The first quarter of 2010 has been an exceptional time of growth and expansion for the O2 Network. From India to England, the individuals joining us this quarter are an exceptional group of professionals coming from a diverse business and cultural background. Below is just a brief look at the latest generation to join the O2 family.

Sara Johnson / O2 Network has recently joined O2 Network as the Human Resource Manager. Sara has been in Dubai a year and a half, moving from her home country of UK. At O2 Network Sara is responsible for managing the HR needs of a staff of 80 and developing the O2 talent whilst identifying new opportunities for growth in line with local and regional talent pools.

She previously worked at IIR Middle East as Resourcing and Development Manager focusing mainly on training, development and recruitment. Prior to this, Sara worked as a Human Resources Business Partner for several retail companies in the UK, which include The Carphone Warehouse and Asda. Her primary responsibilities included; developing company policies and procedures, advising and coaching managers on all aspects of employee relations and employment law, training and development and employee branding. During her time at Asda, they won the prestigious “Number 1 Company to work for in the UK” awarded by the Sunday Times and was involved in many HR initiatives including recruiting people over the age of retirement and the refer-a-friend program.

Sameh Nassif / O2 Networkjoins O2 Network as an IT Executive where he supports the entire network of offices in solving IT challenges. From systems maintenance to hardware purchasing, Sameh is involved in almost all IT projects and is a Microsoft Certified System Engineer and a Cisco Certified Network Associate. Before joining O2, Sameh was with GITEX Computer Trading where he was responsible for configuring networks and routers, responding to customer service requests, and marketing GITEX services during industry exhibitions.

Ricky Cheung / O2 Hong Kong joins O2 Marketing Communications as Head of Creative based out of the newly opened Hong Kong office. With 15 years experience in the industry, Ricky has worked on some of the most prized accounts in Hong Kong, including HSBC, Dragonair, and AIG. Most recently joining O2 from ABRACadABRA in Hong Kong, he has also worked for agencies such as JWT, DDB and Bates. He has won a string of awards in the market including several recognitions by Times International Chinese Advertising Awards. At O2 in Hong Kong, Ricky will lead the new office in developing inspiring campaigns that connect vibrant sound, visuals and animation.

Remelee Gonzales / O2 Bahrain is an Executive Secretary at O2 Marketing Communication sin Bahrain. She has worked in an enormous variety of organizations from healthcare to IT to advertising. Both professional and extremely down to earth, she can accomplish more in one hour than most CEOs and has a way of making her very tough job look incredibly easy. Most recently working at Encyclomedia, Think Media, she is a seasoned IT technician and is literate in several design and web programming software. If that wasn’t hard enough, she even has the time to run marathons for fun!

Omar Kuwatly / O2 Marketing Communications is a Senior Account Manager at O2 Marketing Communications. Omar has been living in the United Arab Emirates for about 10 years, and he has five years experience in advertising. All of that has enriched his knowledge about the UAE and the regional market. In his previous job at Hakuhodo, he handled well-known clients such as Panasonic Electronics and Honda Motors. Just before he joined O2 Marketing Communications, he worked at Saatchi and Saatchi Middle East, handling Proctor and Gamble (Ariel – Laundry in GCC), Mashreq Bank, RTA, and Novartis Consumer Health. In addition to advertising, Omar is a wealth of knowledge about popular culture and media technology, and enjoys sound production in his free time. He holds a bachelors degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing/Advertising and Management of Information Systems (MIS).

Zainullah Khan / O2 Saudi joins the O2 Marketing Communications team in Jeddah, KSA, as the office’s leading Art Director. Zainullah has over 15 years experience in the creative industry and has worked all over the world as a Graphic Designer and Art Director for agencies such as DDB and Synergy Advertising (PVT). From brand activation campaigns to POS advertising collateral, he has partnered with a variety of clients including CNVC, Mars Chocolate, LG and Siemens. At O2MC in Jeddah, Zainullah directs the office’s efforts to find creative solutions for the entire team’sclientele, ensuring adherence to brand standards and execution of multiplatform advertising campaigns.

Haseeba Kaddourah / O2 Marketing Communications is a Graphics Designer at O2 Marketing Communications in Abu Dhabi. Blending a love of photography, animation and design, Haseeba strives to provide thought-provoking content that is both functionally and artistically stunning. Before joining O2, Haseeba developed her knowledge of design and web applications working previously for outfits such as Wunderman and Team Young & Rubicam. Haseeba holds a Bachelor Degree in Visual Arts and Design from the University of Jordan.

Deena Qassem / O2 Abu Dhabi is an Account Executive with O2 Marketing Communications in Abu Dhabi. Planning account campaigns in cooperation with regional O2 staff, Deena is actively involved in market research, media planning and budget design. Her thorough knowledge of the UAE business scene is complimented by her literary skills and ability to communicate ideas with enthusiasm and clarity. Deena first got into advertising with Fortune Promoseven in Dubai before moving to agencies like Viola Communications and Asda’a Burson Marsteller. Deena holds a B.A. from American University of Sharjah with a double concentration in Advertising and Public Relations.

Mohammed Susiis / O2 Saudi an Account Executive with O2 Marketing Communications in the Jeddah office. A high-energy individual with extensive experience in sales and promotions, Mohammed first got into advertising working with Creative Advertising Thinking (CAT) in KSA where he was involved in media buying and designing strategic media campaigns including print and television content. He is a skilled negotiator who knows the value of media initiatives and how to maximize exposure and audience penetration whether it’s for consumer or B2B clientele.

Dalia Sharawi / O2 Marketing Communications is an Account Executive with O2 Marketing Communications in Dubai. Prior to joining O2MC, Dalia worked at Stargate (Osus Facilities Management LLC) where she contributed to the development of the Dubai entertainment destination as a Marketing Executive. With an eye for creative design and a sound knowledge of business administration, she first built her advertising knowledge during a stint at Team Y&R in which she followed lead accounts and assisted in project budgeting and execution. Dalia holds a BA in Mass Communication with a concentration in Advertising from the American University of Sharjah.

Barna Szoke / O2 Interactive is an exceptionally creative web designer and interactive media specialist, bringing with him a wealth of experience as Interactive Art Director at O2 Interactive. Barna offers extensive expertise in designing complex web systems and Action Script powered flash sites in both Europe and the Middle East. Barna formerly oversaw Eleven’s digital department and the building of a talented team of programmers and interface designers, ensuring that electronic media is integrated with the brand vision using the latest web standards.

Sanjai Nath / O2 Interactive is a Web Developer at O2 Interactive and a true 360°-multimedia designer. Sanjai takes pride in delivering compelling and attractive products to clients and is fluent in all major design programs across various operating systems. He enjoys working on projects that involve a mix of graphic design, programming, web development, database management, and 3D-modeling.He has a total of six years experience in this field, working for just over three years in India before relocating to UAE three years ago. Sanjai holds a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from MG University in Kottayam, India, and a B.Sc. from Anna University in Thirunelveli, India.

Masa Maleh / O2 Interactive supports the O2 Interactive team as a Senior Account Executive. Specializing in day-to-day business affairs, Massa is directly responsible for initiating new projects, defining successful outcomes from both a creative and business perspective, and ensuring that clients’ needs are met post-completion. Before joining O2i, Massa developed a sound knowledge of the local market working as an Account Executive with Team Young & Rubicam in Dubai. Massa holds a B.A. in International Business Management from Lebanese International University.

Ramshad Manikoth / O2 Branding is the resident design talent of O2 Branding, working his magic from the Dubai office of the O2 Network. Although still in the early days of his career, Ramshad has worked and provided invaluable input for numerous projects at the television channel Kerala Vision, Foradian Pvt Ltd and META Xperts. His prowess with conceptualizing and developing title animation, video editing, and special effects with 3D makes him an aspiring talent to watch out for. An artist at heart, Ramshad completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Calicut University, following which he pursued his passion for design by enrolling for a specialized course at ARENA Animation in Kannur, India.

Darine Chakra / O2 Saudi is an Account Manager with O2 Public Relations based in Jeddah and handles a variety of accounts throughout the region. In addition to four years experience working in public relations agencies in KSA, Darine has also spent time as a reporter and editor with several publications in her home country of Lebanon. Detail-oriented and extremely energetic, she has developed a number of key accounts including Nido Nestle, Saudi Airline, and Rivage. Darine is one of O2’s specialists in regional media relations and has a deep understanding of the strategic challenges in growing young brands within the GCC. She began her work in public relations shortly after earning a degree in Mass Communications from Al Jinan University in Lebanon.

Mirna Khudr / O2 Public Relations works as an Account Executive at O2 Public Relations where she is actively involved in client communication and editorial writing. She comes to O2PR with experience in the marketing department of Dubai Financial Market (DFM) where she gained a thorough understanding of how business needs are met through the implementation of integrated PR and advertising campaigns. She is particularly knowledgeable about the local finance industry and global economic policy. Mirna has lived in the UAE for many years and graduated with a B.Sc. in Business Administration with a Minor in Marketing from American University of Sharjah.

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!

The O2PR Dubai team has had plenty of experience working with healthcare clients in the past. From industry exhibitions to product releases, the agency has a solid understanding of the healthcare market and the challenges faced by customers and operators alike. Al Rahba Hospital is not a new player in the healthcare market, although having never had a marketing plan or PR strategy, the organization realized that a lot of work needed to be done to elevate the facility to its fullest potential.

Enter in O2PR. Through a series of proposals and pitches, O2PR was identified as the agency best suited to build the Al Rahba brand from the ground up. The agency will serve as a close consultant to the hospital as it develops a short, mid and long-term marketing plan, bringing out the exceptional characteristics of Al Rahba that until this point have gone largely unnoticed by the Abu Dhabi community. With a final contract put in place this March, the team is excited to be Al Rahba’s new partner in health.

This February, O2MC worked with Al Ain Dairy to activate a Natural Juice campaign to highlight the variety of delicious and healthy products offered straight from the source. Creatives got to work immediately identifying the common and not so common visuals associated with the juice “experience”, putting together one central campaign for print ads and video promotions. After photo shoots and countless sketches, everything came together in February as the campaign was launched throughout the UAE.

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.

Digital interactive content is one of the most dynamic areas of the creative industry. Earlier this quarter, O2i showed that they are an undeniable force within the local market, and that even the big boys may not be able to keep up.

Since starting negotiations last December, O2i has built a strong relationship with the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council (UPC), which this February decided to enlist the services of the O2i team on a retainer basis. UPC had previously worked with Impact/BBDO for several years, but were looking for something new out of the market.

The relationship initially began as a two websites project focusing onEstidama and the Urban Planning Commission. After completion, O2i was commissioned to do a series of micro-sites, which received some very positive feedback. UPC was very happy with O2i’s quality and business culture, and negotiations began on a long-term partnership. As UPC continues to work on the establishment of Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision, the future looks bright for the O2i team.