Flip Media FZ-LLC (Dubai)

In the spring of 2003, our founders, Dinesh, an almost-28-year-old programmer-and-designer, and Martin, an inspired business development manager, had an ‘aha’ moment about digital marketing in the region. A month later they were hunkering down in Dinesh’s garage, working out a game plan for their new company – Flip.



Before long, they had moved into Dubai Media City and had graduated from ad hoc digital jobs that were an afterthought for brands’ marketing teams, to more sophisticated digital marketing campaigns.



When they moved into the Loft Offices in Dubai Media City in 2004, Dinesh and Martin knew they had arrived. Soon after, Flip won Macromedia Site of the Day for their Mercedes-Benz CLS microsite; we went on to beat 13 agencies, including Dinesh and Martin’s alma mater Proximity, for the Bahrain International Circuit account; and, Emaar Properties, which had started working with us for an emailer, signed us on as their digital agency of record.

Each small step contributed to one major game-changer – HSBC Private Equity buying a stake in Flip Media. With HSBC came the support structure and corporate governance that was needed for us to grow from ‘Dinesh and Martin’s dream’ to a professionally managed employer of choice. The Mumbai, Trivandrum and Abu Dhabi offices were formally established and in Dubai, we put a management team in place, with CEO Yousef Tuqan, COO Aswathy Karthikeyan, Regional Finance Director Sireesha Venkata and Business & Strategy Director Mazen Abou Hatab.



As we turned into the final straight of the first decade of the noughties, we finally began to fulfill the Flip promise – to be an agency with innovation at its core; to develop and build our own products and technologies and to serve our clients more efficiently and more creatively through those learnings. Mumbaikar, Naviflix and Slide Reader are all examples of our explorations in digital media.



Today, Flip Media has more than 100 employees in four offices around the world; we have worked on some of the region’s most iconic brands across a wide range of industries; we provide end-to-end solutions that include award-winning creative and pioneering technology; we’re the Middle East’s largest interactive agency.



In January 2012, Flip Media was acquired by the Publicis Groupe, and has been folded into Leo Burnett, retaining our name as Flip Media. This marks a great new step in our development, and we look forward to enhancing our position as the Middle East's leading digital agency into the future.