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