Bank Audi announced that the “Loubnani” Mastercard brand identity, which was created by the branding and design consultancy “Tagbrands”, was granted the Silver prize at the 2011 Midas Awards in New York. The Midas Awards prestigious awards are the only awards that recognize excellence in financial services communications on a global scale.

On this occasion, Mrs. Randa Bdeir, Head of Electronic Banking and Cards Services at Bank Audi sal - Audi Saradar Group, stated: “It is a tremendous honor to win such a distinguished global award, especially considering the extraordinary success of the “Loubnani” Mastercard brand development and design, which helped communicate the card’s vision to an international audience.”

The Midas Grand Jury includes client and agency leaders from the creative and marketing fields, as well as internationally recognized experts in financial policy and communications.

It is worth mentioning that this year's entries were received from 31 countries, and that judges selected winners not only on how well their message is delivered, but also on how it is received by its target audience.

Other winners in the 2011 Midas Awards included “Publicis New York” for their work with “UBS”, and “McCann Erickson” for their work with “Mastercard Worldwide”.

Mrs. Maya Karanouh, CEO of “Tagbrands”, spoke of the challenge of communicating the unique message of the Bank Audi/MasterCard “Loubnani” card, saying: “Our goal was to express the notions of Lebanese heritage and national pride that makes this card so special. By using a combination of Arabic calligraphy and inspiring imagery, and by creating a cedar-scented credit card, we were able to show the world what it means to be Lebanese.”

Mrs. Bdeir added: “We look forward to next year's competition, and are delighted that our cooperation with “Tagbrands”, which has been going on for 8 years, has helped us develop and communicate over 50 products which all meet our customers’ needs.”