Newly Fortified Agency Gives Strategic Edge to Horizon Group's Regional Service Offerings
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Monday October 03, 2011 - Horizon Holdings, the Middle East's leading advertising, marketing and communications group, today launched its new digital services offering Blue Barracuda, which will effectively complement Horizon Group's services to existing and new clients across the Middle East region.
Laurence Boschetto, worldwide CEO and president of Draftfcb, Rafic Saadeh, chairman and CEO Horizon Holdings, and Gregory Tikhanoff, President and COO Horizon Holdings, jointly made the announcement at The Address Downtown Hotel in Dubai. The conference was also attended by Martin Talks, Draftfcb's global digital lead and founder of Blue Barracuda, along with Lee Brett, regional general manager of Blue Barracuda, and Dina Saadeh, account director-digital.
Blue Barracuda, a London based digital agency which was recently acquired by Draftfcb, will now support Horizon Draftfcb by providing full-service digital strategies across all aspects of digital communications. The agency's capabilities will include a range of digital services from digital strategies and campaign planning, CRM, retail, to full-service execution.
"The introduction of Blue Barracuda in the Middle East adds immense value to Horizon Group's strategic capabilities and effectively positions us as an integrated advertising and marketing solutions agency in the region," said Rafic Saadeh, chairman Horizon Holdings. "With Blue Barracuda's proven track record at developing innovative, media-agnostic solutions for a rapidly changing digital communications landscape, we are confident that our clients across the Middle East will significantly benefit with the addition of their capabilities into our portfolio".
Blue Barracuda will operate in the Middle East from Horizon Draftfcb's Dubai office at Capricorn Tower on Sheikh Zayed Road. Its operations in the region will be led by Lee Brett, General Manager of Blue Barracuda Dubai.
In celebrating the launch of Blue Barracuda in the Middle East, Laurence Boschetto, worldwide CEO and president of Draftfcb, said, "Blue Barracuda is a perfect match for Horizon Draftfcb, both culturally and in terms of its capabilities and the expertise it provides. Its talented staff shares our fundamental belief that our clients and their customers' needs have to be central regardless of the channel".
He further added, "Blue Barracuda's launch in the Middle East region is a natural progression of our agency's newly acquired strategic capability which will aim to deliver benchmark campaigns for our valued clients in this region".
"In joining Horizon Draftfcb, Blue Barracuda brings a unique approach to an ever-changing world. Our focus is on fluid, agile experiences that work wherever and whenever. Brands must accept being in an operational model where they are in a perpetual 'beta' state to maximize the opportunities that rapid change presents. Speed is the new certainty to ensure that communications meet objectives and deliver outstanding commercial results," said Martin Talks, Draftfcb's global digital lead and founder of Blue Barracuda.
- Ends -About Blue Barracuda
Since its founding in London in 2002, Blue Barracuda has used its unique Innovation process to deliver full-service digital strategies and marketing programs across all aspects of digital communications for clients such as Beiersdorf, Hyundai and numerous other brands. Among its notable achievements, the agency developed an innovative website to help visitors find any film in any format for the UK Film Council; built a conference service to help Roche Pharmaceuticals connect with oncologists; and created the single most effective e-commerce site for Yum! Brands anywhere in the world. It was acquired by Draftfcb in April 2011.
About Draftfcb
With its foundation based upon the equal principles of creativity and accountability, Draftfcb is the first global, fully integrated marketing communications agency to operate against a single P&L with one unified management team and no silos. The agency is driven by a singular focus on consumer behavior as expressed by its proprietary 6.5 Seconds That MatterSM operating system, which recognizes the brief period of time marketers have to capture consumers' attention through creative executions that inspire them to act. The Draftfcb network spans 161 offices in 96 countries and employs approximately 9,000 people.
The agency's regional leadership at Horizon Draftfcb includes Rafic Saadeh, Chairman and CEO, Saad Hijjawi, Vice Chairman, and Gregory Tikhanoff, President and COO.
For more information, please contact:
Gaurav Bhatnagar
GolinHarris
E-mail: gbhatnagar@golinharris.com
Tel: +971 4 3323308
© Press Release 2011
