A new strategic arm was launched today by UM Dubai to further develop the agency’s strategic research and planning offerings and enhance the quality of output presented to all UM clients. The new department entitled “Lighthouse” and launched during a two-day workshop held in Dubai will be rolled out to the various markets in the region in due course.
The “Lighthouse” is designed to generate strategic and research-driven insights and ideation and is based on a set of in-house developed proprietary research tools and various collaborative processes and tactics as well as an ongoing skills development and training program for all staff. It aims at taking the agency’s planning capabilities to the next level and supporting teams to produce greater and clearer strategies.
An extensive six-week long internal training program introduced all UM staff in the UAE to the fundamentals of CuriosityTM (UM’s global planning process), the cornerstone of the “Lighthouse”. The program entitled “Summer Skool” consisted of various modules covering especially the new proprietary tools, collaborative tactics, and ways of integrating the CuriosityTM culture across all functional areas at the agency and on individuals’ level to deliver enhanced product offerings to clients. Similar programs will be organised in Egypt, the Levant and rest of the GCC in 2011.
Heading “Lighthouse” is Ms. Denh Dip, who has recently moved to Dubai from UM EMEA in London. Dip is responsible for managing the Lighthouse, as well as rolling out and developing CuriosityTM which involves being a regional lead, training account teams and evolving techniques.
“We have some fantastic ground breaking tools and techniques at UM, some of which are not only new to UM Dubai but also to the region,” said Dip, Director – Lighthouse. “We want to empower our teams at UM with these tools and knowledge to produce better and more innovative communication solutions and ideas that are in line with our CuriosityTM philosophy,” Dip continued.
The “Lighthouse” team will work closely with the communications planning, research, media planning and media buying teams, and will have access to exclusive in-house developed planning tools designed to achieve transparency and accountability.
These research-driven tools include the Channel Allocation Tool (C.A.T) which is a sophisticated marketing-oriented channel investment tool and the first of its kind in the region. C.A.T allows UM teams to reach out and evaluate an increasing number of categories and contact points that offer an in-depth insight thus helping them create better quality output for clients. In addition to C.A.T and its existing wide set of research and planning tools, UM also introduces Matrix, an exclusive tool designed to identify the most effective ways for buying media space for clients across different traditional and new media.
The “Lighthouse” team will also be responsible for facilitating ideation sessions for internal teams, clients and new business pitches. Structured ideation sessions will be organised to generate fresh creativity and new ways of thinking so that internal teams come up with innovative and creative results. Agency account teams, clients and partners can be part of these sessions to allow teams to tap into expertise from various sources and create integrated campaigns.
A new strategic arm was launched today by UM Dubai to further develop the agency’s strategic research and planning offerings and enhance the quality of output presented to all UM clients. The new department entitled “Lighthouse” and launched during a two-day workshop held in Dubai will be rolled out to the various markets in the region in due course.
The “Lighthouse” is designed to generate strategic and research-driven insights and ideation and is based on a set of in-house developed proprietary research tools and various collaborative processes and tactics as well as an ongoing skills development and training program for all staff. It aims at taking the agency’s planning capabilities to the next level and supporting teams to produce greater and clearer strategies.
An extensive six-week long internal training program introduced all UM staff in the UAE to the fundamentals of CuriosityTM (UM’s global planning process), the cornerstone of the “Lighthouse”. The program entitled “Summer Skool” consisted of various modules covering especially the new proprietary tools, collaborative tactics, and ways of integrating the CuriosityTM culture across all functional areas at the agency and on individuals’ level to deliver enhanced product offerings to clients. Similar programs will be organised in Egypt, the Levant and rest of the GCC in 2011.
Heading “Lighthouse” is Ms. Denh Dip, who has recently moved to Dubai from UM EMEA in London. Dip is responsible for managing the Lighthouse, as well as rolling out and developing CuriosityTM which involves being a regional lead, training account teams and evolving techniques.
“We have some fantastic ground breaking tools and techniques at UM, some of which are not only new to UM Dubai but also to the region,” said Dip, Director – Lighthouse. “We want to empower our teams at UM with these tools and knowledge to produce better and more innovative communication solutions and ideas that are in line with our CuriosityTM philosophy,” Dip continued.
The “Lighthouse” team will work closely with the communications planning, research, media planning and media buying teams, and will have access to exclusive in-house developed planning tools designed to achieve transparency and accountability.
These research-driven tools include the Channel Allocation Tool (C.A.T) which is a sophisticated marketing-oriented channel investment tool and the first of its kind in the region. C.A.T allows UM teams to reach out and evaluate an increasing number of categories and contact points that offer an in-depth insight thus helping them create better quality output for clients. In addition to C.A.T and its existing wide set of research and planning tools, UM also introduces Matrix, an exclusive tool designed to identify the most effective ways for buying media space for clients across different traditional and new media.
The “Lighthouse” team will also be responsible for facilitating ideation sessions for internal teams, clients and new business pitches. Structured ideation sessions will be organised to generate fresh creativity and new ways of thinking so that internal teams come up with innovative and creative results. Agency account teams, clients and partners can be part of these sessions to allow teams to tap into expertise from various sources and create integrated campaigns.
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