Amidst clients, friends, and fanfare, Buchanan Middle East (BME) held its official, black tie launch party here on Tuesday. The formal launch of Buchanan Middle East took place at the stunning Trilogy Roof Top, Souk Madina, Dubai.
Last month BME was officially announced when two WPP companies joined forces, Buchanan Communications, the financial PR specialists and JWT PR, a subsidiary of JWT MENA, one of WPP’s leading operations in the region. BME operates across the MENA region.
Tim Anderson, Director Buchanan Communications and BME, took time away from the London base to join the team in Dubai to launch the newly-formed company. "We're all very excited about this new venture and look forward to serving the PR needs of clients in the region. The Middle East and North Africa have promising economic outlooks and we intend to be part of this growth," commented Anderson.
While BME will focus on financial communications, the company will continue to offer consumer PR which currently represents the majority of business activity for BME. Clients include: Sony Ericsson, MBC Group, Diamond Trading Company, HSBC, Visa International, KPMG, and Victory Heights to name a few. Recent projects won include Aldar Properties, Canaccord Capital, AIG MEMSA, AIG Takaful, Virgin Megastore and more.
BME is the brainchild of Roy Haddad, Chairman and Chief Executive of JWT MENA. "The launch of BME is a milestone in the history of JWT MENA as a leading communications group. With BME now on board, our integrated offering to clients just received a boost with the advent of a professional PR firm," commented Haddad.
BME executive team comprises Amjed Shacker as CEO, Mohamed Ghozeil as Managing Director for Saudi Arabia and Director of IPOs MENA, Lisa Rutherford as Managing Director for UAE and Director of Consumer PR MENA, and Samantha Bartel as Director Financial PR MENA. In London the creation of BME has been driven by Tim Anderson, Director and James Strong, Account Director.
