Very few platforms can bring the regional creative fraternity together like the Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity that will culminate with the Dubai Lynx awards on March 8, 2017. As creative doyens gather, exchanging notes on trends to look out for and the big changes in the region, The Arabian Marketer caught up with Ramzi Moutran, Executive Creative Director at Memac Ogilvy on his top takeaways from the Festival. Excerpts:
How has the Lynx experience been so far?
There is lot of energy and excitement that people here at the Dubai Lynx Festival experience every year. We get to meet many of the old crowd that one does not get to see often, and that is always refreshing. Dubai Lynx is the highlight of the advertising year for the Middle East. It also allows for more casual environment where everyone can meet colleagues and competitors alike, and just talk about the industry as a whole. Very rarely do we step back and look at the industry from a distance, so the ability to do that is always helpful.
What did you think about the creative work at the Festival?
The region is getting better every year. We are one of the top most awarded countries in creative world. What you will see this week is what is going to be traveling around the world for the rest of this year, and whoever wins big here generally wins around the world big, from a creative point of view. The industry is maturing and the more we share, the more we talk, the more we communicate with each other, the bigger and brighter it gets.
Any key trends that the industry should look out for in the year ahead?
The trends will be far more digital and mobile ideas from this part of the world. We expect to see big brand work rather than CSR-driven work which has been famous in the past. While looking at the shortlists, it was heartening to see many more brands out there that employ advertising for business reasons and for making a change in the society. We are going to see global work, integrated work and mobile. Dubai Lynx itself has a dedicated tech and innovation stage. All exhibitors are talking technology and there is participation from large players such as Facebook and Google. This is a significant reflection of the future that we are headed into.