Dubai at its Best

This isn't the real world! That's the phrase I have cited openly to family, friends and colleagues or murmured to myself during the all too often moments of self-realization I have had during my almost nine years in the place I still dare not call home despite happily living in it for 72 consecutive months since 2007.

 

But Dubai never gives up, it seems, and keeps surprising everyone, including myself as I have finally consented that there is nothing more real, more tangible, more concrete than Dubai’s capacity to provide to those who want it and are fortunate enough to have it, a place to work, live and play; a place, which even I have started thinking of it as ‘home’ – and why not?

 

My five year old daughter was born here. She made her first baby steps here; she made her first friends here and while many of them have moved on to all four points of the horizon, she continues to meet new friends from all different nationalities and religions. She goes to KG here and speaks English as her first language. My wife is also at her element in Dubai. Her outgoing personality is a match made in heaven for a lifestyle full of friends, social activities and, of course, shopping.

 

On a personal level, I can’t think of any other place in the world which offers more prestigious professional opportunities for people with the right experience and skills set.

 

Even the weather in Dubai, the only ‘real’ ammunition one can still have against this city, is more of a positive than a negative if you ask me. Where else in the world, do you get six months of great spring-like weather and year round sunshine?

 

I have of course known all these great things about Dubai for many years but I felt compelled to blog this little tribute due to what my father told me a few days ago during one of my parents’ many visits to Dubai since their granddaughter’s birth. He told me to make sure that I live in Dubai for as long as I can and continue to enjoy my life here. This, coming from a man just shy of his 83^rd birthday and with my mother’s health status at its lowest ebb, is an advice that needs to be taken seriously.

 

I think that my dad’s selfless words are as real as my genuine desire to create a future of stability and well-being for my family and I; if this is going to be in Dubai, with my father’s blessing, so be it… 

 

Getting ready for some real fireworks! Happy New Year Everyone!

 

Apple: The Forbidden Fruit

In horor I have just discovered that Apple's app store is offering for free an app titled: 400+ A Sex Positions in the category for girls' games.To be more precise, the app is next to Classic Yummy Doodle Burger, Bunny Shooter Christmas, Bride and Groom Maker and Make Up Girls. Follow the link pic.twitter.com/H1k3A8aV to see the evidence that can incriminate Apple in any court worldwide.

 

I was downloading a few apps for my 4.5 year old daughter to play during the weekend - the only time she is allowed access to iPad - and had downloaded Easy Bake and Mini Pets when I stumbled upon the sex app which Apple itself rates for 17+ followed by remarks such as Frequent/Intense/Mature/Suggestive Themes and Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.

 

The horrifying thing is that children the age of my daughter can actually tap into the Free Installation button and consume the content while browsing on the iPad with parents sitting next to them oblivious of what's taking place. 

 

Apple needs to take action right now and remove this app from the girls' games category.

 

This can certainly be a massive PR disaster for the brand of which I possess many of its gadgets.

Golden Arch Tops Olympic Sponsors' Online SoV Contest

With nearly 3 billion Google search results (as of 19^th September 2012) Samsung is one of the world’s top brands in terms of online presence, yet how did its PR machine fair in the battle for Olympic share of voice glory?

Using Google search results statistics as the only methodology tool it transpires that while being the most popular brand online amongst all 11 lead sponsors of this year’s London Olympic Games, Samsung ranks a modest fourth in terms of search results containing the keywords ‘Samsung Sponsorship of London Olympic Games’.

That’s despite Samsung’s clear dominance in non-London Olympic Games online share of voice where it holds a massive 55 per cent of the total pie amongst the Games’ 11 lead sponsors.

Fast food fare finished first as McDonald’s got the London Olympic Games’ online share of voice gold medal in this rather novel study with a total number of 5.3 million results or 38 per cent of the total online share of voice amongst the 11.

Second place went to GE with 16 per cent of the spoils or 2.27 million search engine results inching Coca Cola by the smallest of margins as the soft drinks giant run out of fizz finishing third with 15 per cent of the total online share of voice registering 2.17 million results.

Despite being a member of the Olympic partner programme (TOP) since 1986 and the first to commit to the 2012 Games, Visa finished out of the online share of voice medals table in fifth place with 916.000 results or 7 per cent of the total.

Omega’s race was not against time but Panasonic with the Swiss luxury watch maker edging the audio and visual equipment specialist to claim sixth place with 4 per cent or 619,000 results.

The big disappointment of the tournament came from Acer, Taiwan’s consumer tech provider with annual revenues in excess of US$16 billion and a non-Olympics related online share of voice presence of 463 million; Making its first four year cycle as a TOP partner since it joined the programme in 2009, Acer managed a meagre 236,000 Google results finishing alongside P&G in the penultimate position of the table just above Dow Chemical whose decision to make its Olympic Games sponsorship debut backfired as it sparked controversy over the company’s alleged involvement in a mid-80’s industrial catastrophe in India.

American brands comprised more than half of the overall number of lead sponsors with six out of the 11 companies coming from the US. The Far East with Korea, Japan and Taiwan each had a strong overall presence and France and Switzerland completing the roster. Not a single UK-based firm was part of the Big 11 failing to capitalize on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to engage with their home consumers on home soil around the world’s biggest sporting extravaganza.

While purely superficial and based only on English language results, these figures are indicative of the PR effort the 11 companies put behind their multi-billion dollar sponsorship contracts.

 

  

Fast food fare finished first

McDonald’s got the London Olympic Games’ online share of voice gold medal in this rather novel study with a total number of 5.3 million results or 38 per cent of the total online share of voice amongst the 11 lead sponsors of this year's biggest sporting extravaganza.

Based on the number of Google results shown on 19 September 2012 by typing the keywords "Company Name Sponsorship of London Olympic Games". 

 

Watch this space for a full analysis of the findings as well as more insights

 

Austerity for Posterity

If you are following developments on the Greek situation and phrases such as “bailout funding”, “debt to GDP ratio”, “austerity measures”, “fiscal policy”, “recession”, “debt default” etc are too technical for your liking, do take a minute to read the following list of some of the issues facing Greek people today and then try and answer the question at the bottom of the list. Perhaps then you’d probably understand exactly the actual meaning of all this jargon.  

1)    Your salary is cut by 30 per cent without any downsizing of your role or responsibilities.

2)    Your overall contribution to various state taxes increases by 20 per cent and it is possible that this is likely to increase even more.

3)    Your mortgage is locked at a fixed 5 per cent interest rate and cannot benefit from the lower interest rates of the ECB.

4)    Your monthly shopping expenses for essential goods remains unchanged.

5)    Your monthly fuel costs for your car constantly rise albeit already being amongst the three highest in the world and your only option to commute to work is with your own car.

6)    Your home’s utility bills spiral upwards as energy costs for heating almost double.

7)     Your contribution to your pension scheme for the last 25 years is unlikely to yield you a  pension once you qualify for it and even if it does it would be 50 per cent lower than the one you’d expect based on your payments.

8)     Your daily life costs remain constant

 

9)  Your hope for a better tomorrow for you or your children is against the vested interests of the political establishment and social elite of the country you live in.

What would you do if any or all of the following happened to you at the same time?

Back to School OR Back to Basics?

In a recent survey most parents of Dubai school children seemed happy about the basics; safety, transportation arrangements, learning, assessment practices, canteen food quality etc. For more details of that survey follow the link:

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/nine-in-10-parents-say-kids-safe-in-uae-schools-2012-06-27-1.464824

But when we conducted that survey, we never thought that a few months later one of the most expensive schools in Dubai (CAS) would tell some parents on Back to School day that their children would be without a teacher for an unspecified period of time.

 My colleague Heba and her husband have already splashed out AED13,000 in advance tuition fees for 4.5 year old Fares only to be told on Day One that the school has yet to appoint a teacher for at least three of its classes. What should these parents do? What CAN they do other than complain?

That is bad for the reputation of the school of course but it is also negative for the image of Dubai’s private education sector, which has been facing many debacles off late regarding the quality of its offering, the credentials of teaching staff and pricing policies.

It seems that on Back to School day we need to go Back to Basics for an education system that still has many sand dunes to climb and deserts to cross in order to reach its own oasis.

Firing May Fire Back, Literally!

I agree that the disgruntled employee who fatally shot his ex-boss three times in the head, near the Empire State Building a few days ago somehow slightly overreacted…and should hopefully become a professional inmate, for life.

As a manager of people, I have always been conscious of my staff’s feelings and striven to interact with them in dulcet tones even in instances when raising my voice to more vociferous levels would have been both appropriate and acceptable. But I have adopted a management style which better suits my personality and have succeeded to strike a fine balance between my employers’ targets and my employees’ tantrums.

 

Firing people has never been my forte but have had to do it on a few occasions when there was enough evidence to pull the trigger. There is nothing worse in a manager’s job other than having to communicate such a decision to his own team members. Yet this is part and parcel and sometimes an inevitable, yet unenviable, part of the role of a manager.

During my 18 years in PR, I was once the victim of the ‘firing squad’ at an Abu Dhabi GRE and must admit I felt a terrible nausea and disgust at the way my redundancy was communicated to me despite the fact that I was looking for an exit anyway.

No matter the circumstances, there is nothing worse for a working person, to be told that for A, B or C reasons he or she is no longer wanted by the company who employs them because one is always left with feelings of inadequacy, ineptness and insecurity about his capabilities and career prospects.

All it takes then is a loose screw, a gun and three bullets…

Just remember, Targets & Tantrums start with F, you get fired if you fail to meet the former and you also get fired if you fail to tame the latter.

 

 

TECHing About RedAUNTancies

This is the second and last extract of my upcoming book Back to the Future of Marketing. I was overwhelmed by your reaction to the previous post on the same subject so here is one more. Next time you hear from me on this will be when the book is ready...

 

 

Let’s go back a few decades when my aunt, in her 80’s today, held a job at a state-run telecommunications company as a telephonist, a job title so antiquated that even the Microsoft spellchecker on my PC doesn’t recognise it. Yet, back in those days, thousands of women across Europe and the US, in the industrialised world, were working as telephonists connecting cables to little colourful sockets and casually eavesdropping into conversations of people totally strange to them.

What happened to her job? Technology happened, that’s what. In the case of my aunty, who is still very much alive today, it was her marriage to my uncle, God rest his soul, that took her out of the misery of possessing gossip nuggets no one was interested to consume; however many of her then colleagues’ careers were shattered once technological advances rendered telephone centres redundant, and with them, many aunts the world over.

As I alluded to earlier, the data my aunt was listening into during hours of eavesdropping filling her nails (I wasn’t there, I am just imagining this), was relevant to nobody either because no one was interested in gossip about people they don’t even know, or because my aunt had no archiving means, no information gathering mechanism and systems that would allow her to make some reasonable use of all that data either for personal fun or commercial gain.

Simply put, back then technology wasn’t conducive to making chatting appealing. Which, simply put again, this isn’t the case anymore. Because chatter in social media is the king of all content, or the route of all evil, depending on whose side you are with.

Is your job at peril because of the advent of technology?

Back to the Future of Marketing

The following is a teaser extract from my book-in-the-making titled as the headline of this post. Would crave for any comment you'd like to make

It is 1992. Twenty years ago. I have just graduated from College in London and made it into my first real job as a sports journalist for a Fleet Street-based newspaper. Back then, every time my editor was in need for background information on an athlete or any sporting subject  he’d ask me to get it for him. Sounds simple? Not exactly!

First I had to get off my chair and take a five minute walk, up a few stairs and down a few more to get to the archive section of the paper. Then I had to fill in a request form containing the relevant keywords which I had to then pass on to Rodger, an elderly archiveian – for lack of a better word – who would lower his reading glasses upon my form, clear his throat a couple of times and then gather his composure, take a deep breath and help himself off his chair to drag his feet at the back of the warehouse-like room, where a lengthy search would commence amongst shelves and piles of files containing newspaper clippings pasted with UHU stick in A4 papers.

In the meantime and while Rodger was still looking for the appropriate files, I was just standing there, a 22-year-old, clueless and bored, eyes vacant, yet hopeful, that I would be able to return back to my desk, to triumphantly and full of pride announce to my editor that I had stricken gold, that I had managed, despite all the odds, obstacles and Rodger’s nonchalance, to return with the Holy Grail, the source of all knowledge about the subject he had asked me for.

Most times I did get back holding a bruised carton folder, with the signs of ageing spreading along both covers and all four chipped, wrinkling corners. The folder would in most cases contain a few yellowing clips of my newspaper and of a few others which had reported on the subject of my search. That was it! The source of all background knowledge available to the editorial team, contained in a few newspaper clips. In most cases the subject in question had been highlighted with a bright yellow marker and it was easy to identify. That would be the equivalent of today’s Quick Search option in Google I guess.

As my trips to Rodger’s kingdom had become more frequent, my visitations seemed to make him tick having an effect similar to that modern energy drinks have on teenagers. He gradually became more welcoming, even mumbling “Hello’’ sometimes through his swollen, cracked lips bearing a permanent bloody bump right in the middle of the lower flap. I dare say that he even looked forward to seeing me in order to get his daily opportunity to get off his chair and venture to the forest of shelves behind him into an adventure that kept his instincts and reflexes alive.

One day, as I was standing there, waiting for Rodger to return with the day’s data dose, I sort of had a panic attack. “What if Rodger falls sick tomorrow?  I asked myself. “What if he takes his annual leave and goes for two weeks? Who would be replacing him? How would I be able to get my hands on the information required to garnish the newspaper’s stories with the detail and the background needed for our readers to get the full picture? Or, even worst, what if Rodger kicked the bucket? What then?  I couldn’t bear the thought even, not because I had suddenly developed a friendly disposition towards my ancient colleague from the archives department but mostly because of the panic I felt at the thought of having no access to information.

Can you imagine?

Sensational or Spin

In my 20-year-long career I have garnered journalistic, PR agency and in-house insights and perspectives giving me a 360 degree view of the triangle; I am not sure if that would make sense from a geometrical viewpoint, but what I know for sure is the truth; the right answer to the perennial question that has baffled media and PR industries’ commentators for decades;   who is right, the journalists who complain that PR pros don’t understand their needs or the PR pros who complain that the journalists are not responsive to their pitches?

In journalistic terms they are both blatantly wrong. in PR lingo neither of them is entirely right. The truth, as always, has many shades of grey.

The journalists are wrong because they view my colleagues as an unnecessary barrier between them and our clients - who are always right, remember? They detest seeing their inbox flooded with spam (that’s how they refer to emails containing press release attachments), they  loath having to occasionally answer a telephone call to acknowledge receipt of a ‘spam’ email and they totally dislike making a commitment to publishing a story for which they find zero value or interest in. They forget though that almost 70 per cent of a daily newspaper’s editorial content is either directly or indirectly, in its entirety or partially, verbatim or transliterated, impacted by the work of a PR pro, agency or in-house.

The PR pros are also wrong, because they view my ex-colleagues (The Press) as an unnecessary barrier between them getting a nod on the back from a satisfied client or getting one of those looks by their direct agency reports who are adamant that the press release is of great value and it should even make front page news in next day’s paper. They sometimes can forget as well that journalists are in the news-making industry and news they must receive if they are to oblige.

The journalists are wrong because they feel that their request to interview the visiting CEO of our multinational client for an exclusive deep look into its Middle East bottom line was declined by my colleagues just to get back to them for not using our press releases. They forget though that it is the client who’d determine the confirmation or the timing of such interviews based on their communications objectives at any given point.

And PR’s are also wrong for making pitches for interviews that are of little or no relevance to the media. But they also have the duty to educate clients about the process and the type of spokespeople and content journalists look for their editorial needs.

Who is right and who is wrong? It’s a chicken and egg situation and the yoke, instead of bright yellow, is of course, grey.

My thoughts exactly!

My pick for the starting 11 of Team Marketing at Euro 2012

1.    PR – Goalkeeper: The most important position for any team with an ambition to keep a clean sheet. Avoiding defeat should always be the top priority for the coach of Team Marketing and a good goalie would go a long way to protect the reputation of his team and the coach’s credentials. To win you must concede less than you score and as is the case ‘PR offers more for less’.

2.    Digital – Right Back: He is fit, flexible and focused in going the extra mile, however the coach of Team Marketing still doesn’t know how to extract optimal value out of him. As an advocate of the adage that a good offense is a strong defence the coach prefers to keep one of his star players at the back till he decides what to do with him.

3.    Promotion – Left Back: He has been around for a while but seems to have lost a bit of his lustre, looks tired and out of ideas. Needs to find his lost mojo and fitness otherwise his position in the starting line-up is at stake. He reacts good to the manager’s instructions but fails to take any initiative during the match.

4.     Research – Centre Back: He asks a lot of questions to anyone near him as he uses his inquisitive skills to analyse the strengths of the opponent before he tackles any challenge thrown at him. He is one of the most useful members of the team and has the ability to rise above his defensive duties when required.

5.    Media Planning – Sweeper: He is calm and full of confidence, he can see the whole game from a position of strength when his team is attacking and his perspective helps him set the tone and orchestrate his team mates’ movements on the pitch.

6.    Branding – Central Midfielder: With a blank canvas to cover, he does a lot of planning which rarely manifests itself, but its laborious approach and hard work is an essential backbone ingredient at the hands of a good Marketing coach who advocates the 4-3-3 formation.

7.    Social – Right Wing: He is the Ronaldo of Team Marketing. He is young, fast-paced, sexy, with a versatile repertoire and millions of followers worldwide; he is also incredibly arrogant believing that he is the best of the rest of his team mates and a tad immature especially when the connection is slow.

8.    Events – Midfielder: He is glamorous and eccentric, a heart throb and a favourite with the female fans but his performance is totally dependent on his pay check. On his good day he lifts the spirits of the whole team causing headaches to the opponents. On his bad day, his only contribution is a nasty day-after hangover.

9.    Media Buying – Central Attacker: He is the team’s striker, its most prolific scorer, when he sees an opportunity he takes it and he never misses a chance which would advance the interests of his team. In short, he is a must-have for any team who can afford him as players of his calibre are notoriously expensive.

10.Creative – Playmaker: He is the flashy, full of flair playmaker, enormously talented and great to watch for his gift to excite the crowds who applaud most of his moves. Irrespective of his performance on the night of the game, he commands respect and the manager is always convinced that he deserves a place in the starting line-up.

11. Direct Marketing – Left Wing: Working tirelessly through the line his advances are easily defended making him the least effective of the manager’s attacking staff. Usually out of ideas from early on in any campaign, he tries hard to impress but the little value he brings to the team mostly goes unnoticed. He is usually the first to come off when the coach decides it’s time to adjust tactics.

GOSH - God, Oh So Horrible

Give anyone, anywhere in the world 42 million dollars, a free state-of-the-art venue and unlimited access to volunteers and they could come up with a two-hour spectacle which is pleasing to the eye and the ear. But appealing to the palate of an international audience of billions is a much taller order and Danny Boyle’s nonsensical epic fused a British broth as tasteless as an NHS soup.

 The real challenge, Mr Boyle, is not just to tell a story, but to tell it in a way that is intelligent, compelling, interesting, creative, appealing and, oh yeah, relevant. Producing a 120 minute long summary of the stereotypes Britain is famous the world over is none of the above. It is simply not enough to tick all the boxes in the brief; challenging the brief and enhancing it with a more universal perspective would have made more justice to the generous funding your project received.

perseverance is omnipotent or the power of numerology

Yesterday in 1958 the football team I have passionately supported since childhood had just completed a 3-3 away draw in a European match just before the plane carrying it back home crashed killing most players and team staff. Last night and six generations of players later, the same team fought back from an ominous three nil down disadvantage with 33 minutes left on the clock to salvage a 3 – 3 draw. The great comeback started with a 58mins goal. A fighting spirit like no other, living proof that ‘impossible is nothing’, call it what you may, this has to be perseverance personified. United We Will Stand For Ever. Oh, and BTW, take a closer look at those numbers! Coincidence?