Istithmar wins Banker Middle East Award for Advertising and Marketing Campaign

Istithmar's campaign was chosen among fierce competition from some of the top global and regional financial institutions and banks at an impressive ceremony organised by Banker Middle East Magazine in Bahrain. Istithmar's award-winning campaign was conceptualized and created by Bates PanGulf -- the region's leading integrated marketing communications company. Now in its sixth year of publication, Banker Middle East is the undisputed 'voice of the industry' for the fast growing Middle Eastern banking sector and part of the reputed CPI Financial Group.

The winners were selected through a ballot process put together by Banker Middle East, where readers -- basically CEOs and chairmen of companies in the region -- voted for the best marketing and advertising campaign. Istithmar was named winners through a final nomination process, which were evaluated by a world-class judging panel consisting of representatives from rating agencies, consultancies, card schemes, solution providers and banks.

Mr. Abdul Rahim Saad from Istithmar, received the awards, presented jointly by Mr. Paul McNamara, Managing Editor of Banker Middle East, and Mr. Nigel Rodrigues, Chief Operating Officer of CPI Financial.

In his comments on the prestigious recognition, Mr. Muneef Tarmoom, CEO of Istithmar, said:

"The prestigious award confirms our strong standing in the regional market as we maintain our dominant position in the alternative investment sector with our vast array of services and forays. Our advertising and public relations campaign helped us build on our brand reputation and put forth a unified, coherent message that communicates our distinct investment philosophy, business strategy, progressive thinking, community pride, innovation and quality."

In his comments on the award, Mr. David Jackson, Chief Investment Officer said: "As the leading player in alternative investments, Istithmar has taken giant strides with forays into different sectors of late. Our core strength has always focused on creating new ideas and opportunities, guiding investments and building transparency and we are happy that this award will provide the vital impetus in line with our vision, development fundamentals and result-oriented initiatives. Special thanks go to Bates PanGulf for bringing forth our vision and ideas in a creative way."

The campaign sheds light on Istithmar's action-oriented strategy and extends the core essence of the establishment, expressing its emotive and physical attributes. It centers on the three core "I" investment philosophy - Ideas, Inquiry and Integrity and the marketing collaterals uniquely reflected its strengths, innovation and vision.

In his comments on the awards, Mr. Aziz Memon, Sr. VP at Bates PanGulf, said: "Once we had Istithmar's differentiated "I" investment philosophy to work with, the creative task became quite simple. With Istithmar's audience being the global leaders of finance and business, we needed to ensure that our campaign was perfectly at home within the environment of premier international business publications. We'd like to thank Istithmar for encouraging us to develop quality work."

The awards ceremony was held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel & Spa in Bahrain, under the patronage of Bahrain Financial Harbour and the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Bahrain, with the support of the Bahrain Monetary Agency (BMA). CPI Financial is the region's leading financial publisher with practitioner-focused publications aimed at the leading market segments.