Dubai Media City comes together for PHD’s Big Hug blood donation drive

Community queues up to donate close to 100 units of blood

Dubai, March 23, 2015: Advertising professionals, be they from brands, agencies or media owners, actively participated in PHD’s Big Hug CSR initiative a few days ago. The blood donation drive, held in partnership with the Dubai Blood Donation Centre on March 11 and 12, maximized the capacity of the drop-in unit outside the Omnicom Media Group Building in Dubai Media City. It received over 200 enquiries for assessment and collected close to 100 units of blood, an amount that can save some 400 lives.

While one donation has the potential to save up to four lives, only 4% of the UAE’s population is donating blood. PHD’s blood donation drive therefore provided a welcome relief for emergency and medical care services in the country. The mobile pop-in unit in Dubai Media City last week not only facilitated the donation process but also contributed to fulfilling the initiative’s secondary objective of raising awareness on the need for donors in the community.

Upon receiving the final donation figures from the two-day initiative, Nadia Abdulla Kalantar, head of marketing and blood donor recruitment unit at Dubai Blood Donation Centre, said: “I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to PHD for undertaking this initiative, as well as promoting and executing it so well. The results were phenomenal for a two-day drive and will have a significant impact on helping us to save lives. I would also like to give a very special thanks to all donors who participated in this noble cause. I hope more people are now aware of the need for donations and see it in a more positive light after this initiative.”

“I am thrilled with the positive turnout from everyone in the industry for our first CSR initiative of 2015. When we come together like this, we can truly make a difference,” commented Elda Choucair, managing director of PHD UAE. “CSR is a key pillar of our organizational values and allows us to use our talent and communications planning expertise as a force for good for the benefit of our community. We endeavor to champion even more causes in the near future.”

A global initiative, PHD Big Hug is an ongoing CSR project that supports local charities of the communities in which the international media network operates.

About PHD:
PHD Worldwide is known globally as an innovator in communications planning and buying across broadcast, print, digital, mobile, social and emerging media. Built on a culture of thought leadership, PHD’s philosophy is “Finding a Better Way.” PHD is one of the world’s fastest growing and most awarded media and communication agencies, with over 3,000 staff working in over 80 offices worldwide.

In the Middle East, it first opened in Dubai in 2005, creating a team for Abu Dhabi in 2008 and opening an office in Riyadh in 2010. At the end of 2012, PHD was awarded 20 ‘Agency of the Year’ accolades including Adweek’s ‘Global Media Agency of the Year’, while the Cristal Festival named it Media Network of the Year in 2013. Not only has its philosophy of “Finding a Better Way” proved effective for its clients, which include Arla, Bentley, Hyatt, Mashreq Bank, Porsche and SC Johnson, it has also contributed to PHD being named a Great Place to Work in the UAE three years in a row, ranking third in 2014 and 2015.

PHD is part of the Omnicom Media Group (www.omnicommediagroup.com), a division of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC)
www.phdmedia.com