Communicate Levant September 2010 by MediaquestCorp.

In association with

The marketing and advertising resource • September 2010 • Issue N° 6 • www.communicate.ae Syria’s work: Al Bank Wal Mustathmer’s Nahla Al Namly on the Page 40 industry

Keeping pace: Two Booz consultants on how to cash in on modern media Page 38

Story board: Atelier’s Youssef Naaman on ten tales luxury brands tell consumers Page 37

MARKETING Luxury’s new look The bling is dead. Long live the new look of luxury. How have high-end brands weathered the financial storm? By ditching the glitz and going back to some good old values, apparently. (Page 34)

PRINT Teen spirit Young people don’t read enough these days, as any grumbling granny will tell you. And for magazines aimed at teenagers, this could be a big problem. But print needn’t lose out to television and the Internet if it’s done right. (Page 28)

RESEARCH Goal difference We pick over Ipsos-Stat’s matchby-match viewer data for the World Cup to see which games scored with Lebanese viewers, and which were left on the bench. Find out why the final wasn’t the most-watched game of the event. (Page 32)

CAMPAIGN Net result

PUBLIC RELATIONS GOES UNDER THE SCANNER We give Lebanon’s PR industry a check-up to see where it’s healthy, what ails it, and how it can get better (Page 46) Cover image: Getty/Gallo Images

Egypt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . E£ 10 Jordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . JD 4 Kuwait . . . . . . . . . . KD 1.2

Lebanon . . . . . . L£ 5 000 Morocco . . . . . . . . DH 22 Oman. . . . . . . . . . . . OR 1.5

Qatar . . . . . . . . . . . . . QR 15 Saudi Arabia . . . . . SR 15 Switzerland . . . . . . . SFR 8

Syria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S£ 100 Tunisia. . . . . . . . . . . TD 2.5 U.A.E . . . . . . . . . . . . . DH 15

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Letter from the editor | SEPTEMBER 2010

Private relationships,

public relations N

obody likes the D word, but when my friend told me she and her husband were getting divorced, I was surprised to see a kind of relief, even serenity, in her eyes. For her own reasons, she felt ending her marriage was the best course to follow, particularly since she and her soon-to-be-ex-husband were still on good terms, and the separation was going as smoothly as they could hope under the circumstances. All would have been well if it weren’t for a small catch: Everybody around my friend felt shocked and even betrayed. Her family and friends asked for explanations, passed judgment, and felt dazed and confused, as if they were the ones being dumped – and giving her hell for it. Had it been this couple’s mistake to convey an image that didn’t reflect their private reality? Had they been wrong not to let on that they weren’t leading the perfect love life? Had they simply mismanaged their public relations? These questions are enough to make you wonder: Is public relations such a major issue that we should consider every aspect of our lives from a PR perspective? We’ve made it the subject of our cover story this month (see page 16). In Lebanon, all relationships – private and professional

– are essentially about perception. So if we can ask whether a mishandling of private PR can have unwanted consequences, what does that mean for corporate communications strategy? For a long time, public relations has been synonymous with the other PR that journalists have come to dread: press releases. But in true public relations, the operative word is the second one, with all the human, emotional, and personal connotations “relations” conveys. An increasing number of PR professionals want to focus on this aspect of the job, rather than pounding out press releases at an industrial pace. They are realizing that old-school PR has run out of control. Let me share with you a tongue-in-cheek release a friend forwarded to me: 11/08/10: Dubai For Immediate Release: Mr. X, a leading producer at (…), today announced the changing of his mobile service provider from Etisalat to du. Commenting on the news, Mr. X said: “I am delighted to be able to announce my new number. For a while I have been dissatisfied with the renewal policy for Etisalat pre-paid sim cards, and du’s ‘lifetime validity’ affords me security and

the peace of mind that I will never again have to pay extra just to retain a service.” Mr. X’s new number represents somewhat of a first for the MENAP and Levant regions. Whilst Mr. X has once before used a number with the prefix 055, he has never had a number with two 9s running consecutively. It is also the first time Mr. X has had a UAE number that starts with a 4 and ends in a 4. “I am very pleased with this development,” Mr. X added. “My old number is no longer in operation and I see this new number as a firm communication tool for me to utilise fully in the future.” It probably wouldn’t have been enough to spare my divorcing friend all the negative comments, but maybe she should have issued similar statements to prepare the wider public for a final announcement that her marriage was over. We all need to put a positive spin on our lives sometimes. Nathalie Bontems, editor editor@communicate.vg

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september 2010 | Contents

Contents

Cover: Public relations 16

SPECIAL REPORT: Luxury marketing

The right spin: The Lebanese PR industry needs to communicate its value to clients if it wants to flourish

NEWS 6 8 10 11 13 14

Advertising. Lebanon’s first TVC producers’ association established Digital. Web “startup catalyst” launches Advertising. Impact BBDO’s August campaigns Digital. Group buying site GoNabit launches in Arabic Advertising. Axiom Telecom hires TBWA/Raad as integrated agency Digital. Old Spice’s new ads have smashed all previous viral-video records, but how has that affected the male grooming brand’s bottom line?

FEATURES 24 26 28 32

Marketing. Care in the community: Brands are eager to hire community managers to keep tabs on followers Digital. Tangled Web: Why is it taking so long for digital media to develop in Lebanon? Print. Teen spirit: Teen magazines are competing with the Web and television for easily distracted young eyeballs. Can they hope to keep the kids engaged? Research. Eyes on the ball: We pick apart the Ipsos viewer data for every game in the World Cup

34 36 37

Old-fashioned values: Brands discover integrity and authenticity in a post-recession world X-pert Files. The personal touch: Luxury is now about richness of experience rather than just products, says Michael Hughes, former executive director of strategy at The Brand Union Ten story love song: Atelier’s Youssef Naaman on the 10 stories brands can tell in their marketing strategy

departments

38 40 42 43 44 45 46 50

Guest Opinion. Chasing change: Consumers are changing fast, say Booz & Co.’s Jayant Bhargava and Karl Nader. But marketers who adapt quickly can turn this to their advantage Q&A. Nahla Al Namly, publisher of Al Bank Wal Mustathmer, tells Communicate Levant what to expect from the first Syrian advertising conference Guest Review. Café Super Brasil comes up with a great concept. Then dumbs it down Guest Review. Charity advertising can be a creative nightmare. But Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya has got it just right Blogosphere. What the Web is saying Media Work. How Bahrain’s Batelco took the game to its consumers Work. Selections from the regional and international creative scenes Drive-by. One blogger’s take on Beirut’s billboards

september 2010 Medialeader SAL, Azar bldg, 5th floor, Dimitri Al Hayek st, Sin el Fil-Horsh Tabet, Beirut, Lebanon, Tel: (961) 1 492 801/2/3

CO-CEO Alexandre Hawari CO-CEO Julien Hawari Deputy general manager Ayman Haydar finance director Dinesh Kumar creative DIRECTOR Aziz Kamel Online DIRECTOR Rony Nassour Marketing Department marketing@mediaquestcorp. com, Tel: (971) 4 391 0760 DISTRIBUTION & SUBSCRIPTION Manager JP Nair, jp@mediaquestcorp.com, Tel: (971) 4 391 0765 Country Managers Lebanon: Nathalie Bontems, nathalie@mediaquestcorp.com, (961) 1 492 801/2/3 Saudi Arabia: Tarek Abu Hamzy, tarekah@mediaquestcorp.com, Tel: (966) 50 814 50 90 North Africa: Adil Abdel Wahab, adel@medialeader.biz, Tel: (213) 661 562 660

Founder Yasser Hawari Managing Director Julien Hawari editor Nathalie Bontems Managing editor Austyn Allison creative DIRECTOR Aziz Kamel ART DIRECTOR Janett Kheil senior journalist Rania Habib contributors Ibrahim Nehme, Meryl Haddad sub editor Salil Kumar ART CONTRIBUTORS Alvin Cha, Jean-Christophe Nys, Aya Farhat External Affairs Manuel Dias, Maguy Panagga, Catherine Dobarro, Randa Khoury, Lila Schoepf, Laurent Bernard Responsible director Denise Mechantaf PRINTERS Raidy Printing Group ADVERTISING The Gulf MEDIALEADER, PO Box 72184, Dubai Media City, AlThuraya Tower 2, Office 2402, Dubai, Tel: (971) 4 391 0760, Fax: (971) 4 390 8737, sales@mediaquestcorp.com Lebanon Peggy El Zyr, peggy@mediaquestcorp. com, Tel: (961) 70 40 45 44 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Tarek Abu Hamzy, tarekah@mediaquestcorp.com, Tel: (966) 1 419 40 61, Ghassan A. Rbeiz, ghassan@ mediaquestcorp.com, Fax: (966) 1 419 41 32, P.O.Box: 14303, Riyadh 11424, Europe S.C.C Arabies, 18, rue de Varize, 75016 Paris, France, Tel: (33) 01 47 664600, Fax: (33) 01 43 807362, Lebanon MEDIALEADER Beirut, Lebanon, Tel: (961) 1 202 369, Fax: (961) 1 202 369 WEB SITE www.communicate.ae

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | Regional news

Lebanon’s first TVC producers’ association established

V I ADVERTISING M&C Saatchi loses ABC account Beirut. Unconfirmed rumors say creative agency M&C Saatchi, part of the Quantum Group, has lost the ABC mall account. However, Quantum’s mediabuying arm, Vertical Media, retains the media planning and buying for the Lebanese shopping center. Both ABC and M&C Saatchi declined to comment.

LG goes 3D in Sassine

Beirut. After many months of work, the Association of Lebanese Commercials Producers (ALCP) has been formally established by eight founding members: Laser Films (whose owner Jean-Pierre Sikias will be president of the association), VIP Films (Rafic Tamba will be vice-president), Fantastic Films Factory, The Talkies, Intaj, Independent, Zoe Production, and City Films.

The association was registered in early 2010 and aims to manage and organize the production industry in Lebanon. Several objectives have already been defined, including making a call to all production houses (there are around 30 in business in Lebanon, as well as numerous freelancers) to join the new body, improving contacts with all state

institutions involved with film production, tackling copyright issues, and reorganizing the nature of the work and the relationship between production houses and other players from the industry. Another major task the association has set for itself is to find new terms of agreement between production companies and clients. Beirut. Media agency Mindshare Lebanon has come up with a creative media adaptation of a global Y&R advert for LG Home Entertainment, the audio, video, and TV accessories arm of South Korea-based industrial conglomerate LG. The 3D outdoor concept, located on Sassine square in Beirut, advertises the new 3D LED LG television.

 I MEDIA MTV brings Dinner in the Sky to the TV screen over Ramadan Beirut. Belgian dining concept Dinner in the Sky, which was imported to Lebanon last June (see “Dining in the sky,” page 10, Communicate Levant, July 2010) has been turned into an outdoor talk show in Lebanese television station MTV’s Ramadan lineup. Around 120 politicians, actors, celebrities and other personalities are filmed dining 50 meters in the air. The show airs at 8.30pm the day after it’s shot. MTV CEO Michel El-Murr, head of marketing Patrick Gholam, and Pierre Rabbath, head of public relations of Alf Events (the company that brought Dinner in the Sky to Lebanon) began planning Bel Hawa Sawa (In the Air Together) in May 2010 to have it ready for the start of Ramadan on August 11. Although the TV deal was negotiated before Alf Events launched

 I PRODUCTION

in Lebanon, Rabbath insists that “the restaurant isn’t meant to market the show, and the table wasn’t brought to Lebanon for the sole sake of the show.”

The people behind Bel Hawa Sawa say it will target a general Lebanese audience and that it is produced by MTV’s sister company, Studiovision.

Intaj shoots STC campaign Beirut. Lebanon-based production house Intaj is behind the campaign for the launch of Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) IPTV service. Internet protocol television is a system for distributing television and video content over the Internet. The campaign, developed by Leo Burnett Riyadh, includes three tactical and five viral television commercials (TVCs). Intaj recruited three different directors to shoot the ads: Spaniard Iñaqui Gil was assigned to complete the main version shot in Madrid; Alain Sauma directed

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WE ALWAYS HAVE SO GIVE US A PIECE OF YOUR MIND ON THE MIDDLE EAST’S MOST LIVELY DISCUSSION FORUM

SOMETHING TO SAY News . Business . Investment . Society . Entertainment . Marketing . Innovation . Opinion . Blog

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | Regional news

“Startup catalyst” launches in Beirut

all tactical TVCs; and young talent Pedros Temezian was in charge of the viral movies. Viral teasers constitute the first digital development for Saudi Telecom’s communications, according to a press statement.  I MEDIA

Beirut. Seeqnce, a Beirut-based “startup catalyst” (in the words of founder Samer Karam), will be officially launched this month. Karam (pictured, above) describes it as “an ecosystem of mentors, investors, advisers, and consultants that is uniquely managed to apply the best learnings of seed-stage enablers like Y Combinator and The Founder Institute, adapted for cultural relevance, to seed Arab World entrepreneurs.” The idea of Seeqnce was born

in March 2010, when Karam (who founded Web startups Blogging Beirut, Wunbox, Cooki3man, and LiveTweeting) co-organized ArabNet, a Web business conference held in Beirut. In his role as communications, outreach and technology director, Karam assembled – through a series of workshops, PR programs, and social media marketing campaigns – entrepreneurs from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, and Bahrain to encourage participation in, the submission of ideas to, and attendance at ArabNet. Karam says the results were unexpected: Submissions poured in, attendance doubled, and heavy participation led to ArabNet trending globally on Twitter. He says it became apparent that, for the Arab World at least, a catalyst was necessary for the creation and acceleration of Web

startups. The region “needed a jolt to become globally competitive.” After traveling to the United States in April 2010 to consult with venture capitalists, entrepreneurship professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and entrepreneurs themselves to test his theory, Karam returned to Beirut to manage three startups – from inception through execution to deployment, launch, and funding. Within a month of Seeqnce opening its office at the start of July, a fourth Web startup had moved in. Karam’s aim is to “graduate” the startups in the first quarter of next year with funding from venture capitalists or angel investors, then move a new batch in. Applications for the next cycle will open in October 2010 – entrepreneurs are invited to apply at Seeqnce.com

set-up On Time Publishing to be able to serve the market better,” Says Naomi Sargeant, director of

OTP. The company, founded by Sargeant and Nehme Abouzeid, is made up of four divisions: OTP Sales, OTP Digital, OTP Editorial and OTP Design, providing editorial services, advertising sales, and consulting services. Sargeant says, “We approached the client with a pitch, which was a great opportunity to offer our expertise and services. “We are now providing both editorial and advertising services for Hangout magazine.” The first edition published by OTP was due to be available on August 20. The title will cover topics such as travel, sports, the environment, fashion, technology, music, film, and interviews.

 I MEDIA

Time Out publisher to produce Crepaway mag Beirut. Last month, Time Out Beirut’s publisher, On Time Publishing (OTP), was due to publish Lebanese diner Crepaway’s magazine. Every two months, Hangout will be distributed free across all Crepaway branches in Lebanon and through their delivery service and Liban Post, with a print-run of 15,000 copies per issue. “After the success of Time Out Beirut [the magazine relaunched in the summer of 2008], many clients approached us to provide them with copywriting and editorial services. In order to satisfy this demand, we

Monocle Mediterraneo launches London London-based culture and business monthly magazine Monocle, established in February 2007 by Wallpaper founder and Financial Times columnist Tyler Brûlé, last month announced the launch of its special summer edition, Monocle Mediterraneo. The 64-page tabloidformat newspaper is now distributed in Italy, Spain, France, Greece, Turkey,

Portugal and Lebanon. It links to digital components and accompanies the weekly Monocle Summer Series audio program on Monocle. com, which mixes live music, discussion and debate.  MARKETING Louis Vuitton opens in Beirut Beirut. French luggage maker and fashion brand Louis Vuitton opened its first Lebanese store in July. It is located on Allenby street, next to the Beirut Souks in the heart of the capital. Louis Vuitton says it has been eyeing the Lebanese market for almost a year, since the opening of its flagship Middle East store in Dubai last September.

Since February 2010, a giant trunk decorated with the famous monogrammed canvas has sat in front of the building that now houses the store. Prime Minister Saad Hariri attended the store’s opening , as did

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GIVE YOUR BRAIN A YOUR DAILY QUICK FIRE ANALYSIS OF EVERYTHING AND ANYONE THAT MATTERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

10 MINUTE WORKOUT News . Business . Investment . Society . Entertainment . Marketing . Innovation . Opinion . Blog

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | Regional news

Impact BBDO releases new campaigns

Lebanese and foreign celebrities including French actress Catherine Deneuve, Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki, and Lebanese singers Haifa Wehbe and Elissa. “For many years, the maison has maintained strong relations with Lebanese clientele and is proud to reiterate its engagement by offering a new store which respects the Beirutis’ heritage and patrimony,” said Louis Vuitton’s brand executive manager, Yves Carcelle, at the opening. The brand is considering expanding to Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. Harvard releases study on Coca-Cola’s CSR in Palestine Bethlehem. During the recent Palestine Investment Conference held in Bethlehem, the Harvard Kennedy School, a Harvard University graduate school, released a report on CocaCola Company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts in the West Bank and Gaza. The soft drink brand has been established there since 1998 in partnership with bottling company National Beverage Company (NBC). The report says, “For every job within the Coca-Cola system in the Palestinian territories, a further 10 jobs are created in the larger Palestinian economy.” Coca-Cola employs 350 people full-time across its three bottling plants, servicing 14,000 outlets. This creates an additional 3,500 jobs via supply and distribution routes across the greater Palestinian community.

Beirut. Impact BBDO is behind Banque Bemo’s new corporate campaign, “The Ink.” The private and corporate bank wanted to illustrate the commitment at the core of all bank-customer relationships, when a customer chooses Banque Bemo to move forward with confidence in his journey. The film is an animation made out of blue ink, which Impact says is supposed to be a strong symbol of trust and reinforces the idea of mutual agreement between the bank and the customer by embodying the power of a signature. French department store BHV’s “Wedding List” campaign was designed to highlight the benefits the

store offers to customers starting a wedding list there .The strategy was based on the idea: With a tempting wedding list offer, who wouldn’t want to get married? An abovethe-line campaign was developed around unipoles with the message, “3aris la2ta” (a well-picked husband) and “3arous la2ta” (a wellpicked wife), and BHV organized a speed dating event for 20 people selected through Facebook. A fake bachelorette was held in the hip streets of Hamra and Gemmayze each weekend for three weeks prior to the campaign’s launch. Promoters distributed flyers encouraging people to log on to the Facebook event, which

witnessed more than 5,000 visitors. Twenty finalists were chosen from a shortlist of 200 to attend the event and compete for the title of “Best Matching Couple.” The winners got a $100 voucher each and dinner at the Mzaar Intercontinental hotel. Impact BBDO also came up with City Mall’s “A to Z” campaign, illustrating the idea that the shopping center has absolutely everything. Those two letters, A and Z, are the essence of the corporate campaign and will be used on many different levels of advertising: “From hot to cold;” “From jewelry to accessories;” “From footwear to eyewear,” and so on.

Coca-Cola’s strategy is longterm, says the report. Hoping to create a flourishing job market for the next generation, the company has provided 15 computer laboratories in community schools, supported internship programs, awarded tuition scholarships from the Coca-Cola Foundation, and supported local youth sports teams. Coca-Cola has also built a new waste management system in partnership with the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas, among other projects.

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Regional news | SEPTEMBER 2010

GoNabit launches in Arabic

 I ADVERTISING

Founders say group-buying site is a social media hit

Dubai. GoNabit.com has launched in Arabic, making it the first Arabic group-buying website in the world, according to its owners. “As a company we, of course, want to have local relevance to every market we are in, and the availability of GoNabit in Arabic has been important to us from the outset,” the site’s CEO and co-founder, Dan Stuart, says in a statement. “This development offers consumers more choice, and the duallanguage capability strengthens the GoNabit model for merchants, as we can now market their services in both English and Arabic,” he adds. Launched in Dubai in June, and expanded to Abu Dhabi in July, GoNabit offers discounts on goods and services to often-unrelated groups

of individuals. Subscribers receive a daily e-mail offering a discount of between 50 percent and 90 percent on massages, meals, beauty products, fitness classes and the like. A deal will only “tip” and become active when a minimum number of customers opt in to it within a specified timeframe (usually between 24 and 72 hours). At that point, the cost of the deal is deducted from customers’ credit cards. If the minimum number of customers isn’t reached, the discount doesn’t apply and no payment is made. Buyers receive a voucher from the merchant that must be used within an agreed timeframe. The site’s owners say GoNabit encourages buyers to share deals with friends to reach the tipping

point. Chief operating officer and co-founder Sohrab Jahanbani says, “We are seeing a lot of activity on our sites; visitor numbers are increasing daily, deals are tipping, our social media groups are running hot, and we have some avid GoNabit fans becoming value evangelists by spreading the word on Facebook and Twitter, and encouraging their social media community to tip the scales.” “We’ve also had excellent feedback from merchants who have partnered with us to offer deals,” he adds. GoNabit is financially backed by jobs site Bayt.com. Founded earlier this year, it has around 16,000 users in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and plans to launch sites for a further eight cities in the region by the end of the year.

the project, but says it will be branding the inside and outside of 59 bridges and the exterior of 94 buses. That’s 20,990 square meters of branding, the equivalent of 80 tennis courts.

It will take 11,000 man-hours to put up. HSBC predicts the branding will reach around 60 million passengers each year. Simon Cooper, CEO of HSBC MENA, says in the statement, “Dubai International is the world’s fourth busiest airport for international passenger traffic, making it the ideal location for our very successful airport branding campaign.” HSBC says it pioneered airbridge advertising at London’s Heathrow Airport in 2001, and has since expanded to 48 airports in 24 countries.

 I Press RELEASE HSBC launches massive airbridge campaign HSBC Middle East has signed a fiveyear contract through outdoor supplier JC Decaux Middle East to advertise on airbridges (the passages between a terminal and airplanes) at Dubai and Sharjah International Airports. The airbridge campaign is the biggest in the Middle East, says HSBC in a statement, and the bank’s largest single media investment in the region. HSBC has not revealed the cost of

Mojo wins Atlantis account Dubai. Independent Dubai-based advertising and PR agency Mojo has won the full-service communications account for Atlantis, The Palm, a luxury hotel in Dubai. Mojo won the account in a four-way pitch, and will handle local, regional, and international campaigns for the hotel, which is owned by South African hotel and casino magnate Sol Kerzner. Ravini Perera, senior vice-president of marketing at Atlantis, says in a release, “We need strong, creative, well-integrated campaigns and fast turnaround. We believe Mojo’s allround advertising, design, and interactive capabilities will deliver that.”

 I AGENCIES Day breaks into Middle East Dubai. Amsterdam-based creative agency Day has officially opened its Middle East operation with a seven-strong office in Dubai. The three-year-old company describes itself as “a multi-disciplinary creative agency offering brand strategy, corporate identity, packaging and branding services.” The Dubai operation is already handling projects for Unilever, Coca-Cola and Masafi. It will cover the MENA region, and is headed by Day’s global strategy partner, Dennis de Rond. McCollins announces account wins Dubai. McCollins Communications, a Dubai-based PR, advertising and new media agency, has announced a series of account and project wins over the six months since the agency launched. The agency has been working for 3i Infotech, DeWalt, Juelmin Insurance, and Aqaar properties in Ajman. It has already worked on the

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | INTERNATIoNAl NEwS

Dubai launch of the Mercedes SLS Gullwing for Gargash Enterprises. McCollins is a sister company to Red Orange Events. Managing director Meghna Kothari says in a release, “Our experience in organizing world-class events for the past couple of years has provided us with a great insight and opportunity to work with the communications industry, and prepared us to better promote the issues and challenges of the industry and further promote its growth.” © I PRINT New Forbes publisher to set up in DMC Dubai. Arab Publisher House (APH) is to open offices in Dubai Media City (DMC). The group, a recently formed joint venture between Arab investors, will be opening offices in Building 4, and putting a large Forbes sign on top of its new headquarters. APH recently won the regional license to publish Forbes, a business magazine headquartered in New York. It says it will launch an Arabic version next month, and an English-language

CMY

edition of Forbes Arabia in 2011. Forbes was present in the UAE before, in Arabic, but ceased publication when its publisher, DIT Group, closed down in April of last year. Jazeera Airways’ in-flight wins design award Kuwait City. Jazeera Airways, the Kuwait-based budget carrier, has picked up a Magnum Opus Gold Award for Best Use of Illustration in J, its in-flight magazine. The Magnum Opus Awards are based in Missouri, USA, and honor publishing in corporate communications. J won for a story in its AugustSeptember 2009 issue about a train journey between Istanbul and Tehran. Michael Keating, executive creative director at Ink, the London-based publisher that produces J, says in a statement, “We are grateful to Jazeera for having the vision to agree to let Ink commission this piece of work. Not every airline would have accepted to publish a cartoon treatment of a train trip between two cities. Clearly it was a successful decision.”

and a desire to appraise your peers, e-mail MEPRA executive director Rebecca Hill at inquiries@mepra.org.

OI PubLIC RELATIoNS MEPRA Awards open for entries Dubai. The Middle East Public Relations Association (MEPRA) Awards are open for entries at Awards.mepra. org until October 14. Organizers say the 10 best practice categories remain the same (although some entry guidelines have been clarified), as do the two individual categories of Outstanding Young Professional of the Year and Communicator of the Year. Two new team categories have been added, for Agency of the Year and In-house Team of the Year. MEPRA is also looking for judges; if you have eight years of PR experience

Jiwin becomes Subway’s PR agency Dubai. The Middle East division of sandwich shop Subway has handed its public relations account for the Middle East and Africa to Jiwin PR, a Dubai-based agency. In a statement announcing the deal, Subway International’s regional director, Joseph Tabet, says, “Jiwin’s pitch included highly creative and inspiring concepts that reflected an in-depth understanding of our brand. We are particularly impressed by the agency’s strong regional capability.” Mamoon Sbeih (pictured, left), managing director of Jiwn, says, “Winning the Subway account demonstrates the creative and strategic breadth of our solutions. We are fully geared to roll out region-wide programs for Subway.”

REGIoNAl NEwS | SEPTEMBER 2010

ENoC hands PR account to Entourage. Dubai. Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has signed Dubai-based Entourage Marketing and Events Management to develop a corporate communications plan for the company’s commercial interests in more than 20 countries, and its business lines spread across 30 companies, according to a press statement from Entourage. “Brand building and strategic marketing are our core competencies,” says Entourage managing director Mohammed Tayem. “We understand insights and behavior of people in our client’s environment very well. This knowledge and experience will be used to create communication programs to engage people with the ENOC brand at its points of sale.” ENOC’s group brand and marketing manager, Khalid Hani, says, “Given Entourage’s profound experience in corporate communications, we are confident that the company will bring strategic solutions to increase ENOC’s brand awareness internationally.”  I DIGITAL

Axiom Telecom hires TBwA/ w wA/ Raad as integrated agency Mobile phone retailer Axiom Telecom has appointed TBWA/Raad as its integrated communications agency in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. TBWA/ Raad will provide advertising creative, while Ketchum Raad Middle East will handle public relations. TBWA/ Raad recently launched Integer, its shopper-marketing arm, which will handle Axiom’s in-store activation. TBWA/Raad helped launch the Axiom Telecom brand in 2000, and Axiom has since worked with various agencies, including Team Y&R and Expression, on the creative side, and Hill & Knowlton for PR. TBWA/Raad group managing director Reda Raad tells Communicate his agency’s long relationship with Axiom and its understanding of the brand helped it clinch the deal. “We were there from the beginning,” he says. “We helped create the brand and we understand what it takes to take it to the next level.”

Raad won’t say what that next level might be, but says it is unlikely to involve a complete re-brand. “Axiom is such an established brand name and we are going to be building on that success,” he says. Axiom CEO Faisal Al Bannai (pictured, above) says in a statement, “We aimed for an agency that shares our passion for the Axiom Telecom brand and can translate our vision and strengths into creative, newsworthy communications. TBWA/Raad’s disruptive ideas were the right fit to enhance our brand.” The agency says it has already begun a “Disruption” workshop with Axiom. It says disruption, a TBWA buzzword, is “the art of asking better questions, challenging conventional wisdom, and overturning assumptions and prejudices that get in the way of imagining new possibilities and visionary ideas for a brand.”

Yahoo launches Ramadan content Amman. Regional website Yahoo Maktoob has announced various initiatives to connect with people celebrating Ramadan. The portal’s Ramadan microsite has three main sections addressing “Spiritualities,” “Ramadan and people,” and “Entertainment.” It will carry such seasonal offerings as Ramadan screensavers and wallpapers, recipes, and an online application to help users read the Quran in accordance with Islamic tajweed reading and pronunciation rules.

VERY BRIEFS Du named UAE Superbrand watermelon PR opens office in Singapore Robert Kay joins TBwA/Raad as managing director in Abu Dhabi Renault GCC hires Benoit Turib as marketing director CNN hires correspondent Mohammed Jamjoom Rami El Zein appointed as head of marketing for United Arab Bank Hill & Knowlton wins GM PR account Ducab wins Superbrand award Universal Media launches “Curiosity” program Reiner Braun appointed head of sales and marketing at BMw Middle East oMD wins Henkel media account Dubai First appoints Amit Marwah as head of marketing Fadi El Aswad replaces Ashraf Tamim as head of marketing at Mercedes Regus survey finds 29 percent of UAE businesses use social networking as business tool M Communications wins Banaja Holdings and Peregrine Holdings as PR clients

Since US Internet giant Yahoo acquired regional Web portal Maktoob last year, it has strived to capitalize on its Arabic and regional strengths. In a press release announcing the site’s Ramadan drive, vice-president and managing director of Yahoo Middle East Ahmed Nassef says, “Through these new features, we hope to provide a customized platform for people practicing the spirit of Ramadan and introduce regionally relevant content to our users in order to provide an engaging online experience during the Holy Month.”

TBwA/Raad wins Renault relaunch creative brief in Saudi Arabia Quint design studio launches Quint magazine oreo launches family entertainment portal Zed Communications wins Web Agency of the Year at Pan-Arab web Awards Arabian Eye appoints Jesus Blanco as regional manager

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Did the new Old Spice ads strike gold? Mustafa is clearly selling some body wash, but he may not be responsible for the bulk of sales gain New York. Isaiah Mustafa, aka “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” has clearly broken all previous viralvideo records and achieved pop-icon status. The question is: How much Old Spice body wash has he sold? And the answer is a bit of a mystery. Since Mustafa lent his sotto voce humor to the production wizardry of the Wieden & Kennedy ad in February, the Procter & Gamble Co. brand has been consistently gaining market share, even though that’s only been enough to erase a deficit the brand built up earlier. In the 52 weeks ended June 13, it had a roughly flat share in a category that grew a robust 8.6 percent, according to data from Symphony IRI. Then again, some other men’s brands have also been making substantial share gains of late, including P&G sibling Gillette, and Beiersdorf’s Nivea. And the thing Old Spice, Gillette, and Nivea have in common isn’t Mustafa, but rather multiple US drops of high-value coupons. They included buy-one-get-one-free offers from both P&G brands and up to $4 off a single bottle of Nivea Men from Beiersdorf, reflecting unprecedented levels of promotional intensity in the category.

Newsweek sold for $1 New York. Sidney Harman, the businessman who made his fortune selling stereo equipment, secured a deal to buy Newsweek from The Washington Post Company for a token price of $1 early in August. “Newsweek is a national treasure,” Harman, 91, says in a statement. “I am enormously pleased to be succeeding

Meanwhile, Unilever’s Dove Men & Care has also picked up some share, albeit with lower-value coupons and higher price points. The bottom line: Mustafa and Wieden & Kennedy are clearly selling some body wash, but they may not be responsible for the bulk of Old Spice’s sales gain this year. Consider the four weeks ended June 13. Old Spice’s sales were up 106 percent from the prior-year period, jumping 4.8 share points in a category that grew 17.7 percent. But sales of Gillette body wash, also backed by buy-one-get-one-free coupons and by TV ads (but not Mustafa), were up a lot more – 277 percent and 3.9 share

points – though it’s by far a smaller brand in the category. Nivea men’s body wash, backed by little other media support but $4 coupons, saw its sales rise a mere 63 percent and its share go up 0.5 points. And Dove Men & Care, the newest brand in the segment, dropped no coupons and was outside the main promotional burst of its February launch, but still held on to 2.4 share points for the four weeks ended June 13, down a bit from the 2.7 points for the 12-week period. How much of Old Spice’s gains – of that 106 percent bump measured by Symphony IRI in June, for example – come from Mustafa’s ads, and how

The Washington Post Company and the Graham family and look forward to this great journalistic, business, and technological challenge.” Reports say Harman planned to retain 250 of Newsweek’s employees. Newsweek counted 379 fulltime staffers at the end of March, according to the sale book posted by PaidContent, but a significant number have left in the time since. Losses at the magazine could approach $70 million this year. Harman reportedly agreed to assume the magazine’s liabilities.

It is unclear at this point which agencies will be taking part in the review, but media-agency executives who have seen the review says the company is looking for a shop with a “strong presence on the US West Coast.” The business is split between WPP siblings Mindshare, which handles traditional global buying, and Neo, which handles digital-buying duties. Yahoo spent $45 million on measured media in the US last year, according to Kantar Media.

Yahoo launches global media review New York. Yahoo has initiated a global review of its traditional and digital media-planning and -buying account. “We are conducting a review as part of normal business practice to determine the best partner for Yahoo,” Yahoo spokesman Graham James says.

much from the coupons? “It’s impossible to know,” says P&G spokesman Mike Norton. But it seems clear the ad has had some positive impact. Old Spice began to reverse share losses as soon as it began in February. Mustafa, a former NFL wide receiver who essentially switched to playing defense for Old Spice against the Dove launch, is now clearly back on offense. None of the data (including that for the four weeks ended July 11 that showed continued gains for P&G in body wash) yet reflects the sales impact of Mustafa’s 186 highly publicized personalized response videos earlier in July, which generated more than 34 million aggregate views and a billion PR impression in a week, according to P&G. In a single week, views of the personalized ads surpassed the nearly 29 million viral video views of Mustafa’s four TV ads since February. As of July 18, Old Spice, with 94 million views, had become the No. 1 all-time most-viewed sponsored channel on YouTube, Norton says. Old Spice had eight of the top 11 most-popular videos on YouTube on July 16. In the six days following the start of Mustafa’s videos, he reached more than 100 million followers. A car that helps moisturize your skin Yokohama. Nissan Motor Co.’s announcement of a new feature that will diffuse vitamin C while you drive has got newspapers and blogs around the world talking. The Japanese automaker is introducing improvements to future models designed to create a more comfortable in-car environment. The most intriguing improvement in Nissan’s new “health and well-being” concept is an air filter infused with vitamin C that moisturizes passengers’ skin. The idea is that the car’s air conditioning system, instead of drying out passengers’ skin, will dispense vitamin C into the car’s interior, stimulating people’s bodies to supply more moisture to the skin, making it appear younger. It’s unclear when or in which countries or car models the feature will be available.

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Cover Story | SEPTEMBER 2010

Poor relations The public relations industry in Lebanon is gaining momentum, but still faces many challenges. One of the biggest is communicating its value to clients by Karah Byrns

reative, open-minded, multilingual, persuasive, enterprising, ambitious. Qualities that could as easily be a rundown of the Lebanese psyche as a list of criteria for a job in public relations. But despite these natural gifts, Lebanon’s PR industry continues to fall short of its potential. Growing up in the shadow of advertising, and falling far behind that regional communications hotspot, Dubai, the Lebanese PR industry is moving forward, but it is still grappling with a local market that lacks awareness of what the discipline is about. Frequently mislabeled as the sum total of event management, press releases, and media relations, PR in Lebanon is suffering from a case of mistaken identity. Today, it is trying to send the message that PR is not just a social network, but a science. Ten years ago, multinational advertising agencies and clients from Europe and the United States followed the government-backed boom of international business to Dubai and brought the concept of public relations to the Middle East.

Dubai’s portfolio of cash-stacked international clients demanded a level of PR equivalent to the standards they were accustomed to in their home markets. This spurred the local industry to rapidly adapt and grow. By 2002, just two years after it arrived in Dubai, the discipline began expanding to the multinational advertising agencies of Beirut. Although Dubai only had a brief head start, most industry professionals judge Lebanon to be stuck where the UAE was 10 years ago. But this doesn’t mean Lebanon can never catch up. If it can overcome the key obstacles holding the industry back, Beirut could still move forward and claim a place among the world’s PR capitals. DEFINING PR. For many companies in Lebanon, public relations is something to consider only when launching a new product, hosting an event, or making a strategic announcement. It is a one-shot deal with press releases, a few

photos, and a bit of buzz. The market has yet to realize the value of PR as a strategic communication tool that functions within a firm’s corporate strategy at all times. “PR is a message matrix; it’s about tonality, strategy, and getting people engaged with a brand by creating an image,” says Jo Chemali, regional communications director of the PR division at Leo Burnett in Beirut. “PR is about a long-term plan. It is anything but random.” A PR plan creates a conversation with the public, helping shape their perception of whatever it is a company wants to promote. But it also directs the course of that conversation over time, to attract more customers, gain their confidence, and build up a trusted brand image. Although PR may include everything from press releases and events to government lobbying and corporate social responsibility (CSR) platforms, these activities ought to be part of a strategic plan. Companies in Lebanon and the wider region often take them individually, failing to see where media relations end and PR begins.

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lagging behind. To compete with the rest of the world, Lebanon first needs to be connected to the Internet at the speed of business

PERLA RICHA. Country director at Impact Porter Novelli Lebanon

Adel Kanaan. Regional managing director of advertising agency M&C Saatchi MENA

“It’s visibility versus strategy,” says Perla Richa, country director at Impact Porter Novelli Lebanon. A press release may generate visibility around a specific product or activity, but it only becomes PR when that press release is linked to a chain of other activities that form an overall strategy. “Unfortunately, anyone who has some media connections and writing skills claims to be a PR agency,” says Adel Kanaan, regional managing director of advertising agency M&C Saatchi MENA, which also has a PR department. A PR agency should engineer a strategy, while media relations is a means to that end. The fact that there are so many companies offering media relations or event management and calling themselves PR agencies shows how little the market understands what PR is. Before companies can demand quality and recognize who can provide it, they first need to understand how PR should be supporting their business; they need to see PR as a long-term asset worth investing in. “The PR industry has been picking up in the last 10 years, but it has been mostly eventand product-driven, and not really linked to the vision of a brand,” says Paul Boulos, regional director for Turkey, the Middle East, and North Africa for advertising and public relations agency Drive Dentsu. “Companies are not focused on building or preserving brand equity.” Marketers in Lebanon do not even understand the concept of brand equity, how PR helps them achieve specific goals, or how important a PR strategy is for optimizing sales in the long run, says Boulos. Fortunately, PR professionals are now in a good position to make this relation-

ship clear. With eight years of experience, PR agencies in Lebanon have the ammunition to make a convincing pitch. Armed with track records of past success, they are now able to show clients the value of investing in a PR strategy based on hard data. MARKET STRUCTURE. In Lebanon, large PR agencies dominate the market. Kanaan estimates that 90 percent of PR is handled by big multinationals, leaving the rest to independent shops. According to a survey of 50 companies presented by Trans-Arabian Creative Communications (TRACCS), a regional network, at the recent Beirut Public Relations Forum 2010, 63 percent of companies have a PR department in their organization. While this suggests that the majority of companies recognize the importance of PR, it does not confirm that they have a clear idea of what it is, or the role it should play in an organization. “The chief marketing officer reporting to the CEO is often reporting on the status of the PR department, because PR is still not viewed as something independent of the marketing cycle,” says Boulos, who argues that even if PR departments exist, there is often no differentiation in the corporate hierarchy between PR, marketing, and communications. “There really should be something like a public relations officer. You rarely see companies that have a dedicated job function for such an important and strategic role that deals with the values of the corporation, guarding its reputation, and its interaction with the public, the community, and stakeholders,” he adds.

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Cover Story | SEPTEMBER 2010

In large multinational agencies, while the approach to PR is generally clearer, what Boulos calls “the yes culture” often gets in the way. In agencies, it is often easier to say “yes” to whatever the client wants than to come up with an original initiative and defend it. There is also less emphasis on creativity than there should be. Many PR agencies in Lebanon operate within an ad agency, and are often seen as the un-creative partner in the relationship. Katia Yasmine, director of TRACCS in Lebanon, says, “It is essential for creativity to lie at the heart of each and every aspect of PR, from strategy development and reporting to campaign management and staff development. Creativity in PR is not just an idea but an actual strategy and approach to communication.” Between multinational agencies, competition is mostly based not on price, but on fields of specialization, credentials, reputation, current client base, and the agency’s power when lobbying the press and government. Smaller PR agencies, on the other hand, target a niche market that competes on a different level of needs and criteria. While the majority of large businesses may be represented by multinational agencies, Joumana Rizk, managing director of Mirros Communication and Media Services, dismisses the idea that only smaller companies with low budgets go to small PR agencies. As the owner of a small local agency, Rizk says she realizes that not all clients are looking for a highly commercialized approach. “The benefit a client gets from working with a smaller agency is daily follow-up and a more one-to-one relationship that takes its values and specific mix of needs into consideration with a more personalized approach,” says Rizk. And because a small agency lacks administrative red tape, decisions can be made quickly, freeing the relationship to be highly reactive. When it comes to choosing clients, Rizk says she can also exercise greater liberties, giving a discount to an NGO for a cause she supports, or rejecting a project for a client she doesn’t believe in. “I never take a client on board if I don’t believe in what it wants to promote,” she says. “If I am not convinced of its potential, how can I honestly convince anyone else?” While it may be easier for smaller agencies to practice an honest approach, transparency is important in agencies of any size. “Ethics and integrity are essential in PR and in any other sort of communication,” says Kanaan. This is driven home if PR is defined as nonpaid communication. The most common tools that the PR industry uses to attempt to build credibility, says Kanaan, are statistics, verifiable data, testimonials and interviews, publications from objective third parties, and quotes from trusted public figures. The Internet has heralded innovative ways to create more trust, such as the use of social media to increase interaction and build conversations around a brand.

total package. PR is about tonality, strategy, and getting people engaged with a brand DISCONNECTED FROM OPPORTUNITY. Social media: These two words have revolutionized the PR industry worldwide, but where do they fit into Lebanon’s PR landscape? As the Internet challenges television, radio, and print as the communication channel of choice around the world, Lebanon continues to rely heavily on traditional media channels. While the Internet leads the way in the PR industry, the Lebanese market remains fettered by inadequate telecoms infrastructure, low Internet speeds, and high connection costs. “Internationally, PR has been greatly diverted to social media; regionally we’re just not there yet,” says Richa. Although Internet penetration is low throughout the region, this does not justify Lebanon’s online absence. Local agencies now have to compete with multinationals, says Kanaan. “Nowadays, regional clients have become lucrative enough to begin attracting European and US-based companies, so Lebanon is practically competing with the rest of the world,” he says. To compete with the rest of the world, Lebanon first needs to be connected to the Internet at the speed of business. “Mainstream media dismissed the emergence of online media, only to realize later that they had missed a seismic change,” adds Kanaan. “PR in Lebanon also needs to evolve and expand in response to this change.” And changes go beyond the Internet. “The future of PR is in smart phones,” Chemali says. Any slowdown or limitation of social media, such as the proposed banning of BlackBerry smart-phone services, affects communication in general, and PR in particular.

Katia Yasmine. Director of TRACCS in Lebanon

Joumana Rizk. Managing director of Mirros Communication and Media Services

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Right track. A survey presented by TRACCS at the Beirut PR Forum found 63 percent of companies have a PR department in their organization Limiting access cuts down the capacity for PR companies to compete and be innovative on an international level, which hurts the local industry’s opportunities for growth. “If the telecommunications infrastructure were improved, it would boost the PR industry significantly, opening up more channels to communicate with more people and to reach people in remote places,” Chemali says. At present, companies in Lebanon are scarcely investing in online media; Boulos estimates that Internet PR accounts for only 1 percent of PR money spent in the country. Yasmine says this is unfortunate, as the touch point where stakeholders and companies now interact most is the World Wide Web. She says, “Social media didn’t invent conversations; it provided us with the tools to bring these conversations to the surface and simply organize them.” The motivation for brands to engage in social networks depends on many factors, but the country’s Internet infrastructure plays a significant role. “This explains why Lebanon is still lagging behind with social media, and why it is still not whole-heartedly perceived as a tangible opportunity or benefit,” she says.

Jo Chemali. Regional communications director of the PR division at Leo Burnett in Beirut

WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION. Education is another area where PR faces a roadblock. One look at university programs across the Middle East confirms the region’s lack of awareness of the field’s importance. A lack of serious PR education and training in the market has led

to a gap between the academic world and the business world, meaning that most PR training happens on the job and off-the-cuff, with few set standards, contextual frameworks, models for critical thinking, or benchmarks. In Lebanon, none of the major universities has a media faculty, let alone a program designed for aspiring PR professionals. Given the country’s prime location as a geographical and cultural intersection between the West and the Middle East – with fluency across French, English, and Arabic – there is plenty of potential for Lebanon to emerge as a hub for media educators, experts, students, and professionals in search of additional training. A misunderstanding of the field of media studies, and university bureaucracy are largely to blame for this missed opportunity. But if academia takes note, there is still a chance for Lebanon to lead the region in one of the most vital fields of the information age. “Many university professors have no clue about this field and its importance, and I’m often baffled at the questions I get when introducing a course or curriculum in media studies,” says Jad Melki, assistant professor of journalism and media studies at the American University of Beirut. Misunderstanding has been a theme throughout the field’s history, says Melki. Even in the US and UK, it was an uphill battle for media studies to earn legitimacy in academia. In the Middle East, a misunderstanding – mistrust even – of media studies is fueled by departments in the region using outdated curriculums and under-qualified teachers to produce students ill-prepared for the market.

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“We don’t have enough professors specialized in media studies in the Arab world. Many good programs are struggling to find high-caliber professors who have specialized in media sub-disciplines,” says Melki. “That’s partly because most media studies specialties require a solid professional background, for instance as a journalist or PR executive or advertising practitioner,” he adds. “But those who have that experience have little incentive to spend five years getting their Ph.D. to end up working for a lower salary.” As a result, says Melki, many Lebanese who decide to make the transition into the academic world end up working in the US, Europe, or the Arabian Gulf, where salaries and benefits are considerably better. He hopes this will change within the next five to 10 years. Although media programs currently on offer remain underdeveloped, pressure is mounting on regional universities to deliver well-equipped media specialists to the local market, and university departments are beginning to respond. It is a promising sign that the mass communication department at Kuwait University will host the international communication and media conference of the Arab-US Association for Communication Educators next month, to address media education in the Arab world.

neglected department. In Lebanon, none of the major universities has a PR curriculum

TAKING THE REINS. Lebanon has the creative and dynamic human capital necessary to develop a PR field that is capable of leading the region, and it is through these people that changes must begin. “This is still a virgin market, and it’s an under-exploited industry,” Kanaan says. And as with any frontier, those who have a pioneering spirit have an advantage and the power to shape the future of the entire industry. PR in Lebanon is facing challenges, but because it is still in an early stage of development, it also faces many opportunities to grow and develop. Many industry professionals have no doubts about where the force of Lebanon’s human capital could drive the industry, but blame factors beyond their control for blocking the growth of PR. “Lebanon can easily be a PR hub for the Levant and Maghreb, and even the Gulf, given its strategic location and availability of creative talent. Unfortunately, the main things preventing this from happening are political instability and poor infrastructure,” says Yasmine. “Once these two factors have been tackled, I am positive there will be a major transformation, and head offices will definitely look at Lebanon as a PR hub in the region.” But the private sector cannot always wait for the public sector to take the lead, as many industries in Lebanon have already proved. “All challenges have the potential to become opportunities,” Boulos says. The private sector needs to take the reins in addressing the issues slowing down the industry.

“Firms need to evolve in a way that is industry-focused rather than ego-based,” he adds. He says an ideal first step would be for the private sector to hold a symposium of the top 10 players in the PR market. It should confront problems, discuss solutions, draft resolutions, and create standard agreements on best practices in order to help the industry grow. With a unified vision, the industry can move forward with the combined strength of the top agencies and valuable human capital. “When multinational ad agencies opened offices here [in the early 1990s] and pushed the limits in the industry, local agencies followed, and this pushed the market forward tremendously,” Richa says. Now is the time for those multinationals to push again, instead of waiting for an international client with deep pockets to arrive and provide incentive for only one firm to break ground. The industry must either organize itself to move forward collectively, or it will not develop at all. Public relations needs to do for itself what it has already done so well for so many clients: communicate value and build credibility. By working together to come up with a PR plan for the industry, top players would not only be helping themselves, but the market as a whole. The signs are already there that the market is ready to mature, says Richa. “Ten years ago no one knew what PR was. Now there are clients who ask for high-quality strategic initiatives; they’re not just talking about press releases anymore,” she says. “Nothing is rigid in communications – there is no magic formula.”

Paul Boulos. Regional director at Drive Dentsu

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | MARKETING

Wanted: community managers Brands eager to fill social-media staffing need to keep tabs on followers by Jack Neff

t Procter & Gamble Co., where the brand manager was invented, one of the growth job titles of late has been “community manager,” in charge of engaging a brand’s community of followers wherever they pop up in social media. P&G is far from alone here. Job listings for community managers with duties that encompass social media began showing up in late 2007, then hit an explosive growth curve in April 2009, according to job search engine Indeed.com. While such listings are off their peak reached this January, they’re still coming at triple the rate of a year ago. Recruitment wave. Recent listings come from marketers such as Walt Disney Co., Allstate, Office Depot, Citibank, Vonage, and the University of Chicago, in addition to numerous tech and digital players where the job title has existed far longer. They’re the foot soldiers in a recruitment wave that has placed social media terms in four of the top 10 trends currently on Indeed.com, including “Twitter,” “Facebook,” “blogger,” and “social media.” A Facebook group for community managers now has more than 3,400 members, though many of them appear to have marketing or social-media roles beyond those of just community managers. Jeremiah Owyang, partner at Altimeter Group and a former Forrester analyst who started his career as a community manager for Hitachi, keeps the most definitive list of such managers at corporations of Fortune 1,000-size and large education institutions, currently numbering 41. But the list is far from all-inclusive, as it only covers community managers who apply, and it was last updated in January. It doesn’t include a group

P&G alone has designated for 10 of its brands in the past year, a spokeswoman says, including Iams, Eukanuba and Pantene. Different backgrounds. While being a community manager is clearly a marketing job, it’s not necessarily staffed by classically trained marketers. At P&G, they often come from the consumer-affairs area of the company, though beauty external-relations director Anitra Marsh said in an April talk at a BlogWell conference in Cincinnati that they could come from a variety of the company’s brandbuilding functions. P&G declined to make any of its community managers available for interview. But one who’s playing a role in the current re-launch of Pantene hair-care products is Ashley Bryant, a consumercare executive turned “Pantene Beauty Maven” who engages with consumers both on the brand’s Facebook and Twitter presences and elsewhere, while also maintaining her own Twitter account. Iams and Eukanuba’s PetCareBev operates a blog, PetCareBev.com (by Bev Van Zant), and a Twitter feed (Twitter/PetCareBev) where one recent post expressed a private sentiment: “HEY DELTA AIRLINES!! YOUR PHONE SYSTEM IS CRAPPY!!!,” though she’s usually talking about pets or Iams’ own products. Van Zant is also around to answer ticklish questions elsewhere in social media, such as this from Yahoo Answers: “Can Iams kill your cat?” Her not-surprising response, ranked best among users, essentially, was no. “I’ve worked at Iams for nearly 15 years,” she said. “A very high percentage of our employees share their lives with dogs and cats. We

would never intentionally put something in our food that we wouldn’t feel comfortable feeding to our own furbabies.” It’s an approach that just might work. If community managers “sound very corporate or PR-ish, they lose trust, and therefore aren’t very effective,” Owyang says. They need to be trusted by their communities, and “often come from the same lifestyle as their community.” Paradox. Therein, of course, lies the Zen-like paradox. Community managers are expected to be “brand evangelists” while blending into the milieu of online communities, and not coming off as shills. The difficulty of finding the right person to navigate that path is probably why marketers appear ambivalent about whether formal marketing experience is a prerequisite, says Lisa Bradner, president of Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Geomomentum, a hyper-local media unit. For example, the recent online listing seeking a community manager for Disney Music Groups says “marketing knowledge is a big plus,” but experience there is no pre-requisite. But Bradner, who last year was the lead Forrester analyst on a report about how brand management should be structured in the age of digital marketing, isn’t sure community managers are the answer to marketing’s social-media staffing needs. “One of the dangers of how it’s being handled right now is the idea that every brand is going to have a community, and every community is going to have a community manager,” she says. “The challenge is whether there’s really a reason for that community to adhere.”

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | DIGITAL

Snagged Net

Why is digital media in Lebanon taking so long to reach its potential? by Ibrahim Nehme

omar Nasreddine. General manager of advertising agency Grey Beirut

Omar Christidis. Founder of ArabNet

hile the world has not fully realized its online potential, Lebanon is struggling to even identify what it can do with digital. Terrible Internet infrastructure plagues the country and, more worryingly, many key players are simply unaware of what is out there. As a result, Lebanon’s communications industry still has a very long way to go before a true digital revolution can change the way things are said and done. In the history of humanity, technological advances have brought about dramatic changes in the rate of economic growth. Robin Hanson, associate professor of economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, and an expert on idea futures, has said that from the Paleolithic to the Neolithic era, the global economy doubled every 250,000 years based on population growth. When an agricultural society took shape, the economy doubled every 900 years, and with the Industrial Revolution, the world’s economic output doubled every 15 years, 60 times faster than during the agricultural era.

Enter computing. Hanson predicts that if the rise of artificial intelligence causes a similar revolution, the economy will double at least every quarter, and possibly on a weekly basis. The theory that the increasing power of computers and other technologies might eventually make it possible to build a machine that is more intelligent than humans can only highlight the sheer scale and pace of computing. “It is a world of tremendous, if not infinite, potential,” says Omar Christidis, founder of ArabNet, a digital conference held in Beirut in March. It took the Internet less than 20 years to grow into an organism that’s beyond anybody’s control, a force of nature that has turned the world on its head and changed humanity forever, he says. “And we have only seen the tip of the iceberg in terms of its potential, especially for mobile applications, augmented reality, and geographically-aware content and advertising.” A recently published study by tech company IBM’s research firm, the Institute for Business Value, predicts that the next five years will hold

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DIGITAL | SEPTEMBER 2010

Slow start. While CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is reportedly working on a replacement for the Internet called the Grid, which will be 10,000 times faster than broadband, Lebanon is still struggling to get plugged in. Slow, unreliable, expensive Internet connectivity and limited data quotas hinder Web usage. “It is really a shame that a country like ours, which is the region’s trendsetter in terms of marketing communications, culture and creativity, is still without broadband,” says Omar Nasreddine, general manager of advertising agency Grey Beirut. Even the Lebanese businesses that are up to speed when it comes to connectivity are slow to appreciate the importance of online, and have not yet made the most of it to connect with their customers, advertise their products, and offer their services, says Christidis. “Today, the digital revolution has placed people at the center of brands’ worlds, allowing them not only to choose what to be exposed to, but also to become content generators themselves and distributors of their own media,” says Nasreddine. “But I honestly believe that brands in Lebanon are still very far from capturing the full potential of the digital revolution.” When Tarek Chemaly, a communications consultant and university lecturer, was acting as a consultant to a Lebanese bank and proposed establishing a blog all its employees could access, he says, the CEO told him, “Blogs are for people who have nothing to say.” “To top things off, most agencies I have had the chance to work with don’t believe in the Internet; only a very select few realize its full potential,” says El-Khabbaz. “The notion that we don’t have the talent or knowledge is inadmissible when every day we are watching local agencies working for overseas brands and companies. Brands should listen more to the young ones in the company; they have to realize that the CEO doesn’t know everything, and what managers learned in business school needs to be updated.” Free spirits. But regardless of the constraints preventing Lebanon from achieving its full online potential, there seem to be some rays of hope, thanks to the country’s open culture. “Lebanon has a very free and vibrant In-

more change for the advertising industry than the previous 50 did. “We are watching every imaginable idea come to life,” says Georges El-Khabbaz, a Beirutbased user-experience consultant. “You name it, you got it.” Back in 1994, John Perry Barlow, one of the founding members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes digital development, predicted the digital age would herald “the economy of ideas.”

People power. Digital activism can bring together groups with shared interests. ternet culture, with very limited censorship,” says Christidis. “The number of socio-political forums and blogs – from the most mainstream to the most fringe – is tremendous and extremely diverse.” He adds that digital activism, through social media, is able to bring together groups with shared interests that wouldn’t otherwise have a way to connect. The Lebanese Laique Pride parade was a good example of this, when more than 5,000 people gathered to express a call for secularism in Lebanon. The event was organized mostly over social media, and spread through networks of people with shared values and interests. “But the potential is even greater than that,” says Christidis. The IBM report says that with the rising popularity of user-generated and peer-delivered content, and new ad-revenue-sharing models (for example, video sites such as YouTube, Crackle, and Current TV), amateurs and semiprofessionals are now creating lower-cost advertising content. Bechara Mouzannar, executive regional creative director at advertising agency H&C Leo Burnett, tells Communicate Levant, “The time has finally come to change the rules of the game.” Traditional advertising channels always had money behind them, and then online emerged as a democratic medium, he says. This democracy recently allowed Mouzannar’s agency to recruit a Lebanese blogger and build an ad campaign around her for the Exotica chain of florists (see regional news, Communicate Levant, March 2010).

Freedom’s flipside. However, caution is in order. The Web provides freedom, but brands can go too far, and consumers can take them to task like never before. In 2004, a glitch in online bookseller Amazon.com’s Canadian site led to the exposure of the true identities of thousands of anonymous reviewers, many of whom turned out to be the authors – or friends of the authors – of books garnering favorable reviews, says Chemaly. And Nasreddine gives the example of Kryptonite, which manufactures D-locks for bicycles. Its brand proposition was the high security of its locks, but when a consumer posted a video on an online cycling forum showing how he could open the locks using nothing more than a cheap plastic ballpoint pen, Kryptonite had to scramble to upgrade its products and offer customers replacements. A few months ago, a Lebanese blogger, frustrated by the design of the Daily Star’s website, took it upon himself to design his own online version of the Lebanese newspaper, which he called The New Daily Star Project (see regional news, Communicate Levant, March 2010). The initiative wasn’t to the taste of the publisher, who threatened to sue the Ghana-based blogger. No matter how big Lebanon’s online constraints are, some players just won’t let any of that get in their way. They have taken matters into their own hands. “If I have the will, I have the power,” seems to be their driving motto. The Laique parade, and other humble, yet ambitious online inroads by brands such as Exotica and its Ivy campaign, can be inspiring examples to push things forward until someone comes and rescues the Internet in Lebanon.

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | PRINT

Teen issues

Lebanese magazines need to look more appealing to young adults and tackle subjects important to them if they want to keep this fickle audience by Meryl Haddad

t’s not just parents who have a hard time communicating with teens. Publishers the world over target teenagers and young adults with magazines that they hope will captivate this new and demanding readership. But as the younger generation grows up in a permanently connected planet far different from the world the previous generations knew, narrowing the issues that might possibly interest them and identifying the most effective paths to get in touch with them is becoming increasingly challenging. In Lebanon several magazines have tried to target the teen tribes, but the few to have succeeded knew right from the start what their target audience wanted.

Naomi Sargeant. Commercial director at Time Out Beirut

weak scene. Google “teen magazines” and see what you get. Apart from the hugely popular Seventeen (an American publication), Faze (Canadian), and Popcorn (German), you will get Teen Vogue, Cosmogirl, and ELLEgirl, junior versions of major fashion titles. Although many titles sustained heavy casualties with the arrival of the Internet, teen-oriented

publications managed the turn and even moved on to address a younger demographic of readers, the “tweenagers” (aged nine to 13). In view of this, one cannot help but wonder why Lebanon, which has a huge number of media-savvy youngsters (half of the population is under 20), seems to be lagging behind. According to Rania Naufal, head of sales at foreign press distributor Levant Distributors, the local scene is indeed weak. Most local magazines don’t deliver to the needs of teens and young adults, so “people buy international press even though it is more expensive,” she says. It is indeed difficult to figure out what Lebanese teenagers want to read. And as Naufal points out, one magazine alone can’t encompass the needs of all young adults. For example, boys tend to buy magazines related to topics such as cars and sports, while girls are interested in an array of topics, from fashion to lifestyle, music, people, and gossip. According to Naomi Sargeant, commercial director at Time Out Beirut, teen magazines in Lebanon are usually a copy of luxury publications already in the market. “Magazines forget that their audience is

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50 percent male and 50 percent female. They don’t address issues that interest both men and women,” she says. “It underestimates their intelligence; not all of them want that fluff.” Talk the talk. Making the same observation, the French magazine L’Orient Le Jour Junior chose to steer clear from the fluff. “Usually, Lebanese teenagers don’t like to read political articles, and they prefer short articles that get directly to the point; they get bored quickly,” says editor Maria Pascalides. But the magazine nonetheless features a wide range of stories either touching on current events that interest youths such as the football World Cup, or issues such as culture, environment, and technology. “There is a gap to be filled in the market. Our success among young Lebanese readers shows that there is a need for local youth magazines; teenagers need to be informed,” Pascalides says. Time Out’s new publishing group – On Time Publishing – will launch a magazine in September named Trashed. Although Time Out Beirut tackles current events, people on the scene, and businesses to watch out for, its readers are in the 18-45 age category. Trashed will address an audience of incoming university students and young adults, and the topics it will broach will be diverse, ranging from social and economic issues to guides on how to deal with university life. Take it from them. Who better to identify topics that might grab teenagers’ attention than teenagers themselves? Editors at both Trashed and L’Orient Le Jour Junior believe in working with young adults. “We’ll be collaborating with Lebanese universities and students from different majors so that they can get some hands-on experience in the real world,” says Sargeant At L’Orient Le Jour Junior, some articles are written by teenagers aged between 16 and 19 under the supervision of professional journalists. Pascalides says this approach makes the magazine more attractive to its readers and helps the publishers find out what concerns their audience, since it is “challenging to work for teenagers.” Another challenge is to adapt to the technological changes. Naufal agrees with professionals worldwide that print is still in demand. But “magazines can’t survive without an online portal,” she says. Youngsters are now used to getting what they want, when they want it, and where they want it. Youth magazines need to cater to this new type of demand if they want to be in the game. “The future is more interactive,” says Sargeant, who adds that Time Out Beirut has launched an iPhone application for its readers, an idea that fits in nicely with the surge in permanent connectivity the world is witnessing.

Keeping up. Teen-oriented magazines have so far managed to stay one step ahead Asked if Time Out Beirut’s website draws away readership from the magazine, Sargeant says no. “People still like to touch magazines and take time out away from the world. Print will not die; it’s been around for a long time,” she says. Sargeant adds that the website has drawn in more readers since it began receiving attention from Web users abroad. Also, full articles are not released online, so if readers see something they’d like to know more about, they have to pick up the magazine. Pascalides agrees that going online is a must in order to complement articles in the magazine. “Our Web site doesn’t replace the magazine; it proposes interactive pages by having forums or online competitions, or shows videos of things talked about in the pages of L’Orient le Jour Junior,” she says. “What holds true for the newspaper industry does not hold true for magazines,” she says. Newspapers may be worrying about how to cope with the online world, but magazines seem to be taking it in their stride by providing material complementary to what’s in print issues. While Lebanese magazines still have a lot to learn about communicating with the younger generation, it is reassuring to know that some people in the industry have recognized the need to fill the void. The competition between local and international magazines may make it more complicated to grab the attention of the local market, but the Internet and social networking sites are making it easier for local magazines to target the right audience. While some may say that Internet will kill print, magazines that are in the know have managed to keep going by making the Internet work for them, rather than against them. Still, local magazines need to look more appealing to young adults and hit on subjects important to them, rather than heavily borrowing from magazines for adults.

Maria Pascalides. Editor of L’Orient Le Jour Junior

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The next step

When teens (see previous page) become young adults, topics need to become more serious and reader-driven. One publisher believes if the content is right, a magazine can change how people read.

kazamaza. Targeting an older and more sophisticated audience

mad Atallah, publisher of Arabic monthly Kazamaza (launched last February), says his magazine “addresses the culture of young adults in all its facets. The majority of Kazamaza readers and supporters favor investigative journalism, interviews with non-celebrities, and a section called ‘Ma Twekhzouna,’ where taboo subjects are discussed.” The magazine’s main audience is between 18 and 34. “But, interestingly, we are discovering that in addition to our main audience, folks past 55 are showing interest in Kazamaza,” he says. In order to have the widest possible reach, there are articles in French and English in every issue of Kazamaza, which is predominantly in Arabic. “I realize that I am totally swimming against the current,” says Atallah. “This is a serious workout and a wrestling match: a magazine in Arabic for Arabic-speakers who don’t read in Arabic. “Publishing in Arabic carries huge risks, given that our audience is the Facebook and Internet generation in a cultural environment dominated by the English language. We have taken it upon ourselves to help revive the cultural discourse in Arabic, a language that is extremely rich but lacking in young speakers. I am delighted to report that young adults in Lebanon who have been accustomed to reading mainly in French and English are showing increasing interest in Kazamaza, although the magazine is mainly in Arabic. Languages aside, our magazine speaks to their soul and interests, hence its appeal and growing popularity,” he says.

Atallah makes a strong case for reader contributions. “The idea of using stories by young contributors is based on fulfilling the amateur’s desire to disseminate his or her own ideas,” he says. “It is the result of our drive to create an unmediated reading and publishing experience. We want to convert the target audience from idle consumers of media into actual producers of culture. At the heart of this dynamic conversion lie the fundamental underpinnings of constructive activism and classic ideals of liberal expression. There are plenty of great as well as not-so-good magazines out there, and Kazamaza would have made zero contribution if it had replicated the dictums of traditional publishing.” Kazamaza’s print and online editions carry different content. “The former is selected and edited by our staff, while the latter is published without editing,” Atallah says. “In other words, Kazamaza.com is an unmoderated forum of user-generated content. Both the print magazine and the Web site serve the idea of converting consumers into producers of cultural discourse, and both happen in the context of an unmediated reading and publishing experience. However, I do think that ensuring quality of style, coherence, and a high level of articulate expression – the main tasks of our editorial team – are the essential prerequisites for publishing an article in print. Otherwise, the print content loses its value and would not justify the cost of, well, printing it.”

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | TELEVISION

TV goals

Lebanese football fans were glued to their screens during the World Cup. But which games attracted the most viewers? by Nathalie Bontems

Christian saab. General manager of Ipsos-Stat Lebanon

ebanese love their football, although for many years they haven’t been allowed to watch any local games for fear of civil clashes. Is that one of the reasons behind their obsession with the soccer World Cup? That’s not for us to say. Last summer saw an intense football frenzy overtake the country, as hordes of supporters took to the street every time their favorite team won, and fireworks lit up the skies whenever a goal was scored. Advertisers played their own games (see “Brands with balls,” Page 22, Communicate Levant, July 2010). But which games drew the largest audience share? One would expect the semi-finals, and obviously the final, to hit the jackpot, but figures provided by Ipsos exclusively to Communicate Levant show otherwise (see table, next page). The Lebanese are fiercely loyal to a few national teams, which they followed carefully. According to Ipsos’ data, collected using people meters on a sample of more than 600 households (more than 2,400 individuals, representing 3,912,000 Lebanese aged four and above), the game with the highest reach – an impressive 20 percent of total audience – turned out to be the semi-final between Germany and Spain on July 7. “For that many people – almost a quarter of the population – to watch a football game is quite surprising, given the context,” says Christian Saab, general manager of Ipsos-Stat Lebanon. He adds that the final probably had a 16 percent audience share. “This is the middle of the week on a summer night. Many Lebanese travel during this time of the year, and others head for the mountains. And these figures deal with in-home viewership, with-

out calculating the out-of-home audience, which also reflects the same trend of viewing and would therefore give even more impressive ratings. “Besides, the game lasted some two hours. That’s a long time to keep people watching television, especially when local TV stations also featured highly popular shows such as Ahdam Shi on MTV and Kalamanji on LBC. This game really kept the viewers glued to their screen,” he says. It’s no secret that the Mannschaft (the German national team) is highly popular in Lebanon, as is the Brazilian team. But with Brazil losing in the quarterfinals to the Netherlands on July 2 (a game that attracted some 14.7 percent of viewers, as opposed to the Germany-Argentina quarterfinal that reached 13.7 percent of viewers), it appears that the big face-off between Germany and Spain presented an opportunity to Lebanese fans of German football to watch their team in action. No wonder then that the final, between Spain and the Netherlands on July 11, didn’t succeed in keeping as many viewers as one might have believed in front of their screens. Some 17.7 percent of viewers watched the game, a drop of around 100,000 people who chose not to watch the grand finale. Interestingly, very few events or shows can expect to generate as much audience as the Germany-Spain game did. Indeed, comedy shows can draw up to 25 to 30 percent of viewership, but they are only an hour long. In recent memory, only one broadcast has been able to compete with the game: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s press conference on August 9 of this year, which managed to attract an aggregated 22.2 percent of total audience.

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Methodology: Minute-by-minute data collected using people meters on a daily basis. The data is collected from a nationally representative sample aged four years and above of more than 600 households, representing 3,912,000 individuals. Reach: People who have seen at least one minute of the match. Time: Lebanon GROUP STAGE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Fri Fri Sat Sat Sat Sun Sun Sun Mon Mon Mon Tue Tue Tue Wed Wed Wed Thu Thu Thu Fri Fri Fri Sat Sat Sat Sun Sun Sun Mon Mon Mon Tue Tue Tue Tue Wed Wed Wed Wed Thu Thu Thu Thu Fri Fri Fri Fri Sat Sat Sun Sun Mon Mon Tue Tue Fri Fri Sat Sat

61 Tue 62 Wed 63 Sat

11-Jun-10 11-Jun-10 12-Jun-10 12-Jun-10 12-Jun-10 13-Jun-10 13-Jun-10 13-Jun-10 14-Jun-10 14-Jun-10 14-Jun-10 15-Jun-10 15-Jun-10 15-Jun-10 16-Jun-10 16-Jun-10 16-Jun-10 17-Jun-10 17-Jun-10 17-Jun-10 18-Jun-10 18-Jun-10 18-Jun-10 19-Jun-10 19-Jun-10 19-Jun-10 20-Jun-10 20-Jun-10 20-Jun-10 21-Jun-10 21-Jun-10 21-Jun-10 22-Jun-10 22-Jun-10 22-Jun-10 22-Jun-10 23-Jun-10 23-Jun-10 23-Jun-10 23-Jun-10 24-Jun-10 24-Jun-10 24-Jun-10 24-Jun-10 25-Jun-10 25-Jun-10 25-Jun-10 25-Jun-10 26-Jun-10 26-Jun-10 27-Jun-10 27-Jun-10 28-Jun-10 28-Jun-10 29-Jun-10 29-Jun-10 2-Jul-10 2-Jul-10 3-Jul-10 3-Jul-10 6-Jul-10 7-Jul-10 10-Jul-10

South Africa 17:00 Uruguay 21:30 Argentina 17:00 14:30 Korea Republic England 21:30 Algeria 14:30 Germany 21:30 Serbia 17:00 Netherlands 14:30 Japan 17:00 Italy 21:30 New Zealand 14:30 Côte d’Ivoire 17:00 Brazil 21:30 Honduras 14:30 Spain 17:00 South Africa 21:30 France 21:30 Greece 17:00 Argentina 14:30 Germany 14:30 Slovenia 17:00 England 21:30 Ghana 17:00 Netherlands 14:30 Cameroon 21:20 Slovakia 14:30 Italy 17:00 Brazil 21:30 Portugal 14:30 Chile 17:00 Spain 21:30 Mexico 17:00 France 17:00 Nigeria 21:30 Greece 21:30 Slovenia 17:00 USA 17:00 Ghana 21:30 Australia 21:30 Slovakia 17:00 Paraguay 17:00 Denmark 21:30 Cameroon 21:30 Portugal 17:00 Korea DPR 17:00 Chile 21:30 Switzerland 21:30 17:00 21:30 17:00 21:30 17:00 21:30 17:00 21:30 17:00 21:30 17:00 21:30 21:30 21:30 21:30

Uruguay USA Germany Argentina Netherlands Brazil Paraguay Spain Netherlands Uruguay Argentina Paraguay Uruguay Germany

1-1 0-0 1-0 2-0 1-1 0-1 4-0 0-1 2-0 1-0 1-1 1-1 0-0 2-1 0-1 0-1 0-3 0-2 2-1 4-1 0-1 2-2 0-0 1-1 1-0 1-2 0-2 1-1 3-1 7-0 1-0 2-0 0-1 1-2 2-2 0-2 0-1 1-0 0-1 2-1 3-2 0-0 1-3 1-2 0-0 0-3 1-2 0-0 LAST 16 2-1 1-2 4-1 3-1 2-1 3-0 0-0 1-0

Mexico France Nigeria Greece USA Slovenia Australia Ghana Denmark Cameroon Paraguay Slovakia Portugal Korea DPR Chile Switzerland Uruguay Mexico Nigeria Korea Republic Serbia USA Algeria Australia Japan Denmark Paraguay New Zealand Côte d’Ivoire Korea DPR Switzerland Honduras Uruguay South Africa Korea Republic Argentina England Algeria Germany Serbia Italy New Zealand Japan Netherlands Brazil Côte d’Ivoire Spain Honduras Korea Republic Ghana England Mexico Slovakia Chile Japan Portugal

QUARTERFINALS 2-1 Brazil 1-1 Ghana 0-4 Germany 0-1 Spain SEMIFINALS 2-3 Netherlands 0-1 Spain

THIRD PLACE PLAY OFF Uruguay 2-3 Germany FINAL

64 Sun

11-Jul-10

21:30

Netherlands

0-1

Spain

REACH %

VIEWERS

6.5% 5.7% 3.0% 1.4% 3.4% 1.6% 4.4% 3.1% 1.9% 2.7% 4.9% 1.9% 2.9% 5.4% 2.3% 2.7% 3.8% 3.2% 2.7% 1.7% 2.2% 3.3% 4.7% 2.9% 2.5% 5.1% 2.2% 4.0% 6.8% 2.5% 4.1% 6.6% 5.8% 2.9% 6.0% 8.3% 3.6% 6.2% 11.6% 5.8% 3.4% 4.2% 4.6% 10.0% 9.0% 3.9% 10.2% 2.7%

254,340 224,601 117,963 53,734 132,258 63,449 172,458 120,388 73,841 107,570 191,070 74,663 112,760 211,288 89,432 107,102 148,283 125,800 106,570 66,396 86,568 129,729 183,422 114,223 97,926 201,196 85,230 155,403 266,853 96,952 159,994 257,550 225,515 112,606 236,545 326,069 142,430 241,113 452,700 227,670 131,485 163,570 179,229 393,179 351,400 153,320 398,501 105,761

REACH %

VIEWERS

7.8% 12.1% 11.4% 13.3% 10.3% 18.1% 8.8% 12.9%

303,930 474,479 444,930 521,231 401,937 707,038 345,273 503,507

REACH %

VIEWERS

14.7% 9.7% 13.7% 12.1% REACH %

576,089 380,374 536,108 471,519 VIEWERS

13.7% 20.0%

531,897 783,101

REACH %

VIEWERS

13.9% REACH %

545,733 VIEWERS

17.7%

692,451

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | MARKETING

Good old values

Authenticity and integrity are back in fashion as luxury brands navigate the recession by Rania Habib

“

Mac McClelland. President and CEO of The Luxury Marketing Council

Nicola Giorgi. General manager of Hogan

Pietro Innocenti. General manager of Ferrari in MENA

hat’s in is authenticity; what’s out are superficial, flashy status messages.” That’s according to Youssef Naaman, managing director of atelier in Beirut, a Leo Burnett division specializing in luxury brands. “For consumers, the age of bling and flashy symbols is over,” he says. “It started right before the recession: There was a shift to a more introspective and authentic mood. When the recession hit, it highlighted the need for change even further. We are going back to authenticity, integrity, and to relevance, versus having a superficial status message. Today, consumers need much more justification when making a luxury purchase. It’s true that they still want to communicate status, but through the point of view of integrity.” The recession has left nothing untouched in its wake, not even luxury brands. That which is considered exclusive, special, and expensive, remains so, but 2009 saw a change in even the most untouchable of categories. However, the change has not been drastic – buyers of luxury brands may have altered their spending habits, but they have not stopped spending, and luxury brands have found ways to weather the crisis. Naaman says this return to authencity is crucial to marketing luxury brands during a crisis, and so is telling a brand story. “Today, all successful luxury brands are going back to their stories, because they just cannot communicate superficial messages,” says Naaman.

“The brands that have value and authenticity are going to win in the desire game, and that’s why brands such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes, which are brands that have stories, are authentic, have stuck to their values, and built on their heritage, are able to win today in the market place, unlike other brands that do not have a story.” Nicola Giorgi, worldwide general manager of Hogan, an Italian luxury brand specializing in shoes, says the company’s business grew 7.6 percent in 2009, and that it was its customers who drove the growth. “Our customers are loyal, and they appreciate the fact that we have a good combination: We are fashionable, but we do not change our products rapidly,” says Giorgi. ALWAYS IN. “The product you buy from Hogan doesn’t become obsolete after a season or a year. This was very important during the recession, because customers realized it was no longer the time to buy products that go out of fashion quickly. Customers are looking for quality, something more like an iconic piece that doesn’t go out of style fast. This was the general trend in the luxury business, and brands that were developing fashion products quickly were the ones that ran into problems. For the first time, customers are considering the inner value of products.” At Ferrari, the general manager of MENA, Pietro Innocenti, says the sports car manufacturer

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follows the words of its founder, Enzo Ferrari. “He used to say, ‘We will always produce one car less than the market demands,’” says Innocenti. “Exclusivity is part of our DNA and this has helped, and still helps, our brand to weather the downturns that occur from time to time. Of course, though, exclusivity needs strong foundations, otherwise consumers just opt for something else. Ferrari represents many positive values that make it appealing regardless of the economic trend, and those are: strong technological innovation, beauty of Italian design, the heritage of the brand, and the passion of its people.” One way brands have responded to the crisis is by slashing prices – a not-so-advisable move, according to industry insiders. “You walk through the malls, and everybody has discounted prices right now,” says TB “Mac” McClelland Jr., president and CEO of The Luxury Marketing Council in the Middle East. “Everybody is in sale mode, and that’s different from how it used to be. While consumers might appreciate being able to buy a $5,000 bag for $2,000, prices will still go back up once the crisis is over, and that is going to be difficult. Customers will ask, ‘If you can sell it for $2,000 and make a profit, then why is the price going back up?’” McClelland says consumers dictate the way they will be marketed to. Naaman says the best example of a company that has navigated the crisis successfully by telling a story is Louis Vuitton, with its ongoing “Journey” campaign featuring former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and tennis legend Andre Agassi, among others. “You can see from their sales that Louis Vuitton is doing extremely well,” says Naaman. “Regionally, brands that have handled the crisis well are Aishti and Aizone, brands that we worked on with Tony Salameh, the founder,” he continues. “He is a person who believes in brand-building. The story with Aizone is that the brand is the spokesperson of the younger generation, and so they touch issues that are dear to the heart of that generation, including voting, censorship, and being able to express oneself. It’s a brand that is authentic and true, and not about gratuitous messages and luring people. It’s about engaging consumers and building a rapport. Another huge trend with luxury brands today is brands going back to having an exclusive retail environment, where the brand message can express itself at its fullest, and provide an experience for the customer.” CHERISHED CHECKOUT. Giorgi says point-ofsale is an important aspect of the marketing of the Hogan brand, and it helps make consumers feel cherished. “Our shop is very important,” he says. “Hogan has been in the region for only five years, and we only have one shop in the UAE, so it’s important for us to do everything right. Our merchandising is important, we change our windows often, and the role of the store is important in building a connection with our customers. We know our customers are loyal,

Personal touch. Ferrari likes to have one-to-one relationships with its customers and we like to keep them, and this is paying off, because the awareness of the brand is spreading through word of mouth.” Marketing luxury brands may have typically focused on glossy print ads and extensive public relations activities, but the rise of digital marketing is changing that. “Older generations may want a piece of paper they can hold in their hands, but the younger generations want to look on the Internet quickly, compare, contrast, and make a decision,” says McClelland. “I think that marketing luxury brands is changing, not only because of the economic situation, but because there is so much change in the demographic of who’s going to be shopping.” NEVER ADVERTISE. At Ferrari, Innocenti says the car manufacturer “has never, and will never, use advertising campaigns.” “We rely on one-to-one relationships with our customers,” he says. “Through experiences, we build a strong bond with our clients, who in turn become our best ambassadors. Public relations remains the most important element of our communications strategy.” Innocenti adds that digital has always played a key role for Ferrari, particularly with the advent of social media. “Now that social media is available, we are able to maintain an even closer relationship with our clients and enthusiasts,” he says. “Our portal, Ferrari.com, provides features addressed to both tifosi [fans] and owners, such as the virtual factory tour, direct contact with engineers, and a Web TV channel with the latest news from the track, to name a few.” Hogan has developed a website, Hoganworld.

com (see “Hogan knows best,” page 58, Communicate, September 2009), where clients can experience the brand. “Consumers can register, see what the brand is doing, see images from events, advertising, and backstage shows,” says Giorgi. “It’s a lively place for consumers who aren’t just looking for products, but for engagement.” And while social media – a medium for the masses – may stand in contradiction to luxury’s exclusivity, insiders say social media is as good as any other medium to promote luxury brands, when done properly. “If the consumer says, ‘This is how I want to be marketed to,’ then the brands that respond to that with taste are the ones that will benefit,” says McClelland. Naaman says there is no one way to market luxury brands, and that brands need to do their homework in order to understand consumers’ behavior. “Today, it is about personal relevance, and at the same time creating an experience,” he says. “Brands should be able to identify the most relevant mediums in order to create desire. Depending on the brand, PR can be very important, or print can be extremely important, but also the retail environment is important, and digital is extremely important because it allows brands to tell stories in a relevant manner.” According to optimists, the worst of the economic crisis may be over. Luxury brands may be exclusive enough to capture the hearts of affluent shoppers, but a sound marketing strategy and consideration for the times will determine which brands make it in the long run. “Everything that glitters isn’t gold,” says Naaman. “A brand that wants to build its image needs to clearly differentiate itself from the rest and at the same time not depart from its values.”

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | MARKETING

Luxury in the new world

What matters more to consumers in this post-recession world is richness of experience, and not just products, says The Brand Union’s Michael Hughes

he world has changed since 2008 and the Middle East has not been immune. This used to be one of the fastest growing markets for luxury brands. However, being one of the quickest to grow, it has also suffered one of the most dramatic declines. Prior to the recession, most luxury brands couldn’t keep up with demand. For hotels, restaurants, fashion, cosmetics, and cars, it was the same story: Demand massively outstripped supply. Suddenly, a market that had the means to buy many of these brands shrank significantly. One of the biggest factors is the sudden decline in the ranks of the “super nouveau riche”. What seemed to be an unstoppable rise of those with high disposable incomes and an insatiable appetite for luxury has all but disappeared. The bubble has burst, and not just in the property and financial sectors. Many who were spending well above their means and using luxury brands to display wealth they didn’t have have had to adjust to a major shift in circumstances. For those who still have money to spend, it could be one of the best times to buy, as luxury is now more affordable. This has been evident in ongoing sales. Some of the smarter retailers have even realigned their normal pricing to meet customer expectations. However, the ability to spend is no longer the only barrier, as many people are now driven more by sentiment than actual hardship. In the image-conscious Middle East, attitudes

have started to change. Overt displays of luxury or wealth are no longer essential for social acceptance; in fact, they can even be a turn-off for many. Affluent consumers are curbing their profligate ways to reassess, re-evaluate and reprioritize their lives. Luxury is now much more personal – it is about richness of experience rather than just products. Regardless of wealth, people are now much more conscious about what they spend their disposable income on. Impulse purchasing is now extremely rare. The purchasing process is now much more complex and takes longer, especially for larger investments. Luxury brands have to work much harder to justify the investment, especially if there is a more affordable option.The questions many luxury brand owners have no doubt been asking are: Who actually is our target audience now? Do we understand them? How do we connect with them? What will motivate them to purchase? How do we keep them loyal? Many brand managers have turned to advertisMichael Hughes. Former executive director of strategy at The Brand Union, a branding agency with regional offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

ing and PR, but this is next to useless unless they understand whom they are talking to and why. In many cases, a brand might be hoping that keeping its name in the spotlight will lead to rewards when times improve. However, according to many experts, times have changed. The extravagance of the midnoughties is not coming back any time soon. Affluent consumers are starting to question and challenge the luxury brands of which they were once advocates. The new affluents are redefining, reassessing and re-evaluating their lives. This is happening across different markets and cultures and it will mean a major shift in the way luxury brands market their merchandise in the new economy. Discounts, sales, and other short-term initiatives simply won’t be enough. Once a brand has a true picture of its target audience and its value proposition, a realignment may need to be considered. Careful consideration needs to be given to balance the brand’s heritage and reputation with the changes in the market. Values may need to be more thoughtful, selective, and reframed to sync with new attitudes. The promise may need to be recrafted and then used as a basis to rebuild the entire brand. The process should be based on sound consumer insight on how to reconnect the brand with its core audience. The internal culture needs to be rebuilt and the new brand proposition infused across all touch points to deliver meaningful experiences.

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MARKETING | SEPTEMBER 2010

Telling tales

Luxury brands now require stories that imbue a purchase with greater meaning, stories that resonate with values and experiences

oussef Naaman is managing director of atelier in Beirut, a division of ad agency Leo Burnett specializing in fashion and luxury brands. He shares with Communicate Levant 10 stories brands can tell in their marketing strategy in order to be successful. The stories were identified as part of atelier’s 2010 Luxury Trend Report, “Luxury in a recovering society.” The story of superior performance. Substantiated by how and why it is the best reassures the consumer. The story of sophistication. A subtle language that assures the consumer of a shared taste and aesthetic. The story of craftsmanship. Upheld by expertise, time spent, tradition, and beautiful design. The story of collaboration. Gives a brand an exciting hybrid story, co-opting the creative partner’s brand attributes, for a collective experience. Youssef Naaman. Managing director of atelier

The story of exclusivity. Imbuing an item with a sense of rarity and exception, which justifies the expense.

The story of involvement. The rising demand for bespoke items builds the status and exclusivity of both brand and consumer. The story of innovation. Keeps brands relevant, particularly those with a heritage story; and a really significant innovation can create a luxury brand. The story of heritage. Not just a name and a date of inception, but a proper history, whether a story of longevity or cultural immersion. The story of provenance. If a brand comes from a location famous for that product, that place’s story becomes its own. The story of ethics. A green or fair-trade badge isn’t enough – there must also be an authentic, inspirational, and heartwarming tale. “Luxury in a recovering society,” the 2010 Luxury Trend Report by atelier, a division of Leo Burnett – www.atelier-lb.com

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | DEPARTMENTS

Guest Opinion

Keeping pace

Consumers are changing fast, say Jayant Bhargava, principal at analysis firm Booz & Company, and Karl Nader, a senior associate. But marketers who adapt fast can turn this to their advantage

n the media world, power is shifting to consumers. They are no longer passive recipients of a brand’s message. Instead, they have more sources of information – and more control over how they consume that information – than ever before. They also want to create their own content, and discuss brand preferences in ways that marketers can’t control. Some 20 percent of Twitter posts now mention a brand by name. Above all, consumers are increasingly turning to digital. They use the Web as their main source of information about future purchases. Web sites, search engines, and mobile Web represent three of the top four factors driving the decision to buy, while print and television lag behind. This transition requires a fundamental shift in marketing strategies. Marketers worldwide have responded by allocating marketing budgets away from traditional media such as print and broadcast, and toward digital media, with the goal of creating 360-degree campaigns that can reach potential customers everywhere they go. In America and Europe, marketers are adopting a range of new platforms such as privatelabel media, digital initiatives (often on mobile

devices), social media marketing, online videos, and contests that allow direct, interactive contact with consumers. Instead of simple impressions or clicks, these programs aim to increase engagement and deepen a consumer’s relationship with the brand. Nike, for example, has shifted from straightforward ads centered around the “Just do it” tagline to focus on consumer experiences. It markets Nike Plus, a joint venture with Apple in which consumers post their workout results on Nikeplus.com and compare them with those of professional athletes such as Lance Armstrong and LeBron James. However, even the most sophisticated marketers are struggling to keep up with the accelerating evolution in consumer behavior. Consumers spend more time each day with digital media, yet ad spending on digital platforms has not proportionally caught up. Furthermore, marketing budgets are coming under pressure, and individual campaigns are not delivering the expected response rates, while their net effect is becoming increasingly difficult to define.

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DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

In the Middle East, the transition to digital marketing is even more challenging, because the local market is still centered on traditional media and constrained by a set of factors unique to the region. Regional consumers vary widely by ethnicity, culture, and income level, making large-scale campaigns difficult to tailor. The region also has more than 450 free-toair satellite channels with audience metrics that are relatively unsophisticated and unreliable. Advertising space is still largely sold through media reps (as much as 75 percent of TV time in the region is sold this way), who offer discounts and volume rebates that can vary widely, making the market opaque. As a result of these factors, ad spend per capita in the region remains low for traditional and digital media alike. The confluence of these trends presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The time has come for marketers here to frame a unique perspective on the market’s sweet spots, and designate their marketing spend accordingly. Three initiatives can help: First, marketers should allocate more money to digital efforts; second, they should apply more science and sophistication to evaluating their marketing effectiveness; third, they should expand their relationships and work with a broader set of partners who have expertise in specific areas. breathtaking speed. The consumer shift from traditional platforms to digital, interactive technologies continues to take place at breathtaking speed. Jeeran’s social networking community has 1 million active users, 650,000 Web sites, and 120,000 blogs. The number of Middle East visitors to Facebook increased from 3 million to 15 million in just one year. Because of these factors, digital media will only become more relevant in the coming years. In fact, digital marketing offers MENA marketing executives a way to circumvent many of the issues surrounding traditional media. Digital campaigns are more targeted, interactive, and measurable, giving marketers far more information on consumer preferences and brand penetration. That information allows them to build more direct connections with consumers, often by cutting out media agencies and talking directly to customers through “private-label media.” Moreover, mobile is beginning to gain recognition as a mainstream advertising platform. For example, in the US, Kraft’s in-house smartphone application, called iFood, is among the most frequently downloaded apps for iPhone users. This is a concept that Middle East marketers need to explore. MARKETING AS SCIENCE. In the current environment, the ability to measure marketing effectiveness is paramount. Chief marketing officers need to focus their resources where they can make the biggest difference, and make more accurate sales

karl nader and Jayant Bhargava. Transition to digital media has upended the traditional model predictions by addressing five key questions: What promotions and media platform will optimize profitability? What elements of this new platform are known to work, and which need to be tested? How does the business move to this platform quickly, maximizing the benefits while minimizing sales and profit risks? How does the business use the new insight to improve budgeting and planning? What is the impact on company profits? A key part of this approach is understanding the impact and return on investment of the marketing spend, by using econometric analysis and modeling to figure out which factors are influencing customers’ purchases. Implementing this analytical approach can be a challenge in the Middle East, largely due to problems with data availability and consistency. In these situations, marketers can use a more qualitative approach such as the relative return index (RRI), particularly for analyzing abovethe-line marketing spend. RRI requires periodic consumer surveys, and, because it’s qualitative, is subject to judgment and interpretation. These elements make it most applicable to the planning phase of marketing functions. NEW RELATIONSHIPS. Because the marketing world is in such flux right now, it’s no longer realistic for a marketer to outsource all of its marketing needs to a single ad agency – or to any single partner. The various ways of reaching consumers (digital, mobile, leveraging user-generated

content, traditional media) all require different kinds of expertise, at a time when technologies are evolving rapidly. As a result, marketers may need to work with a more complex set of partners to optimize their strategies. In some cases, this may even include taking agencies out of the equation and partnering directly with media companies. For example, in the US, tech firm HewlettPackard recently worked with MTV Networks on a reality show that aired on television and online. The show, Engine Room, followed 16 digital artists as they competed for $400,000 in prize money and the chance to program the giant MTV screen in New York City’s Times Square for one night. HP underwrote the show and provided all the computer hardware for the designers. It was an extremely effective way to increase HP’s brand presence. In conclusion, the transition to digital media has upended the traditional model of marketing, but the proper response isn’t merely to get everything online as quickly as possible. Instead, digital media makes up just one part of a successful marketing strategy. Equally important for marketers are the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of specific efforts (in both traditional and digital media) and the formation of a broader network of partnerships. Power may be shifting to consumers, but marketers can use this shift to their advantage by ensuring they reach those consumers in compelling, effective ways, through a variety of media formats.

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | DEPARTMENTS

Q&A

Great expectations

Al Bank Wal Mustathmer’s Nahla Al Namly on how a new law can help Syria’s advertising scene mature by Nathalie Bontems Nahla Al Namly, editor-in-chief and general manager of Al Bank Wal Mustathmer, a pan-Arab economical monthly, tells Communicate Levant what’s to be expected from the first Syrian advertising conference, scheduled for September 28 and 29, which she is helping to organize.

nahla al namly. Editor-in-chief and general manager of Al Bank Wal Mustathmer

How was the idea of the conference conceived? I’ve been organizing conferences in Syria since 2000, initially on private banking, in partnership with the Syrian Central Bank. Eight months ago, Majed Halimeh, the general manager of the Arab Advertising Organization [AAO, a Syrian public authority on advertising and communication, set up under the umbrella of the Ministry of Information], first suggested to me the idea of this conference.

The event was supposed to coincide with the issuance of a new law on advertising in Syria (see next page). Al Bank Wal Mustathmer and AAO are organizing the conference, and Syrian advertising agencies are sponsoring it. What are the conference’s main aims? Firstly, to promote Syria and to make everyone aware of the changes that are going to take place. Secondly, to give exposure to the Syrian industry by bringing in outside players. The local industry isn’t organized. Companies that are supposed to be creative agencies actually do everything, from PR to strategic planning. There are no media reps. The conference’s aim is to pave the way for a more professional and organized business environment. It will be held on an annual basis.

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DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

What topics will the conference focus on? We will first discuss the issue of newspapers in Syria, mostly with Martha Stone, from the Paris-based World Association of Newspapers. There are four newspapers in Syria. Three of them – Al Ba’ath, Al Thawra, and Tishreen – are state-owned, and one – Al Watan – is privately owned. They are all outdated. We will see how to update and modernize them, and how to improve their marketing techniques. These newspapers generate enough advertising revenues to support themselves, but what they offer simply doesn’t match demand. With a total of only six or seven pages per day per newspaper, there’s no room for much advertising. Many companies – private banks, insurance firms, financial institutions – have been investing heavily in Syria lately and would like to advertise more. They just don’t have a place to do it. What about the Internet? The number of Syrian websites is increasing, and for the past two years, infrastructure has improved radically. However, Syria lacks specialized websites and an adequate framework. There are no rules and no knowledge of how to manage advertising – let alone on the Web. The market is very chaotic. How much data is available on the Syrian advertising and media market? Very little, actually. There are neither research institutes nor reliable stats. That’s common across the region, but in Syria things are worse. The only reliable resource is the AAO’s website, which was revamped about a year ago and features in detail the market’s ad spend – since every advert has to go through them. It’s transparent. The new law’s text is also available there. There’s a plan to get an international research company, such as PARC, to come and work here. Everybody knows that without such studies, the media has no credibility. Outdoor holds a prominent place in the conference program too. Outdoor is Syria’s most important media. That’s

What are the main constraints on growth in the Syrian market? The old law simply isn’t suited to the modern world. It addresses the older generations. Similarly, when large advertising networks such as Impact BBDO and JWT expand to Syria, mostly in pursuit of major clients who are established here, the market has no choice but to open up. The legislation must support this evolution. The fact that the government came up with the idea of the conference shows that a real dialogue is being put in place. I believe that our hopes and efforts will be rewarded. The Syrian authorities are easing control bit-by-bit. That’s what has been happening since Bashar El Assad became president in 2000.

MEAGRE OFFERINGS. There are currently four Arabic newspapers in Syria where most advertising money is spent. Even the AAO owns billboards, apart from the dozens of existing private suppliers – many of whom don’t really work for lack of opportunities. No wonder the new law has a strong focus on outdoor, because that’s where the need for more organization is most evident. All billboards are occupied at least 80 percent of the time, but that’s only due to lack of other options. Syrian outdoor media needs to improve its standards. There’s room for growth in outdoor, particularly since any new company is required by law to keep aside a minimum amount for advertising in various media, including outdoor. Is television also in need of major change? Clearly, and that’s in store. There are three state-owned TV stations in Syria, and the government will soon launch a new news channel. TV audience rates are surprisingly good, considering that every Syrian household has access to foreign satellite stations. But still, television comes third in terms of ad spend, except during Ramadan. Obviously, the stations need to be revamped. They look out of date. This is under study. It should start by early 2011. The audience is ready and is mature enough for something

more modern. Consumers are asking for it, and advertisers are asking for it as well. Today, we are all aware of Syria’s potential and its needs. The AAO is still relevant. But it shouldn’t slow down work and, more importantly, it shouldn’t scare away investors. But we’re getting there. Today, nobody can afford not to expand to the Syrian market. It is booming. What the new law will change The old law goes back to 1946. It stipulates that the AAO is responsible for all advertising in Syria. The AAO takes a 20 percent commission on all ad sales (which are already taxed quite heavily), and has a say on every advert. The new law was made public a few months ago, but the parliament hasn’t approved it yet. The industry has been waiting for it for a year. The industry hopes it will liberalize the market and open it to new players. For example, the new law states that joint ventures between the AAO and foreign companies will be authorized, which will allow outside firms to do business in Syria. This could help reassure potential investors who do not like the current system.

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Guest Review

An over-caffeinated ad A badly planned visual ruins an inspired slogan, says Tarek Joseph Chemaly, a former lecturer at the Academie Libanaise Des Beaux Arts (ALBA)

f a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Café Super Brasil has posed a similar philosophical riddle with its latest advert, which has the subhead, “Since 1970, you have been our only advertising.” The low-key execution of the advert, found in only a few stores in the form of a poster, drew my attention to its brilliance, which, alas, only pointed more blatantly to its defects. In recent memory, few advertising lines have been so interesting: “Shaffe bitkhabber shaffe” means both “a lip tells another” and “a cup tells another,” as the word “shaffe” means both in Arabic. In the subhead, Café Super Brasil emphasizes that its customers have been its raison d’etre since 1970, and that the company has been able to remain in the market and continue from strength to strength by sheer word of mouth. In an era when text messaging, tweeting, and citizen journalism can make or break a movie, brand, or product, this is a bold line to take. But why does the advert fail so miserably despite the great positioning, concept, and copywriting? The reason is simple: The visual is irredeemable. What on earth were they thinking when they included this primitive communication device? Is it a literal translation of a cup spreading the message to another? It is a well-known creative rule that what one mentions in the copywriting, one does not transfer to the visual – unless, of course, you want to make a bad advert. In the advertising equation, one variable is held steady while the other is tweaked. In this case, after coming up with a brilliant concept, one would have wanted the visual to add another layer and bring the ad forward, rather than dumb it down to the point of destroying it. What would I have done, had I come up with such a great slogan? I would have photographed a porcelain cup in a way that its border would have made a lower lip, and then taken photos of the cup in a different inverted position to make an upper lip as well. Alternatively, I might have painted a pair of lips with the same motif that adorns our traditional cups, in order to get the visual to express something more than what the copy already did. It is a pity that such a great ad ended up like this. Those who made it were probably over-caffeinated.

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DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

Guest Review

Handled with care Pierre Salloum’s movie for charity institution Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya is nothing short of a masterpiece, says Tarek Joseph Chemaly, a former lecturer at the Academie Libanaise Des Beaux Arts (ALBA)

amadan is a nightmare for admen. When charity clients approach us during this period, they tend to ask for run-of-the-mill stuff – the visual equivalent of elevator music. But director Pierre Salloum’s movie for charity institution Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya’s Ramadan campaign is nothing short of a masterpiece. Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya offers shelter to the old and the disabled in Beirut. The film tells the story of Bassem, a young man majoring in petrochemicals in Houston, who comes back to Beirut to seek the blessing of his grandfather, Abou Omar, after getting engaged in the States to a girl named Amal. The first part of the movie sees Bassem confronted with the chaos of Beirut. But throughout, he remembers everything his grandfather – who lives at the shelter – always told him about the city, and its street vendors selling lemonade in the summer and hot peanuts in winter. But Bassem finds nothing of the old Beirut, and is disappointed. One of the major strengths of the movie is how Salloum manages to keep the pace of the story and at the same time shows other attributes. Bassem is greeted upon his arrival by a veiled woman who, while leading him to his grandfather’s room, tells him why the facility is called a hospital, and informs him about the out-patient clinic, which caters to 8,000 people a year (his original question is: “Are these people all visitors?”). When Bassem is told about the number of nurses on duty, the picture focuses on the foreground on an elderly woman in a wheelchair being pushed toward a special lift by one of these dedicated nurses.

The encounter between Bassem and his grandfather is impeccably filmed: Abou Omar, having had his hair combed in the morning by an attendant, is given a mirror. The reflection gives way to Omar and his recording camera. It takes courage to apply an Almodovar style image to a corporate movie. Salloum is exceptionally well served by his actors: Bassem is the epitome of a young man out on a mission to give his grandfather a dignified life (to which Abou Omar answers, “Oh, and you think your father doesn’t want me to have such a life?”), and Abou Omar, a Beiruti to the bone, has to simply fall back on his original character to excel in his role. Salloum and Hanna Khoury wrote the lines that Abou Omar utters in colloquial Arabic. At one point, when Fayyad from the laundry unit brings Abou Omar his clothes pressed the way he likes them, the latter says: “Oof oof ya Fayyad, ghasilak kello bayad” (“Fayyad, Fayyad, your laundry comes out all white”). Asked how he is feeling, he replies: “Nemer bas bi e7” (“A tiger, but he coughs”). And that famous proverb is repeated throughout the movie: “Min barra rkhem bas min jouwwa skhem” (“From the outside it is as white as marble, from the inside it is as black as old meat”). The movie ends with Abou Omar agreeing that Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya is “min barra rkhem wou min jouwwa rkhem” (“marble inside out”). He even tells the night nurse who tucks him to bed to give the suitcase that Bassem brought for his eventual check-out to someone else. Only then does he deliver the final verdict: “Me, I am staying here.”

tarek joseph chemaly

helping hand. Dar Al Ajaza Al Islamiya offers shelter to the elderly and the disabled in Beirut

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Blogosphere L

ebanon’s blogosphere is probably one of the most vibrant digital scenes in the region. Lebanese bloggers are many, dedicated, and very, very outspoken. Agencies are now turning to social media and online communities, listening intently to this direct feedback on how they are perceived. Here is what increasingly influential Lebanese bloggers – inside and outside our borders – have to say about local work and news.

They’re lisTening, and waTching. Are you in the mood for pages of ranting against the BlackBerry ban in the UAE and Saudi Arabia? Have a look at the Lebanese blogosphere this month. Lebanese bloggers have been heavily criticizing this move taken by various Arab countries, fearing it will soon expand to Lebanon. However, bits and pieces of many other different topics are still to be found (including politics, which generated many lengthy online discussions. But forgive us for not wanting to get into that here). Take a look.

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Blogger Archangelus came up with a bit of poetry that’s of interest to us because of its typically Lebanese ring. Stumbling upon a piece written in English, French and Arabic – and that rhymes – is nothing short of a home-made miracle. h t t p : / / s c h i z o l a x - 1 0 m g. blogspot.com/

On Snapshot Scenes, blogger Celine demonstrates, with pictures to back up her story, that even though garbage disposal company Sukleen tried to make a difference and revamp its image with a new logo, Sukleen will always be Sukleen. http://snapshotscenes. blogspot.com/2010/07/ sukleen-story.html

Joe’s Box does it again. This anonymous blogger specializes in nailing copycats, and this one kills two birds with one stone: two ads scamming the same concept simultaneously. “Is it a coincidence?” the blogger wonders. http://jobox.blogspot. com/2010/08/naked-truth.html

Getting down to business, collective blog The Maniachis tells you all you need to know about the Developers’ Forum held by Nokia Levant on August 4, in case you missed it. “‘Nokia connecting people’ was proven once again after Wednesday,” they say. http://maniachi.com/2010/08/09/ nokia-developers-forumopportunities-for-developers/

Identity Chef features a guest writer, art director Gabriel Ghali, who details the creativity (or lack thereof) displayed on Ramadan corporate greeting cards. “I view this period as a form of advertising the Islamic world brand,” says Ghali. h t t p : / / t h e i d e n t i t y c h e f. com/2010/08/11/displayingramadan-guest-post-bygabriel-ghali/

Since it is Ramadan after all, blogger Rami joins the chorus of best wishes by posting his favorite Ramadan ads, from Zain Telecom. http://www.plus961. com/2010/08/10/ramadankareem-2/

DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

Media Work

Batelco’s “Debate the Game” Bahraini telecom provider Batelco got into the spirit of consumer-generated content and drove conversations over this summer’s football World Cup by running a “Debate the Game” initiative throughout the country. A simple red-and-white booth held two microphones, two chairs, and an open platform to discuss, analyze, and debate team selections, refereeing decisions and the games themselves.

The booth was situated at different venues for different games. A “pulsating” conversations between opposing fans ensued, says Fortune Promoseven (FP7), the communications agency behind the campaign. “They say more human emotions come alive during 90 minutes of football than during an entire lifetime,” says a statement from FP7. “Scenes of ecstasy, anger, sarcasm, joy, despair, and even pure magic were witnessed.

Adults jumped like kids, friends became rivals, and fans sometimes had to be physically separated.” Batelco published videos of the booth to its Facebook and YouTube pages, and won itself almost 3,000 friends in a fortnight, with 1,800 interactions (such as video comments, photo comments, and wall posts) each week. The YouTube channel got more than 6,300 hits, and local print media and radio gave

Debate the Game coverage. Bahrain’s largest cinema showed Batelco video clips around its screenings of the World Cup games. FP7 says that Batelco’s sales, including its broadband, post-paid billing, and BlackBerry services, doubled. The agency says, “Take one look at facebook.com/batelco and you’ll see the celebration of the spirit of the game itself with one simple idea. There’s no debating that.”

Tang’s Human Vending Machine: The contraption spoke to people and handed out cups of Tang in Dubai’s Mirdiff City Center mall

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | DEPARTMENTS

Regional Work

Client: Kurban Travel. Agency: Spirit. Location: Lebanon. Creative Director: Maya Saab. Art Director: Olga Salman

Turn everyday shopping into fantastic rewards. Client: Air Miles. Creative Agency: Atom. Creative Director: Duncan Clark. Art Director: Milan Far. Account Manger: Eve Brennan

Fight for better working conditions. Advertising Agency: Sandpaper Middle East, Dubai. Creative Director:Peter Caush. Art Director: Peter Caush. Creative Director: Abraham Quintana Copywriter: Tim Derry. Photographer: Suresh Subramanian These ads (and more) can be found at adsoftheworld.com

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DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

Regional Work

Client: Mobily. Agency: Impact BBD KSA. Production Co: Déjà vu. Post Production: Optix Digital Pictures Dubai. Producer: Andreea Gurbina. Art Director: Amin Faramarzeyan. 3D Animation: Nicholas King, Geoffrey Dela Cru.

Client: BMW Egypt. Agency: Marcom, Egypt. Creative Director: Tamer Serag El Din. Associate Creative Director: Karim A. Yusuf. Copywriter: Nada Hesham. Art Director: Ramy Abd El Azim. Graphic Designer: Ayman S. Anwar. Animation: Ayman S. Anwar. Sound Editor: Omar El Abd. Editor: Hesham Belal. Account Manager: Rania El Kest. Account Executive: Mohamed El Sharawy.

These ads (and more) can be found at adsoftheworld.com

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International Work

McDonald’s: MacFries pedestrian crossing. Advertising Agency: TBWA Switzerland. Creative Directors: Michael Kathe, Martin Friedlin. Copywriter: Michael Kathe. Art Director: Dominique Magnusson

150th anniversary of Cologne Zoo Advertising Agency: Preuss und Preuss, Berlin, Germany. Creative Director: Michael Preuss. Art Director: Zuzana Havelcova.

Who had no color, now can have 7. Advertising Agency: Neogama/BBH, Brazil. Chief Creative Officer: Alexandre Gama. Executive Creative Director: Alexandre Gama. Creative Directors: Márcio Ribas, Wilson Mateos. Art Directors: Paulo Lemos, Fábio Astolpho. Copywriter: Eduardo Andrietta

These ads (and more) can be found at adsoftheworld.com

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DEPARTMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2010

International Work

My world. My way. Allen Solly Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore, India. Creative Directors: Vipul Thakkar, Shamik Sengupta. Art Directors: Ajesh N, Sangeeta Shirali. Copywriter: Kunj Shah. Photographer: Abhitabh Kame. Illustrator: Nitin Rao Kumblekar

Liberation! Happy Women’s Day guys. The Axe Effect. Advertising Agency: Lowe Bull, Johannesburg, South Africa. Creative Director: Rui Alves. Art Director: Heidi Kasselman. Copywriter: Lee Naidoo. Photographer: Des Ellis.

We made loggers cool. You’ll be a snap. Advertising Agency: Rethink, Vancouver, Canada. Creative Directors: Ian Grais, Chris Staples. Art Director: Carson Ting. Copywriter: Rob Tarry.

These ads (and more) can be found at adsoftheworld.com

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SEPTEMBER 2010 | departments

Drive By One anonymous blogger critiques Beirut’s billboards. All these examples and more can be found at beirutdriveby.blogspot.com

ice ice baby Sometimes it’s not just your head that has a hangover.

Pick Me Please, pretty please…

Exception To The Rule “Wasta” [string-pulling] may not be required at this bank, but you’ll need it everywhere else. I might know someone…

Takin’ It To The Streets What? Billboard space is too crowded? Well, so are our streets.

Training Day Next you can “play” wash the balcony, “play” hang out the laundry, “play” sweep the floors, “play” clean the toilet, “play” wash the dishes and, if you’re very good, you can “play” iron the clothes… Don’t forget to take out the trash… It’s so much fun.

Let There Be Light Is this what “Go green” means?

50 I Communicate

00-CLV06-Drive by.indd 50

8/26/10 11:15 AM

www.menacristal.com 31 Jan. / 4 Feb. 2011 - Mzaar Kfardebian, Lebanon

Call for entries!

Competitions are open for the MENA Cristal Festival Enter your best campaigns to the “Cristal”

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