Gambit Communications, a local independent agency, has announced its launch in the Middle East market, specializing in the three core areas of Public Relations, Social Media Management and Influencer Engagement.
The boutique communications agency is helmed by its founder Jamal Al Mawed, an Emirati-British regional communications specialist with over thirteen years’ experience in the regional market. Al Mawed is an agency veteran having spent a large part of his career at Weber Shandwick and Dabo & Co before taking up Senior Director roles at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the Dubai Properties Group.
Gambit Communications takes the inspiration for its name from the game of chess, in which a ‘gambit’ is an opening move where a risk is taken to secure an advantageous position. The theme carries through much of the agency’s branding with icons of classic gaming such as chess pieces, playing cards, dice and darts representing the agency’s focus on strategy and precision in its offering.
“Chess is the ultimate game of planning and strategy, the sport of intellectuals, and is rumored to have been invented right here in the Middle East over 15 centuries ago, so we saw a lot of synergy with it as our creative muse,” explains Al Mawed. “The name is also a double-entendre because the phrase ‘make an opening gambit’ also means ‘to start a conversation with someone’, and in our field the objective is always to help brands start conversations with their consumers.”
Headquartered in Dubai but overseeing the GCC and Levant, Gambit Communications aims to fill a gap in the market for an agency that defines itself by its attention-to-detail and finesse rather than its size and scope.
“Tighter budgets and closer involvement from Procurement on brand side have created an arms race amongst agencies now around who can offer ‘full-service’ solutions faster and cheaper. That’s not a game we are interested in playing. We are very clear in having three core functions that we believe we can compete with anyone in, and that focus is what gives us the upper hand,” Al Mawed said.
Al Mawed adds that Gambit Communications is not looking to compete on price either: “Being a boutique start-up means that we do obviously have a competitive edge in pricing because our overheads are not as high as global agencies, but that isn’t part of our long-term business strategy.”
“Agencies are only as good as their people, so we aren’t recruiting ‘good’ talent, we are recruiting the best, and the best doesn’t come cheap. Henry Ford once said: ‘Good wages are the best kind of business’ and I strongly believe that our biggest strength is our ability to pass on the highest percentage of revenue possible to staff wages so that we can attract and retain the best.”
Gambit Communications aims to offer strategic thinking, digital acumen, communications expertise, creative executions, influencer relations and practical thinking that will allow brands to achieve their business objectives, start conversations and stay one move ahead of the competition.
