Al-hadth – Ahmed Bin Abdulqader
• Global outlook, local focus: optimizing the advertising and brand development industries in KSA by combining local and global specializations to provide a holistic ‘glo-cal’ integrated approach
local powerhouse Bold Advertising Agency and global experts Saffron Brand Consultants announced their partnership at an MoU signing event at Bold Agency’s headquarters office in Riyadh. The mandate of this new partnership is to set a precedent for the advertising industry to contribute to meeting the goals of the Vision 2030 in empowering local talents, ensuring knowledge transfer to the local industry, and positioning Riyadh as the region’s advertising and brand development hub.
The event began with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by Abeer Alessa, Founder and Managing Director of Bold Agency, and Jacob Benbunan, co-founder and global CEO of Saffron Brand Consultants. The executive teams of both companies were present, along with media personnel and industry experts. This partnership is important for Bold to elevate the brand building process, expertise, and standards and to expand the horizon in brand-building beyond Saudi Arabia. It was imperative for Saffron to penetrate the Saudi market with a strong and credible local partner with a deep understanding of the market.
Abeer Alessa, Founder and Managing Director of Bold Agency, and member of the Chamber of Commerce ‘Advertising Committee’, commented on the signing saying: “The Saudi Vision 2030 has enabled tremendous change in the Kingdom, supported by government investment and the focus on local specialization. This along with the recent decisions offering incentives to global companies has made Saudi Arabia an attractive market. Bold is an SME success story that flourished, and this was facilitated by the progress in the country resulting from the Vision 2030.” She continued, “Today is a milestone in Bold’s story with our new partner Saffron. We at Bold realized the importance and value of local agencies uniting with international companies like Saffron to build a specialty in brand development that not only helps position Saudi Arabia as an industry leader but also furthers the agenda of the Vision.”
Bold and Saffron intend to be a hub of knowledge and solutions for brands in the region by planning seminars, workshops and dispatching case studies, reports, and articles about the importance of brands and all related communication aspects.
The synergy created from this partnership puts both companies in a unique position to offer a niche integrated service to help build successful brands across Saudi and the GCC region.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is at an exciting moment of transformation. Vision 2030 is what we would call a brand purpose, one that different parts of the country can rally around and deliver upon, each in their own way. By doing so, each can ensure that KSA lives up to its enormous potential.”, said Jacob Benbunan, co-founder and global CEO of Saffron Brand Consultants. He continued, “At Saffron we respond to the individual challenges that each place or business faces with bespoke solutions. This is why we are excited to announce our partnership with Bold. Together we will offer local expertise and global experience, by providing international best practice and connecting it with the local relevancy. KSA is rapidly accelerating in its branding journey and with the courage of our clients and the know-how of our teams, we are confident that this is going to be an exciting era for the businesses and places of the kingdom.”
As one of their first initiatives, Bold and Saffron have released an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report addressing how brands can create impact where it matters. They will also be developing a docuseries featuring the companies’ industry experts addressing various topics including the challenges facing the industry and market trends, among others.
