The fall and rise of Lebanon’s only English-language daily newspaper
By Austyn Allison and Nathalie Bontems
Originally published in Communicate, April 2009
The Daily Star is up and running again, after the Beirut-based newspaper almost closed for good in January. The Star’s publisher, editor and CEO, Jamal Mroue, tells Communicate that the return to print signifies the latest chapter of a “saga” that began around 10 years ago when one bank bought another. Read the rest of this entry »
As Lynx allegations fly, Communicate finds all’s fair in love and awards
Originally published in Communicate, April 2009
This year’s Lynx Awards and Dubai International Advertising Festival served up the sort of scandal, drama and intrigue that the industry – and Communicate – thrives on. Read the rest of this entry »
Communicate takes cover as the public lays siege to the Idex defense exhibition
Originally published in Communicate, April 2009
People like guns apparently. And bullets. And armor to protect them from guns and bullets. And Tasers for when their guns run out of bullets. The scary part of Abu Dhabi’s Idex defense exhibition was ultimately not the hardware on display, but the sheer appetite of visitors for all things deadly or free. Read the rest of this entry »
PR guru Larry Weber talks about the future of the Internet. And golf balls
Originally published in Communicate, February 2009
In 1987, Larry Weber founded the Weber Group, which grew – as Weber Shandwick – to be one of the biggest PR businesses in the world. And in 2004, he started out again, with W2 Group, which specializes in digital PR. He has long been a proponent of the Web, having worked with Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with inventing it, and has been called “the town crier of the Internet.” Communicate caught up with Weber when he was in town to be a keynote speaker at the PR Congress in Dubai. We took the opportunity to find out what he’s been up to, and to gauge his thoughts on PR, the region and technology. Read the rest of this entry »
Changes are afoot at Publicis Groupe Media. Communicate catches up with the top brass to find out why the management team has been given a makeover
Originally published in Communicate, November 2008
Communications group Publicis Groupe Media, the parent company of buying and planning agencies Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia, has recently promoted three of its top men to more senior positions. Communicate sat down with the management to discuss what the changes mean to the group, and to take the pulse of the region’s media industry in general. Read the rest of this entry »
We look at the unsolicited mail in our inboxes, and see who’s jamming our computers with junk
Originally published in Communicate, September 2008
As journalists, we thrive on information, and a lot of this comes via our inboxes.
Unfortunately, to get to that information, we have to dig through piles of irrelevant rubbish, much of it sent by PR professionals.
So we fired a warning shot last month, when we warned we would name and shame the worst offenders. (See Letter from the editor, page 3, July-August 2008.) Read the rest of this entry »
Haymarket’s licensing director, Tim Bulley, tells Communicate why a publisher should fork out fees to launch someone else’s title
Originally published in Communicate, September 2008
The region’s news stands are filled with regional editions of international magazine titles, and Haymarket is the name behind many of them. The UK-based publisher has 127 franchised titles around the world, and recently launched football magazine FourFourTwo through UAE publishing house The Media Factory. It is also preparing to relaunch Campaign, formerly with ITP, through Motivate Publishing. Although he would not be drawn to comment on the advertising title, Haymarket’s licensing director Tim Bulley did make time to talk to Communicate about why a publisher should fork out money on license fees rather than going it alone. Read the rest of this entry »
P&G vaccinates 100 newborns for everyone who attends campaign launch
Originally published in Communicate, July 2008
Communicate (and some other journos) saved some babies yesterday. By going to a press conference.
We were intrigued by a press release from IPN, on behalf of P&G’s Pampers diaper brand, inviting us to attend the launch of their “1 large pack = 1 tetanus vaccine” campaign, run in partnership with UNICEF. It promised that, “P&G has pledged to donate 100 additional vaccines towards the campaign for every person who attends the press conference.” Journalists were encouraged to bring family and friends to further boost numbers at the presser. Read the rest of this entry »
ADK’s Koichiro Naganuma tells us about the importance of local knowledge and how the Middle East is the center of the Earth
Originally published in Communicate, July 2008
Koichiro Naganuma, president and group CEO of Japanese ad agency ADK was in town recently to familiarize himself with the workings and staff of AGA ADK, the result of a merger between his company and Dubai-based AGA a year and a half ago. Communicate caught up with him and Roger Sahyoun, president and CEO of AGA ADK, to talk about the unique appeal of this region to an Eastern agency looking west. Read the rest of this entry »
Phil Thomas, CEO of the Cannes Lions advertising festival, was in town this month to talk about the upcoming Dubai Lynx advertising awards. Communicate caught up with him to find out what direction the event is taking
Originally published in Communicate, March 2008
When the Lynx started, was the plan always there to turn it into a festival?
Absolutely. What we wanted to do was test the waters and see if we were going to be supported by the region. Is this something the region really wants? Let’s have an award first and see how that goes. And we were blown away by the support we had, we were amazed by the entry levels and the attendance on the night last year, so we felt confident that we could create a three-day event that would also be supported by the region. Read the rest of this entry »
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