Renowned communications specialist, Ramsay G. Najjar,
Founder & Managing Partner of Strategic Communication Consultancy (S2C) shares his professional expertise on political campaigning in general and Lebanon’s recent political ads in particular.

Most of the campaigns this year are very straightforward, with an easy memorable punchline giving the target voters a reason why, this time, they should vote for a candidate or a party. Do you think this is an effective strategy that can have an impact on how voters vote?

A catchy slogan or a memorable punchline...

في الآونة الأخيرة تعرضت صناعة الإعلام لتحديات كبيرة وصعوبات حقيقية، أصابت وسائلها مطبوعة ومسموعة ومرئية، باهتزازات عنيفة تكاد تفقدها توازنها وتهدد بقاءها واستمراريتها، ما دعا الكثير من الكتاب والخبراء في هذا المجال إلى البحث عن الأسباب وطرح الأفكار والحلول البديلة لاجتياز هذه المرحلة المضطربة، التي تمر بها تلك الصناعة في عالمنا العربي. وبمناسبة زيارته دبي على هامش حفل توقيع أحدث إصداراته كتاب «الحركة والسكون: الإعلام والقضاء»، مؤخراً، كان هذا الحوار مع الكاتب والخبير الإعلامي اللبناني الشهير رمزي النجار. النجار تطرق إلى طرح تصورات مهمة لمواكبة العصر الحديث بمفرداته وأيديولوجياته...

His talent for expression coupled with a genuine sense of self saw him chairing various roles within an industry struggling to find its identity. Unclouded by the pleasures of personal financial gain, he elected, to leave it behind by building something of sincere value netting himself unimaginable satisfaction. ArabAd sat with Ramsay Najjar, founder of Strategic Communication Consultancy (S2C) to rehash the past and contrast lessons learned.

How long have you been in advertising and why did you leave?

I never left because...

Disappointing, frustrating, surprising, uninspiring, exciting, amazing… Depending on how you experienced the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which team you were supporting or how much of a die-hard fan you consider yourself to be, this is how you would probably describe the games that ended on July 13. Without delving into the details of which team should have won or whose performance was worth watching, the 2014 FIFA World Cup was full of colors, images, impressions, illustrations and graphics.

The visual presentation of information — or visual communication, as we like to call it in...

The digital revolution and the ubiquitous presence of the internet, social media and new communication technologies has profoundly altered traditional forms of education and is undeniably shaping a new educational landscape. The conventional schooling system now needs to reinvent itself in order to adapt to a situation where students have instant access to news, information and ideas.

Whether locally or on a global scale, the formal education system is facing the universal challenge of remaining reliable and effective in this continuously changing environment. It needs to adapt to...

As part of their communication efforts, companies have used and abused actors, athletes and celebrities as brand ambassadors who endorse and become the face of their brands. The pairings of George Clooney with Nespresso, Roger Federer with Gillette or Haifa Wehbe with Pepsi come to mind. Over the years, another profile of ambassadors emerged. Companies started ‘activating’ real people, such as influencers and bloggers whose passions and interests intersect with their brands and help bring them to life. Red Bull, for instance, has been activating college students who are young, athletic...

The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” One could easily argue that in this statement George Bernard Shaw aptly described the affliction of the world of corporate communication for the longest time. Communication is the exchange of information between people. Yet most companies have left out the word exchange by talking at people instead of talking with them. In today’s increasingly connected world, the power lies in the hands of consumers, who are inducing change in the communication landscape by demanding less noise and more value. While...

“Obama’s weaknesses on full display in debate”; “Obama admits debate performance a flop”; “In debate style and body language, Romney trumps Obama”.

These have been the sort of remarks making headlines since the first of the three United States presidential debates in the run-up to the vote between Democratic incumbent, President Barack Obama, and Republican candidate Governor Mitt Romney. As expected, the debate has been extensively analyzed in the hopes of predicting who might become the next American president. What was especially striking about the media coverage this time was...

Those of us living in Lebanon can’t but notice the recent profusion of ads featuring celebrities promoting different causes: actors and athletes encouraging people to drive carefully, well-known female figures supporting breast cancer awareness month and singers vowing to protect the environment. More recently, local corporate brands seem to have jumped on the bandwagon, with a partnership between a financial institution and a leading TV talk show host.

Celebrity endorsement has become a common communication practice: Every week we hear about a new deal, sometimes rumored to be in...