JEDDAH, 14 April 2004 — Advertising agencies have been considering progressive changes in their operations. Aside from concentrating on creative business ideas and harnessing the power of influence to create demand, they are gradually involving themselves in multifunctional roles.
“This is happening,” says Rohit Misra, regional vice president of Euro RSCG Worldwide for the Middle East and India. Demand is increasing on all fronts and so one cannot be restricted to one field of activity. What is required is to develop an organization that can meet all related needs, Misra said in an interview during his visit to the Kingdom. He was here to consult with the local partner, Focus Euro RSCG, headed by Hassan A. Al-Fadl, managing director. “Focus is our oldest partner in the region and we have been working together since 1998,” Misra said. “Essentially, we discussed our present and future plans for Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries,” said Misra who is based in Dubai where a regional office opened two years ago. “Our strategy is to support our partners in the region by providing them with know-how that Euro RSCG acquires from its network around the world to expand to new markets, including probably Iraq.” In addition to managing Saudia Arabian Airlines advertising, Focus also takes care of a number of its other activities worldwide. They include promotion of passenger and cargo traffic, fares and rates, special flights, tourist packages, in-flight catering and, above all, upholding the cultural image globally. “In short, we are constantly on the march to put the national airline ahead of competition on global charts,” Misra said.
The recently held Advista Arabia in Jeddah is considered the first positive step toward the progressive march of the advertising and PR world. The message was integrating communications and the focus was the Kingdom’s growing market that represents one-third of the Middle East’s $2 billion advertising business, which is poised to mark a 20 percent annual growth.
Advertising had its setbacks during the past four years due to global events, said Misra who worked in New Delhi for nearly four years before coming to Dubai in May 2000. In the last three and a half years it has established its presence in the Middle East with 10 offices in the region - in Egypt, Lebanon, UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait, aside from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai. It also has a representative in South Africa,” he said, adding that Euro RSCG is ranked the fifth biggest advertising agency in the world according to AD Age ranking of 2003.
“With Advista’s focus on total connectivity, we learned a lot as today’s advertising business is much more than what it has been traditionally,” Hassan Al-Fadl said.
The local agency is ahead in terms of Saudization. Forty-five percent of its staff has been Saudized. “We hope to raise it to 60 percent by next year,” he added.