OMD proves its effectiveness at the Gemas Effie Mena 2009

Etihad Airways' 'Got To Go India' campaign received both the Grand Prix-High Commendation and the Gold award in the 'Travel, Tourism and Hospitality' category. The campaign, which promoted special fares to India from the airline's global network of destinations, delivered an impressive set of results, far exceeding the expectations for a low booking season. It featured a ground-breaking first in digital media.

For Doritos and its launch of a mystery flavour before it was revealed as Hot Salsa, OMD took the teaser/revealer format to new heights, taking consumer excitement to fever pitch and producing stunning results in Saudi Arabia, where sales went through the roof. It was rewarded by the international jury with a Silver in the 'Best Youth Marketing Campaign' category and a Bronze in the hotly contested 'Food & Beverages FMCG' category.

In that same category, Kellogg's Special K's 'Drop a Jean Size in Two Weeks' campaign received a Silver award. Here again, very high consumer engagement levels ensured the campaign struck the public's imagination and generated record sales.

"We've always believed that all our efforts in generating valuable insights, differentiating strategies and innovative ideas only serve one purpose: delivering tangible business results. We're very pleased that the Gemas Effie MENA awards now allow us to demonstrate that we indeed do deliver on this promise. This is even more crucial when times are hard and every dollar has to work harder. The credit for these awards not only goes to our teams, who stop at nothing to perform, but also to our clients, who push us to deliver,"

enthused Shadi Kandil, General Manager of OMD Dubai.

"We're particularly pleased that Etihad Airways' digitally-led campaign won a Grand Prix-High Commendation. This shows that the medium has achieved a level of maturity allowing us to deliver such excellent results. Doritos and Kellogg's are also fantastic examples of the successful integration of traditional with digital media," commented Christian Fedorczuk, OMD's Group Director-Strategy & Development.

"Creativity for just innovation's sake is sterile. We have worked very hard to ensure our creative spirit is harnessed to produce the business results clients are after. This result is a huge validation of that work," added Nick Tapley, Director of OMD's Ignition unit.

A key dimension of these awards is the validation of the campaign's performance, highlighting the need for advertisers to work closely with all their agencies to assess results and share them for learnings.

The Gemas Effie MENA awards are the result of a collaboration between Gulf Marketing Review, published by Mediaquest, and the Effies, who developed GMR's Effectiveness in Marketing Awards (GEMAS) in the region's Effies. They are now part of the 39 national and regional Effie competitions, applying its strict judging criteria.

The GEMAS were first introduced in 2004, while the Effies go as far back as 1968. The winners of the Gemas Effie MENA awards were chosen by panel of regional and international marketing experts among 68 shortlisted entries, from more than 200 that were submitted.