The partnership comes as Huawei pushes the boundaries of connectivity and innovation in line with its mission to bring digital to every person, home and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world.

Memac Ogilvy will provide the full suite of PR services for the two Huawei businesses, including communications strategy, media relations, thought leadership, influencer engagement and campaign development to drive Huawei’s ambitious growth agenda and future-focused objectives in the region.

Leveraging its integrated communications expertise and strong media network, Memac Ogilvy will deliver bold, impactful communications strategies that engage consumers, inspire industry stakeholders, and strengthen relationships with strategic partners across the UAE.

Huawei CBG is behind some of the world’s most popular smart devices — from smartphones and wearables to tablets and cloud services — creating seamless, intelligent experiences for millions of users. Renowned as one of the top global smartphone manufacturers, Huawei CBG consistently delivers exceptional user experiences across its device ecosystem.

Huawei’s ICT division powers digital transformation through AI, cloud computing, and connectivity with a focus on cybersecurity & talent cultivation, underlining the company’s vision for a fully integrated, intelligent future.

HUAWEI Ads is a programmatic mobile advertising marketplace that provides real-time bidding and instant market analysis. We offer a self-serve, demand-side platform accessible for our partners and agencies, who can execute marketing campaigns using all the innovative tools developed by HUAWEI Ads.

A major attraction for advertisers that use Huawei Ads is access to a gigantic pool of millions of smart users. As well as all the millions who use a Huawei device, Huawei Ads reaches users of Huawei apps such as HUAWEI AppGallery, HUAWEI Browser, HUAWEI Assistant, HUAWEI Music, HUAWEI Video, HUAWEI Themes and Petal Search. Brands and agencies effectively have a whole new audience opened up to them, in an environment that complies with all relevant privacy regulations.

How does HUAWEI Ads differentiate itself from other programmatic service providers?

The enormous user base of Huawei devices and apps is a key selling point, along with Huawei’s Open Advertiser Identifier (OAID), a non-permanent device identifier that can be used to provide users with personalized advertisements while protecting their personal information. It’s also important to note how affordable and cost-effective HUAWEI Ads is, with no fee charged for using the service currently.

While the large installed base of Huawei devices and apps is already a compelling proposition, its reach will only grow over time. Huawei’s 1+8+N strategy envisions bringing the HUAWEI Ads offering to the company’s portfolio of smart TVs, tablets, PCs, and Internet of Things devices.

Another key point of differentiation is the considerable effort we have made to build our support and services infrastructure. Our support team is always available to assist with ongoing tasks and troubleshooting.

What is the benefit to advertisers?

Programmatic advertising automates and simplifies the process of media buying. It helps advertisers reach their precise target audience and it gives real-time insights into how audiences are interacting with an advert. Through completed and ongoing campaigns, we have seen that adverts placed through HUAWEI Ads have achieved significantly higher click-through rates than the average benchmark we see in the market. All this achieved at highly competitive rates.

Advertisers and agencies that join HUAWEI Ads partake in an exceptional partner program, where they can maximize their returns by leveraging features such as unique incentives, performance tracking, and detailed metrics like client retention and more. They can also showcase their outstanding performance as a HUAWEI Ads Premium Partner.

We are sensitive to privacy concerns and ensure the adverts served through HUAWEI Ads are not intrusive and comply with the users’ stated preferences. An opt-out option prevents the delivery of personalized adverts to those who do not want them.

Moreover, we are an Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) channel. As a mobile advertiser, you cannot ignore the range of exciting opportunities that OEM channels provide. With smartphone access and rich customer data, OEMs support with cleaner inventory and improved targeting, which drives marketing ROIs. Right now, advertisers are not utilizing this space optimally and there is tremendous opportunity to connect with newer audiences. 

What is the benefit for publishers?

HUAWEI Ads is great news for app developers and publishers, who can now opt to display high quality content in their apps running on the vast user base of Huawei devices. We support a range of formats, including native, rewarded, banner, interstitial, splash and roll. The standard revenue sharing mode is 70-30% in favor of publishers, and as a launch special, publishers are set to receive 80% throughout the rest of 2021.

Publishers can rest assured that advertising content is of high quality and not intrusive. Creatives are reviewed internally by the HUAWEI Ads review team to ensure they are high quality, appropriate, and deliver a seamless user experience. For example, we have a silent downloader, displaying a link for users to download something directly, without being redirected from the current screen.

What does the partnership with Connect Ads imply?

When we ventured the advertising business, we were looking for a reputable partner in the MEA region with the credibility and expertise to spearhead our sales and advertising operations. Connect Ads was chosen to be our certified partner. We work really well with them and believe that the partnership will help enrich and scale both our businesses.

Ad fraud has been a prevalent topic of discussion in the world of programmatic. How does the HUAWEI Ads network tackle ad fraud?

Rest assured, we take fraud very seriously. All our third party apps are thoroughly reviewed by the HUAWEI AppGallery team to ensure they meet our users’ needs. All submitted apps should be original and high quality, without any harmful or improper content. Relevant teams thoroughly review all adverts that are placed through HUAWEI Ads to ensure they meet the necessary standards for quality, appropriateness, and user experience.

In addition, being an OEM channel, HUAWEI Ads by default offer increased transparency that significantly reduces space for fraud in the digital ad space and allows us advertisers to effectively reach their target audience.

Apple is a company that just reached $1 trillion in market cap and it is also getting ready for the new iPhone release. Samsung, on the other hand, just in time for the Note 9 release (August 9), is upping its ante by releasing adverts attacking iPhone X and 8 by referring to it as “ingenius.”



(Courtesy of Samsung)

Let’s see who is winning the fans over just before both companies go toe-to-toe with each other in their latest device debuts.

Read: Why is PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi leaving?

Samsung can’t handle these Apples

When comparing both companies’ flagships, the Galaxy S9 and S9+ captured 2.6% of the international market this year, while the iPhone X lagged behind at 2.3%, according to Time Magazine. However, when looking at more direct competitors to the S9, like the iPhone 8 (2.6%), which solely performed the same as the S9 and S9+ combined, we see a different picture.

Apple didn’t stop there but also went on to beat its own revenue numbers.

Through the first three quarters of Apple’s 2018 fiscal year (which ends September 29), the company’s iPhone revenues amounted to a whopping $129.5 billion, beating the previous nine-months record of $122.8 billion dating back to 2015.

(Courtesy of Statista)

According to Statista, Apple’s decision to release the $1,000 iPhone X last year can be considered key to the iPhone segment’s latest success, since the cost to make the phone is $370, according to Time Magazine. Apple also took its average selling price down to $724 in the most recent quarter, but the real question is: Is Apple willing to outdo everyone in the process of breaking its own records?

September is right around the corner, and Apple is planning to release all 3 phones with the same matching iPhone X screen.

Read: Z7 communications is pleased to announce its recent appointment as the PR agency for Baume & Mercier

3 (i)Phones to rule them all

The replacement for the iPhone X will keep its 5.8-inch 458ppi display and will be joined by a more significant “Plus” sibling with a 6.5-inch 480-500ppi display. These two iPhones will become Apple’s 2018 iPhone flagships and will employ OLED multi-touch displays supporting HDR and 3D Touch, which Apple markets as the Super Retina HD display.

(Courtesy of GSMarena)

Read: Express yourself with New Arabic Bitmoji Stickers

A new mid-sized variant will join the 2018 flagships with a 6.1-inch 320-330ppi display, which will continue to use an LCD, and Apple markets these as the Retina HD display. While likely HDR-capable, it’s been speculated that the 6.1-inch LCD model may drop support for 3D Touch.

It is no wonder why the giant will sell these phones like hotcakes, but will they, in fact, compete with the Note 9?

The new Note 9 launch is in just a few days and has something we love about Samsung: Functionality.

The company’s new ‘leaked’ footage and announcement videos led us to believe that this phone would follow in the footsteps of its older brother, the Note 8; a bigger battery and a stylus that serves well for all executives’ signatures when needed.

However, Apple has its own tricks up its sleeves and is releasing the iPhone “11” (still unnamed) with support for the Apple pen, according to the latest rumor reported by GSMarena: it’s a $100 precision pen which, although doesn’t come included, is fast and precise (unlike the S-Pen).

The Apple Pencil serves well and leads you to believe that you are writing on a piece of paper with approximately 20ms of latency, according to 9 to 5 Mac, a tech news source.

The video below shows more on why the Apple Pencil is far superior than the S-Pen.

(Courtesy of Teoh Yi Chie, YouTube)

Only time will tell which of the two phones will dominate the new year to come. However, a storm is brewing in Asia.

Read: Behind Burberry’s first logo change in 20 years

The phone war has begun

Huawei, a company considered to be second-tier by many, has seen improved phone sales with a 41% growth for year-over-year (YoY), landing it the spot for the second highest selling phone manufacturer in the world, according to GSMarena. Meanwhile, Xiaomi (4th) is right on Huawei’s tail with a YoY growth of 48%, according to the same report.

(Courtesy of GSMarena)

These figures are well expected, since Xioami and Huawei own the Chinese market, which puts them at 39 million units sold in the country compared to Apple’s approximate 9 million sold in Q3 last year, according to AppleInsider. The figures don’t seem to be an issue for Apple since the company has been improving regarding the growth in the same country with a 32% YoY increase in sales this year, according to the same report by AppleInsider.

Samsung still retains the top spot worldwide in phone sales, but Huawei is eying the pedestal and is ready to take on Samsung next year, according to a report by GSMarena.

The video stars the two Internet celebs with Mo playing the role of an over-enthusiastic customer who knows all about the phone’s features and Lana playing the role of the salesperson who doesn’t need to do any sales because Mo is already excited and ready to buy the phone.

Read the review and feedback of the video here. 

In light of this, we spoke to two experts: Jamal Iqbal, executive creative director of Cicero & Bernay – the agency, which runs the See & Be program for influencers – and Mahmoud Boksmati, CEO and founder of online influencer platform, The Influencer.

Why do you think there is so much negative feedback and what’s wrong with it

Jamal: If they set out to make a parody, they clearly succeeded. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they set off to make a parody. My answer is very simple: if you wish to make people laugh, at least be funny. This is neither funny nor believable.

Mahmoud: The context is all wrong.  MoVlogs and Lana Rose are both very famous vloggers and with loyal followers who are very familiar with the brother/sister dynamic, as most of their content features the playful pranks and shared appearances. The ad broke that dynamic and had them play fake roles with Lana posing as the saleswoman and Mo reading out a scripted storyline. They broke the golden rule of influencer marketing, which is authenticity. Another factor was the average quality production and storyline. It felt more like a TVC than a collaboration with influencers.

The use of influencers in this ad: was it needed? Does it add anything? 

Jamal: An influencer, by the very definition of the word, ‘influences’. Nancy Ajram endorses Huawei. Nobody questions her endorsement. Do influencers add to the content? Yes, they certainly do. Were they needed on this? I wouldn’t be able to answer that because I don’t have access to the brand’s brief or strategy.

Mahmoud: They would have been better off not using influencers for this ad, as they [the brand] ended up undermining the credibility of the influencers involved and left us questioning if the brand can have an authentic conversation with consumers.

How could the brand or agency have used the influencers better?

Jamal: Mo Vlogs is clearly a very energetic guy. He’s into fitness, and sports, and cars. What communicators must realize is that sometimes it’s best to take a step back and think about WHAT it is, that made an influencer an ‘influencer’. Then try and tap into that special quality, creatively weave it into your product story and you’ll have a something awesome.

Mahmoud: They would have seen much better results if they have let the influencers speak in their own tone and engage with their followers the best way they know how. Giving this creative freedom to the influencers will allow the message to resonate with their audiences and giving the brand a more genuine message. Choosing the right influencer is essential to this kind of campaign, as they are meant to be opinion leaders and a natural affiliation with the subject matter. It is the brand’s responsibility to choose the right influencers who are relevant and have a natural affinity for their brand.

The video stars the two Internet celebs with Mo playing the role of an over-enthusiastic customer who knows all about the phone’s features and Lana playing the role of the salesperson who doesn’t need to do any sales because Mo is already excited and ready to buy the phone.

So, what are the issues here?

The biggest one is probably that it’s not a parody. “If they [the brand] set out to make a parody, they clearly succeeded. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like they set off to make a parody,” says Jamal Iqbal, executive creative director of Cicero & Bernay – the agency, which runs the See & Be program for influencers.

READ MORE: Expert comments on the Huawei video

1. The use of ‘influencers’
Mo Vlogs with his 4,649,136 YouTube subscribers and 1.1 million Instagram followers, and sister Lana Rose with her 885,000 Instagram followers feature in this video, but what value are they adding? Could the video not have featured two actors – not necessarily influencers? The video doesn’t do much to allow these influencers to demonstrate their style or whatever it is that makes them influential.

Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, as pointed out by Facebook users, both the influencers use an iPhone in their videos.

ALSO READ: What’s the real influence of an influencer?

2. The community management
If this were a ‘Social Media 101’ article, we’d like to add an addendum to ‘Tip #3: Engaging with your fans and followers’ is key. Addendum: Said engagement must be personal and not done through a copy-paste human/bot.

For instance, Huawei’s response to one Facebook commenter complaining about the poor ad is: “Hi, we are sorry to hear that. Kindly clarify the issue you’re facing in details to be able to help you.”

Secondly, many users who asked for the price of the product were asked to share their country, after which, they were asked to check with their local retailer.

You know a brand needs to fix its strategy when audiences start blocking their ads or close a tab altogether when an ad auto-plays, but you know it really needs to rethink its strategy when audiences decide to NOT buy their product because of their ads.

And if this Facebook comment is anything to go by, Huawei needs to do just that: “I will actively avoid this product because of that terrible ad. Why, why, why would you release something so cringeworthy?”

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has renewed its contract after three years with the agency while Huawei has added Lebanon to PHD’s remit, which already includes the UAE.

“Winning new business is always very rewarding but there is something special in being retained by or receiving an expanded brief from an existing client, as it intimates a strong level of satisfaction,” says Luca Allam, managing director of PHD UAE in a statement. “DWTC is a prestigious brand with ambitious plans. We can’t ask for much more from our clients than to expect from us to turn their dreams into reality.”

“We’re delighted to welcome Huawei on board as part of our growing list of clients in Lebanon. There is much to be achieved in the telecom sector and we are confident that with our respective knowledge and expertise, together we can take Huawei to even greater heights here,” adds Maroun Hassoun, general manager of PHD Lebanon.