Archive for May, 2006
Outrageous, racist and very strange for an international brand.
Hasn’t anyone seen this before?
It’s a commercial for the Volkswagen Polo, ‘Small But Tough’, which shows an obviously Arab suicide bomber trying to detonate a bomb from inside a Polo….
I am yet to establish if this, indeed, is a genuine VW commercial produced with the approval of the company, and not just the work of an anti-Arab, independant producer, as it’s spreading on the Internet through blogs and has found its way onto MyTube, which doesn’t verify the authenticity of commercials.
Either way, VW must be made aware that this commercial is unacceptable to Arabs.
Surely, such a large German automaker has to consider its brand reputation in a key market like the Middle East.
Prepare to be appalled here.
May 27th, 2006
Synovate has conducted a PAX Middle East survey, which has found that CNN is still the most popular international news channel.
Apperantly, 26.6% of the survey respondents said they watched CNN on a monthly basis, and 18.2% tuned in weekly.
Closest to CNN was BBC World, which got responses of 21% per month and 16.6% per day.
CNN also reaches 35% of opinion leaders in the region every month.
The PAX surveys highlights the behaviour of the ‘regional elite and influentials.’
So, the question is: What about Non-English speaking influentials in our region?
Aren’t there many, many of those Arabic-only influencers and decision makers (especially in Saudi Arabia). What are they watching?
Here is the press release about this study at Synovate’s website.
May 25th, 2006
It’s not surprising that many marketers in the Middle East still don’t know what a blog is.
But in the United States, the land of Internet marketing….. it’s shocking.
eMarketer.com reports that only 30% of Fortune 1000 executives know what a blog is.
And that only 20% have a process in place to monitor blog conversations about their company.
Check out the article from eMarketer.
May 24th, 2006
Everybody’s saying it’s the next big thing: online TV ads.
As you would expect, at the center of this new movement is…. who else….. Google!
Google has made billions of dollars with text ads linked to search results or shown on sites that are part of it’s AdSense network, including this site 
But now, it’s moving into video advertising, entering a lucrative territory dominated for more than half a century by television.
Google plans to sell advertising space for video ads of up to two minutes long. The ads will not appear on Google.com or its related sites, but on sites that pop up when users search for information.
Read more at The Washington Post.
May 24th, 2006
Etisalat was among the last ‘hold-outs’ in the UAE’s drive for an open, competitive market. But, that changed with the government recently opening up the telecom market for other operators.
Now, this huge and successful organization is re-thinking its competitive marketing strategy, starting with a new look for a new era.
According to Etisalat’s press release: “The new identity reflects Etisalat’s values of transparency, optimism, openness, simplicity and reliability.”
“The green colour in the logo signifies life, growth and renewal. Green is the national colour of the UAE, and Etisalat has a long and close association with its home nation- the UAE.”
The CEO of Etisalat spelled it out in the launch event of the new identity, by saying that the corporation is “undergoing a culture shift at every level.” He added that the aim is to establish Etisalat as a truly global telecom operator, a true ambassador of the UAE success story in the international market.”
So, how will the public respond to this brand ‘face-lift’? And to what extent will it help Etisalat break into international markets?
More here on Strategiy.com.
May 23rd, 2006
There’s nothing more personal than your ‘personal computer’, right?
Apperantly, Hewlett-Pakard wants to remind you of that fact, and wants to claim to be the only company who realizes it.
HP says your PC is “your own broadcast network,” “your private media empire” and “it’s your life”!
Sound a bit like Apple’s approach to marketing, doesn’t it?
Get personal with your computer.
May 23rd, 2006
Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holdings has awarded creative work for Tamiflu to GSW Worldwide, an advertising agency in Ohio, USA.
Roche is planning a $30 million Tamiflu campaign.
Tamiflu is the most effective antiviral drug against avian (bird) flu.
In the creative pitch, GSW beat agencies affiliated with Interpublic Group, Foote Cone & Belding (FCB), Publicis and others.
Check out the full story.
May 22nd, 2006
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