From very unlucky iron poissons to Twitter hijackings with the odd celebrity or two thrown in, 2015 has been a year of tears, tantrums and no end of drama. Here’s our pick of the top 10 biggest moments:
1) Another Cannes, another controversy, only this year it was Geometry Global Dubai that found itself in the spotlight. The agency had won the region’s first ever grand prix at Cannes for its involvement with the Lucky Iron Fish project. However, shortly after winning the award in the product design category, the agency was accused of taking credit for an idea and design that already existed. An investigation led to the decision that Lucky Iron Fish should be the sole recipient of the grand prix in product design. However, all other awards won by Geometry in relation to the Lucky Iron Fish project remained with the agency, despite calls for them to all be credited solely to the client.
2) JWT was hit by a wave of firings and resignations at its Dubai office with executive creative director Seyoan Vela among the early casualties. Many more followed including creative director Michael Fillon and associate creative director Youssef Gadallah of Vodafone ‘Fakka’ fame. The upheaval followed the arrival of Mohammed Sabry, who took over as managing director of the Dubai operation in January and immediately made his presence felt. Chafic Haddad was later appointed to the newly-created post of chief creative operations officer for the MENA region.
3) One minute he was there, the next he was gone. Such was the fate of Nick Barron, the chief executive officer of MediaCom MENA, who parted company with the agency in mysterious circumstances in October. The exact details of his departure remain unknown, although it is understood that MediaCom MENA is undergoing a wider restructuring. It also lost its biggest regional client, Etihad. Google’s Tarak Abdalla was later announced as Barron’s successor.
4) The formal arrival of GroupM in the MENA region and the appointment of Filip Jabbour as its inaugural CEO piqued interest. As the world’s largest media company in terms of billings, its presence in the region was sure to make waves, while its scale and negotiating power would be watched with interest by media owners wary of being hammered down on cost.
5) A gold rush began in Iran. No sooner had Iran and the P5+1 powers reached an agreement to limit the country’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, than the international advertising community began to rub its collective hands together. Some agencies jumped in, others began negotiations, while others stood back and watched.
6) The first titanium for Egypt, the first gold for Kuwait, a grand prix that never was and double gold in the augural glass category. It was an eventful week at Cannes for agencies across the Middle East and North Africa. “Words fail me,” said Ramsey Naja, JWT’s chief creative officer for the Middle East and Africa. “With Abla Fahita [titanium winner], the guys didn’t just turn a problem into an opportunity, they made all those buzzwords such as ‘new paradigm’, ‘game changer’ and ‘new business model’ actually make sense. I think this is what an inspired and motivated team can do when they think positive.”
7) Etihad rolled out a new global advertising campaign in March featuring Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman. However, she was soon criticised by a US union representing 25,000 American flight attendants, which stated that the airline’s policies towards female staff were at odds with Kidman’s role as a UN ambassador for women. Etihad rejected the allegation, saying its commitment to its employees was a top priority.
8) Leo Burnett and Y&R Dubai won the region’s first ever yellow Pencils at the D&AD awards in May. Leo Burnett Dubai’s ‘du Tuesday’ work directed by Ali Ali won seven pencils, including a prestigious yellow for film direction. Y&R’s yellow was for Global Export’s ‘Little Books of Big Consequences’, which won in the design category for illustration. Only 44 yellow Pencils were awarded this year and five black – the highest accolade – out of a total of 22,000 pieces of work from 85 countries.
9) Hollywood actor Gerard Butler was busy laying down challenges back in May. You could see him and other celebrities including Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan pointing fingers and folding arms under the hashtag #EtisalatChallenge. However, in a twist of social media fate, it was not the challenged but rather the challenger that faced the biggest questions. The hashtag was hijacked with consumers complaining about various aspects of its service and in turn challenging Etisalat to up its game. Etisalat’s responseto the hijacking – and to subsequent articles about it – was a lesson in how not to do public relations or engage with consumers.
10) In April, global communications firm Edelman announced it was to acquire Dubai-based independent communications agency DABO & Co for an undisclosed sum. The end result was Edelman DABO, a new operation encompassing 150 employees with a broad range of expertise.