Martin Diessner » Dubai http://blog.martindiessner.com Life is like a book. If you don't travel - you don't get past the first page. Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:39:13 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Publicis Groupe acquires Flip Media http://blog.martindiessner.com/publicis-groupe-acquires-flip-media/ http://blog.martindiessner.com/publicis-groupe-acquires-flip-media/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:39:13 +0000 Martin http://blog.martindiessner.com/?p=363

Publicis Groupe announced today its acquisition of Flip Media, a leading digital agency in the Middle East. The agency will be folded into Leo Burnett Worldwide and will retain its name.

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Dubai (UAE), Flip Media has more than 100 employees across the Middle East and India, and has worked has worked with some of the region’s most well-known brands. The agency provides end-to-end digital solutions, including strategy, design and production, content and delivery, and technology across all platforms. In the years since its inception, Flip has been recognized across the region for its award-winning creative and pioneering technology. Its founders, Martin Diessner and Dinesh Lalvani, will continue to be involved as non-executive directors with Flip and Yousef Tuqan will remain CEO reporting into Leo Burnett’s Middle East North Africa CEO, Raja Trad.

“Flip Media is a strategic and cultural fit for our company, and we believe its service offering of digital strategy, design, production and content delivery will be a perfect complement to the incredibly strong digital presence we have built across the region,” said Tom Bernardin, CEO of Leo Burnett Worldwide.

“This acquisition is the logical next step for Flip,” said Dinesh Lalvani and Martin Diessner, co-founders, Flip Holdings Ltd. “Integrating with a global network gives us the opportunity to provide a strong foundation for through-the-line communications strategy with digital at its core. We’ve been lucky to have the talent and dedication of a strong management team, which has been integral to the success we’ve had. Being part of Leo Burnett and the larger Publicis Groupe family will bring with it access to more clients, people and resources, all of which are key to take a company like ours to the next level.”

“Leo Burnett’s commitment to all its partners is to deliver a complete communication solution across all channels,” said Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett MENA. “Today’s acquisition of Flip Media not only strengthens our offering but, more importantly, represents an important investment in strengthening our digital offering to the benefit of our clients’ businesses. Our mission is to ingrain digital thinking into every aspect of Leo Burnett’s work and culture. With Flip Media’s outstanding track record in their space, we are confident that all of our clients will appreciate our strategic plan to be an unquestionable leader in digital communication.”

]]> http://blog.martindiessner.com/publicis-groupe-acquires-flip-media/feed/ 0 Naviflix iPhone application launch http://blog.martindiessner.com/naviflix-iphone-application-launch/ http://blog.martindiessner.com/naviflix-iphone-application-launch/#comments Wed, 14 Apr 2010 19:14:40 +0000 Martin http://blog.martindiessner.com/?p=292 Flip Media (www.flip.me) launched a brand new iPhone (and soon iPad, and native Android) application that features everthing around movies in Dubai and the Middle East.

Download the Naviflix application from the Apple iTunes store, or browse the mobile enabled site. Android and iPad coming soon! And if you are keen to find out more about the development process behind the scenes – here is a great article on the Flip Website!

]]> http://blog.martindiessner.com/naviflix-iphone-application-launch/feed/ 1 Dubai leadership changing http://blog.martindiessner.com/dubai-leadership-changing/ http://blog.martindiessner.com/dubai-leadership-changing/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:20:37 +0000 Martin http://blog.martindiessner.com/?p=166 Sheik Mohammad The shakeup has begun.  Sheikh Mohammed has dismissed a number of high profile individuals, and replaced them with members of his family and his inner circle.

On Friday, the Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai and Prime Minister of the UAE, fired Omar bin Sulaiman from his position as governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and replaced him with Ahmed Humaid al-Tayer.

On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed removed Mohammed al-Gergawi, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem and Mohammed Ali Alabbar from the board of the emirate’s main holding company, the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). The board will be chaired by the Sheikh Mohammed, with his son, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammad bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, as deputy chairman.

From Kipp Report: “It’s a family affair, for now”

The people that were replaced are three important figures in Dubai:

  • Sulaiman is chairman of Dubai World which is state owned and globally known for the Palm development by Nakheel, plus many other international investments. In South Africa, Dubai World bought the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, Shamwari Game reserve in the Eastern Cape and the Pearl Valley Golf course close to Paarl. Flip Media designed and developed most of Nakheel’s websites.
  • Alabbar is the head of Emaar Properties – which also includes many other Emaar related companies such as Emaar industries, Mall & Retail and other international investments such as the Hamptons Properties (UK based property development company). Emaar has been a big key account for Flip Media which developed more than 300 projects for this client.
  • Gergawi is equally powerful as big boss of Dubai Holding, and I do remember the times when he was working at Emirates Towers at Sheik Mohammad’s office where I used to start up in Dubai with Impact Proximity, and at quiet a few occasions we would sit next to them during lunch at the Noodle bar :-) . Today, Flip Media’s office is located in Al Soufah Tower which is owned by Gergawi.

So big changes in Dubai – and I hope they will be for the better for the city. All 3 ex board members in my opinion did contribute to the growth of Dubai a lot, and will most likely keep on playing a significant role within their respective companies. However, being pushed off the “Dubai Inc” inner circle means less access to support and one wonders if projects like the Palm Jebel Ali, Palm Deira and the World will be completed one day.

At the same time, a lot of work during this consolidation period within Sheikh Mohammad’s government and one hopes that now with tighter family control, the results will show rather sooner than later.

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