The regions largest advertising network, ikoo, introduced its brand new identity in an event that marked the announcement of Jabbar Internet Group’s acquisition of the company.

Founded in 2005, ikoo, E-Marketing then, has become the largest online advertising network in the Arab world, combining more than 120 websites from across the region, a network that attracts more than 35 million unique visitors, and serving more than 1.4 billion monthly pageviews.

Since its launch, ikoo has been establishing premium partnerships with the region’s leading portals and top publishers, enabling advertisers to reach their audience through themed sub-networks like sports, women, news, social media, automotive, business, and many more. In addition ikoo has positioned itself as an online advertising hub using the latest technologies in online campaign management from DoubleClick, a world-class advertising platform.

Khaled Jabasini, the founder and former CEO of ikoo, welcomed this acquisition and pointed out that ikoo will maintain its current position and will grow even further under the new management, “I’m proud today to see ikoo moving to Jabbar Internet Group, this is a big step for ikoo as it recognizes the success the company has achieved over the past few years.”

According to the new CEO Isam Bayazidi, ikoo will focus on expanding its network to embrace more publishers, and will work closely with advertisers and agencies on developing successful campaigns based on their needs.

Bayazidi was quoted: “when it comes to online advertising, ikoo is by far the largest advertising space on the internet in the Arab world, the company succeeded in building an audience of millions of consumers from all walks of life.”

As well, Bayazidi announced the merger of Kalimat, a contextual advertising platform, with ikoo. “This would enable advertisers to automatically place and control their text advertising placement within the ikoo network.” added Bayazidi.

Samih Toukan, CEO of Jabbar Internet Group, commented on the acquisition of ikoo’s network saying “This acquisition comes as a natural move for our group, online advertising is a growing sector in the Middle East and ikoo has succeeded to build the largest ad network in the region, our decision to venture into this sector comes as part of ambitious plans to revolutionize the Arabic internet.”
Providing a flexible advertising platform including CPM, CPC and CPA advertising combined with ikoo’s reach and powerful targeting, advertisers are guaranteed optimized targeted campaigns that will achieve maximum ROI.

Dubai, UAE, 24 November - LG Electronics (LG), a global leader and technology innovator in mobile communications, announces today the results of its 2009 Holiday Survey. U.S. President Barack Obama, UN ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie, Academy Award nominated actor Brad Pitt, DC Comic’s Superman and our parents have emerged as the world’s key heroes in 2009.
“Through our annual holiday survey, we wanted to highlight the heroic contributions people have made in society this year.” said Mr HS Paik, President of LG Electronics Gulf FZE. “As we enter the holiday season, we hope people will utilize LG’s Dear Hero website to send a word of encouragement to those unsung heroes in our communities.”

Peaceful Heroes and Superheroes
LG surveyed 10,737 from around the world, including the UAE, regarding what makes a “hero”. Participants were united in a desire for world harmony these holidays with 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama and a previous winner, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, dominating the votes. Obama claimed over 37 percent support to be named Global Hero for 2009, mirroring how we defined “heroic” with 35 percent singling out “contribution to world peace” ahead of “contribution to human rights” as our favorite heroic quality.

In the battle for Fictional Hero of 2009, Superman closely fought off Marvel Comics’ Spider-Man and Batman with 31 percent of the vote, but Australians preferred Marvel’s Wolverine and France, the iconic French cartoon hero Asterix. When asked about preferred actions of superheroes, “Bring world peace” and “Keep the bad guys off the street” were most popular.

Family also emerged as a strong theme in the survey with 38 percent selecting parents as Unseen Hero of 2009 ahead of fire fighters at 20 percent. The importance of family was reiterated through our choice of Jolie and Pitt – well known for their parenting and adoption – to head off media personality Oprah Winfrey as top philanthropic Celebrity Hero with 29 percent support, although musician and activist Bono was popular in Brazil, France and Mexico.

By nation, Nobel Prize winners featured prominently for heroism with both Hong Kong and Mexico choosing their country’s prize winner, respectively, as their National Hero while those who risked their lives were unsurprisingly seen as heroic with Australians selecting Victorian fire fighters and Taiwan saluting its heroes of Typhoon Morakot.

Messages to Our Heroes
Our attitudes toward expressing support to our heroes showed over a third of us (35%) in the UAE favored “Keep being such an inspiration to us all” as the most encouraging message to send to our global heroes and “Thank you for your tireless dedication” the favorite expression of gratitude to our unseen heroes (21%). In France, Spain and Mexico, a hug was also considered a worthwhile way to help the heroes in our lives but financial support was the least favored method around the world.

Survey Background
Running from November 6 to 20, LG Mobile’s second annual online holiday survey was conducted over five continents throughout the UAE, France, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. The survey also asked UAE participants for the LG handset that most suited their hero with the New LG Chocolate (LG BL40) topping the list of exciting new mobiles LG released this year that included the LG Arena (LG KM900), the LG Pop (LG GD510) and LG’s first Android smartphone, the LG GW620.

As a follow up to the survey, LG is offering everyone around the world the opportunity to thank their heroes and be in with a chance to win an LG handset. To send a personalized message of support to the heroes in your life this holiday season, please visit dearhero.lgmobile.com.

Survey Results
1. Who is your favorite comic book superhero?
1st Superman ——————————-31.4%
2nd Spider-Man ——————————19.9%
3rd Batman ———————————-19.6%

2. What is one favor you would like to ask your superhero?
1st “Bring world peace” ——————————————-24.6%
2nd “Keep the bad guys off the streets” ————————22.1%
3rd “Save the planet” ———————————————–18.0%

3. What qualifies someone as a global hero?
1st Contribution to world peace ——————————–34.7%
2nd Contribution to environmental preservation——————————17.8%
3rd Contribution to human rights —————16.9%

4. Who deserves to be the Global Hero of 2009?
1st Barack Obama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 2009 ——————37.6%
2nd Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize 1989 ———————–23.8%
3rd Bill and Melinda Gates, founders of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation —–22.5%

5. What is the most encouraging gift you could give to your global hero?
1st Thank you message ———————————————-36.5%
2nd Spending time with family ————————————–26.9%
3rd A big hug or a kiss ————————————————17.3%

6. What is the one thing you want to say to encourage your global hero?
1st You make a big difference ——————–34.2%
2nd You are my inspiration ————————18.4%
3rd Don’t give up, hang in there —————–13.6%

7. If you could work for your global hero for one year, how much would you ask for?
1st Nothing, I would work as a volunteer ——————–22.9%
2nd Over $300,000 ————————————————21.0%
3rd $50,000 ~ $100,000 —————————————–14.6%

8. Who is your favorite philanthropic celebrity hero?
1st Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt —————- 28.6%
2nd Oprah Winfrey ———————————-19.9%
3rd Audrey Hepburn ——————————–19.8%

9. Who is the most significant unseen hero in your life?
1st My mother and father———————— 37.8%
2nd Local fire fighters ——————————-20.2%
3rd Local volunteer workers ——————–19.0%

10. What would be the best way to express your gratitude to your unseen hero?
1st Sending a thank you message ——————–23.8%
2nd Lending a helping hand —————————–23.7%
3rd A big hug or a kiss ————————————20.4%

11. What is one thing you want to say to encourage your unseen hero?
1st I’m very proud of you ———————————17.8%
2nd You make a big difference ————————–14.6%
3rd You are the best—————————————-14.1%

“As a result of our deep understanding of our users and of the gap that exists in Arabic content on the internet today, we came up with this innovative concept that allows Arab Poets to create beautiful poetry online in a fun, challenging, and rewarding environment” stated Laith Zraikat, Jeeran’s Co-founder and Director of Innovation.

A “Sejaal” is a traditional activity that Arabic poets used to enjoy throughout ancient times.

This form of poetry has faded in the last century due to the invasion of modern lifestyles, as well as cultural dilution. The web site was specifically designed to replicate the real life experience of a traditional “Sejaal” and therefore revive this form by riding on the most popular medium today –the Internet- making it available to anyone, anywhere in the world.
“Sejaal adds new value to the Arabic internet and will contribute in increasing the amount and diversity of Arabic content, as well as increase internet penetration by drawing in a new crown of people to go online” Zraikat Added.

With the beta version launched earlier in January of this year and even though sejaal is still an invitation only site where only the good poets are allowed to join. This is very important in order to maintain the level of quality of the poetry at this very early stage; over 300 competitions were created, the topics of which reflected the general mood of events taking place in real life. For example, a competition on the sad events that took place in Gaza was started by Sejaal users through which the poets wrote 50 verses criticizing the attacks against Palestinians and encouraging the resistance of the Palestinian people.
Sejaal’s vision is to be the place for poets from around the world, and to provide poets with tools that help them express their talent and share their creativity with other poets and people online.

“Our mission is to make it possible for everyone in the Arabic speaking world to create content and share it with the world. We will continue to maintain and grow our leadership in Arabic user-generated-content by developing innovative services that enhance people’s lives and give them one more reason to get engaged” Concluded Omar Koudsi, Co-founder and President of Jeeran.

“Amidst a sense of falling off the cliff, it’s tempting to imagine this recession to be unique – and uniquely bad,” advises Fouad Abdel Latif, Managing Director. “However, flight is only one option. History shows many brands and companies have been successfully launched during recessions, while others have leveraged tough economic conditions to gain significant market advantage. At the moment there is a tendency for people simply to ignore the evidence.”

In order to inform CEOs, CFOs and CMOs, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide has published a booklet entitled Optimizing the marketing budget in recession. The booklet offers practical advice about the consequences of cutting, maintaining or increasing marketing spend. It draws upon Ogilvy’s understanding of winning during recessionary times and the latest research into best practice.

This booklet is the first in a series that Ogilvy will be publishing and posting on the newly launched website (www.ogilvyonrecession.com), along with other relevant research. Each booklet will draw upon Ogilvy’s experience across all disciplines and regions and will cover areas such as digital responses and retail marketing.

“While some companies do face real cash-flow issues, the option of winning marketing share in a recession by smart spending is open to most,” continues Fouad. “Making do with less involves not just setting a competitively sensible budget but using it more imaginatively in channels ranging from digital to retail.”

Ogilvy & Mather’s 360 Degree integrated offering is channel and practice neutral, and the agency has created a range of tactics tailored to local markets for helping clients discover the upside to the downturn. Client briefings will be held throughout the world, with the option of follow-up exploratory sessions to discover untapped opportunities.

One of the main reasons behind this is that the car companies all over the world invest considerably to highlight luxury features with the aim of bringing best benefits to customers. Thus, they take consideration of luxury as one of its guiding principles, looking always to bring the latest and most advanced luxury features in all models, whether for family, off-road, or city drive.

“Buyers, who used to ask about the price, speed of cars are now comparing cars according to latest interior design and luxury equipment and pick the ones that provide the best options for them and families. Luxury World Magazine has succeeded so far in shedding light on those said features” said Mr. Hassan Soukar, Managing Director of Luxury World Company & Publishing Director of Luxury World Magazine.

Luxury World Magazine is a printed publication marketed to the ultra-affluent that feature high-value products like sports cars, jewelry, mechanical watches, real estate, yachts, private jets and exotic vacations. The magazine’s editions are not available off the shelf, but have their circulation controlled either by subscription or by membership to a related club or organization.

“Whether it’s a revealing celebrity profile, a special feature on the chicest trends in design, cutting-edge fashion spreads or an in-depth review of the city’s hot spots, our magazine consistently engage the affluent reader”, Mr. Soukar added.

Luxury World is the premier luxury lifestyle publication in the UAE. With topics covering the most luxurious major fields, Luxury World Magazine excels in capturing the urbane metropolitan lifestyle.

Luxury World Magazine is the ultimate recourse for luxury life living and the pursuit of happiness. It is an upscale lifestyle magazine which shows people all of the incredible things that luxury products manufacturers has to offer that many people don’t know about.

The reduction in the fuel surcharge – the airline’s second cut in two months - applies to all four British Airways cabins: World Traveller (economy), World Traveller Plus (premium economy), Club World (business) and First.

And despite British Airways’ fuel bill for 2008/09 expected to rise 50 per cent from £2 billion to £3 billion this year – a daily equivalent of £8million - the move reflects the reduction in the price of oil and the airline’s fuel hedging policy for 2009/10.

“The lowered fuel surcharges mean Kuwait customers will save between KWD 12 and KWD 34 on return trips to London and North America, depending on their cabin of choice,” said Paul Starrs, British Airways’ commercial manager, Middle East.

“The decline in the fuel surcharge will see fares starting from just KWD 190 to London and KWD 280 return to the USA, including taxes, fees, and surcharges. The fuel surcharge further cuts represent great value for our customers flying from the Middle East,” added Starrs.

A full list of all fares and destinations are available online at ba.com – where the lowest fares for British Airways flights to London are guaranteed – and customers can book, pay and check-in online for their flights.

The new tool, “Visitors”, features statistics and charts of the number of visitors each page/blog receives, with the ability to track number of pageviews, top viewed content, visitors’ countries, and much more.

The launch of Visitors comes in line with Jeeran’s vision that aims to offer a unique user experience, where Arab users can enjoy convince and comfort while surfing and contributing to the web.

Jeeran, Arabic for neighbors, is a pioneer Arab online community that offers a variety of web 2.0 services including blogging, photo and video sharing, as well as web hosting, these services are backed with state-of-the-art technologies that powers a platform for individuals to create their own presence on the internet, with minimum technical knowledge.

Commenting on the new tool, Laith Zraikat, Director of Innovation and Co-Founder of Jeeran.com, said: “We are so excited about Visitors as it puts our users in control, it’s very user-friendly and easy to operate, and it doesn’t need any installation or technical efforts.”

Mr. Zraikat also added: “With the growing popularity of user-generated-content communities such as Jeeran, bloggers and websites owners, as well as photo and video sharing enthusiasts, are in need for a free and reliable tool to evaluate their contribution to the web.”

Over the past few years, the community of Jeeran grew-up to host more than one million active users, in addition to 650,000 websites, and a growing community of bloggers that exceeded 120,000 blogs, the largest blog community in the Arab world.

Omar Kudsi, Jeeran’s President and Co-Founder welcomed the launch of Visitors, and quoted: “Our tracking system is user-friendly and comes in both Arabic and English, which offers a convenient Arabic-language tool to measure visitors and traffic.”

Mr. Zraikat pointed out that Visitors is already available for all users on Jeeran without the need of any installation, he also stressed on the fact that many features will be added to the system soon.

Kudsi concluded: “We strive to offer Arab users a top notch web experience that empowers them to contribute, communicate and interact, and Visitors is just the beginning of a series of features and products in the pipeline.”

During the show, Luxury World Magazine has witnessed outstanding interest from local and international clients following the notable upsurge in luxury supplies and amenities.

Making its mark as a leading title and the number one portal for luxury lifestyle, Luxury World Magazine’s readers are expected to increase in the next year to the tune of 30 per cent.

“We look forward to welcoming our new readers & advertisers and we are confident they will find great value in this publication. As Luxury World Magazine continues to build up its position as a leader in the luxury lifestyle, the advertisers will be able to benefit by increasing their business, reaching valued clients, and networking with potential customers from across the region,” said Hassan Soukar, Managing & Publishing Director, Luxury World Magazine.

The manufacturers of luxury products from across the globe unveil their latest designs and concepts and showcase their widest ever range of luxury supplies and goods throughout the best ever luxury lifestyle portal.

“There has always been a significant demand for luxury merchandise in the Arab World but with the limited availability of these commodities most of the interest never materialized. As the region is witnessing a matchless renaissance, we are certain Luxury World Magazine will further build on its position as one of the most desirable luxury portal in the Arab world” continued Mr. Soukar.

Luxury World Magazine’s readers are ‘very high net worth’ individuals whose positions and lifestyles are reflected in the content of the magazine. The expected net worth of the Luxury World Magazine reader is impossible to quantify though a conservative estimate states that the publication reaches individuals whose combined worth is in excess of US$50 billion. In view of the retention value and long shelf life of each edition our conservative estimate of readership is in excess of 50,000 per issue.

“At Luxury World, we have seen an impressive increase in advertising and subscription rates, with many of these advertisements being carried out at the Emirates Boat Show International,” added Mr.Soukar.

Leading financial institutions promote their services alongside the manufacturers of the most elegant and expensive products, from luxury cars, boats and aero planes to some of the most stunning jewellery and watch creations in the world. The one thing these organizations have in common is the desire to access individuals who lead the luxury lifestyle and have the available wealth to purchase these products. Luxury World Magazine provides that access.

Work can be entered in TV/Cinema, Outdoor, Print, Radio, Interactive, Direct & Sales Promotion, Media and Integrated categories.

The jury, comprising of 29 creative leaders from 14 different countries, will come from across the globe to discuss and award the very best of advertising and communications creativity in the MENA region. Chairing the Media Jury is Richard Beaven, Worldwide CEO of Worldwide Initiative, whilst the Direct, Sales Promotion & Interactive Jury will be presided over by Dylan Taylor, Creative Director of BMF Sydney. The TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor and Radio Jury President will be announced shortly.

The Dubai International Advertising Festival now in its 2nd year will see an extensive 3-day programme of topical seminars and workshops, exhibitions and young creative competitions. Prizes will be awarded at the much anticipated Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony on 17 March 2009. The Festival takes place at the brand new Palladium complex located in Dubai Media City.

Established in 2007 by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival organisers, Dubai Lynx is now the premier creative advertising event and awards in the Middle East and North African region.

Initially launched as an awards ceremony, Dubai Lynx now offers a full festival program of seminars and workshops to mirror the successful Cannes format.

The 3rd Dubai International Advertising Festival, incorporating the Dubai Lynx awards, will be held 15-17 March 2009 at The Palladium, located in Dubai Media City.

BWM Dubai’s Managing Director Anthony Dalton said it was an honour to be recognized as the agency of choice by the world’s leading advertising awards organisation.

‘Dubai Lynx has become the region’s most respected festival and awards ceremony for the communications industry, so it is a tribute to BWM’s global standard of work that we’ve been chosen to promote the event for three years running.’ he said.

‘In 2009 our founding partner and Executive Creative Director from BWM in Sydney, Rob Belgiovane, will speak about the incredible changes in mobile content communications. Rob was also a judge at the inaugural Dubai Lynx in 2007.’

BWM’s work with Dubai Lynx has included strategic development of annual campaigns that have evolved from messages of ‘career enhancement’ and ‘recognition’ in 2007, to a ‘learn to win’ message in 2008.

The soon-to-launch 2009 festival campaign will focus on the strong networking opportunities and inspirational ‘connections’ that the event provides delegates.

Dubai Lynx Festival Director Steve Lane commented on the successful and longestablished relationship with BWM, ‘BWM have worked with us since the launch of Lynx.As with any good Client-Agency relationship, when you keep working together with someone for this long it ensures they really understand your business. Most importantly, of course, they are still with us because they have consistently delivered high quality work.’