Dubai, UAE, April 29, 2014: The awards just keep on coming for leading media agency Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG). On April 23, the media giant garnered a total of three honors at the inaugural MENA Digital Awards – including two Silver trophies for Best Use of Video and one Bronze for Social Brand of the Year. In effect, this year, for its third edition, the Digital Media Forum (DMF) launched an awards ceremony – which aims to recognize excellence in the region’s digital sector – held at Dubai’s One & Only Royal Mirage.
The awards continue a winning streak for SMG in 2014. SMG kicked off the year with two Media Agency of the Year wins – one at the MENA Cristal Festival and another at the Dubai Lynx Festival of Creativity. More recently, in April, SMG scooped up Gold awards for adidas and Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management (ADMM) campaigns quickly followed by an international award for adidas at the Festival of Media Global in Rome.
Now, SMG has secured industry-wide acclaim once again at the MENA Digital Awards for its OREO ‘Twisting it Saudi Style’ and GMC ‘Lissa Mawjo’oud?’ campaigns – both of which clinched Silver awards in the Best Use of Video section. Thanks to its Emirates NBD ‘From I Hate my Bank to I Actually Love my Bank’ campaign, SMG also took home Bronze in the ‘Social Brand of the Year’ category.
“It is great to have received such recognition from the MENA Digital Awards – the first event of its kind here in the region to center exclusively on digital excellence,” said John Antoniades, Chief Executive Officer of SMG MENA. “In a region where 40% of the population is under 35 – and adopting the internet at 23% growth per year – we believe digital content and strategy is the way forward for our clients. That is why, we have, in recent years, re-engineered SMG to fully integrate data, digital and multi-platform content capabilities.”
He also added, “Now, the emphasis is on scaling those digital capabilities for our clients more often, in more spaces – and faster.”
About Starcom MediaVest Group
Starcom MediaVest Group MENA is the Human Experience Company. We believe experiences matter. They enhance lives and build brands. We bring brand experiences to life through SMG’s three global award winning agency brands: Starcom, MediaVest and Spark. Ranked the number one global media network in billings in the world by RECMA, SMG (www.smvgroup.com) encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, investment specialists, content creators and digital & technology experts. With over 8,000 employees in 130 offices worldwide, SMG partners with the world’s leading companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Samsung and Walmart, among others. The network has enjoyed annual double-digit growth across the MENA region since its launch in 2000. Among its regional clients are P&G, Samsung, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Almarai, Saudi Telecom, Tiffany & Co., Emirates NBD, adidas and Kraft Foods. In 2013 and 2014, SMG was named Dubai Lynx Media Agency of the Year. In 2014, SMG was awarded the Festival of Media Global Network of the Year award for the second year in a row. SMG is part of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40], one of the world’s leading communications groups.
Samer Marzouq
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