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Mazen Jawad, CEO, Horizon Holding, shares his take on awards in general while he asserts his confidence in the regional talent and explains the rising interest he sees triggered in “creative adventurers” that are flocking to the region and contributing to leveling up the standard of the work created in the Middle East.

How do you view award shows in general?

The more established award shows are the more important to our industry, as they oblige us to constantly elevate the quality of the work while we compete with our peers not only in our region but also on a global scale. Furthermore, this is the time we can celebrate together with our clients our achievements for great work.

As clients increased participation and personal attendance at award shows, this has also added further drive on agencies to participate and be present at those festivals. For example, today one in four delegates are client-side at the Cannes Lions Festival and this ratio will keep increasing.

Is your participation at awards something planned way in advance with a budget specially allocated for it?

We do allocate a yearly budget for this purpose; enhancing the budgets that our clients are already allocating to the work we’re creating for them, as we always aim to have real work that our clients are already supporting and where creativity can & should deliver the desired economic multiplier. Only then, brands can unlock this potential with everything we do for them, building a powerful strategic advantage over their competitors.

How do you choose which show you want to participate in for instance?

We focus most on festivals that are part of the WARC & The Drum point-counting systems. We usually start with the Cannes Festival and then make decisions for other shows based on its outcome. 

We have noticed a growing confidence and quality in the work coming out of the Middle East. What are your thoughts on why that is happening now? And what are the factors of this notable upward trajectory? 

Admen and adwomen working in our region are as capable, as talented and as focused as many of the people working around the world… just add to it an incredible ‘Middle Eastern’ passion. Moreover, our teams are usually a mix of professionals coming over from all key international ad markets … so we have many creative adventurers exploring the world, our region and mixing with our Mid-Eastern people to create the magic that they are all showcasing.

And the more you see our region winning in key international festivals, the more you’ll witness rising interest from more creative (& beyond) talent coming and joining us in our booming and fast transforming region. Creativity is becoming more and more synonymous to our region that is constantly surprising the world within our industry and beyond.

We’re living in the Never Finished New World.    

“Admen and adwomen working in our region are as capable, as talented and as focused as many of the people working around the world… just add to it an incredible ‘Middle Eastern’ passion.”

Many believe true winners of award shows are the organizers charging exuberant prices for entering work or attending ceremonies. What’s your take on this?

I personally believe that those festivals should include more admen, adwomen and clients… and should include more non-participating countries and similarly boutique agencies that can’t afford the current pricing structure. They need to be more inclusive and therefore more affordable to all… the ones who are already participating and the ones that still can’t.

Some agencies have a creative force specially dedicated to crafting award winning campaigns, mostly ghost campaigns. What do you think of this?

We can neither budget for this nor accept ghost campaigns but we do usually witness such work being submitted to festivals and at times being rewarded.

We believe that the work that we submit should serve the plans of our clients whether from a brand or a tactical perspective and therefore it’s core to our mission to build brands that are Timeless & Timely.