It is widely known that Qatar is a booming hub for many industries such as Oil and Gas, Construction, Real Estate, and Education. Qatar also has a sincere desire to be the host of a number of future international events from the world of business and sports. In fact, increasing foreign direct investment and government regulations are set to encourage as much as 17% economic growth in 2010!

These goals, and the fact that the market is open to new and innovative ideas with a need for fresh talent, has inspired O2 Network to build a new office inthe capital city of Doha, Qatar! Qatar already ranks high in advertising spending by which it grew by 12% over the past year, bringing the total ad spending to $402 million. The growth of the public relations industry has also been exceptional, which in 2009 grew nearly 25% despite Qatar maintaining its ranking as fourth in the GCC for most advertising expenditures.

O2 Qatar is a representative office for O2 Bahrain and is working closely with the creative teams, administration and HR departments in Dubai and Bahrain. O2 Qatar will also be working in association with offices in Abu Dhabi in the production of creative designs for the agency’s latest clientele. A number of major projects are already in the pipeline, andin just a few weeks of operations the future appears bright for O2’s latest regional expansion!

Continuously launching festivals and celebrations throughout the year, Abu Dhabi Municipality engages individuals of all ages and backgrounds in the capital. In an effort to target the youth segment of the society, the Abu Dhabi Municipality initiated the Ajial program to encourage individuals to enhance their physical as well as their mental wellbeing. A strong program with a positive message, O2 Marketing Communications was really excited to learn more about the project and was selected to work on the Ajial campaign in January 2010.

The first major cooperation was in Khalifa Park in the city of Abu Dhabi from the January 31sttill the February 13th. The event offered participants a variety of activities and gave them an opportunity to engage with others to learn something new. The activities were divided into five zones that consisted of games, arts and crafts, music, sports and a fun fair. Some of the activities include wall climbing, music bands on stage, face painting, karaoke, magic and clown shows, to name a few. All in all it was a fantastic collaboration that saw hundreds from around the Emirate come together in the spirit of fun and learning! If you didn’t get to see the action at Khalifa Park, keep an eye out for future events from Abu Dhabi Municipality.

Interactive. Entertaining. Information.

This is our inspiration for launching the newsletter version of PR2Live, a monthly review of the most exciting stories to hit the world of marketing communications! Unlike other publications which focus strictly on business gains and commercial news, PR2Live highlights the cultural trends shaping the content of the Middle East’s mass media environment. From new technologies to seasonal holidays, regional festivals to industry exhibitions, it’s all about sharing your world at PR2Live.

O2MC Dubai recently partnered with the Department of Economic Development in the advertising and branding of the group’s Consumer Rights Campaign. Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment(DEPE), as an agency of the Department of Economic Development (DED), works to ensure quality shopping experiences for UAE customers and encourage the retail sector to comply with the consumer protection law to build overall customer satisfaction.

The position of Dubai as a shopping hub in the region has been well known for the last 15 years when the Dubai government and the retail sector came together to launch the first edition of Dubai Shopping Festival. This year, the emphasis was clearly on consumer feedback and making sure that retailers and consumers were living up to their full responsibilities. According to a recent DEPE interview with Khaleej Times, the organization said it should be very clear that by protecting the consumers, the DEPE is in fact protecting the retail industry as a whole.

As part of the Consumer Rights Campaign, O2 supported the DEPE in communicate the group’s messages to public audiences throughout a variety of creative designs for the campaign, including logos and outdoor advertisements.

With a background in retail promotion campaigns, Nariman Najjar, GM of the O2MC team, said that the Consumer Rights Campaign was a great chance to reinforce social values and the Government’s commitment to excellence in the retail sector, which it succeeded in doing during DSF 2010.

It was an extraordinary year for DSF as the festival celebrated its 15th anniversary in elegant fashion. Millions of dirhams were given away. Thousands attended events throughout the Emirate. Hundreds of events were going on during the festival, and O2 was the agency standing proudly behind several of the largest festivals of the season.

The DSF Jumeirah Beach Residence ads were a huge success, and thousands of onlookers also saw the advertisements used for the campaign in Al Rigga. O2 was also a part of the weekly Carnival series including the incredibly popular ‘Creations’ fashion event, which this year was rebranded at Dubai Mall by O2. Getting back to our childhood roots, the Ben 10 “Power of the Omnitrix Show” brought out the inner cartoon within us all, and additional advertisements were done for the Khor Dubai events. Rounding things out with the Little Big Club concert, it was a whirlwind season of events for O2MC. See everyone next year!

Operating under the Executive Affairs Authority in Abu Dhabi, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) was developed as an independent federal agency located in the UAE that is charged with the regulation and licensing of all the nuclear energy activities happening in the country. With its participation in the development of a peaceful civil nuclear power program, FANR has public safety as its primary objective. Since the beginning of its launch several months ago, FANR chose O2 Branding as its first and official branding agency to create the corporate identity for the agency.

In the last quarter of 2009, the O2 Branding team started its collaboration with FANR and began its first set of brand audits, outlining a comprehensive brand activation strategy. The O2 Branding team created the corporate identity and the entire stationary design of the authority including the logo, letter head, envelopes, brochures, and additional brand material. The cooperation between O2 Branding and FANR has so far proven very successful, and the agency looks forward to working with FANR as the authority gains momentum locally and in the wider GCC region.

GACA (General Authority of Civil Aviation) has selected O2 KSA to develop the brand identity of the Saudi Domestic Airports and O2 has worked closely with the client to identify the branding challenge and new brand positioning. O2 has conducted several ‘Oxygen’ session workshops after which we found the right direction for the logo. After designing the logo, we could then start on activating the brand by creating the collaterals, from gates branding to uniforms to the airport signage. The collection of these materials was the biggest challenge for us, and so far the client has been very pleased with the creative direction of KSA’s domestic airports, which will continue to be developed in the coming months by the O2 team in Jeddah.

In an important step in its expansion strategy within international business and finance capitals, O2 Network is proud to announce the launch of a new global office based in Hong Kong! The team will meet the increasing demand for creative services in the region and build new businesses in one of Asia’s largest markets. According to Mohammed Johmani, Founder of the O2 Network, the goal of the expansions is to strengthen an industry which is witnessing significant growth but also strong critique and evaluation.

“It’s all about showing value for your services, and that evidence has become increasingly important in light of the worldwide businesses challenges faced during 2009,” says Johmani. “This will be the foundation of our strategy entering into Hong Kong as the demand for communication consultancy services remains strong.”

The launch of O2 Network in Hong Kong, one of the pioneer business capitals in South East Asia, is the first of the company’s Asian offices and is seen as a strategic gateway into regional markets including the world’s second largest economy China. The new O2 office will offer a comprehensive portfolio of the network’s services, including market research, PR consultancy, advertising, branding, and interactive web products.

As more and more expats migrate to the UAE, its only natural that some of their native institutions follow suit. The New York Film Academy in Abu Dhabi is just one example of the many renowned educational bodies that has come to the capital in the past couple of years to train those interested in the world of media and film.

The New York Film Academy (NYFA) was founded on the philosophy that “learning by doing” combined with best industry practices is more valuable than years of theoretical study for filmmakers and actors. This educational model allows students to achieve more in less time than at all other acting and film schools in the world.

The New York Film Academy is honored to be the acting and film school of choice of many Hollywood filmmakers and actors who have sent a son or daughter to study with them. They include Steven Spielberg, Al Pacino, Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, and even Bono from U2!

NYFA’s accelerated two year fine arts degree are structured for students who want intensive training from award winning faculty using professional facilities and equipment starting their first day of classes; better preparing them for a career in motion picture and entertainment industries.

For those that are considering college or looking to sharpen their skills, the film schools and acting schools offer evening filmmaking workshops, and acting workshops. The academy also hosts summer film camps and acting camps throughout the world that are designed for high school students.

If you were here ten years ago, something like this would sound like a far off dream (in fact it was for many aspiring film students). With institutes like twofour54 and NYFA growing, plus the newest CNN international headquarters being established in the capital, the sky is the limit for those looking to break into the biz in the UAE capital.

Once again we couldn’t help ourselves but to highlight the exceptional work of geniuses at Google (or rather their advertising agency). All in all this is a fantastic ad; simple, honest and heartfelt. Many can relate to this experience, and it rings true to anyone who has ever explored a new city by looking online. The only thing that we feel brings the ad down is the last couple of searches as if all of life’s journeys ultimately end in two things, marriage and a child (come on, a baby’s laugh? It’s a little cheesy). We personally would have liked the final text be in French, which would have shown off a whole lot more of Google’s actual capacity then trying to leave viewers with a shallow family-friendly ending. We understand the target that this is going after, and despite the end, overall it succeeds brilliantly.