The 11th edition of the MENA Effie Awards has announced its shortlist in the run-up to its awards ceremony, expected to attract 2,000 attendees on Nov. 6 at the Coca-Cola Arena Dubai. With significant interest in this year’s awards, the organizer noted a 25 percent annual increase in the number of entries, assessed and shortlisted by 130 judges during the first round of deliberations on Oct. 6 to 9th. This year’s award winners will be decided by an expert panel of judges who will assess the 275 shortlisted entries across 35 categories.
Alexandre Hawari, CEO of Mediaquest — the organizer of the MENA Effie Awards, said: “We are delighted with the high caliber of entries this year, which have demonstrated the exceptional level of innovation and creativity that we look for in our award winners. For marketeers in the MENA region, 2019 turned out to be challenging in many ways, especially in terms of tighter budgets; but the entries also demonstrate that marketing professionals have faced this challenge successfully by rebalancing their media mix.”
The MENA Effie Awards aim to establish a gold standard for creative marketing brilliance in the region, and is supported this year by The Choueiri Group as the main sponsor.
Julian Redman, head of marketing at Dubai Asset Management, said: “We had the privilege of reviewing a number of campaigns which demonstrated an advanced use of data and insights to generate leads and improve revenues for those particular products and services. The increase in AI, data management platforms and advanced programmatic targeting has transformed the industry.”
Asif Iqbal Memon, marketing director at Unilever Maghreb, added: “This year, what we loved about the campaigns we reviewed was the specific focus on data-driven marketing and the increased shift toward purpose-led advertising.”
The MENA Effie Awards 2019 program included new categories this year such as Food, Beverages, Health Care Services, Household Goods Supplies and Services, Snacks and Desserts, David vs. Goliath, four Positive Change categories for Environmental Brands, Environmental Nonprofit, Social Good — Brands and Social Good Nonprofit, two Sustained Success categories for Products and Services and two Small Budget categories for Products and Services.
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The winners will be selected from a total of 275 shortlisted entries across 35 categories, and announced on Nov. 6.
Alex Malouf, communications head at Protect & Gamble, said: “The MENA Effies are the standard by which marketers are judged, both on creativity as well as effectiveness. There was a strong focus on data-driven campaigns this year, as well as online audience targeting.”
Winning an Effie has become a global achievement symbol, and participants will be battling it out for the Grand Prix, as well other accolades including “Marketer of the Year,” “Most Effective Advertising Agency Office of the Year,” “Most Effective Media Agency Office of the Year” and “Most Effective Agency Network of the Year.”
The official English Media Partner of the event is Arab News.