Bigger is not always better, at least that is what the newly founded advertisement and marketing company Adbox is out to prove. With a personalized market approach and a touch of feminine charm, the Gemazieh-based company has quickly found its niche in Lebanon’s highly competitive market.
“Adbox is aspires to be a boutique agency offering tailor-made marketing and advertisement services for small and medium sized companies,” said its owner Ghida al-Solh. “Not everyone can afford or wants to work with the big agencies, as they will never be treated as premium clients. Adbox offers a premium, personalized treatment and the same international standard.”
The company offers anything from public relations, media strategies and brochures to ads, packaging, corporate identity development and direct mailing. Having opened only this summer, Adbox’ clients include the jeweler Tufenkjian Freres, the Rest House in Tyre, Al-Baba Al-Mumtaza Sweets and Bear Real Estate. “For the next two years,” said Solh, a Lebanese American University graduate who worked for 7 years in a PR and marketing company, “I want to work with no more than six clients, after that we’ll see.”
To keep the costs down and remain flexible, Adbox is largely a one-person show. “Apart from my secretary,” Solh said, “I have no staff. I work only with freelancers on a project basis. I know most people in the business. While one may be excellent in layout, another’s specialty may be packaging. So, not only do I keep my operating cost down, I also work with only the best in the market.”
The young entrepreneur thinks she has one more asset allowing her to compete in Lebanon’s advertisement and marketing market, which she defines as “male dominated and rather aggressive.” She claims to “work with a much smoother, yet no less determined approach. I guess I’m just a bit more diplomatic. Perhaps that’s the family genes at work.”
