Digital agency Tribal DDB has launched in Dubai.
The new operation is headed up by general manager Nick Whetham, who has moved over from Havas Digital to run the fledgling office, while former MRM associate creative director Arz Azar has taken on the role of creative director. The creation of a majority-owned Tribal DDB means that a previous licensing agreement with Beirut-based digital agency Pixel Veggie – which led to the creation of PV Tribal DDB – has come to an end.
Based in DDB’s offices in Knowledge Village, the new operation already has seven staff, some of whom have moved over from digital duties within DDB. Up to five more people are expected to join by the end of the year, with Tribal DDB working closely with sister Omnicom agency OMD.
“We are already very active and we’re working with all DDB’s current clients and working with some of OMD’s current clients,” said Whetham. “Social content is really at the very heart of what we’re doing, and that’s how we’re going to be quite different to other Tribal DDBs around the world. It’s the hottest thing. Clients are not investing in websites as much now, it’s more in the social content sphere, hence why we’ve got that strong partnership with OMD. We’re becoming their social content arm, so apps, games, social content, videos and all that sort of stuff is what we’re really doing most of.”
Tribal DDB has already got off to a running start, having carried out the work for YouTube’s recently launched Ramadan channel, working closely with Unilever brands Lipton and Knorr. Paul Gunning, CEO of Tribal DDB Worldwide, visited Dubai at the beginning of the month to coincide with the agency’s launch. Gunning oversees a network that includes 1,200 people in 60 offices in 42 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa.