The Middle East advertising market is buoyant despite the threat of a global economic slowdown.

This is the verdict of managing director of Al-Khaleejiah Advertising & Public Relations Bander Asiri.

Al-Khaleejiah was the category sponsor at the Dubai Lynx advertising awards.

“It’s the first time we’ve participated in the Dubai Lynx and we chose a great year to begin our relationship. The standard of entries was superb, the quality of attendees was excellent - and it was a valuable opportunity to reiterate our commitment to advertising creative excellence as one of the region’s most important ad sales companies,” said Asiri.

Al-Khaleejiah, a subsidiary of the Saudi Research & Marketing Group (SRMG), sponsored the print media category at the second Dubai Lynx, the Middle East and North Africa Advertising Awards for Creative Excellence.

The awards were the signature event of the first Dubai International Advertising Festival which ran from March 31 to April 2.

“Al-Khaleejiah is the ambassador for 17 of the region’s most established titles – and their success goes hand in hand with the growth of Middle East advertising. To have a delegation of top editors representing our parent group at the Dubai Lynx awards’ night showed our strength as an organization and added further credibility to our belief that creative excellence must be celebrated,” added Asiri.

Records were broken across the board as Dubai Lynx 2008 received a total of 2,023 entries, 300 more than last year, and handed out 180 trophies to winning submissions.

Reflecting its leading industry position, the print category was the strongest performer with 45 winners. The overall Print Grand Prix went to FP7 Doha, underlining Qatar’s growing commercial status.\

The UAE remains the regional advertising hub and more than 70 per cent of the awards went to UAE-based agencies, with JWT Dubai crowned ‘Agency of the Year’. Regional excellence, however, did not go unrewarded. Leo Burnett Cairo won the TV/Cinema Grand Prix, and the agency’s counterparts in Beirut earned the Outdoor Grand Prix.

The winning work at second Dubai Lynx was judged by 29 top international creative and media experts from 17 countries. The jury for the print section of the awards was headed by executive chairman and national creative director for Ogilvy and Mather, India, Piysuh Pandey.

The festival staged workshops, exhibitions and screenings aimed at giving creative inspiration, learning and networking opportunities to the advertising and related industries in the region. – TradeArabia News Service