Qatar Wins Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx International Festival

Attesting to the growing creativity of the advertising industry in Qatar, locally-based marketing communications agency Memac Ogilvy & Mather Qatar won the highest level award bestowed at the recent Dubai Lynx Festival of Creativity. The Grand Prix award was given in the Print category by a panel of international judges who examined hundreds of entries, shortlisting just a fraction for consideration. In all, Memac Ogilvy won seven awards on the night off of 16 entries shortlisted for clients Tarsheed, Qatar Islamic Bank and Vodafone.

One of the world’s most prestigious awards for creativity in marketing communications, Dubai Lynx attracts the participation of hundreds of agencies and brands across the Middle East and North Africa – including the most prominent brands from the region and around the world.

“It is a great honor to bring back a Grand Prix to Qatar, demonstrating that locally-based agencies can compete and win against the best of the region. We are proud of our team and our clients who value strong creative work that gets results,” said Samer Abboud, Managing Director, Memac Ogilvy & Mather Qatar. “We are seeing great strides in the market, with clients hungry and open to pushing the envelope to boost their brands. Qatar has great brands that are seeking to break out from the pack – and creative marketing communications are increasingly being turned to as a lever for business success.”

Memac Ogilvy’s awards were won for a public safety awareness campaign for Qatar Islamic Bank (1 Grand Prix, 1 Gold, 3 Silvers and 1 Bronze), and a Bronze for a film created for Tarsheed, the National Programme for Conservation & Energy Efficiency.

Commenting on the awards, Dinos Constantinides, Chief Strategy Officer, Qatar Islamic Bank, said, “We’re proud to have won the first Grand Prix for Qatar with our partners Memac Ogilvy. The win is especially satisfying given the important message of the campaign – that wearing a seat belt should be part of our daily lives. As Qatar’s leading Islamic bank, QIB continuously seeks ways to communicate on issues that touch our customers and the community.”

“Creativity and effectiveness are necessary and essential to good work. These Dubai Lynx metals motivate us and should motivate others in the market to raise the bar for world-class work in Qatar,” said Youssef Gadallah, Creative Director, Memac Ogilvy Qatar. “We look forward to taking these campaigns on to the Cannes Lions Festival this summer, and the next creative challenges from our clients.”

Memac Ogilvy, the leading advertising and public relations agency in the MENA region, opened its office in Qatar in early 2013. Combining world-class local and Arab talents, the agency has gone from strength to strength based on a winning formula of creativity and effectiveness. The agency works with local and international clients across advertising, public relations, social media, digital and integrated campaigns.