Motivate moving?

From a source:

(de)Motivate is apparently moving to media city in September (but I won't be holding my breath...why move, when they're living (probably) rent free in that crumby building by Al Tayer Motors in Garhoud? i'm sure the office building is also Al Tayer.

As we know, DMC is crazy expensive floor space, and given the company is too tight to even provide decent tea & coffee/lunch room facilities, hot water in washrooms etc and forces employees to pay for parking while at work, I can't see them forking out for DMC offices. But I could be wrong.

How's everyone else enjoying DMC-life these days? Any old timers remember the peaceful era of just three buildings by the lake, before banks and hotels started crowding in, rents increased tenfold, parking vanished and it all went to general shit?

Magazine closures

New thread request:

We (ITP) have closed another two magazines today...(thought I would get in there first)

My good friend over the road at Motivate tells me they are going to announce one more "suspension" in the next few days.

Any guesses?

Return of the Jedi

Interesting goings on at Motivate - magazines closing down (Society Dubai, any others?) and former Motivator, Jason Leavy, back from UK to take up a new position as Publishing Director. Leavy used to edit What's On, before leaving to set up Society Dubai (which was sold to Society Dubai after Leavy moved to ITP as group editor of Ahlan - you following?)

anyone got the lowdown?

The abs and the abs not

Is the Dubai fitness market in good enough shape to support two niche mens magazines? ITP have launched Men's Fitness and Motivate will soon launch magazine juggernaut - or gay icon, depending on which side of the gym you stand - Men's Health. It's going to be Reebok's at dawn down Garhoud way.


Great post and great title courtesy of an anon - thanks.

Mental blocking

Whoops. ArabianBusiness.com has finally been blocked by Etishite. After a quick bypass of the proxy, we can't see anything offensive, unless its the exclusive about Dubai Mall being delayed again. Apparently the site falls foul of the Prohibited Content Categories. Does anyone know who has had their feathers ruffled over the website's content? Or was a Motivate minion a bit bored, and contacted the TRA to get the site blocked?

Campaign the Sequel

Hurray, Campaign's coming back at the end of the month! Will it have the same wit, bite and verve under new management at Motivate? Will it slag off its own advertisers? And, more importantly, will The Spin be back?

With the recent launch of Mediaweek by ENG, there's plenty of newsprint dedicated to marketing and advertising. Is the market big enough for these titles plus Communicate and Gulf Marketing Review?

Open Skies: officially excess baggage

The Emirates in-flight magazine Open Skies has been considered surplus to requirements on the A380 super jumbo. Hope that means passengers will also be saved from the shocking luxury buying guide, where a couple of million Skywards miles and a couple of million dollars can buy you a jet-propelled personal rocket pack, or something equally useful.

Was this really an eco-friendly measure from Emirates (and - yikes - will they cut gold card baggage allowance on the A380 as well?) or was there another reason?

Note from editors: to make it clear, it's only the A380 route so far that will be without the Open Skies magazine (so no danger of us being deprived for many years to come). This isn't what we originally posted. That will teach us to cut & paste from someone else's article, which has since been amended. But at least we credited the article we ripped off, right?

What's next for What's On?

Motivate is now officially on the market, as Obaid al Tayer apparently doesn't want to buy out Ian Fairservice.

Any ideas what will become of this bastion of Dubai publishing? And what will happen to Ian, the Godfather of Advertorial?

Blind item

Which just-departed magazine editor, who is moving ino PR for a luxury goods firm, thanked her former boss to the point of spine-chilling embarrassment to her colleagues, finishing up with "I love Ian so much". Whoever knew life at Al Wahibi Building in Garhoud was so touchy feely?

Poor Campaigners

Life is not so good for Campaign staffers these days. There is no sign of the licence, so they are producing stories for a continually updated edition, just in case they get the go-ahead to actually print something. The website is in a state of disarray (as in, no work has been done on creating one).

The editorial team was last spotted playing cards at their desk, with the Campaign desktop flag fluttering limply in the airconditioned breeze.

Same same Campaign

Campaign is dead, long live Campaign..... The editorial team have now moved across from ITP to Motivate, where they will recommence their work on the weekly magazine once the licence has been processed. An uncharacteristic display of generousness from ITP by not banning them? Or maybe they were all on Dubai Media City visas ..... One thing is clear: Motivate staff are making the Auld Enemy feel very welcome: a Campaign flag stood proud on the vacated desks to welcome the new arrivals. But will Campaign retain its bite at Motivate?

Painting a glossy picture

Following the Bahrain business paper recruitment, it's time for part two in the series Violations of the Trade Description Act.

This advert ran in the Guardian Jobs section and the first part of the ad is pasted below. I didn't have the heart to copy the second half as my computer crashed over the words "amazing country" and "the world's fastest-growing media climate".

Dubai’s leading publishing house requires an editor to work on their flagship insurance title, the leading publication of its kind to the Middle East. The company has a strong reputation, with its publications being circulated to senior figures within global blue-chip companies.

Which company do we think has decided it is Dubai's leading publisher this week? Could it be ITP? No. Motivate? No. Previous incumbent Al Hilal? No? Shame on you if you didn't guess the correct answer - The Media Factory.

Business picks up in Bahrain

There was an interesting recruitment advert doing the rounds this week. I've reproduced below (complete with lack of punctuation and typos).

Closing date: 24/02/2007
Job title: Journalists

Full details: Our client the largest publishing company in the Middle East has an outstanding opportunity for a strong business journalists looking for a fresh challenge.

We are launching a Bahrain-based regional business daily and require journalists at all levels to for a deputy editor, reporters and sub-editors roles.

Our aim is to provide the most comprehensive, accurate and up-to-date coverage of Gulf markets, economies and companies - as well as breaking off-diary financial stories.

We offer exciting and challenging opportunities for business - oriented journalists to join a team based in Bahrain - the Middle East's banking hub.

For further details please email a Word format resume and we will arrange an interview for suitable candidates.

New regional daily from the largest publishing company in the Middle East? Could Arabian Business Standard finally be getting a licence, but in Bahrain - which would be an audacious move for ITP if true? Or, could Motivate be ready to recapture its dominance over the regional market by beating ITP to a business daily licence?

Actually, it's an advert from Bahrain-based Al Hilal, who are extending the business coverage in Gulf Daily News. The largest publishing company in the Middle East? You decide.

Haymarket to buy into Motivate?

The plot thickens. Apparently, today's the day Motivate is signing with Haymarket to take over Campaign, having barely let the ink dry on the termination agreement with ITP. Furthermore, a well-placed media source has said Haymarket has already bought into Motivate and may increase their shareholding.

I should point out that the rumour mill has gone into turbo-overdrive over the fate of Campaign, etc. People have been musing over Ian Fairservice's exit strategy since the dawn of time, but this looks like a realistic scenario. This way, the Motivate supremo keeps his finger in the publishing pie, while cashing in part of his retirement plan.

Farewell Campaign

So farewell to Campaign ME, at least from the Serafin stable.

The editorial team got the bad news seconds after putting the last edition to bed.

Allegedly the split between ITP and Haymarket was over revenue sharing. But rumour has it that Campaign is off to Motivate, which has a five magazine deal with Haymarket.

The Spin will be sorely missed, as well as the Campaign blog.