Delighted with the media coverage on our launch last week. Here is the round up of the stories in PR Week, Arabian Business, The Holmes Report and Consultancy Middle East.
PR Week
Former Edelman Pair Launch New UAE Agency
PR duo Teri O'Donnell and Robin Gordon-Farleigh have joined forces to launch the new UAE-headquartered Manara Global, which will focus on reputation management, purpose and communications across the MENA region.
O’Donnell and Gordon-Farleigh previously worked together at Edelman Middle East.
O’Donnell, a reputation management specialist who has advised founders and boards for some of the world’s biggest and most established brands, recently left the firm after spending the past year there as MD. This followed a lengthy stint at renowned public relations firm Freuds in London, where she was a partner.
Gordon-Farleigh left Edelman last year after a stint as regional director of government strategies. He has since overseen communications for the Office of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, having previously served as a senior communications strategist in the UK Prime Minister's Office where he advised David Cameron and Theresa May.
"We believe it is an exciting opportunity to breakdown siloed working practices, provide greater creativity and joined up thinking to business and societal challenges and problem-solving. And we want to inspire and be inspired whilst doing it," O’Donnell said.
"The power of our partnership is the convergent and creative thought we bring to the table – global inspiration with local understanding, always driven by insight. We start from different places but end with a plan and a unified focal point. We believe the results are stronger for it."
Gordon-Farleigh told PRWeek Middle East what sets Manara Global apart from other PR shops in the region is "our unique level of experience that we both combine and bring to Manara Global""
He added: "We have 50 years of experience of working in government and advising boards and founders of some of the top businesses around the world. This convergence of top-level experience enables us to offer real in-depth counsel, infused with creative thinking, and the convergence of ideas with people to make a real difference. As part of our key offering is a purpose and soft power – we bring extensive experience in this area which is unmatched within the region."
Gordon-Farleigh said the UAE was the obvious choice as a launchpad for the new business.
"For starters, we both love living and working in the UAE with its exciting and inspiring agenda," he said. "It is a country that is rightly proud of what it has already achieved in a relatively short amount of time and its ambition is infectious.
"A country with a clearly mapped out blueprint for its future underpinned with a clear vision and eager to be amongst the best in the world across a range of sectors.
"There is still a significant focus here on media relations tactics, which absolutely have their place, and yet with the right strategic approach, you can achieve great results that really resonate with audiences and contribute to the business agenda.
"It is also a market that is open to working with boutiques just as much as the big players – it is the experience, ideas and creativity that is important to clients here."
Link to article: https://www.prweek.com/article/1580548
Arabian Business
Former Edelman Middle East execs launch new UAE-based consultancy
Former Freuds and UK Prime Minister's office strategists join forces to launch new reputation and purpose consultancy.
Two former execs with Edelman Middle East have joined together to launch Manara Global, a UAE-based consultancy focusing on reputation management, purpose and communications.
Teri O’Donnell and Robin Gordon-Farleigh both worked together at Edelman Middle East in recent years.
O’Donnell, a reputation management specialist, was managing director, reputation, at the PR giant’s Dubai office until last year, and before that she was a partner at communications and public relations firm Freuds in London.
Gordon-Farleigh, a specialist in government strategic communications, media strategy and public diplomacy, came to the region from the UK’s Prime Minister’s office, where he was advisor to both David Cameron and Theresa May during his time there.
After his stint with Edelman Middle East, where he was regional director for government strategies for the Middle East, he headed up communications for the office of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein.
“We believe it is an exciting opportunity to breakdown siloed working practices, provide greater creativity and joined up thinking to business and societal challenges and problem solving. And we want to inspire, and be inspired whilst doing it,” said O’Donnell.
Gordon-Farleigh added, “The UAE was a natural place to bring our future ambitions to life as it has inspired us and is aligned with our own personal and company values. It is a beacon for ambition, positive change, far-sighted thinking, filled with a sense of purpose and with a truly global outlook.”
Link to article: https://www.arabianbusiness.com/media/416334-former-edelman-middle-east-execs-launch-new-uae-based-consultancy
The Holmes Report
Ex-Edelman Execs Launch Middle East Consultancy
Teri O’Donnell and Robin Gordon-Farleigh join forces to unveil Manara Global, which will focus on reputation management, purpose and communications.
Teri O’Donnell and Robin Gordon-Farleigh have joined forces to launch Manara Global, focusing on reputation management, purpose and communications from its headquarters in the UAE.
The duo previously worked together at Edelman Middle East. O’Donnell recently left the firm after spending the past year there as MD, following a lengthy stint at Freuds in London, where she rose to the role of partner.
Gordon-Farleigh, meanwhile, departed Edelman last summer, after a similarly short stint as regional director of government strategies. He has since overseen communications for the Office of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, having previously served as senior communications strategist in the UK Prime Minister's Office.
"We believe it is an exciting opportunity to break down siloed working practices, provide greater creativity and joined up thinking to business and societal challenges and problem solving," said O'Donnell. "The power of our partnership is the convergent and creative thought we bring to the table — global inspiration with local understanding, always driven by insight. We start from different places, but end with a plan and a unified focal point. We believe the results are stronger for it."
Gordon-Farleigh added that "it is an exciting time in the UAE’s ambitious journey to becoming a global hub for so many things underpinned with its ambitious agenda and with the eyes of the world upon us with Expo 2020."
Link to article: https://www.holmesreport.com/latest/article/ex-edelman-execs-launch-middle-east-consultancy
Consultancy Middle East
Strategic communications consultancy Manara Global launches in Dubai
Two former Edelman executives – Robin Gordon-Farleigh and Teri O'Donnell – have teamed up to launch a new communications consultancy in the Middle East; Manara Global.
With the tag-line ‘Where Reputation Matters’, the Middle East has this week welcomed its newest consultancy, Manara Global – established by experienced ex-Edelman Middle East duo Robin Gordon-Farleigh and Teri O’Donnell. According to the founding partners, the Dubai-based Manara Global will focus on strategic reputation management and purpose communications.
Together, O’Donnell and Gordon-Farleigh can claim over 50 years of combined experience advising ‘governments, royalty and some of the world’s largest corporates and individuals’, and despite only a brief overlap at Edelman – with O’Donnell joining in March last year and Gordon-Farleigh departing three months later – the pair believe their approaches to be highly complementary.
“The power of our partnership is the convergent and creative thought we bring to the table – global inspiration with local understanding, always driven by insight. We start from different places, but end with a plan and a unified focal point,” the consultants state. “With the coming together of backgrounds, skills and experiences, Manara Global provides a unique and fresh perspective.”
Taking its name from an Arabic word roughly meaning beacon, radiance, or source of light, Manara describes itself as globally-focused firm, and its founders further point to their international professional and personal backgrounds as informing their far-reaching world-view, with New Zealand-born O’Donnell having spent time in London and New York before moving to the UAE, and Gordon-Farleigh having grown up in Zimbabwe, the US and Wales.
Both, however, have made their biggest mark in London; O’Donnell spending nearly a decade at Freud Communications, latterly as a Director, and Gordon-Farleigh serving for six years as a Senior Communications Strategist with the Prime Minister’s office – one among a number of high-profile public sector positions which further included Head of Media Planning & Strategy for the UK Department of Health.
Joining in 2017, Gordon-Farleigh then spent close to a year and a half as the Regional Director for Government Strategies for Edelman Middle East, before taking on a Director of Communications role for Princess Haya of Jordan, who is married to UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. O’Donnell, meanwhile, joined Edelman as a Managing Director in March last year.
“We believe it is an exciting opportunity to break down siloed working practices, provide greater creativity and joined up thinking to business and societal challenges and problem solving,” O’Donnell said of the new venture, with Gordon-Farleigh adding, “It’s an exciting time in the UAE’s ambitious journey to becoming a global hub for so many things underpinned with its ambitious agenda and with the eyes of the world upon us with Expo 2020.”
Link to article: https://www.consultancy-me.com/news/1983/strategic-communications-consultancy-manara-global-launches-in-dubai