Our presenters will share all their secrets on the award winning campaign’s objectives, strategy, challenges and how they evaluated its success. This is your chance to hear and learn what it takes to create an award winning campaign and get yourself prepared for the 2024 MEPRA Awards.
The Alternative Alphabet
2023 MEPRA Awards Winner
Gold – Best Campaign – UAE
Gold – Best Campaign Demonstrating DE&I Initiatives
Gold – Best Integrated Campaign
Gold – Best use of Digital Communications
Silver – Best Collaborative Campaign
Bronze – Best Use of Content – Creative, editorial or video
Bronze – Best Use of Thought Leadership
Submitted by
Memac Ogilvy
About the Campaign: The Alternative Alphabet
On behalf of GEMS Education, Memac Ogilvy conducted nationwide research across more than 7,500 youths, revealing the worrying state of their mental health. Findings showed more than 40 percent of adolescents and teens are anxious or stressed all the time. More than 70 percent won’t or can’t talk about it.
This is because it’s a language they were never taught.
So, through a collaboration with The Thrive Wellbeing Centre, we created a new alphabet to help them learn. The Alternative Alphabet adopts the classic word-to-letter association we learn as infants and applies it to mental health conditions and symptoms.
We turned it into an original, fast-paced card game to empower youths with the knowledge and skills to identify, define, and safely discuss wellbeing and resilience. The game was so successful, that it has now been integrated into the official curricula, altering the way we teach mental health in schools.
Presented by
Maria Tannous, Account Director, Memac Ogilvy
Fluent in the art of unlearning, learning, and seamless adaptation, Maria brings a multifaceted background to the table, encompassing communications, political science, diplomacy, television, presentation, training, PR, and management. With a rich experience spanning both client and agency realms, Maria’s expertise centers on steering result-driven content and campaigns that hold the potential to make a significant impact.
Throughout her career, Maria excels in establishing effective engagement with client leaders and management, ensuring the flawless execution of diverse projects and campaigns. Notably, she served as the Assistant Director of Media and PR at the Lebanese American University (LAU) during her tenure on the client side.
During her agency tenure, Maria’s astute skills led to the acquisition of an account, achieved by enhancing clarity and promoting transparency through well-defined expectations. Among her roster of previous agency clients are prominent names such as BinSina Pharmacy, Americana, Agthia, Lenskart, and AKI. Additionally, she has been instrumental in pitch endeavors across retail, real estate, and telecom sectors. Her exceptional talents were recognized by Campaign, earning her the distinction of being named one of the ‘Agency Creative Faces to Watch 2022’.
Maria’s expertise spans a gamut of areas, encompassing client relations, project management, creative briefs, stakeholder engagement, status updates, presentations, print and digital marketing, as well as PR and communications. Her personal strengths further enrich her profile, including problem-solving acumen, negotiation skills, rapid adaptability, and a flair for creative thinking. A confident and poised public speaker, Maria effortlessly commands attention.
In September 2022, Maria took on the role of Senior Account Manager within Memac Ogilvy’s PR team. She contributes her expertise to a cluster that oversees corporate clients spanning the health, real estate, and tech services sectors. Maria’s educational achievements are commendable, holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Arts – Journalism with a minor in Political Science/International Affairs from the Lebanese American University (LAU), where she graduated with an exceptional GPA of 3.98. Her academic pursuits also led her to earn a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from LAU, further enhancing her knowledge base with a stellar GPA of 4. Proficiently bilingual in English and Arabic, Maria navigates both languages with fluency and finesse.
Location
This is a virtual session hosted on Zoom.
Date & Timings
Wednesday 3 July 2024 ⋅ 12:30 pm – 1:30pm (Gulf Standard Time)
Accreditation
This workshop provides 5 CPD points for CIPR account.