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MEPRA (Middle East Public Relations Association) announced the finalists for its inaugural Arabic Communications MEPRA Awards 2022 that recognises and honours "the brightest, boldest and bravest campaigns and professionals in Arabic communications."
A total of 141 entries have been submitted this year by Middle East-based agencies and in-house communications departments, signalling the significant place Arabic communications still preserves in the industry.
Making its long-awaited debut in the MEPRA awards scheme, the Arabic Communications awards was off to a remarkable start, as agencies and in-house communications teams submitted their best works for a chance to win in various categories.
The inaugural winners will be revealed during the much-awaited gala night on June 30, 2022 at Rosewood Hotel, Abu Dhabi.
Leading the nominations tally for the first-ever Arabic communications awards is Weber Shandwick with a total of 14 nominations with Mastercard ‘Empowering Every Business’ campaign being nominated in 5 categories.
Other notable categories that were hotly contested include Best Campaign Middle East and Best Campaign UAE, with a combined 20 nominations.
The Arabic MEPRA Awards included 24 categories with a special focus on the most notable work produced in response to COVID-19. All eligible entries were required to focus on Arabic-centred campaigns to qualify. Additionally, the outputs must have been published or delivered in Arabic and all written entries must be submitted in Arabic.
The entries were assessed by a panel of local and regional Arabic-speaking industry experts, with an independent adjudicator reviewing the entire judging process.
Shortlisted entries were limited to 8 per category and for categories, which received a larger collection of entries, only the top 11 were shortlisted, regardless of whether the submission reached over the 70% scoring threshold.
Taryam Al Subaihi, MEPRA chairperson and judge, and director of corporate communication at EWEC said: "We are proud to announce the first finalist of the inaugural Arab Communications awards - a milestone that marks the growth of MEPRA as an organization and the entire Middle East PR industry. On behalf of the judging panel, it’s been a pleasure to review the entries that were submitted. We reviewed over 140 entries, all of which were proof of how Arabic communications is being used to ignite meaningful conversations through impactful campaigns,” said Taryam.
The premier Awards programme was developed to shine a spotlight on impactful Arabic content and highlight the importance of the Arabic language in the communications industry within the Middle East. This, according to MEPRA is in line with its goal to achieve its vision of being the unique voice that represents the public relations and communication profession in the Middle East and its mission to raise awareness and build a holistic understanding of public relations in the region.
“What we have witnessed is sheer PR brilliance and result-oriented communications work that’s being undertaken by the Arabic-speaking PR teams across the Middle East. The Arab Communications awards will now allow us to shine a light on Arabic-speaking communication professionals and their work and celebrate their work amongst the communications community. Congratulations to all our finalists for making it this far in our most competitive awards season yet," noted Taryam.
