Thursday, March 10, 2016

MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim “Personality Of The Year” Right from the heart of “Lynx Dubai” for creativity & innovation



Appreciating his role in shaping the media and advertising industry in MENA region…
During the annual world festival celebrated in Dubai under its 10th edition…
MBC Group Chairman Waleed Al-Ibrahim “Personality Of The Year”
Right from the heart of “Lynx Dubai” for creativity & innovation

Dubai, 9th March 2016: In the presence of over 1,800 executives and prominent personalities from the business, media, advertising, creative and communication industries in MENA region, the Dubai Lynx Festival, in its 10th edition, awarded “Personality Of The Year” award to MBC Group Chairman Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim, for his outstanding contribution and achievements in developing the media industry and enhancing the advertising scene in the MENA region.
The award comes as an appreciation of the constructive efforts of Al-Ibrahim in strengthening the links between leading international and local brands on the one hand, and consumers on the other hand through the various channels, platforms and services offered by MBC Group.
The award is further considered as a tribute to the role Al-Ibrahim played in outlining the media and advertising sectors in the region, through the provision of better media & entertainment experiences that live up to world class standards.
In a brief speech on the sidelines of the award ceremony, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim praised the remarkable developments witnessed by the Dubai Lynx Festival, year after year, both in terms of the number of participants, and the positive echo and resonation it has created regionally and globally, which it enjoys today.
Al-Ibrahim stressed on the importance of the concept of “creativity & innovation” embodied in the festival, and its association with the vision and approach that reflects the majestic image of the city of Dubai, led by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
Al-Ibrahim considered the importance of “Personality Of The Year” comes at a time whereby we witness a cross-road and articulate period that requires us to reallocate our media priorities.
Therefore the challenge that remains ahead of us is in our ability to take advantage of the information and communication revolution, and harness it in building knowledge economies to further develop the media industry, promote the advertising industry and the commercial and consumer markets, and enable cultural movements within our societies.
Al-Ibrahim concluded: “I dedicate this award to everyone in both the advertising and communication industries in general, and MBC Group employees in specific, each in his/ her geographic location, that helped uplift our media work flow. And above all, this success wouldn’t have been achieved without our


strategic commercial partner, as there is no successful media without advertising partners and returns as well as sustainable commercial revenues”.
From his part, Terry Savage, Chairman, Dubai Lynx, said it had been both ‘an honor and privilege’ to recognize such a prominent and respected figure. “Over the course of 25 years, Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim, has been responsible for multiple, significant contributions to the development of the Media & Entertainment industry in the MENA region and we are delighted that we could celebrate this during the 10th edition of Dubai Lynx.”

Testimonials about Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim:
The award ceremony included a testimonial video promo from prominent CEO’s of major international and regional companies that focused on Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim’s role and mark in shaping the media and advertising sectors:


- Dr. Amina Al Rustamani, CEO, TECOM Business Parks: “I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to work closely with Sheikh Waleed Al-Ibrahim; he is a great mentor, and a teacher, and I definitely learnt a lot from him”.
- Yves Manghardt, Chairman & CEO Nestle Middle East FZE: “The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that the dreamer has his eyes closed; the visionary has his eyes always open said Martin Luther King. The 2016 Advertising Person Of The Year is a true visionary; in fact, tele-visionary with his eyes always open”.
- Dani Richa, Chairman & CEO IMPACT BBDO: “Sheikh Waleed is the game changer; he changed news in our region to become more objective, transparent, and credible. Sheikh Waleed changed entertainment as the Arab world knows it, taking TV to new heights. I strongly believe that his vision has helped shape relationships between brands and consumers”.
- Mohamed Samir, President Procter & Gamble India, MEA & Africa: “Sheikh Waleed, since the start of MBC, has shown the vision for connecting with people, all across the Arab world in a friendly and high quality way”.
- Sanjiv Kakkar, Execuitve Vice President, Unilever MENA: “Over the years, MBC has truly democratized media across the Arab world, providing a cohesive force across the MENA region, serving to improve the quality of Arab performing arts and content across the region”.
- Akram Miknas, Chairman Promoseven Holdings: “We rose with MBC Group; we rose it to the world standard; today MBC can stand one-to-one with any international television station and can proudly and easily say we are as good if not better in many cases”.
- Raja Fares Trad, CEO Leo Burnett & Publicis Group MENA: “MBC Group’s impact on the lives of people, every second of the day, is a sticking example of how creative content and content marketing can positively affect consumers’ behavior”.
- Roy Haddad, Chairman WPP MENA: “What fascinated me at that time is his commitment to really redefine the media market in the Arab world, which he did; to change the upper cards in the region, which he did; and really force a media revolution. If there is anyone who deserves to be recognized by our industry is Sheikh Waleed”.
- Osman Sultan, CEO DU PJSC: “ For all this, for this achievement, not only we say to Sheikh Waleed how much we admire and appreciate what he did, but we tell him as well how much we love him, for what he is as a human being and how much we are grateful to him”.




- Edmond Moutran, Chairman & CEO Memac Ogilvy: “When you launched the station, I said hey, where is he gonna go? And he said to me, now that we have launched MBC, the sky is the limit. So here we are Sheikh Waleed, I’m on top of a building, and I am as close to the sky as I possibly
can; I think you are gonna go on, and the sky is going to be your limit all over again, so go on…build us a bigger empire Sheikh Waleed”.
- Pierre Choueiry, CEO & Chairman Choueiry Group: “Sheikh Waleed would be considered a visionary pioneer; to some, a creator; to some other, an outstanding entrepreneur; an exceptional leader and mentor; to me he really is all of the above; he definitely is my partner, but above all, he is my friend. Congratulations Sheikh Waleed, Advertising Man Of The Year, and of ALL years as far as I am concerned”.

-Ends-

For additional information & images: www.dubailynx.com

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