2019 Dubai Lynx Award Winners Revealed

The Dubai Lynx Awards Ceremony, held last night, brought the 2019 Festival to a close with the winners of the 18 Lynx Awards categories being announced. The creative community gathered at the Madinat Jumeirah to honour the very best creativity from the MENA region this year.

In addition to the winners across all marketing communications categories, Special Awards were also presented for the Network of the Year, Agency of the Year, Independent Agency of the Year, Media Network of the Year, Golden Palm Award, Advertising Person of the Year and Advertiser of the Year.

Philip Thomas, Chairman Cannes Lions and Dubai Lynx said: “The winning work at Dubai Lynx demonstrates creative excellence with a distinct regional tone. From the 2,406 entries received this year, the winners, as well as setting the creative bar for MENA, also achieved some important milestones, including a record year for winning work from Saudi Arabia and a first-ever shortlisted entry from Iraq.”

Themes emerging from this year’s winners included; using cultural artistic traditions and local artists to bridge content and context; harnessing the power of culture to amplify the impact of the campaign and an increase in brands attempting to become more meaningful for people and demonstrate that they care about their customers’ lives, global injustices and the future of the planet.

The Young Lynx and Student competition winners were also honoured on stage, while MBC Group presented a special award to Global TV personality Steve Harvey in recognition of his achievements and services to broadcasting.

TBWA\RAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘OMO Tag’, Unilever Lebanon

Brand Experience & Activation Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive commented that his Jury loved this work from the start. “It is so simple and so different. It’s a great activation from the 'Dirt is good' stable and goes to show that size doesn't matter when it comes to great ideas”

TBWA\RAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘Slow Trends’, Connect

Creative Effectiveness Jury President, Amanda Fève, Partner, Chief Strategy Officer, Anomaly Amsterdam, The Netherlands said: “This classic David and Goliath story reminds us that it's not the size of the budget, but the quality of thinking and craft that goes into it, that determines a campaign's impact. Sharp use of data and social listening helped uncover a genuine cultural insight, which not only created entertaining content, but drove tangible commercial results. Truly effective campaigns must do more than earn attention and engagement, they must change attitudes and behaviours. 'Slow Trends' did both, putting smiles on our faces and bringing in new subscribers for 'Connect’."

BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints

TBWA\Istanbul, Turkey, ‘Hailstorm in Istanbul’, IKEA

Digital Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive, commented, “This campaign for IKEA is possibly the best 'real-time response' idea any of us on the Jury had ever seen.”

BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai, 'Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints

Kijamii, Cairo, Egypt, ‘The Sweet Revenge’, Président Cheese Egypt 

Entertainment Jury President, Alexandra Ouzilleau, Global Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Havas Group, Global commenting on this Grand Prix winner said, “What we found really interesting with the Grand Prix is that it tapped into the cultural context at the perfect moment in a very smart and fun way which makes the brand’s intersection with Entertainment look very authentic.”

Leo Burnett Dubai, UAE for campaign ‘Fire’, ‘Fall’ and ‘Crash’, du Telco

J. Walter Thompson, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘What are we allowing?’, Saudi Telecom Company

J. Walter Thompson, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ‘Akhou Nora’, Saudi Telecom Company

Glass Jury President, Candace Kuss, Director of Social Media, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, UK, commented, “‘Akhou Nora’ celebrated a woman as the hero, rather than defending women as victims. The work also integrated men into the cause, based on an historical fact. STC didn't just create a TV ad, they integrated internal comms, social and even physical signage. Most of the Glass entries address much needed change. So they are by nature addressing issues that show women and girls as victims. ‘Akhou Nora’ looked into the history of the country to show us a proud and courageous role model.

Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘Zero Tolerance Ribbon’, 28 Too Many

The Classic Partnership Advertising, Dubai, UAE, ‘Rx Prescription Stickers’, Dubai Health Authority

Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar

FP7/DXB, Dubai,UAE, ‘Al Umobuwah: Putting "Mum" into "Parenthood"’, Babyshop

Media Jury President Veriça Djurdjevic, Chief Executive Officer, PHD, UK commented, “This campaign went beyond paid media; they created new owned channels, and harnessed the power of earned media, as well as using each of the paid channels creatively. It was a brave strategy for a retailer, but we felt it was a really important campaign: it shows that harnessing a cultural insight and executing it in a truly integrated way can deliver a strong commercial impact in terms of sales results, not just brand warmth uplift.”

Google Dubai, UAE, ‘Qibla Finder’, Google 

“The sheer usefulness of this idea made us love this work. We all have apps that end up on page 5 of the home screen of our mobile but this Grand Prix will stay on page 1 ,” said Mobile Jury President Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive.

BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai,  ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints

Outdoor Jury President, Alan Kelly, Executive Creative Director, Rothco Accenture Interactive, commented, “When you sit in a jury room looking at hundreds of case studies, you can become desensitised to the results sections. But you can't argue with the result of reuniting three children with their parents. We will be talking about the beautiful ‘Truck Art Childfinder’ idea for many years to come.”

Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar

Commenting on why this piece of work was awarded the Grand Prix, PR Jury President, Candace Kuss, Director of Social Media, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, UK, said, “The jury room immediately responded to this entry. We understand the power of the press to hold politicians to account and to rally citizens to share their voice. A simple execution for a powerful idea and very relevant for the times we live in. This work was very specific to Lebanon, but also addressed a universal issue. Journalism has ever been more important. We need bravery from our news reporters all over the world to uncover the truth.”

BBDO Pakistan / Impact BBDO, Dubai,, ‘Truck Art Childfinder’, Berger Paints

Speaking on why the Grand Prix was awarded in both Design and Print & Outdoor Craft, Jury President, Guillermo Tragant, Chief Creative Officer, Furia, said, “The ‘Truck Art Child Finder’ was chosen because it was a brilliant, simple, strong idea. It was executed with excellent craft in a manner that respected the local folklore art. But the campaign also elevated the art-form, integrating the product in the most natural way, with purpose and real life changing results for the children and their families.”

Impact BBDO, Dubai, UAE, ‘The Blank Edition’, An-Nahar

TBWA\RAAD, Dubai, UAE, ‘Predictive Radio Spots’, AWR Arabian Automobile

1st place: BBDO Worldwide 

2nd place: TBWA Worldwide

3rd place: J. Walter Thompson

1st place: Impact BBDO, Dubai

2nd place: TBWA\RAAD, Dubai

3rd place: BBDO Pakistan, Lahore

1st place: Kijamii, Cairo

2nd place: Good People, Cairo

3rd place: Beattie + Dane, Kuwait City

1st place: OMD Worldwide

2nd place: UM

3rd place: PHD Worldwide

1st place: Big Kahuna Films, UAE 

2nd place: bigfoot Films, UAE

3rd place: Good People, Egypt

Ian Fairservice, Founder, Managing Partner and Group Editor, Motivate Media Group

Nissan

Kadir Ali, Senior Art Director, Impact BBDO

Priyaa Naidoo, Senior Copywriter, Impact BBDO

Kusal Udhara, Senior Art Director, Impact BBDO

Mohamed Kotait, Art Director, TBWA\RAAD, Dubai

Osama Siddiq, Art Director, TBWA\RAAD, Dubai

Roxanne Gahol, Manager – Strategic Marketing Investments, OMD, Dubai 

Omar Anwar, Senior Executive - Planning, OMD, Dubai

Tala Arakji, Strategy Planning Manager, FP7, Dubai

Moushami Dighe, Strategic Planning Manager, FP7, Dubai

Rym Farran, Middlesex University Dubai

Divya Ariga, Middlesex University in Dubai

The Middlesex University in Dubai