A Campaign that Lives on for Centuries

Advertising Vs. PR No Responses »
Jun 172013

Every girl dreams of a shiny sparkler on her finger. More importantly, she’s spent years of her life dreaming up how he will propose and what the engagement ring will look like.
For him he’s told to spend at least ‘three months’ salary’ to make sure he’s proven his undying love.

Diamonds are forever. Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Diamonds are priceless. Diamonds are a great investment.

While the first few statements can be forgivable, the last two are downright fabrication. So why do we continue to covet these stone?

Great Marketing and PR.

Back when De Beers was trying to find a way to boost sales, they enlisted the help of some great minds.
“The diamond invention—the creation of the idea that diamonds are rare and valuable, and are essential signs of esteem—is a relatively recent development in the history of the diamond trade.” Atlantic.com

The fact of the matter is that if you ever tried to sell a diamond you would be left coming up short.
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Posted by admin at 10:07 AM Tagged with: , ,

We love to see a great campaign

How to, Public Relations No Responses »
Jun 122013

What makes a great campaign? We as PR professionals spend hours upon hours in brainstorming sessions, trying to come up with something different and ‘out of the box’ for our clients.

And being a Public Relations agency in Dubai, we constantly make sure that our messages are culturally relevant to the Middle East while exhibiting universal appeal. But enough about us, here’s a campaign that we found very amusing:



And to answer the question: what makes a great campaign?

A great campaign is one that makes you stop and pay attention.

Seen any great PR campaigns lately?

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Posted by Reem Heather Dabbas at 11:12 AM Tagged with: , , , ,

Great PR from the Gatsby

Do's and Don'ts, How to, Public Relations No Responses »
Jun 102013

After reading the book in school, watching the Gatsby after 10 years I found myself extracting interesting PR tactics from the movie and the script.

Be confident in yourself. Nick Carraway was certain of his honesty and stated in the movie that he is one of the few honest people he’s ever known. Assert your qualities and virtues and be confident in them. Once you acknowledge facts about yourself people will acknowledge them in you and associate you to these traits.
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Posted by Maysa-Jana Atoui at 12:03 PM Tagged with: , , , ,

What should I write for my next blog?

Do's and Don'ts, How to, Public Relations No Responses »
Jun 052013

Since I’ve started working for C&B, I’ve been tasked with writing a monthly blog – great for personal development and a nice change from writing about clients, and about something that interests me.

But the problem starts when I don’t know what to write about. Not just that, how can I be sure that people will be interested in the topic and the way I have approached it? Above all, am I giving the reader valuable information?

The most important part of the blog is the information it contains and if it’s explained properly and clear for the readers to understand.

Is it answering their question?

Is it a topic that they want to know more about?

What have others written about the same topic?

How is my approach any different?
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Posted by Wajd Breek at 10:41 AM Tagged with: , , , , ,

Follow the Bad Leader?

How to, Public Relations, UAE No Responses »
Jun 032013

Should you follow the instructions of your leaders blindly?

This is a question that starts from the day we are born. We learn to listen and obey our parents (well less and less in today’s times), then we move onto school where we are expected to follow the instructions of our teachers before heading out into the ‘real world’ and following our bosses’ every whim.

But should you?

A good leader is not one that expects ‘Yes’ men, but one that encourages innovators. People that think above and beyond the constraints of their day to day role are the ones that will lead to innovation.
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Posted by Khalil Majdalawi at 10:59 AM Tagged with: , , , ,

Butchered English

Public Relations No Responses »
May 292013

We grew up studying the likes of Shakespeare and Dickens. They join many more great writers whose words still live on generations later.

But times have changed, people have changed and the ways we communicate have changed.

While I personally remember thinking: “Why do we have to decode the words of Shakespeare when his words make little plain sense to readers today?” I also remember arguments of keeping history alive.

Fair enough. But we speak differently now. Some will even say we have butchered the English language. With children growing up communicating through texts and social media, slang and shortcuts have overtaken proper English. Continue reading »

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Posted by Reem Heather Dabbas at 10:50 AM Tagged with: , , , , ,

How is it like to work for an agency?

How to No Responses »
May 272013

Just like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, at first comes the physiological needs like the chair you’re sitting on as well as the desk, and whether your palm rests coolly on the laptop or if you’re like me and you’re using a 2008 MacBook Pro, then your palms are mostly sweaty from how warm the laptop can get when running multiple tasks in the background.

Once this stage is yesterday’s topic we move on to getting familiar with the accounts we’re handling, the clients, the content and the amount of time we put into each account before it becomes routine and with that comes the feeling of safety, as everything feels under control.
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Posted by Karim Mobayed at 10:47 AM Tagged with: , , , ,

Email Etiquette

Do's and Don'ts, Public Relations No Responses »
May 222013

Something so simple – we all write so many emails a day, but we can soon forget the basics when it comes to writing a professional one.

Take a look at this checklist and use it as a refresher course to make sure your emails are on the right track.

1. Keep it simple. No one wants to read a chapter or even a long paragraph for that matter. Stick to your point and get there quickly.
2. Don’t use strange fonts and crazy colours. It doesn’t matter how quirky your personality is, this is just not professional. Keep to standard business fonts in black or blue. Continue reading »

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Posted by Reem Heather Dabbas at 10:41 AM Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Not getting a ReTweet?

Public Relations, Social Media No Responses »
May 202013

There is a reason why. Twitter has developed into a great way to share are reshare information. Many of us get our daily dose of news on the social media platform, and yet others use it to find out interesting information that they never knew they never knew.

Many of us Tweet and many of us simply ReTweet. Both forms of using this tool are acceptable, but for those of us who Tweet, let me ask you this: What good is a Tweet if it doesn’t get a ReTweet?

A ReTweet is a sign of acceptance, a sign that the information is worth sharing and an even further sign that people see you as a reliable source.

But for some, people just aren’t ReTweeting. Why?
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Posted by Khalil Majdalawi at 11:31 AM Tagged with: , ,

Making a move…

Public Relations No Responses »
May 152013

I recently watched an interview with the President and CEO of a global high-end hotel company about how he further developed his business through moving the headquarters from the US to China just for a month. That got me thinking of the importance of other companies in different industries, as well as a local PR company, to venture into such similar opportunities.

As we expand our consumer database, win accounts that want to make it on the global level and strive to win international clients; we should not underestimate the power of exploring public relations around the world and on different levels.

Moving his senior management team across the world, the CEO states that the risks he assumed, investments he made, and the challenges he faced managing workload and understanding the market, were all made worthwhile by the indispensable learning experience he was exposed to.
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Posted by Maysa-Jana Atoui at 11:41 AM Tagged with: , , , , ,
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