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START UP
Despite tighter budgets, regional entrepreneurs
MAY 2016 – NO 256

need to push the marketing button

Bahrain 2.00 dinars | Egypt 18.00 pounds | Jordan 4.00 dinars | Kuwait 1.800 dinars
Oman 2.00 riyals | Qatar 20.00 riyals | Saudi Arabia 20.00 riyals | UAE 20.00 dirhams
 yOuSef tuQan tuQan,
vP Of MarketinG anD analytiCS, CareeM
“Start-ups have the luxury
of being able to make
bold moves and take risks
that more established
brands do not”
– Page 24

MAY 2016 – ISSUE NO. 256

83%
“The global percentage of start-ups that are founded by members of Gen X and the boomer generation, not by millennials” – Page 24

CONTENTS
START-UP MARKETING
14 Digital Focus: NordVPN’s 20 Branding: Indosuez Wealth 36 Market Analysis: Marketing
chief marketing officer, Marty Management takes a closer look luxury is an evolving art as well
P Kamden, explains why VPNs at brand values and how to create as a science. GMR showcases
are valuable – beyond providing an identity beyond just products how the most elite brands
access to House of Cards – and promote exclusivity, while still
what message they want to send 24 Cover Story: Today, the cool aiming for digital reach and
to global OTT giants kids on the block are start-ups social engagement
and, while the region is not
16 Branding: In retail, marketing yet Silicon Valley, the GCC’s 42 Special Feature: Brand
a brand extends past logos, entrepreneurial spirit is thriving. Finance analyses its annual Top
colouring and displays to the GMR explores the efficient and 50 Brands of the Middle East
physical space. GMR highlights innovative solutions start-ups report, revealing repeat winners,
how leading experts in interior use to market their value- newcomers and the brands in
marketing help brands create proposition to both users and the MENA region that are rising
spaces that engage shoppers venture capitalists above the rest

https://vk.com/readinglecture MAY 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 3


90%
of all of the world’s
data has been created
in the past two years
– Page 54
48 Special Feature: UAE Solutions
provides a step-by-step analysis
of the marketing process
throughout the business life
cycle of a company
54 Events: At the second Festival
of Media, speakers talk the talk
and award-winners walk the
walk. GMR explores the media
industry’s buzzing topics that
were discussed at the conference
and lists the campaigns that
won this year’s awards
60 Events: 2016’s STEP Conference
showcased the region’s digital
4 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
landscape, with a focus on start-
ups that are making a splash
in the GCC. GMR explores the
lessons regional experts have
learned along the way
62 Advertising: The founder of
Balcony8, Ursula Winzel, muses
about how to choose an agency
that helps brands last to infinity
and beyond
64 C-Suite Strategy: GMR talks
to Falcon Private Bank’s head of
marketing and communications
about marketing a Swiss Bank
to the UAE’s elite clientele
Journalist Melissa Moller
sEnior suB EDitor Karthik subramanian
art DirECtor sheela Jeevan
GraPHiC DEsiGnEr sandy Farah
assoCiatE DirECtor – PD
Grace Maroun, grace@mediaquestcorp.com
tel: +971 55 607 8161
BusinEss DEVEloPEr
Bahij saridar, b.saridar@mediaquestcorp.com
tel: +971 55 102 1778
PuBlisHED BY:
Medialeader FZ
a Mediaquest Company
Europe: s.C.C arabies, 27-29 rue raffet
75016 Paris, France, tel: +(33) 1 40 50 54 16
Fax:+(33) 1 40 50 54 54
GCC: Dubai Media City, Zee tower Building,
2nd floor, 206 united arab Emirates
tel: +(971) 4 369 7573 - Fax: +(971) 4 390 8737
lebanon: 7th floor, bldg 273, afrah Plaza Center
(Pain d’or bldg), Fouad Chehab Boulevard,
Dekwaneh, Beirut, lebanon
tel: +(961) 1 492 801/2 - Fax: +(961) 1 492 801
www.mediaquestcorp.com
FounDEr Yasser Hawari Co-CEo alexandre Hawari
Co-CEo Julien Hawari ManaGinG DirECtor
ayman Haydar PuBlisHEr nathalie Bontems
EDitorial DirECtor Elizabeth McGlynn CrEatiVE
DirECtor aziz Kamel FinanCE anD aCCounts
DirECtor Girish Kumar GM DotMEna rosy
Kachouh HEaD oF CirCulation Harish raghavan -
h.raghavan@mediaquestcorp.com MarCoM
ManaGEr Dima itani - d.itani@mediaquestcorp.com
Ksa GM Walid ramadan - walid@mediaquestcorp.
com - tel: +966 1 419 4061
lEBanon GM Peggy El-Zyr - peggy@
mediaquestcorp.com - tel: +961 1 492 801
nortH aFriCa GM Manuel Dias - dias@arabies.
com - tel: +33 1 4766 46 00
reproduction in whole or part of any matter appearing in GMr is prohibited
by law without the prior written approval of the publishers. opinions
expressed in GMr do not necessarily represent the views of the publishers
and editorial staff of the magazine. the publishers do not hold out any
guarantee as to its accuracy, neither do they indemnify any loss arising
through use of the information. all dollar prices ($) are us dollars, unless
otherwise specified. all marketing data is subject to confirmation.
Printed by: united Printing & Publishing
 TENSION.
EXCITEMENT.
GLORY.
NEW YORK’S
ICONIC SHOW
IS READY TO HAVE
AN EFFECT
ON YOU AGAIN.
NOVEMBER 23, 2016
DUBAI

#EffieMena16
 U A E N E W S
THE DUBAI SHOW WILL MARKET THE
UAE TO SOUTH AFRICAN INVESTORS
DUBAI. The Dubai Show was recently an- Dubai’s global location between Africa, Eu-
nounced as a new exhibition that will be rope and Asia makes it an optimal business
held in South Africa, with the aim of pro- hub for two-thirds of the world’s population.
moting Dubai on a global stage and also Ali explained that Dubai is an amazing
inspiring investment in the emirate. combination of nature and leadership, and
At the launch, Sajid Ali, director of Sumansa expressed hope that, in five years’ time,
Exhibitions, a company that produces and The Dubai Show’s success in opening new
organises property and consumer shows, African businesses here could bring 100,000
explained that SMEs in trade, financial ser- jobs to the emirate.
vices, hospitality and tourism, real estate, Currently, The Dubai Show has between
construction and manufacturing make up ten and 12 participating companies, but
more than 90 per cent of the UAE’s current there will be a maximum of 100 companies
business activity. He also highlighted that allowed to participate by November.
SULTAN AL SUWAIDI, PARTNER, SUMANSA EXHIBITIONS
“South Africa offers untapped potential to support com-
panies seeking to do business in Dubai. With several
companies from South Africa also looking to open estab-
lishments in the UAE, the time is ripe for support service
providers from Dubai to reach out into such markets.”
What
The Dubai show
aims to inspire
investment
Where
Johannesburg,
South Africa
Who in Dubai
Under the patronage
of HH Sheikh Mansoor Why
When
bin Mohammed bin Currently, the trade
November
Rashid Al Maktoum, exchange between
24-26, 2016
with Sumansa the UAE and South
Exhibitions Africa is valued at
AED10.6 billion
8 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
FRENZY BRANDS LAUNCHES DIGITAL
SWEEPSTAKES MOBILE APP
DUBAI. Frenzy Brands’ new app is a free in-
teractive tool that gives UAE consumers a
chance to win multiple prizes daily through
digital sweepstakes. The company says
the app allows brands and consumers to
engage in a more cost-effective way than
through print, broadcast and banner ads,
while providing an opt-in and, therefore, a
less disruptive solution to mobile video ads.
“We are extremely thankful to HH Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum [Vice-
President and Prime Minister of the UAE and
Ruler of Dubai], whose vision and commit-
ment of bringing innovation to the UAE has
created the right ecosystem for start-ups to
flourish,” says Ahmed M Al Kabab, principal
and founder of Frenzy Brands FZ-LLC.
IN BRIEF
SAUDI ARABIA’S GOODY ENTERS INTO
EXCLUSIVE PARTNERSHIP WITH GULFCO
DUBAI. KSA’s packaged food business, Goody,
has announced an exclusive partnership
with GULFCO to meet the UAE’s packaged
food demands. Goody aims to grow its UAE
market share and has identified the UAE as
the second-most important economy in the
GCC, with an FMCG sector valued at AED16
billion, a three per cent increase from last year.
“Entering the UAE now allows us to target both
the domestic and trade arenas. Partnering
with GULFCO allows us to facilitate a smooth
entry and provides us with access to the UAE’s
leading retailers and traders,” says Khalid
Temairik, general manager at Goody.
 our idea
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cemented its position as the
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Premium SUV” awards at the 2016
Middle East Car of the Year Awards
(MECOTY), the biggest, most
coveted award of the regional
automotive industry.

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MADE BY SWEDEN

https://vk.com/readinglecture
Q ATAR ISLAMIC BANK’S BASSEL GAMAL IN BRIEF
RANKS FIRST IN TOP CEO 2016 LIST Y T L OU UBE LAUNCHES ANTERN
DUBAI. The first place at this year’s Top CEO
Awards went to Bassel Gamal of Qatar Islamic
Bank. The glamorous event, organised by
GMR’s parent company Mediaquest, was held
on April 5 at the Dubai Westin Mina Seyahi.
Last year’s Top CEO, Shayne Nelson of
Emirates NBD, ranked eighth this year. Ali
Mohammed Ali Al-Obaidli of Ezdan Holding
THE
TOP TEN
CEOS
1) BASSEL GAMAL, Q ATAR I SLAMIC BANK
2) ALI MOHAMMED ALI AL-O BAIDLI, EZDAN
H OLDING G ROUP
3) NASSER ABDULRAHMAN R AFI, EMAAR
M ALLS G ROUP
4) K HALIL I SMAEEL AL M EER, K HALEEJI
COMMERCIAL BANK
5) I BRAHIM A AL OMAR, BAHRI
BASSEL GAMAL , CEO, Q ATAR ISLAMIC BANK
“I like this event. It is one of very, very few
events that I attend, for one simple reason:
it has credibility. In addition, it has complete
transparency and does not depend on
sponsorships and all those sorts of
things to win an award. Because
this award is not driven by
sponsorships, it is accurate.”
10 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
REGIONAL NEWS
Group was awarded the second place, while
Nasser Abdulrahman Rafi of Emaar Malls
Group ranked third.
The awards night followed the first edition
of the full-day Top CEO Conference, which
featured panel discussions on topics, such
as women in boardrooms, economic diver-
sification and tech disruption in business.
6) D R ADNAN CHILWAN, DUBAI
I SLAMIC BANK
7) JAMAL SAEED BIN G HALAITA ,
EMIRATES I SLAMIC
8) S HAYNE N ELSON, EMIRATES NBD
9) H USSAIN SAJWANI, DAMAC
10) TAL H ISHAM NAZER, BUPA ARABIA
FOR COOPERATIVE I NSURANCE
AWARD FOR THE MOST ENGAGING
RAMADAN CAMPAIGN
MENA. YouTube recently announced the
first edition of its Lantern Award, which
will honour one Ramadan campaign in
the MENA region for being the most im-
pactful on the video platform. At the end
of the Holy Month, the winning video will
be determined by an algorithm based
on engagement and views. A microsite,
developed by Think With Google for the
competition, will track and showcase the
campaigns’ progress. The Lantern will be
awarded to both the creative and media
agencies as well as the advertiser behind
the winning campaign. Google experts will
be aiding agencies and clients throughout
the competition to ensure that they make
the most out of the Ramadan campaigns.
J. WALTER THOMPSON’S TRENDS REPORT
FOR 2016 REVEALS CONSUMER INSIGHTS
BEIRUT. J. Walter Thompson’s Innovation Group
MENA released its Future 100: Trends and
Change to Watch in 2016 report earlier this
year. Banking trends in the report reveal
that 41 per cent of
adults in the MENA
region claim to be
ineligible for open-
ing an account in
a bank. However,
the report indicates that the growing trend
of Arab tech start-ups is set to fix this and
other economical issues faced in the region.
The report also reveals that women are
playing an even bigger role this year and
shows that female gamers are driving a
new conversation among Arab women.
Also, the research indicates that regional
style trends are going global, mentioning
that Dolce & Gabbana recently launched
a luxury line of hijabs and abayas.
For advertising opportunities: +971 4 4264100 or sales@AtlMedia.ae

ASDA’A RELEASES 2016’S ARAB
YOUTH SURVEY
USA. The annual Asda’a Burston-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey, conducted among country
nationals between the ages of 18 to 24, has been released. A total of 3,500 face-to-face
interviews, split evenly between males and females across the GCC, Levant, Yemen and
North Africa, were conducted over a period of one month.
52%
believe religion plays too large a
role in the Middle East
67%
believe leaders should do more to
improve the freedom and human
rights of their people, especially
for women
66%
are concerned about falling
energy prices
63%
receive their daily news
from television
12 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
REGIONAL NEWS
IN BRIEF
ARAB LUXURY WORLD IS BACK IN JUNE
WITH INDUSTRY TALKS AND AWARDS
UAE. Regardless of the tough economic
landscape, the luxury sector reported strong
growth last year, with more than €1 trillion
in sales.
Bringing together regional and global
players in the premium goods and servic-
50%
believe the rise of DAESH (ISIS)
es industry, the third edition of Arab Luxury
World – the conference on the business of
luxury – will examine “The New Normal”
is the biggest threat to the throughout the Middle East in general and
Middle East
in the GCC region, specifically.
Hosted and organized by Mediaquest,
44%
believe there are good job
GMR’s parent organisation, the conference
will span two days, commencing on June
1, 2016. Discussions will include a 360-
opportunities in their country degree look at the industry, with more than
30 panel discussions and talks.
After they have registered themselves
85%
on www.arabluxuryworld.com, delegates
will be given the opportunity to listen to
of Arab youth in the GCC believe the more than 100 regional and international
USA is a strong ally of their country speakers on diverse subjects, such as retail,
digital, luxury marketing and more. Last year,
nearly 750 people assembled alongside
80 media persons to listen to 140 speakers
78%
believe energy, electricity and
at the second edition of arab luxury world.
transport fuel should be subsidised
by the government VISA AND JUMEIRAH GROUP SIGN
MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP
MENA. Visa and Jumeirah Group have signed
a multi-year partnership agreement. As per
36%
intend to start a business
the terms of the deal, Visa cardholders across
the MENA region will receive discounts at
in the next five years Jumeirah properties that will be rolled out
over the course of the agreement. In order
to inaugurate the launch, all global Visa
cardholders will be eligible for a 25 per
52%
use Facebook to share
cent discount at Jumeirah hotels in Dubai,
Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and the Maldives, for
news articles hotel stays taking place between May 1
and September 30, 2016.
 W O R L D
AMA AND MILLWARD BROWN REVEAL
2016 MARKETERS CONFIDENCE INDEX
GLOBAL. The inaugural Marketers Confidence Index by the Ameri-
can Marketing Association (AMA) and Millward Brown Vermeer
revealed a 121 confidence rating, where 100 is neutral. The study
identified several challenges faced by today’s marketers, such as
proving and determining optimal ROI in an omni-channel world,
inability to utilise data efficiently and technological integration.
However, the survey also revealed that marketers are hopeful about
advances in data and analytics, specifically pointing to opportu-
nities for Big Data to drive personalised marketing, automation,
data integration, omni-channel interactions and micro-targeting.
With regards to budget allocation, marketers favoured media
placement, innovation, creative, insights and analytics.
MARC DE SWAAN ARONS, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, MILLWARD BROWN VERMEER
“Though market volatility is the new normal, marketers
are now more confident about leading their organisations
through change. This confidence is supported by new and
evolving opportunities to leverage insights across market-
ing investments to drive ROI. At the same time, the pace of
innovation is challenging marketers to align strategy and
talent in a more agile way and, as we track the index over
time, it will be interesting to see how marketers manage
this challenge.”
40%
indicate increased 66%
expect marketing
budgets
customer spending
don’t feel confident
60%
believe now is the
over the past six
months that their firm has
a competitive
time to invest in
marketing
operating model
N E W S
SAMSUNG WINS CANNES’ 2016
CREATIVE MARKETER OF THE YEAR
GLOBAL. The Cannes Lions International Festival
of Creativity has awarded the 2016 Creative
Marketer of the Year to Samsung Electronics.
Last year, Samsung won 27 Lions.
The chairman of Lions Festivals, Terry
Savage, said in a press statement: “When
you look at Samsung’s wins at Cannes Li-
ons, even just last year, what strikes you is
MILLWARD BROWN the diversity of Lions they are taking home
VERMEER IS A GLOBAL
through their overarching commitment
MARKETING CONSULTAN-
CY FOCUSED ON HELPING to creativity. They’re excelling across the
DEVELOP AND EMBED board, including in areas such as healthcare
PURPOSEFUL BRAND
communications, craft and branded con-
POSITIONING AS WELL AS
CLEAR BRAND ARCHITEC-
tent, as well as picking up a Titanium Lion.
TURE STRATEGY. This award exists to recognise brands that
distinguish themselves through the quality
of their communications, something that
Samsung is doing continually.” In 2016,
Samsung shifted its marketing approach
to a more consumer-centric strategy. Its
“Look at Me” campaign won five Lions in
2015 for creating a mobile app that helps
autistic children interact with other people.
IN BRIEF
P&G IS THE FOCUS OF OMNICOM’S NEW
33% MEDIA AGENCY HEARTS & SCIENCE
NEW YORK. Omnicom Media Group has recently
launched a new agency after winning the
to rise bulk of P&G’s North America media account
from Publicis’ Starcom Mediavest Group in
December. Although Hearts & Science was
39%
predict increased
created to foster the media growth of P&G’s
spending over account, it will look at bringing in other clients
the next
six months in the future. Scott Hagedorn, founding CEO
of Omnicom’s Annalect data and analytics
platform, has been selected to lead Hearts
& Science. The new agency will open in New
York with a staff of 175 and will focus on data-
driven marketing, with offerings in media plan-
ning and buying. Other offerings will also be
available, such as shopper marketing, content
activation and marketing innovation.
MAY 2016 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I 13

OF OTT
THE OTHER SIDE
NordVPN’s CMO Marty P Kamden explains why global over-the-top service
providers like Netflix should not block VPNs.
O TT (Over The Top) services argue against
the use of VPNs. What are the main
points in favour of their existence?
VPN services are meant, first and foremost,
to protect users’ privacy online and to offer
security. VPNs encrypt all data shared between
the Internet and a user’s system, so none of
the data can be compromised by hackers,
thieves, tracking or surveillance. People can
get their bank information stolen when using
public Wi-Fi, when shopping online, or filing
online taxes, for example. A VPN can protect
from all those threats by making a person’s IP
address invisible and impenetrable.
That’s how the VPN feature of unblocking
geo-restricted content comes about: by disguising
and switching a person’s IP address, people
can access more content, including foreign
news sources, communication services and
entertainment sites available in another part
of the world. VPNs, therefore, offer browsing
freedom – meaning, if you are an OTT service
14 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
D I G I T A L
subscriber in Dubai, you can connect to the
network as if you were in America, for example,
and access the same content that is available
to Americans – which is often three to six times
more than in other countries.
Is there a way that VPNs can actually help
OTT services (in the future/with some tweaks)?
VPNs have functioned alongside OTT servic-
es for a while and seemed to coexist with
great synergy. In the case of Netflix, before
its expansion to 170 countries, VPNs would
allow more restricted customers from around
the world to access content and expand the
user base globally. In other examples, a great
cooperation exists with services like Twitch TV,
a popular gaming video community, which
doesn’t have any restrictions on its content.
They are sometimes blocked by Internet service
providers in a particular region, but fans who
want to access content – for instance, when
they travel – can do so with the help of VPNs.
© ALAMY
What kind of impact will VPN services even-
tually have/want to have on OTT services,
especially global giants like Netflix?
We hope that OTT giants, such as Netflix, will
eventually realise that people have a right to
the same content worldwide. We are already
seeing the signs of that, with Netflix dedicating
roughly $5 billion in 2016 to creating its own
content. We think Netflix chooses to create its
own content rather than deal with expensive
licensing agreements, which prevent it from
bringing popular titles, such as House of Cards,
outside of the US.
Meanwhile, if VPNs are blocked, but peo-
ple want to see a particular show, they will
find a way – resorting to illegal downloads,
for example. Also, discouraging people from
securing their online data is a bad practice in
the day and age of growing Internet threats.
With such a high saturation of VPN providers
in the region, how does one stand out?
© ALAMY

$5 billion
The amount dedicated by
Netflix in 2016 towards
creating its own content
NordVPN stands out with various features,
such as our no-log policy, for example. Since
the company is registered in Panama, we
are not required by the government to keep
customer logs. Reportedly, there have been
instances where VPN companies have been
involved in a scandal, as they were retaining
and then re-selling customer logs. This is strictly
against the values of NordVPN.
We also have a very user-friendly design
and our new apps are designed for very easy
use: a VPN turns on with a simple click of an
“ON” button. We believe that VPNs should be
for everyone, so we really focus on making
ours very approachable and easy to use.
If Netflix and other OTT providers made all
content available in all markets, what would
be the main function of VPN services?
Doesn’t Nord need Netflix’s current policies
to survive? The main purpose of a VPN is to
provide people with online security and privacy.
D I G I T A L
Helping users switch their IP addresses to “MOST OF OUR SUBSCRIBERS
other countries to get content they desire to WANT TO AVOID GOVERNMENT
see is just a side benefit of using a VPN. Most SURVEILLANCE, BEING TRACKED
of our subscribers want to avoid government BY THEIR MOBILE SERVICE
surveillance, being tracked by their mobile PROVIDERS AND MARKETERS,
service providers and marketers, or simply OR SIMPLY WANT TO KEEP
want to keep their information private. For ex- THEIR INFORMATION PRIVATE”
ample, when the government data retention
law came into effect in Australia, the number MARTY P KAMDEN
of VPN users grew five-fold. The same is true
for other countries, too. VPNs are also needed
in countries or situations where the Internet is
blocked: Facebook in China, Wikipedia in Russia,
or social media blockage during elections in
Uganda or emergencies in Turkey.
Thus far, what is the biggest threat for VPNs?
The only threat VPNs face is misinformation
about their true benefits and the reputation
that they are very hard to use. We are work-
ing towards challenging those perceptions by
making an easy-to-use NordVPN service.
MAY 2016 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I 15

TALKING SHOP
Consumers who are still seeking the in-store retail experience are looking for brand
consistency and digital integration, reports Melissa Moller.
C urrently, the retail industry is abuzz
about creating an in-store experience
that will make consumers not only want to
stay and shop longer, but also keep com-
ing back. Branding is an aspect that needs
to be considered when designing such a
space, giving consumers an immersive and
consistent experience.
The stores editor for Retail Week, John
Ryan, recently gave a talk at 2016’s World
Retail Congress in Dubai. He started his sem-
inar on “A Global Tour of the World’s Most
Innovative Store Design” by explaining that
flagship stores lead the pack.
16 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
B R A N D I N G
“If you’re going to have a flagship, make
sure it gives people a reason to come
back,” Ryan says. “Every other store, aside
from the flagship, needs to be in tune
with the location of that store.” However,
he adds, “Some stores create a separate
space that doesn’t actually adhere to the
brand, but more to the environment in
which the store lives.”
Talking about the region, Ryan notes that
Dubai has vast shopping centres, but, if they
were just that, people really wouldn’t want
to spend time in them. Instead, he says,
“what they do [in Dubai] is take interesting
concepts and play around with them. That’s
what makes them interesting to visit.”
Tech and mortar. Ryan does not necessarily
believe that technical elements should be
incorporated into a physical store. How-
ever, he still provides examples of the dos
and don’ts when integrating digital into a
retail space. He says some stores – Nike,
for example – choose to have gimmicky
digital displays. “One store has a pop-
up display – you move across the digital
screen and it mirrors your body,” he says.
However, while a shopper may go into

the store and do it once, “you’ll never do
it again,” he explains.
Digital doesn’t have to be interactive in
a physical space; it can simply be inviting.
One suggestion Ryan gives is to project notes
onto a coffee table, saying: “All shopped out?
Grab a chair and a magazine.” As another
example, he mentions Mamas & Papas, a
children’s store, which projects clouds that
change into rabbits and other shapes.
“When it comes to a screen, there is nothing
worse than a screen that doesn’t work,” he
says, instead advocating that projection be
used as digital décor: “If you are a shopper
B R A N D I N G
and the screen is having a technical difficulty,
it is worse than seeing nothing at all. If the
store has images projected onto the walls
and that fails, no one knows.”
The founder and creative director of Brand
Creative, Carla Conte, believes that doing
digital in a store space to simply tick a box
is not useful at all. “Don’t give me a screen
that is just more of your product,” she says.
“I can do that at home. For example, when
we are integrating digital screens, we use
video that activates when a product is picked
up to share relevant information about that
particular product.”
Ryan agrees, explaining that instead of
a catalogue of products placed on a digital
screen, a store can have an interactive
gadget that gives the consumer advice
about what type of product they might
want. It could narrow down options based
on your feedback and then “give you a
product you should have, based on your
engagement with the online platform,”
he says.
“Screens must add to the experience,”
Conte adds. “There will always be people
who want to play with stuff while shopping.
Even in a women’s department, give the guys
something to do, because a lot of people
hate shopping. Even free WiFi helps.”
App in the air. Ryan believes that in-store
apps may not be a great idea: ”When you
go to a supermarket, you’re already only
seeing around 50 per cent of what’s there,”
he explains. “If you give someone an app,
now they are looking at their phone.”
Some make the argument that adding
mapping technology to help the consumer
get to the products quicker takes away from
impulse shopping. However, Conte defends
this inclusion, saying that it is the store’s job
to keep the customer engaged.
MaY 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 17

“If you’Re GoING to hAve
A flAGshIp, mAke suRe It
GIves people A ReAsoN
to come BAck”
johN RyAN
“As retail designers, we try to sell the
concept. the layout and product placement
should still entice people to stop and look
up,” she says. “If the design of the store
isn’t great, nothing is inspiring you to stay
longer, but, if the store is actually cool, it
will do its job in stopping you to check out
the displays.”
Anti-brand. sometimes, when a brand
wants to give the customer an experience
other than what the actual product sug-
gests, it can develop a retail experience
that is counterintuitive. Ryan says, “Any-
one can sell cheap stuff. the difficulty is
to make it attractive for people to actually
want to shop there.” he uses primark as an
18 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
B R A N D I N G
example, saying that the one thing they do
really well is making the stores look nothing
like discount environments.
Experience required. “store design remains
important, but experience is at the head of
everything,” says Ryan. he spoke of grocery
stores that now offer experiences to cus-
tomers outside of just shopping for food.
some stores are now incorporating events,
like live jazz music or a movie night, con-
ducting culinary classes, or even having a
food and beverage counter in the store itself,
where customers can experience the food
they might considering buying.
stores should also pay attention to the
use of signage. At a home-goods store,
for example, Ryan explains that it doesn’t
make much sense to have a wall full of
towels with a sign saying “towels”. In-
stead, he suggests displaying signs above
each section, explaining the quality of
the towels – “value” and “premium”, for
example. this will provide added value
for the consumer.
© ARABIANeye.com
Reading minds. Retail designers use certain
psychological tips and tricks when designing
a space, because the human mind and body
naturally tend to follow certain patterns when
someone enters a space.
for example, conte explains, your eyes and
pupils will dilate to a certain lighting, which
can actually change your emotions. she adds
that another common trait is the tendency for
people to veer to the right when exploring a
retail space – and this doesn’t depend on
which side of the road you drive on. Ryan
suggests that every retailer needs to use this
knowledge and apply it in the store, such as
deciding what products to place on the right,
or figuring out what items can be stocked on
the way out of the store for people to check out.
Whether stores are integrating digital,
creating a seating area, or using displays
in a unique way, the experience provided
by the physical space is critical in today’s
complex world. A brand cannot simply stop
at products or logos. Its identity should be
seamlessly fused into every aspect of its
offering, including the retail environment.
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 B R A N D I N G

Of brands
and markets
Indosuez Wealth Management’s chief investment officer
Frédéric Lamotte and chief economist Dr Paul Wetterwald
believe that investing in a brand message
is crucial.

A brand means nothing without the val-

Frédéric Lamotte
Chief investment officer
Indosuez Wealth Management
ues that are given to it – values that
represent it. A brand cannot grow without
the commitment of the team working under
its name. It requires continuous investment
and, finally, a brand is only meaningful and
sustainable if it lives up to the promises it
embodies and if it delivers dependable
and high-quality performances. Actually,
branding is critical for all economic agents.
Connecting a brand with an object is de-
cidedly the most intuitive choice. It’s easy to
think of classic examples in the appliance
industry (Frigidaire for refrigerators) or in
recreation (Chris-Craft for powerboats).
In the investment world, a number of
studies have constructed a portfolio of
shares in companies with powerful brands
and examined their performance. One can
understand that a brand that is synonymous
with high quality could generate higher profits
if this means it can sell premium products
in limited editions.
In more general terms, based on a defi-
nition of a brand as an intangible asset –
or a non-monetary asset without physical
substance – we observed that a portfolio of
stocks with close brand associations gen-
erates better returns than the market over
a certain period, while the market is in the
process of recognising the brand’s value.
No matter what investment horizon is
considered (between six months and five
years), research has found that the beta
of a portfolio composed of brands is much
higher than one. In other words, such a
portfolio would have a tendency to “over-
react” to market movements.

20 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016

J U N E 1 & 2 , 2 0 1 6 , D U B A I

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Business models have been tur ned upside-down due to new economic,
technological and geopolitical realities. The new nor m emanates
from digital age disruptions and tectonic shif ts in business strategies.
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next? Where to develop in order to grow ? Why digital strategy ?
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Dr Paul Wetterwald
Chief economist
Indosuez Wealth Management
22 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
B R A N D I N G
Consequently, possessing a brand gen-
erates higher shareholder returns for a cer-
tain period of time. However, these excess
returns are also linked with risk, especially
reputational risk. The Volkswagen scandal
is a recent example.
Determining the value of a brand, inde-
pendent of the potential stock price of the
company that owns it, is another interesting
topic for financial researchers.
After the future financial flows related to
the brand are determined, they must be
discounted to determine the current value
of the brand. At this point, the question of
what interest rate is used to calculate this
discount arises.
While financial flows for the strongest brands
are discounted at a risk-free interest rate,
mid-quality brands are discounted at the
average cost of capital for the industry under
consideration. Theoretically, the lower the
quality of the brand, the higher the discount
rate, as research has indicated.
The reference to a risk-free interest rate is
somewhat unfair, because it is impossible
for risk to be totally absent in the real world.
However, the term is used here to describe
the interest rate for issuers of benchmark
government bonds – for example, Germany
for the Eurozone and the United States for
the dollar market.
This helps us create a link with the brand
concept as it applies to countries. Isn’t it
fair to say that the benchmark country for
the risk-free interest rate is one that has
a brand strong enough to serve as the
standard in the eyes of investors? Once this
happens, all other countries are considered
to have a weaker brand and must pay an
interest-rate spread to borrow.
When equating a country’s rating and
brand, we should not forget how difficult
it is to establish a strong link between a
country’s rating and its size, or its rating
and its growth. These are the findings we
have drawn from a sample of 119 countries.
Applying the brand concept to a country
allows us to summarise its appeal beyond
the circle of investors. Non-economic criteria
must also be used. Evidently, regional, political
and cultural factors come into play in many
areas, such as determining migration flows.
As Ying Fan notes in Branding the Nation:
Towards a Better Understanding, “Every
country has a unique name and image
in the mind of people both inside and out-
side the country. So, a nation does have
brands. A nation brand is the total sum
of all perceptions of a nation in the mind
of international stakeholders, which may
contain some of the following elements:
people, place, culture/language, history,
food, fashion, famous faces (celebrities),
global brands, etc. A nation’s ‘brand’ ex-
ists, with or without any conscious efforts
in nation branding, as each country has a
current image [of] its international audience,
be it strong or weak, clear or vague.”
We have the Middle East region covered
when it comes to business, finance and
economic news.
That’s why the most affluent and influential
decision makers watch CNBC Arabia.
 C O V E R S T O R Y
Marketing
1 1 Regional start-ups need to make marketing
a top priority, but they must also be lean,
keeping measurement and effectiveness in
mind, Melissa Moller reports.
T he start-up culture is growing in the GCC
as more and more people develop an
entrepreneurial spirit. In fact, ASDA’A Bur-
son-Marsteller’s recent Arab Youth Survey
2016 revealed that 36 per cent of Arab youth
Tanaz Dizadji intend to start a business in the next five years.
Founder and CEO As the region strives to develop an eco-
Insydo system that fosters start-ups, entrepreneurs
must work to get the word out about their
new business, with efficiency at the core of
their strategy. Early on in the process, many
entrepreneurs are concerned about their app,
website or whatever value-proposition their
new company entails. However, marketing
should be a focus of every business, large
Muhammed Mekki or small, old or new.
Founding partner As the founder and CEO of UAE-based
Astrolabs review platform insydo, Tanaz Dizadji, put
it to the 2016 STEP Conference audience,
“You may think marketing is the least of
your problems. You may even come from
an engineering background and [find that]
marketing is overwhelming and, quite frankly,
you don’t even have a budget for it. It’s time
to make it your problem. You need to give
Yousef Tuqan Tuqan your product the best chance to succeed.
VP of marketing and analytics You need to find a budget and invest, so
Careem people can discover you.”
24 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
Firstly, one might ask, what exactly is a
start-up? To some, this is just a hipster word
that refers to any new business – and, in
many ways, that’s exactly what it is.
Start-ups have small budgets and limited
resources, and must take a learn-as-you-go
approach, like most new ventures. However,
because of the digital age, there are certain
fundamental differences that set start-ups
apart from other new businesses.
The start-up concept was born out of the
tech generation and, so, most of them solve
real-life problems in a tech-savvy, scalable
way using new media – and this is a neces-
sity rather than a luxury, because start-ups,
constrained by limited funds, need to think
lean when it comes to marketing. Therefore,
data and measurement, rather than more
traditional – and costly – methods, are at
the forefront of their marketing campaigns.
And, perhaps even established brands and
multinationals can take some leaves from
the start-up book.
How soon is too soon? Most entrepreneurs
have a lot of priorities to grapple with when
planning their business. One important de-
cision to take is when to start thinking about
 C O V E R S T O R Y

2 founders
significantly increase the
chances of a start-up’s success,
as opposed to only one
SOURCE: INC.
© GETTY IMAGES

May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 25


FOR A START-UP,
“MARKETING BEGINS
BEFORE DAY ZERO”
MUHAMMED MEKKI
marketing. Each start-up will answer this
question in a different way, depending on
its plan and, frankly, there is no right answer
– although many believe that marketing is
critical from an early stage. Founding partner
at Dubai’s Google-fueled technology hub
Astrolabs, Muhammed Mekki, says that, for a
start-up “marketing begins before day zero.”
He notes that one of Astrolabs’ offerings is an
academy that, among other things, teaches
digital marketing and analytics, because this
is crucial knowledge for any entrepreneur.
“We teach that digital marketing is a tool
used to assess the potential market,” he says.
“Entrepreneurs can put up an ad even before
they have a product, which sends users to
a landing page, where they are asked if
they’re interested in a hypothetical product.
This way, early on, whether it’s through paid or
unpaid channels, entrepreneurs can generate
some demand for what they’re building.”
26 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
C O V E R S T O R Y
Dizadji has a different take on the mar-
keting timeline: “Marketing shouldn’t come
into play too early,” she says. “Of course,
when entrepreneurs first make their busi-
ness plan, they have to know how they’re
going to tap into the market. So, they need
an idea. But then, at the beginning, when
the business is being built, they are likely to
be out of touch with what’s going to work,
because the product will change so much.”
She says marketing should realistically
come into the mix a few months before the
product launch. “The key is the budget: a
lot of start-ups do not put marketing in the
budgets, because they’re trying to be as lean
as possible,” Dizadji explains. But, she adds,
there is only so much that Facebook friends
can do that will benefit your business. If a
company is going to be on social media,
there needs to be a marketing budget.
“And they have to know what is out there
– in terms of which existing channels will
work best – because they cannot be good
at Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter,
Flickr, Periscope... They have to know where
they want the concept to exist first,” she adds.
There is one thing she believes should be
considered above all else when marketing
25%
of new businesses will fail
within the first year and 50 per
cent within the first five years
SOURCE: INC.
a start-up: SEO. She says: “SEO is the first
thing to consider before coding even one
line. We made critical mistakes that we are
paying the price for now, in terms of changes.
Our site has to change structurally because
of SEO and I didn’t know that.” In fact, she
recommends not even considering SEO as
marketing and says it should come before
other strategies.
In the realm of start-ups, there is a need
to tailor the marketing strategy to one specific
idea. With start-ups, budgets are often so tight
that the firms cannot afford to be everywhere
at once. Therefore, they need to consider a
hyper-efficient media mix and each start-up
will place marketing at a slightly different
point in the building process. Taskspotting’s
CEO, Karim Aly, has a unique perspective
on when to market, because his start-up
needs to spread the word to both consumers
and clients. Taskspotting is a platform that
promotes user engagement with brands by
allowing chosen audience members to use
a product and react to it. “When you’re a
founder and you set up a start-up, there are
so many moving parts and, although all are
important, you have to prioritise and triage
what’s critical and what is not. Marketing

“IN ALL CITIES, OUTDOOR MIGHT
NOT WORK FOR A START-UP, BUT
DUBAI IS DIFFERENT, BECAUSE IT
HAS HUGE TRACTION”
TANAZ DIZADJI
is pushed down, because there are more
critical things to do: get the product up and
running, get your first clients in, drive business
development and find funding,” Aly says.
In this case, marketing will fall behind
other priorities, but the argument could be
made that it shouldn’t. He continues: “When
and how much marketing a start-up does
depends on that specific company, because
marketing will have different levels of value
to different start-ups. So, for consumer-
centric companies, marketing is critical
for user acquisition.” He admits that most
entrepreneurs, especially those whose
business is tech-driven, tend to discount
28 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
C O V E R S T O R Y
the value of marketing until they actually
see the results.
Deciding the most opportune time to begin
marketing is a delicate call for start-ups and,
like many decisions with new businesses,
they are often forced to make the choice
quickly and feel the effects later. Idriss Al Rifai,
founder and CEO of delivery service Fetchr,
says, “The most obvious ramification is low
customer recognition of the product, which
will eventually slow down your growth tra-
jectory if marketing is not prioritised enough.”
Meanwhile, Careem’s VP of marketing
and analytics, Yousef Tuqan Tuqan, says it’s
difficult to pinpoint the repercussions, because
marketing too soon could lead to other is-
sues. “It’s sometimes more important to focus
on product and delivery. There have been
regional examples where fantastic brands
were built with great marketing, but, ultimately,
weren’t able to sustain their business due to
the reality of market conditions or the delivery
of their product,” he says.
95%
of entrepreneurs have a
bachelor’s degree or higher
SOURCE: INC.
Decisions, decisions. It’s clear that the biggest
challenge associated with marketing a start-
up is budget, but, apart from that there are a
few elements that make marketing a start-up
a totally different game for entrepreneurs.
Dizadji reveals the one lesson she learned
early on in her business: decisions should
not be about what she wants; they should
be about what people want. She uses the
example of her company’s name. Before
she came up with insydo, she wanted to call
the company Truffle Moi. But, with people
constantly asking her to repeat the name
or calling it Truffle “Muy”, she realised de-
cisions needed to be based on insights,
not impulse.
Getting the marketing right from the
beginning without much room for trial and
error is also a challenge. Mekki highlights
one big difference between start-ups and
established businesses: the emphasis on
performance marketing. He notes that big
brands can invest in billboards and offline
See what measures up.

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 C o v e r S T o r Y
17%
of start-ups are founded by
millennials and the remainder
by Gen X and boomers marketing, more traditional approaches that
Source: Sage are much less efficient.
Big companies are trying to build brand
identity and recognition and, while traditional
marketing is hard to measure, once satu-
ration happens and the target audience is
reached, large brands need to find ways
to extend that reach. Mekki says, “Start-ups
need to double down on that efficiency. In
the end, everyone should be efficient with
their marketing campaigns, but the reality is
that when you have huge budgets, efficiency
Kamal Hassan is less critical. Decisions are made without
CEO, Innovation 360 & as much data, whereas a start-up has to
General partner, Turn8 be much more targeted.”
The good news for today’s entrepreneurs
is that the current emphasis is on creating
automated, data-oriented marketing tools
was developed with efficiency in mind. “While
there are many tools to optimise marketing,
the important thing is to understand the need
for the right training and people in place; it’s
Idriss Al Rifai all about measurement in the end,” Mekki
Founder and CEO says. “The marketing team is almost like an
Fetchr engineering team. It needs to segment the
30 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
audience and the channels, while crunch-
ing data in a way that provides actionable
insights. Then, the team can switch sub-seg-
ments of channels on and off with control
and understanding of what’s working and
what is not. Then, the next step is to set up
a dashboard providing visibility into perfor-
mance and data.”
Back to tradition? insydo’s Dizadji is not a
firm believer that online is the only marketing
a start-up should do. She realises that mar-
keting using traditional media outlets is not
common for a start-up. However, she says,
“In all cities, outdoor might not work for a
start-up, but Dubai is different, because it
has huge traction.” insydo had a billboard
on Sheikh Zayed road, but she knew that,
in order for it to work, the creative needed
to be shocking.
other, more traditional ways of marketing
should be looked at as well, explains Tuqan.
“Quite often, the best way to gain visibility
cheaply is through partnerships and barter
deals,” he says. While many start-up marketers
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are concerned with social, targeting, influencers
and other new-age digital methods, Al Rifai
says there are no better brand ambassadors
than yourself and suggests that entrepreneurs
should network with potential clients and
customers directly at relevant events. Along
these same lines, Tuqan suggests being a
thought leader: “Regional publications and
events are always looking out for perspectives
on new markets and categories. You would
be amazed at how much PR, publicity and
exposure can be generated just by being
helpful and available for comment.”
Whether start-ups choose digital or
traditional marketing channels or a mix
of both, Dizadji says entrepreneurs should
32 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
C O V E R S T O R Y
women are more likely to found
have a vision but shouldn’t spend too much
time planning six months down the line,
because things can change very quickly
with new businesses.
After the click. Aside from the mistake some
start-ups make in not having marketing as
an initial priority, once entrepreneurs realise
they need to spend on marketing, they often
make another misstep. Most start-ups exist
in the online space, providing a solution or
service to their target audience through a
website or an app.
Mekki explains that start-ups sometimes
spend so much effort marketing the product
to inspire customers to click on their site, they
forget to consider what the consumer will
experience after the click.
He says, “Start-ups commonly focus a lot
on the actual marketing exercise, like how
they’re spending on Facebook or Google
ads, but they disregard the actual on-sight
conversion process. In the end, they’ve spent
all this money to get traffic to come onto
57%
The percentage by which
start-ups than men
SOURCE: SAGE
a site, which is then wasted because the
conversion is not optimised.”
Al Rifai adds, “The biggest challenge with
a limited budget is not only to reach the tar-
get audience, but to ensure your customers
use your product and that you retain them.”
The pitch. For most start-ups, the market-
ing challenge doesn’t end with consumers,
because they must also convince venture
capitalists (VCs) or clients of their product,
which requires a completely different strategy.
One way to market a start-up to investors
or other stakeholders, such as the govern-
ment or clients, is to describe the benefits of
working with a fresh, tech-savvy company.
Mekki says that start-ups should let VCs
or clients know that they are more “nimble
and more switched-on in terms of new me-
dia. They can open larger businesses up
to sectors and opportunities that may not
have been considered previously.”
He adds that VCs look for congruence.
They want to know that a start-up is solving

a real problem and is getting real traction,
indicating that there is potential for an actual
business behind the idea. VCs need to be able
to differentiate between talkers and doers.
In the region, there are unique challenges
associated with marketing to clients, VCs or
government because, for years, “we have
been importing innovation, so we don’t have
trust in our local innovation,” indicates CEO
of Innovation 360 and general partner at
Turn8, Kamal Hassan. He claims that the
perception in the GCC is that if a product
wasn’t built elsewhere, people don’t want
to use it or invest in it.
Meanwhile, Taskspotting’s Aly says that
the one tactic he uses to market his com-
pany to potential clients is to capitalise on
the fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) argument,
asking those who are reluctant to risk working
with a start-up: “What if all your competitors
are using us?”
Furthermore, in today’s economy, one
might assume that marketing a start-up to
a VC or client would be more challenging
C O V E R S T O R Y
of businesses that survive
more than five years will fail
in the following year
because of the risk involved. However, Aly
says, “It’s counter-intuitive, but the appetite
for risk and innovation is inversely related
to the health of the economy. When the
economy is bad, companies start to look
for ways to unlock value; they start looking for
more efficient and productive ways of doing
things. Usually, those solutions are based on
technology and technology is usually in the
hands of start-ups. It’s a twisted logic, but
it’s actually true. Now is a good time for us.”
The big shift. There is a final transition that
few start-ups would have planned for from
the beginning, but which could become a
reality if they manage to achieve scale. In
some circumstances, a start-up will have a
period of shifting from being a new business
to being a brand and this transition comes
with changes in the marketing strategy as well.
Innovation 360’s Hassan says, “When a
start-up becomes a brand, the marketing
shifts from selling the value-proposition to
the details.” He says there are only a few
10%
SOURCE: INC.
innovative start-ups, but millions of brands.
However, when a start-up transitions to a
brand, it moves from innovation to commodity,
which “is all about price and very minute
differentiators,” he says.
Coming from a more traditional adver-
tising background at Leo Burnett, Tuqan has
an interesting perspective on the shift from
being a start-up to being a brand. He says,
“Start-ups have the luxury of being able to
make bold moves and take risks that more
established brands do not.”
There is no question that being a start-up
is challenging, especially in a region that
is still actively developing an infrastructure
that can accommodate these new busi-
nesses. However, the region doesn’t suffer
from a lack of innovation and, as emerging
markets, many countries around the GCC
still need the types of valuable solutions
that start-ups often provide. And for this to
happen, regardless of when or how, experts
say marketing needs to be a priority for a
start-up to thrive.
May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 33
Congratulations to all
oF tHE FOM MENA AWARDS 2016 WinnErs

Be part of the conversation #FOMMENA

Campaign of the Year Best Use of Content
MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food & Change, Gold for Be There with Emirates, Emirates,
MAGGI, MEC Havas Media Middle East
Silver for Ramadan Prejudice, Coca-Cola, UM MENA
Agency of the Year Bronze for MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food &
MEC MENA Change, MAGGI, MEC

Agency Network of the Year Best Use of Digital Media

OMD
Best Communications Strategy
Gold for INFINITI – From Darkness to Light, Nissan Middle East,
Mindshare MENA
Silver for Johnson’s Baby Bath Time Song, Johnson’s Baby,
J3 MENA
Bronze for Celebrate the Breakers’ Breaks, KIT KAT,
MEC MENA
Best Content Creation Award
Gold for MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food &
Change, MAGGI, MEC
Silver for Hindihasha, Freska, Digital Republic
Bronze for MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food &
Change, MAGGI, MEC
Best Engagement Strategy
Gold for Fanta Gaming Masters, Fanta, UM MENA
Silver for Meet The Family, NESCAFÉ Arabiana, MEC MENA
Bronze for Monopoly For Good, Majid Al Futtaim, Starcom
Mediavest Group
Best Entertainment Platform
Gold for The Academy, Nissan Middle East, Mindshare MENA
Silver for Sing for Abdo, Dubai Media Incorporated, Initiative
Media Middle East
Bronze for Bring the Quiet, Axe, PHD
Best Experiential Campaign
Gold for Chipsy Smiles, Chipsy, OMD Egypt
Silver for Fanta Gaming Masters, Fanta, UM MENA
Best Launch Campaign
Gold for Flames of The World, Cheetos, OMD
Silver for Sting Launch, Sting, OMD Egypt
Bronze for What Happens at Girls Night Stays in Girls Night,
Lay’s, OMD
Gold for Mother to a Generation, NIDO Fortigrow, MEC MENA
Silver for Durex Real Feel: MENA Launch, Durex Arabia,
UM MENA
Bronze for Transfer Predictor, adidas,
Starcom Mediavest Group
Best Use of Mobile
Bronze for Cash to Card, Visa Cards, OMD Egypt
Best Use of Video
Gold for The Green Genie, Etisalat, Initiative Egypt
Silver for Old Rivals, Coca-Cola, UM MENA
Bronze for Vimto Come Together, Vimto, Mindshare MENA
The Best Use of YouTube Award
Gold for Celebrate the Breakers’ Breaks, KIT KAT, MEC
Silver for MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food &
Change, MAGGI, Publicis
Bronze for Pepsi UrTheCast, Pepsi, OMD
The Creative Use of Media Award
Gold for Radio Spa, Channel 5, Starcom Mediavest Group
Silver for Mother to a Generation, NIDO Fortigrow, MEC MENA
Bronze for Second Life Billboards, Emirates NBD,
Starcom Mediavest Group
The Effectiveness Award
Gold for Sting Launch, Sting, OMD Egypt
Silver for #LiveFearless, Nana, ZenithOptimedia
Bronze for Step Up for Life, One Touch, Initiative Media
The Smart Use of Data Award
Gold for Digital Campaign Optimization (DCO), Samsung
Electronics, Starcom Mediavest Group
Silver for Army of Loyalists, Misr El Kheir, Development
Foundation, OMD Egypt
Bronze for Baume & Mercier – Life is about moments,
Baume et Mercier, Starcom Mediavest Group

Best Social Media Strategy The Utility/Public Service Award

Gold for #LiveFearless, Nana, ZenithOptimedia Silver for Al Tawasol, touch, Mindshare MENA
Silver for Kees Gawafa, Rani Float, Mindshare MENA
Bronze for Flames of The World, Cheetos, OMD Twitter Live Marketing Award
Gold for #BacktoLife with Panadol Cold + Flu, Panadol Cold +
Best Targeted Campaign Flu, MediaCom
Silver for Dettol Hajj, Dettol, UM MENA Silver for Old Rivals, Coca-Cola, UM MENA
Bronze for What Happens at Girls Night Stays in Girls Night, Bronze for Flames of The World, Cheetos, OMD
Lay’s, OMD
PREMIER PaRtnER

StRatEGIC PaRtnER FOUnDInG PaRtnER aSSOCIatE PaRtnER

EVEnt PaRtnERS

CREATIVE
A RAB
TALENT

OFFICIaL PR PaRtnER MEDIa PaRtnERS ORGanIZERS


All thAt glitters
In a slowing economy, luxury brands must give the new generation of consumers
in-store experiences and digital engagement, Melissa Moller finds out.
T he upcoming generation of luxury con-
sumers presents a new requirement for
luxury brands: to provide more than just a
desirable product. They must tap into con-
sumer emotion, provide value and have an
air of timelessness. However, when many
such brands are marketing themselves as
classic and timeless, or as pieces of history,
how does one stand out above the rest?
Selling luxury to contemporary consumers.
“Today, digital and globalisation are disrupting
everything. Therefore, consumers are in the
mood for authenticity,” says the communi-
cation and marketing director at the Zenith
Branch of LVMH Swiss Manufacturers SA,
36 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
A n A L y S I S
Vincent Steinmann. “At the same time, the
world is at war, the economy is uncertain and,
therefore, stress is a global illness. People
are looking to take a step back and make
time for pleasure.”
This is something the CEO of Printemps,
Paolo de Cesare, also stressed at this year’s
World Retail Congress (WRC) in Dubai, explain-
ing that today’s luxury consumer is not only
looking for products, but for experience: “The
value equation of luxury products is not as
appealing as it was before and, while it could
be about prices, it’s also about the in-store
experience,” he said. “Do consumers feel
they’re getting the right experience in a luxury
boutique for the [money] they’re spending?
Millennials want something different; they
want to combine products and experience.”
Meanwhile, Steinmann says: “The younger
generation can wear H&M and Zara, [but]
they also own Berluti shoes. Today, this mix is
okay.” Consumers are buying value clothing
for everyday use, as well as luxury products,
because, Steinmann explains, “they know
they will take care of them and they will last
[for] 20 years. It’s the same for watches.” He
notes that Zenith is focusing on marketing
its luxury watches using a strategy that cap-
italises on emotions and through stories that
will be told by humans to humans.
Product associations and partnerships are
another way for brands to speak directly to
 the latest African and international news
tv - internet - mobile

africanews.com

available in 33 African countries by satellite SES 4 & 5, DDT and on


THE LuxuRy InDuSTRy
CAn BE “unIquE AnD
ExCLuSIVE, WITHOuT
BEIng unAffORDABLE”
PATRICk CHALHOuB
their target audience. Zenith aims to repre-
sent the perfect combination of humans and
machines. One current marketing strategy
for the watchmaker is to associate itself with
classic cars and motorbikes. Steinmann notes
that, because of this association, Zenith
could “lose people who are not into this
new style.” However, he adds, “We may
give more emotions to the ones that really
like us. We can’t satisfy everyone; so we
choose an angle that works with a certain
circle of people, who are setting trends for
the future.”
When a brand chooses to associate with
a different product altogether, there is no
38 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
a
A n a
A Ll y Ss Ii Ss
crystal ball that can tell them whether or not
this strategy will work.
“The beauty of marketing is when you try
something that is risky and it works,” says
Steinmann. However, he admits that some
brand associations don’t work: “Sometimes, you
try something you are completely convinced
about and the public feedback is bad.” He
adds that it is difficult to judge an association
or partnership from the very beginning, but
you still have to ask all of the questions to
ensure that the idea makes sense. “If a brand
wants to be a pioneer, it needs to break the
rules and take risks,” he insists.
Selling luxury in a slowing economy. Another
panellist on the WRC discussion on luxury
was the joint CEO of Chalhoub group, Patrick
Chalhoub, who explained that the slowdown
in some emerging markets, such as China,
Russia and Brazil, is having a ripple effect
on luxury. He added that the sector is now
faced with resolving the collateral damage
that resulted from the fears of democratisation
and popularisation of luxury products.
“Luxury pricing has reached a level that is
not affordable for people who would aspire
to buy luxury,” Chalhoub said. “We have cut
ourselves [away] from a large part of the
population: the middle class.” However, he
noted that, by embracing the “spirit of ad-
aptation”, the luxury industry can be “unique
and exclusive, without being unaffordable”.
When it comes to marketing luxury, there
is no denying that professionals need to go
back to the books to see how to shift budgets
in a slowing economy. “In a tough period, you
don’t cut,” says Carla Luini, global Marketing
and Communication VP of BVLgARI. “We just
make sure our investments have stronger
returns by focusing on fewer, bigger, better
marketing activities. I would also say that, in
such conditions, we try to think out of the box to
stimulate creativity and generate new ideas.”
Luini recognises that the current environment
is tough, but says BVLgARI “remains focused

on continuing to grow market share via its
exceptional products, outstanding distribution
network, important investments and a very
passionate and talented team.”
Selling luxury in a digital world. There is
no question that most of the luxury brands
have taken their time when approaching
the digital sphere. However, many experts
agree that, in order to reach today’s con-
sumer, brands not only have to ensure that
their products are available for purchase on
a digital space, but they also have to fuse
the digital and physical worlds to give con-
sumers an experience that’s worth paying
premium prices for.
At the WRC, Chalhoub used Apple as an
example of a brand selling an aspirational
product. “One of the greatest digital compa-
nies in the world has not only sold digital, but
has one of the best shopping experiences
in physical retail,” he said, explaining that,
40 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
a n a l y s i s
“PEOPLE THInk [SOCIAL
MEDIA] IS IMPERSOnAL, BuT
IT’S STILL OnE-TO-OnE. . .
IT’S A COMMunITy”
VInCEnT STEInMAnn
today, it shouldn’t be a digital discussion,
because the older generation is as digital
as the younger generation is physical. “It’s
really about the omni-channel focus, but the
experience is the key, whether it’s a physical
or a digital one,” he noted.
Printemps’ de Cesare also pointed out
that being digital doesn’t mean being ex-
cessively quick and overly innovative. “Some
people believe that speed and quantity are
equivalent to success, but I think speed is
going to kill luxury,” he said. “The more you
make luxury obsolete and without longevity,
the less you will be able to justify the prices.”
De Cesare wants the luxury industry to
focus on developing products that will evolve
and not be revolutionised just because a new
trend hits the digital sphere. “We are putting
too much pressure on pushing innovation
and not taking it slow to develop products
that are consistent,” he said.
At the end of the day, today’s consumers
are looking for the human connection –
regardless of where the brands want to
make that connection. Whether in a dig-
ital space or a physical one, companies
should tap into the emotional story behind
their brand.
Zenith’s Steinmann stresses the impor-
tance of the human-to-human connection.
He notes that even social media platforms
represent a direct engagement from one
user to another. “People think it’s impersonal,
but it’s still one-to-one. That’s the beauty of
it,” he concludes. “At the end of the day, it
is a community.”
 SPECIAL F E AT U R E

MEna’s top
50 brands
This year, Brand Finance’s Middle East’s Most Valuable Brands report indicates that
total brand value increased by 11 per cent, compared with 23 per cent last year.

T he Brand Finance MENA 50, the defini-

tive list of the Middle East’s top 50 most
valuable brands, is now in its seventh con-
secutive year. Brand value growth continues
apace. The total value of the Middle East’s
top 50 brands has increased by 11 per cent
between 2015 and 2016. This is a slower rate
than the change from 2014 to 2015, when
brand values rose by 23 per cent, which itself
was lower than the change in the preceding
year, when the growth was 27 per cent. This
slowing rate of growth hints at the possibility
that the Middle East’s top brands may be
beginning to reach their potential.
Emirates continues its relentless rise, how-
ever, in spite of already being a titan within AED4.7 billion in 2015. Brand value growth airline to make the top 50, still has a long
in industry. It is the fastest-growing carrier, follows this trend: this year, Emirates has way to go to make up ground on its regional
with the world’s largest fleet of A380s (75 are added $1.1 billion to the value of its brand, rivals, with eight per cent growth bringing its
in service and 65 on order). Revenues are far more than any competitor. Qatar Airways, total brand value to $1.55 billion.
growing steadily, having increased by 7.4 second in terms of brand value growth, has The Gulf’s airlines have been involved
per cent from 2014 to 2015. Profitability is up added $720 million. Though lower in absolute in an increasingly fractious dispute with US
by 38 per cent, rising from AED2.4 billion in terms, this represents a faster year-on-year rivals over the Open Skies agreement. Ear-
2013 to AED3.4 billion the following year, to growth of 26 per cent. Etihad, the only other lier this year, the three biggest US carriers,

42 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016


© Getty ImaGes
american, Delta and United, claimed that,
ever since emirates, etihad and Qatar air-
ways have been permitted to operate flights
to Chicago, Orlando and san Francisco,
traffic has dropped by more than 13 per
cent. they are also indignant about the
perceived unfair support the region’s airlines
receive from their national governments ($42
sPeCIaL F e at U R e
~50%
of the top 50 brands in
2016 are banks
billion in total), allegedly in contravention of the
terms of the Open skies agreement. emirates
has responded robustly, stating: “Instead of
splurging on lobbying campaigns to lock out
competition, instead of blaming Gulf airlines
for loss of bookings or market share, the Big
three should rather consider how they can
redirect some of their record profit to improve
the services they provide to consumers and
contribute to growing the overall pie for the
benefit for the broader economy.”
Based on the continuing upward trend in
brand equity and brand value data for the
Gulf’s airlines, it would appear that consum-
ers are untroubled by the american airlines’
accusations. emirates’ scores for familiarity,
consideration, preference, satisfaction and,
crucially, recommendation are all up.
airlines are perhaps the most prominent
of the middle east’s brands, given their in-
ternational visibility – and the sheer scale
of emirates, in particular. However, in terms
of both numbers and total brand value, the
region’s banks are in pole position.
Bank brands make up nearly 50 per cent
of this year’s list (24 in total), with a combined
brand value of $26 billion. their importance
appears to be growing, with a 20 per cent
increase in banks’ brand value this year.
Banking has also replaced telecom as the
most heavily represented sector in the top
ten, helped by the inclusion of National Com-
mercial Bank, which makes its debut in Brand
Finance’s table at eighth place, with a brand
value of $2.2 billion.
the seven telecom brands in this year’s
top 50 have a total brand value of $17 bil-
lion, making this the second-most significant
sector by brand value. However, telecom
brands have had mixed success this year. stC
and etisalat, the two most valuable telecom
brands, have remained relatively stable. With
a presence in 18 markets, etisalat is the Uae’s
biggest publicly-traded company.
May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 43

AT THE NATIONAl lEvEl,
THE RIvAlRy BETWEEN THE
UAE ANd SAUdI ARABIA
REMAINS ClOSE
Since government restrictions on invest-
ment in the company were lifted in June 2015,
shares have rallied. With this financial fillip
and the installation of its new CEO, Saleh El
Abdouli, Etisalat’s brand prospects look strong.
Meanwhile, Ooredoo’s prospects look
even brighter. The company’s brand value has
consistently increased since the global brand
roll-out in February 2013 and, this year, it has
enjoyed a 21 per cent increase. Its customer
base continues to grow in established markets
and there are continued success stories in
newer markets, such as Myanmar. Ooredoo
is estimated to have a customer base of more
than 114 million customers worldwide (as of
September 2015). With an AA+ band rating,
Ooredoo already has a stronger brand than
its larger rivals from Saudi and the UAE. As
44 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
SPECIAl F E AT U R E
it continues to build its customer base and
reinforce its brand, it may only be a matter of
time before it has a more valuable brand too.
In contrast, Mobily has had a very troubling
year. In the wake of an accounting scandal
that saw it suspended from the Saudi Stock
Exchange, it has fallen from seventh to 14th
place. In July 2015, the firm made the last in
a series of earnings restatements that had
been attributed to premature booking of rev-
enue from wholesale broadband leases and
mobile promotional campaigns.
The result – having billions removed from
its books – has understandably had an im-
pact on Mobily’s credibility with analysts and
has significantly dented its reputation for fair
dealing with consumers. In April 2016, it was
reported that Mobily had ‘swung into profit’,
but only time will tell how this brand recovers
from this misdemeanour. For now, brand value
is down by 21 per cent to $1.7 billion.
At the national level, the rivalry between the
UAE and Saudi Arabia remains close. There
are 21 Saudi brands present in the table,
against 16 from the UAE. However, those from
$27.9 billion
The total value of the
16 UAE brands on
the top 50 list
$26 billion
The total value of the
23 Saudi Arabian brands
© ARABIANEyE.COM
on the top 50 list
the UAE are significantly more valuable. The
total brand value of the UAE’s brands is $27.9
billion, compared with $26 billion for KSA.
Meanwhile, Qatar continues to strengthen
its position with two new entries – Barwa Real
Estate and Masraf Al Rayan – while Oman is
at the risk of dropping out of the table entirely;
its only entry, OmanTel, dropped to 47th place.
In addition to examining corporate brand
values, Brand Finance also assessed the
strength and value of ‘nation brands’. A
stronger nation brand has a broad range
of effects, from attracting foreign investment,
tourists, international students and highly
skilled workers, to boosting exports. Corpo-
rates based in these nations receive various
benefits, from improved consumer trust and
loyalty, to price premiums.
In the latest edition of Brand Finance’s
annual Nation Brands Report, released in
October 2015, both the UAE and Qatar fea-
ture in the top ten for nation brand strength.
Given their size, relative youth and the very
recent nature of their economic success, this
is a remarkable achievement.
 SPECIAL F E AT U R E

Top 50 brands BRAND BRAND

RANK RANK
BRAND PARENT COMPANY INDUSTRY GROUP DOMICILE VALUE RATING 2016
2016 2015
2016 (BV) (BR)
1 1 Emirates Emirates Airlines United Arab Emirates 7,743 AAA
2 2 STC Saudi Telecom Company Telecommunications Saudi Arabia 5,613 AA
3 3 etisalat Emirates Telecom Corporation Telecommunications United Arab Emirates 4,564 AA–
4 4 Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Limited Airlines Qatar 3,494 AA+
5 5 QNB Qatar National Bank Banks Qatar 2,453 AA
6 9 Al-Rajhi Bank Al Rajhi Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 2,342 AA
7 8 Almarai Almarai Food Saudi Arabia 2,308 AA–
8 New NCB National Commercial Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 2,231 A+
9 10 Emirates NBD Emirates NBD Bank PJSC Banks United Arab Emirates 2,186 AA
10 11 Ooredoo Ooredoo QSC Telecommunications Qatar 2,104 AA+
11 6 SABIC Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corporation Chemicals Saudi Arabia 1,957 AA+
12 12 du Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company Telecommunications United Arab Emirates 1,903 AA+
13 17 Emaar Properties Emaar Properties PJSC Real estate United Arab Emirates 1,739 AA
14 7 Mobily Etihad Etisalat Company Telecommunications Saudi Arabia 1,727 AA–
15 14 Etihad Airways Etihad Aviation Group Airlines United Arab Emirates 1,555 AA
16 13 National Bank of Abu Dhabi National Bank Of Abu Dhabi Banks United Arab Emirates 1,538 AA–
17 18 NBK National Bank Of Kuwait Banks Kuwait 1,385 AA
18 16 First Gulf Bank First Gulf Bank Banks United Arab Emirates 1,376 AA
19 19 Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Banks United Arab Emirates 1,232 AA
20 New Saudi Electricity Company Saudi Electricity Company Utilities Saudi Arabia 1,122 AA+
21 21 Samba Financial Group Samba Financial Group Banks Saudi Arabia 1,107 AA–
22 22 Riyad Bank Riyad Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 1,023 AA–
23 15 Zain Mobile Telecommunications Company Telecommunications Kuwait 965 AA+
24 23 SABB Saudi British Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 951 AA–
25 20 Kuwait Finance House Kuwait Finance House Banks Kuwait 808 A+
26 24 Dubai Islamic Bank Dubai Islamic Bank Banks United Arab Emirates 798 A+
27 29 Arab National Bank Arab National Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 717 A+
28 28 TAQA The Abu Dhabi National Energy Company Electric United Arab Emirates 690 A+
29 31 Saudia Saudi Arabian Airlines Passenger Transportation Saudi Arabia 685 A+
30 27 Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank Banks United Arab Emirates 674 A+
31 32 Banque Saudi Fransi Banque Saudi Fransi Banks Saudi Arabia 667 AA–
32 New Ma’aden Saudi Arabian Mining Company Chemicals Saudi Arabia 638 AA–
33 25 Petro Rabigh Rabigh Refining And Petrochemical Company Chemicals Saudi Arabia 616 A+
34 36 DP World DP World Limited Commercial Services United Arab Emirates 530 A+
35 41 Commercial Bank The Commercial Bank QSC Banks Qatar 498 A+
36 35 Mashreq Mashreqbank Banks United Arab Emirates 496 AA–
37 34 Panda The Savola Group Food Saudi Arabia 495 AA–
38 30 RAKBANK National Bank Of Ras Al-Khaimah PJSC Banks United Arab Emirates 475 A+
39 48 Qatar Islamic Bank Qatar Islamic Bank Banks Qatar 433 A+
40 40 Union National Bank Union National Bank Banks United Arab Emirates 432 A+
41 47 Doha Bank Doha Bank QSC Banks Qatar 432 A+
42 New Barwa Barwa Real Estate Group Real estate Qatar 413 A
43 New Masraf Al Rayan Masraf Al Rayan Banking Qatar 409 A+
44 49 Saudi Hollandi Bank Saudi Hollandi Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 405 A+
45 45 Agility Agility Storage/Warehousing Kuwait 399 AA–
46 42 Nadec The National Agriculture Development Company Food Saudi Arabia 387 A+
47 33 Omantel Oman Telecommunications Company Telecommunications Oman 369 AA
48 50 Alinma Bank Alinma Bank Banks Saudi Arabia 366 A+
49 New Saudi Investment Bank Saudi Investment Bank Banking Saudi Arabia 357 A+
50 26 Afia The Savola Group Food Saudi Arabia 356 AA–

46 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016

 SPECIAL F E AT U R E

ENTERPRISE
BV EV BV/EV BV/EV
VALUE BV/EV (%) BV 2015 BR 2015 EV 2015 BV 2014 BR 2014 (%) EV2014 (%)
CHANGE CHANGE 2015 (%) 2014 (%)
(EV)
33,186 23 17 0 6,640 AAA N/A 5,481 AAA n/a n/a N/A
32,920 17 –1 –0 5,695 AA– 33,073 4,975 AA– 28,583 17 17
40,877 11 4 44 4,381 AA 28,404 3,452 AA– 23,481 15 15
13,752 25 26 0 2,774 AA+ N/A 1,806 AA+ 0 N/A N/A
30,782 8 –6 –22 2,603 AA 39,392 1,811 AA 33,433 5 7
20,874 11 13 –13 2,064 AA 23,926 1,724 AA 30,096 6 9
11,011 21 7 –7 2,151 AA– 11,875 1,666 A+ 8,798 19 18
27,716 8 0 0
11,653 19 23 –9 1,784 AA+ 12,862 1,272 AA+ 9,064 14 14
8,979 23 21 –18 1,740 AA 10,914 16
70,315 3 –20 –20 2,458 AA+ 88,405 2,079 AA 97,688 2 3
5,739 33 12 –10 1,699 AA 6,374 1,357 AA– 8,264 16 27
9,403 18 42 –51 1,225 A+ 19,045 705 A+ 10,315 7 6
9,595 18 –21 –31 2,190 AA– 13,985 3,016 AA 19,973 15 16
9,180 17 8 0 1,439 AA N/A 1,024 AA 0 N/A N/A
11,406 13 3 –32 1,492 AA 16,763 849 AA 15,649 5 9
11,797 12 33 –19 1,039 AA 14,533 786 AA– 13,402 6 7
14,337 10 6 –21 1,298 AA 18,051 1,083 AA 14,906 7 7
8,624 14 19 –21 1,039 AA 10,893 720 AA– 9,537 8 10
69,816 2 0 0 AA 915 AA 48,806
11,646 10 16 –7 951 AA 12,536 702 AA 12,418 6 8
9,714 11 13 –29 902 AA 13,591 589 AA 11,638 5 7
7,794 12 –33 –30 1,434 AA 11,058 1,206 AA 12,245 10 13
9,874 10 19 –29 799 AA– 13,991 608 AA– 11,625 5 6
8,941 9 –15 –18 953 AA– 10,838 805 A+ 10,863 7 9
6,180 13 3 –14 776 AA– 7,212 476 AA– 5,619 8 11
6,116 12 22 –23 590 A+ 7,942 436 A+ 6,890 6 7
21,252 3 12 –5 615 A+ 22,423 660 A+ 25,206 3 3
4,064 17 21 0 565 A+ N/A N/A
3,330 20 4 –30 648 AA– 4,737 407 A+ 3,554 11 14
8,127 8 24 –20 538 A+ 10,119 387 A+ 8,219 5 5
21,483 3 0 0
11,020 6 –8 16 672 A– 9,521 617 A 9,236 7 7
24,364 2 14 19 463 A+ 20,395 700 A+ 16,557 4 2
3,877 13 –3 –27 515 A+ 5,345 280 A+ 4,531 6 10
3,670 14 6 –10 468 AA– 4,066 299 AA– 3,008 10 12
2,902 17 5 –38 472 A+ 4,717 550 A+ 4,205 13 10
2,739 17 –19 –31 587 AA– 3,970 362 AA– 3,195 11 15
7,267 6 36 12 317 A+ 6,489 166 A 4,542 4 5
3,446 13 3 –23 419 A+ 4,495 292 A+ 4,138 7 9
3,228 13 21 –20 358 A+ 4,044 318 A+ 4,108 8 9
5,874 7 0 0
7,445 5 52 –20 269 A+ 9,360 183 A+ 6,940 3
3,884 10 30 –28 311 A+ 5,394 199 A+ 4,434 4 6
1,334 30 5 –58 379 AA– 3,200 380 A 2,559 15 12
915 42 –5 –13 407 A+ 1,048 A 39
2,725 14 –23 1 479 AA– 2,684 319 AA– 2,792 11 18
5,517 7 18 –33 310 AA 8,275 189 A+ 5,979 3 4
3,023 12 23 –29 290 AA– 4,237 176 A+ 4,414 4
1,680 21 –47 –38 671 A+ 2,730 671 A 2,434 28 25

May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 47


Step by Step
Iain McIntyre, managing partner of UAE Business Solutions, breaks down the marketing process
throughout the business life cycle.
W hen talking about the growth of any
business, a company will go through
different stages of the business life cycle and
encounter many marketing challenges that
will require different strategies and tactics.
For example, a different marketing strate-
gy will be required for market penetration,
Development or seed stage
This stage is the very beginning of
the business life cycle. This is when
you are developing your business
idea and assessing its feasibility.
1 are partially or wholly web-based
Testing your business idea consists of two
parts: conducting research regarding the
industry and performing surveys of your
friends, family and colleagues or of other
industry specialists.
After completing your feasibility study, you
can determine whether the original business
idea you had is worth pursuing or requires
modification to succeed. Many new businesses
48 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
S P E C I A L F E A T U R E
business development and retaining market
share. As the business matures, operations
and priorities will change, which will require a
flexible approach to your marketing strategy,
which should plug into the overall company
growth strategy contained in your annual
business plan. It is important to understand
and rely heavily on SEO and social
media to promote themselves. How-
ever, traditional marketing channels
should not be ignored.
Marketing challenges
It can be difficult to narrow down which mar-
keting media will produce the best results
for your products or services. Your feasibility
study should provide many pointers as to
what advertising media work for your soon-
to-be competitors.
This research should enable you start
building your marketing plan. You should
also consider your customers’ point of view.
Follow the ‘4Cs’ model for a truly customer
-centric approach:
• Customer value: It is the value you pro-
vide that determines your position in the
sector or market
• Cost: Instead of thinking of price, think of
what the customer has to pay
• Communication: Customers should be
engaged through meaningful interactions
• Convenience: Customers are busy and
have many choices, so what makes it
easy for them to choose you?
that your business will constantly change:
growth does not come at a steady pace. You
need to be able to anticipate in advance which
marketing tactics you are going to employ
to meet your company objectives.
Here are the stages of a business life cycle
and their marketing challenges.
Start-up stage
Your feasibility study has con-
cluded that your business
idea is worth pursuing. You’ve
developed your business plan.
2
You have finished developing the products
or services your business has to offer and
you will begin marketing and selling. Dur-
ing this stage, you will be tweaking your
products or services according to the initial
feedback from your first paying customers
and the market demand. You will need to
learn and adjust your business model to
ensure that it is profitable and that it meets
your customer’s expectations. By adjusting
your business model, you’ll be able to set
your business on the right track.
Marketing challenges
At the start-up stage, it is more expensive for
a company that is launching a new product or
service. The market size for the product could
be small, so sales could be low, although
they will hopefully increase. On the other
hand, the cost of research and development,
consumer testing and the marketing needed
to launch the product or service can be very
high, especially in a very competitive sector.
COMPLETE
YOURSPORTSKI
T

3
Growth or survival stage
Your business has survived the initial stages
of the business life cycle and is currently in
its growth or survival stage. The business
is consistently generating revenue from
marketing and adding new customers.
This recurring revenue will help pay your
operating expenses and open up new
business opportunities.
Currently, your business could be oper-
ating at a net loss or a healthy profit, but
there will always be competition. This is a
great time to fine-tune your business plan
and implement proven methodologies, as
well as sales, marketing and operations
models, before expanding your venture
for the mass market.
Marketing challenges
This stage is where competitors are being
attracted into the market with similar of-
ferings. Pricing should be maintained as
you enjoy increasing demand. Product or
service quality needs to be maintained and
additional features and support services
may be added. Distribution channels
can be added as demand increases and
customers start accepting the product or
service. Marketing should now be aimed
at a broader audience.
50 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
S P E C I A l F E A T u r E
4 5
Expansion or rapid growth stage
Now that your business is a thriving com-
pany and has established its presence in
the industry, you have reached the stage
in which it will expand and spread its roots
into new markets and distribution channels.
In order to start capitalising on the success
of your business, you will need to capture a
larger market share and find new revenue.
Therefore, your business will experience rapid
growth in revenue and cash flow. This stage
gets its advantage from the proven sales,
marketing and operations models set out
in your business plan and developed at the
growth or survival stage.
Marketing challenges
The growth stage is typically characterised by
a strong increase in sales and profits. Also,
because the company can start to benefit
from economies of scale in production, the
profit margins, as well as the overall amount
of profit, will increase. This makes it possible
for businesses to invest more money in pro-
motional activities to maximise the potential
of this stage.
4Cs
Customer value, cost,
communication and
convenience
Maturity stage
After a successful expansion, your business
is at the top of its industry and has matured.
At the final stage of the business life cycle,
your business has a dominating presence in
its market. It could still be growing, but not at
the substantial rate previously experienced.
Your current option is to decide to take a
step back towards the expansion stage or
to think of a possible exit strategy.
Marketing challenges
During the maturity stage, the product or
service is established. The aim is now to
maintain the market share you have built up.
This is probably the most competitive time
for most products and you need to invest
wisely in any marketing being undertaken.
You also need to consider any product or
service modifications or improvements to
the production process that might give you
a competitive advantage.
Every stage of the business life cycle brings
new or pre-existing challenges. Solutions
that may have worked for one stage may
not work in another, which is why you should
always review and adjust your business plan
and operations accordingly.
At each stage, your business will rely
heavily on a financial source to help over-
come the challenges it faces. Therefore, it
is especially important to have accounting
management software in place so that you
will have an accurate reflection of current
business finances.
Having an accounting software in place will
help you understand where your business
is in the current life cycle and the details will
allow you to foresee upcoming challenges
and make better business decisions.
ICONIC BRANDS
FIND A
NEW HOME
Group Plus LED screens in Dubai
proves popular amongst Top players

Launching 8 high-end LED screens in Dubai back in 2015 proved to be a huge success for the OOH
media giant, Group Plus Media. Being located on a strategic area between Dubai Mall, Sheikh Zayed
Road and the DIFC, this medium has quickly become on top of every major players’ media plan for
2016.

Book your advertising

space today Follow us on:
www.groupplusmedia.com
+971 4 390 3590 info@groupplusmedia.com.lb
 “ Joelle Ghorayeb ”
Outdoor Executive Manager
Q1: Since its debut, this medium has attracted
some major brands. What makes it so
interesting for them?
A1: Strategically located in one of the densest
areas of Dubai, this medium grants unique
access to a huge influx of traffic through
prime spots along the Financial Centre Road,
the entrance to Dubai Mall and the highway
connecting Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Khail
Road.
With advertisers now gaining first class
access to one of the most prominent areas in
the city, the doorway to the most visited mall
in the world and the DIFC district, the location
of this medium is very interesting for high-end
brands that are looking to reach a world-class
target.
Q2: Could you tell us more about the main
features of advertising on this medium, In
addition to it being set in a strategic location,?
A2: Group Plus Media LED screens located
on the Financial Center Road next to Dubai
Mall offer advertisers a solid image and high
exposure.
Due to their prime location, these LED screens
have an annual reach of over 100 Million
passengers mostly from international tourists
and businessmen. Moreover, the high display
quality of these LED screens highlights product
visuals and ensures the best possible image.
Q3: Between still and digital media, where do
you stand?
A3: As a group, our portfolio covers both mediums
throughout Dubai, Lebanon and Bahrain. Based
on experience, each brand requires a specific set
of communication tools to convey the adequate
message. While still media offers a high OTS in
targeted locations, digital media offers brands
high impact and vivid colors at lower production
costs.
Q4: What are your plans for the second half of
2016?
A4: Following the success of our LED screens
in Dubai, we are currently preparing to launch 4
new 10x7m digital screens at the same location
that will be managed by an affiliate company of
Group Plus Media.
TAKE IT FROM THE EXPERTS
“Outdoor advertising has returned to growth the
past years. The selection criteria are mainly based
on the location; how busy the area is, which makes
Group Plus Media’s LED screens near Dubai Mall one
of the prime outdoor formats. The advantage of the
LED format is that it is conspicuous and attractive,
different consecutive messages can be displayed in a
sequence, telling a story. Last, it’s efficient in terms
of short lead time to install at no extra production
cost”
Johnny Khazzoum
Strategic Director | Fusion 5
“LED screens are far more interactive than print
media, more flexible as you can communicate on
more than one message at a time and finally much
more visually impactful due to the high definition
colors and images”
Antoine Joujou
General Manager| Wojooh

INFOMATION OVERLOAD
This year’s Festival of Media MENA broke down topics like digital advertising,
content marketing and the world of mobile first, reports Melissa Moller.
F estival of Media (FOM) MENA 2016 gathered
thought leaders with unique perspectives
on the media industry’s trending topics. There
were some disagreements and many over-
used adages, such as whether or not content
is truly king, and futuristic discussions on
AI and bots. However, the topics that got
the most attention were digital advertising,
mobile and content.
Digital natives. At FOM, the overarching theme
was the current media mix, which is creat-
ing quite a confusing marketing landscape
when it comes to spend, creative, targeting,
automation and more.
Some even suggest that understanding the
mix is the most the difficult part of a marketer’s
job today. One FOM speaker, the director of
brand solutions and innovations at Google
EMEA, Debbie Weinstein, explained, “One
of the fundamental things that media teams
and marketers are struggling with is how to
54 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
E V E N T S
allocate the media mix across all the various
channels available today.”
“The biggest issue is understanding where to
get the reach and scale to drive your business
and what platforms can maximise impact.
Results help inform this,” she added.
The head of global marketing solutions at
NewsCred, Alex Cheeseman, said: “Brands
don’t have to be publishers if they still want
to get involved with content marketing; [they
can] create one piece of content per day,
week or month. [They should not] feel that
they have to be an editorial newsroom with
50 paid journalists and editors.”
He advised brands to think about the
things that are important for the business and
how to manage them without getting caught
up in the idea that having lots of content is
the only way to be successful.
Content kings. In essence, the digital game is
directly related to content and its dissemination
– or, content marketing. Cheeseman defined
it as two unique disciplines: “On one side,
it’s the creation of content – the right piece
of content at the right time: content that has
value. The second part is distribution, making
sure that content gets in front of the right
person at the right time and, then, driving
some form of strategic customer and busi-
ness value,” he said.
But why the sudden emphasis on content
marketing? After all, it the concept is not new.
Digital has created complications, whereby
marketers need to now understand exactly
what works for which audiences.
Cheeseman explained that if marketers
look at the types of brand endorsements and
content that people trust, they will see that
recommendations from people they know
are at the top, which is difficult for a marketer
to plan for. It is only then that marketers look
at branded websites, third-party reviews and
editorial content (including paid, owned and

90%
of the world’s data has
been created in the
past two years
earned). Creating good content and knowing
where to put it are crucial.
“Everyone has slightly different perspective
in terms of what they’re hoping to achieve,”
Cheeseman explained, adding that, in or-
der to sell, a marketer has to figure out the
steps that are required to get someone to
purchase a particular brand.
“There are loads of different methodol-
ogies and formulas: awareness, consid-
eration, purchase, advocacy and content
can support across any of those. So, what
you have to identify is the role of content
across that customer journey and [whether
it is] successful there or not,” he added.
At the top of the funnel, there might be
a 30-second video and, at the bottom, a
detailed product page, which are different
pieces of content that you place different
metrics against. The ability to do these things
well is the difference between successful
and failed content, he concluded.
This is where the question regarding
content becomes complex. Where should
E V E N T S
it be placed? When and in front of whom
does it come into play? In today’s world,
these factors need to work together seam-
lessly. Otherwise, a brand will not even be
noticed, let alone bought.
Measurement magicians. Google’s Wein-
stein said, “One thing holding MENA back is
measurement tools and standards across
the industry. We’re working on that and we
hope the industry wants to work on it too.
Here, it’s an industry issue, as opposed to
a consumer issue, which is unfortunate.”
The problem doesn’t stop with just the
MENA region, she said: “Measurement is
holding us back around the world. One of
the biggest challenges is coming up with
a neutral platform for video measurement,
so that everyone can understand where this
viewing is happening, using an industry-stand-
ard metric.” While these are issues that have
reached a global scale, the MENA region’s
measurement scenario is, admittedly, slightly
more immature than that.
“ONE THING HOLDING MENA
BACK IS MEASUREMENT TOOLS
AND STANDARDS ACROSS
THE INDUSTRY. HERE, IT IS AN
INDUSTRY ISSUE, AS OPPOSED
TO A CONSUMER ISSUE”
DEBBIE WEINSTEIN
Data miners. Data is another huge topic of
conversation in the media industry, because,
without it, the contemporary trend of targeting
consumers on a personal level is impossible.
Additionally, data was certainly the topic of
the day, as it was shared at the Festival of
Media that 90 per cent of the total amount
of data in the world has been created in the
past two years.
However, it must be noted that there are
ways in which this data can be misused,
especially considering the quantity we have
access to now. “We are starting to limit our-
selves too much with demographic data,”
MAY 2016 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I 55

Cheeseman said. He explained that not
everyone between the ages of 18 and 25 is
interested in the exact same things. Today,
60-year-olds are interested in surfing, he
said. So, missing out on those non-traditional
demographics is a mistake for brands. “We
need to move away from these strict con-
fines of putting people in specific buckets,” he
said, adding that we need to “start to better
understand individuals and bucket them into
interest-based or behaviour-based groups.”
This would be more impactful, he noted.
Social butterflies. Social media has forever
changed the way we communicate, which then
changed the way brands talk to consumers.
Cheeseman spoke of the fundamentals of
human nature, using Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of
Human Needs’. At the bottom of the triangle,
he said, humans have always needed – and
still need – shelter, warmth and food. Fur-
ther up on the triangle come esteem and
self-actualisation, which is where we’re see-
ing changes in the current population. “[This
generation] has a very different perspective
on things. For example, some don’t believe
in having a job for life,” he said.
Everyone still has a need to have rela-
tionships and communicate with people, he
56 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
E V E N T S
said, adding that the one difference we’re
seeing today is in the way people commu-
nicate. “We’re no longer using a messenger
pigeon or a quill,” he joked.
Currently, on average, people use more
than seven social media accounts, while
one in three minutes on mobile devices
are spent on social media and messaging,
further perpetuating the need to communi-
cate with our fellow humans. The instinct to
communicate is the same, but the methods
and mechanisms are vastly different.
Mobile masters. Data, measurement, pro-
grammatic media buying, insights, real-time
engagement, content marketing... None of
these means anything unless the majority
of digital advertising is geared towards a
mobile audience. As managing director of
Bis MENA, Puja Pannum, said, “Mobile has
become our umbilical cord.” Regionally, it’s
not news that mobile penetration is even
higher than the global average, reaching
167 per cent in the UAE and 192 per cent in
KSA. Furthermore, 94 per cent of the MENA
region uses mobile as their first screen. Brands
need to be considering how the different
marketing options available today will look
and feel like on these personal devices.
94%
of MENA consumers
use mobile as their
first screen
Media moguls. When all is said and done,
when brands communicate with their audiences,
the purpose is to increase sales. “What keeps
a CEO up at night? Shareholder value. That’s
the most important metric,” Cheeseman said.
“They also care about brand health, equity
and direct response, but, fundamentally, it’s
to sell a product. Everything else filters back
to that. There are massive opportunities for
brands to add value into consumers outside
of just selling products, but, at the end of the
day, it’s binary: how many did we sell?”
The media mix is essential for every brand,
because, although these new forms of com-
municating with consumers pop up on an
almost daily basis, old channels like TV and
editorial content are not vanishing.
In his talk, the deputy COO of DMS, Rami
Saad, even went so far as to say that “digital
is the best thing that ever happened to TV.
The key is to provide high-quality, rich and
immersive content across any screen.”
Today’s brands have the challenge of
going digital, while holding back enough
spend to still employ the old methods. “We
love to kill things in this industry as soon as
another medium comes up,” Saad said. But
the truth is that marketers have to exist in
a world where they can play both sides.
Make the right
choice and kick start
your career.
Build your CV and
start applying for
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 E V E N T S

F O M W I N N

Category Entering company Campaign

Mindshare MENA INFINITI – From Darkness to Light
Best Communications Strategy J3 MENA Johnson's Baby Bath Time Song
MEC MENA Celebrate the Breakers' Breaks
MEC MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food & Change
Best Content Creation Award Digital Republic Hindihasha
MEC MENA Meet the Family
UM MENA Fanta Gaming Masters
Best Engagement Strategy MEC MENA Meet the Family Campaign
Starcom MediaVest Group Monopoly For Good of the Year
Mindshare MENA The Academy “MAGGI Diaries –
Best Entertainment Platform Initiative Media Middle East FZ LLC Sing for Abdo
A Journey of Women,
PHD Bring the Quiet
Food & Change”
OMD Egypt Chipsy Smiles
Best Experiential Campaign by MEC
UM MENA Fanta Gaming Masters
OMD Flames of the World
Best Launch Campaign OMD Cairo Sting Launch
OMD What Happens at Girls Night Stays in Girls Night
ZenithOptimedia #LiveFearless
Best Social Media Strategy Mindshare MENA Kees Gawafa
OMD Flames of the World
UM MENA Dettol Hajj
Best Targeted Campaign
OMD What Happens at Girls Night Stays in Girls Night
Havas Media Middle East Be There with Emirates
Best Use of Content UM MENA Ramadan Prejudice
MEC MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food & Change
MEC MENA Mother to a Generation
Best Use of Digital Media UM MENA Durex Real Feel: MENA Launch
Starcom MediaVest Group Transfer Predictor
Best Use of Mobile OMD Egypt Cash to Card
Initiative Egypt The Green Genie
Best Use of Video UM MENA Old Rivals
Mindshare MENA Vimto Come Together
MEC Celebrate the Breakers' Breaks
Best Use of YouTube Award MEC MAGGI Diaries – A Journey of Women, Food & Change
OMD Pepsi UrTheCast
Starcom MediaVest Group Radio Spa
The Creative Use of Media Award MEC MENA Mother to a Generation
Starcom MediaVest Group Second Life Billboards
OMD Cairo Sting Launch
The Effectiveness Award ZenithOptimedia #LiveFearless
Initiative Media Step Up for Life
Starcom MediaVest Group Digital Campaign Optimization (DCO)
The Smart Use of Data Award OMD Egypt Army of Loyalists
Starcom MediaVest Group Baume & Mercier – Life is About Moments
The Utility/Public Service Award Mindshare MENA Al Tawasol
MediaCom #BacktoLife with Panadol Cold + Flu
Twitter Live Marketing Award UM MENA Old Rivals
OMD Flames of the World

58 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016

 E V E N T S

E R S L I S T

Country Advertiser/Brand Other credits Award

UAE Nissan Middle East Gold
UAE Johnson's Baby Silver
UAE KIT KAT J. Walter Thompson, Thampy Digital Bronze
UAE MAGGI Publicis Gold
Egypt Freska Silver
UAE NESCAFÉ Arabiana Publicis ME, The Online Project, Myrkot Bronze
UAE Fanta FP7/DXB, MINT Gold
UAE NESCAFÉ Arabiana Publicis ME, The Online Project, Myrkot Silver
UAE Majid Al Futtaim Bronze
UAE Nissan Middle East Gold
UAE Dubai Media Incorporated Silver
UAE Axe Bronze
Egypt Chipsy BBDO Egypt
Agency of Gold
UAE Fanta FP7/DXB, MINT the Year Silver
UAE Cheetos DDB MEC MENA Gold
Egypt Sting BBDO Cairo Silver
UAE Lay's Impact BBDO KSA Bronze
UAE Nana Gold
UAE Rani Float Tayyara Productions Silver
UAE Cheetos DDB Bronze
UAE Dettol Silver
UAE Lay's Impact BBDO KSA Bronze
UAE Emirates National Geographic Gold
UAE Coca-Cola MEMAC Ogilvy & Mather Dubai, Dejavu Silver
UAE MAGGI Publicis Bronze
UAE NIDO Fortigrow Publicis ME Dubai, Thampy Digital Gold
UAE Durex Arabia Alive Now Silver
UAE adidas Bronze
Egypt Visa Cards Agency Bronze
UAE Etisalat Network of Playground Gold
UAE Coca-Cola J. Walter Thompson Silver
the Year
UAE Vimto Face to Face Bronze
OMD
UAE KIT KAT J. Walter Thompson, Thampy Digital Gold
UAE MAGGI Publicis Silver
UAE Pepsi Impact BBDO UAE Bronze
UAE Channel 5 German Neuroscience Centre, Dubai Gold
UAE NIDO Fortigrow Publicis ME Dubai, Thampy Digital Silver
UAE Emirates NBD Bronze
Egypt Sting BBDO Cairo Gold
UAE Nana Silver
UAE One Touch Edge Bronze
UAE Samsung Electronics Gold
Egypt Misr El Kheir Development Foundation Silver
UAE Baume et Mercier Sizmek, JustPremium Bronze
Lebanon touch J. Walter Thompson Beirut Silver
UAE Panadol Cold + Flu Wunderman, Twitter Gold
UAE Coca-Cola J. Walter Thompson Dubai Silver
UAE Cheetos DDB Bronze

MAY 2016 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I 59


STEP RIGHT UP
Seasoned tech experts and the newest
entrepreneurs from the region gathered at
STEP Conference 2016 to discuss marketing,
start-ups, digital and more.
S TEP Conference 2016, a two-day event
dedicated to the region’s tech and digital
landscape, hosted world-class speakers rep-
resenting global giants as well as regional
start-ups. The conference gave its audience an
overview of who’s doing what in the regional
tech space and how the Middle East can
continue to excel. It featured discussions on
numerous topics that inform today’s digitally
savvy and tech-centric marketers, such as
data, virality and the unique way regional
start-ups need to market themselves to local
venture capitalists.
Several speakers were in agreement that
marketing is essential when a company –
whether it is a start-up or an established
brand – tries to sell a product in the tech or
the digital world.
Viral Thread’s founder, James Bolding,
highlighted how important a solid marketing
strategy is for any business, large or small, old
or new. ”Don’t make content until you know
60 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I MAY 2016
E V E N T S
how you’re going to put it out there,” he said.
After all, the success of any content depends
on the number of people it reaches. Only after
a company decides how to disseminate its
content should it start planning to develop
the type of content it wants.
On virality. As a viral-content expert, Bolding
listed a few strategies to keep in mind when
planning viral campaigns: know your audi-
ence, create original content to ensure quality
control and make videos that are short, precise
and colourful to cater to the mobile audience.
Bolding went on to differentiate between
two types of viral video content: positive, hap-
py content, which is relatable, entertaining
and heart-warming, and negative, sad or
critical content, which is thought-provoking,
educational and, often, charitable. While
negative content does work, he advocated
that brands should focus on positive content
when attempting virality.
The founder and CEO of local start-up
Insydo, Tanaz Dizadji, said, “Marketing has
to be human and has to have a human story,
because people need to have something to
cling to.” Bolding added that evoking emo-
tion is key to marketing for start-ups as well,
because “sharing is personal.”
On influencers. Another common strategy for
start-ups is using digital influencers, because
they can be a short-cut to reach audiences,
especially with constrained budgets. “Influ-
encers are either a celebrity in the making
or a publishing house in the making,” said
Unilever’s director – media, Asad ur Rehman.
However, DMS’s COO Michel Malkoun
opined that not all start-ups should use in-
fluencers – it depends on the concept itself.
“There is no black or white,” he said. However,
if a start-up takes this route, “consistency is
key; one marketing stunt [using influencers]
won’t cut it,” he added.

On digital. Digital marketing is a start-up’s
best friend, because it can often be accom-
plished with limited resources – such as so-
cial media – and entrepreneurs are typically
digital natives.
“Digital changes the game, because nothing
is siloed anymore. Print and TV can be read
or watched on digital platforms,” said DMS’s
Malkoun. “Additionally, start-ups, not unlike
everyone else trying to get their message out,
need to focus on a mobile-first audience.”
Cisco predicts that, by 2019, 80 per cent
of global Internet traffic will be mobile video
consumption, noted Facebook’s SMB direc-
tor MENA, Ciaran Quilty. “A picture paints
1,000 words; a video paints 10,000,” he said,
highlighting that the human brain processes
images 60,000 times faster than words.
On the region. Many of the speakers ex-
pressed their firm belief that the region is
well on its way to excelling in the digital
space. However, they also agreed that some
current attributes of the regional landscape
are holding it back.
“The region [has] not set up its infrastruc-
ture to support innovation,” said general
E V E N T S
60,000
The human brain
processes images this
many times faster than
it does words
partner at Turn8 and Innovation 360 president, However, Criteo’s managing director of
Kamal Hassan. “The first thing an innovative emerging markets, Dirk Henke, clarified that
start-up will run into is regulations.” it is not exactly data that the region lacks:
Another topic at STEP 2016 was lack of specifically, it lacks fresh data.
data, something many perceive as a local Providing humour and hope, Egyptian
concern. OMG MENA’s Bassam Rizk said: satirist Bassem Youssef brought STEP 2016’s
“There isn’t enough data in the region and first day to a close, saying, “Young people
clients aren’t doing enough to understand today have the chance to produce their own
their website[‘s] audience.” narrative and have a voice.”
A D V I C E C O R N E R
Patrick de Laive: The Next Web’s founder
• Start-ups at the verge of an IPO have to show numbers and be transparent to stand out.
• Don’t waste talent and energy trying to make the wrong idea work.
Tanaz Dizadji: insydo’s founder
• Don’t sell it all at once: communicating a brand message should be simple.
• Be clever with social media: promote pages, not posts.
• Make friends with Google: you don’t want to be on page 2 of a search.
• If you haven’t failed, you haven’t tried something.
• Exploit your team’s hidden talents.
Jad Hindy: FP7 MENA’s regional head of innovation
• Start-ups and big ad agencies need to stop boxing and start to tango.
David Munir Nabti: AltCity.me’s chief entrepreneur and organiser
• Great start-ups are not built on great ideas; they are built on solving problems.
MAY 2016 I GULF MARKETING REVIEW I 61

Heroes
versus villains
Ursula Winzel, founder of balcony8 Communication Architects, on how brands
can select agencies that will save the day.
Y ou can always tell what’s going on in the
world by looking at cinema listings.
Casablanca (1942) was a brazen dec-
laration of hope, fortitude and survival in a
world deep in the throes of World War II; the
economic downturn was represented (and
fingers were pointed) in Wolf of Wall Street
(2013); while quiet genius and ambition was
brought to life in The Social Network (2010),
reflecting not only entrepreneurism but the
unstoppable force of social media.
Today, civil wars set in make-believe uni-
verses – or right in our own backyard – are
dominating the silver screen. Epic day-vs-
night battles that leave us shaken reflect a
very real-world pessimism and uncertainty
surrounding politics, security and economy.
Even movies typically targeted at children have,
unfortunately, taken on much darker themes.
Much like the worlds created by Marvel and DC
Comics, our own seems torn between good
and evil, right and wrong, risk and reward.
62 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
A D V E R T I S I N G
Tellingly, the gritty true-life protagonists of a
few years ago have been replaced by slightly
flawed but fictional – even mythical – heroes,
reflecting a very adult mindset that still has a
touch of yearning for fantasy.
We all want a ‘superhero’ to rescue us
and, of course, a villain to take the blame. But
nobody wants to take responsibility – inaction,
passing the buck or simply turning a blind eye
is rife. This is affecting our economy, because
nobody is taking true action. A lethargic ‘ener-
gy’ is seeping through the market, thick and
muggy, and we risk it taking us all down with
it. The Titanic is sinking and pulling down with
it all the little lifeboats in its wake.
The market of today is not the market
of a decade ago. Heavier and looser wal-
lets, for example, have been replaced by a
careful tightening of purse-strings and there
is absolutely no time to dither or be overly
cautious for the sake of appeasing some
unseen overlord. Society needs to stop and
take stock of what is actually crucial, what is
actually worthwhile and what will actually
translate into a better future.
In the super-world of advertising and
communications, this translates into agencies
wanting to work with decision makers – the
Marketing Marvels. Why work with Agent
Coulson when you can deal directly with Nick
Fury? We want to work with people who are
emotionally invested in their own business
–≠who see it as more than just a means to
an end. We cannot feed on uncertainty and
cynicism; we want to feed off bravery, bold-
ness and optimism about the future. That’s
why we enjoy working with clients that are
responsible towards the brands they have
under their belts and have the power to take
matters into their own hands. Being human
and approaching things with a good sense
of humour helps too – go, Iron Man!
Moreover, agencies rarely work on projects
in utopian circumstances.

Enter the Avengers. An agency needs a
team that internally knows to ask the right
questions and never masquerades as a group
of identikit yes-men who, more often than
not, pretend to have all the answers upfront.
It takes a brave soul in today’s climate to
seek out the agencies that don’t pretend to
be mind-readers.
These agency avengers and superhero
clients need to work cohesively, in a way that
does not belittle each other’s processes – be
they creative or bureaucratic. Mutual respect
is the thread that has to run through the pro-
ject, or else we risk ending up with a battle
on a gargantuan scale – think Batman vs
Superman – and about as damaging in many
ways. Only then can we ever hope to defeat
the villains that plague us.
Going far beyond askew kerning or
unrealistic deadlines (the industry tropes
we laugh about), the true villain is far more
sinister, because it creeps up on us and we
A D V E R T I S I N G
never realise it until it’s too late: the indifferent
client. Indifference to a brand, a product or
a project is the most formidable villain an
agency faces. It saps our creativity and our
drive; it kills our desire to be better, because
it dampens our inherent courage to try.
True-blue superhero clients need to cut
through the noise and seek out the agencies
that will strive to be as good as they are.
These aren’t always those clients that shout
the loudest, but they are definitely the ones
you shine the Bat Signal for in dire times of
need. Just imagine what they could do if
you had let them in earlier.
Superhero clients choose agencies as
much as agencies choose them.
Clients need to start channeling their
inner Wolverine and imprint this beautiful
beast as their spirit animal. A good dose
of rebellion and bravery to take risks may Ursula Winzel
just be what this world needs to get things Founder, balcony8
done and save the day. Communication Architects
May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 63

Money
talks
Falcon Private Bank’s head of marketing and communications,
Gianmarco Timpanaro, describes how marketing strategies
change when dealing with the elite.
Falcon Private Bank has expanded its Swiss
banking expertise in the UAE. The bank’s global
head of marketing and communications,
Gianmarco Timpanaro, speaks with GMR
about the marketing strategy associated
with a private bank operating in the region.
H ow is marketing a private bank
different from a retail bank?
The conceptual approach to developing an
integrated marketing plan is basically the
same: you need to decide on strategic as-
pects, i.e., the markets you want to cover, the
audience you wish to target and the message
you want to convey. And you might want to
64 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016
C - S U I T E S T R AT E G I E S
find out as much as possible about your po-
tential clients, which includes their cultural
background, financial and personal needs,
media consumption and so on.
Once you have a clear picture of your target
groups, the set of possible marketing and
communication activities starts to differ be-
tween retail, private and corporate banking.
Moreover, depending on the size of your
brand (and budget), you usually either take
a broader or a narrower approach on the
communication mix.
If you want your marketing dollars to be
spent effectively, you have to be selective
about the choice of available communication
© ALAMY
channels, media titles, event formats, etc. Falcon
Private Bank, for example, takes a focused
approach, which reflects our niche strategy,
concentrating our programmes specifically
on entrepreneurs and wealthy families. In
addition, I consider the brand personality a
major factor when selecting the most suit-
able advertising or interview environment,
for example. Private banks generally aim
to transmit an exclusive and distinguished
note at all their client touchpoints.
Exclusivity is also likely to be a key strategy
for a private bank: how does this tie into
the marketing strategy?
 C - S U I T E S T R AT E G I E S

The message a private bank chooses to attract

potential clients with should be linked to the
bank’s client value proposition.
You must know your competitive position,
your key competencies and your differen-
tiating factors. Based on those factors, you
should put the most relevant client benefits
at the centre of the brand promise.
Besides discretion, exclusivity certainly
represents one of the basic needs of private
banking clients. Nevertheless, exclusivity per
se is not a key differentiation factor in our
industry. Today, you have to go far beyond
exclusivity to be able to convince a wealthy
person to become your private banking client.
As a bank, you need to be in a position to
offer an appealing range of financial prod-
ucts and services that fulfil individual and
sophisticated needs.

What are some key insights about Middle

Eastern clientele?
Generally, I am convinced that proximity to the
market and clients is a decisive factor if you
want to serve your clients in a professional
way. It is essential that you understand the
cultural background and context in order to
successfully develop long-term relationships
and establish a sustainable footprint. As the
UAE is one of our key markets and the home
of our shareholder, IPIC, we have expanded
our local presence and expertise in the past
few years. The majority of our Middle Eastern
clients are entrepreneurs and, thus, often
require customised financial solutions that
comprise both private and entrepreneurial
needs. Thanks to our 50 years of Swiss private
banking experience, we are able to offer
proven solutions to our demanding clientele.
How does the marketing strategy change
when spreading the message about a
boutique bank versus others?
It’s all about focusing. Our boutique approach
is characterised by our niche strategy. We
concentrate our activities in our key markets,
we focus on entrepreneurs and the wealthy
families, and we offer a distinctive range of
services based on our expertise, [which are]
tailor-made for our clients. Consequently,
marketing and communications need to
apply this selective and targeted approach
throughout all touchpoints with clients in order
to bring the brand character alive.
Falcon’s recent advertising campaign
represents a repositioning of the brand.
What has changed about the direction
of the company?
We conducted a comprehensive review of our
brand perception among our target groups
and identified two major action fields. One of
Exclusivity
represents one of the
basic needs of private
banking clients
the two areas was the client value proposition,
which needed to be sharpened. This part of
the review included an analysis and strategic
decision on an executive level regarding the
key client benefits and messaging that aim
to improve our brand profile with respect to
credibility, differentiation and appeal. The
second action point was our visual concept.
We recognised the need to rejuvenate our look
and feel, and to enhance our appearance
to reflect the company’s true DNA as well as
our brand personality. The re-branding took
us roughly six months and was launched
in the beginning of 2015. All marketing and
communication publications, channels and

May 2016 I Gulf MarketinG review I 65

 C - S U I T E S T R AT E G I E S

м Your access to emerging markets

д о с т у п к экск люзивны opportunities.
Ваш Yourямaccess to exclusive
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formats were re-branded and aligned in terms
of content and shape. The re-branding post
test conducted among the target groups ac-
tually confirmed the improvements made in
terms of brand positioning and perception.
What is the next big thing in the region
for private banking and how will this
be marketed?
We have actually just launched our new sub-
sidiary, Falcon Private Wealth, in the DIFC in
March. This licence upgrade in the UAE will
enable us to strengthen our local wealth
management capabilities and offer even more
customised financial services. Due to the
legal naming regulations, we re-branded
our previous local Dubai operations from
Falcon Private Bank to Falcon Private Wealth,
keeping the subsidiary brand tightly aligned
to the parent company brand.
What was it that brought you into the pri-
vate banking industry?
Roughly 18 years ago, when I used to work
in the airline industry and [was] studying
marketing, one of my lecturers asked me if
I wanted to join Credit Suisse. Since then, I
have had the chance to gain international
experience in retail, private and corporate
banking with Credit Suisse, Clariden Leu and
UBS, before joining Falcon two years ago.
What is the most rewarding part about your
position in the private banking industry?
Working for a smaller, boutique type of private
bank like Falcon is rewarding in many ways.
I appreciate the great freedom in managing
all global marketing and communications
topics and, thereby, having the opportunity
to personally contribute to the success of the
firm. The employees care a lot about our firm
and our brand; they are very dedicated and
do a great job.
The relationships within a smaller organi-
sation generally play a more important role
– and it’s just more fun working in such an
entrepreneurial and dynamic environment.
What is the most challenging aspect of
your current position?
There’s a high expectation from the executive
board towards having an appealing brand
in the market, gaining positive media cover-
age, creating great advertising campaigns,
developing attractive event platforms and
gathering key client insights.
One of today’s biggest challenges, though,
is speed. You need to learn and adapt very
quickly to the continuous changes of the
evolving banking industry and the new
developments in media.

66 I Gulf MarketinG review I May 2016