Dubai-based marketing communications agency Wunderman added one more award to its growing trophy collection this week, after snapping up a 2006 Pikasso d’Or Special Award for its outdoor advertising work for Iraqi mobile phone company Iraqna.
The agency, which won a Cannes Gold Lion at the 2006 International Advertising Festival in June and two Direct Marketing Association Echo awards in October, received the special Pikasso Iraq award at a ceremony in Beirut on February 6.
Iraqna, part of the Orascom Telecom telecommunications group, is the first mobile phone provider in Iraq. With more than three million subscribers, it serves nearly 35 per cent of the market. Iraqna operates a GSM network in the country and provides a range of prepaid and postpaid voice and data services to its corporate and retail subscribers.
The Wunderman Iraqna campaign positions the mobile telecom network as an integral part of the nation’s past and future. Some of its most popular conceptualizations fuse images of Iraqi social, cultural and heritage icons – including the Ishtar gate in Babylon, the Hatra ruins and popular Iraqi singer Kazem El Saher – with messages of unity and hope for the Iraqi people.
Alain Sainte Marie, CEO of Iraqna Telecom, said the Wunderman campaign and its messages of patriotism, solidarity and optimism had resonated strongly with audiences across Iraq. The campaign, he added, has also been a commercial success, boosting Iraqna Telecom’s popularity across Iraq.
“We are very pleased with the results of this campaign, both in terms of increasing our market share as well as conveying the key message behind our operation,” Sainte Marie said. “Iraqna is first and foremost a local company concerned with the needs and wants of the Iraqi people.”
Nassib Boueri, Managing Director of Wunderman MENA, said the agency sought to link Iraq’s remarkable heritage to a brighter future, and focus on the aspirations and dreams of the Iraqi people.
“Iraqna is a truly Iraqi company, dedicated to the wellbeing and advancement of the Iraqi people,” Boueri said. “Our campaign sought to capture that sentiment simply and memorably, and in a positive manner.”
Wunderman Dubai also worked on developing Iraqna’s new corporate identity and its below-the-line requirements.
The annual Pikasso d’Or awards, operated by the Les Affichages Pikasso sal outdoor advertising company, reward innovative and international-quality campaigns around the region. Winners are selected by an international jury, led by renowned graphic arts and advertising expert Alain Weill.
Iraqna is the leading telecommunications operator in Iraq in terms of subscribers, revenue and network coverage, and has been the leading force in the development of Iraq’s telecommunications market since its commercial launch in December 2003. Iraqna has invested over US$ 280 million in its GSM mobile network since its inception, despite facing severe challenges in building out its network due to hazardous conditions in Iraq.
In January 2007, Orascom Telecom Iraq received a three-month license extension. The Orascom Telecom Holding group is one of the largest and most diversified mobile network operators in the Middle East and Africa.
