Cream of region's advertisers honoured

Dubai: Saatchi & Saatchi stole the show on Monday night at the first annual Dubai Lynx international advertising awards, winning Middle East agency of the year and taking home 20 awards.

At a glitzy awards ceremony at the Dubai Media City amphitheatre, more than 1,000 guests saw the region's best work in TV, print, radio and online recognised for highly creative ads which ranged from bold and thought-provoking to witty and hilarious.

One of Saatchi & Saatchi's simple yet award-winning ads was "Undo", which took home a Grand Prix print award for Olay anti-ageing cream. An all-white page featuring only the "Control" and "Z" buttons of a keyboard sitting in the bottom right corner, the ad referred to a computer command that undoes the last action.

"It's a very simple ad that rather wittily embodies the promise of the product to help people look younger," Ed Jones, creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi in Dubai, said of his ad. "It's the kind of ad that takes readers a half-second and then they say, 'Ah yes, I get it - how cool."

With a panel of judges hailing from outside the region, Dubai Lynx is produced by the same company that organises the Cannes Lion Festival, considered the Oscars of the advertising world.

Tonic Communications took home four gold and one bronze award from the event, including a gold for its Nando's Restaurant ad entitled "Ramadan Kareem." Displaying a taste of local flavour, the funny ad showed a hungry young man holding a Nando's meal to his lips as he anxiously watched the sun begin to set during Ramadan.

"We're very happy to have received two golds in the TV category, especially Nando's, which could only have come out of this region," said Vincent Raffray, creative director and partner of Tonic Communications. "It's nice to see that sort of work being recognised by international judging."

A total of 1,679 entries submitted were winnowed down to a shortlist of 388 ads, from which Dubai Lynx awarded 111 trophies.

Dubai agencies won 88 awards, underscoring the emirate's role as the emerging powerhouse in the Middle East and North Africa advertising industry.

Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia each took home seven trophies and Bahrain won two.

Scott MacMillan, editor of Communicate, an advertising, marketing and public relations magazine, said Dubai Lynx has already become the top advertising awards show in the region due to its affiliation with the Cannes festival and the way it brought in international judges.

"This one has credibility simply because it barred all local market participants from the jury," MacMillan told Gulf News.

While he said the region still had a way to go to catch up with the quality of ads found in more mature markets, he said quite a few stood out.

"Ads should be smart and funny, but not over people's heads," he said. A winning print campaign by Saatchi & Saatchi for La Vache Qui Rit cheese portrayed the consequences of healthy kids eating the vitamin-rich cheese. In one ad, an Incredible Hulk toy hobbles around on a crutch.

"The ad dealt with subject matter everyone will get," said MacMillan. "Whether you're a European guy, a Saudi mom, you'll get that kids play with toys, and that the cheese had so many vitamins the kids broke the toys."