Dubai, UAE, March 16, 2014: Earlier this year, leading media agency Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) won big at the MENA Cristal Festival – receiving the highly-coveted Media Agency of the Year Award, among a slew of other accolades. Now, the group has once again been crowned Media Agency of the Year, this time at the Dubai Lynx Festival of Creativity – and for an unprecedented fourth time.
This year marked the annual event’s eighth edition; the Awards ceremony took place on 12 March at Madinat Jumeirah’s Madinat Arena in Dubai. The win further cements SMG’s market-leading position – making it the only agency ever to garner the prestigious title this many times; the group was also named Dubai Lynx Media Agency of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2013 and now 2014.
“We are so proud to be the only four-time winners of the Media Agency of the Year Award,” said John Antoniades, Chief Executive Officer of SMG MENA. “The Dubai Lynx is the Middle East’s leading festival for creative excellence in advertising and media – and so, there truly is no greater honor or higher industry recognition. Receiving this title is a testament to SMG’s award-winning performance which has, over the years, allowed us to expand market presence and produce ground-breaking work. On this special occasion, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our clients and agency partners for their support and loyalty.”
In addition to the Media Agency of the Year win, SMG took home Silver in the Young Lynx Media competition category. The contest provides a platform for young creative talent from across the MENA region to shine on an international stage and showcase their cutting-edge skills. The initiative saw teams respond to a brief from a social enterprise in a mere 24 hours. The SMG team performed outstandingly – demonstrating unparalleled creative leadership in media, strong business acumen and in-depth market insight.
At this year’s festival, SMG also joined forces with Adopt-a-Camp – a UAE-based social enterprise founded by Saher Sheikh – to activate a live CSR brief designed to improve the lives of the UAE labor force. The collaboration was part of SMG’s Future Leaders of Marketing Program. First inaugurated in 2013, the program brings together 20 marketers – working in client organizations across various industry sectors – and aims to equip them with the right expertise and best practices to be future leaders of marketing.
About Starcom MediaVest Group
Starcom MediaVest Group is the Human Experience Company. We believe experiences matter. They enhance lives and build brands. We bring brand experiences to life through SMG’s global agency brands: MediaVest and Starcom. Ranked one of the largest brand communications groups in the world, Starcom MediaVest Group (www.smvgroup.com) encompasses an integrated network of human experience strategists, investment specialists, content creators and digital experts. With nearly 7,800 employees in 110 offices worldwide, SMG partners with the world’s leading companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods, P&G, Samsung, Walmart, among others. Among its regional clients are Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Almarai, Saudi Telecom, Tiffany & Co., Emirates NBD, Adidas and Mondelez. SMG MENA- the top media shop in the region in terms of billings by RECMA, the leading independent global monitoring and ranking source, has also recently been named ‘Media Agency of the Year’ at the 2013 Dubai Lynx festival.
SMG is part of Publicis Groupe [Euronext Paris FR0000130577, CAC 40], one of the world’s leading communications groups.
Samer Marzouq
Digital Media Superhero, Online Marketing Pro, Mad-Men Fellow, Tech Junkie, Advertising Whiz, Chief-Blogging-Officer, Bilingual Copywriter, Amateur Photographer
