Have a look at the picture above. What do you notice? Obviously, they’re not real – these images are generated by artificial intelligence (AI). What else do you see? Apologies to anyone who isn’t the CEO. The more discerning among you may see that there’s no women in the images above (the possible exception may be the intern).
This is one of many issues we are going to face with AI. To put it in the simplest possible terms, AI tools are created by people. They also use inputs and data from other people. And every person out there has biases, regardless of whether they are conscious or unconscious. This issue is being amplified by those who are developing and overseeing AI; if your team aren’t diverse and inclusive enough, then you are going to find that AI replicates the views of its creators (for a simple write-up on the subject, have a look at this piece on the International Women’s Day website).
The same can be said for countries, cultures and religions. Rather than challenging them, AI tools can reflect open biases. At a recent conference in Riyadh one speaker suggested that Saudi Arabia should invest in AI, to effective counter false narratives (the story is here, though the headline is a little off). For any non-technical user of such tools, it’s very hard to discern how an AI tool works – you effectively have to look at the algorithm being used and the sources that the tool is scraping from. Conversely, countries can look to manipulate such tools to design more favorable narratives. Everything is a possibility when it comes to technology.
The other major issue I see, apart from the issue of languages (AI tools are predominantly English-language based) is the lack of information. Let me explain further. In a part of the world such as where I am, it can be a real struggle to discern a full understanding. There’ll be lots of press releases being pushed out, but the PR – surprise, surprise – doesn’t always reflect the reality.
I’ll give you a simple example. If I want to install a charger for an electric car in Abu Dhabi, there’s no way I’d know from looking online at company websites or news portals that I’d have to pay several thousand dollars for permission to do so. I’d have to make calls, follow up on emails, and maybe even visit an office. I can ask a tool such as ChatGPT to write an article on the subject, but it’d never be able to pull this information as it isn’t available online.
AI tools are the talk of the town (whatever happened to the Metaverse, I hear you ask). And these tools can be incredibly useful to generate content. However, we must always be mindful that these tools are only a first draft that we must review for bias and incorrect data. Let’s ensure that we don’t overhype a technology that still has a long way to go before it becomes mature.
On that note, I’d love to hear from you on your experiences with using AI tools, be it for designing images or written content. What concerns do you have? Share them in the comments below.
You may know the PESO model, but do you use the O element?
Whoever is in charge of bringing more media investments to Dubai, may luck be on their side. It’s drier out there than a summer spent in the Sahara. The media is suffering. I’ve had some brilliant journalists approach me recently asking about a move to public relations (and even cynical old me has been taken aback by these asks), as they’re under so much pressure from others, be it sales or management, that they feel they can’t do their jobs. And then there’s the difficulty in getting a good story published; more and more, if you’re not advertising, you’re not getting coverage (unless you’re the government).
I truly get this; media outlets need to make money and I have countless conversations with marketing teams as to why this matters and why they should put money into local publications (often the response is, we’re paying the PR agency and so we should get coverage – this drives me nuts and reflects one of the many misunderstandings of how PR and media works).
Let’s be straight. The number of media outlets reporting straight news is dropping. And those working in communications for brands need to have a Plan B. So, what’s your Plan B? How are you getting out your message?
We all know about social media, and there’s always the option to boost messaging using advertising (especially on the social media sites). But I’m still surprised by how few organizations here, especially local brands, are using their owned media to get out their messaging.
I’m not going to go into too much detail, but there’s so many audio choices – think podcasts and audio chat rooms like Clubhouse and TwitterSpaces – and there’s the “traditional” option of a blog page. Blogs like this one can be done for next to no costs and technical expertise, and they can be used to build up a long-term audience through email signups and social media. If you want to, you can start off by posting articles to LinkedIn (though I’d always recommend your own site for SEO purposes). And there’s also vlogs, video blogs, which is how many “social media influencers” started out.
And then there’s your own influencers, namely your employees. I’ve often found them to be brilliant at pushing out your company’s news on their own social media feeds. There are tools to push out content to them, such as LinkedIn Pulse or Sprinklr. But you don’t need an app – you could even push to them content via email and incentivize their posting.
Technology is making it much, much easier for organizations to create their own channels to push out content. Yes, the media matters a great deal. But smart communicators need to think about what they can do to create new channels for pushing out good messaging and content. What I’ve listed above is just a sampling of what you can do with the owned media element of the PESO model. And I can’t wait to see what you come up with. As always, please do share ideas. The more we share, the better we all get.
This week, I’m doing something a little different. I had the pleasure of being joined by the Middle East’s leading legal light (try saying that ten times) on all things media related. Fiona Robertson speaks about influencers, media laws, what some hotel brands were doing during 2020, and why communicators should be vetting what goes online. Have a listen, and follow Fiona on her Linkedin page.
Smooth sound, and a lovely on-ear fit – My ears thanked me for trying Sennheiser’s CX400 BT.
I’m doing something a little different for this post. Given the Teams-Time I’ve put in this year, I thought I’d do something for my ears. And when I was offered a chance to review Sennheiser’s new wireless earphones, I jumped at it.
Let’s start with the basics. Sennheiser makes good audio equipment. I own a host of products from the brand, including my first wireless headphones, the MM400, as well as a set of gamer headphones, the GSP670 (my ears have never felt better in that padding). I had high expectations for the CX 400BT, and the company didn’t disappoint.
There’s a host of technology in a very small design (each earbud weights in at six grams). The earbuds are charged through a charging case, which is powered via a USB-C wire. The CX 400BT’s 7mm dynamic drivers deliver a frequency range of 5Hz to 21kHz, and the microphone frequency response is from 100Hz to 10kHz.
The earbuds connect via Bluetooth. While there’s no active noise cancellation, the design does a good job of blocking out ambient noise. I’ve read that you can get up to seven hours of usage on a single charge, but I’ve never had the earbuds run empty. And if you have an iPhone or an Android phone, you can download the Sennheiser Smart Control application. This app lets you control, update and personalize the earbuds.
Design-wise, the earbuds are square-ish, and I’d screw them into place. They do look different, especially compared to stem/droplet designs (my daughter thinks they look like the girl robot from WALL-E). The color choices are simple – it’s either white or black. The earbuds are very comfortable, especially when worn for a long time, thanks to the silicon tips. However, I have had them drop out once or twice when I’ve made a sudden, sharp movement; given that, they’re maybe not the best for the gym.
The earbuds are controlled by touch-sensitive panels. The design is very, very simple and easy to pick up. Tap once on the left earpiece for playback, and one tap on the right answers a call or activates your voice assistant. Two quick taps on the left moves you back a track, and two taps on the right skips forward or ends the call. A long press and hold on either earbud adjusts the volume up or down. The controls are brilliant – they’re always responsive. If you don’t like the setup, you can change the controls via the mobile phone app.
Now, let’s talk about the most important issue, namely sound quality. The audio put out by the earphones is crisp and rich. There’s no distortion, and the bass levels are perfect for me. You’ll have no problem using these earphones for webinars, video conferencing, or your run-of-the-mill phone calls (remember those?). The microphone picked up everything I was saying clearly, and I didn’t have any drop-off in the connection when using the earbuds.
To sum this all up, my ears are much happier with the Sennheiser CX 400BT; my sound has been upgraded. If you’re looking to treat yourself to a better audio experience that’s both comfortable and customizable, then look no further than the Sennheiser CX 400BT.
Not everyone can be a Steven Spielberg, but we all have the tools to make much better video content
I’ve been playing around with video recently, partly because I’ve wanted to and partly due to necessity (we all live and die by budgets). I wanted to share with you a couple of simple ideas that you can use in your day to day work to produce much better video. And action!
The Right Lenses
Most of us have brilliant cameras in our pockets. Your smartphones are probably more powerful than five year-old DSLR. But one area which can be improved on your smartphone is the lens itself. If you don’t have over US$1,300 bucks to shell out on the latest iPhone of Galaxy, why not buy a couple of lenses to attach to your camera.
I did that, and shelled out money on lenses from a US firm called moment. Have a look below.
These lenses are simple to mount (you also need to get a case from Moment), and you can get wide, telephoto, and also anamorphic (used for filming) lenses that add so much to your photography and videography. The lenses aren’t that expensive (you can even buy used lenses for about 70 to 90 dollars), but they really make visuals pop, especially the wide and anamorphic lenses. Moment also has a very useful camera app that gives you much more control over your picture-taking (you can set ISO, shutter speed and other wonderful stuff via the app). Check out Moment’s product range here.
Stop the Shake!
The one thing that cameras aren’t great at doing is dealing with shaking hands. But help is available, thanks to the increasing number of gimbals on the marketplace. I bought a DJI Mobile 3, a really handy device that allows me to keep a steady hand whilst filming. Gimbals can do all sorts of things these days, including shooting options such as object tracking and hyperlapse. They’re also being bundled with mobile apps that allow you to quickly edit and share the content. If you’re looking to get rid of the shake, a gimbal is the way to go. This costs about US$100 to US$130 dollars with a kit that includes a stand (which is very, very handy).
Shooting Top Down
The other big change in videography is drone filming. Shooting from the air used to cost a small fortune. Now, that’s been turned on its head, and you can buy a drone with a HD camera for about US$500 dollars. If you want to splurge, you can even now buy a drone with a Hasselblad lens (Hasselblad to cameras is like Ferraris to cars). I splurged for a second DJI project, the Mavic 2 Pro. The latest drones allow you to do a whole host of things that’ll transform your video capabilities (nothing beats hyperlapse or active track which makes the drone automatically follow a moving object).
The Editing Piece
Ok, you’ve got the content but is it going to be the final product? I doubt it! You’re going to need an editing tool. And, ideally, that tool will be on your phone. One of the best and simplest out there is Adobe Premiere Rush, an app that sits on your phone and lets you edit your content (both video and audio).
Premiere Rush offers lots and lots of benefits, including reframing your video depending on the platform and device you’re shooting for (is it vertical, 9:16, or horizontal, 16:9), graphics templates, and also a sync option so you can start editing on your mobile and continue editing on your computer.
If you’re looking for a simple video editor to start with which is initially free, then try out Adobe Premiere Rush. You can thank me later.
And Subtitles!
Last but not least, please do subtitle your videos. It’s a simple final step that adds a lot of value to your work (how many times have you watched a video and not been able to turn on the sound?). One tool I use is Veed, which is an online subtitling service that uses algorithms to automatically subtitle. You’ll still need to edit those subtitles for mistakes, but Veed makes subtitling pretty simple. And at a cost of US$20 a month, it’s affordable.
Wendy’s consistently uses technology to engage followers (and a wider audience), often at little to no cost, proving that creativity is possible even on a budget
Are you still stuck sending out press releases on that new executive hire? Or prepping for a new product launch with a stock photo and a couple of lines of text? Communications can often feel that it’s a function which is devoid of creativity. With this post, I wanted to inspire you to think that creativity is possible, even on the tightest of budgets. All you need is insights into your audience, imagination, and the bravery to try something new!
Creativity and Technology
I want to share a couple of technology-related ideas and concepts from big brands. One is as cheap as you can imagine (thank you Wendy’s), and another is more expensive, but also shows how new tech can bring life to a very old product.
First up is Wendy’s Fortnite. Watch the video below to see how a simple creative idea can result in a major impact.
The second concept I wanted to share is from Lego. Lego is a brand which is 87 years old. The product is known by kids and adults worldwide. And yet the brand is trying a host of new technologies to change hold children (and adults) play with the products.
One new concept they’ve launched is Hidden Side. This theme is all about ghosts! What have the good people at Lego done? They’re using augmented reality through an app on our phones to transform how we both look at our lego sets, and play with them. Creating a gaming app certainly isn’t a cheap option, but it does make me think about how new tech can give any brand and its engagement a new lease of life. Have a look at the below video to get an idea of how these new Lego sets change the concept of gameplay.
Creativity for PR Stunts
I do love a good PR stunt. They’re a simple way to garner lots of headlines, and also make a wider point about the brand/product and why it is so special. And PR stunts can be both creative and low-cost. Here’s one from Huawei, which has become a master of both PR stunts and trolling its rivals on their areas of relative weakness. Watch what they did to Apple recently. As an iPhone owner, I wish I was in that line.
Creativity in Film-Making
If you have the budget, and are looking to win over hearts and minds in the long-term or tackle a big issue, then film-making is the way to go. I’m talking here YouTube series, television or streaming services here. Two recent examples reminded me how powerful film-making can be. The first was for the new Dora movie. Whilst I’m not a Dora fan (my daughter is), the sight of a group of four teenage girls dancing to the music and following all the twists and turns brought to life how a well-crafted idea can create millions of fans and also open their minds to new concepts (I don’t think anything/anyone has done as much to promote Spanish to the English-speaking world as Dora).
The second piece of content I saw which brought home to me how powerful film-making can be to tackle big issues was Sacred Games, a fictional story about Mumbai’s gangsters and a plot to transform India. There’s a lynching scene which addresses the issue of religion and hatred in India. The scene is brilliantly shot, and has driven debate on race relations in India today in a way that no brand could do. Have a look at the scene below (it is graphic).
I hope these creative ideas have inspired you as to what you can do to liven up your approach to comms and public relations. Whether you have no budget, or an ATM in your office, there’s lots you can do to get people excited and engaged. So, what are you waiting for?
Not all digital manipulation is as easy to spot as this fake image from Benetton. The ability to fake high quality content is widespread, and you’ve got to be prepared.
You may not know it yet, but you’ve probably come across content that’s been faked today. It has never been easier to fake content, both visual and multimedia (have a read of this article from The Guardian to learn all you need about deepfakes, or take a look at https://www.thispersondoesnotexist.com/ to see how realistic fake imagery is today, thanks to Artificial Intelligence). Combine the tech with the desire to fool the public, as seen during the 2016 elections in the United States, or in the 2019 European elections, and we should be worried.
So, what can we do to protect our organizations from digital manipulation? Here’s a simple playbook as to what you can do to both prepare and fight back against the fakery.
Give Your Brand a Social Voice
It may seem obvious, but it needs to be said. Communicators need to ensure their organizations are online, they’re on social platforms, and that they’re not just active, but actively engaging with the public. Build up an audience of followers who know your brand, what your brand stands for, and who believe in your brand. When there’s a crisis, it’s these people who will support your brand and defend it against any claim.
Look to Owned Media
Too many organizations have bypassed owned media for social sites, where we lose control. We’ve got to roll this back, and create a portfolio of owned assets online, be they websites, blogs or podcasts, which we control and where the conversation is easier to curate. In other words, switch our focus away from just the big social media sites and to owned mediums where we have the ability to build a narrative that isn’t drowned out by fake accounts, trolls, bots or others who want to drown out our voice.
Take the Crisis Offline
The third element to fighting the fakes is taking the issue offline. If there’s a potential crisis, we have to develop ways to validate what’s going on. That means responding as quickly as possible to an issue online, and getting someone to physically respond, to check if the issue is true or false. This could be for a product defect, a reputational issue, or any other problem that we may face online. Ensure that your traditional complaint channels are integrated with your social media, so you know what’s going on at every touchpoint, and you know what’s real from what could be digital manipulation.
Monitor and Be Informed
The final step is to monitor as well as we can what is being said about the brand. If something is incorrect, step in and address the facts. Listen to what is being said about the brand, learn to spot trends, and look into issues/content which seems out of place. Understand your communities, both your advocates and your detractors, both online and offline. Digital manipulation is easier to spot if you know your online community’s routines and behavior. In addition, ensure you and your team are keeping pace with technology, and experiment where you can with rolling out new tech (one simple way to do this is to work with academia; they’ll be able to help you understand technological developments, and what tools you can use to protect yourself).
If you have any experience of fighting digital manipulation, please do share it. I’d love to hear, and share, your experiences.
Social media trolling is big business in the Philippines. And that business is about to go global (image source: When in Manila)
If there’s one article you should read today, it’s this piece in the Washington Post by Shibani Mahtani and Regine Cabato. Titled “Why crafty Internet trolls in the Philippines may be coming to a website near you”, the article explains what has happened over the past couple of years in the Philippines in relation to the business of social media troll farms.
If you’re not familiar with the idea, I’ll explain. A troll farm is described as an organization whose employees or members attempt to create conflict and disruption in an online community by posting deliberately inflammatory or provocative comments. Traditionally, troll farms were state-led/sponsored (think Russia in the 2016 US elections). This has also happened in other countries. In the article by Mahtani and Cabato, they describe the rise of social media manipulation as an extension of Filipino politics (another great article to read is here, from Buzzfeed’s Davey Alba).
As I’ve mentioned, the concept of social media manipulation isn’t new. We’ve had countless reports into what state actors such as Russia, Iran and others have tried to do online, through mass social media manipulation. What’s fascinating about the Washington Post article is how the Philippines is redefining this concept and turning it into an industry (there’s now both negative and positive trolling), how those who provide the troll farm services are now looking not just to politics but to business as well, and, most worryingly for everyone who works in our industry, is how PR firms are quietly offering the service to their clientele.
It doesn’t surprise me that the Philippines is leading the way in the area of troll farming. The country has a young, English-speaking population, a large service industry, and a tough economy. And Facebook is everywhere, controlling what people read and think when it comes to news, politics and business. To quote from Buzzfeed’s Davey Alba:
If you want to know what happens to a country that has opened itself entirely to Facebook, look to the Philippines. What happened there — what continues to happen there — is both an origin story for the weaponization of social media and a peek at its dystopian future. It’s a society where, increasingly, the truth no longer matters, propaganda is ubiquitous, and lives are wrecked and people die as a result — half a world away from the Silicon Valley engineers who’d promised to connect their world.
Facebook launched “Free Facebook” in the Philippines in 2013. The idea was to partner with a local carrier to offer a portal of free, basic internet services (Free Basics) that would fuel Facebook’s aggressive global expansion. To Zuckerberg, at least, the experiment was successful. “What we’ve seen in the Philippines is … a home run,” he said in a speech at a 2014 conference in Barcelona. Last November, Facebook partnered with the Duterte government to build an undersea cable system that would connect Philippine internet systems to the rest of Asia and the US.
In 2012, 29 million Filipinos used Facebook. Today, 69 million people — two-thirds of the population — are on Facebook. The remaining one-third does not have access to the internet. In other words, virtually every Filipino citizen with an internet connection has a Facebook account. For many in one of the most persistently poor nations in the world, Facebook is the only way to access the internet.
Social media trolling took off in the Philippines during the 2016 Presidential campaign. And many saw the business opportunity. Washington Post spoke to one PR executive who claims his agency is paid anywhere from about $38,000 to $57,000 — “depending on their needs” — on a month-long retainer for up to eight months.
Others are seeing the possibilities too. The authors of the Washington Post article claimed that “several paid troll farm operations and one self-described influencer say they have been approached and contracted by international clients, including from Britain, to do political work. Others are planning to expand overseas, hoping to start regionally”. One opinion quoted in the story claims that social media trolling in the country is a billion dollar business.
There’s no doubt in my mind that social media trolling will have an impact not just on politics in every democracy around the world (if it hasn’t already), but that these services will be turned towards business, especially the notion of positive trolling, of using fake accounts to talk up a business and their activities. I am also in no doubt that Facebook and the other internet giants will do nothing to stop this (Facebook’s efforts to stop what’s going on in the Philippines have been derisory at best).
So, what can we do as PR practitioners? There’s not that many options on the table. The most obvious one is to both act ethically, and speak up publicly about why ethics matters. We’re not vocal enough about this issue, and we need to change that. Another way to push back is to be more vocal about what we want the tech firms to do. We’ve got to stop treating the likes of Facebook and Google as champions of public relations, and rather as companies who are not doing enough to fight for and on behalf of our publics online.
If you have any ideas on the above, please do share them. This is an issue that’ll affect us all. And we have to take collective action to fight back. The real me is signing out for now…
Uber’s acquisition of Careem was a masterclass in how to do M&A comms. Careem’s message (and who delivered that message) didn’t help to assuage unhappy customers
We’re a couple of weeks in, and the whole swell of media attention has gradually faded out. The mammoth US$3.1 billion deal by Uber to purchase Careem made headlines globally – it was the largest in the Middle East for a tech startup, and it focused the world’s media on a regional success story. The deal also comes before an IPO that will catapult Uber into the big leagues of the multi-billion dollar tech firms who have gone public. It’s unsurprising that so much attention was paid to the deal between the two dominant ride-hailing apps in the Middle East.
For those of us in the region, what’s also unsurprising is the feeling that many have for both brands. Uber and Careem are Marmite brands, with Middle Eastern consumers either loving or hating them. Some will swear by Careem, and refuse to take an Uber. Given the strength of brand loyalty, it was especially important that the two companies, communications functions and executive teams get the messaging right.
Lessons from Uber – Speed Matters, Keep It Simple and Engage Everyone
I’ve lost count of the number of times that a deal between Uber and Careem has been talked about. I’ve even joked with journalists who seem to get constantly misinformed by the comms teams at the firms. There were leaks, but many of us took the latest piece about any deal with a pinch of salt. When news of the deal was broken on the 24th March by Bloomberg, it seemed different. There were specifics in terms of numbers, on how the Careem brand would disappear into the Uber operation, and on how all shareholders needed to be informed.
Two days later, the deal was confirmed. Uber announced the deal. The format was strange for many of us here, where social media dominates. Instead of a tweet, Uber sent out an email. The copy was short but succinct, with the option of clicking through to Uber’s website. The emailer can be seen in full below.
The email’s message was repeated throughout social media. Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has spent ample time here in Dubai, both giving media interviews to regional press as well as the global newswires, as well as meeting with government bodies to reinforce media interviews to reinforce the message, and government engagement as part of an engagement tour.
HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), received in his office Mr. Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber, and Mr. Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of Careem. pic.twitter.com/yZRZfD5KdV
On a side note, Uber’s CEO is a dream executive for communicators. He’s composed on camera, he sticks to the message, and he leans in, showing respect for those he’s engaging with. It’s a stark contrast to how things used to be at Uber.
Lessons for Careem – The Messenger Matters
While Uber was straight out of the blocks with a coordinated message, Careem amplified that message through its own social media channels. However, the response was mainly negative, with many users fearing that Careem would become Uber. The Careem comms team understood this, and their messaging was focused on Careem remaining independent post merger.
Today, we start Chapter 2 of our story. Careem is joining forces with Uber to better serve the region
We will operate independently, so the app, services and brand you love will continue to be available as usual.
While this approach makes sense, what they failed to do was personalize the message. They should have used their CEO Mudassir Sheikha to record a video message about the acquisition, focusing on why it made sense for Careem and how the company would be staying independent (they could have also turned to their Saudi co-founder Abdullah Elyas to record the same message in Arabic).
Personal messaging matters to the public – they need to see and hear a person they know, rather than a brand. Given the importance to Careem customers of independence from Uber, I ‘m not surprised that an email from Careem’s CEO to employees ‘was leaked’ to the media last week, which re-emphasized that the company will operate as a stand-alone entity (nothing leaks, unless you’re Julian Assange or the White House). The fact that Careem’s comms missed the mark on the independence message on the first day of the deal means that they’re going to have to repeat this message. The lesson here is get the message right the first time around.
What’s also fascinating is to see how Careem’s own users shared messaging the company put out in 2016, focusing directly on how it was better than Uber. The advertising wasn’t so subtle, as you can see from the video below which is still up on Careem’s Youtube site.
Consumers remember what a brand does, especially when it involves direct attacks on competitors. That’s why such activities are pretty rare. Now that Careem is part of Uber, I’m a little surprised these ads are still up on Careem’s social media. Maybe it’s time the team remember that they shouldn’t only look ahead in their messaging, but they should also look behind to what was done previously to see if it doesn’t impact their current messaging.
That’s it from me. If you have any insights you’d like to share, please do get in touch!
In case you missed it (and why I’ve been so quiet for three months), IABC help their first-ever major event in the Gulf. Over 180 attendees, 50 speakers and 40 presentations over two days make EMENAComm arguably the biggest, and, more importantly, the most impactful communications conference in the region. It also gave me the chance to look at the challenges and opportunities that the profession faces.
Here’s my five insights from Bahrain.
1. Why Not Dubai?
Even before we began, there was one issue people were talking about. Whenever I spoke about EMENAComm, there would be two lines of conversation. The first, mainly from friends and colleagues in the UAE, was “Why not do the event in Dubai?” The second was, “We’re so happy you’re doing this in Bahrain!”
Dubai has become the hub for the PR industry across not just MENA, but for much of the Indian Subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa. It’s easy to see why: the incredible transport infrastructure and ease of access, including visas on arrival; English being the country’s de-facto language, and relatively simple business ownership rules (for IMEA, that is) mean that Dubai is where many clients and agencies have their regional bases.
Dubai’s position as the PR hub is reflected in the number of events in Dubai – we have a marcomms event every other week in Dubai. This is great for anyone based in Dubai, but what about communicators based outside of Dubai? In one of the conversations I had with an attendee, she thanked IABC for choosing Bahrain, adding that “I can’t remember the last time we had a communications event in Bahrain.”
For agencies in particular, my view is that they’ve got to start looking outside of the UAE and invest locally. In one conversation this week, one agency head noted that Dubai has been saturated for some time with rival firms. In contrast, he added a market like Saudi is still full of PR opportunities, provided that agencies invest locally. It’s time we all – clients, agencies and PR associations – invest in talent and operations where our clients are across the region, including with events that help support talent development.
2. We’re Busy!
The event in Bahrain would have been bigger, had all of those who said they wanted to come actually turn up. Unsurprisingly, we had lots of drop-outs. The response was the standard, “we have too much work.” There’s a couple of points I want to raise here, some of which worry me, and others which may be a silver lining.
First up, whilst its good that we’re being trusted with more strategic work, this comes with a caveat. It seems we’re not willing to push back to our management (one of our speakers dropped out on the Thursday before the event, due to last-minute work commitments – this person had several months notice on the event).
Second, our workload is increasing as we’re being asked to do more by our management (the trust element is good), and yet we’re not being given additional resources to deal with our growing to-do list. What is also concerning is that many communicators, particularly those at a senior level, are not able to take time out to continue learning. We work in a fast-changing profession, and we’ve got to keep up with the latest research, trends and tech if we want to become better communicators.
3. We want to listen, but do we respect people who listen?
Listening was a constant topic of discussion at EMENAComm, and was referenced by speaker after speaker as a skill that we should both use and promote more. I heard rave reviews about the listening workshop conducted by Howard Krais, Kevin Ruck and Mike Pounsford. Attendees all agreed that listening is under-utilized, especially in a region such as the Gulf where management (and communication) is often top-down.
This was music to my ears. And yet there was one moment where I had to pinch myself. I received feedback from one meeting about a person who stated that their aim was to listen and learn during the meeting itself. Another attendee felt that this wasn’t a sign of leadership. To this second person, leadership is about talking. Despite all the buzz around concepts such as engagement and experience, in societies such as the Gulf the idea of a leader can often revolve around the person who is dominating the conversation. How can we promote listening to engage employees and others if we still cling to notions of leadership that prescribe the person at the front must talk (or, at the very least, dominate the conversation).
4. There’s a fascination with psychology
Those talks which got people talking were all about psychology, be it Monkeys and Psychopaths by Ogilvy’s Joe Lipscombe and Nick Driver or Dawn Metcalfe’s talk about creating a stand-up culture. It was great to see communicators delve into why we think the way we do, and look at how they can use those insights to develop better, more impactful campaigns that draw their stakeholders in. There’s much more communicators can do when it comes to understanding human psychology, and factoring in those learnings when we create and execute campaigns. But just seeing the interest in this area gave me so much hope that we are moving in the right direction.
5. Technology matters, but we’re still experimenting
One of the most popular tracks was on technology. Speakers such as Adrian Cropley, Jasna Suhadolc, and Fady Ramzy shared insights into automation, digital marketing and artificial intelligence. For a region that is obsessed with tech and digital (I dare you to find a coffee shop where there’s no one on their smartphone in the Gulf), we’ve yet to use technology as effectively in communications. This may partly be down to the need for comms heads to hire more people with analytical/science backgrounds, but it may also be due to organizational leaders wanting to control the mediums we use. In a question to Meltwater’s Laila Mousa, one attendee admitted he struggled to get his leadership to embrace social media. As digital natives take over organizational leadership roles, I hope our adoption of technology will pick up.
That’s my insights done for now. If you attended EMENAComm and want to share your views, please do drop me a note and write a guest blog for me (you can see all the images here).
That’s all for now. And I promise, I’ll be writing more frequently from now on.
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