Communicate Levant | October 2011 by MediaquestCorp.

Levant Edition • The marketing and advertising resource • October 2011 • Issue N°18 • communicatelevant.com.lb

Prepare to plug in: Patrick Attallah explains how to apply SWOT to social Page 30

OPINION Truth be told In this month’s Communiquestion, we ask the industry: What’s the worst lie you’ve told? See who once declared their love to a journalist, who claims they have never told a lie, and who’s a little more honest. (Page 18)

Planning in pods: Avi Bhojani’s BPG plans restructure, with new dedicated units Page 15

Antonio Vincenti’s Pikasso outdoor company receives NGO Page 10 recognition

BAD AD BAN

DIGITAL Twitter after Tahrir The Egyptian revolution at the start of this year not only deposed Egypt’s old government, but shook up the country’s old ways of advertising too. Never has social media had such a leg up. But what comes next for the nascent media? (Page 34)

MEDIA The other way Mounir Nabti and Dima Saber, the pair behind online community Hibr, are developing a tech entrepreneurship space, AltCity, in Lebanon. With cafés, offices and shared space, could this kick start a new Silicon Valley? (Page 36)

CAMPAIGN Production cycle

We examine new legislation against tobacco advertising, and revisit an old law against pushing drugs (Page 41) Cover Image: Getty Images

MediaquestCorp 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

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR | OCTOBER 2011

Fire without smoke I

’ve never been the quote guide type but once in a while, a nugget of wisdom sticks to my head, matching perfectly my ongoing state of mind. For a while, it was Nietsche’s famous “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” More recently, I have found that “Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind” (sorry, I don’t remember who said that) is also fitting. When you raise children, when you love someone, when you manage people… being Mr. Nice guy (or Mrs for that matter) simply doesn’t work sometimes. It is true as well of governments, when they have to enforce unpopular measures. About road safety, for example. Or corruption. Or smoking in public places. This last issue, public smoking is at the core of our cover story this month, as you will see on page 20. We won’t discuss the smoking ban itself, but the part of the law banning advertising of tobacco products seems relevant to Communicate Levant. It got us to wonder how advertisers will manage without this big chunk of advertisings bucks. It also led us to enquire about another industry forbidden from advertising its products: the medical drugs trade. So how is this going

to work? And are these ad bans the right way to go at it, while in Lebanon, the price of a pack of cigarettes remains one of the lowest in the world and while you can buy whatever medication you choose without anyone in a pharmacy asking for a doctor’s prescription? Is it another case of a typically Lebanese case of do-whatever-you-like-aslong-as-it-remains-behindclosed-doors”? Because you know how it is: Usually, the more you forbid people from doing something that they are not convinced to give up, the more they’ll tend to find alternative ways to do it. Any parent will tell you about this typical human trait. It’s called the pleasure of transgression. In fact, when smoking – as long as other types of abusive substances such as booze – is involved, things may even get worse, or so several studies have shown. Branding expert and author of Buyology Martin Lindstrom goes so far as to say that graphic warnings have the reverse effect. According to him, not only do these warnings have no effect on smokers – none, zero, nada – but they even reinforce the smoke craving, turning it into

a rebellious gesture. Don’t get me wrong, I agree that smoking is definitely a (self-) destructive habit, hurting not only the addict but also the people around him or her. And with 65 percent of boys between 13 and 15 already smoking in our country, this issue needs to be tackled urgently. And nobody, either in Lebanon or elsewhere, has a definite answer on how to achieve the best results, unfortunately. Banning smoking in public indoor space is a good place to start without a doubt, if it’s really enforced (and somehow I have a hard time picturing public servants in certain administrations abiding by this). But banning advertising while keeping a pack of cancer sticks – or coffin nails (you gotta love the poetry) – at LBP 2,000 just seems a bit hypocritical. So I don’t know about you, but I won’t hold my breath. Instead, I’ll go buy another pack of effervescent Vitamin C tablets, although these are also banned from being advertised. They taste really good with my morning cigarette.

Nathalie Bontems, editor editor@communicatelevant.com

Communicate Levant I 3

Contents

OCTOBER 2011 | CONTENTS

COVER: Behind the bans 20

We ask tobacco and medical firms how they manage – or plan to – their communication despite the bans that affect their respective fields Smoke free: Most tobacco firms have already implemented strict restrictions to their brand communication, so is it going to be business as usual once the ban on advertising tobacco products is enforced? Med talk: Advertising supposedly benign products such as vitamin C and aspirin is forbidden in Lebanon, but how do drug firms circumvent such drastic limitations?

15 16

Agencies. BPG to restructure, with focus on pods and procurement Digital. Yahoo fires CEO Carol Bartz

THE COMMUNIQUESTION 18

We ask the industry: What’s the worst lie you’ve told?

FEATURES 30 34

Web Wisdom. 90:10 Group Middle East’s CEO Patrick Attallah on how to know if your company is ready to embrace social media Digital. Digital (r)evolution: Can Egypt’s political events lead to a digital communication revolution? Media. Tech it further: New experimental space AltCity plans to become an alternative media incubator

NEWS

DEPARTMENTS

10 14

Advertising. The names and ideas of the Nokia Communicontest are unveiled Media. Lebanon directory Yellow Pages celebrates 15th anniversary with new initiatives Media. Outdoor supplier Pikasso honored by NGO for commitment to public interest Television. FIC launches new channel for men

38 39 42

Blogosphere. What the Web is saying Work. Selections from the regional and international creative scenes Drive-by. One blogger’s take on Beirut’s billboards

OCTOBER 2011 Medialeader SAL, Kaline Center, 9th floor, Fouad Chehab boulevard, Sin el Fil, Beirut, Lebanon, Tel: (961) 1 492 801/2/3

CO-CEO Alexandre Hawari CO-CEO Julien Hawari MANAGING DIRECTOR Ayman Haydar CFO Abdul Rahman Siddiqui REGIONAL DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Bassel Komaty CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aziz Kamel ONLINE DIRECTOR Rony Nassour HEAD OF CIRCULATION Harish Raghavan, h.raghavan@mediaquestcorp.com MARKETING MANAGER Maya Kerbage, m.kerbage@mediaquestcorp.com COUNTRY MANAGERS Lebanon:

Nathalie Bontems, nathalie@mediaquestcorp.com, (961) 1 492801/2/3 KSA: Walid Ramadan, walid@mediaquestcorp.com, Tel: (966) 1 4194061 North Africa: Adil Abdel Wahab, adel@medialeader.biz, Tel: (213) 661 562 660

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FOUNDER Yasser Hawari MANAGING DIRECTOR Julien Hawari EDITOR Nathalie Bontems MANAGING EDITOR Austyn Allison GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Siobhan Adams SENIOR SUB EDITOR Elizabeth McGlynn CONTRIBUTORS Ibrahim Nehme CREATIVE DIRECTOR Aziz Kamel ART DIRECTOR Sheela Jeevan ART CONTRIBUTORS Aya Farhat, Jean Christophe Nys 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, Al Thuraya 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 WEBSITE www.communicatelevant.com.lb

OCTOBER 2011 | REGIONAL NEWS

Nokia Communicontest’s winners unveiled

Beirut. Nokia Levant announced the names of the winners of its mobile application competition, launched in partnership with Communicate Levant. Rola Makki won the Nokia E6 smart phone; her submission was about an application finding links to download a song just by entering its name. Vera Mrad won the Nokia X7 for  I MARKETING El Rancho organized second edition of rodeo and festival Keserwan. For 10 days in August and September, El Rancho (which defines itself as a bio touristic resort) held its second edition of the Cedar Stampede Rodeo &Wild West Festival 2011. The event is allegedly the only competition in the Middle East that includes bull riding as the main attraction, and features equestrian games such as team penning, steer stopping, barrel racing, pole bending, mounted shooting and team roping on top of various Western animations. A fashion show and a battle of the bands night were also part of this program. The fashion event combined El Rancho’s new woman western fashion line “R” Squared Boutique, created by Rita Naimeh and Raya Farhat and outdoor outfits from Mike Sports. It was sponsored by Enologia and Fashion Vodka.

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her application idea, whereby the app would be developed in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and any citizen could contact the departments within the ministry handling claims against corruption attempts, road perils, beatings, and so on, and inform them of what happened in real time. Lily Kfoury won the Nokia E7 for her tongue-in-cheek submission:

the “Lebanize your girlfriend” app which would allow the user to inject botox or perform virtual surgery on pictures of women in order to “make a normal girl look ‘Lebanized’,” she says. Congratulations to the winners. They can pass by the Nokia Levant offices in downtown Beirut to pick up their gifts.

 I ADVERTISING JWT Cairo’s campaign for the Egyptian Tourist Authority awarded Cairo. JWT Cairo’s campaign for Egypt’s Tourism Authority was declared Africa’s Leading Marketing Campaign 2011 at the World Travel Awards Africa and Indian Ocean held in mid-September in Sharm el Sheikh. On a separate note, JWT has globally launched a Facebook initiative since end-June: the JWT Vintage Facebook page features every week work from the good old days. Mondays is global JWT Vintage work while Wednesdays is JWT MENA Vintage work. On Fridays, JWT MENA posts new work. TBWA\Rizk sets Twix musical activations Beirut. TBWA\Rizk launched a series of activation for its Twix brand in June. Building on the brand promise, Twix promoters were positioned at the doors of the Beirut Music and Art Festival inviting people to take a “pause” with Twix, in order to enhance on the break anytime during the day, while the agency organized public performances from various artists such as Michelle & Noel Keserwany, Rayess Bek and Band Jaze, Natasha Atlas and Soumaya Baalbaki, Tania Kassis and Marcel Khalifeh. All performances took places between June 3rd and June 11th at Beirut Souks Outdoors and the Beirut Waterfront. On June 18th, a Twix marching band marched down Hamra and Bliss streets, offering Twix treats to people passing by and to the the crowd.

 I MARKETING BBAC and the Social Work League announce new education initiative

Beirut. The Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries (BBAC) and the Social Work League, an NGO

OCTOBER 2011 | REGIONAL NEWS

Yellow Pages celebrates 15th anniversary

Continued from page 6 encouraging university education, have signed a cooperation protocol aiming at facilitating university funding for Lebanese students in need of financial assistance. The initiative provides soft loans enabling students to cover their tuition fees at zero interest rate during their entire study period at the university, with a repayment period of up to 10 years starting one year from the student’s graduation date at an annual interest rate of 3 percent. First Nespresso personalized service boutique opens in the Middle East

Beirut. To mark its 15th anniversary, Yellow Pages Lebanon is revamping its products and launching new ones. While the Yellow Pages directory was released earlier this year, its website was transformed into a search portal through the addition of a search engine, and a mobile application will be launched alongside. A new lifestyle directory, Yep, was also launched as a complementary guide to the main publication,

and will be produced according to a series of themes, starting with a first edition dedicated to tourism and beauty, including medical tourism. The guide will serve “the tourism plus the medical tourism industries, and supports all the professionals in these fields by offering them the opportunity to be differentiated and easily recognized by interested and ready-to-buy customers,” reads a statement.

In partnership with branding agency Spider Monkey, Yellow Pages Lebanon also launched a multimedia campaign under the theme “Ask the naïve questions”, in line with its new slogan “Keep a curious mind”. The aim is to invite people to be curious and seek information instead of just looking for an address and a phone number. The campaign includes a TVC produced by new production house Production 64.

 I MARKETING

relationship with the local media and journalists. The winners of the Korean Media Trip competition, launched in July as part of the LG Media Club, were announced the same night. Samar Abdul karim, brand marketing country manager for LGE Lebanon, also announced that “later this year, we’ll be selecting the final members

of our exclusive Media Club, and these competitions give LG an opportunity to evaluate the dedication and contribution of the media before making our final decision. Being a member of the Club is very rewarding in terms of offering each member insightful interactions, exchange of experiences and fun activities, as well as attractive incentives from LG.”

LG hosts special iftar dinner for media Beirut. LG Electronics, the consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances manufacturer, hosted a special Iftar dinner for local media representatives at the end of August, as part of its commitment to strengthening the company’s  I MARKETING ESA celebrates 15th anniversary Beirut. The Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (ESA) organized a gala dinner on September 16 to celebrate its 15th anniversary and to “express ESA’s gratitude to its founding members, strategic partners and staff for their support over 15 years,” says a statement. A roundtable entitled “Lebanon as a platform for investigation and analysis: a researcher and a leader examine a specific and unique country” was also organized the same day.

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Beirut. Portioned coffee brand Nespresso opened a new boutique at the ABC Achrafieh mall. The new personalized retail concept will replace the brand’s existing boutique located in the same mall. “As exclusive distributor for Nespresso brand in Lebanon, we take pride in being the first to launch the new concept of Nespresso boutique in the Middle East,” said Jean Zoghzoghi, general manager of Dima SAL, which distributes the brand. The new boutique is divided into specific areas, such as the “Discovery and Collection walls” and the “Coffee Room”. Nissan teams up with Star Academy for soundtrack

Beirut. Nissan Middle East has joined with LBC Sat’s pan-Arab reality TV show Star Academy to create a soundtrack for the Nissan Juke TV commercial, advertising its new SUV launched in August and aimed at a young market. The automotive brand approached the top eight students at the TV show’s eighth season, requesting them to compete to create a musical soundtrack using Nissan Juke parts. The winner, Gilbert Simon, was announced during the Star Academy final.

OCTOBER 2011 | REGIONAL NEWS

NGO rewards Pikasso

Continued from page 8 The same application that was given to the Star Academy contestants is now available on Facebook for users to create their own tracks. The track with the most likes will compete with the one created by Simon, with a final vote determining the official soundtrack for the Juke TV commercial.  I ONLINE

Beirut. The Kunhadi NGO, which works on improving driving in Lebanon, awarded a trophy to Antonio Vincenti, CEO of outdoor supplier Pikasso, for his active contribution to the promotion of road safety. Since its foundation in 1986, Pikasso has been offering billboards to governmental institutions and NGOs that develop awareness and public interest campaigns. Through this commitment, that culminated in 2002 with the signature of the first agreement between a Lebanese enterprise and the Minister

of State for Administrative Reform for a donation of 5,000 billboards, Pikasso aims to confirm its role as the citizen billposter. “Pikasso, the Citizen Billposter, looks forward to using its medium of free speech to convey social, economical and cultural messages. All those subjects concern society as a whole, and are definitely beneficial,” says a statement from Pikasso. From 1986 till today, 574 free campaigns were posted, with a total number of 105,165 panels for a value of $4.8 million.

According to Vincenti, the role of outdoor advertising is not strictly commercial, but can also be seen as an essential element in supporting great causes or public interest campaigns. “Those billboards put at the disposal of the associations and NGOs allow them to promote their activities and their prevention campaigns and also help them collect donations for their survival and especially multiply their notoriety thanks to great visibility on the street,” says the statement.

 I ONLINE

launched a quarterly edition of its annual magazine The Review, that sums up the most prominent events in town across the year. Secondly, two BeirutNightLife TV show and a radio show are now broadcast on MTV and NRJ respectively. Jean Ghalo, Beirutnightlife founder and CEO, also announced

that pingdubai.com, the Dubai version of Beirutnightlife.com, is up and running. “The new night experience of Dubai will cover the best touristic destinations in the cosmopolitan city, presenting a guide to nightlife in Dubai,” said Ghalo. And last, another website, dineoutlebanon.com, is BNL’s new restaurants video guide.

Beirutnightlife.com announces new plans Beirut. Tourism and entertainment Lebanese website Beirutnightlife. com announced new initiatives during an event held in early September at the Grey Hotel: firstly, BNL

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Beirut.com introduces app for Android Beirut. Lebanese entertainment guide website Beirut.com has introduced its app for the Android market. Users with Android devices made by Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and LG can search locations or events within Beirut and, with the help of onboard location services, filter results to those within proximity of the user’s actual location. The content accessible within this app includes detailed information on events, restaurants, nightlife, movies, businesses, in addition to a library of photos and videos collected on a regular basis from around the city. The Beirut.com app is social and interconnected with Facebook and other networks enabling user reviews and shares. MTV launches first mobile phone TV app Beirut. Media Microsoft Liban, Eurisko Mobility and MTV introduced the first mobile TV app in Lebanon, available for free on Windows Phone 7 since August. The MTV app targets local users but also Lebanese expatriates around the globe. The app features live contents from the TV station, along with video on demand and access to archives among other services. Aiming to become interactive, the app will also allow users to upload pictures and video as part of its citizen journalism program “You Report," that will be broadcasted by the station. On the move Sami Sabbagh moved from Vertical Media Services to Starcom Mediavest as Media Executive working on Kraft and Rodeo Drive.

OCTOBER 2011 | REGIONAL NEWS

FIC launches FX ME

 I MEDIA

New offering from Fox International Channels is geared to male audience

Mindshare Bahrain bags Gulf Air account Manama. Media agency Mindshare Bahrain has won Gulf Air’s global account for three years. “Gulf Air is a strategic win for Mindshare Bahrain, but more than that we believe we have the passion, ideas and professional commitment to be true partners in achieving [the airline’s] vision,” says Johnny Khazzoum, managing director of Mindshare Bahrain.  I AGENCIES

Dubai. In September, Fox International Channels (FIC), in partnership with Rotana, launched FX ME, a male-skewed channel and the third free-to-air offering from the News Corporation-owned broadcaster. The channel, which had been broadcasting in a test format over Ramadan, was launched with a marketing push that includes print, online, radio and activation in GCC countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In March this year, FIC transformed its Fox Series channel into the female-oriented Fox. At the time it introduced a dual-audio option, dubbing shows from their original languages (including English, Spanish and Hindi) into Arabic. However, Athreyan Sundararajan, marketing director for FIC MENA, says there

are no plans to do the same with FX in the immediate future. Nor will there be dubbing applied to Fox Movies, the first channel launched by FIC in the MENA region three and a half years ago. FX is present in most international markets, says Sundararajan, adding that it is tailored to each country. The channel’s branding, handled locally by Leo Burnett, works to guidelines set by FIC’s international branding team in Rome. “The idea is that if a guy switches on FX there will always be something great for him on the channel,” says Sundararajan. “It’s as simple as that; it’s a one-stop shop for great male programing.” That programing will include sports shows such as Strike Force,

Monster Knock Out and Prime-time Boxing; first-run series including Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead (season two will be on FX ME in mid-October, mere days after first airing in the US); and the return of The Simpsons, which was dropped from Fox Series when it became Fox. Sundararajan says that now FX is live, we are unlikely to see more free-to-air FIC channels launching in the near future. “We launched three English-language entertainment channels in three and a half years, and that’s a big thing,” he says. “One always wants to launch more channels and to do more, but our current focus will be on the channels’ great potential to be big successes in the region.”

awards, and in the past two years four of those awards were won at Cannes, says JWT in a statement. “Seyoan brings a perfect blend of forward thinking and strong creative

management – not to mention the kind of creativity that made him a highly sought after talent,” says Naja. “I am delighted to have him on board.” Michiel Hofstee, managing director of JWT Dubai, adds, “I am convinced that Seyoan’s entrepreneurial skills and management of big international businesses are the right set of experiences to suit the range of needs in our local and international clients extremely well.”

 I AGENCIES JWT names Seyoan Vela as ECD in Dubai Dubai. JWT MENA has appointed Seyoan Vela as executive creative director of its Dubai office. Vela, 43, reports to Ramsey Naja, chief creative officer of JWT MENA. He joins JWT from Grey Amsterdam where he was executive creative director. During his tenure at Grey Amsterdam, the agency won 12 major

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Impact BBDO wins Playnation, Magic Planet and Ski Dubai Dubai. Following a multi-agency pitch (involving Saatchi & Saatchi, TBWA/ Raad, Face to Face, BPG, Action impact and Spice), Majid Al Futtaim Leisure and Entertainment has appointed Impact BBDO as lead agency to promote three brands: Playnation, Magic Planet and Ski Dubai. This win is Impact BBDO’s second major piece of MAF business following its successful pitch in 2009 for Mirdif City Centre – the biggest opening for a mall in the Middle East. Douglas Palau, vice-president of Impact BBDO, says, “This is a great win. Playnation, Magic Planet and Ski Dubai are exciting brands and the insightful creative that won the pitch was built on strategies honed from BBDO’s worldwide experience on youth brands and our local expertise and understanding. Starcom Dubai wins CSR award Dubai. Media agency Starcom Media Vest Group’s Dubai office has won the CSR award at the Media & Marketing Global Awards 2011 for its work for Kraft’s Philadelphia. It was recognized for the “Philadelphia: spread some inspiration” campaign it did for the cream cheese brand. Also competing in the category were MediaCom International and OMD International, which were “highly commended” for their campaigns for Dulux and Sony, respectively. Bladonmore hires senior consultant Abu Dhabi. Bladonmore, a corporate communications business, has announced the appointment of Ahmad Hammoud as senior consultant in its Abu Dhabi office. Hammoud brings more than 15 years of multi-disciplinary corporate communications experience, is a fluent Arabic speaker and has a strong track

REGIONAL NEWS | OCTOBER 2011

BPG to restructure with focus on pods and procurement

Dubai. Ad agency network BPG is to restructure its Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices with three “pods” in Dubai (including one specializing in public advocacy) and one in Abu Dhabi. Clients will be assigned to a pod, and each pod will comprise approximately 14 or 15 staff from disciplines including account handling, creative and PR. The pods will each be headed by a “coach” and three “captains.” Coaches include the chief operating officers of BPG’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, Nitin Puri and Clark Williams, respectively. The captains will be senior staff now able to take on more responsibility as the coaches are freed up to focus on strategy and training. BPG will also be launching a specialist unit to concentrate on procurement in fields such as print, television production and promotional goods. “One of the performance indicators I’ve put to myself is in the next 12 months we need to have gold standards in supply chain management,” says BPG CEO

Avi Bhojani. “That’s a weakness area of agencies. In today’s context it’s very critical because otherwise procurements of organizations will take over from us. We’re a creative business; we’re hopeless at money management, at negotiations, ad controls that need to be kept. More and more large organizations have started procuring services directly.” BPG’s procurement division will not handle media, but will be similar to the media buying units born of agencies in the early 2000s. “If all you’re doing is using your Rolodex to make your phone calls to your suppliers, then what your suppliers are doing is they are Googling and are procuring from China,” says Bhojani. “So why do you have a layer of middlemen on that? Why can’t you provide that service? If you cut one layer, the chances are you’ve suddenly got between a 5 percent and 7 percent margin. … It’s a low-hanging fruit.” BPG’s procurement department will be headed up by Poonam Waghmode.

Continued from page 14 Arabic speaker and has a strong track record of creating and implementing strategic communications, media relations and marketing programs, a press statement reads. “Ahmad has achieved success both in-house and on the agency side. His thorough knowledge of the Middle East market makes him a natural choice for us,” says Jonty Summers, director and general manager of Bladonmore Middle East. “I am thrilled to be able to draw upon his insights and experience and look forward to introducing him to our Gulf-based clients.” Cheil MENA appoints Milos Ilic as ECD Dubai. Cheil Worldwide MEA regional headquarters has recruited Milos Ilic as executive creative director for the MENA region. Illic, who has joined from TBWA in Dubai, reports to Azmi Yafi, chief operating officer for Cheil Worldwide MENA. Andrew Yi, president and CEO of Cheil Worldwide MEA, says, “We’re delighted to have Milos join us to lead Cheil creatively. He brings us best-in-class creativity across the expanding channel landscape – both offline and online.” Illic is an award-winning creative director with a large number (approximately 250) of international awards (from events including Cannes, One Show, New York Festival, and the Effies) and work published in The Gunn Report, Graphis annuals and other major industry publications, a press statement reads. Throughout his 18 years’ experience, he has worked on many recognizable brands, including Mars, Nissan and General Motors.  I DIGITAL People’s Choice award on Yahoo Maktoob Dubai. Yahoo Maktoob and the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) have announced that the 2011 People’s Choice Award will be hosted on Yahoo Maktoob, harnessing the site’s reach, which includes more than 55 million users in MENA. The People’s Choice is the category in the AIB’s international media excellence awards that is open to online viewers everywhere who vote for their favorite entry, a company statement says. This year’s topic for the People’s Choice award is “Best Coverage of Democracy Uprisings,” reflecting the momentous changes happening in the Middle East and North Africa during the Arab Spring, highlighting the impact

that traditional and social broadcasting had in enabling the movements for change. MBC and Emirati filmmaker join for online mini series Dubai. MBC Group has announced a new partnership with Emirati film director and producer, Ali Mostafa, (of City of Life fame) involving the production of an online mini-series entitled Classified. The series is exclusive to mbc.net and was set to launch at the end of last month. The five-episode mini series sees four friends taking a journey across the region. MEC wins General Mills and DIFF accounts Dubai. MEC MENA has been awarded the General Mills MENA business after a two-way pitch. General Mills is one of the largest food groups in the world and includes brands such as Betty Crocker, Häagen-Dazs, Green Giant, Nature Valley, Old El Paso and Pillsbury to name a few. The assignment covers the GCC markets, Egypt and Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan). The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) has also appointed MEC MENA as its media buying agency for its eighth edition, which will be held from Dec. 7 to 14. Following a four-way pitch, which included previous incumbent OMD, Mediavest and MediaCarat, MEC MENA secured a three-year contract. Mahsa Motamedi, DIFF’s director of marketing and sponsorship, says, “Media buying plays an important role in driving the festival’s industry and community engagement, and MEC’s approach provided an exciting blend of both cutting-edge technology as well as its active engagement in all the spaces we want to be present in.” Mohan Nambiar, CEO of MEC MENA, adds, “DIFF is an iconic event in the region and we are delighted at being chosen to handle its media business….We strive to be a valued and valuable business partner to all our clients and hope our partnership with DIFF will pave the way for exceptional success in its next editions.” Leo Burnett continues as the festival’s marketing and advertising agency, executing all DIFF creative and digital, while Asda’a Burson-Marsteller remains the festival’s public relations agency for the UAE and Arab world, a press statement reads.

Communicate Levant I 15

OCTOBER 2011 | INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Yahoo board fires global CEO

 I AGENCIES Twitter tries to boost ad revenue Twitter has begun publishing promoted Tweets into the timelines of users who aren’t necessarily followers of the brands posting the Tweets – its latest push to build ad revenue. The move has been anticipated for some time. Twitter began showing the ads and named some advertisers involved, including AMC Theatres, American Express, Best Western, Disney, HP, Lexus, Lionsgate, Movietickets.com, Pepsi, Red Bull, Salesforce.com, Sephora, Xbox and Yahoo. As it has with other developments in the past, Twitter is rolling out the effort slowly, first to a “single-digit percentage” of Twitter users worldwide, and only on Twitter.com. A Twitter spokesman said they’ll eventually be integrated into the timelines of users on desktop clients such as TweetDeck and mobile apps. But Twitter is keeping vague on how, exactly, those ads will be targeted. Placement in timelines will be determined by “a variety of public signals that help determine which promoted Tweets are most relevant,” the company says in a statement. The spokesman declined to specify which signals will drive the placement, but noted that any public information from a user – who they follow, lists they’re on, what they

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retweet, and how they interact with Tweets – could be a factor. Advertisers only pay when a user takes an action, such as a retweet, a reply or a click-through on a link. Reuters creates aggregation site

At a time when the Business Insiders and Huffington Posts of the media world are doing anything and everything to pump up page views for advertising dollars, Reuters has created an aggregation site with usability at the core. The financial news service has launched Counterparties.com, a content-aggregation website that highlights 20 to 30 of the day’s most compelling financial news and opinion stories and links directly out to each one from the homepage. In that way it is more Drudge Report than Huffington Post – no rewritten stories, just a new headline with a conversational tone for each article, and a direct link out to the original source of the content.

Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz was fired in September, with the company’s chief financial officer Tim Morse being named interim CEO. The struggling portal will kick off a “comprehensive strategic review” of its business in an attempt to turn itself around. The news of Bartz’s firing was first reported by AllThingsD.com. Bartz had struggled with several issues since her 2009 hiring, including a few key ones recently. Earlier this year Google passed Yahoo as the largest display ad player, for example, and Facebook is expected to pass both of them this year. That’s a major blow to Yahoo, which had long been a leader in display advertising, touting its scale and relationships with major advertisers. “We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo on a

trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders,” Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock says in a statement. Yahoo’s board also announced a newly formed “executive leadership council” to assist with the review. At a time when the online display market is growing faster than search, Yahoo’s share of the display pie is declining. Online display is expected to grow by 24.5 percent to $12.33 billion in 2011. Yahoo’s share, however, is expected to decline to 13.1 percent in 2011, from 14.4 percent in 2010, according to eMarketer. Yahoo has struggled with integrating its search system with Microsoft’s Bing in a deal that was struck two years ago. And Yahoo’s business outside the US has faced challenges, specifically in Asia where Bartz clashed with business partner Alibaba CEO Jack Ma.

“This is an idea that everyone has had at some point,” says Reuters’ finance blogger Felix Salmon, who led the push for such a site at Reuters. “But I happen to be lucky enough to be housed in a building where this kind of thing is possible and where the first question is not, ‘How do we monetize that?’” The mission of the site, says Salmon, is to “find the signal among the noise” and give readers a destination in which they can find the day’s most compelling news from all corners of the Internet. To help sift through that noise, Reuters is licensing a tool from the New Yorkbased startup Percolate. Percolate, founded by former Barbarian Group exec Noah Brier and Federated Media veteran James Gross, mines a user’s Twitter and RSS feeds (and Tumblr soon, too) and uses an algorithm to curate and surface the most talked-about content around the Web unique to that user. For Counterparties, Percolate is mining the Twitter and RSS feeds followed by Salmon, which, combined, number in the thousands.

connect with our customers, we’re excited to begin working with Optimedia to launch a refreshed media strategy in 2012,” says Kurt Kane, Pizza Hut’s chief marketing officer. WPP-owned MEC had handled the business for more than 10 years. “MEC has been a valued partner that brought strategic insights and solid planning to our brand for more than a decade. We are parting ways amicably and wish them the best,” Kane adds. Shops that participated in the review along with Optimedia and MEC were Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Universal McCann and Interpublicowned Ingenuity Media, an arm of the Martin Agency. The loss of the Pizza Hut media account is a blow to MEC, which earlier this year parted ways with Activision. Also in review on the MEC roster are Novartis, worth about $600 million globally, and Toys R Us, worth about $115 million.

Optimedia wins Pizza Hut $217m media account Publicis Groupe’s Optimedia has been awarded Pizza Hut’s media account following a review. “As the media landscape evolves, opening new and exciting ways to

OCTOBER 2011 | OPINION

The Communiquestion

Liar liar

We ask the industry: What is the worst lie you’ve told? HUBERT BOULOS Head of strategic planning, JWT “This is delicious.” Guess why. FADI CHAMAT General manager, PHD Abu Dhabi The worst lie would probably be the time I told my university professor that my grandmother had died. I had just got a really bad grade on my final (because I didn’t really study). The sympathy got me a passing grade, but bad remorse. TOUFIC H. TRABOULSI Founder, Independent Productions “I like the concept very much.” YOUSEF TUQAN TUQAN CEO, Flip Media “I’m an adman”; you should also ask me what the “best” lie I ever told was.

18 I Communicate Levant

RAMI TRABOULSI CEO / Co-Founder of Joe Fish The worst lie I told was to myself: “I will shut this computer and stop working for tonight”. Yeah, that never worked. TONY ORSTEN CEO, twofour54 I don’t lie – ever. Although in 1976 I did happily say that I had a key job at the BBC when in fact I reclaimed audio tapes from rubbish bins at BBC Manchester for one dirham per hour. CHOUCRALLAH ABOU SAMRA Managing director, OMG KSA Hmm, this is a difficult one. The worst lie I have ever told is just about to happen: I never lied in my entire life. ROY BARGHOUT Senior manager – exchange, Mindshare UAE “It wasn’t me.” Because it was.

OPINION | OCTOBER 2011

ADRIANA LEBBOS Account director, RPR Lying and PR don’t really go well together. Our clients trust us with their most valuable asset – their brands and their reputation. They trust us with the guardianship of that asset. So, while I have moral qualms about lying, it also makes business sense to be honest and transparent with the client, since lying would just harm the relationship in the long term. MICHEL BORT Client relationship director, Kassab Media When I was in middle school, I convinced a girl that Matt Biondi (American swimmer, Olympian 84-8892) is my mom’s cousin (my mother is American) and could get her an autographed picture from him – all for a kiss. It actually worked. Sorry Nathalie, but I don’t regret it. It was a great kiss that set my kissing standards very high. Thank you.

ADIB BASBOUS Co-founder Nineteen84 “[I]am in love.” DAVID PORTER Media director, Unilever MENA “I love you.” To a journalist. MOUNIR HARFOUCHE CEO, Lowe MENA “That’s a great question.” Do I really need to say why? REVA BERBARI Client servicing director, Cleartag “I’m a man”… Kidding!

FRIDA CHEHLAOUI Founder of Colorblind “I never lie.” There: my first lie to so many, as bad as it gets.

DAN CHAPMAN Regional digital director, UM “I’m sure it was attached. No problem, I’ll send it through now with the attachment.” I’m guessing I don’t need to explain this one; it’s not been used in a while, but back when I was [on the] supplier side it always bought a bit more time.

YVES-MICHEL GABAY General manager, MEC MENA “I don’t remember.” Even if I do.

RACHAD AZAR TV producer, Promoseven “I never lie.”

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OCTOBER 2011 | COVER STORY

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COVER STORY | OCTOBER 2011

Smoke free

What does a new ban on tobacco advertising mean to Lebanon’s marketing industry and to cigarette brands? by Ibrahim Nehme

n Communicate Levant’s first issue, published back in April 2010, we ran a story entitled “Burning issue”. At the time, the drumbeats of a tobacco war were at an all time high: The Lebanese government was discussing the possibility of passing a 2006 draft law that bans outdoor smoking and the advertising of tobacco products across the country; the ad agencies, along with industry bodies such as the International Advertising Association (IAA) Lebanon chapter and the Lebanese Advertising Agencies Association (AAA), were trying to lobby to amend certain articles of the draft law in hopes of minimizing the damages in a market where gross advertising revenue is estimated to be around $6 million annually; and the tobacco companies were waiting, silently, to see what would happen, when it would happen, and how. Almost fifteen months later, on August 17, 2011, the tobacco law was voted by the Lebanese Parliament and was published in the Official Gazette on September 3, 2011. In essence, the

approved law doesn’t differ much from the one that caused the quandary in 2010. However, the few articles that were amended ensure that the direct effects of the new law on the key stakeholders will be less drastic than what the 2006 draft could have led to. The original law called for a complete ban on tobacco advertising across all media; the new one, while it completely bans all kinds of mass media spending (specifically on TV, outdoor, print, press and radio), authorizes spending on below-the-line and in-store communication. The draft called for immediate implementation of the law; the approved law grants a six-month grace period, after which the ban on advertising takes effect.The grace period will give the tobacco companies, the ad and media agencies, and the media companies time to recuperate and devise post-ban strategies. IMPLICATIONS. The new law, numbered 174, prohibits the airing or publishing of tobacco

ads in any audiovisual, print or electronic medium. It also bans these ads from the streets – especially on panels and rooftops, as well as on other forms of public signage, and prevents tobacco companies from sponsoring events such as cultural, sports or commercial happenings. “Since the initial tobacco law proposal was introduced almost six years ago, we have been preparing for a more restrictive business environment. As a multinational company operating globally, we are already exposed to similar regulations in other parts of the world,” says Rita Chidiac of Japan Tobacco International (JTI, which owns brands such as Winston and Camel among others), who adds: “Our marketing activities are always in full accordance with the law, and in many countries our own marketing tandards are more stringent than is required legally. We will adapt.” Naji Boulos, head of the IAA Lebanon chapter and managing director at Memac Ogilvy Beirut, the agency that handles British American Tobacco (BAT, which owns Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike

Communicate Levant I 21

OCTOBER 2011 | COVER STORY

MAROUN HASSOUN. Senior manager – Exchange, Mindshare

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and other brands) account, doesn’t believe either that the new law will have very severe effects as far as the advertising sector is concerned, since the top three tobacco companies in Lebanon (Philip Morris, BAT and JTI) already follow very strict rules when it comes to their marketing communications. These companies abide by a code of ethics known as the International Marketing Standards (IMS), which governed their marketing practices in the country long before the August law was issued. According to Maroun Hassoun, senior manager – Exchange, Mindshare, who oversees the media planning for BAT, the medium that will be affected the most however is outdoor (which accounts for around $3.3 million of the tobacco marketing budgets according to Boulos); it’s the medium that has absorbed most of the tobacco marketing budget since the three market leaders, bound by the IMS, could not advertise on TV and radio anyway. “This is similar to what happened in 2004 when BAT stopped advertising on TV after they started implementing the IMS in Lebanon and moved their budgets to outdoor. Now, we will move the budgets into BTL and the market will adjust accordingly,” says Hassoun. Hassoun projects that the budgets will now go into below-the-line communication and activations like setting up booths at beach resorts or at cultural and musical events where the brands’ “consumer representatives” engage with the visitors. Activations don’t fall under sponsorships because the name of the tobacco brand can’t be announced on the radio or mentioned on TV next to the other sponsors as part of the event’s promotion, and its logo can’t be published on any of the event’s printed communication like posters, tickets or fliers. “The industry was prepared; we knew since

the beginning that it was only a question of time,” Boulos says, adding that the law won’t be very drastic so long as below-the-line spending is not cut off. “It’s going to be business as usual; the only difference is that we will stop advertising after six months on mass media,” he says. Obviously, since the new law also – and more importantly – bans public smoking, Chidiac says that indeed it will definitely have an impact on the tobacco business, “but it is too early to say how much.” INTERNATIONAL MARKETING STANDARDS. The IMS is an agreement that was signed by the major global tobacco firms and intended to regulate their marketing practices in the countries where they operate. Only Gauloises, Gitanes and Davidoff do not follow the IMS. According to Stat Ipsos, between January 2010 and August 2011, Gauloises spent $507,000, Gitanes $3,980,900 and Davidoff $2,806,766 in various forms of advertising. Hence, these three companies are the ones that will be affected by the ban on TV ads, which account for around $2.2 million of total tobacco ad spend in Lebanon. Unfortunately, Communicate Levant was not able to get representatives to comment on how they plan to manage their communication from now on. The IMS prevents the airing of tobacco advertisements on TV and radio, and imposes strict measures on the sizes and locations of outdoor tobacco signs and press ads, the content of these ads, and the types of events these companies can take part in. The standards prevent the tobacco companies from creating ads aimed at or appealing to youth. They also prevent them from showing people

POST-BAN. George Jabbour, President of the AAA and CEO of MCN Lebanon, worries that advertising may become the easiest thing—and the first thing—to be stopped every time the government wants to deal with a troubling issue, as in the case of herbal products in 2010, and now tobacco. In his opinion, the control on media is very easy:

“You don’t get a permit for TV or on outdoor or on radio, you don’t advertise.” On the other hand, Boulos is worried about whether the government can actually implement the smoking ban. “The market and public opinion are not ready yet for such an action,” he says. “It took Europe years of campaigning and education before its citizens became ready. I’m not seeing a bar in Batroun or Jounieh banning smoking unless the people in there are really convinced that they should stop for an hour or two.” However, according to Hassoun, a new trend

may hit the market in light of the new restrictions. He says that there may be a rise in awareness and health campaigns sponsored by the tobacco companies because of the new surplus in their marketing budgets, similar to the case in the US and Europe. If this happens, it may be the very answer that Boulos is looking for: Educating the general public in order to lay grounds for a realistic implementation of a public smoking ban across the country. This time around, ironically, it could be the tobacco companies that will be leading the effort.

STATEX- LEBANON CUMULATIVE QUANTATIVE MONITORING (JAN-DEC 2010 AMOUNT 1000 USD) CATEGORY

BRAND

PRESS

RADIO

OUTDOOR

CINEMA

TOTALS

CIGARETTES

DAVIDOFF

2312

160

886

3358

GITANES

2145

284

2517

WINSTON

1054

1136

MARLBORO

241

637

964

GAULOISES

356

458

DUNHILL CIGARETTES

130

246

458

KENT

267

GLAMOUR

100

181

MONDIAL

4502

746

114

3812

9259

AL FAKHER TOBACCO

CLEOPATRA MOLASSES

TOTALS

DUNHILL CIGARETTES

PUNCH HABANA

TOTALS

4502

800

114

3847

9347

TOTALS OTHER TOBACCO

CIGARS & ACCESSORIES

TOTALS

IPSOS STAT/ STATEX © 22/09/2011

under 25 years of age, from implying that most people use cigarettes, from featuring a celebrity or having a celebrity endorse a campaign, or from suggesting a sexual attitude or moment in these ads. They impose a very strict policy when it comes to health warnings on all communication material—from TV, radio and outdoor to websites, text messages and e-mails, and even on the clothes worn by the brands’ consumer representatives. The standards also prohibit any print advertising in publications with a readership base that is not composed of at least 75 percent adults. It also prohibits placing ads on the packaging or cover of these magazines or newspapers. When it comes to out-of-home advertising, no ad can be placed within a 100-meter distance of schools and no outdoor sign can exceed 35 square meters in total size. According to Chidiac, since there is a big distinction between tobacco products and other consumer goods, “regulation is not only necessary, but is simply the right thing to do.” Besides, she adds that what gives Lebanon its unique status is the creativity of its agencies. “As the tobacco industry becomes more regulated now, we have to adjust the tools and messages accordingly, but the creative agencies we work with will always find means to deliver our messages while respecting our code of ethics and the regulation,” she says.

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OCTOBER 2011 | COVER STORY

Med talk Did you ever wonder why Aspirin and vitamin C are never advertised in Lebanon? Communicate Levant finds out by Ibrahim Nehme

n March 2011, Business Monitor International, a worldwide independent market research company, calculated Lebanon’s pharmaceutical market to have been worth around $960 million in 2010, which represents a 10.6 percent year-on-year growth in local currency terms. This BMI Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare Report projected that in 2015 the market will reach a value of $1.41 billion. This extremely fertile industry, however, contributes almost nothing in monetary value to the Lebanese advertising sector. Because in Lebanon a law prohibits all sorts of advertising of pharmaceutical products. And despite this law being vague in some of its articles, everybody strictly follows it.

NAJI BOULOS. President of the IAA Lebanon and managing director at Memac Ogilvy Beirut.

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FREEING OTCS. The law is referred to as the Practice of Pharmaceutical Profession in Lebanon, and it was last amended in 1994. The Lebanese ad agencies have been lobbying through their bodies, the International Advertising Association (IAA) Lebanon Chapter and the Lebanese Advertising Agencies Association (AAA), in an attempt to fix the law.

“We are one of very few countries in the world where (up until August 2011, when tobacco advertising was banned) advertising for tobacco is allowed and advertising for Panadol is not,” says George Jabbour, president of the AAA and CEO of MCN Lebanon. “And this is unacceptable.” The advertisers do not want to completely open up the pharmaceuticals market to advertising, but they’d like to free a certain type of pharmaceuticals known as over-the-counter (OTC) products from the advertising ban imposed on them, along with all other types of medication. There are around 150 OTCs and they are products that do not require a doctor’s prescription, such as Paracetamol, vitamins and dietary supplements – one walks into a pharmacy, picks them off the shelf, pays and goes. “We are not asking as ad agencies to advertise medicines, we are asking to advertise OTCs,” says Jabbour, who wonders why Panadol can’t be advertised in Lebanon, when it’s allowed everywhere else in the world. The IAA cites studies conducted in the United States that have shown that every additional dollar spent on advertising of pharmaceuticals reduces

COVER STORY | OCTOBER 2011

the cost of hospitalization on a national level by $3.50. “The concept is called auto-medication,” says Naji Boulos, president of the IAA Lebanon and managing director at Memac Ogilvy Beirut. He explains that advertising for pharmaceuticals makes people more aware about their health, about the precaution measures they should follow, and about what should they do in case they needed a drug. Thus, a country where consumers are more aware about their health thanks to proper information, including advertising, is a country where the total hospitalization bill is lower than in a country where consumers are kept in the dark. AILING DECREE. The problem in Lebanon, however, is that the law treats all pharmaceutical products as medicines and doesn’t recognize the difference between a drug that can’t be bought without a doctor’s prescription and an OTC. Boulos says that the country lacks the nomenclature prevailing in the West, where there is a distinct separation between an OTC and a non-OTC. The Lebanese Health Minister, Dr. Jawad Khalifé, told TV presenter Claude Abou Nader Hindi on an episode of Tahkik, aired on MTV a few months ago, that every drug in Lebanon is considered a medicine; “OTCs are still classified under medicines, which is contrary to the practice in the US and Europe where you can buy OTCs directly off the shelf without consulting a pharmacist or needing a doctor’s prescription,” he said. In his opinion the law should evolve to account for this distinction. But what’s even more baffling is that article 43 of the Practice of Pharmaceutical Profession law prohibits any pharmacist in Lebanon from giving any medication without a prescription or medical advice. And since all OTCs are classified as medicines, it means that even purchasing vitamins is not allowed without a prescription. In reality, this is obviously not the way things are done. “I bet no pharmacist in Lebanon will ask you why or for whom you are buying any of the 150 OTC brands [on offer], or even some medicines like antibiotics,” says Jabbour. Atef Majdalani, Head of Parliamentarian Health Committee, told Abou Nader Hindi that the situation in Lebanon is extremely chaotic and that anyone can buy a lot of the medicines that ideally should require a doctor’s prescription, such as antibiotics, for instance. Majdalani totally supports the ban on the advertising of pharmaceuticals; he is also against lifting the ban on the advertising of OTCs because, in his opinion, the country lacks an official body that’s capable of regulating OTC advertising should the ban be lifted on it. BELOW THE RADAR. In light of these restrictions, the law permits the medical and pharmaceuticals companies from promoting their products among the medical body only (doctors, nurses, hospitals, pharmacists, in medical journals, health congresses, and so on).

BITTER PILL TO SWALLOW. A law prohibits pharmaceutical products from being advertised As a result, a lot of the marketing investment goes into selling the products to the doctors because it’s they who recommend a specific medicine to their patients. Appointed medical representatives of pharmaceutical companies are responsible for promoting medical products to doctors. Suzanne Wehbe, brand manager at Abella Frères, importers and distributors of pharmaceutical products, says that marketing budgets go into developing and training sales teams, which include what in the industry is known as medical representatives – on average, a medical rep is expected to visit up to 12 doctors a day – and pitch the product. “The sales team does not only include the medical representatives in a drug company, but all the employees up to top management: supervisor, product specialist, product manager, sales manager... who are all in a continuous training program,” adds Wehbe. “They’re often armed with brochures and other types of visual aids, gadgets and branded desk and office supplies that will help remind the doctors about the product. Other strategies include developing the medical knowledge of the doctors by inviting them to attend important international medical congresses abroad or getting them to participate in local congresses which the pharmaceutical company sponsors. In the latter case, the budget goes into building stands and other promotional material specifically for the event. Some companies participate in symposiums, where they invite an international speaker to talk about a particular medical topic related to their drug.”

GEORGE JABBOUR. President of the AAA and CEO of MCN Lebanon

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OCTOBER 2011 | COVER STORY

CHECKLIST. The IAA has suggested a list of medicines that can be advertised With the rise of health programs on local TV channels, there has been a rise in investments in branded content, where certain drugs are being integrated within these shows by way of promotion. According to our research, it is also not uncommon for a company to assign medical reps to pharmacies in case the company has a heavy portfolio of OTCs and supplements. Some even make use of their own salesmen, who visit the pharmacists on a weekly basis; it gives them training and gets them to push certain products by providing the pharmacies with posters, danglers, window displays, or even certain financial incentives, which are not necessarily legal but are deals done between the pharmacist and the company’s salesman, such as free medicines with a placement of a specific order. Some pharmacists even have their pharmacies’ signage sponsored by a pharmaceutical brand. TENACIOUS REBUFFS. Jabbour says the agencies and their bodies are facing a very strong law in their lobbying efforts because the Order of Lebanese Pharmacists is using all of its power to maintain the ban on advertising, possibly because it allows them to keep all the margins, which otherwise would go to advertisers, to themselves. In the same Tahkik episode, Ziad Nassour, the president of the Syndicate of Pharmacists, expressed his complete rejection of the advertising of pharmaceutical brands because, in his view, these products are not like any other consumer products: “They contain a specific combination of chemicals that may have dangerous side effects on the consumer.” He argued that each medicine comes with a pamphlet that contains exhaustive information about the product, its side effects and

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usage, and that this type of all-inclusive data cannot be inserted in a 30-second TV ad or a billboard. On the other hand Nassour defends below-theline promotions at pharmacies, saying the reason why these promotions are allowed is because they are done in a context where a pharmacist is readily available to give medical advice and explain to the customer about the product. ADVERTISERS’ PUSH. Boulos reaffirms that advertisers do not want to completely open up the market. “We want to have a body that regulates the advertising of OTCs, knowing that there’s a huge potential for the advertising and media sectors,” he says In fact, for more than a year, the IAA has been proposing a list of suggestions to the Health Minister, including creating a list of the medicines that can be advertised – the list would be chosen by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with the Syndicate of Lebanese Pharmacists. In addition to being on that list, these products must also get a special permit from the Ministry that allows them to run any campaign. What is also being proposed is establishing a code of ethics that all the advertisers must adhere to; the code of ethics would be intended to regulate the advertising of OTCs with specific obligations on the content of ads: The name of the product must be mentioned, the key information that guarantees the correct usage of the product must be stated, and a clear copy must be highlighted to invite the consumer to read the pamphlet that comes with the product and to consult with the pharmacist. Unfortunately, Jabbour says that none of their efforts have paid off yet, adding, “But we will keep on trying until we break the wall.”

OCTOBER 2011 | DIGITAL

Web Wisdom

Ready or not?

Your business doesn’t plug into social media. Social media plugs into your business. But are you and your business ready? By Patrick Attallah

PATRICK ATTALLAH Managing partner, 90:10 Group, CEO 90:10 Group Middle East

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ho could have guessed that one of the big differences between life now and 10 years ago would be our growing dependence on interacting with each other in online communities? The speed at which the Internet has changed our lives is stunning. Organic growth took a data tool and morphed it into a conversation tool, which in turn created communities. The social media revolution is not just how we interact with others, but how we choose to create things, how we transfer and share value from soul to soul, how we evaluate our existence and try to improve it (inspired by Don Peppers, from management consulting firm Peppers & Rogers Group). Yet the time it has taken for business to understand it and adapt to it has not been commensurately fast. A common misconception in the business world is that social media stands somehow apart from the rest of the company – that it is its own silo, its own little “engagement” and “conversation” engine, with no clear connection to other business functions. This is false. Organizations that treat social media as a fifth wheel don’t usually get very far. The reality of social media is that it isn’t an add-on. It is a 100 percent integration piece. Your business doesn’t plug into social media. Social media plugs into your business.

What does that mean? Social media is a door to open your business to the world, a communication tool to serve the purposes of critical business functions, including public relations, marketing, lead generation, customer service and market research. Social media, like quality, has to become embedded in the fabric of the organization because it affects every functional area. Doing so requires aligning your social media programs with your social business infrastructure to ensure consistent customer experiences, reliable engagement, compelling insights, and appropriate processes. Yet from my experiences working across multiple organizations, the current focus remains on social media programs (the external) without putting in the appropriate social business infrastructure (the internal). Plus, companies are quick to deploy the latest social media technology, yet most are not ready for the threat of potential social media crises, or the long-term effects on business. Industry analyst Jeremiah Owyang, from California-based advisory firm Altimeter, has recently published a report on social readiness, which shows that while the incidence of social media crises is on the rise, more than three-quarters (76 percent) could have been diminished or averted had companies invested internally.

OCTOBER 2011 | DIGITAL

FLYING LESSONS. The diagram above shows that before your business can fly, it will have to crawl, walk and run IS YOUR BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA READY? Start with a SWOT analysis. We all know the SWOT analysis used extensively in business to obtain an overview of the critical businesses issues. It is simply a series of questions asked about your business to assist in determining the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The goal here is to audit your current organization in the context of SWOT. Identifying key internal and external issues allows you to more carefully consider and then incorporate them into strategic objectives. The list below is by no means all the questions that need to be answered to complete a full analysis of your business’s social media readiness. It is just an indication of the types of questions you should be considering about your business’s capability to thrive in a social media environment. Without a SWOT analysis, it will be impossible to develop an effective social media strategic plan, develop company social media guidelines and effectively engage your company on the social Web. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES These are internal conditions, factors or attributes. For example, your recognized expertise in your market space would be a definite strength. Not having a method for employees to collaborate would be a weakness. What does your firm do well, and not so well? Are there people at your company who already use social media in their personal lives? Are people at your company using social media tools and applications to do their jobs? If so, did management introduce these tools? In what ways do you currently communicate with your employees? Does your company encourage and facilitate collaboration among employees? If so, how?

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Does the company feel comfortable with empowering company employees to interact with customers using social media? Do you have a happy satisfied work force that your company feels comfortable allowing employee interaction using social media tools? What role does continuing education and training play inside your company? What methods do you use for training? Would you characterize your company as a fun place to work? Would you characterize your company as a creative company? Do you believe expertise is understood and recognized within your company? OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS These are external conditions, factors, or attributes. What do your customers value most about your company? How do you know this? Do you have a way of measuring it? What do your customers value the least about your company? How do you know this? Do you have a way of measuring it? Do you have customers who already use social media applications in their personal lives? Do you have customers who use social media tools and applications to do their jobs? In what ways do you currently communicate with your customers? How effective is this communication? Do you have a way of measuring it? What lifestyle trends or factors are affecting your customers? Do you seek feedback from your customers? If so, how? Do you collaborate with your customers? If so, how? What factors influence your customers’

decisions to do business with you? Do your customers rely on your company to educate them about things? What kind of things? How are you currently doing this? How important do you believe it is to educate your customers? Do you have a happy satisfied work force that your company feels comfortable allowing customer interaction using social media tools? What do your competitors do better than you? Have you identified and evaluated the efforts, if any, of your competitors’ social media presence? Do your customers rely upon your expertise as part of their business relationship with you? Does any part of your business relationship with your customer depend upon your ability to help them have a good time or enjoy their experience with your product or service? This SWOT analysis is a quick way to assess your company’s social media readiness, but is often not sufficient. It takes time, effort and resources to plug social media into your business. Head of the digital arm of PR firm Edelman David Armano’s diagram (above) shows that before your business can fly, it will have to crawl, walk and run. If you want to take your readiness assessment to the next level, I recommend you perform a “social media audit,” which enables you to assess for a given period (often 30 days) the volume, frequency and tone of conversations throughout the social Web around your brand, products and services, getting a better understanding of consumers’ attitude, behavior, needs or frustration that had previously gone unacknowledged and, if acted upon, would bring direct value to your brand or business growth.

OCTOBER 2011 | DIGITAL

Digital (r)evolution

What have events in Egypt meant for its local digital media? By Louis Parks

ould Egypt stand on the cusp of a fully-fledged digital advertising revolution, this sea-of-changein-the-making being closely linked to the political upheavals of recent months? Many of the public protests that started in late January, and continued until recently, were planned using a combination of Twitter and Facebook, with the slogan “The Twitter Revolution” appearing on banner headlines the world over. All of this seemed to explode on January 25, but in reality the pressure had been building on the blogosphere ever since the death in police custody of Khaled Mohamed Saeed in June 2010. The upshot of these events is that social media usage has increased dramatically, with Social Bakers, a social media-monitoring site, putting the number of Facebook users in Egypt at 7.3 million. That’s over 9 percent of the country’s population and those numbers are growing fast; besides, around 40 percent of users are young, between 18 and 24. In short, Egypt could become a digital advertising exec’s dream. “With such a large, growing audience and increasingly sophisticated media consultancies, we’re currently seeing the embryonic stages of digital creativity within advertising in Egypt,” says Karim Khalifa, founder of Cairo-based digital agency Digital Republic.

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This upsurge is partly illustrated by the first meeting in early June of the Cairo Cristal Club, launched in January of this year, a few days before the revolution was started. This first gathering, which had been planned since March 2010, saw 110 advertising, media and marketing players meet in the Egyptian capital and, according to organizer Christian Cappe, it was evident it had to focus on digital developments: “The [Egyptian] advertising industry plummeted during the first quarter of 2011, but this drop gave a push – stronger than on other markets – to social media there. Now that business is picking up, the industry is learning how to associate traditional mass media with new media that cannot be overlooked anymore: social networks, Web campaigns and nascent mobile communication and e-commerce. The heavy participation of players such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft to the Cristal Club is a testament to this new reality,” adds Cappe. MATURITY ISSUES. Numbers and presence is one thing, but effective communication is another. A recurring concern in the Egyptian digital industry is the lack of direction, in terms of media strategy, when it comes to online campaigns. According to Shaheer Farag, head of business management at

DIGITAL | OCTOBER 2011

UM MENA, “Everyone’s racing each other to be there, everyone rushes to Facebook. But [when] they get there, they use the most old fashioned advertising techniques. Inefficient. Because digital was so marginal before the revolution, there are no experts, only people who have used social media. You have no strategy.” Tarek Lasheen, PR director at Memac Ogilvy & Mather Egypt, explains that obsession over the fine details are also lessening the impact of early campaigns, if not leading them to fail altogether: “We are laying our feet on the first steps of digitalization, we are yet to get better and utilize the most effective means of communication inside that realm. Right now it looks more like a salad where all of the tools are being used and the channels that strike a nerve get more attention, while in fact it should be more targeted and better structured. What I mean is, in any of the campaigns we now see go online, we find they have opened Facebook and Twitter accounts, maybe even 4Squared, while they should have focused only on Twitter.” This lack of direction in both strategy and tactics can be seen to stem from a perhaps understandable fixation on traditional media channels. The application of tried-and-tested techniques is unsurprising, but to the digitally savvy, their failure is predictable. However, there’s a growing sense Egyptians are beginning to see the light, that they understand that traditional techniques aren’t working in the digital sphere. Wael Fakharany, regional manager of Egypt and North Africa at Google, says, “You want to be with your customers, marketing has become very numbers driven and it’s not enough to do a nice, sexy ad that your uncle or nephew likes; you actually have to measure the effectiveness of this ad and see people’s reactions. Egyptian companies have realized this and are talking to us, our partners, our advertising agencies, and our competitors.” GROWING UP. Despite the apparent confusion, the fact Egypt is beginning to explore digital advertising is a step in the right direction. Amid all the misdirected effort, genuinely creative campaigns are beginning to emerge. The most successful ones are all largely based around Facebook and include interactive pages, often featuring videos of their TV spots (such as the Tiger potato chips campaign), attractive draws such as communal photo competitions (like the public interest campaign “Ana Ba7ebek ya Belady” by Memac), or simply by having an engaging, interactive team (like that of NGO’s “El Balad Baladna”). Creative app use is on the up with Mahindra Egypt, an automotive group, creating something of a hub with links to their game and news sites. Whatever platform is used, industry players agree that the core issue always comes down to interactivity with the consumer; a simple concept, but one that lies at the heart of effective communication. Egyptian companies are beginning to understand the importance of creating an identity, consistently maintaining it and responding to consumer questions or input. It’s a learning curve, but one that companies and agencies are responding to, according

TALK THE TALK. Cairo Cristal Club’s first meeting in June focused on digital developments to Fakharany. “They [the companies] are actually communicating with me and wanting to listen to me,” he says. “And, what’s more, they’re taking the idea of interactivity to heart. All brands in Egypt, all of them, have to be on these platforms. It’s not a monologue anymore, they have to listen to the consumer, they have to watch out, because if you lose your online reputation then you’re finished. People are very cynical online, they don’t have tolerance.” With such incredible growth in the online environment, it’s inevitable that companies will falter, that the tried-and-true techniques might not be applicable. What’s captivating the minds of those within the industry is the sheer potential for growth. A large, young population already invested in the Internet, a gradual shift in the understanding among companies that digital is the way forward and, generally, a willingness to learn, endless possibilities await. With due time, application and a little expert knowledge, Egypt could well be driving the digital environment in the region for years to come. Hani Ramzi, executive director, Europe and MEA, of mobile advertising firm Optism, says, “It’s a game changer. Advertisers have a unique opportunity to engage with consumers in a different way. In a more respectful way, through the consent of the user, in a more relevant way, with ads that meet users’ preferences and profiles, and in an interactive way through interactive dialogues.” All the signs point to it only being a matter of time before digital Egypt reaches its full potential.

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OCTOBER 2011 | MEDIA

Media

Tech it further

How one Beirut start-up plans to go beyond the standard incubator model by Nathalie Bontems

ome people keep the faith. Mounir Nabti and Dima Saber, for example, strived for years to help develop the Lebanese people’s use of, and relationship with, media through Hibr and Rootspace. Hibr is an open community, youthpowered, citizen journalism program and media outlet. And Rootspace is an experimental incubator. Today, with AltCity (“alt” as alternate), Nabti and Saber go to version 2.0. Nabti, who worked for years in Silicon Valley before returning to Lebanon in 1995, says, “From those experiences, we’ve been trying to see how to help foster a stronger innovation ecosystem. There are major barriers to this emerging ecosystem here, one of which is the very limited social structure of support for people who are creative in innovative fields. They need a better social community to learn and share ideas, find partners, etcetera. They won’t be able to develop all aspects on their own.” So the co-founders intend to offer a cool and creative “media/tech/social impact entrepreneurship” collaboration and production space where the necessary tools and resources will be accessible to those who may not be able to afford them otherwise. “We want to help people build things. We want to help some of

36 I Communicate Levant

them achieve their ambitions and help others discover what that ambition is, in fields within which, because of our experience and our focus, we can be useful,” says Nabti, who adds that the main challenge is to make this initiative as collaborative and engaging as possible. Featuring a media café/newsroom, a presentation/concert/projection stage, private and/ or open office spaces, conference rooms and up-to-date technical tools, among other things, (not to mention the permanent preoccupation of the founder with keeping their space green and promoting green practices to their guests), AltCity presents itself as an alternative to the usual venues and incubators, a space where they can organize many different events, but above all have other groups organize events as well. More importantly, AltCity is resultsdriven: The point is to produce change. “We want to promote ‘coopetition’, a combination of competition and cooperation in the creative process, to encourage more resourceful and innovative Lebanese enterprises,” says Nabti. Located in the buzzing Hamra street – “because it’s Beirut’s cultural, academic and intellectual center,” according to Nabti – AltCity will launch in October, despite making its unofficial debut

in July, with the one-week long “AltMedia Experience,” during which various media-related workshops and panel discussions were held on topics as diverse as speechmaking, marketing, use of social media, and release of your inner clown. Approximately 20 groups and social media players joined the activities that were attended by 100 participants. Partly financed by a grant from US-based NGO Mercy Corps, AltCity aims to generate profits, if only to ensure its sustainability. But, again in the spirit of fostering entrepreneurship, the pricing will be defined according to the capabilities of the users. For example, a budding start-up may use the facility for no charge, but against payment in kind, like a workshop, while a corporation looking for a conference room cooler and more inspiring than the usual – and expensive – hotel hosting will be charged at market price. Similarly, the various events open to the public will sometimes be free of charge, while for others a small fee will be requested. “We make things real easy for whoever wants to organize an event, from an intense six-month weekly workshop to a monthly happy hour,” says Nabti. “We want them to meet, chat, share, network, get to know each other and have fun.”

OCTOBER 2011 | DEPARTMENTS

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. Whenever Lebanon is in the international limelight for all the wrong reasons, the country’s bloggers are quick to take notice. They unanimously mocked Miss Lebanon Yara Mikhael Khoury’s skimpy belly-dancing outfit and less-than-sharp answers at the 2011 Miss Universe pageant, and even more CNN’s Richard Quest’s “Future cities” report on Beirut, featuring Lebanon’s conspicuous nightlife spending and carefree living. The community also ganged up to support fellow blogger Imad Bazzi, who was denied entry at Cairo airport, allegedly because of his online activism in favor of the Arab Spring. And, of course, there’s more below.

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The Lebanese Ministry of Tourism’s logo was at the center of graffiti that many bloggers saw as a response to the ministry’s controversial TVCs. The ad features the Lebanese “harem” as a main tourist attraction. The graffiti, suggestive and concise at once, left Najib from blogbaladi – for once – speechless. http://blogbaladi.com/najib/ lebanon/answering-lebanonsministry-of-tourism-ads/

A positive comment on Lebanon’s mobile Internet connection is as easy to find as a needle in a haystack. But Rami from +961, who was luckily and randomly chosen as part of MTC Touch’s new 3G service pilot test, has a hopeful outlook on Lebanon’s future Internet connection. http://www.plus961.com/2011/09/ heres-to-launching-the-3gservice-in-lebanon/

Abu El Abed has long been the central character of Lebanese sex jokes, and finally he gets the recognition he deserves: his own energy drink, which, naturally, contains “Shilsh El Zaloo3”, Lebanon’s homegrown sexual enhancer. Lebanese Voices were quick to spot the obsession. http://blkbtrfli.wordpress. com/2011/06/30/a-societyobsessed-with-sex/

Lama Bashour from Lama’s Scrapbook is unimpressed by Moneygram Lebanon’s summer radio spots targeting foreign workers in the country. The spots feature voiceovers by a Lebanese mimicking a conversation between a Filipino and a Sri Lankan worker. “What the hell was Moneygram thinking when they came up with these ads?” asks Bashour. http://lamathinks.blogspot. com/2011/08/yes-madam-nosir-another-classic-from.html

Beirutiyat’s Assaad Thebian is very angry with Lebanese telecommunication company Alfa. Cleverly embedded charges and misleading information are only a few of the issues that Thebian addresses in his 700word, poetically titled “Thieves afraid of theft?” rant against the telecom operator. http://beirutiyat.wordpress. com/2011/09/17/alfa-telecomthieves-afraid-of-theft/

The first Lebanese online game Birdy Nam Nam is gaining momentum, both regionally and internationally. So much so, in fact, Seeqnce blog had to meet with one of the game developers, Lebnan Nader. http://blog.seeqnce.com/ post/10118700325/interviewwith-lebnan-nader-a-birdy-namnam-team

DEPARTMENTS | OCTOBER 2011

Regional Work

Client: Ahli International Bank Regional Creative Director: Maya Saab, Spirit Communication Manager: Georges Kallab, Spirit Production House: Clandestino Films Director: Andre Chammas Director Of Photography: Yves Sehnaoui Executive Producer: Ray Barakat

TV just got tougher. FX. Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett Dubai Executive Creative Director: Peter Bidenko Creative Directors: Mohamed Oudaha Copywriters: Sunny Deo, Simon Raffaghello Arabic Copywriter: Rania Badawi Art Directors: Rafael Augusto, Rafael Rizuto Graphic Designers: Ammar Safi, Jad Boureslan

Sharp plasmacluster air purifier Captures odors. Releases clean fresh air. Creative Agency: IKON Advertising & Marketing, Dubai Copywriter: Samson Dsouza Art Director: Jayanand Pujari Executive Creative Director: Shantesh Row These ads (and more) can be found at adsoftheworld.com

Communicate Levant I 39

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER 2011 2011 | DEPARTMENTS | DEPARTMENTS

Regional Work

You are never lost. Client: Micromax Mobile. Advertising Agency: FP7 / MCT, Oman Creative Director / Copywriter / Art director: Noufal Ali Illustrators: Venugopal V.G, Sanoop. R

Harry Potter. Client: Jashanmalbooks.com Graphic designer: Patrik Svensson (aka Prince Hat) Media plan agency: INCA Tanvir (http://incatanvir.com/)

Messaging should be as fun as your friends. Advertising Agency: Media Marquee, Cairo, Egypt Creative / Illustrator: Mohamed Gaber

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

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DEPARTMENTS | OCTOBER 2011

International Work

Life without music would be less noisy, less cluttered and less interesting. Mozambique Music Awards. It’s our music. It’s our culture. Advertising Agency: DDB Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique Creative Director: Lenilson Lima Art Director: Giuseppe Lira Copywriter: Zeca de Oliveira

Don’t take the risk. Advertising Agency: Conexão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Creative Directors: André “Mineiro” Ferreira, Eduardo Silva Art Director: Lincoln Tesch Copywriter: Pedro Rosadas Illustrator: Lincoln Tesch

New extra-concentrated Italian dressing Palmeiron. More tomatoes than you imagined. Advertising Agency: Arcos Comunicação, Recife, Brazil Creative Directors: Eduardo Nunes, Carlos Renato Copywriter: Felipe Autran Art Director: Maninho Lyra Illustrator: Leandro Fiuza

Tour de Farms. A 30-mile bike tour of Wisconsin’s top organic farms. Advertising Agency: Cramer-Krasselt, Milwaukee, USA Executive Creative Director: Chris Jacobs Creative Director: Todd Stone Associate Creative Director: Shawn Holpfer

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

Communicate Levant I 41

OCTOBER 2011 | DEPARTMENTS

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

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HANGING OUT It’s Friday, just hanging with some friends smoking arguile.

GREAT MINDS….. That’s crazy! She’s thinking the same thing about you and your pal.

DO YOU GET IT? Nope. Next.

WORK IT OUT You can take your work with you wherever you go. Thanks BlackBerry.

GOOD HANDS For returning medical students, please note that the class in handholding is not-for-credit.

RALLY OF LEBANON The Rally of Lebanon took place over a weekend, while the real rally of Lebanon takes place daily. They do theirs without potholes and without kamikaze van drivers. Their cars are fully functional – and nobody drives backwards.