Unisono, officially launched its research division, January the 10th 2011. Unisono Research Team's first official study, soon to be published regionally, was a first-of-its-kind investigation into the consumer perceptions and cognition of advertising in Bahrain.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has set out to understand what Bahraini's actually think about advertising - what they like, understand and remember,' comments Liam Farrell, Founding Partner.

"Research Night is in support of Unisono's vision 'to positively transform' and is vital to enhancing the quality of communications in Bahrain, helping position Bahrain as a centre of excellence, so further contributing towards the goals of Vision 2030," says Liam. "All too often we have heard that 'customers in Bahrain won't get conceptual advertising', but, as we can now prove with the empirical data from our initiative, this is false - people understand, like and remember conceptual advertising. We can also demonstrate to our clients that conceptual advertising brings greater recall of the brand as well as the message - equating greater ROI for our clients."

A select invitation list of marketing directors and CEOs from notable organisations such as the Economic Development Board, Ithmaar Group, The Marriott, Investcorp, First Bahrain and the Telecoms Regulatory Authority were the first to review the findings at Unisono's inaugural Research Night.

The audience response in the interactive Q&A session demonstrated the appetite for relevant market data and insights.

Co-founder and Director of Strategy Amy Morgan commented, "The positive response to Research Night represents a step forward for communication in Bahrain. Great creativity and communication are founded on market insights, yet there is very little understanding of the local market - this directly affects the quality of communication in Bahrain. This research has shown the market is ready to be challenged. People want to be engaged and entertained by communications, not 'talked down to'."

"The solution is not about simply 'copying' international advertising - communications need to be relevant to this market - we need to find and use our own voice. To achieve that we need insights and to get insights we need research," Amy concluded, "We've been really inspired by the response of our research subjects and by the support we have received from so many professional companies in Bahrain. The research has shown Bahrain is ready for higher quality conceptual communications and by working with the support of our clients, we can use intelligence to deliver enhanced ROI. By achieving greater recall and response to communication, we can deliver better bottom line performance. It is a really exciting step forward."

Unisono's study sampled 100 people (80 % Bahrainis, 20 % Expats), mixed evenly between males and females with ages ranging from 15-75 years.

The hybrid study was made up of 55 in-depth one-on-one interviews and 7 focus groups, each consisting of 7-8 individuals.

One of the most interesting discoveries was that overall, consumers found the most unusual advertising (adverts which challenged the mind and made them think) were the communications that created the greatest impact and had the highest recall.

This proves that if you can engage a viewer for longer with your message, they will remember not only your advert, but also your brand.

This level of engagement is at the heart of ROI and, as every business's focus is on bottom-line performance, communication that delivers enhanced results has never been more important.

A fast growing agency, Unisono doubled in size 2010 and with high recall on campaigns delivered for clients such as BFC and VIVA it easy to see why.

With the support in 2011 of empowered marketing professions, this could be the year we see Bahrain raise the bar for communications across the Gulf.