Omnicom-Publicis Merge The biggest news this week is undoubtedly the merger of the world’s second-largest advertising company, Omnicom, and the third-largest, Publicis, together forming the world’s largest ad-holding company valued at $35 billion. This move puts the company above London’s WPP, with existing Omnicom CEO John Wren and Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Levy serving as co-CEOs of the new Publicis Omnicom Group that consists of a combined 130,000 employees and together generated a total of $23 billion last year.

Guest blog post from Feras Hilal of The Online Project Ever wondered when’s the best time to engage with your Facebook fans and Twitter followers during Ramadan? We did too. And to help brands in the region, we’ve delved into the differences between the user habits on Facebook and Twitter during the Holy Month. Ramadan has a significant impact on people’s behaviors and daily routine in the Middle East. The pressure now is on brand managers and social media strategists who need to know the differences between their audiences, and make adjustments to their marketing messages accordingly.

ArabNet’s signature event, the ArabNet Digital Summit, was held in Dubai this year and had brought together over 100 speakers and 900 attendees in the 3 day conference (June 24-26). An arena where digital professionals and entrepreneurs in the MENA region gathered, the event took place in one of Dubai’s highlighted attractions, the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai’s Palm Island. The MENA region is one of the fastest growing regions in the digital sector, and the summit didn’t fail to transmit the development and future of the digital industry in the region.

The adventures of Robby Corrado & Tristan Hills-Bos Like Don Quixote, we left for Barcelona to reignite the chivalric ideal, whilst eat as much tapas our appetites could stomach, dance as much salsa our feet could bear, and pick up an award that we think had something to do with us approaching PR in the right way within the Middle East… After 15 months of managing PR activity across the Middle East, I’d be lying if I claimed this to be the most arduous task set by our leadership However, unlike the unobtainable romantic idealism of Don Quixote’s quest, what ensured was an appreciation of the profound reality of kinship held under the global roof of firm.

3D doll yourself ! Kick starting TWTW in a disturbing manner, a Japanese toy company called Clone Factory this week announced that people’s faces can now be printed toys! Yes, scary, but true. Basically the person has to sit in a chair surrounded by SLR cameras and have their picture taken in a sequence. Then a digital map of the subject’s head is extracted and printed into plaster. Read more here

Friends, I would like to update you on a number of exciting new developments. In a snapshot; We are going to Africa We won another award We have got some fantastic new leaders and talent in the region And, I am saying goodbye Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your continued partnership and support over the last 4 years. We will celebrate our 5 year anniversary in the UAE this October, and look forward to inviting you all to help us celebrate this achievement.

Where on earth have these two months gone?! I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun. Often graduates snarl at the idea of being qualified and employed as an Intern. At a glance, this statement is understandable, but what most graduates like myself, fail to realise until completing an efficient internship is the importance and value internships have on our CV’s. My time has truly been an exciting and intense learning curve.

Facebook facelift People get surgery for all different reasons; some because they genuinely don’t like the way a certain feature looks, some because of old age and, some… for the perfect profile picture on Facebook According to an article on Khaleej times, people are going under the knife to look picture perfect for Facebook. This may sound like an extreme decision for a minority group but, according to surgeons the “trend” commonly known as ‘the Facebook facelift’ is growing and is especially popular amongst school and college students of both genders in India.

As I sit in the trenches of yet another on-site media centre, surrounded by towers of press packs, media schedules and clippings, amid discarded coffee cups and granola bars I take a moment to reflect on the mechanics of Festival living – the craziness of 16 hour days, the adrenalin highs and lows of running a red carpet, the unpredictability of media management and the desperation involved in artist liaison management.

Associated Press hacked On Tuesday the official website of the Associated Press was overtaken by the Syrian Electronic Army, shocking the cyberspace. The first tweet sent by the hackers was “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured”. Within a few hours of this tweet, the AP sent out a message from its Facebook account, informing users; “Please do not respond to news posted there in the last 20 minutes.