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About us

Finding a better way

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"650S Supercar", McLaren and Uber
PHD Dubai

Welcome to PHD – we’re a global communications planning and media buying agency network delivering smart strategic thinking and creative innovation for the world’s leading brands.

Brilliant media thinking is in our DNA. A culture of thought-leadership, creativity and innovation has seen us grow from a challenger agency in the UK, to a global leader with over 4,000 employees in over 80 countries.

We combine the latest industry insight with the best creative minds to produce planning innovation and create award-winning work for some of the world’s largest advertisers.

In the United Arab Emirates, the network first opened in Dubai in 2006 and created a team for Abu Dhabi in 2008. This was soon followed by the opening of the Riyadh office in Saudi in 2010; Beirut, Lebanon in 2017 and Cairo, Egypt in 2018.

PHD has consistently been named a Great Place to Work in the UAE for four consecutive years, ranking third in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Finding a better way is our ethos and sums up how we approach everything – from a new client brief to the way we work.

Part of a powerful family

World-class purchasing power to meet the tough buying demands of the world’s biggest advertisers.

Being part of Omnicom Media Group (OMG) gives us world-class purchasing power to meet the tough buying demands of the world’s biggest advertisers. Having access to sophisticated research resources and advanced business intelligence tools through the group allows us to deliver the very best strategic expertise.

This combination of buying clout and superior communications planning credentials means we offer clients a real alternative.

Our clients

The network of choice for the world’s leading brands

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Our People

PHD's talent is what sets us apart. Meet our leadership team...

Our Values

At PHD we value curiosity, courage, openness, creativity and collaboration. Finding people with these qualities is one of our central quests, making us a diverse mix of the most curious, courageous and open people around the world.

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Our Story

PHD was founded in London in 1990 by David Pattison, Nick Horswell and Jonathan Durden; the ‘P’, the ‘H’ and the ‘D’.

Back then the industry was all about buying; as cheaply and as quickly as possible. But David, Nick and Jonathan believed that consumer insight and media behaviour was just as important. They saw a future where smart thinking and clever planning could help brands influence consumer behaviour more than ever before.

PHD, or Pattison-Horswell-Durden as it was known back then, became the agency that ‘thought before it bought’ and was quickly credited with inventing creative media.

In 2002 PHD – now part of Omnicom – opened its first offices outside of the UK and began to grow the international network.

The formation of PHD’s parent company, Omnicom Media Group, in 2005 meant that PHD’s buying was now powered by one of the world’s largest media holding companies. Clients could now benefit from PHD’s unique approach to media planning, without compromising on the buying.

The founding principles of thought-leadership, creativity and innovation have remained at the heart of the network and today PHD is a global network of 80+ offices still leading the way in the evolution of communications planning around the world.

Read more about our heritage at www.phdat25.com

Along with the rest of the Omnicom Media Group MENA, PHD’s sustainability practices are reported in accordance with the GRI G4 Guidelines and the accuracy of its GRI G4 Content Index has been confirmed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).

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