Initiative Mena has won the media planning and buying account for Arabian Autmobiles Company brands Infiniti and Renault.

The distributor had called for a pitch for its media duties in October 2016, and Initiative pitched against five agencies.

Campaign understands these included Initiative’s MCN sister agency Magna and Omnicom Media Group’s OMD.

Arabian Automobiles Company is owned by AW Rostamani Group, itself a privately held company established in 1968 in the UAE. It is the only distributor for both Infiniti and Renault in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.

Arabian Automobiles’ Infiniti media work was previously handled by OMD, and Renault had been held by Publicis Communications’ Optimedia. TBWA\Raad handles Infiniti’s creative work.

The accounts are for the dealership, rather than for the manufacturers themselves in the Middle East.

“Initiative Mena has an established history within the automotive sector,” said Raffoul Mattar, managing director of Initiative UAE.

“We are pleased we have the opportunity to create some groundbreaking media initiatives, especially in an industry that is at the forefront of innovation and technology.”

Salah Yamout, director of sales and marketing at Arabian Automobiles, said: “As we are committed to constantly enhancing our media and marketing presence, Arabian Automobiles Company is always exploring new opportunities to ensure we maintain the best working relationships with the agency partners.”

He added: “We are confident that our partnership with Initiative will deliver effective and innovative solutions to our media business.”

Initiative recently won the Egyptian out-of-home, cinema, print and digital media buying for Chinese tech giant Huawei’s mobile devices division. Initiative was also pitching as the incumbent on regional media buying for Huawei, against Zenith and PHD.

Earlier this year, Kuwait Food Company – also known as Americana – moved its media buying from Initiative to Omnicom Media Group’s new media agency Hearts and Science.