Muslim consumers have not yet got the importance they deserve in advertising and marketing campaigns, says Roy  Haddad, chairman and CEO of JWT MENA, speaking at an event by the IAA - UAE Chapter.

"For a long time, Muslim consumers have been taken for granted in marketing strategies, and it is time to start designing communication messages that are culture-relevant and more sensitive to their needs," says Roy Haddad.

Haddad also announced that a study entitled "Life and Times of Modern Muslims: Understanding the Islamic Consumers" was conducted by JWT and AMRB, and a full report on the study, along with customised data querying software, will be released by AMRB on September 1.

The pioneering study provides a clear and unique segmentation of Muslim consumers, identifying five segments based on current values and attitudes. These include religious conservatives, new age Muslims, societal conformists, pragmatic strivers and liberals.

The segmentation is based on an analysis of a set of attitudes towards the self, men and women, friends and family, generational differences, personal choices, traditions and culture, dreams and aspirations, media and advertising, and products and services.

JWT and AMRB jointly researched 10 predominantly Muslim countries including Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Haddad pointed out that the combined Muslim population in these countries has great potential, with huge contributions to the food and beverage, finance, personal care and telecommunications industries.

Aimed at understanding the values that resonate across the Muslim world and differences in value systems that could impact the choices made by consumers, the study concluded that Muslims do not totally behave as a homogeneous group. According to the study, some dissimilarities are identified in the degree of adherence to Islamic practice and in the freedom of women.

The study defines a whole new market unified across the world by a common trait, Islam. Haddad stressed that religious values can intervene at every stage of the consumer's decision-making process. "There are a lot of products that target the Muslim population, but the study means to point out the hidden and untapped marketing and product placement opportunities that can be lost while communicating the wrong message," he said.

This includes the language, the religious or moral values embedded in the message and the different consumer trends and target audiences within Muslim societies.

Speaking about how the study could help marketers, Haddad said they needed to apply ideas that are relevant to the Islamic world, not only on the basis of religion, but also including culture.

The study helps understand the subtle nuances between "those who really believe" versus "those for whom ritual is more important than belief". It also helps direct marketers away from stereotypes, especially the link between religion and backwardness.

"Dubai is an ultimate representation of the modern Islamic world. The secret is to understand the dynamics of progress while keeping intact the set of values related to religion and culture", Haddad said.

Muslim population has the fastest annual growth rate of 2.9 per cent. This specific target market will comprise 30 per cent of the world population by 2025. Global halal food market is worth $580 billion (Dh2.1 trillion) annually. Total Islamic Finance assets are currently worth $500-750bn and is expected to reach $1trn by 2010. The global market for female Islamic clothing is estimated at $250 million.

The study also brought up relevant questions regarding marketing opportunities per product category:

Food & Beverages - With greater opportunities to work outside the home for Muslim women, what is the likely impact on the convenience foods market?

Personal care - Are there opportunities for developing products relevant to Islamic habits, such as a hair care range for veiled women?

Finance - Which markets are likely to adopt Islamic finance more readily than others? Will just branding a product as 'Islamic' be enough?

Telecommunications - Potential for value added services and shared platforms, such as providing the prayer call, Ka'aba direction and Hijri calendar in some phone brands and models.

Nisha Varman is the BBC Motion Gallery Sales Manager for the MENA region. We spoke to her about this service for broadcasters, producers, advertising agencies and media companies.

Q1. Kindly tell us about yourself, your career and your current role at BBC Motion Gallery.

Born in Singapore, raised in Mumbai, I have worked in Singapore, Qatar and I am now based in Dubai to drive BBC Motion Gallery's content across the Middle-East and North Africa.

After spending nearly a decade in outdoor advertising with specific focus on airports namely Singapore Changi Airport and Doha's International Airport, I felt broadcast should be my next destination and nothing better than starting off with the BBC.

Q2. Tell us more about the BBC Motion Galery services, and the history of BBC's content services in the region.

 BBC Motion Gallery www.bbcmotiongallery.com offers media professionals from all walks of life the opportunity to access the world's most comprehensive collection of high-quality broadcast imagery for licensing and royalty-free usage worldwide. The site hosts 60,000 hours of footage all available to preview, purchase and download immediately.

BBC Motion Gallery licenses clips to the broadcast, corporates, advertising, digital media and education markets as, increasingly, Creative Directors, Corporate Communications Officers and TV Producers are recognising the benefits of using existing content in their creative projects.

The Dubai office is relatively new and was set up in response to a growth in enquiries and demand from customers in the Middle East for content, especially for advertising purposes and for use on digital screens. We offer the full Motion Gallery service in the region and felt it was the right time to have a representative there to deal with growing demand locally.

 Q3. Who are the main clients today in the Middle East for video galleries, and is there now a better appreciation and understanding of the value of original video material?

 The way I look at it, anybody with a screen is a potential client. Traditionally, we work with broadcasters, advertising agencies and production houses but we are exploring and encouraging new sectors like mobile phone media, IPTV sectors, education, websites and Corporate Social Responsibility drives. Nakheel's Blue Communities is one good example of how BBC Motion Gallery can be used to drive a social message.

There is a better understanding and in turn demand for original, forward thinking video material in the Middle East, especially for digital content to use, for example, within digital screen networks and on websites. The region as a whole is becoming a rich environment for creativity - broadcasters are using the Middle East to showcase material and independent production companies also seem to be setting up there now.

 Q4. What differentiates BBC's motion gallery compared to that of competitors in the video content field?

One of the key differentiators is the quality and the extensiveness of the Motion Gallery archive. It is an treasure trove of footage - from classic television moments, historic news items and scientific discoveries to beautiful scenery, great sporting feats and terrific landscapes - and the available material is constantly updated. The content itself originates from a diverse range of subjects covering natural history, sport, news, locations, art, music, celebrities, historic events and more.

The site is very easy to use. Anyone can access the site to browse  through the content available. Once a clip is found the user will  need to register to purchase and download a high quality version of the clip. As well as BBC sourced content it contains additional exclusive global content from partner broadcasters including the CBS News Archive and footage from global distribution deals with NHK, Japan's national broadcaster, China Central Television and ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, providing a completely rounded offering.

 Q5. What is the impact of Internet and mobile news and programming on services like yours? And do you supply major websites across the region with your services?

IPTV represents a big opportunity for any content owner. The key to capitalise on this opportunity is to be quick with up to date and relevant content. News content is especially important here and we are looking at getting news content direct to our customers for use on, for example, online newspapers. Another tool we are looking at is packaging together relevant content on a particular topic, region and so on. This bundled content is then ready and to hand and can be drawn upon to illustrate a story.

Q6. Is Arabic language content and Middle East specific video at the BBC evolving sufficiently to cater to the growing needs of the region's broadcasters and producers?

Middle East specific video content, by the nature of the BBC and its programming, is growing all the time. We are new to this region and are listening to the content requirements of our customers. We do not currently have Arabic language content but are looking at opportunities such as this if demand were high enough. It is worth noting though that many customers in the area do not actually need or require Middle East footage as it is relatively quick and easy for them to film it themselves, what they do require from Motion Gallery is footage they cannot shoot themselves.

 Q7. What's your general prediction for video content syndication in the Middle East in the foreseeable future?

That it is going to grow. There will be more outlets for content, distribution and syndication will be important. BBC Motion Gallery will look for the right direct customers and partners already established locally to take full advantage of these growth opportunities.

Farrukh Naeem, an award winning copwriter and top ad blogger from the UAE, speaks to mediaME on challenges to creativity in the region and the exciting talents of creative staff forming in the Middle East.

Q1. Kindly give us a brief intro about yourself.
I’m a journalist, ad blogger and copywriter based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
In the last 10 years that have been spent between coffee-guzzling and copywriting, I’ve been trusted (to my surprise) with some of the hottest brands in the world from HP, Microsoft and Sheraton to Thomas Cook, Jaguar and Rodeo Drive.
My quest for a dream agency (does it really exist?) has taken me from Asia to the Middle East, with stints in global agency networks like Y&R, Wunderman and TBWA. I’ve also had a healthy dose of working as an independent creative for clients in the Middle East, Asia and Europe.

Q2. To begin with, what in general is your view on the levels of creativity in the Middle East compared to our counterparts worldwide?
I don’t think creativity should be measured or judged in terms of regions or countries. Or wins at award shows alone. It is a universal trait – everyone has it.
For me advertising creativity sometimes needs to be looked at in the cultural context. What might be creative and effective in the Middle East or Asia might not necessarily be an award-winning creative in, say, the USA. I think Barbican advertising and its level of engagement with Arab youth is a good example of that. It might not win international awards, but in its target region, it works!
I think we copywriters and art directors in the Middle East are as creative as our counterparts anywhere else. The GCC in fact has a very unique creative talent pool, hand-picked from all parts of the world. While most countries in the world have local creatives only, countries like the UAE and Qatar are attracting young and ambitious talent from top agencies around the world. I personally have been contacted by creative people and organizations eager to work in the Middle East.
Of course, we all know that creatives from the region have not only been bringing home bigger awards every year, but accomplished creative directors like Shehzad Yunus of Pirana and Kerry Platts of Wunderman ME have been on international award jury panels as well. And this list is going to get longer.
Although we have more and more international creatives doing international-looking work (yeah, the kind of stuff you’d find in award books) in the region, the fun for me will really begin when we see lots of local creatives, like Emiratis in the UAE, or Saudis in the KSA, joining the creative ranks and using local insights to craft memorable and original advertising.
A good example of local insights would be advertising done for Viagra in Arabic in the KSA (using a traditional Arabic saying that means ‘Making a mountain out of a molehill.’). Who says you have to keep your creativity locked up in the closet when you work in the Middle East?

Q3. What, in your opinion, is the single biggest impediment to creative copywriting, and creativity in general, in regional agencies?
The single biggest challenge for copywriters in this region is the need to kill too many birds with one stone. In a country like the UAE, or Qatar, or Bahrain, we can’t use colloquial language and cultural nuances when trying to talk to target audience that comprises over 100 nationalities. Unless you’re only making an ad for a very specific ethnicity like Indian, or Filipinos.
An English writer has to write to an audience most of whom have English as their second language. An Arabic copywriter has his hands tied because writing in one dialect will not work for people who use another.
So, you end up with either very little or no copy sometimes (which I don’t think is the answer to this challenge). Or copy that is plain English. Or ‘fus-haa’ Arabic that reads like a text book. So many times, I’ve seen Arabic copywriter friends getting frustrated when the client prefers a dialect different from the copywriter’s recommended one.
Although I personally have never liked double-meaning puns and excessive word-play when I write copy, I do miss the freedom to write to a person in his own language and dialect which is hard to do when writing to cover the entire expat population.
Yet, I wouldn’t let this challenge hold a copywriter back or be a cause for no-copy advertising. Good copy never draws attention to itself anyway. It evokes emotion, feelings, response. And sometimes simple but well chosen words can do just that.

Q4. As a top regional blogger, what kind of impact have websites and blogs had on spreading creative output across the region and encouraging an exchange of ideas?
Blogs have democratised the flow of information and conversation. While we still see dead, static agency sites with tabs like ‘About us’ and ‘Our work’, blogs are really encouraging the exchange of ideas and opinion.
Take my ad blog, www.copywriterjournalist.com, which is currently one of the most popular advertising blogs in the region and one of the UAE’s pioneer ad blogs. A large part of my readers are from the UK and the USA. The blog has been cited by the Guardian, UK. My views on advertising in the Middle East have been published in Forbes Arabia. A regional ad posted on my blog started quite a heated discussion online, even on Digg!
My inbox is usually flooded with emails from copywriters and art directors from around the world who want to know more about ad life in the UAE, advertising agencies looking for creative professionals, students looking for career advice, even global clients seeking opinion on which agency to partner with. Just because I write a simple, honest blog when I have a little time, and try my best to respond to my readers promptly and in a helpful manner.
All of this adds up to the global exposure that advertising and creative opinion from this region eventually gets through a blog like mine. That is the power of blogs and citizen journalism.
We need more blogs and online presence of regional agencies, I’d say. Agencies that are using the web actively include Tonic and Flip with their blogs. More should be taking it up.

Q5. Obviously, creativity coming out of the UAE gets exposure, but what about creativity originating from elsewhere, like Cairo and Beirut. How does it compare?
UAE is great at promoting and marketing itself. And our advertising fraternity represents top global talent and agency networks. Plus, we have the Cannes-organised Dubai Lynx which is getting bigger by the year, as you must have read on my blog. Our IAA chapter is the biggest in the world if I remember correctly, and we have had the IAA’s presidency form the UAE too.
On comparisons, like I said earlier, I don’t think creativity is something that can be tagged to a region or country. But if you ask me what I think of ads in the region apart from UAE, Beirut I think is doing pretty well. And I simply love many of the TV spots I’ve seen from Egypt because of the casting and the humour. They know how to laugh at themselves and not mind it. Very much like us Indians. What are Egyptian creatives mixing in their coffee I keep wondering? I’d like some too. 

Q6. Any comments or views you wish to add?
It’s sad that many advertising agencies in the region still have outdated websites. If you are a hot creative wanting to get in touch, you’ll most likely have to fill a standard form on an agency website without knowing who’s going to read it. If you are a client looking for the contacts of an agency on its website – hard luck again – write to a guy called ‘admin’.
I think more agencies and agency people need to get active online, read blogs, write comments, be accessible and share the agency life with others. It’s a great way to be spotted by talented creatives as well as clients looking for something more than the ‘official’ agency website.
As digital media assumes increasing importance in people’s everyday lives from what they watch and listen to how they socialise, I think agencies will greatly benefit more from creatives who are also online wizards and know how to work the web, not just write clever headlines and think up visual puns. 

Skills in advertising are expected to be in high demand across the Middle East markets until 2010. Shadi Al Hasan , managing director of Flagship Projects Marketing, comments on shortages increasing vertically and horizontally, most significantly in creative fields and strategic planning.

"The past year has been a significant one for the advertising industry in the Middle East. As the region sees an unprecedented growth across various sectors, there will be further boost in demand for creative specialists who really understand the nitty-gritty characteristics of the market. Currently, the major shortage continues to be in the fields of strategic planning and creative conceptualizing and development," emphasizes Shadi Al Hasan, Managing Director of Flagship Projects Marketing, one of the fastest growing integrated marketing solutions providers in the region.

Al Hasan adds: "As an emerging market, the region still has significant challenges to meet such as growing the pool of available advertising talent. The Arab world shares the same culture, language and understanding amongst its states. From an agency's perspective, this homogeneity should boost the advertising industry and reduce the people's shortage as markets with high advertising demand could recruit people from less demand markets who still have strong grasp of the region as a whole."

"In a cut-throat competitive marketplace such as the Middle East, it is a well known fact that the people who work for any agency are the driving forces behind its success regardless its history or international network. Little wonder, there is a fierce war for talent especially bilingual professionals."

The supply of professional expertise in the region is unable to meet the current demand and agencies are recruiting more from overseas to compete for the limited talent pool.

"We forecast that it will take about three years to prepare enough talent to meet the demands we face today to fill junior and senior positions," Al Hasan says. "We are largely short of Arab talent for more senior positions, especially candidates with strong English skills and wealth of international experience."

"The Gulf market is offering an ideal opportunity for Arab professionals to gain knowledge and experience from their foreign counterparts. We should bring our domestic talent up to speed, and this is something that will only improve with time," he added.

Al Hasan says: "There is an overall shortage of talent and this is both the main constraint on growth and on maintaining high standards across the industry. In 2007 marketers were plugged into what was good and best in the communication world. Professional, talented and knowledgeable should be fostered in the region to cope with the proliferative number of brands arriving on a daily basis."

Al Hasan concludes that advertising associations should hold responsibility for enhancing the Arab advertising industry, taking it to a new level of professionalism and innovation through a 360º approach. This approach should include attracting the finest minds in the industry and nurturing new local capabilities."

Dana Adhami is a pioneering figure in the Middle East's digital media field. She is now the Head of New Business & Strategy at Catch Interactive, and provides us with insights into the latest trends and where the market is heading.

Q1. Kindly tell us about yourself, your career and your current role at your agency.

I have dual roles of new business and strategy at Catch.  Previous to that, I was responsible for managing the media unit at Catch for over two years, by making sure that all online plans and media schedules are aligned with client objectives and the diverse offering online provides. Recently, I was promoted to head new business and strategy for the agency where I am responsible for developing digital strategic insights for brands, researching & developing new online media opportunities for integration and driving Catch along with my team forward through thought leadership and innovation.

Q2. As one of the leading online media agencies, tell us about the pace of this media's evolution throughout the past couple of years.

It took TV 36 years to reach a large sizable audience, and radio about 13 years, online however took 5 years to grow into the mass medium it is today.   The pace of this medium is exponential, both on a global and regional level.  If we look closely at the Middle East, where online was purely about a 468x60 standard banner advertising not long ago, the dynamics have changed tremendously.

Today, marketing managers and interactive agencies are being challenged to raise the bar online. Display banners are no longer key, and have long ago been removed from the online advertising mix. 
Nowadays, new standards have been introduced in addition to new benchmarks.  Some of the  standards include specialized targeting such as contextual, behavioral, keywords, placement targeting, new banner formats, rich media platforms, among a few.  Our new benchmarks on the other hand, revolve around accountable ROI, digital versus traditional integration, innovative creativity and extending brands into interactive and engaging experiences.

One of the major positive changes in the last year or so, is the full adoption of search marketing and its importance in building brands and driving sales.  With Google having recently set up offices in the region, we are bound to see higher media spends on this medium, resulting in continuous change of the online media dynamic.

The pace is healthy, and indicates solid and positive growth, however I still feel that it is still a learning curve for all of us. Online advertising extends beyond a 30 second spot or a still visual that has set rules and dynamics.  As technologies change and mindsets evolve, new innovations will definitely be introduced into our medium.

Soon, currently existing in overseas markets, the concept of online advertising will evolve and grow into a larger picture to be known as digital advertising where more than one digital platform is integrated, i.e. mobile, search, Bluetooth, virtual worlds, viral…etc.   The meaning of integration will soon encompass integration of diverse digital touch points for effective reach and newness.

I also believe that clients will alter their mindset to start searching for return on involvement measures rather than the typical return on investment we all get grilled for.  I see that the future of online advertising evolving and developing into a new concept, what I like to call ‘engagement advertising’

Q3. What's preventing clients from committing a higher percentage of their advertising budget to online media, to better correspond to the time that consumers are spending on the Internet?

The reasons are numerous, and have been previously discussed by many online professionals.  Many say it’s fear of the unknown, yet listening to clients’ arguments who some claim that it is their online agencies who fail to challenge and push the envelope.

In my opinion, I feel that the reason for clients downsizing online budgets is to do with budgeting itself.  I believe that clients have been using and still are using the same budgeting schemes their existing or previous organizations instilled on them.  The mechanic needs to change as time and consumers change. 

Rather than fixating budgets on expenses, margins or forecasts of sales, clients need to extend the methodology to start introducing a percentage of innovation into their marketing plans/budgets.  The percentage can vary between 10-20%, but should allow clients to visit new territories with their brands and connect with new customers, one of them should be online or interactive initiatives.

Another reason is agency integration.  Now that many of the global agency networks have set their interactive departments, we are finding that the correspondence between the digital planners and traditional planners is a little inconsistent.  Digital planners are usually brought in after the media plan is set, and are used as complimentary vehicles to the communication mix, this usually results in budgets being finalized for traditional and downscaled for online.  Traditional agencies need to integrate their digital arms at early stages of planning to allow proper correspondence for consumer medium consumption.

Lack of metrics, research and auditing are also hindering online budgets from expanding.  This is taking time as the region progresses, however will mark change once audited and valid data is brought to place.

Finally, and I believe is a main reason for online budgets being set back is directly linked to talent, the more passionate and self-involved people become about the medium both on client and agency side, the more we will find that the idea of selling high budgets will become easy.

Q5. Would you say that online advertising on the region's major websites is fairly priced and what kind of impact on prices can we expect from the lower-price opportunities available on international sites and ad networks like Google Adwords?

Yes I believe they are fairly priced, especially when comparing to international sites and ad networks.  However, our market is unique and online rates are representative and directly linked to the value of communicating with the type of user using the medium in this region.  The internet in the US or UK is widely mass, with high levels of audience fragmentation and income levels, hence the low prices.   Also, a high contributing factor is the technological infrastructure available in those countries.  These platforms are deemed high in service diversification and user penetration, allowing online advertising to be low-priced.

 In our region, however, online is still growing at a pace to become mass, and the current online population is considered niche as far as income level and psychographics.  However, as more telecommunication companies branch out in offering and infrastructure within the region, the more this will impact internet connection prices.  Also this will result in an increased online population and internet usage creating standardized cost-effective and relevant prices for the industry.

Q6. Any closing words and/or a prediction for online advertising in 2008?

My closing words are for those who do spend budgets online both on the agency and client side. My predictions for 2008 start with my belief that clients will spend more time looking into ways to succeed online. This in effect will benefit and threaten many.

The CTR approach (Click Through Rate) will alter in importance, as more clients try to create meaningful interactive experiences with their customers, through involvement and relationship.

There will be large integration between TV (video) and the internet, in a way the internet is becoming more like TV and vice versa.  We will find that brands will embrace video within their online communication to sustain synergy across all mediums. This will definitely start pulling budgets from TV due to online’s capacity of extending the experience further through interactivity, higher user control and video streaming capability.

I hope, but this could be wishful thinking, that mobile marketing will start to integrate as a synergistic and consistent platform to online advertising, allowing interactive agencies a new level of creativity and user engagement, however only 2008 will reveal so.