The latest advances in measuring and optimizing online marketing and the advantages of implementing such strategies in a competitive marketplace were discussed at a seminar on Search Engine Marketing hosted by Dubai Media City, a member of TECOM Investments.

The two-hour interactive workshop was organised in association with WSI Internet Consulting, a leading provider of internet solutions to businesses worldwide.

The event witnessed the participation of 95 regional marketing professionals, representing advertising and PR agencies, media buyers and other professional organizations, keen to optimize the online presence of their companies and clients.

Mohamed Almulla, Executive Director, Dubai Media City, said: ‘The seminar is in line with our objective to offer a suitable platform for corporate leaders based in the UAE and the wider GCC market to benefit from latest technological trends. We are confident this event will further reinforce Dubai Media City’s mission of launching initiatives that are geared towards nurturing the region’s knowledge economy.’

Husam Jandal, Internet Business Consultant, WSI Internet Consulting, said: ‘With the highest growth rate of Internet users in the world, the Middle East represents a vast opportunity for the business community to promote their products and services online.

‘With more than 90% of all traffic generated on the Internet coming from search engines, it is important for the local business community to identify various ways of utilizing these Internet tools to achieve the desired visibility for their businesses.’

He added a majority of the regional companies are yet to realize the immense benefits that could accrue through the use of the Internet, which can be tapped for generating fruitful business leads and for building brand recognition.

He added: ‘There is a huge gap between demand for information and the supply of relevant content in the business arena. There are people who are desperately looking for certain products and services but unable to find relevant links because business offerings are not available online, or at least not visible on search engines. As an essential marketing tool for businesses, search engine marketing has become one of the world’s most preferred marketing strategies due to its flexibility, accessibility, accuracy, and cost effectiveness.’

Focusing on the details of regional internet usage, experts who led the seminar found Yahoo, Google and MSN as the most preferred search engines, a trend akin to the Western world. However, recently launched language specific search engines such as ‘Araby’ have become increasingly popular among Internet users in the Arab world, the seminar highlighted.

The workshop also underlined the findings of market studies that the Internet is the best vehicle for addressing the youth segment as a key target audience with more than 65 per cent preferring the Internet as their main source of information, according to a recent study by Maktoob Research, another regional internet market research company.

His Excellency Ahmad bin Byat, Executive Chairman of TECOM Investments, today announced that TECOM Investments, a member of Dubai Holding, has restructured its expansive portfolio which includes the appointment of Abdullatif AlMulla as TECOM Investments Group CEO.

Abdullatif AlMulla, in turn, has mandated the creation of a new division, TECOM Business Parks as an umbrella organisation incorporating TECOM’s free zone clusters.

Overseeing the various companies under TECOM Investments, Abdullatif AlMulla will steer the growth strategies of Media Services Group (MSG), eHosting Datafort, Empower, EIT, SmartCity and the newly established division, TECOM Business Parks.

Headed by Dr. Amina Alrustamani as the Chief Executive Officer, TECOM Business Parks will bring under its ambit Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, Dubai Knowledge Village, Dubai Studio City, International Media Production Zone, DuBiotech, Dubai Outsource Zone, Dubai International Academic City and Enpark.

Broadening TECOM Investments’ reach further to its international operations, Fareed Abdulrahman has been appointed CEO of SmartCity.

SmartCity develops self-sustained townships worldwide based on the successful models of Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village.

With SmartCity Malta and SmartCity Kochi being the first two townships to create a global network, Fareed Abdulrahman will continue to expand SmartCity internationally to develop significant hubs of excellence for knowledge-based industries.

His Excellency Ahmad Bin Byat said: 'With the ongoing expansion of TECOM Investments, a necessary and obvious measure that had to be taken was to grasp a more focused approach from both, within and beyond the Dubai Free Zone Clusters. With his outstanding track record at the helm of TECOM Investments, it was a logical progression for AlMulla to assume a larger mandate.'

Meanwhile, Dr. Amina Al Rustamani will be responsible for guaranteeing the timely delivery of projects, achieving greater cost and process efficiencies, enhancing customer satisfaction, while ensuring the entities remain aligned to the values of TECOM Investments.

Abdullatif AlMulla said: 'Dr. Amina Al Rustamani has consistently demonstrated her ability to handle complex projects across different industries, while remaining dedicated to the values endorsed by TECOM Investments. I am confident in her ability to rise up to the challenging role and display unrivalled professionalism.

'As an excellence based and operationally sustainable organisation, TECOM Investments continuously invests in the realisation of Dubai’s vision.

This restructuring of TECOM Investments reflects the rapid growth of a conglomerate that constantly needs to innovate itself to remain a market leader.

It will strengthen our growth into a diversified company that is committed to exceeding its business objectives while unleashing new leadership potential.'

'Meanwhile, we will be placing a large focus this year on our international operations. With the great successes achieved by Fareed Abdulrahan, CEO of SmartCity; by implementing our strategic aspirations in various international countries.

Both SmartCity Malta and SmartCity Kochi have proven that our move towards implementing successful models internationally was one that will reap great result both for the respective cities and their people as well as for TECOM Investments.'

Representing a landmark in its rapid growth curve, the restructuring process also involves the reorganization of some of TECOM Investments’ centralized departments and the announcement of new corporate leaders.

While Jamal Al Sharif becomes Executive Director, Dubai Studio City, Ismail Al Naqi will head Dubai Outsource Zone as its Executive Director.

Abdullatif AlMulla added: 'Additionally Jamal Al Sharif and Ismail AlNaqi have both set exceptional standards of performance and integrity that have resulted in the remarkable growth of their respective entities, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Outsource Zone.

Their continued drive and diligence augurs exciting times for both the free zones that stem out of innovative business concepts.'

TECOM Investments free zone clusters have registered remarkable success over the years and the concept has been replicated by other countries in the GCC region and the Arab world.

In addition, attracted by the growth story of the cluster model, a number of countries, beyond the Middle East, are in talks with the Dubai Government to establish similar entities aimed at either revitalising or diversifying their economies

After the successful launch last year of the 1st Dubai Lynx, the Middle East and North Africa Advertising Awards for Creative Excellence, the organisers will extend the competition to a 3-day Festival in 2008.

The 1st Dubai International Advertising Festival will take place from 31 March to 2 April 2008 in the Sheikh Rashid Hall at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, U.A.E. Presented by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival together with their regional partners, Motivate Publishing, the Dubai International Advertising Festival is held with the support of Dubai Media City ( DMC ) and in association with the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).

The Festival will include a seminar programme featuring top international speakers, a series of topical workshops, exhibitions and screenings of the competing work and will culminate in the 2nd Dubai Lynx awards on the evening of 2 April.

Philip Thomas , CEO of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, said, 'We are hugely excited to be working with the creative community in the Middle East and North Africa to generate a great networking platform, as well as helping to raise the creative bar in the region. After last year's overwhelming response to the awards, we are in no doubt that the region will embrace the idea of a fully-fledged Festival.'

'To complement the Dubai Lynx awards and to bring to the Festival an extraordinary learning experience, we will be introducing a fantastic line-up of seminars and workshops presented by a host of leading international and regional industry figures to focus on topical issues. We'll also be launching a Young Creative Print Competition and adding a Media category to the competition', commented Steve Lane, the recently appointed Festival Director.

Dubai Media City (DMC), a member of TECOM Investments, today announced the sixth edition of the Ibda'a Media Student Awards, which will include a career day for the first time this year.

A unique regional initiative which recognises outstanding media students, the Ibda'a Media Student Awards, launched by DMC in 2001, encourage and nurture young media talent from around the world. They have received an overwhelming response for previous editions.

Mohamed Al Mulla, Director of Dubai Media City and Coordinator General of the Awards, said: 'The Ibda'a Media Student Awards have generated significant regional and worldwide interest. In order to further expand the scope of the awards, we are organising the Ibda'a Career Day this year. Our objective is to create links between media institutions and students which will help tap the potentially vast pool of young talent in the region."

'The awards seek to celebrate creative excellence in media in an environment suitable to free expression. We are confident, this will act as a forum to bring together students who will lead the growth and success of media sector in the region.'

Dubai Media City will host the Career Day on 26 December. Also on the sidelines of the awards, an exhibition of short-listed entries will be held from 25-29 December. The winners of this year's awards will be announced during the closing ceremony on 27 December.

The event is organized on an annual basis by Dubai Media City in association with the International Advertising Association (IAA).

For the sixth edition of the Ibda'a Media Student Awards, Dubai-based Ziad Galadari Group is the title sponsor while co-sponsors are Emirates Bank, Arabian Automobiles, OMD and Carassi. The media partners are Motivate Publishing, Zee TV, Showtime, Xische, 7 Star Events, Arabian Radio Network, Al Emarat Al Youm and Emirates Today dailies, CNBC Arabia and DMI.

Ziad Abdulla Galadari, Chairman of Ziad Galadari Group, said: "Our Group is proud to be title sponsor of the sixth edition of the Ibda'a Media Student Awards. We value the capabilities of the region's youth and seek to support students who will be focusing on analysis and content creation as part of their media-related work.

'We believe these awards are an excellent opportunity to encourage students to be a part of an initiative which not only attracts global talent but encourages media students in the Arab world. This is crucial to the continued growth of this region."

The previous edition of Ibda'a Media Student Awards attracted 2,217 entries from more than 20 countries including Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, India, Iran, Turkey, Canada, Japan, the US and the UK.

Al Mulla explained that the Ibda'a Media Student Awards initiative is in line with DMC's Corporate Social Responsibility policy. He pointed out that while the award offers an opportunity for students to take part in a creative venture, it also acts as a platform which benefits the community in general.

Special emphasis has been given to attract the best entries for Ibda'a Media Student Awards. A dedicated team coordinates with the universities and higher education institutions in the UAE, the Pan Arab region and internationally. DMC also has representatives in India, Egypt, Iran, the US and the UK to create awareness about this award.

The Ibda'a Media Student Awards cover 10 main categories including journalism (non-news), radio, animation, graphic design, analogue photography, digital photography, print advertising, TV advertising, TV documentary and film/TV feature.

Dubai Media City (DMC), a member of Dubai Holding announced today the successful trial launch of DVB-H Mobile TV with 12 channels for the first time in the UAE.

The service is currently being tested by 500 active mobile users.

DMC announced its partnership with the UAE's second telecom operator, du, and the country's largest broadcast companies, Dubai Media Incorporated (DMI) and Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC), during last year in GITEX to conduct the DVB-H trial.

DVB-H is a new promising unique mobile TV technology which will allow users to receive high quality broadcast through their mobile handsets. The objective is to study the technical and commercial feasibility of DVB-H services and prepare the ground for its commercial roll out.

The trial is also aimed at identifying the content and channel choices of the users along with timings/ location preference. Further advanced analysis will conclude in-depth opportunities for creating refined and customised packages for Mobile TV users.

The commercial trial, started in June, has been licensed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA).

A new DVB-H SFN (single frequency network consisting of three transmission sites) has been deployed with the support of leading international experts from R & S (Rohde & Schwarz), mobile handset manufacturer Nokia and T-Systems, a division of Deutsche Telekom, providing good outdoor and indoor coverage across Dubai. In the first two months the technical evaluation on the system, handsets and the signal coverage was successfully completed.

The market research, led by Pan Arab Research Center (PARC), started early this month. The Mobile TV trial content includes an interesting mix of genres such as sports, music, news, business and entertainment. The 12 TV channels presently broadcasted are Dubai TV, Dubai Sports, Abu Dhabi TV, MBC, Al Arabiya, BBC World, ART Prime Sports, Bloomberg, Zee Arabiya, Rotana Moussica, Zee News and Star Plus.

DMC has distributed 500 Nokia handsets (models N92 & N77) to individuals of different nationalities, backgrounds, and age groups, selected from the cosmopolitan fabric of Dubai for market research.

Dr. Amina Al Rustamani, Executive Director of Media, TECOM Investments, said: 'The initiative is part of our larger mission to introduce next-generation technologies in the region to advance the Middle East's media industry. DMC is proud to bring together some of the global media, telecom and technology leaders for this pioneering venture. The real value of this trial is to provide new platforms for both media and technology partners to showcase their offerings and expand their market share using UAE's advanced infrastructure.

"The initial phase of the trial looks promising and the feedback on the content is positive. DVB-H is set to be one of the technologies that will define the future of media and entertainment.'

The DVB-H initiative brings together the expertise of leading media and telecom players. DMC will leverage its strong links with the media sector through its current business partners as well as its resources to further build the DVB-H partnership.

Riyad Al Mubarak, CEO of ADMC, said: 'Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has been involved in this initiative from an early stage, because we seek to promote new media platforms as key-components for content delivery. We welcome this initiative and we see the DVB-H technology as an opportunity which will enable a wider audience to access quality media content on their handsets.

'We see the trial as an important step in a new market, and we are looking forward to the results. It will provide us with a deeper understanding of the audience preference. And the audience response will determine the way forward for the growing mobile TV market.'

Hussain Ali Lootah, CEO of Dubai Media Incorporated, said: 'DMI has been involved in this trial from the beginning, as our strategy is to utilise cutting edge technologies to deliver quality content anywhere, anytime and on any device. We have made available Dubai TV and Dubai Sports for the trial because we believe DVB-H technology presents us with a great opportunity to gauge viewer preference.

'The region already leads in mobile penetration and the broadcasting-telecom convergence will be instrumental in driving future mobile television subscriptions.'

The introduction of DVB-H promises to revolutionise how, when and where people view television in the UAE. In addition, it throws open the possibility of a whole host of on-demand and interactive services related to infotainment, news and sports.

Osman Sultan, CEO of du, said: "DVB-H is a promising mobile broadcast avenue and we are very proud to be providing technology support to the trial. du is committed to ushering in new and innovative technology such as DVB-H for readily and easily accessible infotainment."

Currently, the talk of the global technology world, DVB-H is short for Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld, a suite of internationally accepted, open standards for digital television maintained by the DVB Project, a global industry consortium with more than 300 members. Trials and pilot services in key global markets have endorsed the superior technical capabilities and economic advantages of DVB-H. The DVB-H standard, which enables broadcast on Ultra High Frequency (UHF), can be received on mobiles and handheld devices that are DVB-H compatible.

Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, part of the fast-growing Brussels-based The Rezidor Hotel Group, has opened the second tower of its property in the heart of Dubai's emerging global media hub.

The second phase of Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Media City has an additional 125 rooms, offering deluxe and business class rooms including five suites all designed in a chic and modern style. The hotel's first tower opened in January 2006 with 121 rooms. The two buildings will be linked by a bridge on the first floor.

'Our strategic location being the only major hotel operating inside Dubai Media City and Dubai Internet City has greatly helped in shaping our business performance,' said Siegfried Nierhaus, General Manager, Radisson SAS Hotel, Dubai Media City.

'With a total of twelve meeting rooms, an executive lounge and a fully equipped business centre and modern gym and spa facilities, the hotel has all the necessary services for the urban professional coming to Dubai. We look forward to establishing ourselves further as a meeting and events hotel and being the place to be seen in Media City.'

Tower two will have a new venue - Chef's House - for breakfast lunch and dinner serving Oriental-Asian cuisine. The restaurant is an extension to the grand lobby area and will have interactive live cooking stations featuring an Oriental grill, Indian tandoor oven and the Asian wok. The other dining facilities at the hotel include Certo, the Italian restaurant, four bars - Tamanya Terrace, Icon Bar, Media lounge and the Senso pool bar part of the Senso wellness centre featuring a gym and five treatment rooms.

Dubai Media City (DMC) has launched the Talent Zone, a special zone for independent media professionals to showcase their services, at the Media and Marketing Show 2006.

The Talent Zone at the Middle East’s largest media trade show provides a platform for freelancers and small companies to build relationships with the industry.

The Zone features 32 professionals who include graphic designers, journalists, photographers, sculptors, communications consultants, film production service providers, event managers, publishers, media software professionals and system integrators.

Speaking on the Talent Zone, Mohammed Al Mulla, Executive Director of Dubai Media City said: “Supporting the development of the creative media community is part of our larger strategy of nurturing talent in the region. Apart from being a hub for the industry, Dubai Media City is a large resource for independent talent that the industry can tap for their needs.
“Over the past five years, we have supported the growth of many enterprising media professionals. The Media and Marketing Show is a great opportunity for freelancers and small companies to enhance visibility and build new links with the region’s media industry.”

Yesterday, Dubai Media City (DMC) announced the launch of the third phase of the Media Business Centre that will provide a base for up to 125 freelancers and small companies.

The new phase will significantly expand the Media Business Centre, which is already the largest source of freelance media talent in the region with 366 members.

The Media and Marketing Show 2006 is the region's premier forum that showcases latest industry initiatives, trends and technologies in advertising, broadcasting, entertainment, events, marketing, new media, outdoor advertising and publishing in the Middle East. The event will run until 29 November.

Dubai Media City (DMC) has announced the launch of the third phase of the Media Business Centre, its unique facility for independent media professionals, small companies and freelancers.

The new phase will significantly expand the Media Business Centre, which has already emerged as the largest source of freelance media talent in the region with 366 professionals based there.

The 27,500 sq ft Business Centre III will feature sleek executive offices and state-of-the-art technology and communication systems, conference and meeting rooms, and a lounge area specially designed for professionals to display their work. The third phase is expected to accommodate 125 small companies and freelancers.

Mohamed Al Mulla, Director of Dubai Media City said: “The expansion is part of Dubai Media City’s commitment to supporting the aspirations of freelancers, independent media professionals and small companies.”
“Our Media Business Centre has today developed into a large resource of talent that the industry can tap for their needs. Over the years, the

Business Centre has supported the growth of many enterprising media professionals. We hope to give wings to the dreams of many more talented individuals.”

The DMC Business Centre has virtually served as an incubator for many business ideas over the past few years. Since 2004, over 35 companies have scaled up their business operations from a small facility in the Business Centre to set up commercial offices in Dubai Media City.

The Media Business Centre offers professionals sponsorship, simplified visa procedures, flexible leasing and assistance to establish their business.

The Media Business Centre houses media professionals from a broad spectrum of sectors including photography, journalism, marketing, advertising, PR, events, publishing, production and post-production, new media and music.

The third phase of the Business Centre is expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2007 at the Al Thuraya II Tower.

Dubai Times to start its operations from DMC. Dubai Times- an English weekly catering to business and lifestyle in the Middle East is starting its operations from the Dubai Media City from November 12. The operations of Dubai Times will commence in partnership with The Red Square FZ, LLC.

This alliance between The Red Square FZ, LLC is the brain child of Mr. Mohammad Khalid, Project Director Dubai Times English Weekly.

Talking about this new beginning Mr. Mohammad Khalid said, “ This is a strategic move. The Dubai Times Publishing Group is always keen on improving and upgrading their standards, as Dubai Media City is the focal point of all media related activities not only of Dubai but the entire world hence it was imperative for us to build a base there” Starting November 12, all operations of Dubai Times English weekly ranging from publishing, editorial, reporting and marketing will be carried out from the Media City office

Contact:

Mr. Mohammad Khalid
Project Director
Dubai Times
Email: khalid@dubaitimes.ae