From The Editor’s Desk: Hello MENA!

MENA Regional

“There cannot be a better time to enter MENA“: My team and I have heard  this enough number of times in the last few months to give us the confidence that there is a clear opportunity for a publication like ‘The Arabian Marketer’ (AM) to become a part of the marketing, media and advertising fraternity in the region. It is with this in mind, that today, January 5, 2015, we officially launch AM, with Dubai as our base.

Setting up shop has been fun so far but it has not been without occasions where we asked ourselves — Why MENA, Why Dubai as base and What is it that we hope to do…

On our launch day, we would like to share some of these thoughts with you, our readers, with the hope that you agree or disagree and give us your feedback and inputs.

Why MENA: The Middle East and North Africa has seen its share of turbulent times in the recent past but despite that, the region has held its own and has continued to be an important region for many marketers. A large number of multinational companies are continually expanding their presence here. At the same time, the region is seeing both growth and transformation in its media landscape, courtesy the impact of technology and emergence of digital. The marketing, media and advertising sector in the region has been on a positive growth curve,  a trend that most forecasts expect to continue. Agencies in MENA are already making a mark globally at platforms like Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, acknowledging the work being done in the region, and more importantly highlighting the potential.

Dubai as base: In our planning stage, Dubai popped up as the ‘obvious’ answer until my Co-Founder and editorial colleague, Sana Mahmud, insisted we objectively answered this question. We could well be in Abu Dhabi or even in Egypt that is the largest market in the region alongside Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. But within the first five minutes of attempting to answer this question, where we reflected on the hub role that Dubai was already playing to several MENA operations, and between Expo 2020 and the Dubai Plan 2021, the argument in the favor of Dubai had already won.

And finally, the most important question: Who are we and what is it that we hope to achieve here. Upholding journalistic ethos in reporting on news and developments is the most important aspect of any media company; and it certainly is priority for us at AM but that is neither a differentiator nor a USP – that is the first responsibility. With AM, our objective is to be able to take the proposition a notch further. We are investing time and energy in studying the region, its nuances, its industry leaders and its culture to be able to highlight insights and trends, report on issues that professionals face in the region that impact the growth of marketing, media and advertising and domain.

Our primary objective is to create content for you – our readers – the professionals and stakeholders of (or just someone with an interest in) the marketing, media and advertising sector in MENA. This would be manifested through our flagship website – www.thearabianmarketer.com, periodicals and on-ground initiatives that will aim to provide the industry a platform to discuss issues that will shape this business.

We are in the first phase of our launch and as in the coming weeks, you will see more changes, new sections and modifications to the site that we believe will improve your AM experience.

We are looking forward to forming alliances and partnerships that will help us in achieving these objectives, and we are hopeful that we provide you with value in the course of doing so…

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