OMD Middle East adds regional awards to global treasure chest

It was awarded three wins at the MENA Cristals, while its clients came out of the Gulf Marketing Review's 2008 GEMAS with three wins, including the Gold Grand Prix.

The international jury awarded a Media Cristal to OMD in three of the seven categories that received an award. OMD won in the Banking & Finance category for its take-over of 7Days for Barclays Bank, in the Women category with the product integration/sponsorship of Perfect Bride by Kellogg's and with Cheetos' 'Chester the Presenter' operation in the Young People category. There were 36 entries in the long list and no award was presented in three categories. No other agency received more awards.

The MENA Cristal Awards, produced by 2C Associés, awarded media prizes for the first time this year. Running since 2005, the competition recompenses the best advertising work from the Middle East and North Africa, following similar rules to the Meribel Ad Festival and the Central Europe Cristal Awards, which are organized by the same company.

"These awards are a testament of the tremendous talent in and around our agency. None of this would be possible without teams and clients who embrace creativity and innovation in thinking and execution," commented Eric Bequin, regional managing director of OMD MENA. "We are immensely proud of the recognition of our peers, be they local, regional or international. We see these awards as an incentive to do even more to demonstrate that OMD is about delivering tangible business results through 'more, bigger, better ideas, more places, more often'."

"At Barclays, we place a premium on innovation and collaboration, and both were on display during this campaign. OMD, Impact BBDO and our own internal teams put an enormous amount of effort into this. We're exceedingly proud of the hard work and creativity of the individuals and teams who made our retail launch a success," added Barclays Bank's manager of community affairs, internal communications and corporate affairs, Umayma Abubakar.

"OMD constantly strive to deliver creative, innovative and cutting edge solutions for Kellogg's. It is fantastic that this pioneering move into branded content has been given the recognition and reward it deserves," commented Will Brockbank, head of marketing at Kellogg's Middle East.

Earlier, the GEMAS judges also named Barclays Bank as winner in the 'Best Product Launch' and 'Best Integrated Campaign' categories and awarded it the Gold Grand Prix, the most prestigious award of the night. SAMA, from Saudi Arabia, was also highly commended in the 'Best New Brand Launch'. More than 80 entries made it to the short list.

"It is tremendously heartening to see our work pay off for our clients," commented Shadi Kandil, general manager of OMD Dubai. "These awards are particularly important in that they recompense the total sum of the work on a brand and looking at the effectiveness of the campaigns. We're very proud of these stunning results, both in the market and at the Awards."

The GEMAS 2008 comprised of 12 categories that embraced the different marketing functions deployed by companies in the Gulf, from print, broadcast and online advertising to PR and sales promotions. The GEMAS were launched in 2004 and have established a strong reputation for their objectivity, integrity and impartiality.

OMD Middle East has always seen innovations and creativity in media as a significant differentiator. Last year, it introduced OMD Ignition, its thought-starter unit, to work with planning teams on client assignments and generate a creative response to their brief. The network also created the OMD Creative Masterclass to inspire both clients and staff on media innovations, running two events a year.