We continue our series of profiling our agency partners from around the world, this time with our newest addition to the Brands2Life Global Network, Louay Al Samarrai and Sawsan Ghanem, founders of Active DMC in the Middle East.
What led us to start up our own agency?
The market dynamics and comments from potential clients arriving in or newly set up in the region that found that what they were getting was either very high level strategic comms and a very high level price or a press release factory, so we positioned ourselves right in the middle.
What inspires us day to day?
The scope of what can be done, the people we can achieve things with and the nature of the work we do
What are the common misconceptions around coms in the Middle East region?
Where do we start! We recently posted a thought piece that we penned post the largest tech even in the region – GITEX – and this we think covers the main issues. The Middle East region is responsible for delivering great revenues for tech vendors but the investment in comms is usually less than one European country and yet they want to see even more growth. The region can no longer be seen as an extension but a key driver for global tech companies and their ambitions
What’s the biggest change in PR since we founded Active DMC in 2003?
The impact of technology – social media, remote working, the changing values of the people and now AI have all impacted the industry and continue to do so in our view
Which campaign are you most proud of having been involved involved in? What’s the biggest impact you have had on a client?
It’s very difficult for us to pinpoint one campaign over the course of the 24 years we have been operating so we would have to say that – for the clients that have been working with its for two or more years – it’s seeing the needle move, the media start to approach us to get commentary and narratives from these clients and the propensity of these clients to allow us access to other budget silos also
In terms of client impact its not one specific one for us – it’s that we are frank and honest with clients and 95% of them can appreciate this and they are the ones we love working with!
After over 20 years in the industry what is your number one priority right now?
That’s easy and it’s not a surprise either! It’s AI, adoption, application and the realistic use of it to service and add value to what we do as well as allow our teams to move their focus to more consultancy and less execution. We have a project for 2026. We will sit down with two very experienced comms professionals and try to define what an agency will look like in three years… we can’t look any further with the way that the technology is evolving
Where is your company headed in the next 5/10 etc years?
Frankly we don’t think we can truly answer this! Two years ago we would not have been talking about the impact of AI so its really difficult to say where we will be even in 3 years let alone 5 or 10…
As we said in the previous question we are looking to try and sit down and paint a picture of what our agency will look like in 2-3 years.
Where is the entire PR industry headed?
We would like to think it is moving towards a more consultative approach and that the executional aspects will actually almost if not entirely disappear.
What are the 3 biggest things learned?
Patience, passion and earning your position and reputation is as important for the agency as it is for the clients that use you.
Why is it important to be a part of a global network?
It’s very very important and the reasons are as follows;
Exchange of knowledge and getting a more global view of the industry which clients always love to hear and see that as added value, not to mention the in country PR associations and charters like PRCA.
Training and access to knowledge for senior and middle level team members – if a network is functioning properly the availability of modules or training across key areas using in house experts at the global agency centre are invaluable and usually far more relevant than outside courses.
Business development and this is a really strong area of the Brands2Life Global Network – it’s just a fantastic pipeline but we have to also work for it, not sit and expect it to work for us.
Agency owners and their partner network knowing that they have a sounding board and the ability to discuss issues and challenges outside of their own organisations where it may not be pertinent or the best approach.
Please share the name of clients you share with other partners within the Network.
Dynatrace and UiPath so far!
