STRATEGY AND BUSINESS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

All at Tea - Charity lunch this Wednesday!

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:54:09 +0400

Every year, more than 10,000 ships with over 200,000 seafarers drop anchor off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. In the UAE, 99 percent of all the goods that are used are imported by ship, so life in the UAE is dependent on these seafarers. Without them, people and businesses would suffer.

Many of the seafarers onboard these ships do not get the opportunity to go ashore. Since the ships are up to 18 miles out, it is just too costly. As a result, it is common for them to go through long periods of isolation and loneliness, unable to communicate with family and friends at home.

“The Mission to Seafarers” is a charitable organization that is committed to supporting the seafarers around the world. It was founded in England in 1856 and has been operating in the gulf since 1962.

The organization launched “The Angel Appeal” to build and equip a boat to support the seafarers. It survives ONLY ON DONATIONS.

Join me on Wednesday afternoon for a charity lunch in support of The Angel Appeal http://solidariteaarabia.eventbrite.co.uk/

If you can’t make it in person, please donate whatever you can that will help make the seafarers lives better, clothes, books, electronics, etc

Contact either myself or Kellie Whitehead at kw@mamamediame.com

The First Freelance Summit in Dubai

Mon, 06 May 2013 15:01:46 +0400

The Shelter, Al Quoz, Dubai

Freelance Summit Agenda

6.30 – 7.00 Welcome and Seating

7.00 – 7.05 Audience Brief and Agenda

7.05 – 7.15 Nabbesh Introduction

7.15 – 7.30 Developing a Knowledge Economy in the UAE: The Importance of Freelancers

(Trevor McFarlane, Gulfstat )

7.30 – 7.45 Freelancer Panel – insights, experience and advice

7.45 – 8.00 Presentation by Sara Khoja, Partner at Clyde & Co; What does the law say regarding licenses, permits and freelancing?

8.00 – 8.15 Break

8.15 – 8.30 Creative Zone – Business Licensing Options

8.30 – 8.45 Employer Panel – what they look for in freelancers, their experience and advice

8.45 – 9.00 Wrap up

Freelancers – Nigel Holt, Marianne Bassil, Shelina Jokhiya, Swati Randev Verma

Employers - Sharif Maghraby (MBC, twofour54)

Nick Gonzalez (Nervora.com)

Joe Akkawi (Paz Marketing)

Faisal al Yafai (The National)

Moderators – Alexandra Tohme, David Haddad

About the speakers:

Trevor McFarlane is Research Director for the Middle East and Africa at Gulfstat, an independent research group and data provider. He was previously the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Senior Editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Trevor regularly speaks and moderates at conferences, presents to senior executives and hosts Dubai Eye’s Business Breakfast Radio Show as well as continuing his role as a contributing editor to The Economist.

Sara Khoja is Partner, Employment & Incentives at Clyde & Co. Sara provides advice on all aspects of employment law, including recruitment, termination, terms and conditions of employment (benefits, bonuses, and remuneration), and the application of quotas and training requirements for the employment of nationals in various AGCC countries. She has contributed UAE chapters to the International Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook (published by Kluwer Law International and the IBA); Corporate Immigration (published by the Oxford University Press) and Compensating Mobile Executives (published by Taxmann).

Sharif Maghraby has worked as a director and producer with MBC, and was responsible for acquiring and negotiating international content formats such as Who wants to be a Millionaire, Fear Factor, and Biggest Loser amongst others. He has experience working with TV, VOD, IPTV and mobile content. Sharif worked as the Managing Director of Comedy Central Studios with TwoFour54. He is also the author of a book, “The seven gates of Phi” He has managed a team of full-time and part-time staff including producers, directors, content development executives, writers and post-production supervisors and has developed and produced many new programs and concepts for the region.

Nick Gonzalez is the co founder of Nervora.com. Nervora represents regional advertising for word-class digital publications in the MENA region reaching millions of readers of well-known global brands such as Conde Nast (e.g. Wired, Vogue, GQ, etc.), CBS Interactive, Hearst Media, Viacom, and Gawker Media. Previously Nick was the first employee at Techcrunch.com and joined founder Michael Arrington to cover the burgeoning startup scene in the SF Bay Area. Nick wore several hats to keep TechCrunch running in the early days, including writing, researching, and managing the original TechCrunch website.

Joe Akkawi is the Founder and Owner of PAZ Marketing Management and Bambinoz PR providing clients with Public Relations, Events Management, Social Media and Media Buying consultancy in the Middle East and North Africa. Joe is also the TV Anchor on SkyNews Arabia doing weekly reviews and stories revolving around technology launches and advancements. Previously Joe’s experience was developing online web experiences and communication strategies with some of the Middle East’s top advertising and communications agencies including Leo Burnett, Grey Worldwide, Impact BBDO and Flip Media.

Faisal al Yafai is an award-winning journalist and essayist. He is chief columnist, features writer and editor for The National newspaper. His journalism and essays have been featured inThe Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The American Prospect and many other global magazines and newspapers. He is the editor of a collection of essays Women, Islam and Western Liberalism, published by Civitas in London. He conducted undercover investigations into radical and suspected terrorist organisations in the post-9/11 era. He has since reported from countries across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South-East Asia. Faisal was awarded prestigious Churchill Fellowship, taking a journey to explore feminism across the Arab and Islamic worlds, from Morocco in the east to the furthest tip of Indonesia. His book on the future of feminism in the Middle East is forthcoming from I.B. Tauris, London.

The real reason we don’t see women entrepreneurs in the Middle East

Wed, 01 May 2013 02:41:00 +0400

” The gender stereotypes introduced in childhood are reinforced throughout our lives and become self-fulfilling prophesies. Most leadership positions are held by men, so women don’t expect to achieve them, and that becomes one of the reasons they don’t.”

― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Status of women

Back in 2009, the World Survey on the Role of Women in Development report by ESCWA identified that the Arab woman is still incapable of being equal to men. Noting, as these reports do, that increasing women’s participation would have positive implications on social and economic development. Staggeringly, most women don’t even know their participation or legal rights, and therefore are unable to push for them. In 2009 Lebanese women made up only 26% of the workforce, a whopping increase of 1% since 2000.

The 2009 report also identified a 27% wage gap between male and female employees over the age of 30 in Lebanon and the continuing discrimination against unmarried women in terms of sick leave. The report also notes that domestic violence further impedes women’s progress.

Fast forward 4 years to today. What of the Arab revolutions? Rather than equalize the gender gap, in fact women are even worse off than before. Moha Ennaji writes in the Daily Star: “the Islamist governments now in power in several countries seem more determined than the despots that they replaced to keep women out of politics. In conducting interviews with women in the region, I am struck by their pessimism. They fear the loss of their rights. They see economic disintegration all around them, raising the possibility of a further increase in violence. As social bonds fray, they feel increasingly vulnerable. More than once, I heard them express the view that things were better before the revolutions.”

Female representation in parliaments has markedly decreased. In Egypt the dominant party claims that a woman cannot become president. In Morocco the age of marriage has been lowered from 18 – 16. The list goes on. The salient insight is “conservative forces in the Arab world repeatedly turn against women when political unrest spreads”

Alia Awada, producer of Sharika wa Laken echoes this sentiment saying “the upsurge in extremism will primarily and directly affect women groups, society’s “weakest link”. Her peers state that best weapon to counter the influence and impact of Islamist extremists on women is the promotion of education for society’s poorest.

Disenfranchisement

The recent actions of FEMEN have been widely criticized for their perceived Islamophobic message. An article in Al Akhbar titled “ Femen you’re doing it wrong” erroneously suggests that women played a “ leading role” in the revolutionary processes and goes further to say that if FEMEN were really standing in solidarity with Arab women they would have “helped to deconstruct the myths and prejudices of Arab women in mainstream western media. Instead, FEMEN repeats clichés and strengthens discrimination against them, further isolating them form public debate”

Unfortunately; the Arab women for whom the above mentioned injustices are not an issue are so few and far between that their voice is insignificant in mainstream media. To repeatedly trumpet those would be to do a large social injustice to everyone else.

The typical counter argument to this Occidentalist viewpoint of the downtrodden and ever suffering Arab woman has been to rationalize that Arab women themselves are happy with the status quo, and that others shouldn’t impose their view of “democracy” onto them which isn’t suitable to the culture. I can’t think of any Arab woman that would be happy with forced virginity tests (Egypt) or exclusion from the legislations and decisions that will ultimately decide whether she can put food on the table or not for her family. Quoting from Moha Ennaji again, “Women make up half of the Middle East’s population, and any hope of political and economic development must account for that fact. Organizations like the United Nations Development Program have repeatedly issued reports demonstrating the connection between economic decline and oppression of women. Simply put, the Arab countries will not succeed unless women are fully integrated into political and economic life.”

A Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that majorities in the Muslim world want the Islamic legal and moral code of sharia as the official law in their countries, albeit with no agreement on what it should include and who should be subject to it. 74% of respondents in Lebanon for example said that wives should always obey their husbands. With several countries not implementing laws criminalizing marital rape and domestic violence this indicator of sentiment is worrying. In Qatar, where there is also no domestic violence law, a report from the Qatar Foundation for the Protection of Women and Children’s Rights found that a majority of 59 percent of the complainants said they were targets of husbands’ fury, while 11 percent pertained to violence at workplace. Other laws are similarly lenient towards men; the Jordanian Penal Code reduces sentences for any act of battery or murder committed in a “state of rage”. The Egyptian Penal Code also reduces sentences for men found guilty of killing female relatives in crimes of passion, particularly relating to declared sexual indiscretion and family honor.

The reasons for Lebanon (and other countries) not criminalizing domestic violence and rape are explained as threatening the family unit. Bafflingly, MP Ghassan Moukheiber, (Metn, Lebanon) said it would be unconstitutional for the law to address only women. Lebanon’s religious courts are the ones who rule over marriage and personal issues. They criticized the proposed law as an attempt to erode their authority.

To criticize a law that would protect half of the population, and grant equal civil rights on the basis of an undermining of authority speaks volumes about the depth of patriarchy that permeates every sector of society. We must question if there is in fact a real desire to fully integrate women into political and economic life. If women are constantly being perceived as a threat to authority, integration will never happen.

Women in work

Michelle Chen wrote earlier this year about Arab Women Unions noting that “women in labor movements are situated at the crux of two very different, but interrelated battles. At the same time that they are resisting the traditional patriarchal governance of their communities and workplaces, they also push back against the “modernizing” forces of Western-style, pro-corporate neoliberal economic policy, and gradually opening new spaces for social emancipation. By operating within a traditionally male-dominated space, trade unions enable women to assert their agency as activists, simultaneously challenging their general marginalization from the political sphere and the typical Western media portrayal of women as silent victims of culturally ingrained oppression” .

A February 2013 World Bank report on gender equality in the Arab world talks about the increased difficulties women face finding employment after university than men. In Egypt the unemployment rate for women with university degrees was 32 percent, almost triple that for educated males in 2011.

Part of the reason for this is less hiring by the public sector and a bias by the private sector against hiring women. Many firms believe women are less productive and less skilled than male employees. In Jordan 66% of the unemployed were women, in Syria 71%. Across the MENA region female labor participation rate only inched up at an average of 0.17% annually.

According to the report; many public sector job programs have been suspended or have reached capacity, the consequences of which are that educated men are generally able to find jobs in the private sector but women are obliged to move into very low productivity subsistence agriculture or otherwise leave the labor market completely.

“Cultural expectations are one of the reasons women are at a disadvantage when it comes to seeking alternative employment. Marriage often hurts Arab women’s chances at becoming employed. A 2010 survey of community college graduates in Jordan found that 92% wanted to work. A year later only 7% of married graduates were employed while 21% of single women were employed”

Double Bind Theory

There exists in the region a favoritism of boys over girls, which starts at birth. This can manifest in the amount of attention and love that is shown towards the female child and extend even to allocation of food and of course later on certain regulations which are extreme for the girl, and almost non existent for the boy.

Thus, right from the moment a girl appears in the world she has to battle and suffer. Education of girls tends to consist of a series of warnings and scare tactics about things that are harmful, shameful and forbidden according to religion. Some topics of course aren’t offered as suitable for girls to take.

Nawal el Saadawi writes in her book “The Hidden Faces of Eve: “The child is therefore trained to suppress her own desires, to empty herself of authentic original wants and wishes linked to her own self and to fill the vacuum that results with the desires of others. Education of female children is transformed into a slow process of annihilation, a gradual throttling of her personality and mind…”

And most importantly for the purposes of this argument: “A girl who has lost her personality, her capacity to think independently and to use her own mind, will do what others have told her and will become a toy in her hands and a victim of their decisions”

Parallel to deeply ingrained cultural motifs, there is a conflicting and overwhelming force of media and marketing; especially from global brands which target women in a very different way. A continuous stream of striving for beauty, making you more sexy, more desirable to men, more messages that urge you to consume, more brands that urge you to “express yourself” and to “ be independent” and “be bold”. How can the Arab woman process these things? Two conflicting messages are going to cause a problem. Something has to give. Either she rejects the new message, or she has to reject that which she is familiar with. What occurs is adoption of the new message at the expense of one’s internal reasoning, otherwise known as a Double Bind. Double binds are often utilized as a form of control without open coercion—the use of confusion makes them difficult to respond to or resist.

Whilst local values and culture are supposed to honor and protect the women, we don’t see any advertising with women in positions of power, we don’t see media and content targeted towards women that is anything other than fashion and beauty and there is very little in the way of innovation in terms of creative advertising. In a culture which imports everything, the problem is exacerbated as the result is a cultural narrative that says one thing and a media narrative which promotes the opposite. This contradiction as far as women are concerned is damaging to everyone; added to that the fact that the media is controlled and heavily populated by men - what you end up with is an extremely powerful cocktail of control which aims to dictate what women should think and aspire to whilst simultaneously making them spend as much as possible.

Entrepreneurialism

One of the biggest obstacles faced by the new generation entering the workforce is that the education system has failed to prepare them for the current demands of employment in terms of hard and soft skills. Many students are graduating in courses that aren’t in growth industries. More importantly employers are looking for “creative problem solvers, innovators, people who can use their own intuition, work by themselves, and in teams”. They are also looking for people with intercultural skills, a sense of responsibility and accountability and a proactive attitude. Finally a sense of confidence is key. These are all skills which women have extremely little experience with, and traits which aren’t nurtured in women during school or university.

Female employees on the other hand bemoan the lack of career development options clearly laid out in job descriptions and the huge absence of role models. ALWANE’s study last year on Saudi women in the retail sector demonstrated that 42% accept the idea of women working but that 31% of female respondents highlighted lack of awareness of what the retail sector actually is as a main concern in considering where to work. Respondents noted that there are not any success stories in the region, let alone the country, to understand the type of career path they would be undertaking.

Many organisations such as the non profit Education for Employment, partner with young graduates to train them for private sector employment increasing their skills. Across the region, the organization has trained around 3,000 young people, mostly women, since 2006. Similarly The Association for Women’s Total Advancement and Development, paid for by private companies in Egypt, is a non-profit organization fostering mentorship networks, entrepreneurship and skills training. Around 1,500 women have graduated from the organization’s training programs since they began in late 2008. Arcata is another like minded organization in Qatar. Most of the programs are funded and / or run by USAID branches, and some private sector companies like Exxon Mobil and Goldman Sachs run their own graduate training programs focused on women. Some universities even offer “ entrepreneurship” courses in addition to the curricula students are taking.

The question is, is it too late at graduate level to instill a sense of entrepreneurialism zeal into women? If the current pop marketing is anything to go by, not necessarily; as authors such as Guy Kawasaki (Rules for Revolutionaries), Malcom Gladwell (Blink) and Seth Godin (Purple Cow) impress “ new innovative” thinking for the older business crowd in order to drastically transform their business from good to great. Incubators, meetups and other loose associations catering to the regional entrepreneurial crowd frequently cite methods from these and other books, and point to strategies taken by companies based in Silicon Valley as the golden standard by which to measure ones success, but this gives a terribly false sense of reality. Education in the US and other European countries focuses on gender equality. Curriculum is based around the need to think independently and question current thinking. Students are already bathed in an environment of innovation and opportunity, the leap to Purple Cow status is not that hard.

A friend sent me a link to a Forbes article entitled, 17 counterintuitive things the most successful people do including such advice as “pick a fight”, “purposefully offend” and ”seek out rejection”. Suggestions which are completely the opposite of how society, and women in particular operate in the Middle East. Does that mean that without adopting these strategies, we have no hope of competing on a global stage?

It is therefore a truism that Arab women are irrevocably trapped between resisting the traditional patriarchal governance of their communities and workplaces, and the “modernizing” forces of Western-style, pro-corporate neoliberal economic policies. Entrepreneurial theory as dictated by the Valley is exceedingly pro corporate and neo liberal and that is as a result of pre existing conditions, not as an antithesis to them. Were it not for an environment that celebrated innovation, radically different thinking and sheer stubbornness, most of the tools we take for granted today would never have come into being. That’s not to say that women are extremely well represented in other geographies, but we can at least conclude that women here are already at a much greater disadvantage.

Conclusion

Given the examples in the different sections above, it would be hard not to conclude that there exists a deliberate and conscious effort to exclude women from opportunities that would increase social and economic equality for communities in the region. This may seem counter intuitive, given that the main catalyst for the revolutions was social and economic injustice caused in large part by neo liberal policies. The reasoning for women to be independent and be entrepreneurial can then be contextualized as a clear threat to the aims of the prevailing political parties that seek to impose harsher restrictions and potentially implement Sharia law across the land.

Like most shifts in power, there is often no real viable stable alternative to fill a power gap at the time the opportunity presents itself, and the actors who can be pro active and are aggressive enough to step up are not necessarily the most able or most prepared. We will not see a cohesive female community come together and push for change, simply because they have been used to not having any sort of power for so long, they wouldn’t be able to self organize effectively. As the President of EFE says, “most women don’t even know how to go looking for jobs”

There is one possible alternative that will solve this problem. That solution lies in looking at things which can be changed in the short to medium term such as the locus of work. Women need no longer be forced to come to the office to execute tasks if they have the equipment and means to do it at home. Women in offline communities in the same geographic location tend to have more in common thanks to their social similarities than they would do with peers in the office. Such networks can lead to better work, including a stronger sense of confidence. Work can be granularized and distributed across their networks, whose bonds are often much stronger because of a shared sense of responsibility to each other (horizontally) rather than to a CEO (vertically). We know that uptake of social networks in the region is at a much higher rate than elsewhere in the developed world. Brands that wish to market to women know where they are and can reach them. If women don’t know how to find jobs, then employers should take a leaf out of marketeers books and make the jobs find them, wherever they are.

Upskilling through mobile games and social tasks will also be a future trend and one that can extend the reach of education far beyond traditional classroom teacher vs student models. Challenges that require lateral thinking, problem solving and working in teams delivered through the digital medium will better prepare women for career independence. Public support for the freelance model is key, perhaps even subsidizing women to follow this career path is an option.

A woman’s most precious asset is her time, and if it is not well spent, that’s talent we are all missing out on.

Postscript:

A discussion on linkedin emerged after I posted a link to this with one chief executive commenting that “women do a great job that men will never be able to do and the value of that job is much more than money or business, women achieve a lot more than position or money. There is no great family without a mother”

To which I commented; I wouldn’t necessarily agree that the “value of a job for a woman is more than money or business. There are several women for whom owning and operating one’s own business is much more important. It gives them a sense of independence, responsibility and ownership. Having financial freedom for a woman is extremely important. In the unfortunate event that the married woman becomes divorced, it would be a terrible strain on her to provide for herself and her children if she did not have the skills to earn a salary.

We know that integrating women fully into business on an equal footing with men vastly improves the social and economic well being of a community, thus to prioritize a woman’s role in running the family would detract from the wellbeing of society as a whole. Since we all live as part of a community its everyone’s duty and right to be economically productive. I have yet to see any study that shows a country’s GDP/capita has increased as a result of more families being created and women staying out of work.

In Bangladesh for example, the UNDP and the World Food Program have recorded significantly higher levels of food insecurity and poverty among female headed Bangladeshi households.

Bangladesh is world famous for programs meant to reduce women’s poverty; yet for decades it has ignored how discriminatory personal laws drive many women into poverty,” says Human Rights Watch.

“With many women precariously housed or struggling to feed themselves when their marriages break down, Bangladesh should immediately reform its personal laws, fix its family courts, and provide state assistance to poor women.”

Female-headed households and women facing domestic violence struggle to access critical state support and social assistance. The UN country team in Bangladesh has identified “marital instability” as a key cause of poverty among female-headed households.

Bangladesh may be an extreme example, but my own point of view is that education and economic empowerment must come first ahead of family concerns. The data is there to support this opinion. We need to act now

Landmark Group Ecommerce

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 13:19:21 +0400

Landmark Group represent some of the regions best known consumer brands. They have been active for 4 years in the Digital Space. 14 websites are live and over half their traffic comes from iPADs. Although they have only just got into the ecommerce space with www.landmarkshops.com they plan to bring the rest of their brands online.

Their informational websites (and landmark shops) generate a cumulative 31m page views. Although they haven’t broken down stats per site, the infographic has some interesting details

What’s more enthralling from a content and user journey point of view is how they have structured their informational sites for each of their brands.

Splash Fashion ( http://www.splashfashions.com ) has a diverse mix of lookbooks, catalogue, a clear call to action for models and a blog

If you click on “SHOP” you get taken to their ecommerce site, Landmark Shops and you land directly in the fashion section

Similarly with their electronics arm, Emax:

With the amount of not well thought out online journeys its a refreshing change to see user centric design and a constant drive to the flagship ecommerce site without having to rely on spammy banner ads. To avoid drop out rates, you are taken to the relevant inside page. So many companies forget to build landing pages or drive you just to the homepage from where the user is supposed to know where to navigate.

This method allows Landmark to measure the online shopping appetite and alter its channel drivers accordingly. If more people are coming to the LandmarkShops site from fashion sites, they can spend more of their budget on other fashion sites to drive traffic, fashion blogs, attend relevant events and target people on Facebook who have similar interests.

Many companies who venture into ecommerce fail because of a lack of insight into how the consumer behaves, what information she needs, and how to build the journey to capture data that can be ploughed back into media spend.

It’s no wonder they generate so many page views. 1.4million visits are from a mobile device across their portfolio. Although i’d like to see a dedicated mobile site for www.landmarkshops.com i’m sure that’s in the works and will be as well designed as the rest of their products.

Savitar Jagtiani - @jagthesav is leading ecommerce for the group, and Ziyaad Khoja is a Senior Product Manager for the team if you want to find out more

Online User Journey Philips Styleshaver

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:17:57 +0400

Online User Journey for Philips styleshaver from Alexandra Tohme

Tenancy rights in Dubai

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 01:31:00 +0400

The real estate law is now in favour of tenants. The law of 2007 was amended in 2008 to further help tenants and I have put both relevant articles of the law below, as well as a link to the Dubai Government document.

In summary, if the rental agreement is about to expire and you want to renew but the landlord doesn’t - the landlord must give you 12 months notice if he wants you to get out, by registered mail, or Notary public.

Article 25 of Law 26 of 2007

Landlord may demand eviction of tenant upon expiry of tenancy contract in the following cases:

If development requirements in the Emirate requires demolition and reconstruction of the property in accordance with government authorities instructions.

If the property requires renovation or comprehensive maintenance which cannot be executed while tenant is occupying the property, provided that a technical report attested by Dubai Municipality is to be submitted to this effect.

If landlord wishes to demolish the property for reconstruction or to add new constructions that prevent tenant from benefiting from the leased property, provided that necessary licences are obtained.

If landlord wishes to recover the property for use by him personally or by his next of kin of first degree.

However, in all above mentioned four cases, landlord must notify tenant with reasons of eviction at least ninety (90) days prior to expiry date of tenancy contract.

Article (26)

If, upon expiry of the tenancy period, the landlord demands recovery of the property for his own use, or use by his first degree next of kin, and the Committee approves the same, then landlord shall not rent the property to others before one year from date of recovery of the property, otherwise the tenant shall have the right to request the Committee to order proper compensation to him.

Article 25 was then amended by Law 33 of 2008

http://www.dubailand.gov.ae/english/Tashjee/RulesandRegulations/Law%2033.pdf

2. Landlord may demand eviction of tenant upon expiry of tenancy contract limited to the following cases

a. If the owner wishes to demolish the property for reconstruction or to add new constructions that prevent tenant from benefiting from the leased property.provided that necessary licences are obtained

b. If the property requires renovation or comprehensive maintenance which cannot be executed while tenant is occupying the property, provided that a technical report issued by Dubai Municipality or accredited by it is to be submitted to this effect

c. If the owner of the property wishes to recover the property for use by him personally or by his next of kin of first degree provided that he proves that he does not own a suitable alternative property for that purpose

d. If the owner of the property wishes to sell the leased property

And for the purpose of clause (2) of this Article, landlord must notify tenant with reasons for eviction at least twelve months prior to the determined date of eviction subject that such notice be sent through the Notary Public or by registered mail

Article (26)

If the Committee decided for the landlord to recover the property for his own use, or use by his first degree next of kin pursuant to the provision of paragraph (c) of clause (2) of Article (25) of this Law, then landlord shall not rent the property to others for at least two years for residential properties and three years for non-residential properties from date of recovery of the property, unless the Committee decides less period for reasons considered by it, otherwise the tenant shall have the right to request the Committee to order proper compensation to him

Let's never use the words Arab Spring again

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:06:45 +0400

Content is always a tricky issue in the Middle East. There’s not enough of it, there’s no copyright law, the economics aren’t right, and my personal favourite - there’s just too much fluff. In this post I look at the reasons why the media and content industries have misunderstood the Arab Spring and as a result of most of the content being controlled, produced and monetized by brands, what the industry should do now.

The “Arab Spring” has been used to the point of overkill in referring to and explaining anything that has happened in the Middle East since 2011, but little in depth analysis is given to the history or underlying movements. Media have appropriated the revolutions as simply what happens when large groups of networked people have access to information touting the benefits of Twitter, Google and Facebook and promoting these platforms as change makers and beneficial for commercial enterprises. Other more political analysis forgets the context of power brokers and dismisses the role of the West as a transcendant power as conspiratorial.

Let’s have a look at some of the current narrative concerning The Arab Spring and the role of new media.

Al Jazeera in October 2012 - “the protests and riots would not have occurred without YouTube and Vimeo”

Khaleej Times in February 2013 ”I think the media, especially here in the Middle East, is changing quite a lot. Especially if you look at the Arab Spring, things are changing (in terms of media)…I think people are interested in the way the Arab Spring has changed things” - said the World Association of Newspaper Middle East Director

Policy Mic, 2012: “Ultimately, public information supplied by social networking websites has played an important role during modern-day activism, specifically as it pertains to the Arab Spring. In Arab countries, many activists who played crucial roles in the Arab Spring used social networking as a key tool in expressing their thoughts concerning unjust acts committed by the government”

Even more worryingly the same article goes on to say:

“Being capable of sharing an immense amount of uncensored and accurate information throughout social networking sites has contributed to the cause of many Arab Spring activists. Through social networking sites, Arab Spring activists have not only gained the power to overthrow powerful dictatorship, but also helped Arab civilians become aware of the underground communities that exist and are made up of their brothers, and others willing to listen to their stories”

Mashable in February 2013 - the Harlem Shake is an act of political protest in Egypt and Tunisia

Wael Ghonim, stated in an interview with CNN days before the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, ‘If you want to free a society just given them internet access’. Conveniently he was also Google’s marketing director for the region. In fact, as Evgeny Morozov has pointed out, history has shown that when societies do get “connected” they are much more likely to consume the latest Sex and the City or Friends series than they are to learn about civil rights in other territories and compare freedoms of expression and then demand change.

More worrying is that the majority of those that work in the media industries here gobble up these stories and regurgitate them in the form of pitches and client presentations, blissfully unaware that they themsleves are victims of an even bigger marketing ploy.

If we look more closely at the official Media line, the “youthful bloggers trained in the use of new media technologies” did not begin their training in September / October of 2010 just before the uprisings, they actually began 3 or 4 years prior.

The 1998 mass movements in Serbia were led by Srdja Popovic, who used text messaging, the internet and social networks to galvanize the population against Milosevic, later he was overthrown in October 2000. In 2004, Popovic set up an organization specializing in non violent action and strategy called CANVAS and hosted a training center. This center was where activists trained for the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Orange Revolution in the Ukraine. Young politicized leaders from 37 countries went to Serbia for training including many from the MENA region. Tunisians received their training there and Mohammed Adel, one of the founders of the April 6^th movement was trained for a week in Belgrade during the summer of 2009.

Documentaries by Al Jazeera demonstrated how Egypt’s April 6^th movement had been set up in 2007. Young people went to Serbia and the Caucausus, reported AJ journalists, but no mention was given to their visits to the USA. A significant number of activists and bloggers were given training by 3 American government financed NGO’s: The Albert Einstein Institution, Freedom House and the International Republican Institute.

As early as 2004, but more so between 2006 – 2008 the trainings focused on the strategies and tactics of non violent mobilization, social networks, the use of symbols etc. The American, European and even Russian governments were well aware and funded most of them. The governments of Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and Syria were also aware as many of the activists were arrested when they returned back from their activities abroad.

Bloggers do continue to debate whether to accept such funding and trainings so closely linked to Western powers. Sami Ben Gharbia, a Tunisian blogger wrote an article on 17^th September 2010 where he identifies the risks in doing so.

Google, Twitter and Yahoo were directly involved in training and disseminating information promoting pro democracy activism on the web. A conference called Internet Liberty 2010 organized by Google on 20 – 22 September in Budapest with the participation of American and European government reps, saw the launching of the MENA bloggers network, with organizational impetus from an institute connected with the US Democratic party.

Early on Google helped Egypt’s activist bloggers elude the governments attempts to curtail internet activity by providing them with satellite access codes, but surprisingly Google refused to give the same codes to Syrian activist bloggers also facing repression.

Google’s position throughout the uprisings has been virtually identical to that of US foreign policy – explicit support for Egyptian protestors against Mubarak, but hesitant in the case of Syria in the hope that domestic reforms would keep Bashar al Assad’s regime in power.

Thus, rather than young people and new technologies coming together in a serendipitous evolution on the timeline of digital societies, new media is actually being used as a force to extend US foreign policy. The well oiled content machine, ironically perfectly supported by Google, Facebook and Twitter has no shortage of stories that tout the wondrous effects of Media 2.0 and the reach and sharing continues unabated. One need only look at the repeated stories in the New York Times about how great one or other of those platforms has been and contextualising it within “the Arab Spring”

So, much has been made of the power of social networks to overthrow dictators, an attempt by the media and ICT industries perhaps to show commercial entities that they should spend more money with them for social media management. However – what to do when for example your Facebook page gets hacked as in the recent case of Qatar Foundation?

Are people really using social networks to revolt, or to simply connect and do business, or is it unclear since the most active proponents aren’t really independent and have been trained and funded by concerned players to do so?

Can we really use ICT for good as was mentioned in the Ericsson presentation at the BOLD Talks event in Madinat Jumeirah at the weekend? According to Ericsson, information and communication technologies can lead to innovation, knowledge sharing, creativity and productive workforces. We have the highest consumption of some forms of digital media in the world here in the Middle East along with some of the highest penetration levels of internet and mobile devices, but I’m sure no one would claim we are in any way an innovation center much less a knowledge economy or productive workforce. How then can we move to that, is it possible?

We tend to dismiss groups such as the Salafists complaining about students doing The Harlem Shake and other “radical” segments complaining about Westernization as fringe lunatics that can be ignored. However, with over $2 million per day being spent at McDonalds across the GCC, an explosion in the amount of western brands being distributed by the large merchant houses here and more and more western media – these objections to the continued march of “Westernization” are valid. How will the advertising and media industries cope with this increased polarization in the population? Is it time they were more socially responsible given the sensitive period of time we are now in or do the economics of the business just not allow for the train to be stopped?

Food Startups and Connected Real Estate

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 18:41:00 +0400

Because we live in a delivery culture , most food startups will have to spend a lot on logistics. This requires a large amount of capital and operating expenditure as companies source drivers, motobikes, fuel, insurance and more. For international outfits like NKD Pizza – this doesn’t seem to be a problem, but for local newbies, eg Richys, it can be daunting.

From the comments on their Facebook page, as well as feedback from my friends, Richys has a huge problem during lunchtimes between 12 – 3 on weekdays. Many office workers in JLT where they are based and TECOM, Media and Internet City have heard about their delicious and healthy salads but just aren’t able to get their food in time.

One way to solve this is by shifting some of the responsibility onto the customer, involving a very targeted online marketing plan. Reaching users in the morning to prompt them to think about ordering early and beat the rush could be one solution. Promoted tweets and Facebook ads could work well, if many people are checking these in the morning as well as 3^rd party banners on online news portals.

Clearly there are advantages in doing this, but there are also some downsides

What if you order early but the order still can’t be fulfilled during “lunchtime” because of a lack of resources? They could deliver it early but a customer might not want it at 10.30am, they would rather have it at 1.30pm. We could suggest that customers store their freshly delivered salad in the fridge once it arrives if there is enough space. But, the brand is best enjoyed fresh. Getting the salad and then waiting another couple of hours to eat it may not resonate well with Richy’s or its customers.

This method also doesn’t take into account the number of customers that spontaneously choose to order from Richys and also believe that 30 – 45 mins is the maximum time they’re prepared to wait for any food delivery.

Another problem to think about is the repeated trips back and forward to the same buildings. In one tower block there can be several different companies, if just 1 person in each company ordered from Richy’s there could be as many as 12 trips back and forth. How could this be made more efficient? If a centralized ordering system was in place for the building, people could make their order online and orders could be clustered together in delivery “windows”.

When ordering online, the menus of each food outlet could all be uploaded onto one separate CMS specifically for this system. The path back (once order is captured) would then need to go to the respective outlets including identifying info such as name, contact and geolocation. Another way of doing it, perhaps more complex, would be to have this CMS somehow sit underneath all the individual food brands’ websites, and collate incoming orders to the central database. However, given that they are all wildly different in terms of site design, functionality and some don’t even have websites, this might be wishful thinking.

The real solution for this problem will come from a mixture of disciplines all working together. UX, Building Controls, Real Estate professionals, crowd mapping, and CRM.

In the meantime, some creative communication strategies would help Richy’s customers continue to enjoy their food but suffer less delays in getting it. Rewards and loyalty could be brought into play to incentivize customers to plan ahead. In the delivery packaging some reminder messages would work, specifically something that triggers use of mobile. For office environments, a big wall hanging with each food item and its relevant QR code could be shown. Throughout the day employees can simply scan the item they want and an instant order would be placed. How many of us have run around our colleagues desks asking, “does anyone have the menu for….”?

The marketing of food has traditionally been ATL based, with digital efforts comprising a mobile app, which can typically cost the client a lot in time and money if they use traditional network agencies to deliver. Moreover, we don’t have enough storage space on our smartphones to have ALL the potential food apps which are out there. Thought should be given to user behaviour and also, what type of data the food outlet needs in order to grow successfully.

And now to order my Quinoa King Salad…

Please sir, can i shop some more?

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:00:48 +0400

There’s one very good reason to shop online in this region, and thats because the markup on products here is astronomical. Even with the retail rates of Aramex’s B2C arm, Shop and Ship, it can still work out considerably cheaper. A friend and I were looking at Varier Balans Chairs (amazing for sorting out your back issues whilst sitting at a computer all day) and found it would be at least 1000 dirhams cheaper getting it shipped over from the UK than it would be to have the Abu Dhabi importer bring them. And might I add a good deal quicker too.

If your jaw is still agape, you might also want to check out this story, ”Its cheaper to fly to the USA and back again than it is to buy Adobe CS6 in Australia“

Everyone is doing their shopping in Dubai. And I mean everyone. No need to harp on about whats going on regionally and its impact on here, you already know. So its timely that Aramex have extended the Shop and Ship service (a PO box in another county like US, UK and China so you can shop over there and bring it over here) to Dubai. Did you just set up an ecommerce store and you want to reach customers in multiple GCC countries because total potential customers in your home country is too small? No problem, if your customers sign up to Shop and Ship you can just ping it to their Dubai post box and Aramex will deliver it to anywhere you like.

Over 90% of current Shop and Ship customers reside outside Dubai, so signing up for the new service will allow local merchants to tap into a new customer base. This is a bit bananas. Think about how quickly you could scale up.

What about all those tourists that do a 1 - 3 day stopover in Dubai just to shop? Qantas hub has now moved from Singapore to Dubai. Large numbers of Asian and African and CIS tourists come through Dubai on their way to the other side of the world. They probably don’t have enough luggage for all the shopping they want to do.

A Shop and Ship Dubai post box will be THE way to capture those tourist dollars and make their lives easier.

This is where it gets really interesting for creative advertising. Dubai is unlike any other regional market because of its speed of growth, hetergeneity and dynamic consumer shifts. 70% of customers at the Louis Vuitton store in the malls in Dubai are chinese. Imagine if you had localised messaging for them from the airport, to the hotel, allowing them to buy their stuff online from LV through their phones and it would be sent to their Dubai PO Box and then it gets shipped home waiting for them when they get back, leaving them their precious baggage space for the more important high end whiskeys and perfumes they like to buy.

What about shopping BEFORE you get to Dubai? You’re sitting in Russia in the departure lounge and you browse the net, identifying some nice swimwear that you can have delivered to your hotel for your impending arrival. Thanks to Shop and Ship that could happen.

Really there are multiple possibilities. Will any brands be creative enough to use them? Durex…..?

Telecoms Consumer Marketing

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:38:00 +0400

I was in Lebanon during the mad rush that was on to “re register” mobile numbers in the UAE as per the TRA’s directive. I didn’t receive any message but just to make sure when i got back i tweeted @dutweets to ask them if i needed to go and do it. I had read some crazy reports about people queuing in long lines at the service centres in the mall only to be told they didn’t need to be there. They replied asking if i had received a text i said no.

A week later, I received a text saying I WOULD be required to re register but to watch this space for further details.

This annoyed me. What i was expecting was multiple channels that would allow me to know what was going on. For example, I could have tweeted my number to @dutweets and they could run it in their system and tell me if i was required to do something or not.

Also, they could have done a better campaign with an sms shortcode where you ping the number and then it gives you the instructions. All in all I feel like i’m taking on the burden as the consumer when they could market to me better. As a company you want to reduce the amount of work the customer has to do so they can focus on that all important purchase decision without having to go through the rest of the funnel. The easier you make it for me to do something the more likely i am to do it.

In a similar vein, I noticed outdoor billboards promoting the new Entrepreneur Package by du around media city today. But it was just a big blue board saying “ICT solutions for SME’s with the Entrepreneur plan. 800 188”

I like to think of myself as an entrepreneur (who in Dubai isn’t these days) but that’s it? No more details, no funky image, no call to action, no price? So I call 800 188 and I get a generic enterprise IVR with 2 options, i don’t understand either one and I hang up.

Eventually I make it to the website, where the offer is number 4 of their scrolling headline banners on the homepage. Click on that and i get to the inside page

I still don’t get it. Well ok I understand it, but I just feel like there’s no marketing pizzazz there. Compare this layout with the other corporate offers. It looks exactly the same:

Then i notice the “Her Business Plan” on the sidebar and I say, I’m a her, let me click on that.

Well now i’m totally confused. What should I go for? Back to the Entrepreneur plan, I notice something funky. It says “Create, publish, and maintain your website with ease with Webmatrix (a light weight web development tool)”

What is this Webmatrix? There is no link so i google it. Webmatrix is a Microsoft product. Now before everyone starts getting on their anti Microsoft horse, just have a look at the landing page for this product in comparison.

Remember i’m talking about consumer marketing. The 4 main things that stand out straight away is “open source” , ”designed for top languages” , “built for the cloud” and “Free download”

Also, its easy on the eye. It has that 2.0 feel. It has all the recognizable logos there indicating at first glance that yes its for me, and it works with other things that i might already work with.

But wait, there’s more…

Mobile is in there, there’s community support, and an easy how to section etc. It would probably be simpler to drive consumers to Webmatrix and sell in Du’s services as an extra add on. Just in terms of ease of use and landing page conversion.

I do want to be marketed to. I particularly want to be marketed to by ICT companies that have products and services designed for me. But i feel that most companies are simply extending their product lines and keeping the same type of advertising and marketing channels, rather than creating a journey with the consumer in mind and what he or she is actually thinking about. I really want to believe that you have studied my behaviour and you know my problems and you have suddenly developed something that answers that. More reactive marketing.

One of the best ways to do this is through good copy and visuals. It’s a always a toss up between staying on brand and being able to attract new users. One brand which i think has got this on point is Samsung which I’ll write about in my next post

Where is all the eye candy?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 16:13:00 +0400

I’d like to complain about the lack of suitable eye candy for women in this city. Yes, as a woman in the middle east, I will never know the joy of having a cute pizza delivery guy, a strapping removals person, a foxy barista or chiseled telecom engineer come and install my home internet system. When I shop from Ikea or Home Center, I won’t be able to gaze at the hardworking installation team, who may have to remove their shirts due to the heat, to reveal washboard abs and a pert behind. If there was ever a fire, I’m probably not going to be swooning into the arms of my rescuer either.

Something is not right with this picture. As I mooch around Dubai using public transport, going to meetings, going out and generally being an all round good citizen, I can’t find any aesthetically pleasing men, neither on the ground nor in the media. Now I know what you’re all going to tell me, its more important here for the man to be able to “provide” so if he has a good job, a good income, comes from a good family, has a good car etc etc etc then it shouldn’t matter if he looks like the back end of a bus. But I’m not looking for marriage, I’m looking for something to look at.

I cracked open a can of diet coke in the office the other day. Unfortunately this was nowhere to be found

There are so many beautiful women around, and you don’t have to walk into a club to see them. They’re in the office, they’re power walking around Marina, they’re in the shops and in the magazines. The pressure on women to look good here is ridiculous. And it’s all the more frustrating when the pressure isn’t mutual. Don’t get me wrong, I prefer someone who makes me laugh, has a high IQ and is well read over a Beckham lookalike as a potential partner, but I still need my eye candy.

Feminism is not a dirty word. It simply means equal rights. And this is what I mean

Unlike previous years I did not sign up to a gym as my new years resolution. We’ve all done that, forked over the money and then not bothered going. A complete waste. If any of the gyms in Dubai had fitness instructors that look like the below, I would be there every day, maybe even twice a day. I’m sure I’m not alone.

Fitness First called me today as a friend had seemingly dropped my name there for a free session. I was hoping to hear the sultry tones of an ex special forces trainer, luring me out of my cave and into the spinning class, but frankly what I got was someone that sounded like the bank call center people or whoever answers the phone when you’re ordering take out. It didn’t make me want to rip of my pyjamas and run over the road from JLT to Marina to hurriedly signup a good portion of my monthly income. I think this is a big USP gyms are missing out on. Gather all the hotties, and watch attendance levels soar.

Speaking of working out, I can’t for the life of me understand this running phenomenon but everyone does it. It’s like the louis vuitton handbag of the urban populace. At Safa Park in the weekend, did I see anything resembling this? No I did not

They’ve now drained the lake in JLT and its right opposite my window. People also run around JLT. Can the eyesore not be somewhat alleviated by hordes of young shirtless men jogging around the perimeter? Is that too much to ask?

The media industry needs to take some of the blame for constantly promoting artery hardening foods like BK, McDonalds and KFC, and focusing on lightening cream for women and shampoo. I want to see media pressure on men to look good. Enough of this styling of beard nonsense (Gillette) and Clean and Clear (dandruff is caused by fungus, stop bouncing that dirty football on your head). Let’s see images where the man fails a bit in life because of his waistline.

I will be accepting calendars of hot men for Valentines Day this year, if anyone can find them…….

Design for Social Justice - a great initiative and a lovely team...

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 21:33:05 +0400

Design for Social Justice - a great initiative and a lovely team of people. Apply.

How to avoid that weird smell your clothes have after washing

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 00:47:00 +0400

No the answer isn’t more fabric conditioner.

I noticed that whatever I did to my clothes, the minute I got them out of the washing machine they didn’t smell quite right. After a bit of investigating, several of my friends told me they experienced the same thing.

In the UAE we have some strange “grey water” issues. This isn’t anything the average consumer can do anything about. But there are some tips that can help. Washing machines are constantly damp, dark and enclosed, perfect conditions for not so nice whiffs to develop. Mould/mildew can build up over time where there have been residues (residues from detergents and/or fabric conditioner provide food and moist conditions - ideal for bacteria to live on!).

First, remove the soap drawer regularly by sliding it out of the machine and cleaning it vigourously. You will probably notice some discolouration if it hasn’t been cleaned for a while. Scrub off the remaining soap and clean off the mold.

Check the seal where the door meets the washing machine. Clean it by using a toothbrush dipped in dettol or similar cleaning fluid and remove as much as you can.

Then, do an “empty wash” by putting a couple of capfuls of Dettol in the drum and doing a short cycle without any clothes in there. This will clean the inside of the drum and remove any yuckiness. You should do this “maintenance wash” once a month

If you happen to be an expert in plumbing, try to find a water filter and attach that to the back of the machine where the water feeds in. You’ll also want to check if the machine is correctly installed, if not, dirty water from your drain can come back into the drum.

DETERGENT

There are two types of detergent: non-biological, which contains bleach to clean and disinfect, and biological detergents, which rely on enzymes (naturally occurring proteins harvested from micro-organisms) to digest and rinse away proteins and compounds that make up dirt. Manufacturers say enzymes are effective at lower temperatures and less harsh on fabrics - but some people think they can cause irritation to skin. For this region, non biological detergent is probably better

Regarding powder vs liquid, powder ALL THE TIME. Liquid detergent doesn’t contain bleaching agents, it is these bleaching agents that help keep the washing machine free from bacteria and black mould. its also easy to overdose which can lead to a mass of congealed goo over time, causing in extreme cases corrosion of the drum

Use ARIEL washing powder as it contains components that deal with limescale and other nasties, much better than all the rest

FABRIC CONDITIONER

Fabric softeners are among the most toxic product designed for daily household use. Some ingredients are listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Hazardous Waste list. The list of chemicals in fabric softeners also includes some rather alarming potential side effects: some substances are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) and some can cause disorders of the central nervous system. Other ingredients can cause headaches, respiratory problems and skin irritation.

Fabric conditioner will also make your towels less abosrbent over time, as the chemicals form a hydrophobic layer.

For a natural effect, you can simply add a couple of capfuls of White Vinegar in the fabric conditioner part of the drawer, or even baking soda. Your clothes will NOT smell like a chip shop promise!

Fabric conditioners work by coating the fabric with a layer of chemicals which act as a lubricant and are also electrically conductive (reducing static build up like what you get in a dryer)

Vinegar works as a softener because the hydrogen ions bind to the anionic surfaces of the fabric. YAY FOR SCIENCE!

TEMPERATURE

Many of us want to be “eco friendly” and wash at low temps such as 40 degrees, but if you want to kill bacteria, fungus and dust mites, you need at least 60 degrees.

Wash underwear, towels and bedsheets together at high temperatures to kill any bacteria. Wash everything else separately

So to recap

Regularly clean all the cracks and crevices including the soap drawer and do a maintenance wash with a couple of capfuls of Dettol.
Use Ariel powder detergent which contains bleaching agents
Wash the clothes at a temperature of at least 60 degrees
Keep underwear, towels and bedsheets together.

How to do business with Lebanese (if you are a woman)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 22:10:19 +0400

You will need:

1 x large bag (to carry all the names they will drop)

1 x gas mask (to be able to breathe through the clouds of cigar smoke)

1 x large pair of sunglasses (to hide your incredulity at some of the claims)

Unlimited - business cards which state not just your contact details but also the region you come from in Lebanon, your marital status and what your father does

In all seriousness, this last point is the one that is my greatest petpeeves.

I’ve been back in the Middle East as a working adult for nearly 7 years now and not once have I had a business interaction, meeting or interview which hasn’t included the questions: which part of Lebanon are you from, are you married and why have you had so many jobs.

In fact if I had a dollar for everytime someone asked me those questions, I probably wouldn’t need to work ever again.

The large majority of the working population here are male, and in some industries; mostly male and Lebanese, and it is impossible for this type of person to continue any discussion without finding these things out from the woman sitting in front of him.

When I first joined a large advertising company one of the senior managers ran into the room and hit me with a battery of these questions and in Arabic (which I don’t speak). As if it somehow would affect the quality of work done.

I was talking to the CEO of a telecom company in Lebanon once, having been introduced via an employee who was working on some innovative stuff that I wanted to spread the word about. I enthusiastically started with my wish to see the project grow when he cut me off and asked me, what my family name was and which exact town I was from.

I had another experience this weekend. Halfway through a meeting with a group of Lebanese businessmen who wanted my advice, I was asked, where in Lebanon was I from and then a lot of umm-ing and ahhh-ing that provided a good cover whilst they made up their minds if I’m an enemy or a good guy

I could go on. No really I could - there’s 7 years worth of stories….

And don’t get me started on the marriage issue. As women we get the short end of the stick whatever the answer is. If you reach that magical “old” age of 30 and you’re not yet married, from an HR perspective you could be walking down the aisle at any moment so why should a company invest in you or pay you the same salary that a male counterpart would get? Bad ROI right?

If you are married, clearly you’re going to be off limits in the office. I’d like to believe I have been hired in the past because of my qualifications not my looks - anyone that knows me will know that I’m hardly a power dresser - but who can tell in this region.

I’ve had some women tell me they deliberately go to interviews or meetings with a ring on their finger and a prepared story about their (imaginary) husband and 2 kids just to avoid having to get into a “lets continue this discussion after work” scenario.

Thousands of dollars my parents spent on education on me. Hundreds of books I’ve read, making sure to eliminate external causes of bias when communicating. And for what? So that I’m put in a position where the most important fact about me is which area I come from in a country that’s not worth sneezing at because its so small?

Let’s save time and avoid the usual descriptive discussion on why this is the case, and focus on HOW we can do something about it. I am guilty of not interrupting in these situations and politely saying, “sorry but that’s not really not relevant to this conversation”. I just go through it every time because i’m used to it.

But I shouldn’t. And neither should you. I didn’t even grow up in Lebanon so it would be highly unfair to base judgement on me based on where I “come from” . In my case, its pretty confusing. I was born in Byblos, (north coastal town) but apparently I come from the Chouf area (further south and inland). Although i’m supposedly Christian, that particular area is majority Druze. And why are people being judged based on geographic and religious parameters?

The important information for anyone sitting across from the table is really where my family sits in the hierarchical system. For example, “are you related to Minister Tohme?”

By focusing on these points, you immediately invalidate all my achievements and my capabilities, and you have no right to do that.

So, can we all please make a concerted effort to concentrate on promoting our skills and start training those people to stop asking these questions, by simply not answering them?

How to lose weight whilst sitting at a desk all day

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:42:00 +0400

Last year I discovered I had extremely high prolactin levels (prolactin is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland) - which can be caused for a number of reasons. Pregnancy and breastfeeding being the main ones. Since neither of those applied to me I searched a bit more and discovered cortisol (produced when under stress) can also increase levels of prolactin.

Cortisol levels increase when you skip meals or wait too long before your next meal. Sounds like a familiar scenario? You’re always in a rush, skip breakfast, get to the office, get overloaded, eat a sandwich in a hurry at 3, get engrossed in back to back meetings and surfing the internet and end up ordering takeout so you don’t die when you get home?

For many women, this is a typical day at work. Whilst the optimal solution is to eat 3 (or maybe 5 smaller) meals a day especially breakfast, the time it takes to prepare meals is often the issue.

How have i solved this problem?

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A QUALIFIED DIETICIAN, DOCTOR OR NUTRITIONIST, THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME. DO NOT TAKE ANY SUPPLEMENTS WITHOUT CONSULTING A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL

When i wake up, i take some amino acids, on an empty stomach - L Carnitine, L Lysine and L Tyrosine

L Carnitine is formed by the body naturally and helps convert fat into energy. It’s not a diet pill. It just helps your body do what it is supposed to do.

L Lysine is another essential amino acid but the body cannot manufacture it on its own. It helps the body absorb calcium (great for bone strength) and to form collagen. L Lysine also helps to reduce the effects of viruses (such as colds, and cold sores)

L Tyrosine is another amino acid formed by the body. Hormones produced by the big three glands - adrenal, thyroid and pituitary are made using L Tyrosine. This amino acid is used to synthesize neurotransmitters, and can increase focus and energy (although not clinically confirmed)

The quickest thing to have in the morning before you rush to the office is a drink. I have a Hemp shake with added Acai and Lucuma powder and a dollop of manuka honey. I make it with almond or rice milk, not soy because soy can affect your thyroid. It does come out a bizarre shade of purple, but its tasty.

You don’t even have to use a blender, i just put it all in a glass and stir.

Between 10 - 12, fruits like apples and bananas. These are the least messy and easiest to eat

Lunch is usually a salad. All vegetables, avoids that afternoon slump that you get after a protein and carb loaded meal. Even a pasta salad can have you face down on the keyboard if you’re not careful!

About 3 or 4pm I have another shake, this time using Psyllium. Psyllium husk powder is a fantastic natural dietary fiber, which is great for intestinal health (and regular bowel movements). I use a brand which combines Psyllium, Aloe Vera and Inulin. Inulin is a prebiotic, which adds to the beneficial effect.

You can take this 3 times a day but because psyllium absorbs so much liquid, you need to take it with plenty of liquid, which should keep you feeling full.

Before dinner, nuts, yoghurt and any other fruit and veg. I usually crave peanut butter and jam sandwiches around this time.

In the evening to keep me relaxed and to get my body ready to wind down for sleep, I eat foods high in tryptophan (another amino acid, used to make serotonin, which in turn makes melatonin - the hormone responsible for sleep cycles)

The optimum way to do this is to have turkey, chicken or fish alongside around a 30 - 40g serving of carbs (rice or potatoes)

Finally i take a capsule of 5-HTP (another amino acid which helps the body to synthesize serotonin) and another couple of capsules of Valerian Root to ensure i’m not awake all night thinking about what to do the next day.

So to recap:

07.30am L Tyrosine, L Carnitine, L Lysine

08.00am Hemp shake with Acai and Lucuma and honey

10.00am Apples and bananas

12.00pm Big fat vegetable salad

15.00pm Psyllium shake, followed by lots of water

17.30pm Nuts, fruits, yoghurt (or a PB and J sandwich!)

19.00pm Turkey and potatoes (or chicken and rice)

21.00pm 5HTP and Valerian Root capsules

Converged Content - future media strategies

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 22:14:07 +0400

The convergence of content, device and potentially advertisers has come closer in the GCC.

Last May I did a presentation at the IAA workshop in Dubai on Creative Communication Strategies, where the latest news was Sony mobile devices being preloaded with the d1g.com application. Whilst visiting the d1g site at that time, Sky News Arabia had done takeover advertising on the homepage, as part of its launch campaign.

In Dec 2012, Sky News Arabia announced that it had partnered with online radio aggregator TuneIn enabling viewers to access live audio of the channel’s broadcast while online or on the go.

“This service gives our viewers the ability to get breaking news around the clock while using up less bandwidth from their mobile data packages than with traditional live streaming. The addition of TuneIn complements our mobile apps and our live stream service on the website and for iOS and Android devices and ensures that our audience is able to have access to news in the format most convenient to them,” Sky News Arabia said in a statement.

Across the Atlantic, TuneIn is also integrated with Chevy Spark and Sonic cars. Would it be unfeasible to consider sometime in the future that the same could happen in regional markets, and that Chevy drivers will have access to Sky News Arabia audio streams?

Based on the advertising on the d1g.com properties, Sky News could have pinpointed the Sony mobile users that were exposed to the campaign, given that the d1G app was preloaded onto the phone. Based on this data, it might have furthered its multi screen approach leading to this partnership with TuneIn, adding another content stream to its offering.

The potential to extend this content stream into another environment (car radio) demonstrates the strength of Sky News Arabia content strategy. Content that can be manipulated into various forms and that can be repurposed through partnerships will efficiently attract new users, driving down marketing costs.

We may fall into the trap of limiting our content marketing strategies to social media (social networks, blogs, youtube), newsletters and direct marketing, however as Sky has demonstrated, thinking carefully about the user’s environment can lead to novel target groups which may yield rich behavioural data.

Eurostar a retailer started in Saudi Arabia but now headquartered in Dubai has sold over 100,00 Arabic enabled tablets in the last 18 months. They have now launched a tablet for women called E-pad Femme with apps relating to shopping, health care and yoga, targeting the low to mid budget customer.

At Gitex 2012, they were announced the No. 2 brand after Apple in terms of units sold.

Could one then envisage more apps such as Zaytouneh, Shahiya, Supermama, Souqalmal and Nawa3em all pre loaded onto this tablet targeted to women? How about payment for the app download (in terms of bandwidth used) and data usage? Advertisers could subsidize this by working with the telco’s to generate targeted ads (taking into account privacy laws).

Potentially a new type of media network could emerge in the future where apps can be bundled together for advertising across any type of screen, including mobile, TV, outdoor spaces (through AR) and products themselves. Taking the user’s environment into account at the design and planning stage will extend the advertisers reach and perhaps offer many more points of sale.

In Rep We Trust

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:50:59 +0400

“People like to associate themselves with a product, and if the standards of a company fall below that then people are less likely to associate themselves with that product or company” says a UK consumer polled in a study done by Weber Shandwick.

A Havas Media Labs study in the US found that only 20% of the brands consumers interact with have a positive impact on their lives. And they feel that 70% of brands could disappear entirely without them noticing.

What’s the trick to making a brand meaningful? Focus on outcomes, not outputs. The criteria, says Umair Haque, are simple: “Did this brand make you fitter, wiser, smarter, closer? Did it improve your personal outcomes? Did it improve your community outcomes? Did it pollute the environment? We’re trying to get beyond “did this company make a slightly better product” to the more resonant, meaningful question: Did this brand actually impact your life in a tangible, lasting, and positive way?”

Edelman’s Trust Barometer Survey showed that future trust in companies will be built when firms engage in societally focused practices.

Interbrand said:

“CSR traditionally implied a separate body nominally within, but functioning apart from, the core organization, such as a foundation, that took action in the social arena and may have borne little discernible relation to the company’s larger sense of itself and its reasons for being in business.

CSR too often smacked of doing the right thing out of duty, reducing risk of noncompliance, sundered from the bottom line, separate from the profit motive, unrelated to an organization’s fundamental raison d’etre. If doing good for the sake of a PR bump or to keep the regulator at bay was the hallmark of CSR in recent times, then the new opportunity for companies may be summed up in a simple equation: Doing good by doing what you do best yields greater value.

Great corporate citizens leverage their expertise in the marketplace to solve the world’s challenges while gaining credibility and driving consumers to choose them over the competition“

Augie Ray (Director of Social Media at Prudential) says:

“Are you creating content that truly helps customers and builds trust, or are you creating content to drive traffic but that harms trust? Are you starting your 2013 content calendar by looking at your brand’s product release and ad campaign schedule, or are you starting it with an assessment of what will be on customers’ minds throughout the year?

Are you trying to create relationships and advocates, or are you trying to create sales and customers? In summary, are you being the customer-focused Santa or are you the brand-focused Advertising Department?”

For those in Social Media, PR, Community and CSR positions - the following reports should be of use:

Havas Media Labs Meaningful Brand Survey

Forbes Top 100 Brand Study

Interbrand’s Corporate Citizenship

Weber Shandwick Reputation Study

Edelman Trust Barometer Survey

Smoking in Saudi

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 16:00:14 +0400

The population of Saudi is over 28 million people, 32% of this figure is made up of expats. Saudi Nationals comprise 68%.

Just over 1/5th of the population are smokers (6 million); women make up 10% of that figure (600,000 people) and 13% are teenagers (800,000 people)

Okaz paper reports that many Saudi women are rejecting potential husbands because they smoke and many are filing for divorce as the husband cannnot stop smoking (this law was passed last year)

Out of Home Creative Media Strategies

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 23:58:00 +0400

You know it, I know it, we all know it. “Creativity” is in the Levant and North Africa, but the sales and monetization is in the GCC.

One need only look at some recent awards to see the evidence:

But is this really a problem? The urban landscape is markedly different between say Dubai and Beirut. With one long highway (Sheikh Zayed Road) the “new Dubai” where most of the target customers reside is very linear. The normal daily routine of a potential customer is much different to a the person that has to deal with the dense, twisty and congested roads of Beirut with a non uniform skyline.

One could argue that in territories where the user experience is complex, creativity is a must for various reasons, awareness of brand, psychology and emotional well being of user, market inconsistencies etc.

In areas where the user experience has less friction, creativity may need to give way to functionality. For example the ability to quickly search and find products and services, using geolocation and other interactive techniques.

That’s not to say there isn’t creativity in the latter, but that we should approach the problem from a different angle. One that really takes into account the user journey. This is why its not going to be sufficient anymore for large accounts to be handled from Dubai, with the media strategy being “tweaked” by regional offices. Media should play an increasingly important role in shaping that journey, taking into account the way the user interacts with his environment, and not, where the most user eyeballs will be.

As I am in Lebanon for the holidays, it struck me that there is an interesting opportunity to innovate here and I scribbled these notes down on my iphone whilst sitting in traffic:

As media planners, you are responsible for what people see. Not creatives. Creatives are concerned with how they feel (so they can deliver the best creative response). You are urban planners - you sculpt the visual field for the user.

This all sounds very poetic but it’s true. Think about when you drive down the main highway from Antelias to Beirut. You see thousands of outdoor billboards and posters and it’s a complete eyesore. There’s nothing that pleases the eye and it looks a mess. Consequently by the time you finish the journey your mind is in a complete mess and you can’t think straight let alone remember all the brands you saw. As media owners you need to think about what the customer is seeing at all times of the day and night. Is it all over the place or is it nice clean frames?

Even in this chaos of media- there is an innovative way to think about how to benefit from it. Most of the time you will be stuck in traffic , which gives you a greater time for the commercial message to sink in, you will stare at it longer. But it becomes mindless staring.

Let’s say there’s a billboard 8 meters high which says “sitting in traffic? - go to Dior.com to see the latest season”

So you have a passenger (not a driver) using their mobile, landing on Dior and browsing the latest dresses. She gets two benefits, she’s not bored anymore and she can fulfil a need (shopping, keeping up with latest fashion).

Even if she doesn’t purchase anything there and then there’s a high possibility she will come back to the site later because of the fact she can bookmark or make another record of it through her device.

Previously if you saw an ad you couldn’t do anything about it you were nowhere near a shop and by the time you got there 10 million other ads would have got in your way.

Now the likelihood of converting that passenger into a customer increases hugely.

How likely is this to happen? Well, with Touch ( a telco in Lebanon) planning to launch its TouchCloud next year - scalable web services that allow developers to build and distribute apps, ALONG with operator billing - this could well become a reality.

Arabnet reports that “Touch could also apply a zero cost data policy for browsing and downloading applications from its store” which suggests a type of Sponsored Connectivity model, where a brand like Dior could acquire users by making it free for Touch customers to find and download their app.

Let’s not forget that revenues from telecoms make up 40% of Lebanon’s national income, so the cheaper and easier it is for users to find content the more they will do it.

Finally, mobiles don’t suffer from the electricity rationing, giving brands as close as dammit, an “always on” opportunity.

So what am I really trying to say here?

1) Media planning should help not hinder or aggravate the user, think about context

2) OOH can work very well with an accompanying mobile strategy if conditions are right

3) Don’t forget your telco. Media execs should be getting a telco representative in every client meeting. Some early mover advantages to be gained

4) UX and UI can apply to offline too! For a little break from the norm, media houses could think about bringing in an Architect, a landscape engineer and some traditional digital UX professionals to give them some new ideas about form and function.

Finally, a blast from the past, but something I think is still relevant, something I wrote in March 2011 on similar ideas for Qatar

*please note I wrongly wrote that the Olympics will take place in 2022, it should be the FIFA World Cup

Urban Architecture And Branding In Qatar The Next 10 Years from Alexandra Tohme

Saudi Women – a new IT hub?

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 23:53:00 +0400

(an edited version of this post was written for Nabbesh.com)

ALWANE’s study earlier this year in conjunction with Harvey Nichols, KPMG and Glowork disovered what Saudi women want from work opportunities in the retail industry and what’s really holding them back.

Results demonstrated that 42% accept the idea of women working in the retail sector, while 58% dismissed the idea completely.

The following graph shows their preferred choice of work environment

“31% of female respondents highlighted lack of awareness of what the retail sector actually is as a main concern in working in the retail sector. Respondents noted that there are not any success stories in the region, let alone the country, to understand the type of career path they would be undertaking. Respondents added that the perception of the retail industry must change” says the report

Surprisingly transportation is not what is holding them back:

What would solve the problem?

The majority (35%) said an awareness campaign to portray success stories as well as benefits of working in the retail sector would help

Back in 2005, the Saudi Labour Ministry decreed that all employees working in shops selling womens underwear and clothing should be Saudi women. At that time, in a survey of women, 85 percent of those questioned liked the idea of working in a women’s only shop or a women’s only department. 60 percent, however, stated that they would consider such a job as a start and wanted to know whether working as saleswomen would include promotional opportunities such as are open to men.

That initiative didn’t take off, with many shop owners labeling “this unheard of idea as impractical for both technical and cultural reasons.” This prompted another activist campaign in 2009 to revive the ruling, followed by the same decree in 2011 which has been successful.

However if we look at the findings from the ALWANE report this year, only 14% want to work in lingerie shops. Further, in 2005 AND today, women specified that they want a clear development and career path. Thus, the main problems have not been addressed

Finally – there is a clear lack of creative and media that is reserved to help meet these employment needs, and; inspire hope in potential recruits. Since mass media is the single biggest influence on perceptions, normalizing concepts and making them more acceptable, advertising campaigns will be very powerful. Particularly because the target audience themselves have requested it.

Global brands are best placed to do this as their international offices are well used to career development programs, having trained people to go all over the world and sell their goods.

Al Naghi has taken its 12 year old distribution agreement with L’Oreal a step further and signed a joint venture which should create jobs for Saudi women in the cosmetics industry.

But more still needs to be done

A Booz study earlier in 2012 highlighted that many women graduated in humanities and that they should not be confined to the traditional route of teaching.

“Graduates of history, geography, and Arabic department can work in the media, tourism, the municipalities and other government sectors that have started opening departments for women.”

In the UK and US, several private institutions in various industries have such well developed graduate training programs, that geography graduates can work in banking.

Over 113,000 women in Saudi are interested in the hospitality sector said a report in November. The sector is distinguished by its high turnover and weekly working hours estimated at 66 hours which is not very attractive to Saudis. The current rate of female employment in this sector stands at 0.3% of the total number of women working in the private sector.

A hotelier said that “the non-existence of respective fields of specializations in the government and private schools contributed to lack of interest in working in the hospitality industry”

Note again the reference to the importance of education and awareness building in order to catalyse employment

During the ALWANE summit in Jordan this month, the KSA chapter stated that many Saudi women hold bachelor degrees in Information Technology and Saudi Arabia is one of the highest smart application buying markets among Arab countries. Therefore, Saudi women can participate in this market, and create a local hub for IT development.

Just after Christmas, The Ministry of Trade and Industry approved a new office for the registering of general services for women called “Ataqeeb”

Arab news quotes a local businesswoman:

“Madani said: “We have many Saudi businesswomen who have advanced degrees and specializations in fields such as engineering, construction, legal, and other business services. They do not lack the necessary confidence or capability to engage in these professions.”

She said if those professions are granted a license to employ women it will have a huge impact for Saudi women and will encourage these businesswomen to invest their knowledge and expertise at home. Many highly educated women leave for neighboring countries to practice in their field of expertise.

As well as opening up these areas to women, the decision will contribute to the accommodation of a large number of Saudi girl graduates especially those who have overseas education. It will allow them to put their knowledge and expertise to practical use at enterprises run solely by businesswomen.”

Dishearteningly, during the same week, a group of 200 people calling themselves “Mohtasebon” (volunteers to promote virtue) apparently “raged” for an hour outside the Ministry of Labour telling Minister Adel Fakeih that the decision to allow women to work was corrupt and debauched.

What conclusions can we draw?

Cosmetics and Fashion are attractive areas for women to work.

Learning about job sectors needs to start in school, with mass media targeting graduates and young adults promoting career choices. Creative agencies must engage

Career Development is already a concept that women are aware of and want. Content marketing by brands should identify this at multiple touchpoints

Transportation is not an issue however, given the strength of the IT graduates, online retail as a source of employment makes a lot of sense. Moreover, ecommerce is particularly suited to the two preferred work environments, cosmetics and fashion. This concept might be more acceptable for families and those who oppose women working in retail stores as well.

Given the above the following strategy should be considered

Entice foreign brands who want to open the Saudi market through online means to partner with Saudi women,
Incentivize foreign brands who already have retail operations to move online, easily, thus providing employment for Saudi women
Trains women to run their own online retail stores, and provide management fast track training after university
Very attractive business regulations for both the above, for example allowing flexibility in equity (Foreign brand can have up to 100% ownership if Saudi partner accepts salary and career development only), centralised services like tech, admin, legal and HR, quality standards etc