Date post: | 20-Oct-2014 |
Category: |
News & Politics |
View: | 993 times |
Download: | 3 times |
CREATING A VOICECommunications CapacityBuilding in the Middle East
Mohamed A. Al Ayed President & CEO –TRACCS
Paris – Oct 11, 2013
The Reality
Exploding Young Population
Image is Internally Driven
Eyes on the Middle East
The Hard Truth
They Are Young
They Are Ambitious
They Are Ambivalent
They Aspire To Be…
Extending
The Limits of Empathy
The Developed WorldThe Full Picture
The Middle EastVictims, Villains, Catastrophes
Stereotypes
Until 1990 Communications in the Arab World were…
•State controlled•Propaganda-oriented•Censored•Limited•Closed to the outside world
The Turning Point • 1990 CNN the first international satellite allowed
into the region• From that point on satellite dishes proliferated• 1991 Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC)
founded• 1993 Arab Radio and Television Network (ART)
founded• 1994 Orbit Satellite Channel launched• 1996 Al Jazeera Network founded• 1999-2000 Saudi Arabia and Iraq the last Arab
countries to provide public internet access• And everything changed…
IMAGE TRANSFORMATION
• Every region within MENA is strikingly different.
• Every country within each region is unique.
• Common Ground:• Language• Religion • Family values• Music• Development aspirations• Enormous youth population – 60%
under 30• Highest unemployment in the
world: 24%*
• Differences:• Dialects• Religious interpretations• Political systems• Economies• Social cultures
* UNITED NATIONS EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ADOLESCENTS, YOUTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2011
For the first time we began to see the region in its diversity
Much of this change has come from COMMUNICATIONS
• Over 700 satellite channels • Of 658 fully operational FTA satellite TV channels targeting
the Arab World 68% (448 channels) have an online presence.*
• Over 200 independent newspapers
• Hundreds of radio stations
• Arabic is the fastest-growing language on the internet, • Arabic-speaking internet users increased 2,298 % from
2000-2009**
• 70 million on the Internet
• 43 million on Facebook
• 1.4 million on Twitter*Arab Advisors Group examined ** Internet World Statistics Report
Today in the Arab world there are…
2001-2005• 9/11
• Countries began positioning process
• Oil revenues ruled
• Population explosion
• Rise in unemployment
• MENA still perceived as a backwater
2005-Present• The Dubai experiment & DEVELOPMENT BOOM
($2 trillion of projects in 2008)
• Huge revenues, hyper-inflation
• Proliferation of broadcast media
• GLOBAL RECESSION
• Nationalization programs
• The social media revolution
• THE ARAB SPRING
Developments in the Middle East
2001-2008• Advertising was king
• PR seen as a promotional press release service
• Boom drove growth of PR business
• Rise of CSR
• Gradual government uptake of PR
2008-Present• Global recession forced companies to reassess
communications strategies
• PR taken more seriously• Crisis communications• Issues management• Two-way communications
• MENA seen as important emerging market
• The social media revolution
• Institutionalization of CSR
• PR becomes government mandated
Communications Then & Now
• Between 2003-2013 – 5,000 PR practitioners joined the profession in the region
• Rise in the volume of business (average of 30% across the board)
• Rise in the number of government RFPs (50 RFPs in Saudi Arabia alone)
• Government agencies realized the importance of PR (education, investment, healthcare and housing)
• Average of 35% growth annually since 2010 with some growth in markets hitting 50%
• 2013 has been a fantastic year for PR in the region despite political challenges
The Growth of PR
Public Relations & the Five Critical Phases of Development
Innovation
Trust
Development
Realization
Exploration
The New Influencers
Salman AlodahReligious scholar3,682,267 followers
Ahmad ShugairiMedia4,483,916 followers
Ahlam Al ShamsiSinger2,613,291 followers
Faris Awadh Football Commentator774,423 followers
Oula Al Faris Media1,189,194 followers
Muna AbuSulaymanActivist144,409 followers
Fahad AlbutairiComedian1,096,698 followers
Wael Ghunaim Internet activist1,252,506 followers
• Polarization • Shortage of feeder streams• Training within• No concerted effort to nurture Arab talent• Serious shortage of skilled and highly trained
Arab PR professionals• Because of this the profession has remained
shallow and the workforce transitory
Challenges
• The PR profession needs to be liberated
• For public relations to become a sustainable profession in the Arab world, there needs to be a revolutionary approach to building talent
• The industry can only mature if it is led by seasoned professionals from the region who understand the language, the culture, the religious and social landscapes of each country
• This means that companies need to stop looking solely at the bottom line and invest in the region
• It should be the role of experienced foreign professionals to nurture talented local practitioners
• The PR industry should reach out to universities and other educational institutions to provide knowledge transfers
Exist or Perish
The Capacity Building Triangle
Agencies
Government
The PR Imperative
Universities
• Know How • Industry Drivers
• Feeder Streams • Scientific Approach
• Regulation • Credibility
Driver’s Seat by TRACCS
Program Driver Seat WorkshopDetails: One day workshop to educate university students about the importance of Public
Relations, its evolution and engage with them through exercises and interactive sessions
Key Component: Creating a Virtual Company with a PR Function
Launched in: June 2010
Partner Universities: • King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia• Prince Sultan University
Targets: Mass Media & Marketing Students
Results: • Over 200 students trained• 50 students to be placed in PR jobs in 2014