IT Vendors Reach Saudi Market Through New Channels

ALKHOBAR, 21 December 2004 — On Dec. 9, eXtra had its grand opening in the Eastern Province. The event was a huge success. Even at midnight, the time of the drawing for the grand prize, the electronics superstore was packed.

eXtra is billing its Alkhobar location as “the biggest electronics mall in the Middle East,” claiming to have more than 20,000 items under one roof in an area of 6,000 sq. mt. This is eXtra’s third location in Saudi Arabia, following the chain’s opening in Riyadh and later in Jeddah.

Retail Accounts Manager and Marketing Specialist for HP Saudi Arabia Omar Khalil said HP has been extremely impressed with eXtra’s operations. eXtra won the Retailer of the Year Award 2004 from HP Middle East and HP has now made a commitment to set up a permanent presence at eXtra locations.

“eXtra will be opening 11 showrooms in the next three years and has become a very strategic account for HP,” Khalil said. “At eXtra’s Alkhobar location we have made a permanent, staffed, interactive exhibit focusing on digital photography. We concluded an agreement with Harley Davidson to use their motorcycles and accessories as a backdrop for the digital photography display. We wanted to create a sense of excitement surrounding the use of HP products and I must tell you that we’ve got middle-aged corporate executives lining up to have their pictures taken while sitting on a Harley. We’re using HP cameras to take the photos, transferring the digital images to HP notebooks and then printing the pictures with HP photo printers. It’s a great way to show people how advanced and easy HP’s technology is. After participating in the entire photo creation process, the consumer walks away with an A4 printed picture that’s guaranteed against color fade for 73 years. They’ve got a great memory and we’ve got someone who will remember HP quality for a long time. It’s been an excellent experience.”

HP is concentrating on digital photography at eXtra but they do have their entire lineup of products available at the electronics superstore. The IT giant plans to open similar digital photography displays at the Riyadh and Jeddah eXtra showrooms shortly as part of HP’s marketing strategy to showcase their products and solutions in “consumer-friendly” environments.

The success of eXtra clearly demonstrates the pent-up desire of the Kingdom’s consumers for the latest in electronics. Back in August, Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper published an interview about the 21st Computer, Communication and Media Tech Exhibition to be held at the Dhahran International Exhibition Center, Dec. 12-16.

At that time Ousama Al-Rashid, PR manager for Dhahran International Exhibitions Company, said: “This should be considered an annual venue for computer companies, Internet and Internet services companies, communication and IT. In this exhibit all what’s new in the world of computers and communications will be displayed. There will also be a section for advertising technologies. The largest Saudi companies and international companies from Asia and some Arab countries will be part of this exhibit.”

ITCN Saudi Arabia runs in conjunction with the 21st Computer, Communication and Media Tech Exhibition. The Pak Tribune ran an article about the exhibition on Nov. 29. In part it read:

“At the ITCN Saudi Arabia 2004 Exhibition, chief software houses, IT and telecom companies from Pakistan will display their services and capabilities along with Saudi IT companies. ITCN Saudi Arabia 2004 will be witnessed by a vast number of trade visitors, Saudi government officials, businessmen and entrepreneurs.

“The aim of the ITCN Saudi Arabia 2004 Exhibition is to convince the businessmen, investors and entrepreneurs to start business with their Pakistani counterparts. The positive perception of Pakistan will be properly projected as a notable IT player of the region. There exists a big communication gap between the Saudi business houses and Pakistani entrepreneurs and to fill this gap, such events should take place on a continuous basis.”

What happened at the Dhahran International Expo (Dec. 12-16) can only be described as a debacle. Advised by early attendees that turnout at the show was poor, Arab News waited to visit the venue until what should have been the busiest evening of the exhibition — Wednesday, Dec. 15. The exhibition was sparsely attended. There were no representatives of the Pakistani exhibitors at the venue. Only two exhibitors of media technologies were present. Many of the booths had already been stripped. A representative of a large international hardware vendor was having a public shouting match with an exhibition organizer. A quick survey of exhibitors found serious problems with the publicity, organization and services associated with the event.

Sometimes it is simply best to move on. It appears that ITCN Saudi Arabia and the Computer, Communication and Media Tech Exhibition are events that have outlived their usefulness. Companies that still have a desperate desire to throw their marketing budgets away by participating in such exhibits should do us all a favor. Make the check for leasing the exhibition space out to “Molouk Y. Ba-Isa” and post it to me in care of Arab News. I’ll see to it that the money gets donated to a worthwhile charity. At least something positive will come from the effort.