Saudi Arabia, UAE shine light on MENA region at global awards program DUBAI: The Gerety Awards, the global advertising awards program, has announced the winners of its fourth edition. Aimed at celebrating advertising through the female lens, the awards are named after Frances Gerety, the copywriter who coined the tagline “A Diamond is Forever” for De Beers in 1984. This year, the grand jury handed out five Grand Prix, 34 gold, 58 silver and 77 bronze awards. The jury included two members from the region: Prerna Mehra, head of design and creative director at MullenLowe MENA and Yasmina Boustani, associate creative director at Impact BBDO. In Saudi Arabia, Leo Burnett Riyadh won a bronze in the Craft Cut — Photography category for IKEA’s “Time to Redecorate” campaign. The same campaign was also shortlisted in the Craft Cut — Art Direction and Communication Cut — Print categories. It was “beautifully art directed and photographed,” Mehra said. “It is insightful, culturally relevant, visually attractive.” The UAE had 10 campaigns on the shortlist, of which six won awards. Havas Middle East won a gold, silver and bronze for adidas’ “The Liquid Billboard” campaign, Twitter Dubai won a gold and bronze for the campaign “#TheMissingPeace” for UN Women Lebanon and The Film House won a silver for Doha Forum’s “Unparalleled” campaign. “All the work that has won is disruptive,” Mehra said. “The Liquid Billboard” campaign “created waves in advertising” and demonstrated the importance of all media channels, she added. “It is a purely integrated piece of work with the right insight, bold execution and a powerful message.” Mehra said “#TheMissingPeace” was a simple idea that addressed the problem with a beautiful selection and use of platforms and media, while the “Unparalleled” campaign used a split-screen treatment that had been used before but was “visual, strong and purposeful.” Jordan also made the shortlist in two categories with “This is GenZ(ain)” for Zain Jordan by Adpro Communications Amman. “Year on year, this region has produced some of the best pieces in the history of advertising,” Mehra said. “The jurors have started to take work coming out of the region a lot more seriously.” Overall, the US was the biggest winner with 34 entries, followed by the UK with 27.