Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Local marketing communications group Laqshya Media Group (LMG) has announced its expansion to Dubai and the Gulf region. It has also appointed Elie Hankash as its new head of its Dubai office.

The new Dubai office will serve as a hub for Laqshya Media Group’s operations in the UAE and Gulf region, offering a full range of services, including out-of-home media planning, buying, digital solutions, and experiential marketing.

Prior to his new position, Hankash was previously LMG’s general manager for Dubai and the Gulf region. He will report to Atul Shrivastava, group CEO of Laqshya Media Group. Elie brings a wealth of experience, having worked in the advertising and media industry for 35 years. 

He was previously the regional buying director at MCN Group for 15 years and has held senior positions at Leo Burnett, Y&R, McCann Erickson, and Memac Ogilvy.

Hankash said, “I am eager to bring my skill set to Laqshya and help drive the company’s growth in the UAE and Gulf region. We believe that the Middle East region is an important market for us, and we are committed to building strong relationships with clients and partners in the region.”

Meanwhile, Shrivastava commented, “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Elie to the Laqshya Media Group family! His extensive background in related fields is a game changer as we grow our presence in the UAE and Gulf region. Our expertise and experience make us confident that clients will warmly receive our tech-focused and innovative approach to out-of-home media and partners alike.”

LMG’s move into the UAE and Gulf region is part of its wider strategy to expand globally and offer its services to clients worldwide. Laqshya is already executing a number of campaigns in global markets through its alliance with some OOH agencies in Europe and the USA. 

Its public relations arm recently ventured into the news distribution service, launching ‘NewsCoverage.in‘ in May 2022.

India – Mad Influence, social media influencer marketing company in India, is marking its fourth anniversary this 2022 with an office expansion to Dubai. Aside from the new office, Mad also revealed that it plans to go crypto by launching an NFT marketplace for content creators and celebrities, called Mad Fan.

The company started only as a team of two and has now grown to be a firm that offers creative and operational solutions in the field of digital marketing, social media management, content marketing, and other consulting services to businesses from all around India and to the world.

The company currently has Mad Influence, its influencer network; Mad Productions, its in-house production support; Mad Media, its media marketing team; Mad Content, its division for content strategy and communication; as well as Mad Link, its in-house campaign tracking tech; and Mad Studio, the company’s dedicated space for content creators and celebrities to shoot content and network.

Still coinciding with its anniversary celebration, the company spilled that it is also planning to launch subsidiary businesses like Mad Talent to expand the talent division globally, a live streaming and e-commerce division called Mad Streaming, and Mad Vox, which is a completely new vertical as an artist service for the company’s exclusive talents where music videos for the artists will be launched.

Gautam Madhavan, founder and CEO of Mad Influence, said the aim was to build a mad house or a home for the content creators and become the world’s largest influencer marketing network.

“If anyone says influencer marketing is on a boom, I’d say this was just the trailer-picture,” said Madhavan.

Madhavan adds, “It will soon be a $50 billion global industry. This year, our focus will be on working hard for our clients and influencers with ten times the dedication and persistence.”

Aman Narula, the head of influencer marketing operations, commented, “I remember starting out as an intern at this company when the whole team consisted of 3 members. The jump from 3 to 50+ happened because of the collective mindset aimed at growing and achieving our vision together. When you have a team like that, there’s only one way you can go, and that’s upwards! In 2022, we intend to scale up all our ventures and expand globally.”

Very recently, Mad Influence was behind the influencer campaign by Boro Plus, the antiseptic cream brand under skincare company Emami, which leveraged Instagram Reels that aimed to promote self-love. The campaign was kickstarted by well-known dancer and choreographer Shakti Mohan