“Winning the Stevie® Award brings great inspiration for Orient Planet Group amidst the challenges that companies face nowadays. This global recognition reflects the success of our constant efforts to give our best in everything we do for our clients and deliver measurable results.”Nidal Abou Zaki, Managing Director, Orient Planet Group
Winning Organization: Orient Planet Group
Nomination: 2020 Gold Stevie Award for Innovation in Public Affairs Communications for their Management of the communication campaign for UAE’s successful election to International Maritime Organization Council
A Brief about the Winning Organization:
Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications is an award-winning agency providing public relations, marketing and communications consultancies. We specialize in providing powerful and distinctive business communications, drawing on the best talent and quality resources to assist local, regional and international companies in enhancing their corporate reputation and brand equity.
As one of the Middle East’s most rapidly growing organization, we serve some of the most prominent organizations in the Arabian Gulf, Levant and North Africa. Our clients range from conglomerates and family businesses, multinational corporations, government entities, SMEs, and non-profit organizations.
We are a multicultural team capable of leading communications campaigns for local, regional and international clients seeking to connect to the public and the media in Arabic, English, and French. We maintain a distinct brand of PR practice where quality and value of the messages are given premium to ensure coverage and broader reach. In addition, we have an established client and media relations team that constantly provide support to organizations in their communications needs during events, product launches, branding, reputation management, and crisis communications, to name a few.
Stevie Award Winning Case Study:
The Federal Transport Authority (FTA) partnered with Orient Planet to mobilize support for the United Arab Emirates’ candidacy for a second term of Category B Membership into the International Maritime Organization Council. The goal was to garner support of other member countries from the region and from around the world by highlighting why the UAE deserves to be re-elected to the Council.
Orient Planet identified the most compelling reasons from among the UAE’s wide array of maritime accomplishments and milestones, to be highlighted before the right audiences at the local, regional and international levels. An integrated communication strategy was developed in both Arabic and English, which included interviews with journalists from leading publications.
The campaign kicked off in August 2019, followed by four months of active media engagement. The international media campaign generated great response from media outlets from around the world, resulting in 69 international media spots. The campaign also comprised local media roundtable sessions and hands-on PR support for the UAE delegation during the IMO meetings. Social media channels were leveraged to raise further awareness on the UAE’s capabilities and strengths as a maritime leader.
As a result, on November 29, 2019, the UAE won Category B Membership into the 40-member IMO Council for a second term, besting the competition that witnessed the participation of 10 leading countries in the field of international maritime trade.
Nidal Abou Zaki, Managing Director, Orient Planet Group: “Innovative campaigns and solutions do not always have to be expensive nor too elaborate, but they have to be effective in communicating the right message to the right audience. We believe that participating in prestigious global awards such as the Stevie® puts our strengths and capabilities to test, as well as it opens doors to new opportunities.”