WPP announces that it has acquired a majority stake in Team Y&R Holdings, the region’s largest diversified communications conglomerate, founded by Talal Makdessi (ArabAd Man of the Year 2007), established in 1997 and in which WPP has held a minority stake since 1999, and which operates in the MENA region.

THG’s Chairman is Talal Makdessi & Chairman and World President of IAA Joseph Ghossoub is the Director and CEO.

The Holding Group (THG) a.k.a Team , operates through a wide and diversified range of expertise by companies including Team Y&R, Asda’a [its PR unit], Intermarkets, Mediaedge:cia [the media buying unit], Polaris [another PR firm] and Wunderman.

Team Group has significant operations in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar and Oman and employs over 1,200 people. Major clients include Emaar, Etisalat, Alpha Telecom, Royal Jordanian, Almaza Beer, Winston, Ford, LG Electronics, Mashreq Bank, Microsoft, Sony Ericsson, Commercial Bank of Kuwait and Visa.

Team Group’s claimed revenues of US$100 million for 2007, with gross assets of US$242 million.

Such a hulking investment is a first its kind; an acquisition that speaks by itself, and where it looks like WPP has more surprises in store coming our way; as this unexpected move confirms WPP’s new strategy, of a full load roll out and networks development, in fast growing markets and sectors.

Originally published in ArabAd, March 2008

Table of honour from left: Erwin Guerrovich of Intermarkets; Mustapha Assad, Publi-Graphics; May Kahale, Information Advisor at the Presidential Palace; Deputy Joseph Moghaizel; Jean-Claude Boulos, Inter-Regies and Walid Azzi Publisher of ArabAd

The Lebanese Chapter of the IAA has been host late last month to a luncheon at the Beirut Riviera Hotel during which MP Joseph Moghaizel dwelt in detail on the introduction of the new audio-visual law.

The luncheon which was attended by IAA members and their guests in the industry witnessed a lively discussion on the subject which at times reached a heated level.

Speakers pointed out that the law contained many loopholes and asserted the difficulty of implementing some of the articles included in the law.

Originally published in ArabAd

Picture shows from left Ramzi Raad, Intermarkets Group Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Reg Lascaris TBWA Regional Director, Africa, Middle East, and Eastern Europe; Abdullah S. Al-Jehani, Saudi Arabian Airlines - Vice President Advertising and Marketing Programmes; Prince Bandar Bin Saud Bin Khalid Al-Saud, Chairman of Ailamia /Intermarkets Public Relations; and Yarub A. Balkhair, Saudi Arabian Airlines General Manager Public Relations and Editor-in-Chief of "Ahlan Wa Sahlan" magazine

After an exhaustive review which included presentations from six of the most qualified advertising agencies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Airlines re-appointed Intermarkets Advertising to handle its worldwide marketing communications account in partnership with its international associates TBWA and its PR consultancy Ailamiah/lntermarkets Public Relations together with its international associates Burson Marsteller.
In his statement on the appointment, Abdullah S. Al-Jehani, Saudi Arabian Airlines Vice President Advertising and Marketing Programmes said:

“… after careful evaluation of the six presentations, it became obvious that Intermarkets with its established multi- disciplined communications set-up and its world renowned associates offered the full mix of creative excellence, strategic planning skills coupled with the product know how that would serve the Airline best in the long term.”

Erwin Guerrovich Chairman and CEO of the Intermarkets Group commented on the appointment saying: “We are delighted with the added responsibilities and look forward to continuing our close partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines expanding our task of helping in building the unique position of our client as a world class airline with a distinctive Saudi character – not to the travelling public in the Middle East only – but all around the world.”
Originally published in ArabAd, October 1998

DUBAI – Intermarkets UAE have been appointed by DAMAC, one of the leading catering companies in the Gulf to launch the first food-court to be opened in the Middle East, at Al Ghurair Centre in Dubai.

“Yum Yum Corner” as the food-court has been named will seat around 300 people and will be serving Mexican, American, Italian, Indian and Lebanese fast food. In this section, it features 3 international franchises namely “Popeyes”, “Pizza Inn” and “Taco Time”.
It offers also the services of a coffee-shop, a coffee bar, a crêperie and a children amusement centre.

This new account presents to Intermarkets UAE a very challenging opportunity as DAMAC are launching many other fast-food outlets, all around the area.
Originally published in Arabad, April 1988

I was browsing the internet and to my great surprise I found out that WPP purchased Intermarkets Advertising from Joseph GHOUSSOUB and Talal MAKDESSI.
My late father Erwin GUERROVICH has never received the monies due to him for this sale, this is why we are in courts for now over 10 years now.
How can Intermarkets advertising be sold to WPP if neither my late father, neither us were paid?
Was that fact hidden from WPP when Intermarkets Advertising was sold?
Ironically the official reason Joseph GHOUSSOUB and Talal MAKDESSI give in court for not paying their due is that the sale was never completed?
How can Joseph GHOUSSOUB and Talal MAKDESSI sell Intermarkets Advertising to WPP if the initial sale from Erwin GUERROVICH was not completed?
WPP doesn’t have lawyers that check what they are buying beforehand?
I am ready to answer all questions you can PM me or comment here.
YG

“Intermarkets, the oldest PR and advertising group and marketing communications network agency in the Middle East, was founded in 1961 in Beirut, Lebanon, introducing the concept of modern communication to the Middle East. Today, it has 11 strategically located offices. Having gained a high reputation and numerous awards for their creative advertising campaigns, Intermarkets has a holistic full-service approach, including relationship marketing, market research, and corporate identity services for their industry-leading clients.”

Following a review, Rothmans of Pall Mall (International) Limited confirmed that part of its regional account will move to Intermarkets, the associate company of Rothmans’ UK agency TBWA. However, the tobacco giant will also maintain close links with Publi-Graphics with whom they have worked for 20 years.
Publi-Graphics retain the sizeable sponsorship and public relations account for the Middle East division of Rothmans. The development of public relations has been of key importance since their entry into Formula One motor racing with the Rothmans Williams Renault team.
“We are very pleased that Rothmans have endorsed the success of our public relations operation for them and look forward to continuing this successful partnership,” said Samir Khammar, Regional Director of Publi-Graphics.”
He added, “As long-time colleagues and friends, we wish both Rothmans and Intermarkets well in their new association.”
Chris Tomkinson, Managing Director of Rothmans of Pall Mall International, Middle East Division said, “We look forward to Publi-Graphics continuing their valuable contribution in the sponsorship, public relations and associated areas – particularly in relation to the Rothmans Williams Renault Formula One Team which plays an extremely significant role in our business, both globally and in the markets of the Middle East.”
Originally published in ArabAd, 1995

“Trisa of Switzerland,” the internationally renowned manufacturer of tooth brushes and hairbrushes since 1887, announced the appointment of Intermarkets Advertising to handle its total communications programme in the Middle East.
The appointment was the outcome of a review that “Trisa” had conducted amongst a number of advertising agencies in Dubai, following which 6 ad agencies were shortlisted and the company attended presentations which were delivered by Impact/BBDO, Publi-Graphics, APS, MADCO, Memac and Intermarkets.
In his announcement fax, Jurg Schneider, Export Marketing Manager of Trisa, said that Intermarkets’ presentation had been very professional, the capabilities of the agency were interesting, and that Trisa had very much liked the Intermarkets Dubai team.
The Trisa appointment gives Intermarkets a reason to continue smiling after having won F. Hoffmann-La Roche’s Bepanthen, Rothmans of Pall Mall (International) and Dubai Marine International Club (DMIC) during the past two months.
Originally published in Arab Ad, 1995

LONDON — Intermarkets, in addition to the Helen Betrix German cosmetics account they’re handling in the Middle East, have won the Meridien Hotels budget for the pan-Arab market.

Intermarkets will also be handling the British Home Stores account for the Middle East, which is one of their biggest business areas outside the UK.

Originally published in ArabAd, April 1988

Haress Chehab

Haress Chehab, creative director at Intermarkets, discussed with Arab Ad in Dubai his background, his special affection for advertising and the challenges of his career in the following interview:

AA: Haress Chehab, could you tell us something about your background?

HC: I began my work in Lebanon in the early 1970s as a journalist with a now-defunct newspaper called As Safa. I was a free-lance reporter and photographer. I then returned to university. It was a long road in and out of university, trying to figure out where I wanted to reach eventually.

I settled in the University of Southern California where I acquired a Bachelors degree in Chemistry and Biology. I spent two years in medical school, got fed up with the medical profession and studied a bit of geology.

I also studied international relations, strategic and defence studies. I came back to Lebanon in 1982 and pursued my love of the audio-visual. I joined RSCG Strategies as copywriter and creative director for Lebanon and later regional creative director for the Middle East.

I founded Dark Star in Lebanon which was an advertising agency (1985-1989) but Lebanon at the time was sinking into economic anarchy and, with the lack of international backup of a multi-national network, there was not much we could do and the agency was closed down.

I founded with partners a film production company with offices in Cyprus (Kalabash Productions) and Paris (TDFC-The Directors Film Company).

Meanwhile, I got an offer from Leo Burnett to join as creative director in the lower Gulf. In 1992 I shut down Kalabash, sold my shares in TDFC and joined Leo Burnett in Dubai.

In 1994 the question of my transfer to Cairo as creative director was brought up but I could not leave Dubai for personal reasons and it was with mutual regret that we parted company. I received an offer from Intermarkets to be senior creative director based in Dubai. I took it up and I’ve been with Intermarkets ever since.

AA: You engaged in various types of studies along the way. How is it that you ended up in advertising?

HC: Being born into a politically-oriented family I was into the political world in general. My father ran for the presidency and was ambassador. There was the family pressure typical in Lebanese circles the, so-called “safety issues” such as Medicine, Engineering or Law. I proved that I could do it but then one day I thought stop. Enough. This is my life.

AA: You’ve been in the business for 15 years now?

HC: Basically yes. It was 1982 when I’d already started doing freelance projects left, right and centre. It has now been 15 years.

AA: Do you regret any of the pressures, long hours, deadlines?

HC: I don’t think we should regret anything whatsoever in life. No I don’t have any regrets. I would have regrets if I hadn’t learnt from the lessons of the past. Yes, there were very long hours that I possibly might have been able to use more effectively in another market but at that point I wasn’t in another market so I don’t think I should regret it. What we have to look at are the challenges for tomorrow.

AA: Do you regret not being able to take up Leo Burnett’s offer in Cairo?

HC: I think the question is always difficult to assess. They are two different environments. Each company has its own culture. Leo Burnett is multinational but has successfully adapted to the Middle East to bring a very specific flavour, a difference which is very interesting and challenging.

AA: Did you have a role in bringing about this difference?

HC: As much as we all did. We were 3-4 creative directors throughout the Middle East and we always felt we were involved. Each decision that affected whatever happened in the Middle East involved us all so to a certain extent we all felt part of one very coherent, very integrated network. We knew where we were going and why we were going in that particular direction.

There are always happy episodes in the past but we always look towards the future.

The situation at Intermarkets is just as interesting. It’s a new chapter in my life. At the end of the day, each company has its own merits and I think I have had scope to learn at Intermarkets as I have in Leo Burnett. So do I regret the change? No, I am learning. If I had stopped learning I would have regretted the change or instead of regretting it I would have looked for something else.

AA: Did your experience at Leo Burnett help you see things differently at Intermarkets?

HC: Both Leo Burnett and Intermarkets have their own specific cultures and I think that we as individuals do not come to re-invent in any particular company we join. Either we agree with the culture or we don’t. I think that Intermarkets has a very, very interesting culture. This is an agency that has been around since 1961 which means that it must have a pretty open mind about the world and the future in general or else it would have disappeared. I think the present shows it is very vibrant and is moving significantly into expansion.

AA: How much do you contribute, if at all, to the work of other offices in the network? How much do they depend on you?

HC: I don’t know if it’s me personally as much as the office in Dubai. Dubai is a very important office for Intermarkets. It is a very decentralised network so all the offices help each other quite a lot. There’s a lot of synergy going on. We, in Dubai, never feel alone and I believe Jeddah, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Amman never feel alone either. The “esprit” at Intermarkets is very open in that respect. It’s a cross-flow of various influences and this helps us have a much more cohesive and coherent view of the Middle East. What emerges is a global view.

AA: Which of the challenges is the most remarkable you have worked on either at Leo Burnett or Intermarkets?

HC: I wouldn’t say a particular challenge in any particular situation because any situation is a challenge. At the end of the day, every new brief is a challenge whether at Leo Burnett or Intermarkets. I think the situation in itself is dynamic and the challenge is taking absolutely nothing for granted; keeping an open mind about the situation. I think this is what creativity is all about. It’s essentially perceiving the situation and responding to it.

AA: I want to ask about the Rothmans account and the fact that Intermarkets won it when many other agencies were bidding. How much of this achievement was through the creative presentation?

HC: I think it has a lot to do with what we put together on that presentation, if not everything. I think creative is the spirit in which Intermarkets approached the actual task because that is the spirit that permeated the recommendations of Intermarkets to Rothmans.

AA: How much of what you brought are they now considering applying?

HC: Often, on a pitch you expect to present something and then once the selection of the agency is done it’s all thrown into a dustbin and you just simply start all over again. In that respect, everything we suggested was adopted. There is an attitude within Intermarkets that the brands are entrusted to us more than anything else. The brands literally become a part of us. There is an emotional bond that is created between the members of a team and the brands that they tackle. We live the brand. As a result, whatever we come up with is, we hope, the best solution for the brand.

AA: At the IAA awards last year, you won for Nissan. Were you expecting to be awarded for other work you entered?

HC: As a rule you always enter because you believe in your work and therefore you obviously expect every singly entry to do well. There was a lot of good work at the IAA awards. As a result, we got an award and others got awards as well. It doesn’t mean our work was bad, it simply means that everywhere there was good work.

AA: Were you satisfied with the material you saw?

HC: My personal view is that the level that was demonstrated was of a very high standard. I think we can’t afford to be parochial. If we are to be true professionals we must be able to be satisfied with being just contributors to the level of the industry. So if the level is extremely high I think that it is a matter of satisfaction for all of us. It’s something that we all should be proud of.

AA: In line with the same spirit the IAA is planning to host awards for below-the-line advertising. What’s your opinion on these awards and what are the criteria that you can think of?

HC: I think that below-the-line awards are an absolute necessity. It’s about time somebody took a view that it’s an important activity and it is doing a lot of work for the brand and therefore it deserves full recognition. I think a good criterion of judgement would be not just does it shine in absolute terms but how much extra mileage does it give the brand.

The big criterion is, was it just an isolated brilliant exercise, that piece of work, or is it actually working in synergy and giving extra equity to the brand? Because if it is radically different from above-the-line then we’re talking about two different brands. We can’t just talk of a piece of work below-the-line in total abstraction of its surroundings.

AA: We have all become computer slaves, more or less, in the creative business more than anything else. How do you deal with this?

HC: I think we have to look at the computer as a means rather than as an end. It is simply an extra tool to do the work. It is there essentially to communicate, to speed up work, to communicate between the departments inside the agencies as well as with the outside world. But beyond that, I would try to keep the computer exactly where it belongs which is on the desktop and not let it invade our lives.

AA: There are traditions all around us, particularly in this part of the world. How much do they restrict you in your work?

HC: The global village really is a series of neighbourhoods which are communicating and each little neighbourhood has its own particular traditions, way of life and even way of thinking, so if I intend to sell my products and ideas to that particular neighbourhood then I am committing suicide. If I talk without trying to figure out how I’m being heard I don’t see these traditions as restrictions. The do’s and don’ts are not so much a restriction as a challenge to one’s own intelligence. The challenge is to learn to talk the other person’s language and I think that is where the challenge really lies. We either can communicate and therefore we belong in the business or we like to listen to our own speech and therefore we don’t belong to the business.

AA: There is a need to discover new talents in this region. There are many youngsters graduating but where is creativity? Do you think there is a chance of seeing people from the Gulf countries entering this industry?

HC: Yes. Why is it that the Lebanese rose so prominently in the industry? It it means that they got a head-start. We are encouraging the spread of what I want to call the communication craft. We want it to happen and I believe that, when they’re ready, it will happen. The communications industry is very young in this part of the world.

It’s been around for a century but in this part of the world, in practical terms, it’s been around for five years, ten years maximum. So we’re not even talking one generation. Today’s professionals in the GCC are intent on attending every single seminar that takes place on the communications industry. That’s step one. Step two is getting far more involved. It’s just a matter of time. The talent is there, there is no doubt about it.

AA: Is enough being done to attract this new generation of youngsters?

HC: I think that we as professionals, and through the organisations that already exist such as the IAA, should make a much more conscious effort to go to the universities and, first through seminars and then through courses, open the window on this particular aspect of our profession. People don’t know it exists.

AA: If you were asked to contribute by giving lectures or seminars would you be prepared to do so?

HC: As prepared as I always was. I started giving seminars on advertising as far back as 1986. I think it is a duty, an obligation for all of us to go out there and talk about what we know best. We have to sell a profession and that profession is called advertising. We believe in what we do and therefore we have to share it.

AA: Where does Haress Chehab see himself ten years from now?

HC: I haven’t really made up my mind yet.

I have lots of things I’d like to do like isolate myself on an island and write books just for my own pleasure, for instance.

It’s what you call the pursuit of happiness. As long as I can every now and then watch an absolutely gorgeous sunset and share a moment with my wife I think that’s the definition of pure bliss.

If you’re asking me about my place in the industry, who knows, you might just as well ask me what the industry will be like tomorrow.

Will the industry still be around? I think every day brings change and therefore I look forward to change and one has to be ready to meet the challenge of change. I definitely don’t want to go back to my newspaper and slippers.
(ArabAd, 1996)