Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) was the big winner of the night at the Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards Gala in Dubai on November 20.
The team took home 19 awards in total to establish H+K as the agency with the most wins of the year – including special recognition for H+K METIA CEO, Bashar AlKadhi, who received the 2019 Chairman’s Award for his 30 year contribution to the industry.
Following H+K’s impressive haul of accolades at the event, Bashar AlKadhi, CEO H+K METIA expressed his gratitude to the association, the H+K MENA team, and its clients:
“The evening crowned another truly fantastic year for H+K MENA with 7 Gold Awards in categories including Sports + Entertainment, Healthcare, Digital, Corporate Reputation and Best Use of Limited Budget. We are incredibly proud of the team and the talent we have, and the work we do is not possible without the partnership and trust from our fantastic clients. Thank you to MEPRA for this special recognition.”
For the second year, the MEPRA Awards Gala was preluded by REMAP, the Creative Communications Festival, which provided practitioners from across the region the opportunity to learn, share knowledge and celebrate the best of the industry through one event in Dubai.
Speakers included Buzzfeed UK, YouTube, Freedom Pizza, EXPO 2020 Dubai, Kerning Cultures and more. Sessions covered the transforming art of content creation & consumption, The rise of the purpose-led brand, Storytelling through sound, how YouTube killed the TV star, what makes the leading campaigns of 2019 bold and more. More than 100 guests attended the morning conference.
H+K MENA’s very own Lisa Welsh, Managing Director played a pivotal role in her role as Vice Chair of MEPRA, opening the day’s event during her welcome speech, as well as moderating the festival’s panel discussion on purpose-led brands between leading industry experts.
In follow up to the event, the Association plans to compose a video series of interviews with the H+K teams responsible for producing gold-winning campaigns in the 2019 MEPRA Awards. The feature will showcase how to create an award-winning campaign. Stay tuned, more to share on this soon.
Congratulations again to our H+K teams on all their outstanding MEPRA achievements!
A full list of H+K’s 2019 MEPRA Award-winning projects and teams:
GOLD – 2018 Diriyah E-Prix: ‘Racing into the Future’ – Sports + Entertainment – Best Launch / Live Event / Stunt
GOLD x 4 – GOSHxSuperhope (Great Ormond Street Hospital) – Health + Wellness – Best Use of Limited Budget, Best Healthcare Campaign, Best Campaign in Kuwait + Best Campaign in UAE
GOLD – #30YearsOfPossible by Cisco – Technology – Best Corporate Reputation Campaign
GOLD – #BeTheLight (UNHCR) – Corporate + Brand – Best Use of Video
SILVER x 2 – Gillette Street Cricket – Sports + Entertainment – Best Launch / Live Event / Stunt + Best Sports & Recreational Campaign
SILVER – #30YearsOfPossible by Cisco – Technology – Best Use of Limited Budget
SILVER – GOSHxSuperhope (Great Ormond Street Hospital) – Health + Wellness – Best use of Creative
SILVER – The best of Baku – Supporting the Europa League Final 2019 (Azerbaijan Tourism Board) – Corporate + Brand – Best Crisis Communication/ Issues Management Strategy
SILVER – Transforming and professionalizing the real estate market in Saudi Arabia (RAZA) – Financial + Professional Services – Best Real Estate or Construction Campaign
BRONZE – HONOR 8X Launch – Technology – Best Use of Digital PR
BRONZE – Express You (The Executive Council of Dubai) – Corporate + Brand – Best Use of Video
BRONZE – Lenovo Dad Squad – Technology – Best use of Creative
BRONZE – The Power of a Single Tweet – Corporate + Brand – Best Government Communications & Public Affairs Campaign
MEPRA Chairman’s Award – Bashar AlKadhi, CEO H+K METIA
Highly Commended for The “Dave Robinson” Award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year – Agency – Sanjana Soman
