Title win shows Doha's rising role in advertising

Fortune Promoseven (FP7) Doha took the Agency of the Year title at the third Dubai Lynx Awards on Tuesday night, a win that affirms Doha's growing importance in the region's advertising industry. The media category came top with 39 winners, followed by print with 26. Outdoor won 21, direct and sales promotion 18, television and cinema 13, interactive 11, radio four and the integrated category three.

The Print Grand Prix went to Leo Burnett Cairo for the Heinz Ketchup campaign "Egyptian Hotdog", "Egyptian Burger", "Egyptian Pizza". "The campaign that won from Cairo is taken from very deep insights that are purely Egyptian," said Raja Trad, the chief executive of Leo Burnett for the Middle East and North Africa. The Media Grand Prix went to Starcom MediaVest Group, Dubai, for the "Fallen in Love Again" Mars Chocolate campaign. The Outdoor Grand Prix was awarded to FP7 Dubai for its Braindrain Education programme campaign. FP7 Cairo won the TV/Cinema Grand Prix for the Coca-Cola 2008 European Football campaign.

The inaugural Media Agency of the Year trophy went to Starcom MediaVest Group, Dubai. OMD was second and Leo Burnett third. khagey@thenational.ae