WITH the price of oil fluctuating from month to month, Saudi Arabia can no longer rely heavily on its oil revenues to guarantee the comfortable lifestyle enjoyed by previous generations of Saudis. This year’s budget deficit, after last years’ surplus and a decade or so of previous deficits, makes the need to open up to investment from the outside world abundantly clear. But for this to happen Saudi Arabia must first appear attractive to foreign companies — and not just purely in legislative terms: It must get its image right. Public relations, to send the correct messages both to foreign investors and also to its citizens, is now set to become a key concern in the coming years.

In many companies, public relations — usually simply referred to as PR — is confused with advertising, sales promotions, point-of-sale, direct marketing and other components of the marketing mix. Clients sometimes have wild and unrealistic expectations from PR. The media, on the other hand, resent it, fight it, and also sometimes confuse it with advertising.

This is very difficult and sensitive situation to deal with. A reporter needs to cover a story from his own perspective, and not be influenced by whether or not the subject of his story buys advertising in his publication. Historically, advertising and sales promotions are perhaps two of the most popular elements of the marketing mix that have most readily been understood and accepted by consumers — and publications would sometimes offer editorial coverage upon confirmation of an advertising order. This is a doubtful practice: There is an understandable need to attract finance. However, it should not risk the impartiality and credibility of the media.

But times are changing fast and, through the development of the media, the consumer is becoming better informed, more marketing aware and more sophisticated. And in light of this there is a growing understanding within many leading Saudi and international companies that they too have to become more sophisticated: That they now need to communicate at different levels to a greater number of target audiences. Whereas before, everything was targeted toward the consumer, companies are now also aware that they need to communicate to different age groups, different sexes within the same family, to their internal workforce, their distributors, to regulatory bodies, to industry specialists and to government ministries — and in many cases, further afield and across regional and national boundaries, to international markets. And of course, the messaging and message delivery systems are different depending on the media.

This may seem fairly obvious but it is interesting to note that during the past 10-15 years, the media in Saudi Arabia has experienced dramatic and rapid developments. The growth in satellite television, the transmission of information via satellite and the introduction of the Internet have all conspired to give the Saudi media new shape and form.

As a result of these developments, it is becoming bigger, more sophisticated and relatively more liberal. It is, moreover, proving to be an increasingly lively and competitive field. Some people refer to this as the media’s "golden era". The comfortable feeling of tight control imposed over the dissemination of news and information is perhaps giving way to a more professional approach, where the local media is no longer regarded with scant consideration but treated with the same respect and caution as in any other part of the world.

The print media — the press — came first and is acquiring a status of maturity. It now attracts an increasing number of Saudi nationals as journalists — many of whom have been sent abroad for training, where they have qualified to international standards. Refreshingly, women too are also increasingly involved and now take positions within many leading publications, either as freelancers or full-timers. The press is developing in other ways, with journalists becoming more professionals, skilled, aggressive and willing to challenge local institutions and organizations for their lack of transparency and failure to communicate in a meaningful way with their audiences. This is real progress — and there are bound to be other exciting and positive developments, especially following the recent announcement of the formation of a Saudi journalists’ union in early 2002.

The region is increasingly getting to grips with advanced technology. The Internet is here to stay and press materials can instantly be sent online anywhere in the world. A personal gripe is that many journalists still do not have an e-mail address at the office: This must change sooner rather than later!

Change is at its most publicly visible in the broadcasting industry. Ten years ago satellite TV was in its infancy in the Middle East. It was not just the cost, but people were rather skeptical about the benefits. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait changed all that, with CNN’s now famous coverage leading the way — and a host of satellite TV stations including MBC, Orbit, ART, LBC and Future television following in the wake. More work is still needed to bring local channels into the fray but one has to only look at what Al-Jazeera did to its international counterparts in its early coverage in Afghanistan to realize how much the region has adopted and adapted the medium.

On that note, it needs to be said that the events of the past few months since Sept. 11 have forced many people in a wide range of industries and businesses to think far more profoundly about the work that they do and its impact on the world. For the PR industry and for PR professionals living and working in the Middle East, it has been a very important time of reflection.

It is obvious that the Arab and wider Muslim worlds are very much misunderstood in the West. The fault is partly that of Western media. When one lives in the Arab world, one sees a very different picture — indeed, I have read too many articles in the Western press in recent weeks that are badly misinformed. I have seen television "commentaries" on the Middle East that do not contain an Arab perspective.

It is time for this to change. It is time that the region’s leaders adhered to a finely-tuned communications program to promote Arab views and correct the images implanted in Western minds. Well-trained, articulate and intelligent spokespeople, concentrating on influential media companies and prominent opinion formers, could well shape international public opinion at this key stage in world history. Such a campaign would have to start now and remain high profile for a considerable period of time.

There are many opportunities for such a campaign: After all, there is a very strong story to tell based on a very strong case. And of course, there is a wealth of untapped talent out there.

As a Westerner, I know that if the international media can be shown how this region has changed over the years it will make a concerted effort to correct the image in the minds of its audiences. But the campaign must be open and fair, and constructive criticism must be welcomed and responded to. Unfair criticism must, in turn, be argued against strongly without zealousness and with openly available facts to back up the case.

A move in this direction has already taken place. Some efforts have already been made in the United States — and the Arab League has already set up a PR budget. These efforts must be seen through to full implementation. Once started, a well-structured and targeted campaign would go a very long way to correct perceptions and it would also raise confidence in the global business community.

Some lone voices scattered across the region may not see the benefit of these activities. They may think the West wishes to remain in hostile ignorance. That is simply not true. And therefore it is toward these people that such a eye-opening campaign must also be vigorously turned. Those who wish to maintain difference should be its real targets because in these people lies both the future of the Arab world and of the greater world at large.

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(Damian James is the Office Manager in Saudi Arabia for Hill & Knowlton, the world’s largest public relations consultancy network.)