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 The Powers That Be at Dubai Lynx will be recognising Ramzi Raad, of TBWA\Raad fame, as the festival’s Advertising Person of the Year for 2010, it was announced at a press conference yesterday.
“Ramzi has been, and continues to be, an instrumental figure in the development and growth of the advertising and communications industry throughout the Middle East and North Africa. We are delighted to pay tribute to his dedication and success,” said Terry Savage, chairman of Lynx organisers Cannes Lions, in a press release.
Raad’s achievements are legion: he was one of the earliest Lebanese admen to make the trip to Dubai in the 1970s, to where after a sojurn in Paris and London, he returned in 1986. He has been president of the UAE International Advertising Association, and has been heavily involved in the IAA’s work throughout the world.
TBWA\Raad came into being in 1999, and quickly muscled its way onto the Top Table of agencies. It’s also one of the few – possibly the only? – agency with a basketball court in the office, so that’s got to be worth a few points.
Commenting on the award, Raad said in the release: “To me, this is less about my own 40 years in the business and more about the exciting momentum and where it will take us. As a region, we are at a pivotal point in time, and I look forward to seeing what our young ad talent will show the world, the further our region steps into the international spotlight.”
Speaking of young ad talent, the Lynx organisers also discussed the festival’s initiatives for students and young creatives, including the Leo Burnett Academy, as well as initiatives with Dubai Media City’s Ibda’a Student Awards.
The Lynx organisers were at pains to emphasise the long-term focus – and the long-term benefits – of the awards. Lynx’s festival director, Steve Lane, pointed out that the festival and awards were about the future of the industry, in terms of building up regional talent; Terry Savage, meanwhile, pointed out that, despite the “bumps in the road” of last year’s Lynx, the UAE as a whole went on to win six awards at the Cannes Lions.
“To win six Lions at Cannes is an amazing achievement for any country... and if you look at where the UAE appears in terms of awards won versus other countries, you will see it comes out ahead of many other countries, countries of significance,” said Savage at the press conference.
Unsurprisingly, Lynx is keen to focus on the positive aspects of the awards, after last year’s humiliating scam-scandal – about which, surprisingly, there were no questions at yesterday’s presser, for which we’re all grateful.
Because despite last year’s “bump in the road”, the Lynx are a worthwhile initiative. And now that the organisers have put in place what, in our view, are pretty decent safeguards, it’s up to the agencies.
Regional admen need to earn back the industry’s trust and – without mincing words here – not fuck up this time. Otherwise, it’s not going to be good.
Still with less than a month to go until the Lynx awards night, we guess the die is more or less cast at this point. We hope everyone did the right thing.
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