This year, FP7 Doha won Gold and Silver in the Press category, and a second Gold in the Outdoor category, making it the first agency from Qatar to win at the Cannes festival and also the only advertising agency, ever, from the Middle East to win two Gold and a silverLions in a year. The agency also had the highest number of campaigns shortlisted among all global agencies participating at the festival, with over 30 pieces of work chosen by the judges.

The agency’s victory at Cannes is a step towards FP7′s plans to reinforce its position as both a creative and effective force in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where the FP7 Network, headquartered in Dubai, serves many multinational brands as well as a large selection of the region’s best homegrown brands.

FP7 Dubai also won at Cannes, with Silver in the Print category, giving the FP7 Network the most wins at the Cannes Lions in 2008, among all agency networks in the MENA region.

The Cannes festival is the most prestigious international event of its kind and each year for a fortnight Cannes turns from the playground of the rich and famous to a playpen for the world’s most talented creative minds.

Fortune Promoseven’s network president and chief executive officer Fadi Salameh said, ‘The acknowledgement we’ve received for our efforts across the MENA region is great – especially what we have heard from our network offices and from our clients. It is a memorable moment on our journey forward and is definitely a sign of the years ahead for FP7.’

FP7 Doha managing director Charbel Mezher says ‘Everyone keeps asking if this will help our business. Yes. We are in the business of creativity and this win will help us a great deal. More importantly, however, we have to prove that we can maintain these standards and the Gold Lions will help us by attracting more prodigious talent. Everyone knows Qatar is booming. So, for us looking forward, it is also about getting ready for the next stage of the boom and playing a central role in the future growth of the FP7 Network.’

Fadi Yaish, FP7 Doha’s creative director, adds: ‘In different parts of the world there was always one agency and one network that pave the way and lead the region for a way forward and FP7 will be leading MENA region for more international recognition year after year which helps the region on all levels. And most importantly we will be leading the way to the future of advertising. I don’t think anyone from anywhere could have any excuse anymore. We have proved that anyone can do it and from anywhere. FP7 was writing history at Cannes and FP7 will be writing the future.’

The program was initiated by the group’s Growth team and was led by Damian O’Malley, Chief Strategic Officer for McCann WorldGroup, EMEA.

During the two day workshop, O’Malley shared several major win strategies that have helped McCann win major advertising business in Europe. He guided attendees through McCann’s revised and re-energized ‘Demand Chain’ proprietary module. Planners from KSA, Morocco and UAE (Abu Dhabi & Dubai) who attended the workshop are expected to implement this module in local markets across the region.

After attending the workshop, Fadi Salameh, Network President & CEO said, ‘Today, Advertising Communications is about insights and knowledge. Our ideas come from insights, from genuinely and passionately understanding the brand, the consumer and everything that happens in between.’

‘Promoseven’s recent mega award winning streak at Dubai Lynx has been recognized and attributed to clever insight strategies, in-depth understanding of the Middle Eastern consumer and brands but, above all the connections between them. This workshop is one of the several Strategic Planning driven think tank sessions that the agency has planned for the year,’ added Salameh.

During the workshop, the agency’s planning department focused on the mechanics, new methodologies and the importance of gathering, harvesting and learning from a wide range of market research. The group discussed the value of insights from products, demographics, habits, consumer and purchase behaviors and how they can be used for idea generation on a day-to- day basis.

‘This workshop is part of McCann WorldGroup’s global initiative to integrate with our local teams and introduce them to our international best practices. We have successfully used our proprietary tool – the ‘Demand Chain’ – in global markets and are confident that it will enhance the output of our planners in the Middle East,’ concluded Damian O’Malley, Chief Strategic Officer for McCann WorldGroup, EMEA.

Twenty teams from all over the UAE competed, each consisting of a Copywriter and Art Director, all with their sights set on representing the UAE in the International Young Lions Competition at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in the south of France. It is the largest gathering of worldwide advertising and marketing professionals, as well as featuring advertising’s most prestigious awards.

The teams had 9 hours to produce first class work by responding to a very topical brief form the Department of Civil Defence to educate the public on the dangers of warehouse fires. They had to produce a press advertisement or A3 poster to increase public awareness on the risks warehouse fires pose to life, property and the environment. The call to action was to be vigilant and educated about warehouse fire safety precautions and regulations.

Captain Pilot Othman Mohammed Ahli, Director of Al Quoz Fire Station, who was on hand to present the awards, said: ‘It is great to have the young creative minds of the UAE competing to raise awareness of this extremely important message. The quality of work was outstanding.’

The prizes were also presented by the Managing Partner of the Motivate Group, Mr Ian Fairservice, with the winners being flown to the South of France as guests of the Motivate Group. In addition, the Motivate Group will also be sponsoring Ms Reem Captain, a UAE National and final year communications student, to attend the prestigious Roger Hatchuel Academy conducted by keynote speakers at the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival.

The winning teams were as follows:
GOLD: Rafael Rizuto and Tuline Malecki from Memac Ogilvy were the front runners, scooping the Gold award, and will proudly represent the UAE at the Cannes Competition in June.
SILVER: Timsy Vadhani and Karuna Murthy from Brandcom claimed the Silver prize.
BRONZE: Shaun Dean Thomas and Joanna Chaker of Fortune Promoseven were awarded the Bronze.

The excited winners will now plan their trip to Cannes in France where from the 15-22 June they will represent the UAE at the 55th Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. They will join at least 30 teams from around the globe and vie to win the prestigious Cannes Lions Young Creative Award.

For the 6th year running, Motivate Publishing and Motivate Val Morgan Cinema Advertising, the official Cannes Advertising Festival representative, hosted the event.

Sponsors who made this event possible were: The International Advertising Association premises for the venue and catering; Xerox for all colour printers and paper; Arab Business Machines Ltd (Apple IMC ME) for Apple Mac computers and monitors; Adobe for design software and Gallo Images/Getty Images for the image library.

The network ranked number ONE in the Creative Rankings with the highest total of 223 points.

Fortune Promoseven agencies won in TV/Cinema, Print, Outdoor, Radio, Direct and Agency of the Year categories. The wins included a Grand Prix award – which honors the best in breed in each category. Fortune Promoseven Seven Doha and Dubai were the leading winners overall in the region, while entries from Beirut, Cairo and Kuwait also took their share of honours at the most prestigious advertising industry awards in the region.

‘This is a milestone victory; I am immensely pleased with our success at the Dubai Lynx 2008. These awards cement our position as the no.1 creative and successful network in the region,’ said Fadi Salameh, President and CEO of the MCN Network. ‘The local and international recognition from our peers in the industry is a testimony to our creative team’s hard work and, the faith and trust our clients have placed in us.’

‘Our work has always been solid. There are numerous campaigns we work on every day that we didn’t enter, that are winners in their own right. This is just the beginning of a journey, as the creative standards in the region are being challenged, each and every client and each and every brand we work on will gain from this momentum,’ Salameh added.

Fortune Promoseven agencies picked up one Grand Prix (which went to Fortune Promoseven Doha), 7 Golds, 5 Silver and 15 Bronze awards. Mr. Tariq Al Saffar, Managing Director for Fortune Promoseven Bahrain, said: ‘We have every reason today to stand creatively proud. I would like to extend the warmest congratulations to the creative teams and the entire network for this success, also to our clients who have given us the opportunity to create, excel and win. The bar has been raised. It will be a tougher job next time, I think we’re going to have fun…’

Fortune Promoseven agencies won in TV/Cinema, Print, Outdor, Radio, Direct and Agency of the Year categories.

The wins included a Grand Prix award – which honors the best in breed in each category.

FP7 Dubai and Doha were the leading winners overall in the region, while entries from Beirut, Cairo and Kuwait also took their share of honours at the most prestigious advdertising industry awards in the region.

‘This is a new Promoseven’ beamed Fadi Salameh, President and CEO of the network. ‘We’ve proven to the industry, to our clients and to ourselves that we are a leading, a winning creative force.’ he added.

The massive Promoseven contingent at the awards ceremony held at the Dubai Convention Centre couldn’t stop cheering as the winning teams kept going on to the stage time after time. At one point, the guest MC asked them to ‘might as well pull up a chair and just stay on stage’.

‘Our work has always been solid. There are numerous campaigns we work on every day that we didn’t enter, that are winners in their own right’ Fadi Salameh added.

‘This is just the beginning of a journey for us, as more and more, the creative standards are raised in the region, and each and every client, every brand will gain from a breed of new creative people who constantly deliver the best there is out there’ he said.

Fortune Promoseven agencies picked up one Grand Prix (which went to FP7 Doha), 22 Golds, and a huge amount of silver and bronze awards.

Azmi Yafi, CEO of Dubai operations said ‘We have every reason today to stand creatively proud, and would like, once more, to extend the warmest congratulations to the creative teams and the entire agency for this success. The bar has been raised. It will be a tougher job next time… I think we’re going to have fun…Onwards and upwards!’.