GMR | July/ August 2011

18 JULY – AUGUST 2011 - NO 199B

SECTOR ANALYSIS ARAB SPRING DAMPENS AD SPEND IN HOMECARE AND LAUNDRY CARE A MediaquestCorp Publication

Ramadan 2011 Exclusive: Tradition & Transformation Study

Registered in Dubai Media City

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profile

Super nova: Talking to Saudibased HWB’s marketing chief 46 Taufic Zeidan

www.GMR-Online.com July-August – Issue No. 199B

NEWS

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World News

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FASRI1 focuses on original content.

Yahoo! debuts Connectonomics at GMR’s 5th annual Marketing to Women conference. Recruitment site for Saudi female job seekers debuts. Abobe opens Suite 5.5 across the region. Role of satellite TV in Arab Spring underplayed, says DMI’s Jaber. Saudi’s Adalid PR triumphs at SABRE Awards. Harvey Nichols Riyadh rocks with news CSR campaign. New ‘bank’ account for FP7 Beirut. New ABG Board revealed.

Female-friendly dotmena signs with Glam Media. Plus marketing moves and late news.

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Coke opens up new consumer bases with packaging innovations in rural India and Germany. Facebook falters in Indonesia. UK marketers ‘waste’ money on research, says study. Brands undervalue consumer interest in digital OOH says Decaux UK. Kia boosts US production in line with record sales. UK Waitrose rolls out own-label healthy food line. Omega signs up with underwater photographic director to promote oceanic sustainability. Brand engagement through social media is on the rise in India. Online reviews are key purchase influencers for 67 per cent of Indians who are on the web. Aegis confirms Synovate sale talks. MEC Malaysia wins Wrangler.

Creative Word of Mouth, Riyadh

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We report from Riyadh where young creative shop Word-of-Mouth talks us through its operation.

Cover story

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GMR Exclusive: Integral-OMG reveals the findings from its Ramadan 2011:

Traditions and Transformation consumer research, while Adrian Murphy asks clients, media owners and planners if the August timing will have a significant impact.

HALAL TOURISM

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How Saudi Arabia is blazing a trail in the burgeoning faith-based travel sector.

Sector Analysis Household Cleaning & Laundry 52 Liquid detergents find favour in the region as powders approach saturation level. Arab Spring takes a swipe at Q1 ad spend which is down 18 per cent versus 2011. Males in the UAE are more loyal to facial tissues brands than females. Cost-conscious consumers seek own-label options, but are the region’s retailers delivering? Rising costs of raw materials dent category profits. Plus latest Pan Arab Parc stats and Sekari top search terms in the UAE.

September Issue GMR’s 2OOth edition.

Welcome to our 200th edition. This month’s special issue with its cover story on the GCC’s most successful corporate brands is testament to the marketing community we have proudly served since 1993.

We team up with Brand Finance Middle East to assess the ratio between enterprise value and brand value of the GCC’s publically quoted corporate brands in our comprehensive, country-by-country report. We present the rankings and compare with last year to reveal quite a few surprises among the GCC’s corporate movers and groovers.

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52 Sector analysis: Household cleaning MediaquestCorp.

Dubai Media City Al Thuraya Tower 2, 24th Floor United Arab Emirates Tel: +(971) 4 391 0760 Fax: +(971) 4 390 8737 www.mediaquestcorp.com

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Opinions expressed in GMR do not necessarily represent the views of the publishers and editorial staff of the magazine. The publishers do not hold out any guarantee as to its accuracy, neither do they indemnify any loss arising through use of the information.

All dollar prices ($) are US dollars, unless otherwise specified. All marketing data is subject to confirmation.

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GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Siobhรกn Adams siobhan@mediaquestcorp.com SENIOR SUB EDITOR Elizabeth McGlynn e.mcglynn@mediaquestcorp.com ART DIRECTORS Sheela Jeevan, Alvin Cha, Aya Farhat CONTRIBUTORS Alex Malouf ADVERTISING: MEDIALEADER United Arab Emirates sales@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +(971) 4 391 0760 Saudi Arabia: Ghassan A. Rbeiz ghassan@mediaquestcorp.com Europe: S.C.C Arabies 18 rue de Varize 75016 Paris, France

Tel: +(33) 01 47 66 46 00 Fax: +(33) 01 43 80 73 62 Lebanon: Beirut, Lebanon Tel: +(961) 1 202 369 Fax: +(961) 1 202 369

PUBLISHED BY: Medialeader FZ/MediaquestCorp FZ Europe: S.C.C Arabies, 18 rue de Varize 75016 Paris, France Tel: +(33) 01 47 66 46 00 Fax: +(33) 01 43 80 73 62 CO-CEO Alexandre Hawari CO-CEO Julien Hawari CFO Abdul Rahman Siddiqui Managing Director Ayman Haydar

Creative Director Aziz Kamel Head of Circultion Haries Raghavan h.raghavan@mediaquestcorp.com Marketing Manager Maya Kerbage m.kerbage@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +971 4 3757527 KSA GM Walid Ramadan walid@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +966 1 4194061 Lebanon GM Nathalie Bontems Nathalie@mediaquestcorp.com Tel: +961 1 492801 North Africa GM Adil Hamed-Abdelouahab adel@medialeader.biz Tel: +213 661 562 660 France Sales Director Manuel Dias dias@arabies.com Tel: +33 1 4766 46 00

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News

Saudi Arabia’s ‘first’ female recruitment site opens Web-based portal Glowork to provide job seekers with tool dedicated to their needs Saudi Arabia A number of Saudi entrepreneurs, including media personality Muna Abu Sulayma, have launched what they claim is the first dedicated career advisory service for GCC females.

Named Glowork, the webbased portal aims to provide female jobseekers and employers with a tool that is dedicated to their needs.

Speaking to GMR, Glowork’s CEO, Firas Alhoshan, explains that despite their abilities and talents, Saudi females in particular suffer from a lack of employment opportunities.

“Fifteen percent of the total workforce in Saudi Arabia is female, and yet 60 per

Glowing endorsement: Glowork’s CEO Firas Alhoshan (left)

cent of Saudi female PhD holders don’t have a job.

We have to look at ways to match these skills to jobs, and Glowork is one solution to this issue.”

Despite only launching in April, the site’s owners have

already signed agreements with 25 firms, including Naseba and KPMG. Glowork has also been endorsed by a number of Saudi female personalities, including Shoura Council advisor Dr Maha al Moneef and the

president of Effat University, Dr Haifa Jamalalail.

Alhoshan aims to expand the site to other countries in the GCC once Glowork has become established in Saudi Arabia.

“The issue of female employment isn’t particular to Saudi Arabia only. Other countries in the Gulf face the same issues.

“We believe Glowork will expand rapidly, particularly with our use of social media to promote the site and its services. The service is free and we’re even offering employers two months’ free usage as part of our launch promotion.”

Adobe presents tablet opportunity for KSA publishers Saudi Arabia Adobe’s regional team were out in force in Saudi Arabia recently for the launch of Adobe Creative Suite 5.5.

The events in Jeddah and Riyadh, which were attended by hundreds of designers, were the platform for Adobe to push home the company’s digital publishing message.

Speaking at the event, Adobe’s creative regional business development manager, Joe Karkour, said that following the release of Adobe CS5 and more recently CS5.5, publishers in the region are starting to explore the possibility of taking their content onto tablets and mobile devices.

Going digital: Adobe’s Joe Karkour unveils its Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 in Riyadh

Designers can build mobile apps for Android, BlackBerry Playbook and iOS devices using Adobe CS5.5.

Adobe’s latest offering allows publishers to develop their content for display on mobile phones, tablet devices, and ‘anything with a screen,’ as Karkour puts it.

The cost is a hosting fee of $500 a month and 20 cents per download. Adobe will develop the download application at no charge.

“Digital publishing allows content owners to realise new revenue streams. It also enables publishers to get a better view of what the read-

er is looking at with Adobe’s analytics. Now they can go back to their advertisers and show them in real time the ROI for their advertising spend,” he adds.

According to Karkour, Adobe will be focusing heavily on Saudi Arabia this year.

The firm, which has held a number of workshops in universities across the country, is looking to certify training centres in the kingdom.

Other Adobe executives revealed that the company is also looking at adding the Middle East to its global online market place, effectively allowing people in the region to buy online from the firm’s web site.

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News

Satellite helps fuel Arab Spring fevour Saudi Arabia Satellite TV, and not just social media, helped fuel the Arab Spring, says Dubai Media Incorporated’s managing editor Ali Jaber.

Speaking recently at Mindshare’s Media Summit 2011 in Riyadh, Jaber argued that satellite media helped to change people’s mindsets.

“Over the past decade or so, it has been international broadcasting that has chipped

Eye opener: DMI’s Ali Jaber

away at people’s notions.

People have had their eyes opened by satellite TV.” Coverage of demonstrations were broadcast 27/7 on news networks such as Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. However, many analysts claimed sites such as Facebook and Twitter were key to both organising protests, as well as promoting their messages.

Jaber, one of the founders of the station that would become Lebanon’s Future TV, takes a different view.

“We’ve seen a lot of what is called citizen journalism recently. However, there’s no substitute for journalism on the ground, for experts who can report accurately and honestly.”

Saudi PR agency wields two SABREs Record-breaking pink ribbon campaign scoops top gongs Saudi Arabia Jeddah-based Adalid has beaten more than 2,000 entries to become the first Saudi-managed a nd ow ne d PR f i r m to win platinum and gold SABRE awards.

The trophies, including EMEA’s Best PR Program of the Year, were handed to Adalid executives during the Holmes Group EMEA SABRE Awards in Prague recently for its A Woman’s Stand breast cancer awareness campaign.

The programme, on behalf of HRH Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al Saud and the Zahra Breast Cancer Association, trounced fellow finalists from Airbus and the UK’s Good Relations; German children’s charity Initiative Vermisste Kinder with fischerAppelt; the Confederation of Swedish Industry with JKL/MSL Sweden; and Unilever with Apex Porter Novelli of Kenya.

The campaign attempted to create the largest human pink ribbon, working with traditional media channels such as MBC, Sayidati, and Saudi’s Al-Watan newspaper.

Ada l id a l so ut i l i se d soc ia l me d ia to spread awareness and mobilise attendance. Thousands of people subscribed to the campaign’s Facebook page and Twitter feeds.

“While this was a professional campaign, it is also one where the benefits reflect directly on my mother, sisters and every single woman, not

Cutting a dash: Adalid’s Yahya Hamidaddin

only in Saudi Arabia, but around the world,” says Adalid’s managing director, Yahya Hamidaddin.

“Now the kingdom has demonstrated that there is enough concern to establish a world record and has been recognised for its efforts to bring concern over breast cancer out into the open. I am sure we can move forward in the battle to overcome this deeply distressing affliction.”

Adalid was founded in 2009 in Jeddah by a number of Saudi PR practitioners.

L a st yea r t he a genc y expanded, opening an office in Riyadh.

SABRE awards are held annually by The Holmes Group in recognition of a company’s superior achievement in branding and reputation.

Gold SABREs recognise the best programmes in specific brand-building and reputationmanagement categories.

Only one platinum SABRE is awarded by the judging panel for the best campaign in Europe, the Middle East and Africa region.

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News

FASRI1 to focus on original content ME/Iran Farsi language entertainment channel, FASRI1, will begin producing original content later this year.

Owner, Broadcast Middle East, a News Corp and MOBY Group venture, has expanded its UAE operations by 35 staff, and is taking an additional 4,000sq ft space in Dubai’s Studio City, this month.

Plans were still under wraps at the time of going to press, but dubbed, foreign content will also be on the grid. While exact viewer figures are not disclosed, the

How FAR can you go? Zaid Mohseni

channel is available to 100 million viewers via FTA. Estimated daily viewership in Iran is 20 to 30 million, out of a population of 75 million.

The major blocks for Farsi speakers outside of Iran are: Afghanistan, where 25 million speak Farsi; one to two million in the GCC; eight million in Uzbekistan; and five million in Tajikistan.

Broadcast Middle East CEO, Zaid Mohseni, said: “Viewership of 20 to 30 million a night is a reasonable estimate for the region. As a perspective, viewership of American Idol weekly is 30 million in a country with 350 million viewers.”

Mashreq embarks on new Relationships Bank’s $2 million ‘holistic’ campaign runs until end of the year www.mashreqbank.com

While you may treasure many things, At Mashreq, we understand that it's the special relationships in your life that you value the most. That’s why we are committed to developing a strong, enduring relationship with you. To better understand your banking

there's only one that you'll value the most.

needs and provide for every one of them, with a world of personalised financial products and services. Allowing you to dedicate more time for what really matters.

we do banking, you do life.

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Long term: Mohammed Al Atassi

Building rapport: Mashreq’s latest campaign focuses more on personal relationships

UAE Mashreq has unveiled a major brand campaign which evolves its traditional product-based relationship with customers into a more personal, holistic communication.

Called Relationships Matter, the $2 million integrated campaign will run until the end of the year on press, online, OOOH and Facebook.

It was created by Team Y&R and Wunderman.

The initiative responds to

research showing that customers expected banks to be sincere resourceful companions, Mohammed Al Atassi, head of Corporate Communication, tells GMR. Banks, said customers, should be in the background, but readily available when needed by customers to understand their needs, care for them and advise, he said. The campaign also strengthens Mashreq’s primary focus on current cus-

On track

tomers and deepening the relationship, although Al Atassis emphasised that acquisitions are also important.

“Our approach is more holistic. It’s about building long term relationship with the customers rather than just selling them products.”

Mashreq’s previous brand campaign, ‘We do banking, you do life’ launched in 2009 and centred on the emotional payoff of convenience.

The Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) has launched Bahrain 11, the inaugural edition of the GCC Games.Slated for October 11-22,it hopes to attract1500athletes.Bahrainwaschosenatthe66thOlympicCommitteein November in Kuwait. The official mascot “Ghaleb” and logo was created by Bahraini firm NetiZen, the official communication and commercial partner. Chairman Khalid Al-Doseri said: “We are pursuing partnerships with major regional broadcast networks to ensure all of Bahrain’s 11 competitions will be available in every household in the GCC and wider MENA region.” The Games rotate among GCC states every four years. Saudi Arabia is hosting the second edition in 2015.

Asked about implications of the cancellation of F1 a spokesperson said: “The decision on Bahrain Grand Prix was based on F1 scheduling and strategy, and as such we do not expect it to have any negative impact on Bahrain 11”.

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News

MARKETING MOVES Dr Nasser Marafih Formerly: CEO Qtel Qatar Now: CEO Qtel Group

Yahoo! debuts planning tool at GMR conference

Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani Formerly: Executive director HR and General Services Now: CEO Qtel Qatar Arijit Ghose Formerly: Head of the Global Centre of Excellence for Distributive Trade, Unilever Now: Managing director, Unilever Gulf What women want...and when: Ahmed Nassef presents Connectonomics

Omar El Banner Formerly: Operations manager, Ski Dubai Now: Marketing & Sales Director Leisure & Entertainment, MAF James Thomas Formerly: Group account director, Ketchum Raad Now: GM, marketing & corporate communications, Arabian Automobiles Dubai and N Emirates.

Christian Loos Formerly: Managing director/VPMEA Cheil Worldwide Now: Regional business director, JWT Dubai

Adham Obeid Formerly: ECD TBWA Oman Now: Regional creative director, JWT Dubai

Karthik Ramamurthy Formerly: Head of Synovate BC India Now: Head of Synovate MENA Malcolm Wall Formerly: Chief executive Content Virgin Media UK Now: CEO Abu Dhabi Media Iain Potter Formerly: VP marketing HPC and Foods, Unilever Now: VP marketing, HPC Unilever UK

UAE More than 200 marketing professionals from across the region descended in Dubai last month for GMR’s 5th Annual Marketing to Women Conference.

Called Women 24/7 – Where’s your brand when she needs it? the sell-out event opened with the Middle East debut of Connectonomics: A NeedsBased Approach to Marketing to Women Online.

Developed by Yahoo!, Connectonomics subverts what the firm calls the traditional marketing approach, which tends to treat all channels equally and reach out to women in terms of who they are, not why they use particular channels.

The Middle East study, presented by Yahoo! Maktoob’s VP and managing director, Ahmed Nassef, matched media channels to needs of Arab female Millenials and Boomers in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, with where and when they are at their most receptive. According to the findings some needs are more prevalent than others with self awareness toping the list with 84

per cent of women, followed by care of self at 75 per cent and professional advancement at 73 per cent.

Women said Nassef are most receptive to marketing messages on lifestyle, speciality and review sites, compared to communication channels where ads are often ignored.

Previously Connectonomics had only been undertaken in the US and Canada.

In other research, Sai Bhaswana Pingali, research director, Qualitative AMRB, examined the complexities of The New Age Muslim Woman: A study in Contrasts, part of the JWT-AMRB Pan Islamic Research project.

“The Arab/ Muslim woman is looking for greater control over her own destiny and an opportunity to carve an identity for herself beyond the confines of home and family,” Pingali told delegates.

The main finding common to all women, whether liberal or conservative, is that she aspires for a modern life while observing her faith. For them, modernity and Islam are complementary, not contradictory.

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News

Nokia to focus on content opportunities in Saudi Arabia The kingdom is one of the top 10 markets worldwide for Ovi store downloads Saudi Arabia Nokia is to develop more content for Arabicspeaking consumers.

The head of marketing for Saudi Arabia and Yemen, Moussa Obeid, speaking at the recent Saudi Brand & Communications Forum in Riyadh, told GMR that Nokia was working with Saudi content developers to get local apps to market through its Ovi store.

“We are partnering with STC and Mobily and engaging with key media, with banks, and universities to make sure developers have the ecosystem

they need. It’s not about putting Facebook in Arabic, it’s the offering of content that is suited to this market and that’s what we wanted to drive,” he says.

Nokia has also partnered with Mobily to offer data plans when buying specific phones, along with a new purchasing solution for its Ovi store for STC consumers. They can now buy downloads via their monthly bills rather than online with a credit card.

“We’ve offered specific data solutions to customers through

FP7 Beirut bags the Byblos Bank account

Dotmena to represent Glam Media

Lebanon Following what it describes as a “gruelling multi agency pitch” FP7 Beirut has won the creative and media duties for Byblos Bank.

The agency fought off Memac Ogilvy and M&C Saatchi to be named AOR (renewable).

The incumbent was Grey.

George Jabbour, COO MCN Lebanon, owner of FP7 Beirut, says the bank’s “a genuine Lebanese iconic brand.”

The bank’s Nada Tawil, head of group communication, sasy Byblos Bank had pioneered brand communication in Lebanon back in the 90s. “Today, with our new partners, we are ready to champion yet another leap in this field.”

Other recent wins for the agency include IDAL, Liban Lait, and EAM.

MENA Women’s online vertical network Glam Media has appointed dotmena – Mediaquest stablemate to GMR – as its representative in the MENA region.

Glam Media is a pioneer of vertical media that connects the world’s top brand advertisers with targeted, niche audiences online. It is built on a growing portfolio of 2,500 influential publishers, assisting brands to connect to social following in key women’s verticals: style, beauty, family, entertainment and living.

It attracts more than 201 million unique visitors a month (comScore, April, 2011).

The addition of Glam Media to the dotmena network allows MENA advertisers to reach a wider, more engaged audience with high-quality content.

Local content: Moussa Obeid

carriers such as Ovi Plus with Mobily for unlimited music for a limited time. If you’re an STC consumer you can buy an app from the Nokia store

and it’ll be placed on your STC bill. He added that Saudi Arabia is one of the top 10 markets worldwide for Ovi store downloads.

“People are interested in social networking, religious Islamic applications and games.”

He bel ieve s t here i s more to come from Saudi’s content developers.

“We are positively impressed by the level of graduates here and there are so many developers. No one is engaging with them, no one is supporting them.”

Great impression: Glam Media boasts 2,500 influential publishers

“We are very pleased with our partnership with Glam Media and believe it will generate great growth for each party and add value to our existing and prospective clients,” says Alex Hawari, CoCEO, Mediaquest Corp. dotmena represents more than 50 websites in business, marketing, communications, sports, women’s interest, life-

style and entertainment, with more than 500 million impressions, 20 million premium unique visitors and 100 million page views per month, Mediaquest adds.

Alexandre Hawari Co-CEO Mediaquest Corp

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News

ABG’s Ghosn goes to neutral on KSA People Meters New board reaffirms ABG commitment to transparency and ROI, chairman says UAE The Advertiser’s Business Group – ABG – named Fadi Ghosn as its new chairman.

Ghosn, CMO of GM Middle East Operations, succeeds former Philips Middle East chairman Louis Hakim.

Raef Labeky, long-standing ABG committee member and Nestlé Middle East GM, communications and marketing support, is vice chairman.

The rest of the committee comprises: Vincenzo Ventricelli, Phillips ME, marketing director; Rami Damanhouri, P&G Gulf, marketing & media director; Chris Saldahan, director marketing services, Kraft Foods; David Porter, Unilever Gulf FZE, media director; Ghayath Sioufi, sr director media manager & broadcast sponsor; and, Nancy Ghali, ABG, marketing and

Late News • Kamil Najar CEO, Promoseven UAE, has left after 16 months to set up his own business.

•N ancy Ajram is named brand ambassador for the new Nissan Micra which launches in the GCC in 2012 supported by a bilingual, 360 campaign including TV and activation •Y ahoo! Maktoob is launching a Ramadan App. • Oman Oil Refineries & Petroleum Industries Company SAOC has rebranded as Orpic. The rebranding was handled by Four Communications Group FZ-LLC.

communications manager.

Speaking at an ABG meeting in Dubai last month, Ghosn outlined the progress of People Meter projects in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. He confirmed the continuous dialogue between both parties where, he said, the ABG played a key role in establishing the structure for their implementation.

“We know that credibility lies with transparency, leading to better measurement of media ROI”, he said.

The developments will be led by ABG board members Damanhouri in Saudi Arabia and Porter in the UAE. The previous initiative, Project Illumination has been “shelved” he confirmed.

A new interim Saudi Arabian TV audience research proposed by MBUs, the ABG

Driving seat: Fadi Ghosn

will play an advisory role has since been activated.

“We are keeping a neutral voice until the first results of the project are released. We hope that we can then validate MBU claims and endorse their findings,” Ghosn added.

The project is led by Sioufi.

Ghosn also updated progress on the regulation and measurement of OOH advertising and an advertising code of conduct for the region.

The code focuses on advertising to children and the tobacco advertising guidelines adopted by international organisations.

Principal methods of online measurement were also reviewed and these three projects are led by Sioufi, Labaki and Saldanha respectively.

The ABG continues to hold its seat on the executive committee of the WFA. “This is a reflection of the progress we have made to improve transparency and measurement and the growing importance of this region,” Ghosn said.

Formed in 2005, the ABG (formerly the GCC AA) is a pressure group to reflect the values and mission of the WFA, tailored to local conditions and needs.

KSA’s Drop and Shop Ramadan CSR Saudi Arabia Saudi Atheeb Group has partnered with Harvey Nichols in Riyadh and local humanitarian organisation Helping Hands KSA to launch a Ramandan CSR initiative.

Called Drop and Shop the companies are urging people to donate their jeans which can then be passed on to lowincome families.

Supported by Saudi celebrities, sports people and entertainers, the campaign includes an auction for jeans owned by famous people.

It is promoted through social media, TV, magazines and

It’s in the jeans: Drop and Shop

regional newspapers.

“We wanted to come up with a creative concept that would appeal to everyone,” says Saudi Atheeb’s deputy VP for social development, HRH Maha Bint Abdulaziz Al Saud.

“We’ve had a very encouraging response. One woman donated over 100 pairs.”

Atheeb set up its social development division in January.

Part of the strategy included the founding of Sawa’ed Atheeb, a committee of volunteers who promote charity within their own communities.

“We want to get Saudi youths involved in their surroundings, in giving. Everyone at Atheeb and Saw’aed Atheeb is full of ideas and we are looking forward to making Drop and Shop an event every six months,” Princess Maha adds.

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World News

UK wastes billions on market research UK The UK wastes more than £1 billion annually on market research and firms are using research as a substitute for clarity in marketing thinking.

According to analysis by Tresell, an agency dedicated to improving clients’ marketing efficiency, the UK spent more than three times the average in terms of research spending per unit of GDP. “Even when making generous assumptions on the cost of research in the UK, the analysis suggests more than £1 billion is wasted when compared with comparable economies in Europe, the US and the BRIC countries,” said Jon Francis, Tresell’s managing director.

“What is most surprising is that market research in Japan per unit of GDP is one sixth the level of that in the UK,” he added.

Only France and Germany get close to meeting these figures, while the US spent just one third of the UK’s.

The BRIC countries spend much less on research per unit of GDP. In the case of India and China they spend a 12th of the level of the UK’s spend.

“In the absence of models providing understanding of cause and effects in marketing, research is often used as a substitute for clarity of marketing thinking.

“It is put forward as ‘evidence’ in support of a premade decision and can be a waste of money, however good the quality of the research,” he added.

Brands undervalue digital OOH potential Consumers’ high expectations not being met, study says UK Brands are not meeting consumers’ expectations of DOOH, according to JC Decaux A study by Decaux UK found consumers have high expectations and like to see digital outdoor, says its head of research, Chris Hall.

Commuters, he adds, valued the medium as a core part of their daily commute providing content and entertainment.

Compared to online ads, which were described as an interruption digital outdoor is welcomed as a positive addition to their daily lives he said.

“The research suggests that the public are ready for more engaging content on digital screens and brands that meet the public’s appetite for entertainment will benefit.

“Interestingly enough, brands that simply ran their static posters were seen as missing a trick and failing to meet customer expectations.”

In separate but related news

The hours: Twitter-based DOOH unveiled.

Decaux client Europcar has unveiled its live digital OOH campaign to promote freeDeliver, its new hire car delivery and collection service which it claims will “save an hour in your day.”

Based on the Twitter stream from #myextrahour where people describe what they will do with their spare hour.

The tweets can be seen across Decaux’s D6 network and on i, the new digital site on London’s Cromwell Road.

The creative features Eu-

ropcar’s branding and url with the freeDeliver logo and asks “What would you do with your free hour?”

This is the first live copy execution to run on the i site which launched last month.

Grand Visual’s OpenLoop platform which allows advertisers to manage live copy executions across all major UK DOOH networks manages the campaign which was booked by MediaVest and is supported by broader outdoor, TV and online activity.

Indonesians shy away from Facebook Indonesia Only 14 per cent of users in Indonesia access Facebook on a daily basis, versus the global average of 46 per cent.

This is despite the fact that Indonesia has the second largest Facebook user base after the US, with 35 million people registered on the social networking site, reports Penn-Olsen.com.

Research from TNS Global

Losing face: Mobiles more popular

said that although there was enthusiasm for social media, most Indonesians access the

web from internet cafés and mobile phones, which could account for the lower Facebook activity.

Many mobile devices in Indonesia support easy access to services such as Facebook, however.

T he mo s t p opu l a r a r e BlackBerry handsets, smartphones from China, or local brands which are slightly more affordable.

18 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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6/23/11 12:37 PM

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Coca-Cola hits a high note Germany/India Coca-Cola has developed two packaging innovations, taking the brand into new consumer territories.

Coca-Cola Germany has launched a new can which can connect users directly to the Coke Music Portal through a QR code scanned via a smartphone. The initiative helps insert the brand into the youth lifestyle accessory category, said the can creators Ball Packaging of Germany.

The new 25cl cans also promote the Coke Sound Up campaign, which launched earlier this year.

Coca-Cola India, meanwhile, is planning to use solar energy in areas where there is no electricity.

It has developed a chest cooler, eKOCool, which does not require electricity and can

store two crates containing 48 300ml glass bottles.

Says Asim Parekh, VP technical, Coca Cola India: “The rural markets pose challenges in expansion as a huge swathe of the rural belt is not yet covered by the power grid, hence it remains without electricity or has low power.

“This challenge has been overcome by Coca-Cola’s innovation, which will give us a competitive edge, as well as a first mover advantage.”

A trial with 20 coolers in rural areas near Agra produced a significant sales increase, the company said.

Plans are under way to roll out 100 more coolers this year. eKOCool can also be used to charge mobile phones, the company says.

GroupM vs digital piracy USA WPP umbrella GroupM had acted to prevent its clients’ ads from appearing on websites that distribute illegally obtained content.

The new, policy includes anti-piracy language for insertion orders prohibiting vendors from placing GroupM c l i e n t s’ a d ve r t i s i n g o n sites that support piracy or contain any illegally distributed content.

GroupM has created a list of more than 2000 sites throughout the US. identified as containing or supporting pirated content. The list will be continually updated a link to the list will

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be included in all contracts and insertion orders.

“This policy extends to digital media buyers at all GroupM agencies, as well as other WPP companies like Team Detroit, which manages Ford’s media business,’ says GroupM Interaction global CEO Rob Norman.

“Pirate sites are known to ‘domain hop,’ so we need to keep on top of the latest list of identified offenders as best as we possibly can in order to enforce this new policy to its fullest effect,” he added.

GroupM agencies include media agencies Maxus, MEC, MediaCom, and Mindshare.

7/3/11 1:59 PM

Kia accelerates US output US/South Korea Kia Motors will boost US production by 20 per cent to meet rising demand for its new models including the Optima sedan.

The South Korean auto maker has said it will invest $100 million to boost capacity and has hired 1,000 workers for its Georgia plant.

The annual capacity of the plant will increase to 360,000 vehicles, starting in 2012, from the current 300,000.

US sales for Kia rose by 53.4 per cent in May to hit an alltime high for a third straight month, fuelled by a nearly three-fold jump in Optima sales, reports Reuters.

Kia is an affiliate of Hyundai.

Together they rank fifth in car sales and in May saw their market share top 10 per cent for the first time in the US. Production of the 2012 Opt ima seda n beg ins in September.

IHG launches iPhone apps World InterContinental Hotels Group has launched an iPhone booking app for each of its seven brands – InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Hotel Indigo, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites and Candlewood Suites. These new apps provide guests with the ability to find and book hotel rooms, check rates and view or cancel their reservations.

IHG, the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, says in a release that the iPhone apps for each brand follow the “highly successful” release of the InterContinental Concierge Insider Guides app for iPad in December 2010, the Priority Club Rewards app for Android in July 2010 and the Priority Club Rewards app for iPhone in April 2010.

In just over a year, IHG has seen a nearly 1,000 percent increase in room night bookings from mobile devices. In the first five months of 2011,

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IHG has already surpassed its 2010 total number of room night bookings from mobile devices such as phones.

Most guests – 65 percent – who book through a mobile device plan to stay at IHG hotels the same night or within one day. To cater to this, the new booking apps for each of the seven brands include location aware capabilities to assist guests in booking hotels close to their location and navigating to the property.

Matt Luscombe, IHG’s senior vice-president of sales and marketing, EMEA, says, “Our guests tend to be business travellers who need to book a hotel room or change a reservation whilst they’re on the move. Our mobile strategy is responding to this growing demand. Last year we launched a mobile iPhone booking app that just targeted our 58 million Priority Club Rewards members and we’re now expanding our iPhone booking app service to all of our seven brands.”

7/3/11 1:59 PM

World News

Aegis and Ipsos mull Synovate sale France Aegis has confirmed that it is in talks with Ipsos over the sale of its research arm Synovate to the French research firm for a reputed $500 million.

Synovate, which has offices in 64 countries – including Dubai – and employs 5,900 staff, has also attracted interest from Gfk and Nielsen.

Some 26.5 per cent of shares in Aegis are owned by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, the chairman of communications group Havas.

According to UK newspaper The Daily Mail, Aegis’s confirmation of talks is likely to trigger speculation that if Synovate is sold, Bollore will pursue the remaining Aegis Media business.

Online reviews influence purchases Brand engagement through social media on the rise in India

Qualities that describe brands/companies that have social media presence 70 60

61%

58%

55%

50

52%

51%

45%

44%

42%

40

39%

30 20

Wrangler fits well with MEC Malaysia Malaysia Wrangler has appointed MEC Malaysia following a three-way pitch.

MEC will handle all Wrangler’s media and digital planning and buying across Malaysia and Singapore.

Wrangler is under a new distribution company – Atelier Lifestyle Sdn Bhd – which will reposition the brand to make it more relevant to consumers, said MEC. CK Law, MD MEC, said: “It is an honour to be given the chance to work with such a renowned brand and we look forward to rejuvenating Wrangler through our unique Active Engagement approach.”

11%

10 0

5% Customer friendly

Open to receiving feedback

Business oriented

Innovative

Socially responsible

Cool

Leading edge

Fun to be Transparent associated with

Wasteful

Others

Source: The Nielsen Company 2011

India Nearly 40 million Indians are using online reviews to inform purchase decisions.

According to research from The Nielsen Company, 67 per cent of Indians who are on the web use online reviews to help them make purchases.

As personal opinion gains currency on the social web, online users are seeking various outlets to express themselves, be it blogs or social media sites.

Increasingly, Indians also want brands to communicate with them using social media,

with 60 per cent who are social media users being open to being approached by brands.

This, says Nielsen, indicates that social media has the ability to change the dynamic between brands and consumers who are typically timestarved and may consider traditional forms of advertising obtrusive and undesirable.

This behaviour, says Nielsen, indicates that brands need to deliver on consumer expectations more than ever before.

The study also found that 30 million Indians who are

online spend more time on social media than personal email; an equal number spend up to an hour on social networking and email.

However, while just eight per cent spend between one to three hours on personal email, 20 per cent spend the same amount of time on social media sites.

Research was conducted via an online survey on a sample of 2000 people from all walks of life spread across the top five metros and tier one cities in India.

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c r e at i v e

Speaking out

Barely a year old and already Saudi hotshop Word of Mouth has plenty to shout about. Alex Malouf reports from Riyadh.

Few people would have been brave enough to start an agency back in 2009.

Even fewer would have left their executive position at a multinational firm and opened a shop in Riyadh which, after all, is hardly the throbbing hub of Middle East creativity.

Hashem Chaballout, however, was undeterred. He decided that the time was right and set up his own agency to offer clients, what he terms, value for money.

“I started work in 2000 with Saatchi & Saatchi,” he says. “I worked my way up to regional account director position at Ogilvy in Riyadh, following time spent at Leo Burnett. But as the economic crisis hit, I had reached my own crisis point. I was fed up with

It’s a wrap

Question of taste: Saudi CDR franchise is one of WoM’s clients

what I was doing. I felt multinational agencies weren’t doing anything new, that they weren’t making use of their international experience,” Chaballout tells GMR. With a point to prove, he decided to put his ideas to the test, setting up Word Of Mouth in November 2009.

“I wanted to create more of an environment, which is what advertising should be, something fun and yet professional, as well as creative. I felt that the opportunity was there, and I saw the frustration that clients go through.”

Right from the outset Chaballout’s raison d’être has been simple: Take care of the clients and they will take care of you.

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Talking the talk: Word of Mouth founder Hashem Chaballout says he is selective about clients he takes on

There are some clients who want to milk you for every penny they spend.

“I wanted to offer companies something new for this region, to do things differently. When you are driven by financial goals, as with multinationals, your mindset is different. Whereas when you start offering clients the right solution, money will come in regardless.

That was my perspective. Focus on the creative, on the environment, on the right people, and leave money aside.”

His track record during the past 14 months seems to have proved his point.

Only four months after setting up the agency, Chaballout’s team won the creative work for Al Rajhi Bank. Projects with the likes of Emaar, London Fish and Chips, and Saudi Telecom soon followed and provided a platform for further growth.

“We started off project by project, firstly with London Fish and Chips, Emaar, and several ad hoc clients.

Then Al Rajhi’s head of marketing called and asked me to put a team together.

“We then got a call from Saudi Telecom to work on a six-month activation project, which was amazing.”

Following those wins, Word Of Mouth added Dallah Hospital and sandwich chain Kudu to its client list, and worked with one of the largest kidney charities in the kingdom.

“We’ve been lucky to deal with both local and multinational clients. We’ve also done events for IT company Cisco.”

Word of Mouth currently boats 24 members of staff, and plans are in the

pipeline to open offices in Amman and Dubai in the coming months.

“We need to keep growing steadily. We need to work on space in our Riyadh office, but moving forward we will continue developing the business, growing it and expanding in Saudi,” Chaballout said.

“Dubai seems to be picking up and I want to set things up to see what potential business is there for us.

“I wouldn’t have considered Dubai had I not been kept up to date with what is happening there. We should be there in a couple of months. In Saudi the market will keep picking up.

Companies were insecure about 2010, but the storm has passed, the market is stabilising, and firms here will feel more comfortable about putting more spend into budgets in Saudi.”

Despite the much-hoped-for upturn in the advertising industry across the Gulf, Chaballout sees no reason to change his formula for success.

“All companies want is someone to care for their brand, to treat them as if they were their own business.

“We will keep giving them practical, cost-effective solutions. You have to understand that it is not about being cheap, but rather about getting the most for every dollar. There are some clients who want to milk you for every penny they spend.

“I am selective and work with clients who respect what I do.

“I see smarter spending throughout 2011. Saudi is unique in the region in the sense that few companies will have significantly cut their advertising budgets here.

“Multinationals who may have dropped advertising budgets outside of Saudi will continue to promote themselves here. This is a huge market.

“But even then they are being smarter about how they spend and the results from what they are putting in.

“That’s why we are here - to give them the value they have been looking for.” n

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COVER STORY

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Celebrants are expected to consume even more TV than usual this Ramadan due to August timing. Adrian Murphy reports.

When the sun sets across the Arab world on the first day of Ramadan millions of dollars of advertising revenue will kick into gear as commercial breaks punctuate the post-iftar diet of soap and entertainment served up on our TV screens.

Long deliberated over by the region’s media planners and cloaked in secrecy, or at least kept under wraps, the year’s most important campaigns and sponsorships could generate up to 20 per cent of annual revenue.

New products will launch while old favourites such as Vimto will reappear during what some planners liken to the Superbowl in terms of marketing exposure.

OOH advertising also takes on a new dimension as malls stay open until midnight (and later for supermarkets) and food items upstage grooming brands for visibility.

Closely guarded secrets will be revealed, especially on TV, as to which brands have spent their budget where and at what time, and executives will watch tentatively for signs that their six-figure sums have been invested wisely.

This year, however, planners are also having to take into account the Arab Spring, the August heat, possible annual vacationing and economic recovery for Ramadan 2011.

But the traditional aspects of the Holy Month ensure it will continue as the peak season for ad spend and the subsequent revenue it promises.

TV is by far the most popular medium with 80 per cent of the total monitored spend during Ramadan ending up on the screen. The leading sectors are telecos, food-FMCG, automotive and On schedule

Paradigm shift: PARC’s Shaharyar Umar

Traditions: PHD’s Elda Choucair

finances – in both the GCC and Egypt.

These sectors hand over more than $30,000 for a 30-sec TVC post iftar and millions of dollars to sponsor a hit show.

And they do so because it is their chance to make an impression on the consumer who works shorter hours and is likely to spend more time with the family watching the special TV shows companies have invested in for Ramadan, such as the hardy perennial Saudi sit-com Tash ma Tash.

“Consumers’ daily activities undergo a paradigm shift during the Holy month of Ramadan,” says Shaharyar Umar, marketing director Parc.

“This means the average time spent watching TV goes up significantly with shorter duration programmes, such as serials, dramas, sitcoms, soap operas and religious programmes, in high demand.”

Anything up to 60 new shows will be aired during Ramadan on 400-odd satellite channels across the Middle East.

“As TV accounts for 62 per cent of the total annual measured spend in the region, the spending on TV during Ra-

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COVER STORY

Breaking the fast: Food FMCG is the second biggest spending category during Ramadan

“I would not be surprised to see a 40 per cent plus surge in spending this Ramadan as compared to last Ramadan...” madan shoots up by more than double, compared to the average month, and it impacts directly on total ad revenue in the region,” he says.

Many media owners publish exclusive Ramadan rate cards that are significantly higher than an average month and advertisers make a beeline for prime spots for the favourite programmes.

“Some of the top programmes during Ramadan command nearly $50 million spend and around $70 million was spent on the top most advertised programme Sheekh Al Arab Al Hamam last Ramadan,” says Umar.

Parc’s research shows this is reflected by telecos that spend a quarter of their total budget during Ramadan, much higher than 17 per cent share it enjoys for the full year. In 2010, the top spender Zain increased its spending by four times compared to a normal month.

The food sector is the second top spending category during Ramadan compared to its usual fourth rank in a full year, allotting approximately 140 per cent more budget say Parc.

“This year the positive indicators backed by strong fundamentals far outweigh the challenges and I would not be surprised to see a 40 per cent plus surge Media Men

Spiritual: Rishi Saxen, Starcom’s associate research director

Justified: Rotana Media Group’s Rizk Haddad

in spending this Ramadan as compared to last Ramadan,” adds Umar.

Watching TV is such a popular activity during Ramadan that Rizk Haddad regional executive director of Rotana Media Group says the increased prices are justified as the programming commands optimum exposure.

“The price factor is related mainly to demand created in relation to a major increase of media consumption in TV usage and ratings, therefore these prices are justified, especially for products and brands that count on this period for sales growth and increase,” he says.

“Competition in terms of offerings and choices will always be a cause of price wars and special deals; however, the media group will be offering exclusive content, which will always attract the right partners aiming to reach its core target.

“Ramadan is a standalone month in terms of planning, buying and special created TV content, on a TV grid that is launched only for 30 days.

“This puts broadcasters under pressure, media sales as well, to monetise this content in a short period.”

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Local cooking shows produced exclusively for Ramadan revolving around iftar preparations are extremely popular.

Rotana, for example, will be showing its well-known Soufra Dayme cooking show that focuses on health and nutrition as well as the art of table design.

This is the time when broadcasters enjoy their best ratings of the year and media planners say this in no different even if Ramadan falls in August or July.

“The timing of Ramadan will not affect viewership level negatively either,” says Elda Choucair, general manager of OMG-owned PHD. “Travel plans will shift, while traditions will not. The hot weather in August will entice more people to stay indoors and therefore may boost TV viewing figures.

“This is a time to show the best they can offer, in order to maintain or strengthen their market position and it is a critical month in terms of revenue as they usually achieve 15 to 20 per cent of their annual revenue in that month.”

Al Islami Foods, which achieves on average 12 per cent of the entire year’s sales during Ramadan, agrees.

According to MD, Saleh Abdullah Lootah, people prefer to stay with the family during this time.

“Looking at the political situation in the different Arabic countries, we might see more people staying in the region instead of going back home until their home country situation improves,” he says.

“Most probably we will end up having more Muslim/Arabic people staying in Ramadan while more western/ Non-Muslims will take this opportunity to extend their vacation outside of the region.”

Choucair says Ramadan is a time when advertisers play with consumers’ emotions, both to drive consumption with special offers or rates or project a positive image of the company through CSR and brand messages.

“Big ticket items also use the end of Ramadan to stimulate Eid sales,” she says.

MBC stays on schedule

Line-up: Masaqeel is a firm family favourite during Ramadan

Ramadan is synonymous with TV viewing, which is synonymous with MBC and the tradition of staying indoors, MBC Group’s official spokesman, Mazen Hayek, tells GMR. Viewing hours increase from the usual 4.5 hours to six to seven hours. Asked if events in Egypt and Syria would negatively impact production of the new programmes, he said due to forward planning what will be aired this year will have been planned up to 18 months ago.

“Obviously the situation has affected the production timeline, but many production teams have been able to catch up.

“We are on time with shooting and editing for nearly all the series.”

He added that there will be no changes to the planned Ramadan grid, which is made of for genres: religion Khawater series 7, comedy with Tash Ma Tash series 18 and Masaqeel, drama with Karim, Fursa Thanyah and Firqatt Naji Attallah and game shows with Hurouf Wa Oulouf.

“In some ways the viewers know what to expect and are accustomed to our line ups.

We always try to add new drama from all walks of life and have shows from Saudi, Gulf, Egypt, Syria and Kuwait.”

A new game show, a new drama line up and new comedy series for Ramadan will either lead in or out of the Tash Ma Tash he reveals.

“Ramadan, for MBC 1, represents 20 to 25 per cent of our grid investment and yearly revenues.

“Tash has 50 per cent of the viewership ratings during Ramadan so for every TV switched on half are watching the show. It is in its 18th year and a generation has grown up watching it. That’s the strength it has and we bring back the brands and the stars and strengthen the line-up.”

The average cost of a 30-second TVC is $10,000 to $35,000, depending on genre, timings and ratings, he says.

“We are also multi-platforming and involving new media. We have seen a three-digit growth in advertising on shahid.net and this is where you can watch the previous night’s show on a video-on-demand platform.

“As well as this there is Ramadan on your mobile with mobilsodes. You can see trailers for upcoming episodes on your smart device.”

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Getting connected: Region’s telcos spend 25 per cent of their total ad budget during Ramadan says PARC

...the hot weather of August will entice more people to stay indoors and therefore may even boost TV viewing figures.

“Rates vary according to the station’s performance, the popularity of the programme and its expected ratings.

This is how stations offset the large programming investments they make to stimulate viewership.

“Overall OMG projects TV investments during Ramadan to represent an 80 per cent jump on an average month.

“What is also noticeable is that brands increase their reliance on sponsorships during Ramadan, compared with the rest of the year. They increased by 55 per cent in 2010 over the previous years.”

However, Choucair says that there is a limited supply of Ramadan programmes this year, since the traditional production centres of Egypt and Syria have both been affected by political unrest.

“This means content is at a further premium which coupled with the perception that it will be a tough season

in advertising terms, means stations need to tread cautiously,” she adds.

“As to the overall trend, the one significant point to make is that decisions are being taken later and later, which is making broadcasters very nervous about the outcome. Without a doubt, this year is particularly hard to predict with all these factors at play.” planning ahead

Challenge: Mindshare Multi-platforming: MBC’s Mazen Hayek Bahrain’s Johnny Khazzoum

So media spend is not just about laying out huge sums of money and hoping for the best, but it’s about the perception your audience will have of the brand.

And from a marketing perspective Ramadan poses fantastic opportunities, as well as potential pitfalls to companies if their marketing strategy is not properly executed.

“The changes in the communication landscape, varying from consumption patterns, buying habits, media environment, lifestyle and state of mind is remarkable and truly a challenge to brands,” says Johnny Khazzoum, MD, Mindshare Bahrain.

“It’s no longer a matter of a TV ad or promotion, it’s about the brand’s image, positioning and contribution to the Holy Month that makes the difference.

“From a media perspective, the shift in media consumption is like the Superbowl, consumption is at its highest, specifically FMCG products; sales go through the roof and there are even special categories and brands that rely and capitalise on Ramadan specifically.

“Therefore ensuring brand presence in a smart way is crucial for these brands

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Ramadan wouldn’t be Ramadan...: Vimto’s sales peak during the Holy Month

Our investment in OOH is strongly influenced by the price and quality of display. or they risk losing a large share in the market.”

A good example is Vimto, which has become as much a part of iftar as dates and milk making it a very important month for its distributor, Aujan.

“Our Vimto brand has a huge association with Ramadan and a significant portion of Vimto sales happen during the holy month,” says Anwar Zaman, VP of marketing at Aujan Industries.

The ad budget at Al Islami swells by 50 per cent for the month.

“We consider this as our best investment opportunity and that should give us extra mileage outside Ramadan,” says Lootah.

He too expects a hike in ad rates, especially in TV and print, but says that development of alternative media is pressurising TV firms to review prices.

OOH becomes very important, especially in the UAE, with its fragmented population making it difficult to be effective in mass communication.

“If there is a place where all of Dubai’s population can meet is in the street, in the mall and the hypermarkets. In Ramadan the situation is even more critical due to the limited space available, so competition is at its most intense.”

Other brands hoping to make the most of their visibility and which will focus on OOH is Unilever’s Lipton and Knorr.

“In Ramadan Knorr plays an important role as soups become an integral part of investment

OOH: Unilever NAME’s Efficiency: Al Islami Foods’ CEO Saleh AbDavid Porter dullah Lootah

the consumer’s daily consumption,” says David Porter, media director, Unilever.

“Our strategy will therefore be to ensure Knorr is available everywhere, supported by exciting consumer offers.

“Our investment in OOH is strongly influenced by the price and quality of display.”

And let’s not forget the fundamentals of Ramadan such as fasting and giving that can also have an impact on what purchasing choices people make.

“Not only is Ramadan about getting in touch with your spiritual side, about also about the spirit of giving and doing good, austerity and self-control throughout the day,” says Rishi Saxen, associate research director.

And once the new moon is sighted people’s iftars and gift-giving may well be influenced by the commercials aired during popular TV shows such as Bayni Wo Baynak and Bab Al Hara.

And all the hard work and investment will have been worth it.

As Lootah says: “Our focus is to have efficient spending. whether it’s higher or lower than last year, it doesn’t really matter.” n

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Home time

GMR Exclusive: Integral-OMG spots some new factors which can influence consumer behaviour during this Ramadan.

Ramadan is a time of traditions and people find comfort in repeating old patterns. While some things don’t change, there are also some that evolve. This year, however, Integral-OMG in its latest study, Tradition and Transformation, has identified some new factors that come into play requiring special attention.

A rhythm set by traditions Because of fasting during daylight hours, the rhythm of the day changes, sleeping patterns are affected and so are mealtimes.

Iftar is a family and social occasion when relatives and friends gather to break their fast together. After the evening meal, it is common for families to stay up to watch TV, particularly series with traditional or religious themes, as well as quiz-type shows known as ‘Fawazeer’.

Audiences eagerly await these programmes and follow them continuously during the Holy Month.

The majority of people in Saudi Arabia sleep between 4am and 10am, during the afternoon, and some nap right until Iftar. There is a difference between genders. Many women, particularly in Saudi Arabia, where few work outside the home, spend a few hours preparing the meal, some starting as early as noon.

Socializing is a little different between Saudi Arabia and the UAE as the latter’s ethnic and faith diversity has a minimal impact on behaviour.

For Arabs and Muslims socialising means watching television at home, particularly after Iftar, and going to shisha cafes, particularly for males aged 25 years plus. Restaurants and malls are visited more by younger males and females.

In Saudi Arabia, Iftar is predominantly a family occasion, whereas in the UAE, friends and colleagues feature very heavily, in addition to spouses and children.

With Iftar being a highly social affair, family budgets are affected and food/ drinks dominate consumption.

Donations to charity are also critical.

One surprising finding is that younger males are significantly more likely to give to charity (94 per cent) than their female counterparts (68 per cent).

Media stars come out at night Regarding media, the different rhythm means increased TV viewing, particularly at night, adding about 30 minutes a day, compared to the preceding month.

In 2010 Ramadan led TV viewing to increase by an average of six per

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Advertising bonanza This is the month for TV advertising, during which it boosts its share of investments from 62 per cent to 74 per cent in the GCC, and from 66 per cent to 92 per cent in Egypt.

In 2010, Ramadan was preceded by the FIFA World Cup, which ‘robbed’ the month of its usual peak in the year in the GCC – including pan-Arab media – but they still rose by 70 per cent on the previous 30-day period.

In Egypt, ad investments almost quadrupled between July/August and

Ramadan 2011: Tradition and Transformation Study 100 80 60 40 20 0

2004

2005

Sleeping

Eating

2006 Praying

2008

2007

Spending time with family

2009

Working

59%

Watch Ramadan programs online

Read more newspapers

Spend more on grocery shopping

Go out with friends for iftar at tents/restaurants

20%

UAE Arabs

Follow most Ramadan programmes on TV

Explore new activities

KSA

Read more religious papers/ magazines

20 0

33%

30%

35%

60%

67% 44%

40%

40

44%

38%

50%

51%

64%

68%

70% 54%

53%

60

58%

59% 66%

80

82% 74% 79%

100

Spend more time with my family

©arabianEye.com

cent a month in Saudi Arabia and 13 per cent in Egypt. In the UAE there was a marginal drop, due to the wider range of entertainment options in the evening.

Another dimension of TV is timeshifting to later in the night, as viewership between 6pm and 2am rose by 23 per cent in Saudi Arabia, 21 per cent in Egypt and nine per cent in the UAE, versus the previous month.

The Holy Month affects online media patterns too. Last year, the daily average online time rose among UAE Arabs by 20 minutes, but dropped in Egypt by a similar amount and a little less in Saudi Arabia. In the latter two countries, consumption peaks between 10pm and 2am whereas it drops during this period in the UAE. An online consumer survey confirms the family significance of Ramadan, as well as its religious implications, but also shows how they are mixing the various media and entertainment opportunities.

Indeed, the internet is as good a source of information for religious subjects as any and traffic to such content is on the rise during the Holy Month, even if there was a slight decrease in 2009 and 2010.

Regarding search behaviour, Ramadanrelated searches have been growing rapidly since 2006, particularly at the beginning and end of the season.

Egypt

GCC 2010 ($ million rate card value)

Egypt 2010 ($ million-ratecard value)

1,600

1,600 1,357

1,200

1,200

800

797

800

633

693

400

400

0

0

163

Pre Ramadan

Ramadan

Post Ramadan

August/September, before dropping by half after Eid. The most heavily advertised categories in the GCC during last year’s Ramadan, telecos, food, services, auto and entertainment/leisure, were similar

Pre Ramadan

177

Ramadan

Post Ramadan

to those in previous years. There are naturally top categories throughout the year, although not in this order, with telecos and food rising the most.

The top five in Egypt included nonalcoholic beverages and property, instead

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COVER STORY

Peak season: Most Saudis will stay at home during Ramadan, but those who will travel will opt for other Muslim countries

Those who will travel are choosing Egypt as a prime destination. of auto and entertainment. Telecos still led the pack. Because of the surge in demand for advertising around key programmes, Ramadan is a highly cluttered, hence the demand for sponsorship is increasing faster than for spot buys, the former rising twice as fast as the latter in 2009 and 2010.

This Ramadan will be hot The Holy Month will last the whole of August this year – one of the hot-

test months – and will be particularly harsh for people who fast. Traditions will prevail, as most respondents indicated they’d rather spend the month with their family than travelling abroad. Close to 90 per cent of Saudi and UAE nationals will be staying at home. Even expats in the UAE – 67 per cent Westerners and 81 percent Asians – will stay in the country during Ramadan.

The peak time for people to travel in August will be the first 10 days, usually to

About the study Sample Profile: UAE • UAE Local (20%), Expat Arab (25%) Asian (40%), Westerner (15%) • 15-19 years (15%), 20-24 (20%), 25-24 (45%), 35-44 (20%) • 35% Females & 65% Males • Abu Dhabi (50%), Dubai (50%)

Saudi Arabia • 100% Saudi Nationals • 15-19 years (15%), 20-24 (20%), 25-24 (45%), 35-44 (20%) • 50% Females & 50% Males • Jeddah (50%), Riyadh (50%) CATI in both English and Arabic used as applicable conducted in May 2011

visit family back in their home countries.

Holiday plans this year indicate a trip of 10 to 20 days, although Westerners who will travel will do so for 25 days or more.

Saudis have usually holidayed in the kingdom in the past few years and the trend is set to continue. Those who will travel are choosing Egypt as a prime destination.

Other destinations are primarily Muslim countries in the Middle East or Asia.

The political unrest in the region is likely to affect Eid holiday plans too, especially for Saudis who tend to favour Egypt, but the September elections may give rise to more violence.

If temperatures mean that more people will spend time indoors, the propensity of advertisers to invest on air this Ramadan is much harder to predict. n

Dana Sarkis Business intelligence manager Integral-OMG

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halal life

Seeing is believing

Faith-based travel is a central plank in Saudi Arabia’s fledgling tourism ­sector, reports Alex Malouf from Riyadh.

FOR MANY travellers, the allure of sun, sea and sand – and probably shopping – is irresistible. But for many Muslims around the world such aspirations may contravene their faith, and this has been ­noticed by Islamic tourism companies, especially those in Saudi Arabia.

The heart of the Islamic tourism sector, Saudi Arabia welcomes huge numbers of international visitors (the kingdom saw almost 8.6 million travellers in 2004 alone) for Umra and Hajj.

Even before visitors step out of Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport, they’re confronted with marketing messages for everything from prepaid phone lines to Umra tours and Islamic food brands.

The halal dollar – expenditure by religious tourists in Saudi Arabia – was worth more than $6.5 billion in 2004 – roughly $71 a visitor a day. It is probably no surprise that both the private and public sectors are keen to not just attract Islamic tourists, but ensure they spend more time and money in the kingdom. long-term strategy

Big plans: GCTA’s Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud

HRH Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is spearheading the drive to raise the tourism sector’s profile in the kingdom. He aims to eventually open Saudi Arabia’s borders to travellers from all over the world.

The man who has been secretary general of Saudi Arabia’s General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (GCTA) since 2000 is focusing on realising the country’s tourism potential. One scheme launched recently by the commission is the Umrah Plus package. The aim is to keep visitors in the country for as long as possible.

“We’ve developed the Umrah Plus concept, a programme dedicated to certain countries and groups, [which]

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enables individuals on Umra visas to convert them to tourism visas,” Prince Sultan says.

“The backbone of the processing has already been done, and those from approved countries can choose to transition into either a tour organised by their pilgrimage organiser or to one sub-contracted locally. We are keen to sell packages to encourage people to extend their stay.”

The scheme makes sense. By targeting Muslims with medium to high incomes travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform Umra, and then staying on in the country for leisure purposes, tour operators will be tapping into travellers who have few difficulties in entering a country not known for easy visa procedures.

In 2007 the number of visas issued to foreigners not visiting for religious reasons amounted to just tens of thousands. In comparison, 6.5 million tourists visited Dubai in the same year. Saudi Arabia, then, has a lot of ground to cover.

“We think the best way to enhance our image is to bring people here. We’ll be launching a series of promotional tours shortly,” Prince Sultan says. An international exhibition of Saudi antiquities was held at the Louvre in Paris last year, he says.

“We are in discussions to take it to other major cities. People don’t realise how much the kingdom has to offer in this regard. I liken Saudi Arabia to Egypt in the 19th century. However, we are not marketing ourselves abroad seriously yet, because we need to get ourselves and our sites ready first.”

Designing for visitors The private sector has also looked to embrace the surge of pilgrims. Saudi Telecom, Mobily and Zain have all rolled out prepaid phone packages designed for visitors who spend a few days or weeks in the country. Even food outlets based in and around Mecca and Medina, such as Al Baik, have played on

landmark Fairmont Hotel & Resorts opened the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, near the Masjid Al Haraam and the Ka’bah, late last year. It is the focal point of the Abraj Al Bait Complex, which is part of the King Abdul Aziz Endowment Project, whose mandate is to upgrade the precincts of the Two Holy Mosques. The 76-storey, 577-metre tower is more than five times bigger than London’s Big Ben and houses a lunar observatory centre and an Islamic museum.

The private sector has also looked to embrace the surge of pilgrims entering Saudi Arabia the Islamic tourism concept to market themselves to pilgrims.

The latest sector to try to realise the potential of the millions of visitors to the kingdom is aviation. While both NAS and SAMA, the country’s two low-cost airlines, have looked to raise their image among religious tourists with some success, one carrier that is currently being established claims it will be the first worldwide to actually cater exclusively to those wishing to do Umra and Hajj.

According to the airline’s mission statement, “Al Wafeer will be the carrier that will be looked up to in Hajj and

Umra air transport by not only having the largest share of the Hajj and Umra transport, but also displaying resilience and an ability to expand into other charter businesses.”

While the kingdom looks set to leverage the increasing numbers of travellers visiting Saudi Arabia for religious purposes, the challenge to attract tourists who are not Muslims continues to be an uphill battle, mostly because of the difficulty tourists encounter gaining visas. An even greater challenge for Saudi businesses is how to make Saudis spend their money at home rather than

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halal life

Pilgrim’s progress: Saudi Arabia welcomed almost 8.6 million international travellers in 2004 for Umra and Hajj

…a programme dedicated to certain countries and groups that enables individuals on Umra visas to convert them to tourism visas abroad. Saudi tourists were estimated to have spent nearly $18.7 billion on foreign tourism in 2007, an increase of 40 per cent over 2006. By encouraging Saudis to spend their holiday time in the kingdom, the aim is to both develop tourism as a key pillar of the economy and keep money at home.

“The most important asset is the Saudi tourist. We export many tourists, so there is already a developed market. They are affluent and tend to be consistent, unaffected by disruptions such as weather and security,” Prince Sultan says.

Strategic links The partnership between GCTA and the tourism industry has already led to some novel initiatives, including what Prince Sultan likes to describe as “cultural economic zones”, in other words Saudi villages restored and open to both foreign visitors and nationals. Other at-

tractions such as Madain Saleh and the Red Sea are currently being developed in joint public-private partnerships.

The government has been keeping up its end. Last November Prince Sultan announced his organisation’s plan to establish three mega tourism projects on the Red Sea coast. “We’ll present these projects to higher authorities for approval,” he said.

The statement followed the approval of a strategic tourism development plan by the kingdom’s Council of Ministers, which aims to boost the growing tourism sector by making use of its Red Sea coast, considered to be one of the most beautiful stretches of coast in the Middle East. According to GCTA officials, plans to establish tourism projects worth $40 billion along the Red Sea are under way.

The new resorts will be established in Arrayes in Yanbu, Ras Muhaisen in

Mecca province, Haridha in Asir, Fursan in Jizan, and Ras Humaid, Sharma, Qayyal and Dhaffat Al-Wajh in Tabuk.

Prince Sultan hasn’t spared any effort in moving quickly to get his vision put into action. His commission has already signed a contract with an international consultancy to prepare a plan for the 1,800km Saudi Red Sea coast. The government’s goal is to increase the tourism industry’s share in the kingdom’s GDP from six to 16 per cent by 2020.

While attracting religious tourists to stay in Saudi Arabia may be the simple part, trying to convince Saudi nationals to spend their free time in the country is a struggle. For many Saudis, the reason they travel is to enjoy the same experience that many western travellers seek.

As one of the four million Saudi visitors to cross the causeway every year, an unnamed source says he visits Bahrain on the weekend from his home city of Dammam for a taste of a different life.

“You need a drink to be able to enjoy other things,” he beams.

Saudi Arabia’s tourism isn’t to everyone’s taste, it seems. n

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Profile

The GMR Interview

Not many beverages can out pace the mighty Red Bull, but Power Horse can. Taufic Zeidan, the man with the marketing muscle, talks to Alex Malouf in Riyadh.

Not many consumers in Saudi may know of Health Water Bottling Co (HWB). However, the brands that the company distributes, including Holsten and Power Horse, are household names. In fact HWB’s own bottled water brand, Nova Water, is one of the largest, not only in Saudi Arabia, but across the Gulf.

The head of marketing for HWB is Taufic Zeidan. He set up the company’s marketing function when he joined the company 10 years ago. Since then, Zeidan has grown the brands into domestic market leaders.

“For our global brands Saudi has become a key market. The kingdom may be one of the few countries worldwide where Power Horse outsells Red Bull. That’s the first line on my CV. When I joined, Holsten had a market share of two per cent. We’re now enjoying close to 18 per cent total market share in the alcohol-free beer segment.”

Founded in 1973, HWB’s initial focus was on the bottled water industry. Since then

fantasy cv Born – 1974 Married – Yes, recently.

Education – Executive MBA from AUB. Marketing bachelor degree from Lebanese American University.

First job – An insurance company in Beirut. I then moved to Saudi, and worked in Avis in front end sales. From there I moved to an agency, and then ended up here.

Career high – The launching of Nova Water. There are 60 bottled water brands, and today Nova Water is number three in volume and value.

Career low – McDonald’s when I first graduated. I had some time to fill. I don’t eat at McDonald’s today.

Fantasy job – My own brand and I’d like to write a book on marketing and branding.

the company has spread both geographically – to Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar – as well as product-wise by adding Holsten and Power Horse to its portfolio.

Its Nova Water is one of the best- known Saudi brands, according to Zeidan.

Much has changed for Zeidan during his 10 years at HWB. When he joined the company from agency BCIG - Arnold working for Holsten, he freely admits that he was the marketing department. Now, Zeidan has a team of 16 people dedicated to promoting the brands, along with a budget of $5.3 million (SAR20 million) to spend both above and below the line.

Zeidan is particularly proud of his achievements with Holsten. The premium non-alcoholic brand initially found the competition in Saudi tough, mainly owing to the tastes of the kingdom’s consumers.

With the support of Zeidan and HWB, the Carlsberg-owned brand has managed to notch up a significant market share among Saudi youth.

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Profile

Full of flavour: Zeidan and his team persuaded Holsten to introduce a wider range of flavours

“The ROI from online media is much faster and much more cost effective than traditional advertising.”

“Saudi Arabia has played a big role in developing our brands. For example we recommended that Holsten introduce an apple flavour. When I first came to the role Holsten only had classic and lemon flavours. The brand could not compete with Barbican or Moussy at that time. The launches of apple-, strawberry-, mangoand pomegranate-flavoured beers set a trend. These products were recommended by the HWB marketing team.

“This strategy has been followed by rival brands. We initially had difficulties at first to convince Holsten Hamburg to go with flavours. The Germans are very fond of their beer. However the perception of beer is different here in Saudi. The same is true of Power Horse and energy drinks, which are perceived differently in Saudi Arabia.”

As the marketing man behind two brands aimed primarily at Saudi youth, Zeidan

has been an early adopter and promoter of digital and social media. HWB started upping its spend online back in 2006 during the World Cup. “We split our marketing budget with a dedicated percentage for online social media from 2006 onwards.

“We’ve launched a number of viral marketing campaigns, including one in 2008 for the launch of Holsten’s pomegranate-flavour beer. One million people participated in that campaign in two months.

“We actually ended up with an award from Carlsberg for the best viral campaign globally among 500 partners for our imholsten.com microsite.

“We attracted more than one million visitors during the summer of 2009, with 600,000 unique users, who spent, on average, more than two minutes on the site. On average each visitor shared the

site with six of his friends over the summer period following the site’s launch.”

Zeidan works with a number of agencies. On the branding side he has used the Brand Union. For advertising he uses Riyadh-based Blindspot, as well as JWT and Saatchi & Saatchi. TBWA/RAAD acts as Holsten’s Middle East advertising agency following its appointment a year and a half ago. Zeidan’s preferred brand activation agency is DMI, while the online agencies he uses are Dimensions and RMG Connect.

HWB’s marketing team has pioneered online marketing, including the use of microsites and social media. Zeidan is blunt when it comes to the advantages of spending on the internet.

“The ROI from online media is much faster and much more cost effective than traditional advertising. Your target audience will Facebook it with their friends, they’ll tweet about what you’re doing.

It’s a snowball effect, which will only gather pace over time.”

While he describes himself as easygoing, Zeidan certainly has a passion for his brands. Under his management, HWB has built up resources that are used to

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Profile

Horse power: HWB is a big fan of sports marketing

Agency roster Creative: Blindspot (Riyadh); Saatchi & Saatchi, JWT, TBWA\RAAD for Holsten Branding: The Brand Union Activation: DMI Digital: Dimensions, RMG Connect Company creds Owned by the Olayan Group, HWB was set up in 1973 in line with the expanding consumer market in Saudi Arabia.

The company has since expanded and relocated to a modern new plant 100 kilometers east of Riyadh within the Nufoud Al Wase’e, a protected area famous for its water resources. The new plant is equipped with advanced systems, and the range of bottled water produced there meets the wide requirements of the country.

Recently launching Nova Water, HWB has also diversified into other lines of beverages.

It has obtained sole agency rights to market and distribute such products as Holsten nonalcoholic beer and Power Horse energy drink.

HWB is one of the largest and oldest water bottling companies in the kingdom, and was the first to be awarded the “Quality Mark” by the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization. The company is a member of the International Bottled Water Association.

develop branding in-house. One example is the latest logo for Nova Water.

“This new logo was done in-house by our designer. If you do this anywhere outside you’d be paying tens of thousands of dollars. What we have done has cost us very little. And yet I sell the most expensive water, the most expensive beer, and the most expensive energy drink.

I like the challenge of convincing people that there is value for money in the brands we sell.”

Zeidan’s brands have also led the way in terms of sports marketing. While Holsten is known globally as a brand that sponsors sports such as football, HWB has used activation tactics locally to build brand equity among young Saudi and non-Saudi adults.

“Our focus is on sport, on football in particular. I’d go so far as to say that football is the only sport I’d recommend supporting and sponsoring. If you see the figures of Saudis and non-Saudis watching the Spanish and English league, it’s huge. We use these evening gatherings to promote Holsten. Our teams go to the beaches, to shisha cafés and other locations where people gather to watch football to pass out samples and market our range of flavours.

“You have to remember that the Saudi market is all about flavours. Beer is a social lubricant and it’s a beverage that is very much in a growth phase here in Saudi. Even FMCGs are launching beer brands in Saudi Arabia as they see the opportunity to do volume business. When you see this happening you know that you’re in the right business.”

Having overseen the company’s marketing for 10 years, Zeidan’s thirst for the business is unquenched. HWB has several new product launches in the pipeline that he believes will shake up the beverages market. Far from being deterred by the increasing numbers of new brands in the bottled water and beverages market, Zeidan, it seems, is up for a fight.

“I am a person who likes challenges. I enjoy working in HWB as the decision-making process is fast. I don’t procrastinate, I want m y brands to be first-m overs.” n

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S E C T O R a n a LY S I S

HOUSEHOLD CLEanInG Arab spring oil hike dampens ad spend and NPD in the region awash with success Down the drain Private gains Sekari search data PaRC analysis PaRC data

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Awash with success

©Getty/Gallo Images

As the powder detergent market gets closer to universal household penetration, laundry care manufacturers look to increase their market further.

In a category where trading up is often a bigger trend than trading down, it’s hardly surprising that laundry care manufacturers see innovative new products as the key driver of future growth.

According to Euromonitor International’s Laundry Care in Saudi Arabia report, August 2010, the market for powder detergents – currently the largest laundry care category in value and volume – is close to maturity due to universal penetration. This means that manufacturers have had to look for the next big thing to capture consumers’ interests and create new categories they can watch grow in years to come.

Innovation in laundry care can be driven in four main directions: Upgrading consumers to using washing machines instead of hand washing, thus opening the use of higher value washing machine detergents and additives such as softeners; pushing products with added benefits such as scent and germ-killing properties; creating new formulations such as liquid or gel detergents; and moving into the pre-wash and postwash categories.

In the Middle East, the move to liquid detergents seems to be one that’s finding market favour.

According to Abdul Sami Qahar, senior brand manager for laundry, Henkel Arabia, the region has seen a number of success stories in this category such as Henkel’s Persil Abaya Shampoo, more commonly known as Persil Black.

“Before the launch of Persil Black, Arab women used fabric softeners and hair shampoos to wash their abayas.

In a spin: Persil Black has proven a hit, becoming the ‘market leader in liquid detergents in the GCC’

“Persil Abaya Shampoo was launched in the last quarter of 2008 in Saudi Arabia, and in 2009 its market was expanded to other Gulf countries such as the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bright ideas

Leader: Henkel’s Abdul Sami Qahar

Engaging: GP Krishnakumar, Clorox Middle East

Bahrain. Persil Black has now become the market leader in liquid detergents in the entire GCC market,” says Qahar.

He added that the product was an original innovation of Henkel Arabia that has now spread to other markets such as Lebanon, Jordan and Iran.

Capitalising on its success, Henkel followed with Persil White for white thobes in 2010 across the GCC. According to the company, the product rapidly grabbed market share, capturing 10 per cent of the liquid detergent market in Saudi Arabia within a year of launch.

The last quarter of 2010 saw the launch of Persil Gel, a universal detergent positioned as a replacement to powders.

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S E C T O R a n a LY S I S

Sunny outlook: Clorox Liquid Bleach enjoys a 92 per cent household penetration rate in the GCC

“europe and America are advanced markets when it comes to liquid detergents. in the Middle east [they are] growing rapidly” Qahar is confident that the future is bright for liquid detergents as levels of consumer awareness grows.

“Consumers don’t realise that there are numerous benefits that liquid detergents have over powdered ones, ranging from economical – they are cheaper than powders on a per wash basis; environmental – they consume less water; and personal reasons, relating to hassle-free washing, leaving no residues on fabric and so on.

“Europe and America are advanced markets when it comes to liquid detergents versus powders, however, in the Middle East, liquids are still at the birth stage, although growing rapidly,” says Qahar.

Currently the high-growth rates stem from a relatively low base; in the GCC liquid detergents continue to play sec-

ond fiddle to the ubiquitous culture of powder detergents, plus laundry additives – be it bleach or products such as softeners.

In the UAE, for example, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE maintained its lead in laundry care in the last year of review (2009), with a 58 per cent retail value share, thanks to loyalty to its established brands Tide, Ariel and Downy.

Meanwhile, Binzagr Lever Ltd (Unilever Arabia) remained slightly ahead of Henkel Dac in 2009, with both companies holding market shares of almost eight per cent, according to Euromonitor’s Laundry Care in the UAE, June 2010, report.

And, according to MEMRB/IRI market research, Clorox Liquid Bleach continues to enjoy a 92 per cent household

penetration rate in the GCC due to its continued use in laundry care and universal use in home care.

According to GP Krishnakumar, marketing manager, Clorox International Company, Middle East, a study by Clorox R&D in the US has clinically proven that detergent plus bleach is more effective than detergent alone.

“When it comes to products like bleach, one of the biggest benefits is that it guarantees whiteness and possesses disinfecting properties. No other product can claim that at the moment,” says Krishnakumar.

But in a category as competitive as laundry care, even companies who enjoy high rates of household penetration cannot afford to be complacent.

Clorox has launched several innovations in the market, including a thicker formulated splash-free variation of its popular Clorox Liquid Bleach; Ultimate Care – a gentle, thick bleach that can be poured directly onto clothes, including delicates; and strong forays into the brightening and stain removal markets with non-bleach formulation Clorox for

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©Getty/Gallo Images

S E C T O R ANA L Y S I S

Cleaning up: Ariel’s parent company, Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, is the leader in laundry care (2009)

It’s similar to Volkswagen’s ‘fun’ theory – you can engage customers by getting them involved in fun activities.

Colours and the Clorox Bleach Pen. Krisknakumar adds that innovation needs to extend beyond the product development sphere to that of customer engagement as well.

“We invest most of our budget in in-store activation, focusing on making our retail customer marketing as interactive as it can be. It’s similar to Volkswagen’s ‘fun’ theory – you can engage customers by getting them involved in fun activities.”

Clorox recently conducted an in-store activation campaign in the UAE supermarkets for its Clorox Colors brand.

The activity involved the creation of common stains, such as ink and ketchup, on a special Mupi made from interlocking bricks. Shoppers were invited to pull off the bricks demonstrating how easy it is to

remove stains from coloured clothes using the product, bottles of which were also sampled during the promotion.

The activity saw 600 people participate in just one hour, says Clorox, with 5,000 still got the touch

Soft-ner sell: Procter and Gamble Gulf FZE maintained its lead in laundry care in the last year of review (2009), boasting 58 per cent of retail value share

people participating over the course of the four-day promotion, and a captive audience of 10,000 in-store.

“Earlier, communication involved a watering pot effect, today it’s a sprinkler effect. You need to sprinkle your budget across different mediums in creative ways – in print, TV, in store, online.

And gone are the days when you could design a print ad and then adapt it as an online banner ad or simply upload your TVC on YouTube.

Today social media is so big that sometimes the idea for a campaign needs to begin in social media and be developed specifically for that channel,” says Krishnakumar.

He adds that while there is still a bit of scepticism about the benefits of digital in the homecare market, experimentation is necessary and Clorox is actively exploring the use of social media in future campaigns.

“In the home care category, with social media, let’s just say that while you may not want to be the first to get in, you definitely don’t want to n be the last.”

56 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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SECTOR ANA L Y S I S

down the drain?

Will the rising costs of raw materials negatively impact profit margins in the homecare category? GMR investigates

Manufacturers of homecare products are walking a thin line between raising consumer prices and risking a fall in volumes, and absorbing costs and squeezing profit margins, as the Arab Spring brings in its wake changes far beyond the region’s prevailing political regimes.

According to Euromonitor International, “the ‘domino effect’ instability cascading across the Middle East is likely to apply significant downward pressure on global home care sales, firstly because of its impact on oil and commodity prices, and secondly because of its drain on consumer spending in affected markets.”

In addition, major multinationals are also expected to rein in investment for NPD in the region, focusing instead on more stable markets such as Latin America, where total home care sales were already almost

one-and-a-half times that of the Middle East’s in 2010.

Regional players, however, say the picture isn’t as grim as the one being painted, at least not yet.

Claude Azrak, general manager, Clorox International Company, Middle East, says up until now, rises in oil prices have not led to undue price panic.

“We don’t see any reason why we rISING TIDE

Optimistic: Claude Azrak, GM, Clorox

Developing: Amitabh Bose, Homecare Henkel

should worry. While we have seen an increase in prices in Saudi of between four and seven per cent, the other Gulf markets have not really been affected, it’s business as usual. Also, we always hedge our purchases. When we buy raw materials in advance, there is a margin for a five to seven per cent increase. So unless it’s something dramatic, we won’t really see a negative impact.”

He added: “We deal with commodities; people still need to clean their homes, so they don’t stop buying products. In my opinion we experienced more of an impact during the global crisis when people began to leave and return to their home countries,” he added.

According to Amitabh Bose, marketing manager, Homecare Henkel GCC, the region’s youth – largely responsible for recent changes– constitute the Middle East’s greatest strength in terms of driving contin-

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SECTOR ANA L Y S I S

Feeling the squeeze: Better R&D, smarter choices and more efficient cost and procurement management will be key to keeping prices manageable, industry players say

If anything, the recent events in the region will only increase the need for more product development... ued investment in regional product development.

“If anything, the recent events in the region will only increase the need for more product development, because the youthful generation in question make up the major portion of innovators, early adopters and early majority as stated by the theory on diffusion of innovation. With this logic, this region will continue to be spearheading product development,” says Bose.

But the spectre of high petroleum prices, combined with the recent spike in prices of oleochemicals (vegetable oil derivatives also used in making surfactants) means high raw material prices is a reality that has to be confronted. When asked who is likely to bear the brunt – manufacturer or end-user – industry players say better R&D, smarter assortment choices and more efficient cost and procurement

management will be the key to keeping prices manageable for customers in order to maintain sales volumes, while still keeping profit margins in check.

“We are trying to find ways to deliver savings by increasing efficiencies or optimising our mixes in order to absorb some of the cost increases. However, we might reflect some of this cost in our prices which may cause the volume growth to slow down, but not deeply,” says Iain Potter, outgoing VP marketing, Unilever MENA. (Since this interview Absorbing costs

Efficient: Iain Potter, outgoing VP marketing, Unilever MENA

Potter has taken up his new position as vice-president marketing, home and personal care, the UK.) “For the home care sector what this [oil-led price pressure and constricted spending caused by regional unrest] would imply is that while the sector cannot bring new consumers into the fold, all existing consumers who have already bought into the need for improved hygiene and cleanliness will continue to purchase home care products. These consumers will, however, be more discerning and price sensitive,” he continues.

Bose reiterates that companies will be looking at smarter ways to trim costs.

“Companies will be forced to re-look at ‘must haves’ and ‘good to haves’ as part of their product mix, formulation and company structure. Cost optimisations would be necessary, but these would be more driven by R&D successes rather than just plain cost cutting.

“We have to keep the consumer at the heart of our decision-making process and this means coming up with better R&D products, which give the same benefit to the consumer at a lower cost.” n

60 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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Ou tN ow !

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From Athletics to Autosports Next time you hop onto the Metro, www.readme.ae

S E C TOR A N ALY S I S

Private Gains

© Getty/Gallo Images

The home care commodities market is a private label goldmine.

But retailers need a better plan to convert potential into profits.

On the shelf: The region’s retailers must focus less on budget lines and develop better mix of own label

Globally, private label products – or ownbrand products – have enjoyed a period of plenty over the past few years.

As price-conscious consumers tightened their belts, savvy retailers saw the opportunity to push their own products – passing on lower manufacturing, supply and advertising costs to the consumer in the form of lower prices, and capturing market share in the double digits in the process.

Throughout retail history, recessions have typically seen private label products emerge as winners. In the homecare and laundry care category, the opportunities are much bigger than in other categories, such as personal care and health care, where customers are often more wary of trading down from trusted top-tier brands.

According to a Euromonitor International’s Laundry Care in UAE market report, released in June 2010, economic hardship created a switch-over mentality, with private label products making significant inroads into

consumers’ shopping baskets during the year of review (2009).

According to Karl Nader, senior associate with Booz & Company, and co-author of the Booz & Co report released earlier this year, entitled Private Label – Untapped Opportunity for GCC Retailers, GCC retailers still have a long way to go before they are on a par with their global counterparts.

Speaking to GMR, Nader says: “If you think of markets such as Europe, where private label brands have captured around 20 per cent of the market, and compare it to the Middle East, where private label BIGGER PICTURE

Shifting focus: Karl Nader, senior associate, Booz & Co

products account for only three to four per cent, there is a lot more scope for growth.”

Categories such as disposable paper, garbage bags, gloves, laundry aids and detergents present a clear opportunity for regional private label products to compete, as the number of strong brands in these categories is limited, the entry price range is limited and the market is large enough to support more players.

According to Nader, local retailers have the economies of scale to develop private label homecare products and some retailers have achieved a degree of success in this regard.

“Carrefour in the UAE, the Sultan Centre in Kuwait and Panda in Saudi Arabia are doing a good job. However, the share of private label products across the region is still below comparable markets.”

Regional retailers need to view private label as part of a bigger picture.

“In my opinion retailers have done a pretty bad job of advertising their private label products.

“There is a gap between what retailers have on their shelves and what they are communicating to the consumer. There needs to be a better link.”

There are other challenges, Booz & Co says. “The region has a complicated consumer profile, which includes a wide range of nationalities and income levels.”

To be more successful, retailers need to work harder to communicate the plus points of their private label – in terms of available product assortment, as well as the quality and value proposition.

They also should stop focusing on budget offerings and develop the right mix of entry-level, mid-range, and premiumrange selections to build consumer trust and loyalty. n

62 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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© Getty/Gallo Images

s e c t o r a n a ly s i s

Whiteout

Bleach makes its mark in online search in the UAE. Out of the top 20 key phrases with the highest amount of searches in the UAE it seems bleach is the most requested.

Although broader phrases such as ‘clean’ and ‘cleaner’ show high volumes of searches, when we checked the type of sites that ranked for these phrases we found there are many, none of which are relevant to household cleaning products.

Type in “Bleach Products” however, and an array of sites to do with high-strength cleaning disinfectants are in the top 10.

None of the results contain local content; they are mostly international websites, which again, as in most of our industry reports, suggest a lack of content tailored to local UAE audiences ranking high in local searches.

Interestingly there is a correlation between the most searched for key phrase ‘Bleach’ and the most talked

about brand in social media, with Clorox showing the most mentions in the past two months.

Prior to starting the data collection we thought washing detergents, powders and fabric softeners would see the most active participation in social media, as we believe powder brands are generally more prominent here, and have been actively engaging with the female audience and mothers around the world. The results did show, in general, that it was detergents and fabric softeners that faired best, with Tide, Persil and Downy recording the most mentions.

It’s important to note that out of the ‘cleaning’ type key phrases we researched, much of the commentary in social media was around cleaners and cleaning services, with the most active website being expatwoman.com.

This is an anomaly in the UAE where expats make up the majority of the population and, in most cases, don’t do their own cleaning.

It is important to note that this report looked at commentary in English only, and therefore a more in-depth study on social media commentary in Arabic in Saudi Arabia, for example, will result in different brand choices and a lot more conversations taking place.

What is most striking, however, is that consumers in the UAE obviously require a lot of bleach to really disinfect n those floors.

Lee Mancini head of Sekari SEO Dubai

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Search & Social Household cleaning Type Analysis Top 20 Keywords Household Cleaning

© Getty/Gallo Images

# 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Keyword (UAE) bleach cleaning cleaner soap conditioner laundry detergent air purifier pesticides air freshner cleaning product disinfectant anti bacterial products cleaning washing powder wet wipes stain remover hypo allergenic fabric conditioner floor cleaner

Top Cleaning Brands by Volume of Social Media Sentiment Search volume 27,100 27,100 12,100 9,900 8,100 8,100 1,600 1,600 880 590 480 480 480 480 320 210 210 170 110 110

Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) research conducted on Google.ae.

Top 20 keywords with the most amount of searches last month based on local results from Google.ae Source: Sekari SEO 2011

Brand Clorox Tide Persil Downy Dettol Glade Ariel Combat Comfort Fairy Omo Vanish Airwick Bonux Dac Der General Harpic Jif Mr. Muscle Oxi Persil_pril Pif Paf Pril Raid Sanita

Sentiment -0.60 -0.57 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Volume 10 7 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Number of mentions in social media. Feb-May 2011.

Social media – Volume vs sentiment graph: UAE 12

10

HIGH VOLUME NEGATIVE SENTIMENT

HIGH VOLUME POSITIVE SENTIMENT

Clorox

Number of mentions

8 Tide 6

Persil

4

LOW VOLUME NEGATIVE SENTIMENT

Glade

2 Vanish 0

-2.00

Fairy Omo -1.50

Source: Sekari SEO 2011

LOW VOLUME POSITIVE SENTIMENT

Downy

-1.00

-0.50

Dettol Comfort Ariel

0.00 Range of sentiment

Combat 0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

July-August 2011 Gulf Marketing Review 65

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Š Getty/Gallo Images

S EC T O R A N AL Y S I S

Wipe out Social turmoil across the region has diminished most ad spend in the household cleaning sector.

The political upheaval across the region has taken its toll on advert spend in the household sector. It was down by 18 per cent during Q1, versus the corresponding period last year.

Egypt, where political turbulence hit the most, was down by 64 per cent.

Pan Arab Media, which accounted for 75 per cent of the total market share, fell by 19 per cent in Q1.

Lebanon retained its top spending market position with a 24 per cent surge in spending.

Kuwait jumped to second rank in the top spending market as it posted 12 per cent growth.

Spending in Saudi Arabia plummeted by 60 per cent during the same period, while Jordan is also down by 43 per cent.

The UAE remains unfazed, with regional news posting 12 per cent growth.

TV holds the lion’s share of spend at 98 per cent among major monitored media types, but this was hit by a 16 per cent downfall.

Newspapers gained eight per cent, but magazines are down by 35 per cent.

The laundry detergents category, sharing 51 per cent of the category spend, plunged by 20 per cent.

Dishwashing liquid, with an 11 per cent category share, was completely battered by a 47 per cent drop in spend.

Disinfectants, however, posted a 25 per cent gain, while insect killers saw a 40 per cent surge in spend.

Combined household cleaners and polishers, with only a five per cent cat-

egory share, plummeted by 60 per cent.

Top brands in descending order of spend across the region are: Tide, Ariel, Dettol, Fairy and Persil.

The sector is, however, likely to return to buoyancy as social stability is re-established, particularly in Egypt.

The ad spend is calculated on the media rate cards and does not account for incentives and discounts that advertisers may avail from media owners. n

Shaharyar Umar Marketing Director Pan Arab Research Centre, Dubai

66 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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What is, What was, What will be.

E AT , S L E E P , B R E AT H A B U D H A B I

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Me d i a Q u e st C or p. | Pari s | D u b a i | B e ir ut | Al g i er s | Tun i s | R i ya d h Te l : + 9 7 1 4 3 9 1 0 7 6 0 | f : + 9 7 1 4 3 9 0 8 7 3 7 D ub a i O f f i c e : P.O. B OX 7 2 1 8 4 D u b a i Me d i a Ci t y, Thuraya Tower I I , O f f i c e 2 4 0 2 - 2 4 0 5 | Un i te d Ara b Em irates U K O f f i c e : S imp l y Ab u D ha b i L im i te d , El i z a b e th Ho us e , El i z a b e th Stre e t , Man c h e ster, Un i te d K ing d om .

s e c t o r a n a ly s i s

Nothing to sneeze at

UAE facial tissue consumption figures vary, but overall usage is high

Lower usage of facial tissues, higher brand loyalty

Higher usage of facial tissues, higher brand loyalty

Nationality: Non Arab Expats 120

Gender: Male

100 Brand loyalty

I always look out for special offer 25-44 15-24 45+

80

I am a bargain hunter I often pay extra to save time and trouble shopping around Gender: Female I often try new household cleaning products

60

Nationality: Arab Expat

t

facial tissue consumption is estimated at 61 per cent, according to the latest TGI survey released in the UAE. An average shopper in the UAE uses around 56 boxes of tissue boxes in a year.

The consumption varies among the different socio-demographic parameters.

Usage of facial tissues is heavily skewed towards women as 68 per cent of the females use facial tissues, compared to 55 per cent among males.

The middle age group exhibits the most positive affinity towards the category and the 25- to 44-year-old bracket are 12 per cent more likely than an average to consume facial tissues.

Similarly the usage varies with different emirates, for example 68 per cent of the population in Abu Dhabi or Sharjah uses facial tissues, versus 54 per cent in Dubai.

The upper middle class exhibits a higher likelihood to use facial tissues.

Non-Arab expats tend to stick to one brand, while the frequency of usage among locals is quite high, but they are comparatively disloyal when it comes to facial tissues. Males are more brand loyal than females.

Among the consumers of facial tissues, 67 per cent agree that they already decide what they want before they go shopping and hence fewer are less impulsive in their purchasing habits.

Additionally, 63 per cent agree that they tend to buy well-known brands.

The top three supermarkets visited by facial tissue consumers are Carrefour, Lulu and Abu Dhabi Co-op. Fine, Masafi and Co-op are the top brands in the UAE. n

Nationality: Emaratis 80 Lower usage of facial tissues, lower brand loyalty

100 Usage of facial tissue

Source: TGI Survey UAE 2011, Pan Arab Research Center, March 2011

120 Higher usage of facial tissues, lower brand loyalty

Shaharyar Umar Marketing Director Pan Arab Research Centre, Dubai

68 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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SE C T O R A N A L Y SIS

CATEGORY: Household cleaning – ADVERTISING MARKETS 2011 Millions US$90

Markets Ranking & Media Split (000 US$) Television Rank Market Name & Abbreviation 2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

2010

Pan Arab Media PAN 46,760 83,587 Lebanon LEB 13,005 10,086 Kuwait KWT 1,947 3,091 Egypt EGY 2,114 8,291 United Arab Emirates UAE 687 1,117 Kingdom of Saudi Arabia KSA 4,096 2,794 Oman OMN 35 105 Jordan JOR 7 75 Qatar QTR 11 0 Bahrain BAH 4 5 Other Markets** OTH 601 884 Total All Markets 69,267 110,036

%Var’n 2011 YTD

2011

-19 24 12 -64 12 -60 -3 -43

67,589 12,544 3,453 3,026 1,254 1,131 102 43 24 12 872 90,050

%Var’n YTD

67,347 12,400 3,441 2,813 497 605 15 35 0 0 772 87,925

140 -1 -18

-19 23 16 -50 -36 -50 -73 -8 -99 -54

Newspapers 2011 0 10 0 12 116 245 82 8 24 12 62 571

%Var’n YTD 900 -100 20 63 -24 204 -78 -59 -86 -41

Magazines 2011

%Var’n YTD

242 22 12 23 209 145 5 0 0 0 38 696

Radio 2011

-39 57 -90 -43 423 -26 -78 -96 -66

0 1 0 26 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 35

Outdoor

%Var’n YTD -67 -91 -88 -92

2011

Cinema

%Var’n YTD

0 111 0 152 416 129 0 0 0 0 0 808

-18%

2011

-94 -87

-83

0 0 0 0 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 15

%Var’n YTD -50

**Other markets: Combined - Syria, Yemen & Arasian

Ranking of markets and media split (000US$) 100%

Category split by market

3% 4%

2% 1% 1%

75%

14%

50%

75%

25% 0%

Total GCC LEV PAN LEB KWT EGY UAE KSA OMN JOR 90050 74394 15656 67589 12544 3453 3026 1254 1131 102 43

Television

Newspapers

Magazines

QTR 24

Outdoor

Radio

BAH 12

OTH 872

Pan Arab Lebanon Kuwait Egypt UAE KSA Others

Cinema

SPLIT BY PRODUCTS – 2011 All Markets 51%

18%

Laundry detergent Disinfectants Cmb household

Pan Arab Media

5% 6% 9% 11%

48%

Dishwashing liquid Insect killer Others

20%

11%

Laundry detergent Dishwashing liquid Insect killer

6% 6%

GCC Markets 46% 9%

Disinfectants Cmb household Others

10% 21%

Laundry detergent Dishwashing liquid Cmb household

7% 7% 9%

Disinfectants Insect killer Others

73%

Levant Markets 2% 1% 2% 1%

Laundry detergent Floor detergent Toilet & bowl

21%

Dishwashing liquid Household supplies Others

TOP BRANDS – ALL MEDIA (000 US$) – 2011 Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Brand Tide Ariel Dettol Fairy Persil Comfort Downy Harpic Bonux Vanish Pif Paf Glade Omo Mr. Muscle Airwick Raid Dac Pril Jif Combat

Pan Arab Media Value 12,639 10,251 10,195 8,124 5,750 5,090 4,414 4,329 3,766 3,668 2,504 2,432 2,070 1,890 1,460 1,437 1,431 1,426 1,358 900

Rank vv1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Brand Dettol Tide Ariel Fairy Comfort Downy Persil Harpic Vanish Glade Omo Bonux Pif Paf Mr. Muscle Raid Dac Airwick Jif Pril Persil_pril

GCC Value 8,989 8,216 5,731 5,086 4,495 4,314 3,948 3,725 3,190 2,417 2,070 1,930 1,869 1,792 1,375 1,273 1,248 1,184 948 636

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Levant Brand Dettol Tide Ariel Fairy Comfort Persil Downy Harpic Vanish Pif Paf Glade Omo Bonux Mr. Muscle Airwick Raid Dac Jif Pril Combat

Value 10,184 8,688 5,962 5,359 5,090 4,547 4,414 4,329 3,664 2,504 2,432 2,070 1,956 1,890 1,460 1,437 1,431 1,358 948 900

Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Brand Ariel Tide Fairy Bonux Persil Pril Der General Vileda Flash - Spartan Odex W.c.net Persil_pril Pyrosol Dettol Pass Bio Cleana Germex Mir Vape Classic

Value 4,289 3,951 2,765 1,810 1,203 478 368 359 95 76 74 68 14 11 11 9 6 6 6 5

Source: PARC

All markets

70 Gulf Marketing Review July-August 2011

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SE C T O R A N A L Y SIS

CATEGORY: household cleaning – AGCC, LEVANT, PAN ARAB & ARASIAN MEDIA MARKET Advertising Expenditure for Top Products (000 US$) 2009 – 2011 (Jan - APR)

Millions US$ 90

Media Split %

Laundry Detergents Dishwashing Liquid-powder Disinfectants Insect Killer Cmb HH Cleaners &Polishers Others Total

2009 41,587 8,561 5,548 1,674 3,836 8,061 69,267

LDG DLP DFT INK CHC OTH

2011 45,731 9,668 7,776 5,329 4,934 16,612 90,050

2010 57,339 18,373 6,242 3,793 12,326 11,962 110,035

%Var’n TV Y11/10 -20 98 -47 99 25 100 40 88 -60 99 39 98 -18 98

Sh% 51 11 9 6 5 18 100

2011 Media Split %

NP 0 0 0 3 0 1 1

MG 1 0 0 2 0 1 1

RD 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

OD 1 0 0 7 0 0 1

CN 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Product Growth 2009 - 2011 (000 US$) 70000

LDG

60000

DLP

50000

DFT

40000

INK

30000 20000

CHC

10000

OTH

0

80% 82% 84% 86% 88% 90% 92% 96% 98% 100%

LDG

Newspapers Television Magazines Outdoor Radio Cinema

DLP

DFT

2010

2011

INK

CHC

OTH

2009

Overall Media Split Analysis (000 US$) Media

Value 66,760 269 547 173 1,507 11 69,267

Television Newspaper Magazine Radio Outdoor Cinema Total

2009

Sh% 96 0 1 0 2 0 100

Value 104,467 529 1,068 357 3,599 15 110,035

2010

Sh% 95 0 1 0 3 0 100

Value 87,925 571 696 35 808 15 90,050

2011

Sh%

98 1 1 0 1 0 100

Var'n % 2010/2011 -16 8 -35 -90 -78 0 -18

Monthly Spend Analysis (Millions US$) 2009 – 2011 40

Month Jan Feb Mar Mar Total

35 30 25 15

2009 11 15 22 22 69

2010 20 21 31 38 110

2011 24 17 24 25 90

10 5 0

Jan

Feb 2011

Mar 2010

Apr

2009

Overall Media Split 2009 – 2011 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0

Total Category – Media Split % 1% 1% 97%

(000 US$ - Semi Logarithmic)

2009 Television Radio

2010 Newspapers Outdoor

1%

Var’n % Y11/10 17 -18 -23 -33 -18

Television Top Spenders Rank Brand 1 Tide 2 Dettol 3 Ariel 4 Fairy 5 Persil 6 Comfort 7 Downy 8 Harpic 9 Bonux 10 Vanish

2011 12455 10195 10115 8120 5236 5055 4405 4328 3740 3666

Newspaper Top Spenders Rank Brand 1 Persil 2 Combat 3 Teeb 4 Tide 5 Bonux 6 Body Guard 7 Dac 8 Clorox 9 Mobi 10 Mortein

2011 113 82 64 45 26 19 17 16 13 10

Magazine Top Spenders Rank Brand 1 Persil 2 Combat 3 Eclat De Velours 4 Clorox 5 Comfort 6 Kashkha 7 Pril 8 Fun 9 Dac 10 Glad

2011 201 125 41 30 28 24 24 22 15 15

Radio Top Spenders Rank Brand 1 Pril 2 Comfort 3 Persil 4 Vape

2011 26 7 1 1

Outdoor Top Spenders Rank Brand 1 Pif Paf 2 Persil 3 Combat 4 Ariel 5 Tide 6 Pyrosol 7 Gohar 8 Pril 9 Raly Tox 10 X-tra

2011 220 199 129 123 111 14 5 3 2 1

Source: PARC *Please note figures throughout this section are rounded up.

Product & Abbreviation

-18%

Top brands 2011 (000 US$)

2011 Magazines

Television Radio

Newspapers Outdoor

Magazines

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DIARY

September Boosting Sales Performance IIR ME Date: September 18 to 21 Venue: JW Marriott, Dubai T: +971 4 3352437 W: iirme.com/eventmgt

EVENT OF THE MONTH

The Internet Show Terrapinn Date: September 27 to 28 Venue: ADNEC, Abu Dhabi Natl Exh Ctr T: +44 20 72421548 W: terrapin.com/2011/ middleeast Moms, Babies and Kids Exhibition The sector of services and products for pregnant women, infants, children and mothers in the Middle East is witnessing a significant growth due to an average 20 per cent annual birth rate increase. With the development of the perception and understanding of the “family� in accordance to various economical, social and cultural reasons, and in order to attend to the increasing needs and various demands of modern families, Arabian Group for Exhibitions and Conferences launches the first edition of Moms, Babies & Kids Exhibition (MBK) in Syria. The exhibition caters and covers all sectors related to pregnant women, infants, children and mothers, such as hygiene products, nutrition, educational, clothing, toys, and all safety supplies by presenting the latest services, products and trends, accompanied by a variety of interactive activities, educational lectures and workshops.

Arabian Group for Exhibitions and Conferences Venue: Damascus International Fairground Date: July 1 to 5 T: +963 11 44 33 444, F: +963 11 44 33 666 E: arabiangroup@net.sy W: www.momsbabiesandkid.com

July Project Management for Special Events IIR ME Date: July 3 to 6 Venue: Kempinski Hotel, Mall of the Emirates, Dubai T: +971 4 3352437 W: iirme.com/eventmgt

Ramadan Food Exhibition Kuwait International Fair Date: July 17 to 29 Venue: International Fairs Ground Mishref T: (965) 2538 7100 F: (965) 2539 3872 E: info@kif.net W:www.kif.net

MedHealth & Wellness Omanexpo LLC Date: September 27 to 29 Venue: Oman International Exhibition Centre, Muscat Tel: +968-24660124 E: info@omanexpo.com W:www.omanexpo.com Chic Lady Show 2011 Al Hader Exhibitions & Conferences Date: September 27 to October 1 Venue: ADNEC Abu Dhabi T: +971 (0) 2 444 6900 E: feedback@adnec.ae www.chiclady.al-hader.com October The International Furniture and Design Exhb (INFDEX 11) Qatar Expo Event Mgmt Date: October 5 to 8 Venue: Doha Exhibition Center T: +974 4465 0211 E: info@qatar-expo.com W: qatar-expo.com International Jewellery and Watch Show Abu Dhabi (JWS 2011)

REED Exhibitions FZ - LLC Date: October 17 to 21 Venue: Halls 5-7, ADNEC E: raya.dandal@reedexpo.ae Total Marketing IRR Middle East Date: October 24 to 28 Venue: The Address Dubai Marina T: +971 4 335 2437 E: register@iirme.com Iraq Health Expo 2011 Expotim Intl Fair Organisation, Inc. Date: October 27 to 30 Venue: Basra Intl Fair Ground T: +90 212 3560056 W: iraqhealth.net November Saudi International Motor Show Al Harithy Company for Exhibitions Limited Date: November 19 to 23 Venue: Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events T: + 966 (0) 2 654 6384 E: ace@acexpos.com Successfully Managing Marketing Teams IIR ME Date: November 20 to 23 Venue: TBC T: +971 4 3352437 W: iirme.com/mktgteams The Saudi-Turkish Forum Exhibition Council of Saudi Chambers and the Gulf Research Cntr Date: November 26 to 27 Venue: King Faisal Conf Hall, Intercontinental Hotel, Riyadh T: +966-2-6518888 E: events@grc.ae W:www.grc.net

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