Dubai: The Middle East’s PR and communications industry gathered in full force last week as the 17th edition of the MEPRA Awards unveiled its 2025 winners, recognizing the campaigns, agencies and practitioners shaping the region’s communications landscape. Held on 27 November, the ceremony brought together more than 600 industry leaders to celebrate standout work across strategy, creativity, storytelling and impact in a year marked by rapid change and rising expectations.
Having received over 700 entries across 55 categories, the MEPRA Awards 2025 weighed PR professionals, communication strategists, agencies and in-house teams on parameters for driving awareness, brand positioning and crisis response through innovative strategies. Clinching maximum titles, Weber Shandwick MENAT, and Gambit Communications ruled the popular categories by sweeping 26 and 18 awards, respectively. The prestigious Chairperson’s award was conferred upon Scott Armstrong (founder, Mentl) for accelerating mental health advocacy, whereas Brian Lott of Mubadala Investment Company won the Best Communicator of the Year for crafting narratives for Mubadala’s global brand story. Other notable mentions for the evening include Tala Majzoub of HAVAS Red ME winning The ‘Dave Robinson’ award for Outstanding Young Communicator of the Year and Fathimath Nooha of Murdoch University for Outstanding Student Campaign.
MEPRA Awards 2025 winners represent the highest of industry standards in innovation, strategy and impact, where contestants deep dive into the nuances of brand reputation, strategic storytelling and audience connection. In a fiercely competitive communications landscape, where trends and tactics evolve at a breakneck pace, the Middle East PR community has risen once again to the challenge with strategic agility and creative tenacity. Showcasing exceptional thinking, Current Global MENAT won the Best ESG Campaign, while the Best Retail Campaign was swept by Soul Communications for their innovative Drinkable Billboards. The popular categories of Large Agency of the Year, Medium Agency of the Year, and Small Agency of the Year were clinched by Weber Shandwick MENAT, Current Global MENAT and The Romans, respectively.
Speaking of the annual initiative MEPRA Chairperson, Kate Midttun said, “MEPRA Awards has become a vital benchmark for recognizing PR brilliance and exceptional talent in the Middle East’s PR and communications sector. This has been a standout year for creative resilience, and work across the communications spectrum has been truly astounding. The honorees have showcased the power of PR to inform and engage, elevating the art of an insightful communications approach. Congratulations to all the winners tonight, and we would like to thank them for redefining excellence benchmarks, motivating the entire fraternity to gear up for the upcoming year.”
The Best Homegrown Agency went to Tales and Heads with Mubadala Investment Company, bagging the Best In-House Team of the Year. In the sector and services category, the Best Consumer Services Campaign was clinched by MSL Group ME, while Acorn Strategy and Ruya Bank won the Best Professional Services Campaign for conceiving the UAE’s first fully AI-generated banking campaign. AI’s popularity continued its winning streak with IBM and Weber Shandwick MENAT scooping the Best Technology Campaign for highlighting and promoting the responsible use of AI in businesses, and Current Global MENAT and Leo Burnett for Best Use of Artificial Intelligence.
In the country-wise campaign categories, Qatar Foundation took home the Best Campaign in Qatar, the BPG Group won the Best Campaign in Kuwait, Current Global MENAT swept three geographies scooping Best Campaign in Lebanon, Best Campaign in Saudi Arabia and Best Campaign in the UAE, while Weber Shandwick MENAT won Best Campaign in Egypt and Gambit Communications clinched Best Campaign in Bahrain and Best Campaign in Oman. From purpose-driven strategies and impactful campaigns to persuasive storytelling that moved the audience, the MEPRA Awards 2025 winners exemplify creativity and influence that power new-age media communications.
Entries were assessed by a panel of more than 130 industry experts, assuring stringent protocols to gauge creativity and impact. Gambit Communications sponsored the MEPRA Awards 2025 as the Diamond Partner, TAQA as the Platinum Partner, and Weber Shandwick MENAT and CARMA as Gold Partners, along with Mubadala, Kibsons, SEC Newgate Middle East, Telum Media, Burson; Place Communications, First and Ten Productions, Current Global MENAT, Matrix Public Relations, AMEC Measurement and Evaluation, as Supporting Partners.
