Tech Mahindra participates at panel discussion on ‘Social Media in the Middle East’ at the Arab Advisor’s 8th Media & Telecom Convergence Conference

The adoption of social media is rapidly accelerating among businesses in the Middle East region, strategically placing itself as an integral element to today’s marketing mix. This has led to a re-shaping of consumer attitudes and behaviour like never before and has become a key influence in positioning brands and images and influencing consumer perceptions. Krishna Gopal, Vice President-Global Alliance and Sales for Middle East and Africa, Tech Mahindra was one of the lead panellists in a discussion entitled ‘Impact of Social Media in the Middle East and the Government’s support, or lack thereof,’ during the Arab Advisor’s 8th Media & Telecom Convergence Conference held at the Four Season’s Hotel in Amman, Jordan.

According to Krishna Gopal, the increased adoption of social media has stirred in a significant growth trajectory thereby imposing a change in the way brands are formulated and communicated. He further shared that the early years of social media was dominated by the Google-Yahoo-Microsoft (GYM) presence. However, over the last few years, the entry of more powerful and strategic social media platforms like Facebook-YouTube-Twitter (FYT) has created a whole new sense of social activism or social capital. Pronounced as ‘Fight’ or ‘Fit’, FYT has ushered in a more people or WE-centric approach, which removes individualism and replaces it with co-existence with other people.

He also pointed out that companies today have embraced social media not only as a means to promote and talk about their products and services but also to create a collaborative interactive and instantaneous platform that fosters strong peer to peer interaction, engaging communication, devoted involvement and fruitful dialogue. Joining Gopal during the discussion were Marwan Juma, Founder and Co-Owner, dot.jo & Kinz; Amer Sunna, CEO, Wi-Tribe Jordan; Samer Abbas, Sr. Analyst, Arab Advisors Group; and Zaid Al Massari, CEO & Partner, Maysalward.

“Social media continues to play a both crucial and strategic role in the Middle East region’s move towards growth and development. The significance of social media in today’s society makes it a fitting and important issue to be discussed in this year’s edition of the Arab Advisor’s conference,” said Krishna Gopal. “The shift towards a more WE-Centric society demonstrates how people have fully grasped the idea of accomplishing something with the help of emerging technologies and how these newer social platforms can be utilized as a mechanism for delivering concerted results using the power of people.”

The panel also discussed the need for Arab companies to fund start up companies in the region, so as to fully utilize the maximum potential of social commerce and social media through pro-active efforts and initiatives. In line with this, the panellists made the call for the creation of a Pan-Arab platform for e-commerce and application downloads, thereby preventing the need for having to use services coming from outside of the Arab world. The call was made stronger with the fact that leading countries like Jordan and Egypt, which offer strength in education, entrepreneurship and population, can provide the region with an effective Arab alternative to search engines like Google and Yahoo and social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

“The Middle East region should now look into the formation of a strategic platform that can help address the needs and requirements of e-commerce and also provide users with a wide range of reliable and effective application downloads. With the emergence of economies in the region boasting of highly skilled IT specialists, we can develop more Arabic based search engines and social networking sites that will allow Arab users to work in more familiar settings,” concluded Gopal.

The Arab Advisor’s Media & Telecom Convergence Conference is an annual event that aims to showcase the latest developments within the telecom and media sectors whilst shedding light on the new landscape that has redefined various aspects between both sectors as a result of telecom and media convergence. This year’s edition of the conference saw the attendance of over 500 senior industry professionals, representing over a 150 companies from 23 different countries within the ICT and media sectors. Sponsors for the event included Qualcomm, Arabsat, Motorola, Umniah, Ericsson, Orange and Oracle.

London-based journalist and blogger talks at opening work-shop of Dubai’s Arab Media Forum

Faisal Abbas

Dubai 18 May 2010  - “The notion that there is a competition between traditional media and social media is inaccurate; but if it were true, you would be up against a website like Facebook which has over 500 million users” said Faisal J. Abbas - a London based journalist, blogger and social commentator - at the 10th annual Arab Media Forum which was inaugurated in Dubai this morning.

Abbas, who writes extensively for influential American blog The Huffington Post, that traditional media outlets such as newspapers and television channels should look at social media as an opportunity to strengthen their brand and develop a better understanding of what audiences want, “social media not only allows out to reach out to wider audiences but it also makes content more relevant and engaging”

Speaking at the Forum’s ‘Media Content: More personal… More interactive’ workshop, Abbas said that the surge of user-generated content on social media websites has made each person effectively able to compete with traditional media outlets, especially in the Middle East where the absence of freedom has actually handicapped the development of an actual Arab media industry.

“We have 600 Arab Satellite channels - How many of them are actually making money? In fact how many of them are actually in the business for making money?” he asked while adding that “Under the current state-owned/state-controlled status which dominates the Arab media scene, audience wants aren’t relevant, because the channel’s purpose is to please the owner or the political figure it is affiliated to – thus, advertising comes in for political/affiliation reasons and due to audience ratings”.

The Arab Media Forum is organized every by the Dubai Press Club which also serves as the body overseeing the prestigious Arab Journalism Awards due to take place tomorrow, April 18, as the concluding ceremony of this event.

5 percent of SMEs in the UAE are utilizing social media as a marketing tool to boost business

Zed ayesh Flagship

Dubai, UAE, 5th March, 2011: Less than 5 percent of small and medium businesses in the UAE are utilizing social media regularly as a marketing tool, according to Zed Ayesh, Managing Director of Flagship Consultancy.

Speaking at the 13th TECOM SME Builder workshop, Ayesh called on the Small and Medium Businesses in the UAE to start looking more seriously and sustainably at social media for boosting their sales.

Ayesh added: “Marketing through social media allows small and medium businesses to communicate, educate and share information directly with their current and prospective customers.”

Ayesh said that it is time for SMEs to start building communities on the web which would help them boost their profit and efficiencies in the long run.

Social media collaboration tools like review sites, video sharing sites, blogs, wikis and more allow users to collaborate and potentially serve as an endorser for small businesses. Social media works as a marketing tool because people are more likely to trust peers rather than companies.

Ayesh added: “Social media can be used to build business contacts with those who are more likely to buy a service or a product, but in the UAE the potential has not been tapped.”

He added: “Engaging customers through social media holds the key to retain them and prevent churn in an organisation regardless of its size. However, any SME should make sure it doesn’t cut the conversation half way because social media is like chatting with someone so it is important to keep the conversation going and end it in a mutually satisfying way.”

The event was organised by Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV), the region’s premier destination for human resources management and a member of TECOM Investments’ Education Cluster.

Flagship has supported the TECOM SME Builder initiative as its marketing expert since its early editions.

Ayesh added: “Flagship Consultancy is pleased to support Tecom SME Builder. In this one-day workshop, we have been able to  guide owners of small and medium enterprises to enhance their marketing skills by highlighting latest international techniques as well as tailoring global practices for the local market that is becoming very competitive and results driven.”

The TECOM SME Builder provided an ideal environment for owners of small and medium enterprises to upgrade their business management skills and establish greater synergy within their respective entrepreneurial segments.

The event was organised with the expert involvement of TECOM Investments’ business partners including Flagship Consultancy.
 
It has provided an open forum for industry experts and executives from diverse companies to come together and gain new insights. The initiatives are part of Dubai Knowledge Village’s commitment to developing the human capital base of the UAE and the region by promoting best practices.

Rather than being a threat, social media supports conventional media

Mohd Elzubeir

Dubai, UAE, 15th September, 2010: Social media has become a crucial element in today’s communications strategy, effectively supporting conventional media, according to Mediastow, a leading media monitoring agency.

“This type of digital media does not pose a threat to conventional media; on the contrary social media plays a great role by offering Arab users an interactive communications channel that connects them with main electronic portals of the traditional media, including dailies, magazines, radio and TV channels,” said Mo Elzubeir, Managing Director and Founder of Mediastow.

Speaking at a two-day workshop organised by the company for its research and evaluation teams, Elzubeir said that social media complements conventional media through maximization of traffic on websites by linking end-users of media content to these websites, be they newspapers, magazines, television or radio.

Elzubeir added that there is a significant increase in the number of organizations from the government and private sectors that want to adopt social media in their marcom campaigns.

While advertising in print, broadcast and OOH media has been witnessing a decline in interest, uptake in social media as a marketing tool continues to gain momentum. Elzubeir said the focus should now be on adding the social component to traditional media publishers and broadcasters in order to engage their readers and watchers if they wanted to bring advertisers back to the table.

“Social media works for any industry or sector that needs to engage with its customers or clients, in government or private sector, regardless of size. There is growing awareness amongst marketing practitioners in the region of the efficacy of social media in boosting two-way interaction, instead of using a monologue approach of the conventional media,” Elzubeir said.

Mediastow has a group of consultants who offer counseling services to customers to familiarize them with what their stakeholders are saying on social media and how to respond to their comments, be they positive, neutral or negative, in an effort to sustain brand equity and maintain their corporate values in the industries they work in.

Mediastow says using colloquial Arabic hinders the development of information society in the Arab world

Dubai, UAE, 27 June, 2010:

A noted social media expert has urged Arab communities to use standard Arabic on the web that will let the outside world to treat Arabs as an integrated community and prevent the Arabic language from getting marginalised on the web through different colloquial versions.

Mohamed Elzubeir, Managing Director, Mediastow who is sponsoring the Click 4.0, the leading digital marketing conference to be held in Dubai from June 20 to 24, 2010, said: “Arabic is the language of government, media, education and businesses for many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. We were pleased that Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE are among the first to get internet addresses in Arabic, following final approval by ICANN. This represents the first major change to the internet domain name system since its creation in the 1980s. However, the real issue lies in using a standard Arabic that everyone understands in the Arab world so that our content on the web becomes bigger in size and usage”.

Over 20% of Arabic speakers have internet access, resulting in approximately 100 million users. Arabic is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world and yet, despite dramatic recent growth of internet penetration in the Arab World, only 1.4% of online digital content is in Arabic.

Elzubeir added: “Now names could be registered using the country’s Arabic suffix. Arabic websites generally did not have that option because Arabic characters are written right to left, conflicting with Latin suffixes written left to right. This will enhance the web penetration especially amongst people who do not know English so they will be more comfortable using Arabic letters instead.”

Elzubeir said: “There is a paucity of native Arabic content in the web. It is not acceptable anymore that Arabs use English alphabet to write Arabic in their chats and social media websites. Adding salt to the wound, the lack of Arabic support in software is a big stumbling block in enhancing the Arabic web presence. We need to encourage people to write in real Arabic terminology and preserve the Arabic alphabet which will result in more Arabic content on the web.”

The quantum of Arabic content on the web is very low. This has created a vicious cycle, where the lack of content discourages people to search, which in turn de-motivates content creators from publishing in Arabic.

Standard Arabic is what brings the Arab world together, and what makes knowledge transfer easy between Arab countries. The usage of standard Arabic makes the published content understood by everyone in the Arab world and, most importantly, easily searched for.

“On the other side, colloquial Arabic will hinder the development of the Arab web by having 22 versions used on the web, instead of having one language used by 22 countries, reducing the impact of our language with the outside world,” added Elzubeir. 

Regional and international organizations and government institutions agree that this lack of Arabic language material online inhibits the ability of Arabic speakers to effectively use the internet to gain information and exchange ideas.

This medium has opened up a whole new, cheap world for company marketing

Dubai: Give in to a flight of imagination, and one would be convinced that social networking sites were made-to-order for small businesses to spread word about themselves.

With the increasing number of such sites, in one stroke these businesses can choose to ignore expensive branding options and focus all their marketing budgets on getting a presence on social networking.

This could turn into a compelling win-win situation for the businesses themselves. With a flick of the finger they are able to volley their brand identity across the ether and exponentially raise their chances of connecting with the eyeballs that could look upon them favourably.

“The possibilities of connecting with people are endless,” said Ernesto Verdugo, a consultant specialising in internet marketing. “Right now almost 30 to 40 per cent of our business comes through social media.”

According to a recent survey by YouGovSiraj, 80 per cent of UAE’s consumers use social networking sites to make purchasing decisions. In other words, that’s a sizeable captive audience out there who could be targeted by small businesses.

Online essentials

According to YouGovSiraj, 70 per cent of the group surveyed said that they would look for online reviews before making a purchase decision, while more than 80 per cent said that they would look for the website of the seller.

Their growing popularity is demonstrated by the number of local institutions including social networking in their marketing campaigns. However, despite this display of confidence, online marketing is still in its early stages where UAE-based businesses are concerned.

The 2010 Social Media and Marketing Report shows a significant 65 per cent of marketers surveyed have only been involved with social media marketing for a few months or even less.

“In reality most of the businesses around here have no clue on how to use these tools in order to grow these businesses,” said Verdugo. “For example, according to FedEx, 37 to 38 per cent of their business globally has come from social media while in its UAE offices this remains dormant and untapped.”

Social media has many platforms that can be utilised, depending on the structure and the sector the business is in. Unlike with other media platforms, marketing of social media generally takes the form of transmitting many smaller messages on a daily basis to followers.

But sifting through the vast expanse of the online world to stamp your presence on select platforms can be daunting for those not familiar with cyberspace. All that is needed is knowledge the basics.

Because of the demographics of online users, a key in using social networking sites is to let go of all those established corporate attitudes and become more informal with the audience.

“Social media acts as a watering hole where certain people of certain groups gather to get information,” said Verdugo. “This is great for businesses that are looking to tap into a certain community. There will always be a group somewhere that suits your business.”

According to the recent survey, social media marketing significantly raised the exposure of businesses, as attested to by 85 per cent of the respondents. Another gain was in drawing higher web traffic to these businesses, vouched for by 63 per cent of those polled. Another 56 per cent cited the way social media marketing helped build new business partnerships.

For those looking to get started, Rick Itzkowich, vice-president of marketing at VP Productive Learning & Leisure, says the easiest way is by creating a presence on the web and building up from there. “It’s often very overwhelming when people first get started,” he said.

“My suggestion is they break it down and understand it. They don’t have to do it all at once, they can just get a domain name to get started and build off of that.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect or all at once, you can take one or two strategies and implement it. I use what I call the learn-do model.”

Verdugo advocates the importance of “value” in online marketing. “The most important online marketing tools are free — if you can provide value beforehand just enough to let them know there is more available if they pay, people are willing to buy anything from you,” he said.

“For example, I offer an online book. By doing this I have already developed a relationship and people are far more eager to listen to what I have to say. In less than a year over 12,000 people have downloaded that book which allows me to gain visibility.

“I also gain credibility by gaining their trust. Once you’ve gained these two, you have a much more captive audience more willing to buy what you have to offer.”

Good value

Larry Loik, founder and president of The Real Estate Investor Network, believes the key is to give good advice and good value.

“For example, a hotel can add value by offering ‘10 helpful tips for when you come to Dubai’. Customers respect you more.”

Along with value, the power of recommendation is more important than ever with the introduction of social media. Those old faithfuls when it comes to doing any business — reputation and integrity — will also come in handy.

“Because we’re so time-poor we’re relying more on what other people recommend, so we don’t have to spend the time looking it all up,” said Itzkowich. “Because of this, it’s important to be mindful of building a relationship with your client. If you abuse that you will never be able to regain your credibility.”

Once a small business has got the hang of how to get on to the right social networking sites, they can try and offer incentives to attract the online customers. “Offer people something if they go online that they can’t get off-line,” Itzkowich added. “For example, airlines are making online bookings cheaper than off-line.”

Link baits are one way of increasing awareness on social media websites. Digg and StumbleUpon can be used to divert and direct people to a particular business’s site and the information that is there. Becoming popular on social news websites like Reddit comes with access to a sizable number of links, some of which may be topically relevant.

For all those small businesses out there, the universe of social networking sites is up for grabs. Go for them!

Google maps

Aside from social media platforms, there are other ways to instantly boost a firm’s on-line presence. One is to use the Google Map.

“One of the most under used on-line marketing tools would be the Google Map,” said Larry Loik, president of The Real Estate Investor Network. “Businesses can get themselves on Google Map for free and when a search is conducted by someone looking for a service.

“Just by being on Google Maps, they will instantly be placed on top of the search with their company’s names, location and number.”

Another way that could work is by putting up a video. “The biggest thing is to just video tape yourself, it doesn’t even have to be professional,” Loik added. “It automatically puts you at the top of search engine rankings. The trick is to have fun with it. Everyone loves a bit of comedy.”

• Meeting of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) – Gulf Chapter discusses emerging trends in journalism and social media
• Print media is here to stay while social media will cut new inroads, observes Hassan Fattah of The National
• Abu Dhabi to host 2nd IPRA-GC International PR Conference in March 2011

Dubai, UAE; April 28, 2010: The first meeting of the newly constituted board of the International Public Relations Association – Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC), held in Dubai, observed that the shifting trends in journalism - especially in online media - have prompted the regional public relations industry to be responsive and effective in tapping the potential of social media.

The role of journalism and public relations in the Gulf region are complementary, drawing strength and direction from each other. Good journalism will improve the public relations practice, the participants observed.

Mr. Faisal Al Zahrani, President of IPRA-GC and Director of Internal Public Relations, Saudi Aramco, said the objective of the new board of IPRA-GC will be to drive the PR profession in the region to a higher level through a multi-pronged approach. “We will further strengthen regional forums, commit to educational programmes for PR practitioners, and identify new initiatives that will prepare the industry to face the challenges and shifts in media today.”

Addressing the networking meeting, Mr. Hassan Fattah, Editor-in-Chief, The National newspaper, urged the PR industry to challenge the media and step in with the emerging trends including social media and online journalism. “The print media is here to stay for a long time, and will continue to make revenues. But it is important to realize that the business model has changed; it is not about advertising alone but a mix of strategies including the strengthening of online platforms,” he said.

The Board decided to host the 2nd IPRA-GC International PR Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE, in March 2011, to be attended by leaders in the global and regional PR industry.  Elected for a period of two years, the members also discussed training and educational programmes for 2010-11, the formation of an Advisory Board, renovation of the IPRA-GC website and activating monthly meetings to promote greater industry networking.

The networking event was attended by leading PR and media professionals, and the board of IPRA-GC comprising: Mr. Sultan Al Bazai, Executive Vice President (CEO- Attariq Communications, Saudi Arabia); Mr. Jassim Al Shuwaikh, Managing Director (Head of PR Corporate Events & Activities, Saudi Aramco); Etedal Hamad Al Ayyar, Vice President – Membership (General Manager of WAY Communications, Kuwait); Mr. Ahmed Abed Sheikh, Vice President of Media Relations (PR Consultant – Saudi Aramco); Mr. Sunil John, Vice President for Educational Programmes (Chief Executive Officer, ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller); Mr. Nasir Al Jesmi, Vice President – UAE (Director of Public Relations and Communication Department – Abu Dhabi Municipal Affairs); Mr. Hamoud Al- Ghobaini, Vice President for the Central Region of Saudi Arabia (Deputy Executive President of Mobily, Saudi Arabia); Sarah Al Ayed, Vice President for the Western Region of Saudi Arabia (Managing Director of TRACCS in Saudi Arabia); Mr. Khaled Al Khulaifi, Vice President – K
uwait (Assistant Director Public Relations and Information Department – Kuwait Airways); and Dr. Fahad Ibrahim Al Shehabi, Vice President – Bahrain (Public Relations Director In the Parliament of Bahrain).

The IPRA-GC Board also includes Mr. Jassim Ibrahim Fakhroo, Vice President – Qatar (Director of Communication & Media Department – Hamad Medical Corporation); Mr. Hassan Al Saleh, Vice President – Oman (Managing Director of TRACCS – Oman) and Mr. Salah Al Dhahri, Treasurer (Director – PR Specialist, Saudi Aramco).

IPRA – GC was established in KSA in 2003 as an initiative of Saudi Aramco, to support the Public Relations industry in the region. With over 400 members, the organization is part of IPRA worldwide which was established in London in 1955 and operates from 70 chapters around the

Get all the latest info on the newest innovations within the world of mass media.

Looking at this social media app, you can immediately see the potential for success.  Part GPS-finder and part video game, Foursquare has taken the world by storm as the fastest-growing application in the digital kingdom.  There’s already a Dubai application that has been up and running for months!

Think of foursquare as an “urban mix tape.” The application is specific to the city you are in and is used by downloading the software for free onto your cell phone.  In short, Foursquare helps you make lists of your favorite things to do and lets you share them with friends. Foursquare will keep track of the things you’ve done, help you create To-Do lists and even suggest new experiences to seek out.

By “checking in” around the city, you’ll start finding tips that other users have left behind. After checking-in at a restaurant for example, it’s not uncommon to unlock a tip suggesting the best thing on the menu. Checking-in at a bar will often offer advice on what your next stop should be. Every tip you create is discoverable by other users just by checking-in, and you even earn awards for being an active member!

Dubai, UAE 16th February, 2010

Mediastow, the leading media intelligence agency in the MENA region, launched the region’s first-of-its-kind integrated platform for social media, print and broadcast monitoring, analysis and measurement.  

Mohamed Elzubeir, head of Mediastow, said the move was aimed at enabling businesses to monitor print, broadcast and social media with a fully fledged and integrated approach. The new system’s capabilities are backed up by high-quality operational and maintenance support available worldwide.

“With the evolution of the social media, every blogger is a journalist, exercising a significant impact on any company. It is therefore very critical for a company to know what bloggers are saying and what impact they have on stakeholders,” said Elzubeir commenting on the new integrated monitoring platform.

Elzubeir added: “The new system offers an important tool to companies to understand their position within the social, broadcast and print media. The service is delivered in two packages: DIY (Do It Yourself) with training provided by Mediastow or fully managed by Mediastow analysts.”

Cost-wise, the new system will minimize print, broadcast and social media monitoring and make it more commoditized, in line with Mediastow’s vision for the MENA region. 

Leading brands are increasingly seeking to track online conversations and engage with customers in real-time. Mediastow continues to invest in developing cutting-edge technologies that compete on an international standard. 

The digital interaction amongst stakeholders of any company was never more active as it is today. The Internet could be a key battleground between rivals where a single 140 characters tweet could affect the share price of any company. This requires companies to keep an eye on what is going on in the cyber world.

“We decided to integrate three media disciplines into one channel of monitoring and analysis to educate the market on the importance of every media outlet, whether it is broadcast, web or print. We are equipped to monitor every segment of viewership and readership in a cost effective and reliable methodology,” said Elzubeir.

“Monitoring social media will help companies to develop new approaches to the way they talk to their customers. Monitoring this kind of media is the starting point for engagement, interaction and advocacy of customers.”

Mediastow’s new integrated service helps companies and organizations track trends and identify their sources, allowing communications specialists to engage directly with their stakeholders, emphasized Elzubeir.

There’s been plenty of controversy about Twitter being valued at the $1 billion mark, but the fact that the company may even potentially be worth that much has motivated local entrepreneurs to look to the future of social networking. Under the guidance of 29-year old Kareem Arafat, Watwet has emerged as a potential goldmine in Arabic-language social media since its launch in 2008.

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