I blog on Blogger as well as Wordpress. And here’s why Wordpress gets my vote. 10 solid reasons:

1. Free CMS

Wordpress is a powerful open source CMS (content management system). You can use it on your own server space, with complete control of your blog’s content, design and operation by downloading the system free from Wordpress.org.

Most popular hosting space providers already have one-click Wordpress installs so you just have to choose the domain where you want to use Wordpress and you’re ready to go.

With Blogger/Blogspot, you either blog on their servers, or not at all. From a business point of view, what could be better than something you can own, and yet it’s free?

2. Free hosting option

If you’re just starting out in blogging and find domain names and hosting and nameservers very technical, Wordpress gives you the option to try out its ready-to-go free blog hosting service at Wordpress.com. Just register for free, choose your (blogname).wordpress.com and start blogging instantly.

Later, when you want to add more functionality and host the blog on your own server, you can always import all of your posts with one button on your self-hosted Wordpress blog. Blogger also lets you blog easily and for free on yourname.blogspot.com. But you get more features in the free Wordpress by default than you do in Blogger.

If you’re a business where the management wants to first see results and then invest in hosting, start blogging on Wordpress.com – and when it starts to make sense and you want more functionality, import your Wordpress.com blog to your own server space.

3. Web pages, not just blog posts

The most powerful feature for a beginner in Wordpress is the ability to create pages, as you would in a website. So, if you’re an advertising agency, you could use Wordpress to create a blog which has pages like – Credentials, Portfolio, Clients, Testimonials, Contact.

In Blogger, everything you write becomes a post, arranged chronologically in a scroll-down manner. So, either you post everything in diary-like fashion, or you try to use labels/categories to organise your blog.

The ability to create web pages by the click of a button in Wordpress has made it great a cross between a no-frills website maker and a blogging platform that’s intuitive. Wordpress is a hot favourite for internet marketers who use it to create sales pages and sales letter in minutes.

4. Tech and User Support

If you’re using Wordpress on your own server space, you have access to solid documentation for all your issues on Wordpress.org. There are regular updates for the CMS as well as for the plug-ins.

If you’re blogging on the free Wordpress.com service, you will find answers to your queries on the Wordpress.com forums. Plus, there are numerous sites dedicated to Wordpress blogging by Wordpress enthusiasts. You get both tech support and user support with Wordpress. Plus, for all visual support, there’s Wordpress.tv!

Blogger has more glitches in my personal experience than Wordpress and it’s harder to find the right answers quickly to fix Blogger issues.  For example, so many times, Blogger keeps displaying options in Arabic with no button on the page to shift to English (just because my IP is from UAE I guess). When you’re blogging for business, you can’t just sit there praying for a miracle – that you start understanding a foreign language because the interface isn’t giving you an option to change it.

5. Free design templates

You have access to hundreds or free templates in with one click installs on Wordpress. This means you can change the entire look of your Wordpress blog/website in seconds without the need to even touch your existing content. It’s just like re-skinning your webpages.

There are hundreds of Wordpress theme developers who will create customised Wordpress themes to suit your brand for a fee. Just one quick search in the Blogger themes list will give a clear idea of how limited you are when it comes to template design in Blogspot.

Wordpress wins hands down with more than 800 free themes on Wordpress’ own directory with over 5,500,000 downloads.

6. Plug-ins

When you self-host your Wordpress business blog, you can keep adding to the blog’s features using free plug-ins. Thousands of them are listed in the Wordpress plugins directory, with download stats and user reviews. Most popular ones have regular upgrades and install in minutes with a few clicks.

Popular plug-ins include ones for SEO, site stats, photo uploads, and these days – enable social bookmarking of your posts and pages. Using the right plug-ins can get you loads of traffic on your business blog and even improve the search engine rankings. Currently there are over 5,500 free Wordpress plug-ins with over 35,290,000 downloads!

7. One-click imports and back-ups

You can back-up the entire contents of your blog with one click on to your hard disk with Wordpress. More interestingly – you can import ALL of your blog posts, users and comments from other blogging services into your new Wordpress blog in minutes when you want to switch over. (Valuable if your job profile at work includes maintaining the corporate blog.)

No tech knowledge needed. Just press a few buttons.

8. Powerful SEO ability

Your posts and pages on Wordpress stand a very high chance of going faster and higher onto search engines. My Wordpress posts very often make it to Google Result #1 on Page #1 for my chosen keywords. This happens on its own when you’re blogging on Wordpress.com if you use your titles and tags properly – Wordpress post tags get archived very well and very fast by Google, and on multiple language pages as well.

If you’re self-hosting, you can set Wordpress to notify Google and pinging services – as many as you like – to ensure that your posts gets archived quickly by search engines. Blogger is owned by Google, and I have seen Blogger posts being spidered and archived faster but you can’t add to which services are notified by Blogger when you post new content.

9. Flexibility of use

Wordpress is not just for bloggers. Wordpress is just so well organised and well structured as a content management system, it is used my news organisations, information portals, marketers, product launch gurus. You’d come across a ‘Powered by Wordpress’ a lot more than ‘Powered by Blogger’.

10. Ownership of content

When you use Wordpress on your own server space, you own the content. You can take it wherever you like – to a better, faster or cheaper host. Blogger owns the database to your content. If your blog is shut down by Google, that’s it. There goes your content. So, in the long run, if you want more functionality, flexibility and control of your content when blogging for your business, choose Wordpress. Blogger is for beginners – Wordpress is when you want to do more than just simple blog posts.

Who else use Wordpress – names you will recognise:

1. Mashable – the world’s largest social networking blog
2. The Wall Street Journal’s Magazine
3. The official blog for The Wimbeldon Championships
4. CNN’s Political Ticker
5. TechCrunch – ‘The’ tech-review blog
6. BBC’s Top Gear blog

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Warning: Geeky post ahead. If you’re an out-and-out ad person with no interest in blogs, templates and themes, go have a coffee instead. This post is pure blog-talk.

Something recently went terribly wrong with my blog’s Google indexing. All the posts were showing up with the same blog title, not the post title. So, every result from my blog showing up in Google would say “Journalist and copywriter….etc.” with the post content relevant to the search showing up only in the result description.

Readers who are into SEO can understand my utter shock. For someone who’s Google’s first result for his targeted keywords, this is the worst nightmare ever. Many sleepless nights were subsequently spent tweaking code, deactivating plugins, rebuilding and resubmitting sitemaps. Nothing seemed to work to get my post titles back on Google.

After twaeking bits and bobs, I finally took the big step and changed the theme to the SEO-friendly Copyblogger theme. That worked!

I got all my posts titles showing up very well – which means good news for relevance in search engine indexing. I like the font and type size of the posts – easy on the eye. And, as opposed to my previous theme, Copyblogger’s ‘Comment’ link on posts is better placed for readers who want to comment. Cool!

Two trade-offs though.

I lost all the comments on my bio page – more than 180 of them. And the theme’s side bar only seems to allow run-on text even if I put line spaces, it’s a narrow bar. Will have to spend more time tweaking the template now. One more thing to add to my skills – CSS coding here I come!

Anyone else facing this problem – with Google replacing their post titles with their blog title, even though the relevant posts shows up in search results?

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Many friends have lost their jobs in advertising in Dubai in recent months. Abu Dhabi is less affected and I met a young and ambitious Abu Dhabi based agency currently building up their team from traditional creative people to digital specialists.

Here are the job vacancies available in this new advertising agency in Abu Dhabi – if you feel you have what it takes, email me your CV at farrukh_copywriter(at)yahoo.com

1. Advertising Account Executive Vacancy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
You will build, establish and manage effective customer relationships at both strategic and operational levels and communicate effectively the company’s corporate and business strategies and values to executive level contacts and key decision makers.
You will have to demonstrate an effective ability to develop and provide business development advice coupled with great communication skills and the ability to influence at a top level. Experience in a pressurized working environment with the ability to resolve unexpected, conflicting demands in a rapidly changing environment will be crucial. English is a must. Arabic will be an advantage. Age: 25 to 35 years
Salary: Attractive salary + Commission + Mobile & Petrol Allowance

2. Accountant cum HR Executive Vacancy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
All the usual accounting procedures will be handled by you, up to finalisation.
You need to have an accounts experience of a minimum of 2 years in the GCC. Also required are University or College graduate degree in Finance or Accounting, thorough knowledge of MS application. Previous advertising agency experience will be preferred. Transferable visa is required.
Starting salary will be AED 6000.

3. PHP / MySQL Web Developer Vacancy in Abu Dhabi, UAE
You will develop, test and maintain modules and components of the company’s online products as well as website development for clients. You would be working closely with the designer in bringing ideas to actions.
You need to have a Computer Science or IT degree, GPA 2.8+ or Upper Second and above, fluent in English. You should be highly proficient in Dreamweaver and PHP, Linux, MySQL and OOP. Minimum 5 years of relevant experience required.
Starting salary will be AED 6,500.

If you are an advertising creative looking for a job, or have been recently made redundant, why not subscribe to this blog through the box on the right? You’ll get an email every time I put up a post.

Also, feel free to email me your CV at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com (creative CVs only) if you’re a copywriter, art director or CD looking for a change or an ad agency looking for talent. It’s always a pleasure to connect people. That’s what great blogs are for, isn’t it?

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Copywriting is hard work. Being a good communicator is a basic minimum skill a good copywriter must have. Being able to convey his point across in words, powerfully and memorably, should come easily to him. Researching companies, getting inside the mind of prospects, talking the talk of the consumer should be part of the ace writer’s arsenal.

A copywriter’s words become the brand’s voice, and every brand deserves its own distinct voice – a great copywriter knows how to make that happen. A good copywriter knows his products and brands as well as he knows his readers. And of course, he knows how to spell.

This post is dedicated to my readers, regulars and newcomers, who have their own ideas about what makes one a copywriter. And it was prompted by this ‘long copy’ I received as a comment completely unrelated to the post.

No doubt you are looking for some one who is trained in writing copies.
My training comes out of the hands of masters —members of American Writers and Artists Institutef—located in florida,Marina Del Ray.
Most of the copies I provided are flaw less. I am very grateful for the informatuion and efforts I recieved from this institution.
Those masters— Kieran Daugherthy,Bob Bly,Michael Masterson,—are unique in the whole world.
The AWAI is the only place in the world that offers such course.
I believe by my heart that you will not be disappointed having me assigned writing you copies or any other forms of writing.
If I recieve necessary and related information—to whom I am writing, purpose of writing, how long it should be,etc.— you will get the prompotion earlier than you expect so there will be enough time for revision, if revision needed.
If you happened to be interested to give me a try,do not hesitate to call me or writing email.

“It matters not how streight the gate
How charged with punishment the scroll
I am the capitain of my soul
I am the master of my fate”

What advice would you like to give to the writer of the comment quoted below? You’re welcome to post your feedback in the comments section for the benefit of this writer?

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YouTube will release the contest brief on 15 May to make a 60 second ad for a prominent charity and post it on the contest’s dedicated channel on YouTube at:
www.youtube.com/canneslions

You’ll have 48 hours to make a video and submit it to the YouTube contest channel. Then comes the more challenging part…

You’ll have two more weeks after submittiung your video to make it go viral. Blog it. Tweet it. Spread it through Facebook. Make it go round the world.

At the end of the two weeks, judges will pick two winners who’ll get an ALL EXPENSES PAID trip to Cannes.

As any young creative who’s passionate enough about advertising knows, the chance to visit Cannes, see the world’s best ads, say Hi to the hottest CDs in business, comes rarely for cubs who’re just starting out.

Making a YouTube video, that too for a charity, I think is really a cool way to win a ticket to the event, specially if you’re got the knack for video. You’ve got nothing to lose. And maybe this is the shot in the arm you need to make that YouTube video you’ve always wanted.

It’s time to get your mobile cameras, handycams, anycams rollin’…

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When a creative idea looks very similar to another one that has previously been awarded, creatives can always plead innocent on grounds that creative minds could think alike for similar briefs. But online and offline, the accusations and investigations and exposes about FP7 Doha’s award-winning ads are mounting. We’re talking depiction of Jesus, showing a pig in a region where it’s ‘haraam’, running ads without the client’s permission, ads showing product lines which do not exist in the region… and more.

“Investigations after this year’s award show have revealed numerous examples of work from FP7 Doha that did not meet the Dubai Lynx entry criteria and subsequently these 18 submissions and the associated seven awards have been withdrawn,” stated an official statement by the Dubai Lynx organisers today.

Awards that have been withdrawn include 1 Gold Print campaign, 1 Gold TV/Cinema campaign, 3 Silver Print campaigns, 1 Silver Outdoor campaign and 1 Bronze TV/Cinema campaign. Ten shortlisted pieces in the Print and Outdoor sections have also been disqualified.

“The Dubai Lynx Awards exist to celebrate and raise the creative bar of genuine work of the region. Activities like this show a disregard not only for the Awards but more importantly for the juries who work so hard judging the event.”
Philip Thomas, Dubai Lynx CEO

I was one of the first bloggers to be accredited by the organisers of Dubai Lynx. In the very first year of its launch, this blog arguably had the most extensive coverage by a local blogger with agencies from all over the world visiting to view the winners pictures and entries. The second year was great too.

But this year, the third year of the Lynx, it just didn’t feel right. I salute and respect all the creatives who put in their blood, sweat and tears to do great work for their clients and target audience, and all due respect for the organisers and jury who spent countless hours making this event happen. But the entries that have now spoilt all that honest effort that went into the event and given us all creatives a bad name – that’s what is NOT cool at all.

Interestingly, in all the years, this must have been the most reported and blogged about Lynx event. I met friends from the traditional media – Communicate, Campaign, GMR, Media Week as well as so many online friends from AdNationMe to AdBlog Arabia to AdBasha and Jazarah. Anubis blog had a field day this time, as he’s been exposing copy-cat ads in the region for quite some time now. And most of them are not going to let this news pass:

1. Campaign ME blogs about the investigation

2. Anubis visualises the Lions’ reaction to the fiasco

3. And this expose from Anubis really takes the cake – see it to believe it!

4. AdNationMe on Samsung slamming the scam ads

5. AdBasha blogs about the art work of an American artists that brought about an easy victory

It all started with a blogger it’s being said – what I’m curious about is why all these publications are shy about crediting the scoop-blogger with a link at least. But we can be sure that this will be one of the most discussed awards in the region this year – too bad for those who’re in the news for the wrong reasons.

With all this around me, I really hope that tough measures are taken to eliminate such practices from awards in the future. I hope that creatives start being evaluated on the basis of how much their work worked for clients and their business. Not just how many scam and ghost ads they made to win awards at any cost. I hope people whose copy-paste tactics bring a bad name to the industry and us creatives are named and shamed publicly.

I wouldn’t say that an entire agency or network could be blamed for what has happened but rather individuals, and I believe FP7 is conducting its own investigation and has promised to take tough action.

To save you the heart-ache of seeing undeserving people lifting an industry award, again and again and again, I will NOT be posting ANY winners lists, pictures or entries this time – as you must have figured out by now anyway. Of course, these are things you can now get anyway from www.dubailynx.com

However, if you are patient enough, I am planning to share what I learnt at the workshops and seminars that the organisers too great pains to put together for us ad people at Dubai Lynx this year. Maybe even video too.

In the meantime, a previous posts of mine that you might want to revisit is:

Plagiarism in advertising – how fake and scam ads are destroying originality

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As world economies reel under the recession, the impact is being felt in the UAE too. In more than 10 years I’ve been in the advertising industry, I have never had so many friends in advertising lose their jobs as during the past one month. It seems like not many days pass befores someone is out with their portfolio looking for a job again.

Gulf News had reported more than 3000 job cuts two weeks ago, with real estate companies asking hundreds of their employees to leave. Here are the figures in a January 15 report by Suzanne Fenton in Gulf News:

The sting of the global financial crisis was first properly felt in November when master-developer, Nakheel, was the first to shed its human resources, getting rid of 500 people.

Developer Damac then announced it had let 200 people go, Omniyat 69, Tameer 180 and Better Homes made 50 people redundant.

As one of the more widely read ad bloggers in the region, I’ve had emails and comments and sms messages and phone calls from advertising expats who are on the lookout for a new job. Many whose heads are bloody and unbowed. Determined to stay on in Dubai, UAE, rather than call it quits and head back home.

And among all this confusion, one story really stood out – another in a series of case studies on the power of blogging and social media – on how the internet is changing the rules of how we communicate. It’s the curious case of the redundant Porsche man, Mr Andrew Blair.

Andrew’s redundancy in Dubai would have been just one of the thousands mentioned above, had it not been for a black marker, a Porsche and a blog post. After being given the golden handshake from his US100,000+ a year job as a construction project manager in Dubai, Andrew took a marker and scribbled this on the back of his Porsche:

Andrew Blair Made Redundant - Picture courtesy Life In Dubai blog by Seabee

The picture was taken by Seabee and posted on the Life in Dubai blog, with the title ‘Sign of the times in Dubai’. The picture soon became a story in the local press and went on to make headlines in The Telegraph UK. Coverage in the BBC and CNN soon followed.

There is a positive lesson to learn in this – that there is always a creative way to get your message heard. Andrew’s phone has been ringing with requests for his CV since his Porsche art hit the headlines. But instant fame has its price as you have already read in my previous post about How social media can make or break you – Twitter case studies.

Tala Al Ramahi’s article in The National (pointed out by fellow blogger Mouna) reports that a background check on the Porshe’s  registration number revealed:

…that registration number had accumulated 12 black points and 37 unpaid fines, totalling Dh3,850, and Mr Blair’s highly mobile advertising platform was wanted for impounding.

The offences credited to the Porsche range from illegal parking and obstructing traffic to jumping a red light and speeding – including one fine of Dh1,000, incurred on Jan 16, for exceeding the speed limit on Um Suqeem Street, off Sheikh Zayed Road, by “more than 60kph”.

So, while as an advertising man I can’t help but applaud the disruptive approach taken by Andrew to reach out potential employers (and I’d say he should consider being in the ad business), it’s hard to say if the news of the reckless driving would add brownie points in the eyes of a recruiter. And then there’s the curious incident of the original blogged picture of his plateless car and his telephone  number scribbled on it changing across various publications (see The National’s pic in the link above).

As last reported, Andrew is still looking for a job. But I think he’s had enough of free publicity. Thanks to a permanent marker and a picture on a blog.

What would you do if you were asked to leave? And would it make news if it wasn’t scribbled on a Porsche? Comments are welcome!

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First, for the positive impact that a post on Twitter can have. The story that will make you feel good…

Minutes after a US Airways plane made an emergency landing in the Hudson river, Janis Krums who was on a nearby ferry posted this picture on Twitpic.com:

US Airways Plane in Hudson (Picture by Janis Krums)

News networks picked up the picture as it spread around the world – it currently has been viewed 381069 times! His now famous Tweet echoed around the world. It simple said:

There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.

In the next couple of days, Janis was interviewed by CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, the BBC, to name a few. And, of course, in the blogging and Twitter world, he was well applauded for his citizen journalism (he had given his phone to a passenger on the plane after he sent out the pic). This is what he says about the power of his use of social media on his blog:

I think it is incredible that anyone at any point can have such an impact by simply posting a picture online.

That was the first ’case study’ I want to share in illustrating the power of social media today – and the instant and global impact even one small entry or picture could have.

The other case study is one that makes many a blogger uncomfortable. Where do you draw the line between posting your status and conducting yourself professionally? What if your Twitter entry is all about how you are feeling and it’s read by your clients and bosses and passed around in the company mail? How do you handle that? Here’s someone who faced a similar type of situation. With one tweet on Twitter.

On his way to Memphis, New Yorker James Andrews, VP at Ketchum – the PR agency, posts this on Twitter, about the home town of the client he is going to meet:

True confession but i’m in one of those towns where I scratch my head and say “I would die if I had to live here!”

The Twitter post got picked up by FedEx and this is what they had to say in their official statement about Andrews’ tweet about Memphis, as reported in the excellent blog coverage of this issue on David Henderson’s blog:

This lapse in judgment also demonstrates the need to apply fundamental communications principles in the evolving social networking environment: Think before you speak; be careful of you what you say and how you say it. Mr. Andrews made a mistake, and he has apologized. We are moving on.

Now, this fiasco too found its way around the world – prompting a prompt apology by Ketchum and Andrews. ”My most recent situation underscores the need for important dialogue around how we use this space,” Andrews writes on his blog inviting further dialogue on this issue.

So, dear reader of this blog by a copywriter in the UAE, what do you think is the right way to handle things? Is it nobler in the mind to quietly suffer the vagaries of life? Or is it cool to tweet to life’s tune and let the world join in?

Would you allow clients to follow you on Twitter? And then keep self-censoring yourself thinking whether you are conducting yourself professionally or not when you Tweet? Or would you keep it real and be who you are on Twitter,  Facebook, your blog? Comments are open…

Let the ‘dialogue’ begin

Oh, and if you want to read a real life story from Dubai, UAE on how a single picture on a blog led to global media coverage for a Dubai job seeker, read my post on the Redundant Porsche message guy Andrew Blair.

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First of all, apologies for not being able to post much in recent days. My father passed away last month in Abu Dhabi and since then, I’ve been busy with paperwork, visa procedures, etc. Everything seems to be taking many visits before the work gets done. Plus, there’s the advertising life.

Anyway, much has been happening on the advertising and marketing front. Campaign Middle East is back with Motivate publishing it this time. Stompernet which is the holy grail for SEO people was recently reopened. Most internet marketing gurus are in overdrive, offering lots of free bonus information on online marketing. Promoting business via internet videos is a hot topic. And this post is one that I just had to make before time runs out for all my readers who are active online because we’ve got an interesting event coming up in Dubai soon.

I’ve just spotted an event called Unlimited Power Online that I think would be very valuable for people who do business online or have a stake in the internet marketing industry. An event where some of the world’s leading names in online marketing will teach using the Internet to easily attract new clients at zero cost, how to use online audio and video to boost sales, how to get found on search engines without it costing a cent – all of this without spending a fortune on advertising. And a chance to get online marketing books worth hundreds of dollars for free. More about that in a minute.

As readers of this blog know – I don’t usually plug products or advertise stuff on my blog. But this event is something that I am very excited about. Because it’s so rare to rub shoulders with top internet gurus here in the UAE. Plus, there’s a way you can sample it in a preview and get free books to benefit your online efforts without paying anything. Read on if that sound like fun.

Right Selection from Dubai are bringing in some of the most popular names in the internet marketing world – all in one place, teaching their art of persuasion online. Google them and you’ll see these guys are the who’s who of creating online buzz:

1. Mike Filsaime – “Viral Marketing & Butterfly Marketing”
Mike Filsaime is one of the most influential online business experts, creator of the “Butterfly Marketing” method and a leading authority in Viral Marketing.

2. Stephen Pierce – “How To Turn Your Business Into An Internet Success”
Stephen is author of ‘Secrets To Creating Wealth’

3. John Carlton – “Kick-Ass Copywriting Secrets of a Marketing Rebel”
John publishes the internationally acclaimed “Marketing Rebel Rant” newsletter, where he shares effective advertising, marketing & copywriting strategies. He is one of the most well recognised copywriters in the online world today.

4. Sean Roach – “The Art of Online Possibility Thinking!”
Sean’s expertise is using the internet to achieve financial success. He’s been voted ‘Best Speaker’ at World Internet Summits the UK, Australia and Malaysia.

5. Mike Koenigs – “How To Use Online Video To BOOST Online Profits!”
Michael Koenigs brought the “Internet Infomercial” format to the web with the Infomercial Toolkit – by adapting the television infomercial formula to work online. He’s a consultant to some of the largest companies in America including 20th Century Fox, Sony, Mazda, General Mills, Dominos Pizza, Carlson Companies, Northwest Airlines, 3M. Internet marketers and bloggers know him as the co-creator of Traffic Geyser, a Web 2.0 service for businesses that distributes Internet videos to over 100 top sites with the click of a button to drive website traffic and leads.

Mike is considered an expert in using video to get high rankings on search engines and a producer of over 40 products and more than 300 web sites for authors, entrepreneurs and internet marketers including Debbie Ford and Deepak Chopra.

6. Andrew Lock – “How You Can Use the Power of the Internet to Get More Done & Have More Fun!”
Andrew’s free weekly web TV show, ‘Help! My Business Sucks!’ is the MOST downloaded Podcast on Itunes.com above Business Week, The Harvard Business Review and Brian Tracy. Andrew is the author of “Magical Marketing’ and “How to Shoot, Edit & Distribute HDV”.

7. Russell Brunson – “How To Turn Ideas Into Money”
Russell Brunson is the President and Founder of DotComSecrets.com INC. He is an accomplished author, renowned speaker, software developer, business consultant, and a popular online marketer.

8 and 9. Dean Hunt And Barry Dunlop – “Cut Your Marketing Budget & Reach More People!”
Dean Hunt and Barry Dunlop are considered the world’s leading BUZZ marketing consultants. They are the co-authors of an amazing BUZZ marketing guide called “The Web Traffic Orgasm”.

10. Chris Guerreiro – “How To Up Your Income In A Down Economy”
Chris works directly with top CEO’s , entrepreneurs, and authors to help them create large, long term income streams and legacies that can be handed down from generation to generation.

11. Team MC and Master Facilitator: Ernesto Verdugo
Ernesto is a successful corporate consultant and turn-around expert, and an accomplished online business owner, running a total of 20 successful websites.

12. Chris Griffiths – Mind Mapping
Chris is the creator and developer of Imindmap. The official Mind Mapping software of Tony Buzan. He’s also the CEO of Buzan Online.
Chris will be giving away to all participants a full set of mind maps containing all the ideas discussed by the speakers of the main conference.

13. Sharad Agarwal – CEO of Cyber Gear
Sharad is an online consultant to Dubai e-Government, Grand Hyatt, Starwood Hotels, Shell, Toshiba, Sharp, American Hospital, Médecins Sans Frontières, Union Properties, Kingdom Centre and Saks Fifth Avenue in Saudi Arabia, CityStars in Cairo and Qatar Masters in Doha.

I was surprised when I saw that this event is happening in the UAE – it almost seemed like a mistake – something happening before its time. I mean – how many people here would even know who these guys are? Currently, such high profile online workshops/events usually involve thousands of dollars in fees and take place in the US, Europe, etc and seats fill fast. But right here in Dubai? It’s a great opportunity for anyone like me who lives and breathes online advertising, social media, blogs, video marketing on the internet, the works! But can’t fly off to far away places for picking up new skills.

Now, most of advertising and marketing events in the UAE happen on working days – so I thought to myself – no way am I going to get an opportunity to attend this event and personally meet these guys who I have only been reading about all this time. But kudos to the organisers – the training is on 5 and 6 December 2008 – over the weekend! The location is Oud Metha Ballroom in The Mövenpick Hotel in Bur Dubai.

This and more happens over 2 days of online business and e-commerce training inclusive of 2 buffet lunches with networking opportunities. Yes, it carries a price tag – it’s a little less than $1000 per person. Seeing the list of speakers, anyone who’s clued in on the online marketing industry would know it’s a good deal. But this post isn’t about selling this event. I am personally against

What I really want to share with you is this – getting a taste of the above training wihtout paying anything!
Pay nothing when you attend a 2-hour free preview of Unlimited Power Online this weekend.

Choose from 28 November Friday or on 29 November Saturday. The preview venue is Al Majlis Ballroom, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai.

Program is:
17.30 Registration
18.00 Preview Start
19.30 Q & A
20.00 End

In the free preview event, some of things that you will learn are:

• How to use the 3 most popular websites on the Internet to:
  A) Instantly make extra money (even without a website)
  B) Attract new customers to your business
  C) Become an instant expert in your industry or field of competence
• 5 FREE sites that will help you boost your productivity
• What’s the ONLY obstacle between YOU and Internet riches and online success and find out the easiest way to overcome that obstacle
• How to start a part time online business from scratch even if you have ZERO technical skills or product to sell online
• The 1 single element that’ll make any website succesful and that 95.3% of ALL websites online simply ignore to use!

Every attendee will also get two free gifts on arrival:

• Free digital copy of The Unlimited Power Conference Manual (valued at USD $197.00)
• FREE lifetime access to the Unlimited Power Online membership site (valued at USD $297.00) (With educational videos, e-books, success blueprints, downloadable MP3 files)

Although you can pay and register for the main event at Mövenpick Hotel on 5 and 6 December, what I would personally suggest is that before spending any money, try out the free preview this weekend by registering for it at the link below:

http://www.unlimitedpoweronline.com/lastchance.html

More free internet business books – instant downloads:

You can download these six books free of cost as bonus gifts once you’ve registered for the free event by inviting people you know to it – look for a form when you submit your details online for the preview event on the link above.

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Anti-smoking ad published in Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE on 11 September

Sudeep Koshy, who was the copywriter on this ad, called me a couple of days back to give me some interesting news. This ad has made to the EPICA Awards. Page 116, 21st Edition (2008) Public Awareness category. My blog is where it was first featured online – and although I don’t consider CopywriterJournalist.com an ad showcase blog (the world is full of them), this was an ad that had stopped me in my tracks and go uhummm. So I guess many other people feel the same way too.

This is what Sudeep says about the ad that created quite a stir: “When the idea was conceived, it was never thought to stir up any controversy. Because, the intention and message of this ad is right up there, unmistakable, in cold fact and bare figures. Besides, the context also mattered: The ad was released on 9/11 of course, which was THREE days before UAE banned smoking in public places.”

Do you think this ad is offensive? Is it right to say that it is borrowed interest or that the creatives exploited a tragedy? Have you done an ad that makes people look at it twice and go hmmm? Comments most welcome…

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He’s asked me what challenges copywriters face in the Middle East. How do Beirut and Cairo compare to the UAE in terms of creativity. And why I think blogs are a good idea for global exchange of ideas.

For all those readers who’ve been mailing me and asking me about the creative life in the region, it is a detailed look at what it’s like. Have a read at the MediaMe.com homepage or the interview’s direct link.

You’ll also notice that Zeid’s being a media person puts up regional media rates too on MediaMe.com. And jobs in advertising. So, I’m sure you’ll find his sites useful. Go for it!

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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…

Steve Lane, Festival Director Dubai of Dubai International Advertising Festival, takes the mic at the Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony.

Some of the Dubai Lynx Winners – Print – Gold

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Dubai with their Dubai Lynx Gold for Sony’s Incar DVD Player work

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Doha win Dubai Lynx Gold for their print work ‘Dynamo’ for NESTLÉ Purina Dog Chow

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Doha with their Dubai Lynx Print Gold for ‘Medal of Honor’, EA Games, BD Group.

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Dubai with their Dubai Lynx Gold Awards in Print for Sony’s Tiny 4GB Microvault work.

Grey Worldwide Dubai team with their Dubai Lynx Gold Awards for their print work for Yellow Pages Directory.

Dubai Lynx Awards Winners – Print Grand Prix

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Doha celebrates their Dubai Lynx Awards Print Grand Prix for ‘Medal of Honor’, EA Games, BD Group.

FP7 Doha’s campaign for BD Group’s EA Games won the agency a lot of metal. Chris Becker, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Draftfcb New York and the jury president of the TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor & Radio and Integrated juries at the 2008 Dubai Lynx Awards called it “a stunning piece of work”. “It could win anywhere in the world,” Chris said pointing to its universal appeal and the level of craft it exhibited.

Dubai Lynx Awards – Interactive – One Gold, No Grand Prix

Wolfgang Haf, Chief Executive Officer of Wunderman Central Europe, and the Direct & Interactive Dubai Lynx jury president announces the winners of Dubai Lynx Awards in the Interactive category. Interactive had no Grand Prix, and only one Dubai Lynx Gold to JWT Kuwait’s work for Zain’s E-Go mobile internet connection. As I had earlier predicted – interactive still has a long way to go in the region.

Dubai Lynx Awards – Some of the Direct category winners

JWT Beirut team with their Dubai Lynx Gold Award for their Direct work ‘12 Days of Christmas’ for Hepattitude Positive, an NGO in Lebanon.

Memac Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) team with their Dubai Lynx Gold Awards for their ‘Soft Speed Bump’ work for Volvo.

Dubai Lynx Advertising Person of the Year

Joseph Ghossoub accepts the first Dubai Lynx Advertising Person of the Year Award. He spoke of the advertising community being ‘brothers’, of ‘keeping the passion alive’ and his 30 years in advertising. Ghossoub is the President and CEO of The Holding Group (THG) the parent company of Team/Young & Rubicam, Intermarkets Advertising, ASDA’A public relations, mediaedge:cia and Wunderman. He is also the outgoing Chairman and World President of the International Advertising Association.

Joseph Ghossoub shares a golden moment with Mohamed Al Mulla, director of Dubai Media City.

Dubai Lynx Awards – some winners in the newly introduced ‘Media’ category

The OMD Dubai team celebrates their Dubai Lynx Gold Award for Best Use of Television/Cinema for Wrigley’s Extra chewing gum.

JWT Dubai show off their Dubai Lynx Gold Awards for Best Use of Ambient: Small Scale for Daryl Patni’s website www.darylstock.com

OMD Digital beaming with their Dubai Lynx Award for Best Use of the Internet/New Media including mobile phones.

The Wunderman ME Dubai team won a Dubai Lynx Gold for Best Use of Special Events/Stunts/Live Advertising where they sent live fish to IT people so that they are ‘Lonely No More’ on behalf of Microsoft. This one was one of my favourite entries.

The big one – Dubai Lynx Awards Grand Prix for TV

Take a good look at these Leo Burnett Cairo guys – they are the ones who brought us the Melody TV campaign. I have never watched Melody TV but the fact that there are ads in this part of the world whose creators are not afraid to laugh at themselves makes me look forward to TV spots coming out of Egypt. Specially if it is ‘All Eengleesh. All za ta-eeem.’ They won the TV Grand Prix – and truly we very well deserved win. These are the only TV spots I have played again and again on YouTube and laughed every time!

Note: All pictures are copyright-protected. Get in touch with me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com if you’d like to use them.

Useful PDF downloads:
1. Dubai Lynx TV/Cinema Winners List
2. Dubai Lynx Print Winners List
3. Dubai Lynx Outdoor Winners List
4. Dubai Lynx Radio Winners List
5. Dubai Lynx Direct Winners List
6. Dubai Lynx Interactive Winners List
7. Dubai Lynx Media Winners List
8. Dubai Lynx Integrates Winners List

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You need to have a stunning portfolio of ads across all media, and be an expert in BTL. Long copy should come easy to you. Brochures, leaflets, posters, direct mailers should be your forte.

The agency started out as a creative hot shop around 10 years ago. Swept quite a few coveted awards as it grew, adding PR, events into its portfolio. And very soon, you could be at a good position in its own independent BTL division as its chief copywriter?

Interested?

Rush you CVs to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com and I’ll forward them on to one of the founders of the agency who’s looking to meet the prospective copywriter in Dubai asap.

NOTE: To keep track of new posts and advertising jobs in dubai and uae that I put up on this blog, you can bookmark it, favourite it or scribble www.copywriterjournalist.com on your wall. Best thing to do however is just fill in your emailin the ‘Get email updates FREE!’ box on the left hand side panel and click ‘Subscribe’. You’ll get automated email notifications when I put up a new post. Cool, innit?

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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

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Dubai Lynx Awards 2008 Gold and Grand Prix winners pictures – Outdoor Category

FP7 Doha team with their first Dubai Lynx Gold of the evening, for their Outdoor ad for EA Games

Click on ‘More’ below to see more pictures…

FP7 Doha team with their second Dubai Lynx Gold, for their Outdoor ad for Perfetti Van Melle’s Big Babol

Memac Ogilvy & Mather (O&M) Dubai with their Dubai Lynx Gold for their Soft Speed Bump Stunt in the Outdoor category for Volvo

Chris Becker, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Draftfcb New York helps a Leo Burnett Beirut member lift the Dubai Lynx Grand Prix in Outdoor awarded to their ‘Natural Colours Change’ billboard for P&G’s Koleston Naturals

Userful links:
1. Download list of Dubai Lynx Winners in the Outdoor category

Coming soon… pictures of Dubai Lynx winners in Print, Radio, TV/Cinema, and more… bookmark this site!

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Steve has been described by Campaign magazine as “the greatest direct marketing creative of this generation” and his agency Harrison Troughton Wunderman has won more Cannes Direct Lions than any other agency in the world. Having worked at Wunderman and being passionate about direct marketing, how could I resist listening to someone who’s been the Worldwide Creative Director of Wunderman!

Steve’s presentation was about why clients buy bad work, and what can be done to stop them. Being a senior creative person who has to often present agency work to tough clients, I found Steve’s tips valuable and his interaction, engaging.

According to Steve Harrison, advertising agencies have to understand their clients before they can persuade them to buy great work. “You’ve got to start seeing the world through their eyes.” And one of the first key points to sell great work to clients – don’t sell bad work, don’t even take it to the client if you aren’t happy with it!

Also, before asking client to jump, agencies need to assure them they’ll take the client and his brand to the other side, that they know what they are doing.

“The client will never remember that you were three days late, but will always remember you for a bad campaign that bombed.”
Steve Harrison
Ex-Creative Director Worldwide – Wunderman

He cautioned agencies against producing dishonest work – ads that look like they’ve just been recycled from cliched, old concepts.

Steve’s answers were quick and witty. On being asked how clients that are family businesses should be dealt with, he suggested organising the pitch in their home with a smile. Businessmen may not be savvy about marketing but they know how to make money he said, and therefore, ads that will make them more money are sure to get their attention.

I asked Steve what he would do if the client loves a campaign but wants to change its big idea. Steve suggested doing a split test (like a true DM guy would). As well as presenting a completely new ad. A participant added that showing competitive ads could help. Of course, during his presentation he had already talked about getting the client involved from the briefing stage onwards in which case such a situation is less likely to arise.

The session was interactive with participants adding experiences of their market (a little too elaborately at times), talking about a ‘wine-women-wasta’ strategy, and the women in the audience objecting to the constant references to client’s wives.

As I was leaving, Steve thanked me for attending and said he liked my question and the insights I had shared with him on one of my campaigns. He’s delivering another seminar tomorrow but I might be battling agency deadlines. And making client logos bigger.

UPDATE – 10 April 2008: Samer Marzouq of Jazarah.net, another ad blogger buddy who had come all the way from Jordan, has a Video interview with Steve Harrison at Dubai Lynx in which Steve emphasises that clients must be trained by senior agency management on how to get their money’s worth out of an agency. I highly recommend the video.

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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. You could also show me your work if it’s made it!   

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You need to be passionate about BTL stuff. Everything from brochures and leaflets to website design and emailers.

The ideal candidate would be young and hungry to prove that BTL has as much award-winning potential as ATL. Of course, if you’ve already proven your mettle, you’ll sail through the shortlisting with your portfolio.

You’d have the ability to take a brief and deliver to it. On time. On quality.

Of course, you’d be fluent with designer things like Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator – the works.

What you’ll get is a warm and progressive agency atmosphere. Young and driven team mates. Focused and motivating creative direction. And a chance to grow as fast as you can take it.

If your mom and dad don’t allow late nights, or if you look down on BTL – this post is not for you.

But if laying out long copy as well pages, if designing brochures and publications, direct mailers and collaterals is your game, this is the opportunity you could be waiting for. In Abu Dhabi – the city that’s buzzing with activity minus the diversions and jams.

Rush your CV/portfolio to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com and let me know why you think BTL rocks!

The position is full time, based in Abu Dhabi and needs to be filled immediately.

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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

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Clear anti-dandruff shampoo had a brilliant press ad in OK! Middle East’s 21 February edition (Issue 158).

As you can see, the advertising agency has creatively used a doublespread-format to show hair parting. The headline is in the form of little white letters spread across the hair. It reads ‘keep it clear’.

If this hasn’t been done before, I think it’s a strong contender for good use of media in the awards season. If you were on the team that created this ad, mail me the credits and I’d be happy to put them up in addition to how youcame up with the idea.

Has anyone else been doing award-winning stuff? Using media creatively? Share it here!

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Ikon Advertising published a good press magazine ad ‘Jill and Jack’ on the occasion of Women’s Day on the back page of Khaleej Times weekend.

The headline/visual is a handwritten scribble in the centre of the layout:

Jill and Jack went up the hill.

The payoff is:

Tomorrow, on Women’s Day, let’s put women first.

This ad is for Ikon’s client Ajmal. Good, disruptive idea.

I’d say, though, why put women first on Women’s Day alone? Let’s put women first, not just on Women’s Day but always.

Friends at Ikon – send me the credits and I’ll put them up here. Readers, got any Women’s Day ad you did or liked? Lemme know!

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One good anouncement that was made at the press conference held yesterday by the organisers Dubai Lynx Awards was that Dubai Media City will sponsor 20 Dubai Lynx Academy students at the 1st Dubai International Advertising Festival.

This would give the youth a chance to not just learn and educate themselves but also rub shoulders with the who’s who of the ad world. I think it’s a great initiative by Dubai Media City to make it easier for future ad professionals to be a part of an ad festival.

Mohamed Al Mulla, director of Dubai Media City, speaks at the Dubai Lynx press conference

“The Dubai Lynx Academy programme is all about developing the youth of the region and to enable them to understand and be enthused by Great Creativity – in fact, ‘Learn to Win’. At the Festival, these students will be able to draw inspiration by seeing the best work produced in the MENA region and listen first hand to global industry leaders.”
Mohamed Al Mulla
Director
Dubai Media City

More and more homegrown ad talent from the UAE is surely going to add insights and understanding to the creative process. Fresh blood and ideas are always a good thing, isn’t it?

Things used to be very different many years back in the UAE ad industry. As I blogged before, it was not unusual to see creative vacancies requiring 10 or more years of experience. When I was younger, I was even told bluntly by one agency in the UAE that they had no programmes for interns.

Things have been changing now, with some agencies here in the UAE having intern programmes, as well as working with local universities for placement of their students. With more youth in the creative corridors, one hopes to see more fresh ads in UAE too.

Do you agree that we nee dmore young people and intern programmes in advertising agencies? You might also enjoy reading my earlier post on ’Does age matter in advertising?’

Comments are welcome…

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The Advertising Person of the Year Award will be given to a personality in the region who has raised the presence and profile of the region in the international marketing community. Their contribution might be from within their own country or at a regional level. The press conference was hosted by Mohamed Al Mulla, Director Dubai Media City and addressed by Philip Thomas, Chief Executive Officer, Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

“This is an important award as it will reflect the need to drive a territory as a place of excellence and advancement in the creative and marketing arena.”
Philip Thomas
Cannes Lions CEO
Dubai Lynx Festival Organisers

The first Advertising Person of the Year will be announced in two weeks.

As you might be probably aware already, the first Dubai International Advertising Festival runs from 31 March to 2 April 2008 in Dubai, UAE.

It is being presented by Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival with regional partners, Motivate Publishing, with the support of Dubai Media City (DMC) and in association with the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).

A series of seminars, workshops, exhibitions and screenings are lined up for this first of its kind event in UAE. The 2nd Dubai Lynx awards, which are part of the Festival, will honour creative excellence in TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Radio, Direct Marketing, Media and Interactive advertising.

The jury members for the Dubai Lynx Awards 2008 have been handpicked from the world’s top advertising and media agencies.

If you’d like to read and see what it’s like to be at Dubai Lynx Awards, why not have a look at my blogging coverage of the first Dubai Lynx, which was likely the world’s most comprehensive coverage in content and pictures by a blogger attending the event last year.

Blog on posts on Dubai Lynx Awards 2007:
1. Dubai Lynx Winners Part 5 – Grand Prix Winners in Print, Outdoor and Direct
2. Dubai Lynx Winners (with pictures) Part 4 – Gold Winners in Print and TV/Cinema
3. Dubai Lynx Awards Winners Part 3 (with pictures) – Gold winners in Integrated, Interactive and Direct
4. Dubai Lynx Awards winners Part 2 (with pictures) – Gold Dubai Lynx for Outdoor advertising
5. 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
Are you planning to attend? What are the things you are looking forward to most? Will you be blogging the Lynx too? Comments and feedback welcome!

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With thousands of commuters expected to travel daily in Dubai Metro, the potential for brands to have a captive audience is immense. Tenders and bids could be up for grabs for advertising not just inside or on the Metro cars but also in the stations and on the pillars.

What remains to be seen, and seems to be a cause of concern for advertising agencies in UAE is the chance for a bidding war. Also, if one advertising agency were to be awarded a long term contract, what happens to other brands not handled by that agency – will they get no chance to advertise to people using the Metro?

Will the space in and around the Metro just be cluttered with ads of all shapes and sizes, like the outdoor landscape currently is? Will we see the more and more of real estate ads that dot our landscape next to the high-rises?

As an advertising creative, I am excited at the prospect of a new, moving medium that I can use to engage people. Maybe entertain them, or make their travel a little less monotonous.

What does Dubai Metro and an advertising opportunity in it or on it or around it mean to you? Click on the comments link and say what you think is going to happen…  

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A web auction portal based in the UAE is looking for the above positions. Needless to say, you need to be good at your language, creative not literal. And you should have a knack for writing web content. Of course, you are also familiar with how an auction site works. It’s something like eBay.

The webmaster is looking for senior and experienced people who are tuned in to the latest stuff and can write compelling copy to keep the eyeballs glued to the site. If you think you fit the bill, mail your CVs to farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com clearly stating ‘Copywriter for auction site‘ in your subject line.

If you’re a company looking for a copywriter (and good ones are in short supply these days) or an art director, let me know. I’ll put up your requirement on my blog for the benefit of my readers. Just to help my buddies in the ad business. Like a good copywriter in UAE should

UPDATE: 28 February 2008: The above positions are now filled. If you’ve arrived at this blog post looking for a copywriter job, art director job or jobs in advertising, you’re most welcome to forward me your CV or write to me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com. I’d be happy to recommend you should anything matching your expertise come up.  

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Jury members of the 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards honouring advertising creative excellence across the Middle East and North Africa have been announced by the Cannes Lions, the organisers of the landmark event.

30 top professionals from creative and media, experts in their respective fields, comprise the four Dubai Lynx juries. They will evaluate and award entries submitted from across the MENA region. Dubai Lynx winners will be announced on 2 April at the gala awards ceremony, the culmination of the 1st Dubai International Advertising Festival.

“We are delighted to bring together an international group of highly professional and talented judges whose expertise of the business will be of immense importance to the judging process and ultimately to the region’s advertising and communications industry.”

Philip Thomas
CEO of Cannes Lions
Organisers of Dubai Lynx

The Integrated jury is made up of members from the three other juries, including all the jury presidents. It will be chaired by Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & National Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather India, who also heads the TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio jury.

Here’s a complete list of the jury members in the various categories. As you can see, it’s quite a comprehensive collection of ad gurus from around the world.

TV/CINEMA, PRINT, OUTDOOR AND RADIO JURY
Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, India (Jury President)
Mike Edmonds, Partner & Creative Director, Meerkats Brand Communications, Australia
Urmas Villmann, Creative Director, Kontuur Leo Burnett, Estonia
Wolf Heumann, Executive Creative Director, Jung von Matt, Germany
Jagdish Ramakrishnan, Executive Creative Director, BBDO Singapore, Singapore
Alistair King, Executive Creative Director, King James, South Africa
Agustín Elbaile, Creative Vice President & Creative Co-Director, McCann Spain, Spain
Anna Qvennerstedt, Creative Director & Senior Partner, Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden
Mark Hunter, Executive Creative Director, Euro RSCG, United Kingdom
Christoph Becker, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer NY, Draftfcb, USA

INTERACTIVE AND DIRECT JURY

Wolfgang Haf, Chief Executive Officer Central Europe, Wunderman, Germany (Jury President)
Maximilien Guena, Creative Director, Tequila France, France
Ashish Bhasin, EVP – Lowe Worldwide & Asia Regional Director – Integrated Marketing, Lintas India, India
Enrico Gasperini, President, Digital Magics, Italy
Dave King, Creative Director, Aim Proximity Auckland, New Zealand
Andrew Ambrogione, CEO & Executive Creative Director, Action Ambro’s, South Africa
Óscar Rojo, General Creative Director, Fullcontact, Spain
Zeke Tastas, Creative Partner, Scholz & Friends Stockholm, Sweden
Ben Clapp, Executive Creative Director, Tribal DDB, United Kingdom
Heath Rudduck, Executive Creative Director, Digitas, USA

MEDIA JURY

Mark Coad, Managing Director, OMD Australia, Australia (Jury President)
Wout Dockx, Chief Executive Officer, Initiative Brussels, Belgium
Markus Biermann, Founder & Managing Director, CROSSMEDIA, Germany
Jakub Bierzyński, Chief Executive Officer, Omnicom Media Group, Poland
Zoltan Szigeti, President, thegroup, Romania
Carmen Montero, President, Mediaedge:cia Iberia, Spain
Louise Fallenius, Media Director Print, Carat Sverige, Sweden
Avril Gallagher, Client Managing Director, Starcom MediaVest Group, United Kingdom
Ernie Simon, President & Chief Strategist, MindShare, USA

INTEGRATED JURY

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman & National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, India (Jury President)
Wolfgang Haf, Chief Executive Officer Central Europe, Wunderman, Germany
Mark Coad, Managing Director, OMD Australia, Australia
Wout Dockx, Chief Executive Officer, Initiative Brussels, Belgium
Dave King, Creative Director, Aim Proximity Auckland, New Zealand
Jagdish Ramakrishnan, Executive Creative Director, BBDO, Singapore
Alistair King, Executive Creative Director, King James, South Africa
Agustín Elbaile, Creative Vice President & Creative Co-Director, McCann Spain, Spain
Anna Qvennerstedt, Creative Director & Senior Partner, Forsman & Bodenfors, Sweden
Mark Hunter, Executive Creative Director, Euro RSCG, United Kingdom
Christoph Becker, Chairman & Chief Creative Officer NY, Draftfcb, USA

As readers of this blog would remember, I had the most comprehensive blog coverage in the world during the first ever Dubai Lynx, with my coverage even making it to official Dubai Lynx website.

Here are a few posts to take you back in time – check out the pictures and winners of the first Dubai Lynx on these links:
1. Dubai Lynx Winners Part 5 – Grand Prix Winners in Print, Outdoor and Direct
2. Dubai Lynx Winners (with pictures) Part 4 – Gold Winners in Print and TV/Cinema
3. Dubai Lynx Awards Winners Part 3 (with pictures) – Gold winners in Integrated, Interactive and Direct
4. Dubai Lynx Awards winners Part 2 (with pictures) – Gold Dubai Lynx for Outdoor advertising
5. 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

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Prayers and best wishes for a successful year ahead…

Copy/photograph: Farrukh Naeem (Copywriter in UAE)

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Experience working for a business title necessary

Marketing experience preferred

Ability to meet tight deadlines

Experience and knowledge of the Oman market essential

Contacts across sectors very desirable

The publication is a monthly, with a print and a digital edition. It’s highly respected in business circles. And as far as my experience goes, they do not default in paying their writers as mutually agreed prior to commissioning a feature.

If you think you fit the bill, and can round up interesting bits about the industry trends in Oman, rush me your CV and links to any business/marketing features you have written at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com and I’ll forward it to the publication.

Remember to mention ‘Writer in Oman‘ in your email’s subject line. Vague subject lines look too much like spam.

More power to Oman writers!

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But it always costs a bomb for a brand to get a few seconds on TV.

YouTube has changed that.

Audio-visual advertising isn’t about TRP’s anymore.

It’s also about pageviews and ‘favourites’ and bookmarks and links on blogs.

Most importantly, sending out your audio-visual messaging is virtually free now. And to top that, if you do it right, your YouTube video can assume viral status and be passed on via emails and blogs. Even be spotted on Facebook walls.

There’s a downside though. For now. Not everyone has the internet. Not everyone has broadband. But that’s changing like hell.

Have you been making a lot of viral videos for your clients too? Have you watched a viral which you really think works for the brand? Does viral work? How does it affect you as a copywriter? Or art director?

Comments are open…

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The poster covers 20,000 square metres!

The poster is a part of Sorouh Faces – a corporate citizenship campaign devised to collect one million faces to place on the poster site. For every photo received in the Sorouh Faces campaign, Sorouh will donate US$1 to the UAE Red Crescent, adding up to a donation of US$ 1 million!

Masood Al Awar of Sorouh receives the Guinness Book of World Records certification from Kaoru Ishikawa.

“Our $1m donation will help fund a new Red Crescent programme which will repair and reconstruct the homes of the underprivileged, here in the UAE.”

Masood Al Awar, Special Advisor to Chairman of Sorouh and Executive Director Sales and Marketing

The Sorouh Faces campaign was conceptualised by TBWA\RAAD Abu Dhabi which handles the Sorouh account, with support from TBWA\RAAD Dubai providing strategic support and TBWA\RAAD PR handling the media relations. The poster was created using unique technology developed by Ad-Air, which plans to have many more such sites around the world.   

And now, the fun part where everyone can join in…

How to put your face on Sorouh’s world-record breaking site, free

You can upload your photo for free to help others by following the link at Sorouh.com or visiting the dedicated website at www.sorouhfaces.com.

Simply upload your picture on it and soon, you could see it among so many others which will form a new image on this world-record breaking site. For every picture you upload free, Sorouh will donate US$ 1 to charity. So, go for it!

Trivia: According to World Records Academy, to prepare the site for this poster, over 360 tonnes of concrete was removed to level the ground. And it took over 70 workers along with 8 contractors working 24 hours a day over 8 weeks to make this happen. Isn’t easy breaking a world record, is it?

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At one of the writer read meets I organise as the Dubai Chapter Coordinator of Caferati, a global forum for writers, I met Jim Wilson. Jim’s a seasoned journalist who specialises in writing for the shipping industry. Jim’s currently looking for a writer/reporter who can take up a project in Saudi Arabia.

The requirement is for a specialist international business-to-business magazine. You will need to write a one-off report of up to 10,000 words of copy for a supplement being produced for a company based in Saudi Arabia.

Reasonable expenses will be reimbursed, travel to/from Saudi will be likely – so an awareness of Saudi culture and sensitivities is essential.

Specialist knowledge is not necessary – guidance will be provided – but the person must be an excellent interviewer and writer. A contact person in the UK will be provided.

The deadline for submitting the project will be in November.

This is not a permanent position.

These are essential for the project:

• Experienced business writer/reporter
• Good English writing skills
• Arabic speaker
• Male – owing to need for Saudi travel

UPDATE – February 28: This position is now closed. If you’ve arrived on this post looking for a freelance copywriting job, you’re most welcome to mail me your CV/credentials or write to me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com. I’d be happy to recommend you if something mathcing your profile comes up. 

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Credits
Client: Khaleej Times
Advertising Agency: Perceptgulf, Dubai, UAE
Creative Director: Prashant Sankhe
Copy: Sudeep John Koshy
Art Director: Prashant Yeware

“I thought it was an interesting take on the horrors of the terrible day,” says Prashant Sankhe, Creative Director at PerceptGulf, Dubai, UAE – the advertising agency which created the ad. “The same could happen to the human body too… if subjected to the terrors of smoking,” Prashant says drawing a parallel to the life-threatening risks of smoking.

So, how did this idea come up? This is how the story goes… Sudeep, the senior copywriter was surfing on the net late night and a bolt of an idea struck him as he was writing his dairy and looked at the date.

Well, that’s the official story. What I am thinking is, did he have anything dangling in his fingers in that creative moment which ’sparked’ the idea? Only Sudeep can tell…

UPDATES:
1. EcoTalk picked up this post and has showcased the above ad in their ‘Tobacco Control Images’ section. Why not visit them and see other anti-smoking ads? You might also want to read my earlier posts on tobacco advertising and advertising ethics.

2. Copyranter, blogging from New York, picked up this post and she feels that this ad is exploitation of the burning towers by an Arab country. While I can understand that this ad might touch the feelings of people who have lost someone on 9/11, I do not think the ad intends to hurt people’s sentiments or ‘exploit’ the image for selling a product. To me this social and pro-bono ad above is a grim reminder of thousands of people who die a death as unnecessary as the 9/11 tragedy. Also, the ad has been created by non-Arabs (evident from the credits above) for an English paper so I think the ‘Arabs exploiting 9/11′ spin is unnecessary and makes the ad more sensational than it really is.

Do you think this ad ‘exploits’ 9/11? Or do you think it drives home the point that a death by smoking (or poverty or war)is as much a cause for concern as one caused by a terrorist attack? Comments invited…

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An interesting, almost ironic, thing happened right after I posted my content online. Zeid Nasser of MediaMe.com, a friend and fellow ad blogger in the region, re-posted my post, almost in its entirety, on his home page with a link back to my blog. (Thanks, Zeid.) The post has been titled ‘Plagiarism in the Middle East on the rise‘ which I have asked Zeid to reconsider since my post is about the ad industry not the Middle East. Interesting how far one post can go on the net, isn’t it?

I was also asked by a member of the Arabic media to comment on this issue. Good to know the interest generated by this theme. As I had written, plagiarism is a relevant issue that needs to be talked about. The post might have made some creative directors uncomfortable. Cool.

The most amazing part has been the mail sent in by Indra Sinha. He is a copywriting legend who needs no introduction. His work for Amnesty International and Metropolitan Police will have any ad lover mesmerised. I would even go so far as to say that Indra is what young copywriters may want to be when they grow up. And this is what Indra wrote to me that I would like to share with you:

When I was fairly new to advertising I learned that a senior copywriter at the small agency I started at was toting round some of my work in her portfolio. I wasn’t angry. It was a sort of compliment. I felt sorry for her, if she had nothing better of her own.

Later I understood the fear that older people in creative departments feel every day. You have a large mortgage, children at expensive schools, your daughter wants a horse, but the business is in the doldrums, people are being fired and you have to keep justifying your salary because in the words of the old advertising adage, “You’re only as good as your last ad”.

You are meanwhile pestered by a stream of youngsters begging for a chance to show what they can do. They are willing to work for nothing and will sleep on the office floor. They bring portfolios full of speculative ads for the agency’s most famous campaigns. Occasionally there is even something good.

I’m sure that under those circumstances some people did succumb to the temptation to adopt, or adapt, a good idea. Maybe they didn’t even realise they were doing it.

Advertising ideas famously have many parents. It’s hard when projects are discussed collaboratively over and over again to remember exactly where each thought came from.

Ideas emerge out of one another; as another adland cliché has it, “An idea doesn’t care who has it”. Clients and agency bosses don’t either, but with so much at stake, people in creative departments are jealously protective of anything that looks remotely like an original notion. They go out of their way to avoid being accused of plagiarism and have long memories for famous work.

But sometimes not long enough…

- Indra Sinha responding to my post

Indra found my blog post on plagiarism inspiring. “It has kicked off a chain of thought which will lead into movies and literature in future posts,” he has written in his email. In fact, Indra’s put up a fresh post and videos on this topic on his blog which you can have a look at here: www.indrasinha.com/blog

You’ll also find the link to get Indra’s latest book ‘Animal’s People‘ on his website (www.indrasinha.com) proceeds of which go to support Bhopal Medical Appeal. Indra dedicates much of his time now for social causes, and if you have followed his ads in the earlier days, you’d know how powerful his writing for social and humanitarian causes always has been.

Why am I writing abut Indra so much? Because to me, my friends, this is the other face of the advertising business which we need to see more of. The humane, caring, compasoinate face. Of rare people who haven’t sold their souls out for promoting just about anything that arrives on their desk as a brief.

We’ve seen enough of the fake, insecure, plagiarising peacocks and prima donnas in our agencies. Let’s see and showcase some real gentlemen (and gentle women). People who are using their skills and talent to make a difference, not just prostituting it to the highest bidder.

Do you know people in the ad business who have a strong enough conscience to say ‘No’ to creating ads for products that they know are harmful or injurious to health? Tell me about them. Let’s showcase them in this blog.

Do you hear a voice in the head saying ‘Don’t’ when you are asked to write an ad with claims that aren’t true?

Would you make an ad for any client as long as you are paid well and on time?

Do you use your creativity to do more than just create ads and sell stuff?

Comments, email and phone lines now open…

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Then we see from amongst us, creatives being caught for copying not just a treatment or idea but entire sentences, phrases, tag lines, layouts with the fonts and visuals. I have even received emails from you, dear readers, alerting me to plagiarised ads. (An ad-blogging friend had sent me a copy of an ad he felt was a rip-off which he couldn’t put on his blog because they were also working for that client.)

The lack of self respect when one simply lifts someone else’s concept and execution is one of the reasons why we the advertising people have earned ourselves the notoriety of being in one of the least respected professions in the world. We have brought this upon us. (That email forward about “Don’t tell my mom I work in advertising…” comes to mind.) 

Some of us just can’t help lifting stuff from advertising awards books. I have seen it happening so much, it has almost become an industry norm. Sad.

I remember one creative who kept the awards book he copied from, safely tucked in his drawer. So that no one will ever know where his ‘inspiration’ came from. His best idea was traced back to that book in his drawer.

Perhaps it’s the pressure of winning awards. Perhaps it’s the lack of confidence in some people about creating something world class with their own mind. It’s not what one would expect from an industry like ours, bursting at the seams with highly talented people. We have some of the brightest minds in business in the ad agency cubicles, halls, water cooler areas.  

Call me a dreamer, but I am sure many of us in advertising believe that we don’t have to copy things from awards books and other people’s portfolios and websites. Yes, ideas are everywhere. But taking someone’s layout and copy? 

And people who get into the habit of copy-paste don’t just stop at ad layouts. I recently came across a profile of an ad man that reads just like mine with exact phrases from my profile, on the same online network, in my own city!

I am reproducing a few of the many, many ’coincidences’ I found below in this person’s profile:

My network profile: (Wants) partnerships for projects across the globe
Copy-paste profile: (Wants) Partnerships for projects across the globe

My network profile: campaigns for TV, radio, press, magazines, outdoor, direct marketing and the internet
Copy-paste profile: campaigns for TV, radio, press, magazines, outdoor, direct marketing and the internet

My network profile: worked on some of the hottest brands in the world
Copy-paste profile: worked for some of the hottest brands and companies in the world

I could have provided you a link to our friend’s profile – but then this post isn’t about any particular person. However, if you want to hire a ‘global creative director’ who’s good at copying and pasting things, email me and I might just give you the link.

Anyway, this post is about an unethical and unflattering practice that I feel does disservice to our advertising profession. It’s about two buttons on our keyboard – ‘Ctrl’ and ‘C’. Let’s not use them too much.

In the coming days, I plan to have a few more posts on copy-paste creativity in the world of advertising because discussion on this is relevant and needed, specially in the time of the internet which makes plagiarism easy to do. But then, it has also become easier to track. Thank you, Google.

Take the case of this blog as an example – I caught someone copying content from my blog, from as far as Russia, and pasting it as his own writing. Such a content-scraper can be easily banned from their web host on charges of copyright violation and breach of TOS. (Quoting from this blog, as this blog’s copyright notice says, is fine as long as the quote is attributed and linked back to my blog as the source.)  I believe in open source and information sharing but am strongly against plagiarism and credit-stealing.

What is your verdict, dear readers?

When does inspiration or benchmarking become plagiarism?

Have you met friends in the profession who feel it’s cool to copy as long as one doesn’t get caught?

Have your ideas and ads been lifted by other creatives who don’t have what it takes but are faking it?

If you are a brand manager or marketer, would you hire a self-professed ‘global creative director‘ who’s been caught stealing ideas from others and passing them as his own?

Comments are open… I don’t fancy anonymous ones though.

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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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One campaign that remains etched in my memory and gives me the I-wish-I’d-done-that feeling is Apple Macintosh’s ‘Think Different‘.

The personalities that the campaign featured were the ‘crazy ones’, who zigged when others zagged. The campaign theme ‘Think Different’ itself is a rule-breaker, as my fellow copywriters will notice. Here’s what the script of Apple’s legendary ad spot said…

Here’s to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They’re not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.And while some see them as the crazy ones,
  we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think
that they can change the world… are the ones who do.

The ‘Think Different’ campaign featured many people whose lives and thoughts I find inspiring – Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Mohammed Ali and Richard Branson whose autobiography I am reading these days.

This is what I am talking about:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KreJkItCk4E] 

Some of the people from TBWA\Chiat\Day who made this award-winning ad campaign happen – Lee Clow, Chief Creative Officer, Jennifer Golub, Executive Producer, Jessica Schulman, Art Director - share their experience in ‘The Making of Think Different’ on YouTube.

Which one is your favourite legendary ad? An ad made you wish you were in advertising when you were a kid? Let me know and maybe we could share it here on this blog…

Your comments are welcome and appreciated – click here to -> ’add your comment‘.

Useful Links:
1. Electric Escape reproduces an article by Stuart Elliott of the New York Times with an interview of TBWA Chiat/Day’s Lee Clow, Jessica Schulman, Jennifer Golub and Dan Bootzin
2. Detailed info by canadian-helper-ga on Google Answers about the background, credits and awards won by the ‘Think Different’ campaign
3. Wikipedia entry for the ‘Think Different’ campaign (yeah, it’s that legendary!)

Technorati Tags:
Farrukh Naeem, Creative Awards, Advertising Awards, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Apple Advertising, Jessica Schulman, Jennifer Golub, Jennifer Glub, Lee Clow, Mohammed Ali, Richard Branson, Copywriting, Creativity, Apple Macintosh, John Lennon, Think Different, Albert Einstein, TBWA, Gandhi, Bob Dylan, Marketing, Freelance Copywriter, Copywriter in Dubai, Copywriter in Abu Dhabi, Copywriter in UAE, Advertising in the Middle East, Advertising Blogger
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Here are a few pictures from the event… and if you are a Xing member visiting for the first time to check these pictures out, welcome to the blog. I look forward to your continued interest. On to the photos now…

I crossed the poolside to get to the venue to be greeted by Xing and Maktoob Business banners. The pool in the summer evening was tempting. If only I had come in my shorts (sigh).

I was received warmly at the registration desk, and found my name card right there. The volunteers were cheerful, and efficient, as you can see.

The table lined up with cards of people who RSVP’ed ‘Yes’ – 276 people with 87 guests.

Ahmed Nassef, General Manager of Maktoob.com asked how many people in the room have heard of Maktoob. For others, he pointed to the banner behind him.

Dave Crane, the life designer, charged up the event with some interesting networking exercises. Nelly Liebrecht welcomed the Xing community and posts us in on how well Xing is doing in the region. Everyone had a great time and I see some of my friends in this picture – Tariq Al Asiri of Argaam.com, Esperanca D’souza of Content Syndicate, Mahran Abdulfatah of RAK Precast.

Ahmet Bulbul, CEO and creative director of the brand new Brand Clinic  shared with me how he is going to be treating brands in need of attention. Wished him luck with his new venture.

Gerlinde Krupp, managing director of Match-Box Consultancy said she can help you set up a business in the UAE from start to finish. On the right is Gabriela Terrazas who looks after strategy and development at International Humanitarian City - we talked about some social causes we both feel strongly about. I also met Nick Lim, tradelane manager of DHL - a lively guy with a funky hairdo, and a good sense of humour.  

Gautam (left) is an auto-reviewer as told to me by Pankaj Dev, CEO of AdCom Advertising & Publishing and managing editor of AutoMiddleEast. Gautam is talking to the Yvan Goudard (right), a creative advertising consultant who I am sure you are going to see more of, in the coming days.

Other people I met at the Xing event include Huzaifa A. Nakhoda of Navigate Consulting, Nebi Cetin of Brand Clinic, Rana Sajnani of AIESEC, Khalid of Excellent Cars, Maurizio Manzati of PneusAcqui, Zafar E. Inamdar of IMC Direct, K. Ramasubramanian of Technical Solutions to Industry (yeah, that’s the company name), Michael N. Francis of Dusit Dubai, Vasu Vemuganti of Data Capture Systems (his card had a bar code on it – I asked him if it would register at a cash counter) , and Dheeraj Rupani of Veesham Printing Press.

The most engaging conversation was with Ashraf Sheikh, founder of the Dubai Business Network and Dubai Entrepreneur Network, and a good friend who is always glad to share insights and ideas.

If you would like to visit my profile on Xing – it is here: journalist and copywriter in Dubai, UAE Xing profile.

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The UAE’s only English newspaper that brought us fresh news in the evening - before the morning newspapers woke up - will take with it some fond memories. I had a chance to meet (and be interviewed by) some of its wonderful reporters over the years – Bobin James whose pictures of live concerts I absolutely loved, Veena Kuruvilla who I crossed paths with on her humanitarian beat, Kamakshi Matai and most recently, Vinod Kumar.

Dubai Media Observer’s blog is lamenting the loss with black arm bands and a gothic style tomb stone. I’ll just leave you, dear reader, with a picture to remember the newspaper by and good wishes to the fellow journalists at the Emirates Evening Post whose bylines I hope to see soon in other leading papers if things work out well for them.

I do want to know why publishing is becoming such a risky business. Journalists get injured, even killed in a war zone. I think to find out one fine day that your paper has closed down is nothing less damaging to one’s career.

Since I don’t want to become the messenger of bad news, to all my ad buddies who thought that our favourite but missing Campaign ME magazine won’t be back, I have something to say - friends are working hard to bring it back on the scene soon. Watch this space!

UPDATE – 25 April 2007: Since my post two days ago, Gulf News has reported that 400 employees of three newspapers have been affected. Another interesting media blog called Open Mind has expressed grief for the newspaper that it says launched the career of many a journalist. GDB has blogged about it in here.

Technorati Tags:
Emirates Evening Post, Dubai, Newspapers in UAE, United Arab Emirates, Media in UAE, Publishing in Dubai, Campaign Magazine, Campaign ME, Farrukh Naeem

Technorati Tags:
Emirates Evening Post, Dubai, Newspapers in UAE, United Arab Emirates, Media in UAE, Publishing in Dubai, Campaign Magazine, Campaign ME, Farrukh Naeem
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It’s for Seibukan’s karate classes for children and done by Grey Worldwide in Dubai.

What’s good about it that even a child can understand it, in any part of the world. I’m curious to know if there is a series. What would you say another ad in this series would show? A stack of little books could be interesting.

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If you’ve just returned from a space flight, Dubai Lynx is the region’s inaugural advertising awards function presented by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in association with the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) and supported by Dubai Media City (DMC). Let’s start with the Grand Prix Winners of Dubai Lynx in Print, Outdoor, Direct and Interactive categories.

Grand Prix Print

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai
Title: Undo
Advertiser: P&G
Product: Olay
Country: United Arab Emirates

This print ad by Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai uses the product shots as keys ‘Ctrl‘ and ‘Z‘ which are together used to ‘Undo’ changes on a computer - the product promise is ‘wrinkle smoothing’. What I found most beautiful about this ad is that its headline, bodycopy, logo are in one single element – the product package. One of my all time favourite press ads is one that had won a Gold Pencil at One Show some time back – for Oil of Olay with a similar anti-ageing proposition. The stark white page had just two words on it – “Tock Tick“. Brilliant because it used a metaphor (turning back the clock) a man, woman, child of every age and demographic is familiar with.

Grand Prix Outdoor

Agency: JWT Cairo
Title: Lipton Tree
Advertiser: Lipton
Product: Lipton Green Tea
Country: Egypt

For the people who say outdoor advertising clutters the cityscape – what about this one, then? This outdoor out-of-the-box or should we say out-of-the-tea-cup idea beautifies it. And for tea enthusiasts like me, outdoor reminders like this when I look out my window might just trigger some impulsive strolls to the nearest kettle. Fresh and invigorating idea, like the product is supposed to be. Simply brilliant.

(Business idea for outdoor media sharks: Buy out the trees in your city, better still – plant some)

In the next post, I share with you the Radio and TV Grand Prix winners of Dubai Lynx… bookmark http://www.copywriterjournalist.com in your favourites, NOW!

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Check out related 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 of 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(at)gmail.com to discuss the possibilities.
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Dubai Lynx Winners By Country

UAE shows a very strong lead on all counts. But then, compared to its neighbours, Dubai and the UAE have been successful in attracting the world’s leading advertising networks as well as top talent from all over the world. In many other countries participating in the awards, the creative demographic is somewhat different, with the work done more by locals, for locals whereas in the UAE, work is done by a cross-cultural teams for its mutlinational residential mix.

The rich pool of talent from all nationalities in UAE agencies has brought forth so many ideas that are not tied to local culture but are truly global. Also the reason, I feel, for Dubai bringing in the region’s first Gold Cannes for print and then for Direct, in quick succession. Both ideas – one by Tonic and the other by Wunderman were powerful and clearly global. While there is a school of thought that says “International jury doesn’t understand our local themes”, I am more inclined towards those who say “Big ideas go beyond cultural boundaries”.

Kuwait had the toughest luck this time, with more than 100 entries but no wins at all. It did have 12 shortlists.

Egypt sent in lesser entries than Kuwait, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia but still got more shortlists than each of these countries. It tied for second place (after UAE with 88 awards in total) with Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, with all three countries taking home 7 awards each. Yet, Egypt’s position is stronger as it was the only country other than the UAE to win Grand Prix awards for its work.

To get a feel of what ad-struck people in this region are feeling and saying, also have a look at my recent post:
Dubai Lynx online: Who’s blogging about the Dubai Lynx Awards?

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Check out related 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 of 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(at)gmail.com to discuss the possibilities.
=======================================================================

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Dubai Lynx Winners, Advertising in Middle East, Advertising in UAE, Dubai Lynx Awards, Creative Awards

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If you’ve been following the coverage online, you already know that my blog is currently the only one in the world offering an attendees view with insights, commentary and pictures of all the Dubai Lynx Grand Prix and Gold winners. In fact, the official Dubai Lynx website has also chosen one of my photos for its official Dubai Lynx Gallery. They’ve got great pictures, including ones of the judging process - do visit it.

Want to visit fellow bloggers writing and blogging about Dubai Lynx? Here are all the ones I cam across…

Zeid Nasser, a friend and founder of AdBlogArabia and mediaME, who had come all the way from Jordan to attend this event, blogged about it on both his sites here and here.

Elias Dabbas of The Media Supermarket from Jordan has blogged about the Print Grand Prix Winner ‘Undo’ and has a very interesting point about 40 year old women and ‘Ctrl-Z’ buttons here.

Ibrahim Owais of the OceanCreep blog was hoping to see winners from Jordan, in his earlier entry here. 

Ads2blog from Kuwait was excited about the country making it into the shortlist and now has an interesting discussion in the comments section on why the creative work from Kuwait couldn’t make it to the finals.

Saudi… has put together Saudi winners of Dubai Lynx here.

Tonic Communications of Dubai, which had brought in the Middle East’s first Gold Lion couple of years back, took home a handful of Dubai Lynx Awards and they’ve cited Gulf News coverage on their PR blog. The really juicy bits are on their real blog which allows comments and is probably one of the first corporate blogs in the region. 

Sean and Graeme’s photo gallery has some funky pictures of the event – I think most pics are of JWT staff though.

Stan Lee of Brand DNA loves topiary and therefore blogged here about the Grand Prix Outdoor Winner where Lipton used topiary shaped like a tea cup and tea bag labels place on it to promote its Green Label. He calls the entry ‘Urban Spam’ though.

Phil Blizzard, Programme Director/Producer of AME Info Radio, has three amazing podcasts of the event with stage announcements, interviews and winners celebrating their hunt wins – here, here and here.
 

Rocco Stallvord of Adverblog has a brief post on the event here.

In the non-English sites, we have Roger Ruegger’s Frog Blog’s post about Dubai Lynx (its photo has me in it – not easy to spot me though).

Many more, I’m sure. If you’re blogging about it – let me know and I’ll add you to the post.

Below is what I’ve put up so far on Dubai Lynx – perhaps the most extensive coverage of the event in the world after the official Dybai Lynx website:

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

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NOTE: If you’re a blogger and you’d like to use my pictures or coverage of Dubai Lynx on your blog or website, I encourage you to do so crediting it to ‘Farrukh Naeem – copywriter, journalist and advertising blogger from the UAE’ and linking that text to http://farrukh.wordpress.com. If you’re linking to my blog in your blogroll, let me know at farrukh_copywriter@yahoo.com and I’ll link to your blog too – in fact, most probably, after the post above, I already have

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Dubai Lynx Winners – Gold in Print

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for ‘Cars’ ad of Bel La Vache Qui Rit Cheese

Leo Burnett Dubai won for for ‘House’ and ‘ Out’ ads of Tide

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for ‘Wallet’ ad of Sony Sony Cybershot T7

Fortune Promoseven UAE for ‘Mountain’, ‘ Whale’, ‘Elephant’ ads of Sony Microvault

Tonic Communications UAE for ‘Censored’ ad of Wonderbra Lingerie

Team/Y&R UAE won for ‘Novel’, ‘ Dictionary’ ads of Booksplus Bookstore

Grey Worldwide Dubai for ‘Broken Lego’ ad of Seibukan Karate Centre Karate For Kids

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for ‘Onederbra’ ad of Emirates Diagnostics Clinic

Team/Y&R UAE won for ‘Toothbrush’, ‘Coffee’, ‘WC’ ads of Gulf News.

JWT UAE won for ‘Tortured’, ‘Abused’ and ‘Imprisoned’ ads of Amnesty International.

Dubai Lynx Winners – Gold in TV/Cinema
Tonic Communications UAE and Velocity Films South Africa with their TV Gold Lynx for ‘Kick’ TV spot of Sony Wega

Drive Communication Saudi Arabia and VIP Films UAE with the TV Gold Lynx for ‘GPS’ TV spot of Toyota Land Cruiser

Tonic Communications UAE and Filmworks UAE for ‘Ramadan Kareem’ TV spot of Nando’s Restaurant

JWT UAE and Independent Productions UAE won for ‘Robbery’ TV spot of AIG Insurance.

Ed Jones of Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai and his mobile phone (creative!) received the TV Gold Lynx on behalf of Saatchi & Saatchi Lebanon and Lebanon City Films Lebanon for the ‘Animals’ TV spot on Parental Violence for Lebanon’s Ministry of Social Affairs – this was the one ad that stayed with me, long after I had left the Awards ceremony.

If social ads were eligible for a Grand Prix, I would have loved to have the ‘Animals’ TV spot win it. It shows clips of wild animals cuddling their cubs, and then a small little girl with a bruised face, looking really frightened. The spot ends with something like ‘Some kids wish their parents were animals.” My salute to Saatchi & Saatchi Lebanon – you inspire me! I’m going to be sharing that video on this blog soon.

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UPDATE 21 March 2007 – Check out the other posts on this topic:
1. Dubai Lynx Awards Winners Part 3 (with pictures) – Gold winners in Integrated, Interactive and Direct
2. Dubai Lynx Awards winners Part 2 (with pictures) – Gold Dubai Lynx for Outdoor advertising
3. 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
4. The official Dubai Lynx website
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(at)gmail.com to discuss the possibilities.

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Dubai Lynx Awards – Integrated
Integrated is one category in which the jury did not find a single entry worthy of winning a Dubai Lynx Grand Prix award – the best we have in Integrated is the Gold winner. What’s sad is that to be judged for creative excellence in Integrated advertising, the entire Middle East North Africa (MENA) region could come up with only 22 entries out of a total of 1,679 submitted in all categories.

Makes one think – are we all looking for quick-fixes and short bursts of creative brilliance in the region rather than communication ideas that build integrated campaigns with ‘legs’ and keep running long after we are forgotten? Or is agency specialisation the culprit here? Feel free to agree or disagree in the comment section of this post.

Brandcom Middle East UAE team won a Gold Dubai Lynx for the cheeky Axe Deodorant’s Integrated campaign.

Dubai Lynx Awards - Interactive
Many of the interactive agencies that I was expecting to see winning in this category were missing in action. In my earlier blog posts, I had written about the sentiment of the local interactive players that the judging of interactive entries should not be clubbed with above-the-line, traditional ads. Well, Dubai Lynx had a dedicated jury for Interactive and guess how many countries in the Middle East sent in their entries from the Middle East… just three.

The UAE submitted 61 entries, Lebanon sent three, and Egypt, one. Considering the internet penetration in most of the Gulf countries, it is surprising that only UAE is seeing action on the interactive advertising front, and I am aware, with the help of only a handful of clients. Sad, when one knows that the internet remains one of the strongest channels to measure ROI, by the click.

Tonic Communications UAE wins a Gold Dubai Lynx for its creative ‘Microvault Loading’ Interactive entry of Sony Microvault USB Drive

Dubai Lynx Awards – Direct
Expectations were high in the Direct category, specially from Wunderman Dubai which has not just been sweeping the local awards in DM but also has the honour of bringing the first ever Gold Lion for Direct in the region, a fact not lost to the global advertising fraternity.

“Farrukh, you know there are no guarantees,” Nassib Boueri, the Regional Manager Director of Wunderman had told me prior to the event when I had asked him what his gut feel for sweeping the Direct category was. While Wunderman picked up a lot of awards at the function, including a Gold, the Grand Prix was won by TBWA/RAAD Dubai for its ‘Quick Account’ entry for Standard Chartered which used microwave ovens to put their point across.

Fred Koblinger, CEO PKP Proximity & BBDO Holding Austria, and the President of the Direct and Interactive Jury panel told me he was amazed at the production values in the region, which he felt were at par if not higher than Europe.

Personally, I loved the non-Gold Direct entries too. Direct is the one category to watch out for in this region – mail box clutter is not too much and clients are willing to pay for those dream production values Fred was referring to. Of course, I am very much of a direct person myself so you can spot my passion for this branch of advertising clearly.

Wunderman UAE  took home a Gold Dubai Lynx for its wunderful ‘Ouch It Hurts!’ of Adobe Computer Software.

TBWA\RAAD UAE’s Gold Dubai Lynx for its  touching ‘Tears In Lebanon’ Direct entry for Trillion for Lebanon Charity

Lowe MENA UAE grabs a Gold Dubai Lynx for its naughty ‘Axe Towels’ Direct entry of Axe Shower Gel

Dubai Lynx Awards – Radio
Where’s the picture for this one? Guess what? None. Maafee! Why? Find out in my earlier post - What’s Wrong with Radio Advertising in the UAE?

UPDATE – Check out other 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 2 (with pictures) – Gold Dubai Lynx for Outdoor advertising
3. 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
4. More about the author of these posts: Farrukh Naeem – copywriter, journalist and advertising blogger in Dubai, UAE

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The Dubai Lynx awards ceremony had started with messages from the organisers, and the Jury Presidents.   

Jonathan Harries, the Worldwide Chief Creative Officer of DraftFCB Group, USA, and the Jury President of the TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio categories of Dubai Lynx Awards: “What if we had an awards show where we took all the good things from other awards shows, and none of the bad? The good news, as I see it, is we can. This is the inaugural.” Yes, he was referring to the Dubai Lynx Awards.

Fred Koblinger, Chief Executive Officer of PKP Proximity and BBDO Holdings, Austria and Jury President of the Direct and Interactive categories of Dubai Lynx Awards expressed his feelings thus: “I am honoured to lead a jury of international experts to discover state-of-the-art work and celebrate the winners of what is, without a doubt, the most valuable creative award in this part of the world.”

It was announced that keeping in mind the time factor, while all winners will be announced, only the winners of Gold Dubai Lynx Awards will be called on stage. Here are the Gold Dubai Lynx winners in the Outdoor categories. 

Dubai Lynx Winners – Gold – Outdoor


Impact/BBDO Saudi Arabia for ‘Pool Pepsi’ outdoor of Pepsi

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai for ‘Wallet’ outdoor of Sony Cybershot T7

Lowe MENA UAE for ‘Towels’ outdoor of Axe Shower Gel

UPDATE – Check out the other 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 1 (with pictures and download links of Dubai Lynx winners): Global jury selects 111 top ads in the Middle East
4. 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 of 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(at)gmail.com to discuss the possibilities.

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1. 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards entries cross the 2000 mark in 2008
2. Dubai Lynx shortlists, advertising seminars and workshops keep delegates busy on Day 1
3. Steve Harrison shares tips on pitching big advertising ideas to hesitant clients at Dubai Lynx
4. Dubai Lynx awards winners and pictures
5. Dubai Lynx Awards winners’ pictures in Outdoor category

DOWN MEMORY LANE – PICTURES AND COVERAGE FROM DUBAI LYNX 2007

Dubai Lynx announced the winners of the Dubai Lynx Awards 2007 for awarding creative excellence in the Middle East and North Africa on 19 March at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre. A shortlist of 388 ads had been announced earlier from the 1,679 entries submitted. The Dubai Lynx jury comprising creative professionals from leading advertising agencies around the world awarded a total of 111 Dubai Lynx trophies.

In the Print category, 39 winners were announced, Direct had 22, Outdoor had 17, TV/Cinema had 14, Interactive had 12, Radio had four winners and the Integrated category had three winners. All categories had Grand Prix winners except the Integrated one.

As I had indicated in my earlier post on Dubai Lynx shortlist of winners, UAE led the show with 88 awards. Next in line were our friends from Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia each winning seven trophies and with Bahrain taking home two awards.

Above: The Dubai Lynx Awards ceremony was attended by over 1,200 professionals from the advertising and marketing world.

Above: JWT Cairo wins the Outdoor Grand Prix for their out-of-the-billboard-box Lipton Green Tea campaign ‘Lipton Tree’

Above: Lowe Mena Dubai was unanimously picked by all the judges for the Interactive Grand Prix for the Axe Deodorant online ad ‘Females’

Above: Fortune Promoseven Dubai sing their way to victory to win the Radio Grand Prix for the Chiquita Bananas campaign featuring ‘Eye of the Tiger’, ‘My Way’, ‘Smells Like Teen’.

Above: TBWA\RAAD Dubai takes the Direct Grand Prix for its Standard Chartered Bank ‘Quick Account’ ad

Above: Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai jubilant with the Print Grand Prix for their amazingly simple Olay ad ‘Undo’

Above: Leo Burnett Cairo with the TV/Cinema Grand Prix for their rebellious Melody Channel campaign featuring ‘Private Leson’ and ‘Hulk’.

Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai swept the Dubai Lynx Awards in so many categories that the announcer suggested they move their chair to the stage. The team won the first Dubai Lynx Agency of the Year trophy, with JWT Dubai coming in second place and Team/Y&R in third.

If you’d like images, reports, interviews from the event, email me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com . Also, if you’d like to be notified of future posts on this blog via email, kindly indicate that in your email. 

Useful links and downloads:
1. View the winning Grand Prix entries at the official Dubai Lynx website
2. Download Dubai Lynx Winners: TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Radio categories
3. Download Dubai Lynx winners list: Interactive and Direct categories
4. Dubai Lynx Shortlist Announced: UAE leads the Middle East and North Africa in creativity

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 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
5. More about the author of these posts: Farrukh Naeem – copywriter, journalist and advertising blogger in Abu Dhabi, UAE

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1. 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards entries cross the 2000 mark in 2008
2. Dubai Lynx shortlists, advertising seminars and workshops keep delegates busy on Day 1
3. Steve Harrison shares tips on pitching big advertising ideas to hesitant clients at Dubai Lynx
4. Dubai Lynx awards winners and pictures
5. Dubai Lynx Awards winners’ pictures in Outdoor category

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DOWN MEMORY LANE: Read Dubai Lynx 2007 coverage and see pictures from the event:
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

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The Dubai Lynx shortlist of creative advertising from across the Middle East and North Africa has been announced. Advertising agencies in the UAE are leading the region in creativity in all categories – TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Radio. Team Y&R, Fortune Promoseven, JWT, Saatchi & Saatchi and Lowe MENA are names that repeat often in these categories.

In the Direct category, UAE entries are on the top with Wunderman (my favourite UAE agency) clearly dominating the shortlist. In the Interactive category again, UAE agencies are ahead with ARC Dubai and Impact Proximity in a tie for most entries shortlisted.

The Integrated category shorlist has Impact/BBDO, Saatchi & Saatchi Dubai, Team Y&R and Brandcom Middle East from the UAE and and JWT and H&C Leo Burnett from Lebanon.

You can download the shortlist from the official Dubai Lynx website:

* Download TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio Dubai Lynx shortlist
* Download Direct, Interactive and Integrated Dubai Lynx shortlist

The final winners of Dubai Lynx 2007 will be announced at the Dubai Lynx Awards gala dinner and ceremony on Monday 19 March in Dubai Media City Amphitheatre at approximately 11:00 pm UAE time (2300 hrs GMT). I plan to attend and blog about the event (thanks to highly efficient PR and Press team of the event, in particular – Amanda Benfell and Camilla Cole).

If you’re an editor interested in a feature on Dubai Lynx 2007 but unable to make it to the event or send over a correspondent, email me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com. I’d also be happy to meet up with this blog’s readers at the event – my picture is on Farrukh Naeem’s Bio page on this blog. You’d most likely find me picking up wisdom from the hot creative gurus at the show.

Dubai Lynx 2007 – Useful links for you:
1. The official Dubai Lynx 2007 website
2. The Middle East Gets Its Own Advertising Awards: Enter the Dubai Lynx
3. Dubai Lynx 2007: World’s top advertising creatives to gather in Dubai, UAE (List of the jury members)
4. Dubai Lynx 2007: Profiles and pictures of president and jury members of TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, and Radio categories (useful for my journalists friends hoping to get interviews and face time)
5. Dubai Lynx 2007: Profiles and pictures of president and jury members of Direct & Interactive categories
6. Book your table/seat at the Dubai Lynx 2007 Awards Ceremony and Dinner on Monday 19 March in Dubai Media City
7. Subscribe to the Dubai Lynx 2007 newsletter for email updates on winners

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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(at)gmail.com to discuss the possibilities.

=======================================================================

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

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The firm is looking for people who:
* Have previous sales experience in advertising
* Bring in new clients and sales to drive revenue growth
* Maintain the existing clients and convert incoming leads

The Director tells me that the advertising sales person will be given a 10% bonus on all profits generated, in addition to a host of other benefits. Arabic language skills will be an advantage.

Do note that this is a purely sales and business development role and the managing of campaigns (post sales) will be handled by an existing internal team.

To apply to this position in advertising sales, readers can post their CVs to 
farrukh.copywriter[at]gmail.com

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Mark Hutchinson, a senior account manager from the UK with accounts like Procter and Gamble in his CV, has responded after reading that post, on behalf of the suits of the world. I thought it’d be interesting to post his perspective.

If you are a creative reading this, I’d love to know what you feel about the relationship we have with the suits and whether you agree with Mark (he’s mostly written the good stuff, anyway). If you are a suit reading this, now you know I don’t really hate the suits, specially now after reading that part about ‘grating’ of the soul (see below).

If you are an account director reading this, and wondering how this suit looks in a suit, let me know in the comments section. (Mark’s got a ’special’ someone in Dubai… he he.) Over to our guest, Mark:

In my experience, most of the time creatives and suits simply just don’t like each other.

A lot of suits simply don’t appreciate or value what creatives do and I’ve seen some of them even trying to design the work themselves, giving them a 5-year-old’s sketch version of what they want to see, not what the brief necessarily dictates.

Who are we to tell you guys what to write or design? I’m not a creative, what the hell would I know?

All I know is that I know good creative when I see it and there is nothing that makes me more enthusiastic, or more desperate to sell this idea to the client.

There is a flip side though, in that there are creatives who don’t respect what the suits have to do or who they have to deal with. It is often a pride swallowing role that often grates against the soul, no matter how high (or low) your personal levels of integrity are. Sometimes it’s forgotten that we are all on the same side. Thankfully I haven’t come across many of those in my career so far and those that I have, have often had more wrong with them than just getting on with people.

I have always had a great relationship with the creatives I work with, simply because I respect what they do and respect their views, even when they differ with mine. You guys are the ones that win the awards, not us.

Looking at the list of qualities, I’d consider all those points essential to a good account exec and certainly like to believe that I posses most of them.

As told to Farrukh Naeem by Mark Hutchinson

Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Client Servicing, Advertising Account Executive, Creativity, Creative, Copywriter, Art Director, Advertising in the UAE, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in the UK, Mark Hutchinson, Creatives Vs. Suits

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Advertising, Client Servicing, Advertising Account Executive, Creativity, Creative, Copywriter, Art Director, Advertising in the UAE, Advertising in Dubai, Advertising in the UK, Mark Hutchinson, Creatives Vs. Suits
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With a recruitment ad like the one below, it’s hard not to get interested.

The vacancies currently open at YouTube include those for content editor, product manager, senior account executive, senior flash developer, etc. So, if you would like to work for one of the world’s fastest rising brands, look for more info here:

http://www.pcrecruiter.net/pcrbin/regmenu.exe?uid=youtube.youtube 

Though these jobs are not based in the UAE or the Arabian Gulf, this post is for people who admire successful brands, and of course, watch YouTube when no one’s watching (much to the annoyance of their IT manager who’s forever whining about the bandwidth slowdown on the office network).

Are you good at pulling rabbits out of the hat?

Technorati Tags: YouTube Jobs in Advertising, Advertising, Marketing, Creativity, Content Editor, Product Manager, Account Executive, Recruitment Ad

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(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

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

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Here’s what they have told me they are looking for:

Web Copywriter job profile
The Web Copywriter would responsible for the editorial development of Search Engine Marketing campaigns. This includes writing keyword rich and marketable titles, descriptions, Web content, articles, and news releases.

Web Copywriter skills needed
Candidates must have a strong interest in search engine marketing, enjoy internet research and demonstrate solid writing skills. A basic knowledge of HTML is preferable. Also, strong learning skills are a must, as the company will be providing a full learning program covering writing for the web in general, and for search engine marketing in specific. As this is an entry level position, they do not require long experience record. Fresh graduates are welcome to apply. Main language is English, but being bilingual (+Arabic) would get you extra points.

Interested?
Rush your CVs to farrukh.copywriter[at]gmail.com

[If you are an advertising agency recruiter looking for creative directors, copywriters, art directors, graphic designers, account servicing or account planning people, I'd be happy to post your vacancy on my blog like the post above and take your message to many thousand ad agency people who visit my blog. Mail me at farrukh.copywriter(at)gmail.com with your advertising vacancy details. I reserve the right to publish a vacancy. Any ads asking for specific nationalities or ethnicities will be rejected outright.]

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My friends who had nominations in the Campaign ME Awards are worried. And of course creative buddies who used to get the joy of seeing their work and names in the creative showcase are wishing this is all a bad dream. That we’ll wake up tomorrow to another crisp copy of Campaign ME magazine in the agency… full of news, views, the lure of greener pastures in the last pages, and of course, the spicy bits from our well-informed reporter – The Spin.

Someone pinch me. Wake me up. Tell me this isn’t happening. I want my online fix.

Finders will be rewarded.

PS: Gulf News is also on the Campaign trail…

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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

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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…

Technorati Tags:
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

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There’s one ad by HP which is a part of its memorable ‘invent’ campaign that I would love to hang as a poster on my wall. It has what HP calls “Rules of the Garage“. The copy is simple, powerful and inspiring – it works for any team, in fact, not just a bunch of IT wizards.

My salute to the writer who wrote this and the agency and client team that made this ad happen.

What do you think? Do you find the copy inspiring? Have you written an ad like this? If so, mail it to me at farrukh_copywriter@yahoo.com and I’d be happy to share it here with our readers. If you’ve worked on this ad, mail me the credits and I’ll put them up here.

Credits Update:
Special thanks to Mark Wenneker who’s emialed me the credits. So, the guys behind this amazing ad are:
Client: Hewlett Packard
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Creative Director/Writer: Steve Simpson
Art Director: Mark Wenneker

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I talked to Prashant Sankhe, the Creative Director at Percept Gulf who made this ad happen.
“I think nobody has portrayed the pencil like this before,” he said.

As you can see, this ad shows a pencil labelled with ad vacancies on its various parts. The lead tip invites English copywriters and proofreaders to apply, the sharpened end calls art directors and graphic designers, the middle part is labelled for production coordinators, and the punchline…

The eraser is labelled ‘client servicing’ – Arab and European – for account manager and account executive posts. Clever!

And he’s been asked more than once: “Why did you put the eraser like that?”

“That’s the interesting point,” is Prashant’s answer. You bet!

Perceptgulf is affiliated to Hakuhodo which is among the top ten advertising groups worldwide. You can mail your CVs to prashants@perceptgulffz.com for creative positions and to cheriank@perceptgulffz.com for client servicing positions – you erasers (sorry, couldn’t resist that.)

If you are a creative reading this – tell me why this ad makes you smile. And if you are a ’suit’ reading this – tell me why you don’t love me anymore (wicked me). The comments are open.

Technorati Tags:
Advertising, Marketing, Copywriting, Art Direction, Client Servicing, Copywriter, Creative Director, Jobs in Dubai, Advertising Jobs in Dubai, Copywriter Job, Art Director Job, Percept Gulf

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Campaign Middle East magazine, the media sponsor of this year’s Media & Marketing Show being held in Dubai in November, is organising its inaugural Campaign Middle East Conference on 27 and 28 November 2006 at Al Multaqua Ballroom, Dubai World Trade Centre.

I talked to Tim Addington, editor of Campaign Middle East, and asked him how this conference is going to be different than any other. “Usually, what you get in such events is people standing on a stage giving speeches and Powerpoint presentations. There is no interaction or engagement with the audience,” Tim said.

The Campaign Conference will have a different format. The conference would feature panel discussions with international and local professionals from the media, marketing and PR industries discussing and debating the hot issues relevant to the region. Participation of regional decision makers and the audience would be key.

“It’s not only about people speaking but also about the audience,” said Tim and added that the focus would be to have as much local participation as possible for the panel so that the issues discussed would make sense to the audience. I’m all for local flavoured debates and discussions.

Earlier this year, at the IAA World Congress held at the same venue, I remember the animated discussions that had swung from the panelists to the audience and back on burning issues like auditing of publications in the region. Throwing the discussions open to the floor worked well and at times the views of the panelists were challenged to good effect. Much work got done this way as more thoughts and ideas were discussed than would have been with panelists alone.

I am hoping to attend the conference and if I do, I’d be happy to share the proceedings on this blog – but I am just wondering about the warning on the event’s website about requiring a permission to do such a thing. Anyway, this is what is lined up:

Panel discussions planned for the Campaign Conference

• Relationship building: How effectively do media agencies and marketing departments work together
• The demise of print advertising. The future is online?
• How can PR command a larger slice of marketing spend?
• Getting inside the head of consumers
• The future of free-to-air TV in the Middle East?

Speakers at the Campaign Conference

Max Clifford, One of the most influential PR practitioners in
Britain whose past and current clients include Jimi Hendrix, Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando.

Hala Badri, Vice president of corporate communications, Du

Antoine Choueiri, Chairman, The Choueiri Group

Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and world president of the International Advertising Association and chief executive officer of The Holding Group

Jan Zijderveld, Chairman of Unilever Middle East and chairman of the GCC Advertisers’ Association

Alex Andarakis, chief executive officer, Aujan Industries

Matt Blackborn, chief executive officer, Publicis Groupe Media, MENA

Gabriel Chahine, principal, Booz Allen Hamilton

Peter Einstein, chief executive officer, Showtime

Ramzi El Hafez, editor-in-chief, Business Week Al Arabiya

Chet Galpin, chief marketing officer, National Commercial Bank

Nassim Ghrayeb, chief executive officer, YouGovSiraj

Karen Hargreaves, director of marketing, MasterCard International Inc., MENA

Imad Kublawi, chief executive officer, IK Consult

Dimitri Metaxas, director, OMD Digital

Ahmed Nassef, vice-president, Maktoob Group, general manager, Maktoob.com

Fergi Varghese, director of corporate communications, Siemens, LLC

Kunal Wadhwani, Senior Vice President, Zawya

As you can see above, the line up of speakers is interesting. I would love to meet the guys from research and online industries most. What would you like to catch up on at the Conference? For more info, visit the Campaign Middle East Conference 2006 online here.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Marketing, Campaign Middle East Conference 2006, , Advertising in Dubai, , PR in Dubai

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Following a comment on my post on tobacco advertising, I discovered an out-of-the-box analysis of the smoking problem on Ben and Heather’s blog from Canada. They feel that the reason why we don’t take the smoking issue seriously is because its effects aren’t immediate. Here’s what they write:

“In a world where people live with a buy now, pay later mentality (thank you Visa, Mastercard, AMEX), we are conditioned to act now and worry about the consequences of those actions later. We don’t invest in RRSPs for retirement for the same reason we don’t worry about smoking: The debt and the diseases won’t hit us until years later and by then it’s too late….What we need is something that will make us act now, without hesitation.”
- Ben and Heather of thecourtjester.wordpress.com

And what would that be? Why not visit Ben and Heather at The Court Jester and find out yourself – be warned though, it’s a crazy one!

farrukh

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Marketing, Ethical Advertising, Business Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility, Tobacco Advertising, Shock Advertising, Anti-Smoking Ads

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1. 2nd Dubai Lynx Awards entries cross the 2000 mark in 2008
2. Dubai Lynx shortlists, advertising seminars and workshops keep delegates busy on Day 1
3. Steve Harrison shares tips on pitching big advertising ideas to hesitant clients at Dubai Lynx
4. Dubai Lynx awards winners and pictures
5. Dubai Lynx Awards winners’ pictures in Outdoor category

Below: The first Dubai Lynx held in year 2007 – and how it felt:

Bringing home a Cannes Lion this year has done wonders for Dubai. Dubai will now be the host of awards called Dubai Lynx Awards every year, thanks to the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) which brought us the world’s largest ever IAA World Congress (I had blogged about it earlier this year), Dubai Media City and International Advertising Festival (IAF), the wonderful people who bring us the Cannes Lions and the Eurobest Awards.

The annual Dubai Lynx Awards will honour excellence in advertising and marketing communications in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Interactive, Radio, Direct and Integrated campaigns. Yeah, we’re getting there, people. Make way for Middle Eastern creativity!

“The decision to run the Dubai Lynx Awards was based on the significant potential growth in the region and the emergence, in the global village in which we operate, of work outstanding enough to win Lions at Cannes.”
Terry Savage
Executive Chairman
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival

The winners of the first Dubai Lynx Awards will be announced on 19 March 2007 in Dubai. The organisers have announced two jury presidents for the awards. Jonathan Harries, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer, Draft FCB Group will head the first TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio jury.
Fred Koblinger, CEO PKP Proximity & BBDO Holding Austria, Vienna, Austria will lead the first Interactive & Direct jury.

You can submit your entries online from Tuesday 12 December 2006 onwards at Dubai Lynx website here.

Useful links on Dubai Lynx Awards
AdWeek: Dubai Lynx Names Jury Presidents
Arab News: Entries for Dubai Lynx Awards Start From Dec. 12

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I am posting a few highlights here, in continuation of my blog posts on social responsibility. You are welcome to comment and share your insights.

What happens when we make and publish tobacco, cigarette and smoking ads?

Smoking kills more people than car accidents, alcohol, homicides, illegal drugs and suicides combined. The following is what we are doing when we create, design or publish ads promoting tobacco and smoking:

• Encouraging children or young adults to experiment with tobacco and thereby slip into regular use
• Encouraging smokers to increase consumption
• Reducing smokers’ motivation to quit
• Encouraging former smokers to resume
• Discouraging full and open discussion of the hazards of smoking as a result of media dependence on advertising revenues
• Muting opposition to controls on tobacco as a result of the dependence of organisations receiving sponsorship from tobacco companies
• Creating through the ubiquity of advertising, sponsorship, etc. an environment in which tobacco use is seen as familiar and acceptable and the warnings about its health are undermined.

[Based on the Surgeon Genera's report 'Reducing the health consequences of smoking: 25 years of progress' USDHHS, 1989 as published on ASH's website]

Everyday, around 4,000 children try a cigarette and take their first step towards becoming nicotine addicts. They tend to start off with the most advertised brands.

Does controlling tobacco advertising help?

A study commissioned by the New Zealand government across 33 countries over 16 years from during 1970 to 1986 demonstrated that the higher the degree of governmental control on tobacco advertising and sponsorship, the larger the annual reduction of tobacco consumption.

Further on this point, UK Department of Health’s Chief Economic Adviser reported a drop in tobacco consumption of between 4% and 16% in countries that had implemented a tobacco advertising ban.

So, curbs on tobacco advertising do work and that is the reason why many countries have already put them in place and more are starting to do so. Perhaps UAE will follow suit too, knowing its passion for keeping up with the highest standards of living being followed across the world.

Useful Links:
1. CDC’s Tobacco Infomation & Prevention Source (TIPS): Home Page, Fact Sheets
2. GLOBALink’s Answers to Pro-tobacco Advertising Arguments
3. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH): Effects of Tobacco Advertising & Promotion
4. Smokefree.gov – Online Guide to Quitting Smoking and Useful Downloads
5. Office of the Surgeon General: Homepage, Toxic Substances in Smoke, Dangers of Secondhand Smoke
6. Tobacco.org’s Tobacco Timeline: 21st Century Tobacco History 

farrukh

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I personally, wholeheartedly, unconditionally condemn all violence and every killing of an innocent civilian, particularly the use of bombs and missiles in civilian populations. (No matter how smart bombs get, they can never make out the difference between a terrorist and an innocent civilian, can they?) Like Gandhi said, an eye for an eye makes everyone blind. Senseless aggression is not the answer for anything.

Tim Addington has written about the Lebanon crisis and its effect on the advertising industry on the Campaign ME blog. Seeing the post, I was inspired to do something about it, as a human being, as an advertising professional, as a writer, as a journalist. Not politics but humanitarian support.

Moryarti of Dubai Consumer Mirror wrote a Relief for Lebanon post on the UAE community blog exploring how we can help. Do have a look at it and the links in the comments.

I am thinking, most of the advertising agency top brass in the UAE is Lebanese – they must surely be organising some relief efforts, I’d love to know how I can join in. And this is the time for not just the Lebanese but for all of us from every country in the UAE to rise to the occasion and find ways to help.

Instead of news of agencies closing down their offices in Lebanon, I’d be inspired to see the advertising people getting together and organising at least a relief campaign if not a campaign to promote peace and condemn violence. So many of advertising agency people are very well placed and well connected to initiate and organise regional campaigns for relief. Let’s do it. No help is ever too small.

C’mon advertising fraternity – it’s time for us to take our creativity and use it for a good cause – there is so much we can do as communicators as well as ad professionals with high disposable incomes. Organise relief campaigns, fund raising events, peace campaigns and advocacy. What if we don’t have some client to fund it – let’s do it pro bono. I as a copywriter volunteer to write the relief and peace ads for free.

I remember seeing an ad where one man is making his way through a huge crowd of people running franticallly in the opposite direction. This man is walking against the flow of the running crowd. Alone.

There comes a time when everyone has escaped and only this one man is still going towards the place which everyone was running away from. The camera focuses on the back of this man’s t-shirt. It has a red cross on it. That’s how I would like us ad people to be.

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The coveted “Best Blog on Advertising” Award was won by Steve Hall’s Adrants. I interviewed Steve to find out what makes his blog tick.

Adrants had started as a personal blogging experiment for Steve Hall during a period of unemployment in 2002.

“My background was media, account service and new business on the agency side. Initially, I was hoping to get a job,” replied Steve when I asked him what his initial reasons for starting Adrants were. “I had heard that people were getting jobs because those hiring were reading blogs,” he said. But the blogging experiment brought in more than just interested readers.

“The focus changed when I realized enough ad revenue was coming in that it could sustain me,” Steve said. In March 2004, Steve was ready to launch it as a business that would get him his bread, butter and jam. And he did.

Today, Adrants gets 600,000 pageviews per month and 275,000 unique visitors. A newsletter version of the blog reaches out to 13,000 subscribers. Steve runs the blog on his own and is supported by a team for the sales.

I don’t think Steve’s looking for a job anymore.

Secrets of Blogging Success
By Steve Hall, Publisher, Adrants

1. Be concise.
2. Have a sense of humor.
3. Mostly know what you’re talking about. Actually, not being 100 percent right all the time makes for much better reading.
4. Learn where and who can give you stories.
5. If you want to make it a business: Realise that businesses take commitment. It’s not a hobby.

I’d love to know which one is your favourite advertising blog… fill me in.

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Campaign Middle East staff is posting stuff on the Campaign blog. And with two Tim’s and Richard keeping the blog active, this one’s surely going to be fun. I await the posts by ‘The Spin’, that’s the part I never miss in the print edition, nasty me. Tim Burrowes had posted prompt Cannes snippets the past few days, experimenting with Cannes puns – and officially announced the Campaign blog in the yesterday’s Campaign. Your truly had already spotted the action before the announcement as you can see in my previous post. Good stuff.

Communicate has been blogging for some time now. The first entry I see in Communicate’s blog dates back to April, so they’ve been the ones to catch on early. But, the last entry was made on June 8. It’d be nice to see Mr (or Ms?) CommunicateModerator posting more frequently. C’mon, my friends at Communicate, your print edition is good – let’s see that happening in the blog too!

The Strategiy.com team is aggregating RSS feeds of advertising blogs which is a good idea to keep the Strategiy blog active. Also, there are six contributors on this blog and three guest contributors, which includes me, thanks to Ashwin Salian of Strategiy.com. My blog has a partial RSS feed on Strategiy. I am still exploring how effective RSS is for bloggers.

Now there’s ADvocate of the IAA which brings in news from the advertising industry – are they going to have a blog? Or do they already have one? Gotta find out.

All this reminds me of a really punny (eek!) line I saw one of these days. It said “Who let the blogs out?” I wish I had written that, even though puns usually give me the creeps – but due credit to the person who wrote this – let’s make a song out of it, an ad jingle if you may

It’s a blog crazy world out here in the UAE. Join in.

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So it’s great feeling when I see creatives doing well in DM – like winning a Gold for the region at Cannes.

Friends from Wunderman’s (ME) Dubai office – Kerry Platts, Pooja Chandani and Richa Khan – have struck Gold at Cannes Lions in the Direct category with their direct mail entry for Microsoft. Mayura Sandeep of Ikon, another good friend, had buzzed me on this and then I found the news on Tim Burrowes’ blog entry in the Campaign blog. Tim is posting bits on the winners there, he filled me in with more info.

It’s a good idea I think, the Microsoft one. The task was to get people to understand the risks of using pirated software, and buy licensed software. So, prospects were mailed handwritten envelopes with CDs like the ones friends pass around with pirated software. When the CD was loaded, the computer crashed, to the utter shock of the recipient. Moments later, the offer of the mailer – a discount on Windows Genuine Software – flashed on the user’s screen.

The response rate? Close to 10%. Which is amazing!

Great going, guys – you’ve done great – for the region, and for the DM world.

The Wunderman ME Dubai team for the Cannes’ winning entry:
Kerry Platts, Creative Director
Richa Khan, Head of Copy
Pooja Chandani, Creative Group Head
Sara Hughes, Client Services Director
Eiad Rayyis, Interactive Director

There’s more good news for the UAE at Cannes. Have you heard it?

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Advertising is a young person’s business, we are being told by some. The new age advertising agency needs to have ideators who know their ipods. Age and experience can be a disadvantage in the digital mindscape, some are saying. The need for “intellectual curiosity” is being stressed.

Matthew Creamer’s feature in AdAge few days back mentioned an agency executive seeking $30 million in damages from the advertising agency for valuing “youth instead of experience” and “terminating older persons because of their age”.

And here I am, someone who grew up feeding on the advertising knowledge and insights from the wizened ones like Ogilvy and Bernbach and Claude Hopkins. Contrasting that reverence for advertising legends had been my secret wish to become the youngest creative director around. I did rise up to lead a team of 8-10 creatives, help start the company’s web division, and work with the creative team to win some of the most coveted accounts in the market that made other bigger agencies see green. Clients were asking for me at the agency briefings, and expecting me at the creative presentations. I have always found it fun to be presenting our agency’s creative concepts to a room full of marketing managers from the client side, many of whom are my father’s age, and managing to make sense to them and win the account. But this was in a country that had the guts to let talent mow down the conventions.

So what is the reality in the market? Who is advertising fortune favouring today here in the Middle East? The GCC? The UAE? Young or old?

If this thing about agencies valuing youth over experience is true, show me a creative director in his teens in this region. Ok, show me one in his early twenties. And I am not talking of associate, assistant, almost creative director. I am talking regional, national, group creative director. Where are these virgin saviors of the digital era?

From my personal opinion, the scales are still in favour of the wizened viziers when it comes to the top positions – not the young Turks. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Because knowing new technologies is not the same as being firmly grounded in the intricacies of human behaviour. And making it dance to your tune.

Yet, I say, if young Turks can, with their work, prove the ability to lead the agency’s teams and take the advertising agency places – give them the toys to play – the corner office, the fancy designation, the reserved car park. And don’t just pack the old geezers off because they have more candles on their birthday cake than the bubbly intern. Not age, but work that works should be the criteria in deciding who stays, and where.

I was once refused an interview for a creative position in Dubai because the minimum requirement was TEN years of experience, and I had just two. I applied anyway. Showed my portfolio anyway. Tried to convince the agency that it’s the work, not the age, anyway. They were amused at my guts. But persistent about the 10 year experience minimum qualification. Much water has flowed under the Garhoud bridge but things haven’t changed much.

At least I can speak for Dubai, for this region. Agencies aren’t going to launch a firing frenzy throwing off their grey-haired VPs to substitute them for the tattooed kid on the skateboard, any time soon. We’re not in London or New York, habibi. Maybe I can aim to be the youngest VP in the meanwhile. No, no… more like the “chief conceptual officer” (CCO) of a creative hotshop in Media City. In a pair of bermudas. Is it allowed?

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A freshly discovered blog by Ratna Rajaiah, an ex-advertising suit now a freelance writer, tells it like it is about freelancing:

So you are your own master – big deal. The only thing that means is that when you crack the whip, it smacks your own butt and ow, does it hurt… you need to be a pretty decent runner – to run after people who’ve promised you money (yours that they owe you)/assignments/contacts/anything and how exhausting it can be to do all of this while wearing patient, polite not to mention a blazingly charming smile, when all you want to do is kick the person’s teeth in. (You know, that guy who said tomorrow never comes? He must have been a guy who makes out cheques to freelancers.)

My good friend and Arabic copywriter, translator, author and poet, Hanna Farha recently had a tough time getting paid by one advertising agency here in Dubai. They owed him around US$ 10,000. Yes – that’s more than 30,000 dirhams in dues!

Now, Hanna is a very soft-spoken and gentle person, most writers are. So what did he do? He spilled his heart out and wrote a poem to the agency’s client.

And guess what? The agency paid up. Now that’s what I call the power of poetry.

God forbid, should you be at your wit’s end dealing with an agency that treats its freelancers like beggars without bowls, take inspiration from this:

Let’s pray – a poem by Hanna FarhaLet’s pray… let’s pray
Hoping that (ad agency name)
Will pay
Its debts, our bills
Without delay
Debts to those who’ve been waiting
Night after night,
Day after day
A number of days now exceeding
One thousand days and one day
Waiting for (brand owner name) the great
To think about others’ fate
And put an end to a nasty game
That will only bring (ad agency name) shame…
Let’s pray… let’s pray
Hoping that (ad agency name) will soon pay…
Its debts, our bills, without delay
To those she owes, quite a lot
Standing in big lines, on the way
Suffering from strong winds and dust
And a lousy weather
Wet and hot
But remember Mr (brand owner name)
My ads made you our “King Kong”
No one can claim you were wrong
No one can claim you are wrong
They all think, you’re always right
Please excuse me Mr (brand owner name)…
Ask your (ad agency name) to pay us now
What she owes
No ‘why’ and ‘how’
Please make sure, Mr (brand owner name)
That (ad agency name) pays us all, in peace
Or else we’ll go to the police
We don’t like wars
We don’t like fights
We only want you
To pay our rights.

(c) 2006 Hanna H. Farha

?

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It’s hard to fall in love with an account executive. But as the slogan says, “Impossible is nothing”.

During my adventures and stints at various agencies, I have come across a few traits that can endear me to an account executive, even though many times creatives are usually at loggerheads with the suits.

If you are an account executive and can see the wisdom of having a good friend in the creative department, these are a few things you could ponder over.

Qualities my favourite account executives have:

1. An unfaltering faith in the agency’s creative ability:
When I was working at a creative boutique, one of our account executives claimed to a top client that no matter what their top agency was doing, we could do better work for any given job. The client was game.

It started with a little leaflet as a test of our ability. “I have said big things about you guys – now don’t you let me down” he said back at the agency. Now that was motivating – and our work that started with a little leaflet snatched us the account, right from the jaws of the big shark.

2. Guts to question the client’s motivations:
“But why would you like a red carpet in your ad, Sir?” “What do you mean your ketchup is more ketchupy than others, Sir?” “Why would you want three options when you can have one powerful and hard-hitting one?” “Why don’t you want us to use any word starting with a, z, or k, Sir – did your astrologer tell you that?”

So many times, as a copywriter who could not digest illogical client requests, I have spoken directly to the client and found out that he is not the dumb bloke he is made out to be. It’s just that the account executive does not have the guts or motivation to ask the client any questions.

The good ones know the client, his consumers, his market, because they don’t just take orders but also argue and debate with the client if need be for what they believe is in the brand’s best interests.

3. Loyalty to the agency
Account executives who defend their creative work rather than help the client pick faults in it get my respect. These are the suits who would sell a campaign with selling points even the creative team didn’t think of. To them, the goal is to get the best work of the agency approved by the client.

Some account executives become the client’s voice in the agency, sometimes even insisting on the dullest ideas to be executed just because the client likes it. I am not surprised when such people ultimately jump ship and hop over to the client’s side to bark orders at their agency counterparts. You can smell their shifty loyalties early in their career. Not my type.

4. Bonding with the creative team:
My best days in advertising have not been days, but nights – late nights. While clients and agency bosses slept in their cosy beds, we the copywriters, art directors, finalisers were huddled over our PCs and Macs working on that big, crucial campaign.

During times like these, the account executives I love are by our side, helping, cheering us up, even arranging for pizza and coffee for the team that hasn’t had time to even grab a sandwich for lunch. Not that they must, but they still choose to be with us. “How can I leave my team working on my account in the middle of the night and go home?” they feel. Don’t you just love this team spirit.

Agencies that have such account executives are the agencies that win the pitches. Because people are working as teams and thinking as teams, and selling the work as teams – not individuals.

5. Complete, absolute, obsessive knowledge about the brand they handle
Nothing turns me on to a brand more than an executive who knows all about it. When I ask him or her what does the brand do, what its versions are, who buys it, what its competing brands are – instantly come forth the figures and the facts. Nothing turns me off than the phrase “But why do you want to know that?”. This is usually heard when the servicing executive just copied and pasted the client’s email into the brief format and mailed it to the creative department. The next phrase by the shameless (and clueless) executive is “Why don’t you look it up on their website… which is at… err…”

I remember working on a European brand of wooden floor panels. The account executive gave me a live sales presentation using the sales kit used by their showroom staff, in addition to the brief. I was able to touch, feel and browse the entire collection of panels with her help. That really got the creative juices flowing.

And this is the most important point – if an account executive loves the brand and knows all about it, they would be more likely to inspire the creative members of their team to catch on to the brand affinity.

Next post, maybe I could write about account executives I want to send to Guantanamo. Would you like to read that?

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The languages, of course, that you are fluent in, would be Arabic and English.

Interested?

Mail me on farrukh.copywriter[at]gmail.com

If you are an account executive, you could try your luck too.

And puhleeez… do not paste your entire CV in the comment box. I am just a copywriter, not an agency boss, just yet.

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So, on all three days of the Congress, we had to pass by the agency stalls to get to the food and the coffee.

The Euro RSCG Promopub stall with its list of clients plastered on its wall. Literally. For stalls like these, I had to wait for the people to disappear to shoot the entire design.

The Fortune Promoseven stall – with a massage sofa. Hmmm… this I think was a good idea – but just one chair for 2000 delegates?
Much could have been done to make this massage idea stand out, and in turn, the stall. The copy on the wall caught my attention.

The Horizon FCB stall. Lots and lots of text. Like a 3-D version of a corporate leaflet. And something about "full_contact". Underscore seems to be the in thing, these days, what with Nissan's "shift_the future", etc.

And, I had to take a picture of this promo ad I have earlier seen in print. Being a copywriter, all the world's design cannot lure me away from good copy. This one is: credits to Shahir Ahmed of Team Y&R who I was told at the stall is the writer of this ad that was displayed at the Y&R stall.

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The 40th IAA World Congress was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (picture: in the centre) at the Dubai International Convention Centre on 21 March 2006.

On his behalf, His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman and CEO of the Emirates Group (picture: first from left), welcomed the speakers, delegates and other guests to the event. The inaugural address was given by our very own Joseph Ghossoub (picture: first from right), the new IAA Chairman and World President.

The picture above was taken by me. This is the closest I have ever come to our visionary leader, Sheikh Mohammad. Well, good picture I think – considering I was hesitant to get too close.

Coming back to business. In his speech Sheikh Ahmed said,”There could hardly be a better time or place to address the ‘Challenges of Change’ other than right here in Dubai.”

I found this to be a common feeling across all delegates I met and networked with at the Congress. People were amazed at what they saw across the cfity of the Congress – at the pace of change and development.

“We will not stop building ourselves a truly world-class communications capability to encompass advertising, marketing, branding, public relations and all other related disciplines,” Sheikh Ahmed said.

He praised the current talent pool in our city thus: “Here in Dubai we have access to some of the best and brightest minds in the region, and from around the world.”

“The time is right for us to tap into this creativity, and take up the challenge of growth to create a city that is truly unique in the world: not just a city made of glass, steel and concrete, but a city made of ideas, creativity and opportunity,” he noted.

This was the part of his speech I really liked, and look forward to seeing – not just cold concrete, steel structures but a city buzzing with the warmth of innovation and creativity.

Whatsay you?

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For every one delegate who attended there must have been be 99 others who might have wanted to but couldn’t, because of deadlines, client commitments, and the young ones – because of their position in the agency hierarchy and the steep entry fee.

I was surrounded by the big-wigs and missed the young torch-bearers of tomorrow at the Congress. They are the ones who will live to see the change and perhaps the ones to usher it in – but mostly what I saw was grey hair. I have feeling the young ones would have come on their own, these fresh talented ones, if they could afford the few thousand dollars.

Not to worry – here are people like me – bringing you what you might have missed. Sharing the learnings and knowledge with you.

It’s going to happen in many posts – not just one. But a series of posts. Starting now.

If you are lovin’ it, show me some TLC with your comments on this blog, and spread the word. Link to me and maybe I’ll be encouraged enough to post the pictures of the desert safari on Day 2, or rather, Night 2 of the Congress. It was naughtayyy, me lad. Very naughty, indeed.

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I reached the venue just after 8 am. Things were quite. But the event host team, in their black uniforms were ready to receive guests – an hour beforehand. Right at the very beginning I saw the Gulf News counter and was tempted to take a copy of the day’s paper – but it looked like a lot of pages to carry. Later, I told myself.

Delegates line up for the IAA World Congress Sessions on Day 1
21 March 2006 at Dubai International Convention Centre

As the delegates arrived, I saw queues forming. Not a common sight in Dubai. The ‘traffic’ was moving slowly I noticed because bags were being inspected. Darn – why did I have to bring my accessories in a big leather bag. I must think of something more handy tomorrow. There were metal detectors too. Well, when you have Prime Ministers attending, all these precautions do make sense.

“Taking Care of Our Future” Exhibition by ACT (Advertising Community Together)
Around 300 campaigns from around the world addressing social and environmental issues

Time was short to soak in the creative juices strewn all over the exhibition. Public service always tends to bring out strong creative expression – and thank God – most of the work is not in the cliched black and white executions.

Some of it is very lively and colourful even. But all of it looks like ads – maybe there were strict rules of submission – given length and breadth of the layout, etc. Interesting stuff, must get meself a CD of this.

More later. Watch this space.

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Two round bombs in the centre of a page, with their wicks ignited, reminding you of the cartoon series Road Runner with that pesky “Beep Beep” character.

The intelligent, sensitive headline?

“Bust cancer“

I don’t think a woman wrote or conceptualised this.

That’s why I am calling for more women in the creative department – sitting right next to the intelligent copywriters like me. Seriously.

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The secret to the “FORGET LONDON” campaign has ben revealed. This is what it was all about.

I read people crticising this teaser campaign, feeling it is in bad taste, keeping in mind the London bombings. I didn’t feel even a slight hint of any such thing in two simple words on a black background.

Maybe I’m not drinking enough coffee these days.

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People looking for further information on the award are landing up on my page, including those searching for photos of the event. Since I wasn’t there, I can’t give you photos, but the results can be surely shared. What else is your friendly neighbourhood marketing blog for?

There were around 700 people present, minus yours truly. The house was full by the time I called in – right on the very day of the awards (entirely my fault). Next time I have to try and win the early bird prize.

BBC World’s Middle East Business Report correspondent, Nima Abu Wardeh presented the awards.

And, as I had suspected, the ‘creative’ ads which were the talk of the town a few days back were nowhere to be seen in the winners list. Unless I have missed something.

There’s award-winning creativity. There’s award-winning marketing effectiveness. Where is the ad that wins on both counts?

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, the GEMAS results:

GMR Grand Prix
Gold: Masafi
Silver: Nivea for Men Oil Control
Bronze: Hilton – Mastercard

New Brand Launch
Winner: Damas Sampatti Diamond & Gold Collection
Highly Commended: Grosvenor House

New Product Launch
Winner: Nivea for Men Oil Control
Highly Commended: Saudi Telecom for Al Jawal

Brand Development (Extension)
(No winners in this category only highly commended entries)
Highly Commended: Kiri Al Jarra
Highly Commended: Mashreqbank

Brand Alliance
Winner: Hilton – Mastercard ‘Hilton for Free’
Highly Commended: Damas – American Express Gold Card

Corporate Social Responsibility
Winner: Standard Chartered – Seeing is Believing
Highly Commended: Harry Winston Rare Moments

Integrated Communications
Winner: Aujan Industries Rani Float
Highly Commended: Sony Bravia

Public Relations
Winner: Roche Pharmaceuticals, Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health
Highly Commended: Nokia Fonetography Auction

Sales Promotion
Winner: Masafi
Highly Commended: Budget Rent A Car Saudi Arabia

Customer Focus
Winner: Porsche
Highly Commended: Masafi

Sponsorship
Winner: Aujan Industries for Barbican SoccaStars
Highly Commended: Emirates – Rugby 7s

The results posted by GMR online are here.

You might have to register before you can view the full article, err, listing.

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The cover story, by Adi Ignatius, is well written, packed with info, quotes, inside information about the crazy creative Google world. Pictures of the Google headquarters show off the massage parlour, swim-in-place pools, snooker game in progress in the employee lounge, onsite hair saloon, food!

One quote by Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, really interested me:

The company isn’t run for the long-term value of our shareholders but for the long-term value of our end users.

Isn’t he so right? It’s just like my belief as an advertising copywriter we must write for our reader – the consumer, not the client or his wife.

It’s not the client who pays our salaries if you analyse it, it’s the guy who reads our ads, and then goes ahead and buys the product we advertise.

What’s the logic of appeasing shareholders at the cost of end-users, or making ads that “the client wants” but we know as communicators will not work with the target audience?

In the final analysis, the customer is the consumer, the end-user is the king – not the corporation.

The client pays for a product’s ads, but who pays for the client’s products?

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It is a clear to me that traditional advertisers in this region have not the required knowledge to judge on a category that requires in-depth technical, creative, digital media expertise and also experience.

Martin makes a few suggestions for future judging of online entries:

A set of basic minimum requirements or standards for judging on a submission might also help a judge that is not the most advanced online industry expert to comment on the work.

Read Martin’s entire post here.

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Dubai is all set to host the 40th International Advertising Association (IAA) World Congress at the Dubai International Convention Centre (DICC) from March 20-23. The theme of the Congress is ‘Challenges of Change’. It is being organised by the UAE Chapter of the IAA.The who’s who of the advertising and marketing world would be here in Dubai: Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive of WPP; Tateo Mataki, Chief Executive Officer, DENTSU, Japan; Tom Bernardin, Chairman & CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide; Ken Kaess President & CEO of DDB Worldwide Communications Group; Allen Rosenshine, Chairman of BBDO Worldwide Inc; Howard Draft, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DRAFT; Colin Gottlieb, CEO of OMD Europe; Jack Klues, Chairman for Publicis Groupe Media; Susannah Outfin, CEO of Carat International; Marcio Moreira, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of McCann-Erickson World Group. Donald Gunn, the man behind the annual Gunn Report & Showreel of the Year which is considered the official worldwide measure of competitive excellence for the advertising industry will be here too.

An exhibition is lined up aimed at publishers, broadcasters, radio stations, designers, below the line and point-of-sale suppliers, direct marketeers, printers, research and brand consultancies, as well as stock photography agencies, to enable networking, and show off the creative work carried out in the region.

You will also be able to view public service advertising campaigns from around the world in the main concourse of the Dubai International Convention Centre. The exhibition, titled Great Ads for a Better Future, has been put together by Advertising Community Together (ACT), an initiative of AdForum.com and produced in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme, (UNEP). This collection will be open, free to the public for viewing. It feels good to note that the IAA Dubai Chapter is currently the largest chapter in the world, and of course the official organiser of the World Congress.

Just what I call being at the right place at the right time. Being in advertising, in Dubai, in March. Now all I need to do is register myself. Quickly.

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