Archive for October 19th, 2006
Amman’s municipality, which recently underwent a management change, has been busy working on measures to improve the city’s aesthetic image. In recent years, billboards, in all shapes, forms and sizes, have had a a big impact on the city’s facades and streets. Rooftops are crowding each other out on major (and minor) intersections.
Now, the municipality wants change. It seems that various forms of rooftops will be banned. THere have been several inconclusive meeting between the Greater Amman Municipality and the billboard companies. The two sides now seem on collision course.
Read more about Amman’s billboard controversy here.
October 19th, 2006
Creatives who mainly work in Arabic are frustrated with the lack of variety when it comes to Arabic fonts. Many ads end up looking the same. Type can be a great differentiator for a brand. It’s a tool that is underutilized in the Arab world.
But some young type designers are coming to the rescue.
360east has something to report:
..just a few days ago, Hussein Naser, my designer colleague at SYNTAX, sent me an email alerting me to the site of Mohamed Hacen.
I looked at the fonts Mohamed is creating and I was simply delighted! The man has several fonts on display, all of which are downloadable as trial-ware. Like the font after initial usage, then pay for it.
This is extremely courageous. Piracy has prevented investment in Arabic type. But while that’s true, the lack of initiative by designers is just as responsible for the dismal state of Arabic type. Now here’s someone who designed a bunch of VERY interesting modern Arab fonts and has put them out there in the open so that people can test them.
Here are some of the font:
Casablanca
Liner
Lebanon
Read more on 360east.
October 19th, 2006
It is well known that direct comparisons in advertising between your product and a competitors is not OK in many counties. But recently I’ve seen ad ad in Jordan’s English language daily The Jordan Times promoting Jordan Telecom’s special international calling tariffs (under the Weinak card brand) to the subscribers of Fastlink.
The Fastlink name was even mentioned in the ad’s headline.
Clearly there is no comparison being made her between two products, yet it is the first time that we see such a practice being adopted. I can’t recall a similar case in Jordan.
This is quite an aggressive move by Jordan Telecom. Essentially, they are trying to lure away international calling business from Fastlink. And they are being upfront about it.
Have you ever witnessed something like this in your market. Adblog Arabia readers would be interested to know 
October 19th, 2006
Apparently this is a log change and not a full re-branding of Cisco. The change took effect earlier this month.
Here is what identity guru Tony Spaeth wrote on his site identityworks about Cisco’s new logo:
Identityworks: Reviews - 2006 - Cisco:
Cisco brand officer Gary McCavitt had long struggled with the bridge-in-a-box logo, a mark difficult to use, difficult to put on products, and dated in personality. In October, 2005 he retained the typemaster (and logo designer) Joe Finocchiaro to explore alternatives; and Joe, recognizing the importance of the project, generously proposed adding corporate brand designer Jerry Kuyper to the team. CEO John Chambers approved Gary’s design initiative, imposing one condition: “the DNA of our bridge must be retained.”
Read more impressions on 360eat.com.
October 19th, 2006
Forbes Arabia, the Dubai-based Arabic edition of this well-known business magazine, unveils its first-ever listing of the Top 40 Arab Brands in its November issue.
Arab companies that cater to markets throughout 19 Arab countries were eligible for the list. To identify the Top 40 Arab Brands, Forbes Arabia factored in customer perception, and how well companies adapt their brand to a changing market environment.
An exclusive online survey was conducted for Forbes Arabia by U.K. market research firm YouGov that drew on consumers from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
Al Jazeera ranks number one in Forbes Arabia’s Top 40 Arab Brands list, followed by Emirates and Almarai. Represented industries include media, airline, retailing, real estate development, leisure, food and beverages, and cosmetics.
October 19th, 2006
Via [Twenty Four]
October 19th, 2006
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