Mediastow, the Middle East’s leading media intelligence firm, won the Amec  Communication Effectiveness Award 2008 in the ‘Best Use of Integrated Media Evaluation/Research’ category.

It is the first company in the Middle East to win the prestigious honour, said an official spokesman.

The award is recognition of Mediastow’s work for Aldar Properties in which they integrated media coverage with surveys looking into the trust perception of the public for Aldar and their competitors, in an effort to optimise Aldar’s PR programme.

The International Association for Measurement and Evaluation of Communication (Amec) is a global trade body and professional institute for agencies and practitioners who provide media evaluation and communication research.

Founded in London in 1996 with just seven members, Amec has since grown into a trade body that defines and develops the industry on an international scale with better professional standards for both companies and individuals.

“To be recognised on a global level is truly a great honour for us,” said CEO of Mediastow Mohamed Elzubeir.

“We are very proud of our work with Aldar Properties. It is the result of our efforts to demonstrate industries in the Middle East that there is a way to measure the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. We are thrilled that our hard work has been recognised by an institution as prestigious as Amec.”

Now in its seventh year, the awards programme offers a unique opportunity to showcase excellence in media evaluation to the global communication industry. The programme is open to practitioners across the PR and communications industry with special categories for consultancy, in-house communications departments and Amec members.

The entries are judged by an independent panel of communication professionals from academic, consultancy and in-house backgrounds.

“We teamed up with Mediastow because of their fresh and innovative way of evaluating communication activities,” said corporate communications manager of Aldar Properties Shamma Al Nuaimi.

“The analysis that Mediastow allows us to understand exactly how our messages are impacting specific demographics.  These inputs have been invaluable to our public relations and marketing programs.”

Mediastow is a Dubai-based media intelligence consultancy that tracks and evaluates media coverage and public perception to offer in-depth market analysis to a variety of clients. – TradeArabia News Service