Ali Rez’s Post

When you understand that 70% of the success of a campaign comes from the creative aspect, you work with WPP. When you realize that you need to integrate creativity and tech to deliver the creativity, you work with Ogilvy One.

What's next? Leaders from top ranked MENA agencies react to the United Arab Emirates best-ever ranking on the Cannes LIONS global index. What does this mean for the industry? What are its implications for the UAE? and what are the top lessons learnt that can contribute to a better showing for the UAE at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2025? Hear from IMPACT BBDO's Dani Richa and Ali Rez, FP7 McCann's Federico Fanti, Leo Burnett MEA (Middle East & Africa)'s Kalpesh Patankar, and Saatchi & Saatchi ME's Sebastien Boutebel in the link below. #Marketing #Brand #CreativeEffectiveness #CreativeImpact #UAE

Long-term brands and agency relationships WORK BETTER.

A busy few months ahead! Looking forward to welcoming everyone to Kodak House. This accelerates the journey as we create the agency of tomorrow — and well into the future. One that creates disruptive brand experiences on a scale that hasn’t been seen before in Ireland. And one that helps us as we extend further into UK, US, and European markets. The current product offering: ✅Big Brand TTL Campaigns — TBWA\Dublin ✅Strategy (& Research) — 100 Voices by TBWA\Dublin ✅Social & Content — Full Funnel: Brand, Content Creation & Performance — Feed by TBWA\Dublin ✅Production & Studio — Large, Mid and Small budget shoots — Bolt by TBWA\Dublin ✅Employee Experience — Inside by TBWA\Dublin ✅Innovation — Next by TBWA\Dublin ✅Performance Media ✅Design ➕More to come.

I’ve been reading a lot of comments and posts about the recently announced news of the coming together of TBWA, BBDO and DDB. Many of the comments are either focused on the history of those agencies (many fond memories) and/or how terrible it is (bad holding companies, great independents). Here’s a few of my thoughts, -         Yes, all three agencies are great agencies with an extensive legacy of great work, BUT, great work is not bound by the acronyms of any agency (network or independent). Great work comes from great people/teams and great people/teams exist within our community at many agencies (network or independent). -         All three agencies, in their current state, were created through mergers, acquisitions etc., and each time those changes happened, people bemoaned the change but every time the new agencies went on to thrive. Why? (hint: people). There’s no reason to think this change will be any different. -         There’s lots of misleading chatter about the ‘profit motive’. The truth is that every agency (network or independent) is driven by the desire to make profits. ‘Profit’ is not a dirty word (just ask our clients). It’s a business, folks. The key for all agencies (network or independent) is to recognize that profits (at least long term, sustainable) are the result of great work. And great work (sorry repeating myself) is not dependent on your corporate structure …. It’s dependent on the people. TBWA, BBDO and DDB has had many great people over the years, has many great people today and whatever you want to call the new agency, will continue to have great people moving forward.

The 71st Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity concluded with the penultimate awards night. The awards were presented for the Film Lions, Glass: The Lions for Change, Sustainable Development Goals Lions, The Dan Wieden Titanium Lion, and The Cannes Lions Grand Prix for Good categories. Special awards were also announced to demonstrate Cannes Lions' dedication towards transparent and accurate results. Creative Company of the Year : 1. WPP 2. Omnicom Media Group 3. Interpublic Group (IPG) Network of the Year : 1. Ogilvy 2. Publicis Worldwide 3. DDB Worldwide Independent Network of the Year : 1. Rethink 2. Edelman 3. Serviceplan Group Agenturgruppe Agency of the Year : 1. Publicis Conseil, Paris, France 2. Rethink, Toronto, Canada 3. Ogilvy, New York, United States Independent Agency of the Year : 1. Rethink, Toronto, Canada 2. Edelman, London, United Kingdom 3. Klick Health, Toronto, Canada Palme d'Or : SMUGGLER, United States Creative Brand of the Year : 1. The Coca-Cola Company 2. The HEINEKEN Company 3. Apple Wieden + Kennedy | Superette | DoorDash | Marcel, Paris | Orange | The Monkeys | Accenture Song | Sydney Opera House | Ogilvy Singapore | Vaseline | Publicis Conseil Paris | Renault Group | INNOCEAN Berlin | Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Congratulations to all the winners! #Creativity #CannesLions #Advertising #Winners #Adtechtoday

Everyone has a favorite Super Bowl spot, but which do the creative minds behind the spots think is the real MVP? Watch the teaser below and catch the full video on ADWEEK.com! Edit by Malinda DiPasquale

Cannes Lions 2024: 8 more shortlists for India, tally reaches 54. Four shortlists for Leo Burnett, three for Ogilvy and one for #BrandDavid. #e4mAtCannes🇫🇷 #CannesLions2024

Inflation, rising food costs, and AI-generated budget recipes. It's rare that brands actually have the ability to be 'relatable' to their consumers, but this campaign absolutely nails it! "The Inflation Cookbook" campaign by Dentsu Creative x Food Banks Canada | Banques alimentaires Canada is a great example of the creative way data can be utilised to create a stronger emotional connection with consumers through their everyday, real life struggles. Gen AI beautifully integrates into the app with custom recipe generation aided by #Midjourney visuals that allow the user to truly feel listened to about their specific needs and concerns. Definitely warrants a Gold Media Lion at the #CannesLions2024! #artificialintelligence #digitalmarketing #advertising #generativeai #dataanalytics #inflation

This week I've spent half a decade at BBDO Worldwide. I could have never imagined that we would have experienced a pandemic, war in Europe and a recession during this time. But despite these challenges BBDO Nordics stand stronger than ever. We've rebranded the agency, grown from 53 to 85 people, increased revenues by 70% and received more than 40 nominations for our work this last year alone. I don't hold a promise of what the next five years will bring, but if I had the opportunity to travel back in time and give that less wrinkly version of myself some advice, then these would be it: Always ask the "dumb questions": Don't presume that if you don't understand something, it is down to your lack of intelligence. It is more likely due to a problem in communication. So set the example by daring to ask the obvious question. Because if you don't understand something, chances are that the people around don't understand it either. By asking the "dumb questions", you make it ok for everyone to do the same. Which fosters a culture of learning, over a culture of appearances. Learn to love your problems. You won't be able to create an environment where problems don't arise. The world is far too complex. So instead of getting beat down every time a new problems arise, realise that your role is not to ensure problems don't arise, but to make sure they don't grow too big. So learn to love your problems and make them your work. Eat the frog early. My father in law Terry told me this and it is still the best leadership advice that I've received. Just like eating a frog, no one likes the idea of having to make a tough decision. I have had many sleepless nights these last five years, but not in one instance has a problem become better because I didn't make a decision. So deal with the uncomfortable early. Be an elephant, not a crocodile. David Sandstrom told me this years ago. The idea is to have big ears, a small mouth and to use them in that proportion. What I've learned is that good executive decisions are the results of many different inputs. In essence, the more angles you have, the more informed your decisions will be. So make sure to listen actively, often and everywhere. That way you can stay consistent in your leadership. Don't be afraid to show your weaknesses. Don't try to live up to an idealised idea of what a professional leader should be like. Because in the real world no one wants to work with a perfect leader. They want to work with genuine leader that cares, blemishes and all. So don't be afraid to show your weaknesses, even it it shows that some late afternoons you become a human labrador. We not me oriented. The success of BBDO will never be down to one individual. Rather a team of talented people who come in to work everyday hell bent on creating inspiring work! So be ruthless with hiring people who are both nice and talented. Then lead by leaving your ego at the door and work hard to make other people shine. Ps. You guys rock!