A new travel resource for the region, Joob.com, currently in its beta version, has appointed a consortium of Omnicom Group agencies to handle its brand communications requirements. In addition to the digital team at Omnicom Media Group, who will lead on the account and manage digital and social media as well as search marketing, PHD and DDB will be handling traditional media and creative strategy and deployment respectively.

Omnicom Media Group will also provide research and analytics services.

The decision of award the account to the Omnicom agencies, following a two-way pitch with another holding, is based on the need for seamless integration of all the disciplines, with digital at the heart of the solution. As an online business, Joob.com will obviously rely heavily on digital media communications but it certainly won't stop there.

"As a start-up, it is critical we get it right from the beginning and this appointment is the outcome of a thorough process to identify the best set of experts in their field and the optimal service solution," said Mazen Abou Hatab, head of marketing at Joob.com.

"We were not only looking for specialists who can support us individually but also people who can work together as a group to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We found them at the Omnicom Group and we're convinced that they will manage the significant resources we're dedicating to this venture in the most effective manner," he added.

"We're driven by challenges because they stimulate us in many different ways. A new business proposition like an internet start-up is a great opportunity to draw on all our resources to ensure it fully takes off," commented Dimitri Metaxas, regional executive director-digital at Omnicom Media Group.

"It is very refreshing to work with a client in this position because we're faced with a blank sheet of paper, building from the ground up. We're totally fired up by this and everyone in the group is raring to go," added Metaxas.

Shehzad Younus, Group Creative Director of DDB Dubai, added, "Joob.com have presented us with a massive opportunity to develop powerful creative work and to flex our 'social creativity' muscles across the region. They have ambitious plans and together we hope to develop engaging ideas that people want to play with, participate in and pass along."

The appointment is effective immediately.