Ogilvy

Axe | Embellish your relationship status

editor — Thu, 19 May 2011 00:48:59 -0700

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Tunisia

Unisono Bahrain appoints Scott Abbott as Creative Director

editor — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 02:34:09 -0700

Scott Abbott, Creative Director at Unisono

Unisono, Bahrain’s leading independent full-service agency announced the appointment of multi-award winning Creative Director Scott Abbott. As leader of Unisono’s creative team, Scott will provide brand inspired creative direction and mentoring to the growing creative department as well as creative counsel to the management team.

“Scott’s incredible portfolio demonstrates his ability to deliver multifaceted, brand centric solutions and provide exceptional creative leadership to his team, helping further drive our vision forward,” said Liam Farrell, Executive Creative Director of Unisono.

“Furthermore, Scott’s ability to create visually stunning websites, powerful brand identities, and striking integrated campaigns has earned him multiple awards. Over the years, he has worked with many of the world’s leading global brands including Vodafone, Optus, Adidas, Manchester United, Audi, Woolworths Australia and The Yas Hotel in Abu Dhabi. More recently in Bahrain, he worked on Batelco and BBK.”

British born, Scott grew up in South Africa and started his career at Ogilvy, Johannesburg before returning to his birthplace to work at M&C Saatchi in London. An accomplished career there saw him rise to Senior Art Director, before itchy feet took him to M&C Saatchi’s Sydney office. Again promotion followed and he became Head of Art. The offer he couldn’t refuse then came as Creative Director of Bates Sydney and he worked there until returning to the UK as Creative Director of Iris Worldwide in Manchester. Scott then accepted another swift promotion opportunity to become Global Creative Head of Ripe in Leeds, before embarking on his first Middle East role as Creative Director of Intermarkets Bahrain. His reputation for establishing good agency/client relationships externally and building team spirit internally soon caught the eye and ear locally and hence he was offered his new position at Unisono.

Upon his appointment at Unisono, Scott stated ‘In spite of an uncertain local, regional and indeed global climate, progressive clients will always advertise in difficult times and it will be these that we will be servicing and targeting. We aim to ensure we create a genuine competitive advantage and perpetually engaging work for our clients.” He added, “I am very excited by the talent and passion at Unisono and I intend to ensure this enthusiasm spills over into our clients’ worlds and creates the momentum to drive Bahrain forward.”

Vitaene C | Sumo

editor — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 00:00:29 -0800

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Dubai
Creative Director: Ramzi Moutran
Art Director/Copywriter: Sascha Kuntze

Tunisiana | 5th birthday

editor — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:45:41 -0800

Advertising Agency: Ogilvy, Tunisia
Executive Creative Director: Nicolas Courant
Creative Director/Art Director: Yvan C. Goudard
Copywriter: Michele Pithey

Via [ Ads Of The World ]

Yvan Goudard: Froggystyle, advertising without borders!

editor — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 04:32:55 -0700

Yvan Goudard is an accomplished creative professional with more than eighteen years experience, covering Tahiti to Afghanistan, North Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He is responsible for delivering creative TTL campaigns, and well-known for being a 'freelance creative cell' in winning pitches.

Q. Who have you worked with in the Middle East?
A. I joined McCann Riyadh in 2004, and then was promoted a year later in McCann Jeddah. After three years, I moved to the UAE where I joined a regional agency. After a couple of months, I decided to leave them and I started to freelance under the name of Froggystyle, an autonomous "creative cell". For the past few years, I got the chance to work with a wide range of international agencies such as TBWA, Ogilvy, JWT, Draft FCB to name a few, in the GCC but also in exotic countries such as Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Egypt, Tunisia and more. I also work with smaller local agencies, like most recently Bob’n Bab Lebanon, and directly with the clients.

Q. Is you specialty mainly a copywriting or creative?
A. I do both. I started with art but my major in France was literature and philosophy, so I like to work with words as well. But I wouldn’t limit specialties to the art/copy couple. First and foremost, it is a state of mind, curiosity, the ability to identify yourself with the target, knowledge of the market, understanding marketing needs …etc.

Q. Tell me some campaigns that you are proud of in the Middle East
A. A favourite of mine is the TVC’s we did for ADWEA (Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority) with French Vision in Abu Dhabi. They had a very low budget and crazy deadline, but it was a great challenge. I also really enjoyed working with TBWA on Etihad Airways.

Q. What are the main obstacles to producing top level creative work?
A. The issues we face most are the lack of planning and weak marketing. Very often we don’t get any research or if we do it’s very little, except on large budgets. Another issue is the lack of consumer insights; quite often the decision-maker chooses the creative work based on his personal preferences rather than solid consumer data. There are many stories to tell, like one client who was showing some corporate ads we did to his kids and his maid, to see if they would understand it, and give us feedback on their comments, while it was targeting decision-makers of large corporations. Another issue I am facing, is that very often I hear clients telling me they don’t have a budget for photo shoots, or even stock images. It can sometimes be frustrating.

Q. Do you see good work coming out of the Middle East, compared to Europe, for example?
A. The region produces some pretty good work, and there is also a lot of trash, like in any market really. I often hear creatives complaining that they would be less restricted elsewhere, but the thing is that there is censorship in every market, and that includes Europe. You can’t just put anything anywhere. Agencies like Tonic Communications or The Classic Partnership proved that the region can produce world class advertising.

Q. What's the difference between working as a Creative Director for network agencies and freelancing as a "Creative Cell".
A. The good thing about freelancing for agencies, is that they call me to solve an issue. It makes you a “short-time hero”, relieving them from a specific problem. What I like about freelancing is that 70 per cent of it is pitching for new clients, so the conceptual thinking and executions are less restricted by final production constraints. When it is directly with clients, then there is not much difference except that here I can focus 100% on one job and I don’t face the interruptions of the daily routine of an agency.

Q. What do you think of all the Creative Directors and Designers starting to work on the web?
A. The web is a media that MUST be taken into consideration. As far as I am concerned, I believe it should be part of any media plan. I don’t really like to segregate online and offline. Each media answers specific needs and reaches a specific target. TV, outdoor, BTL are also important vectors of information. The web is part of the big media family and should be treated as such.

Q. Tell us about froggystyle.biz, is it an online portfolio or just an experiment in blogging?
A. I started off with a website to showcase my work, as an online portfolio. I spent months putting things together, developing everything myself in my spare time. Then, as new work needed to be added to my portfolio, I found it difficult to keep it constantly updated, so I started to put my work in a blog format as a temporary measure, creating a “blogfolio”. Then I found it so practical and, in return, it gave me so much positive feedback that I kept it that way. It is interesting because I can get direct feedback from all sorts of people, including the targeted audiences for each ad.

"Brand Activation" & "The Last Mile" concepts begin to proliferate in the region

editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:43:15 -0800

Specialists say that "Brand activation" is not just a theory; it is a natural step in the evolution of brands. Advertising agencies worldwide have been taking up this catchy phrase which seems to be similar to "360 degree communication" and the now recent addition of "The Last Mile" of communication.

What's it all about? Every agency has a different take on it. Ogilvy are the latest to announce it, so read here to find out what they mean!

OgilvyAction takes regional marketers to The Last Mile

editor — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:41:50 -0800

The Memac Ogilvy Group in Dubai launched a new company in the Middle East, called OgilvyAction.

The launch is significant for businesses because OgilvyAction will be the first company in the Region that specializes in the 'The Last Mile™' or the path along the decision to purchase.

With studies showing that anywhere between 40 - 70 percent of purchase decisions are made in the store, OgilvyAction enables marketers to cut through the clutter and reach consumers at key moments of truth, ultimately to influence their actions at the point of purchase.

OgilvyAction will help drive sales and brand equity in what they call 'The Last Mile™ - the distance a consumer travels between an attitude and an action'. They develop communications which ensures that their clients' brands are the ones chosen by shoppers, whether the purchase decision takes place in the street, at events, online or in-store.

The company's brand activation ideas and practices already have achieved outstanding success for major businesses around the world. Now, OgilvyAction is coming to the GCC for the first time, starting with Dubai, UAE.

With an escalating GDP of $600bn in 2006 and a population of 34 million, the GCC stands as the world's 17th largest economy*. As the economy booms, so does the level of sophistication in retail environments, with the Gross Leasable Area (GLA) expected to exceed 130 million square feet by 2010*. Given this rapid growth, OgilvyAction believes that today, marketers are coping with the transition from low-end grocer to high-tech, one-stop shops with a consequent shift in buying habits and overall consumer behaviour.

Whilst some changes are a global phenomenon, others are uniquely local. For example, with the development of high-end shopping malls in all major parts of Middle Eastern cities, a regional trend of 'mall shopping' has become a part of the consumers' lifestyle. The dominance of mall shopping has led to more experiential communications to reach potential buyers. It is also the reason why, in this market, the point of purchase experience is so key in converting shoppers to buyers.

Mr. Moutran founder and CEO of Memac Ogilvy states, 'We have brought OgilvyAction to the Middle East because we see a big need for these specialized 'Last MileTM' services and experts in consumer behaviour and activation. The growth potential for such services is so extensive that we expect to grow from 8 employees in the UAE to 20 employees by April 2008 and across 10 markets in the next 3 years. OgilvyAction is a proven expert on driving sales and building brand equity by favorably influencing consumer purchasing patterns. It is all about the 'big' brand idea that is communicated to consumers at various touch-points to steer consumer behavior along the path to purchase. Whether it's sampling, point-of-sale material, retail merchandising or experiential marketing.'

Steve Harding, CEO, EMEA, OgilvyAction added, 'OgilvyAction begins the process by analyzing the relationship between the brand, the shopper and the retailer. Then we develop insights using our proprietary planning tools such as MarketAnalytics and ShopperAnalytics. These tools enable the measurement of not only the impact of messaging i.e. clarity, quality, distribution and trade compliance of in-store communication, but also allow the importance of the various touch-points along the final path to purchase. These insights provide invaluable information on the impact of the brand's messaging during The Last Mile™.'

Richard Woodward, Business Director, OgilvyAction concluded, 'MarketAnalytics and ShopperAnalytics, both allow reporting at a summary level, various segments (channel, region, retail group, salesman or distributor territory) all the way down to the individual outlet, giving brands both visibility and insights on what is really happening at the point of purchase.'