Hill+Knowlton Strategies METIA’s Karim Khafaji and Aliasgar Gulshan win MENA Young Lions Competition

Dubai, 7th April, 2021: PRCA MENA is pleased to announce that Hill+Knowlton Strategies METIA’s Karim Khafaji and Aliasgar Gulshan have won the MENA Young Lions PR competition 2021 for their 6 Degrees of Empowerment campaign. The star pairing will go on to represent MENA at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Karim and Aliasgar have won the MENA Regional competition, responding to a brief from Young Arab Leaders (YAL). Each team had 24 hours to create a fresh and innovative campaign that would encourage UAE-based businesses to invest in actively supporting Young Arab Leaders’ vision and mission.

Using behavioural science, the winning pair’s campaign aimed to reach genuine prospective supporters through social sharing and word-of-mouth, calling on influential YAL members’ LinkedIn network to ‘Pledge to Empower.

Commenting on Karim Khafaji and Aliasgar Gulshan campaign, Alex Malouf, Corporate Communications Director MEA at Schneider Electric & Young Lions PR MENA Competition Judge 2021: “This was a challenging brief on one of the biggest issues facing the Arab world, namely that of job creation and entrepreneurship,” said Alex, “Every team brought something special to the competition, and all the judges were especially impressed by the finalists. Their research into the issue, their strategic approach, and their creativity was exemplary. The MENA winners, Hill+Knowlton Strategies Karim and Aliasgar, will do the region proud at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Best of luck to them.”

 

PRCA MENA General Manager Hayley Clements MPRCA said:

“This is a wonderful achievement from Hill+Knowlton’s Karim and Aliasgar. They rose above fierce competition. Their concept was clear, well researched, and underpinned by the power of behavioural science. MENA is going to be well represented at the Cannes Lions International Festival – the rest of the competition better watch out!”

The UK Young Lions Competition was sponsored by ICCO and PRovoke.

 

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