Making the announcement at the opening of the STEP Conference 2017, Choueiri Group’s digital arm Digital Media Services (DMS) revealed its new brand identity and renewed brand mantra “Tap the full potential of your story”, amidst much fanfare at the highly-attended digital innovation and technology industry event.

Speaking on the DMS Stage at STEP 2017, DMS’ COO Michel Malkoun stated that, “The DMS media stage will be featuring the topmost speakers from our industry, along with the best talks, which hopefully everyone can get something positive out of. You must have noticed the new DMS re-brand on your way in. We couldn’t have chosen a better stage, nor a better time, to launch our new brand”.

Elaborating further on DMS’ renewed brand promise, he went on to say that “DMS represents the true voice of the independent media: from making Publishers’ voices heard, to monetizing their professional stories, written by real journalists and accredited by other credible voices. What’s equally important, is that DMS’ Publishers leverage the best of what the international market offers in terms of technologies, which are used to distribute to real people, when it matters and where it matters most. Our Publishers extend stories which readers value”.

Following an extensive engagement with its brand partners MullenLowe MENA, DMS underwent a deep dive strategy exercise to define the brand’s dynamic personality, along with a brand refresh, which reflects on how DMS will look and live in the ever-evolving digital world. Working with an agile team of creative strategists, Mounir Harfouche, CEO of MullenLowe MENA said that “We have tried to capture the freedom that comes with a self-sufficient enterprise like DMS. The irreverence and forward-thinking spirit of the team is what we’ve tried to embody in this new look for the brand.”

Sharing his views on the vision and rationale behind the move, Choueiri Group’s chief marketing officer, Walid Yared said that “Aligned with DMS’ commitment to innovation and always remaining at the forefront of the region’s digital landscape, we decided it was time to take a deeper look at how we define ourselves and how we can truly express the difference which we deliver to our publishers as well as our advertising partners. With DMS’ new brand identity, I believe we have succeeded on both fronts”.

Pierre Choueiri, Chairman and CEO of Choueiri Group, also joined in the discussion to reiterate the new brand mantra, saying that “In today’s world, stories have become increasingly commoditized and that is what DMS aims to change. To value the stories, not on secondary analytics and data, but with the independent spirit of a homegrown set up like ours. While DMS has always been an autonomous digital service enterprise, the new identity captures this independent spirit in a bold and youthful way”.

DMS is at the cusp of a fairly productive crossover to being revitalized and ready to hit the market with this new outlook. This development is aligned with Choueiri Group’s ongoing commitment to and focus on digital. The timing of the rebrand coincides with a market transformation, where clients, publishers and agencies have finally woken up and started demanding transparency on reporting from the digital industry.