The stars came out for the Campaign Agency of the Year Middle East Awards last night.
At a glittering awards ceremony at Dubai’s Fairmont The Palm the biggest names in the industry came together to honour the best of the best.
Impact BBDO took home the best creative agency in the Middle East award, while its chief creative officer Ali Rez won the award for top creative leader.
Rez is a high-profile name in the industry and was recently named the first ever jury president at Cannes Lions to represent the Middle East.
Publicis won big at the event with Bassel Kakish, CEO at Publicis Groupe MENAT, winning the award for the best head of agency.
Manoj Khimji, Managing Director at The MediaVantage (right) with Bassel Kakish
Nathalie Gevresse, CEO at Publicis Communications UAE, won the award for outstanding woman in advertising or media, while Tahaab Rais, chief strategy officer at Publicis Groupe MENAT, won best strategic leader.
The Publicis Groupe also won the best corporate communications team and new business development team.
The best creative team award was won by Kapil Bhimekar and Divyan Kriplani from Leo Burnett Middle East.
Khaled Al Shehhi, Executive Director Marketing and Communication of UAE Government Media Office, was the chair of judges and gave a passionate speech about the thriving advertising industry to a packed audience.
The Campaign Agency of the Year Middle East Awards are prestigious and highly recognised awards that focus primarily on business results, reward the best agencies by region and specialism, while celebrating the best people and teams in advertising, marketing and media.
The judging process is incredibly comprehensive, covering not just creative output but business growth, new business, workplace culture along with diversity and inclusion.
Other notable wins saw Gambit Communications take home the award for best agency in the UAE, and UM EGYPT scoop the best media agency for the region.
The full list of award winners will be published online, with photos and interviews from the awards appearing in the December issue of Campaign Middle East.
The awards were sponsored by DMS and The MediaVantage.
This is the second annual edition of Agency of the Year Awards Middle East which have grown exponentially with a record participation of 52 unique agencies this year, a 33 per cent increase from last year.
There were 39 different agencies shortlisted, a 28 per cent increase from last year and overall there was a 36 per cent increase in entries from last year.
“These strong growth numbers show the success and strength of these awards in this region,” said Campaign Middle East publisher Nadeem Quraishi.
