Ad Blog Arabia

“Where were you?” campaign for Sept. 11 in US

As the anniversary of September 11, 2001 approaches, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is launching a campaign entitled “Where were You?” and have set up a website for it which has already collected thousands of stories.

The idea comes from TBWA/Chiat/Day. The ads will be part of a national campaign to raise money for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.

Via [AdPunch].

1 comment September 4th, 2006

Does Zidane drink? Kronenbourg think so.

To begin with, I typically never blog about alcohol advertising.

Our blog is, after all, called Ad Blog Arabia

However, I will make one or two exceptions a year, and this is one of them.

Just look at this Kronenbourg Beer advertisement. If you were living on the face of this earth on 9 July, then you will have witnessed the now famous ‘Zidane Heabutt on Materazzi’ in the World Cup 2006 Final.

Well, Kronenbourg show you what Zidane did in the dressing room afterwards to cool-down.

Next question: Does Zidane drink? Should Kronenbourg have sought his permission for this ad?

Via Advertising/Design Goodness.

71 comments August 23rd, 2006

Faces for Lebanon: Major media push in Kuwait

Yesterday, a solidarity campaign under the name Faces for Lebanon was launched in Kuwait, with press ads in Al Qabas and Assyasah and a campaign booth in Sharq mall. The campaign is centered around the a website, faces4lebanon.org, which aims to collect the largest possible number of images of people’s faces and their messages of human solidarity.

According the the campaign’s organizers:

faces4lebanon.org seeks to demonstrate the solidarity of people with Lebanon and the Lebanese people. Millions of people around the world are calling for an immediate halt of all acts of aggression against Lebanon, and the humanitarian catastrophe that is worsening everyday.

faces4 lebanon.org aims to spread the words of millions who want to send a message to the world that they are against all acts of violence and aggression. By publishing your photo on faces4 lebanon.org, you will contribute to the buzz we want to create globally and attract as much media attention as possible in a highly civilized and unique manner. Furthermore, your contribution will document the world’s solidarity with Lebanon and the widespread infuriation from this aggression on Lebanon.

Conceived and developed by toot, and supported by the Kuwaiti Ebsar Media Holding Group, the campaign will push ahead in the coming few days with online, outdoor and press ads as well as events.

1 comment August 10th, 2006

The ‘great PR gathering’ in Dubai

If you don’t like PR people, don’t be in Dubai from September 17 to 20, 2006

Because, its the time of the ‘great PR gathering’ of public relations professionals from all over the Middle East, and many from around the world.

The Public Relations Congress 2006 is organized by IIR Middle East in association with the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) and is sponsored by LG Electronics and MediaStow and the official PR partner is Orient Planet.

Now here’s something interesting: There will be a ‘PR Professional Of The Year’ competition.

Any ‘pro’ can present his/her credentials for this award, through online registration forms that can be accessed at the PR Congress site.

Should be interesting!

5 comments July 31st, 2006

Doha 2006: The next big sporting event

With the World Cup finished, the next big sporting event to witness a possible ‘advertising circus’ could be the 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, to be held between 1 and 15 December, 2006.

The sponsorships are not complete yet, and seem to be missing the usual international consumer brands.

The event’s Prestige Partners are Qatar Airways, Qatar National Bank, QTel and Samsung. Official Partners are General Electric (GE), Tissot, Pocari Sweat and BeanPole.

More sponsors and partners are on the way, but where are the typical sports sponsors like Coca Cola or Pepsi, McDonald’s or even a car company?

Also, so far, it’s not clear what kind of advertising revenue can be expected from the Asian Games, but Al Jazeera Sport will be broadcasting the games live, around-the clock for two weeks. As will some terrestrial channels in the region. That’s a lot of TV air time!

In any case, the advertising campaign for Doha’s Asian Games is shaping up nicely.

Check out a TV commercial here that ran a few months ago and visit the 15th Asian Games website where there are more commercials and promotions.

1 comment July 12th, 2006

World Cup over, did German ad industry benefit?

And with that head butt by Zidane, the World Cup 2006 in Germany ended.

What was the impact on Germany’s advertising industry? Surprisingly very little. A report by Reuters suggests that the World Cup gave the German advertising market little to cheer about.

Apparently, ad spending in Germany is expected to only grow by 1.6 percent, up from 1.2 percent in 2005, some of which can be attributed to football-themed print and outdoor campaigns.

But with most matches being shown on public channels, advertisers were left unable to take advantage of TV coverage. In fact, ZenithOptimedia expects less year-on-year growth in German TV ad spending in 2006 — 1.5 percent — than the year before, when it was 1.8 percent.

Naturally, many sectors in the German economy did, in fact, benefit greatly from the World Cup. You can expect the income of the hospitality, restaurant, transportation and telecommunication industries to have experienced massive leaps in income.

So, apart from the advertising industry, it’s all good news for Germany.

Onto South Africa 2010.

1 comment July 11th, 2006

Six sponsors for World Cup 2010. Guess who?

It seems like we blog about Emirates airlines everyday.

It’s not our fault. They’ve got a very active marketing communications strategy, with a huge budget!

This is not a new story, but it’s being highlighted now by media in the UAE amidst the World Cup hysteria.

Emirates will be one of just six sponsors for the next two FIFA World Cup tournaments, in 2010 and 2014, at a cost of around $100m per tournament.

Emirates becomes the sixth and final FIFA Partner, joining adidas, Hyundai, Sony, Coca-Cola and Visa.

The current tournament has 15 sponsors, including Emirates, with each sponsor reported to be paying between $45 to $50m.

Read the story at the Yahoo! World Cup site.

5 comments June 29th, 2006