JEDDAH, 5 December 2006 — The 2006 PR Forum opened yesterday in Jeddah with more than 400 delegates participating in the two-day event. Arab Conferences Company organizes the PR forum in cooperation with the International Public Relations Association Gulf Chapter (IPRA-GC) and the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
The forum focuses on three key sessions that will highlight issues of building, enhancing, and reinforcing corporate image by addressing six key topics delivered by six experts in the field.
“This conference comes at the right time, when companies are undergoing tremendous change whether in terms of expansion or launching new products and services,” said Hussein Shobokshi, conference chairman.
Mohamed Al-Ayed, head of the organizing committee, commented that the PR Forum this year would focus on the importance of public relations in projecting a positive corporate image whether in the public and private sectors. “Companies have been witnessing tremendous change and growth. Realizing this, the question of building, enhancing, and reinforcing the corporate image of a company or organization through sound communications practices while taking into consideration the social, economic, and environmental changes is a necessity in building a positive image for the Company,” he said.
The forum kicked off with a speech by Al-Ayed, President and CEO of Arab Conferences Company in a speech called “Driver’s Seat” followed by the keynote address Hasan Al-Hasan, president of IPRA-GC. Al-Hasan talked about the key challenges facing the public relations industry and the importance in investing in human capital and building the corporate image.
The first session was about creating a corporate image and it began with a keynote address delivered by Abdulaziz Al-Magoshi, deputy general manager for Cultural and Media Affairs at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Foundation. He was followed by Philip Diehl, vice president and partner of Fleishman and Hillard, who spoke about the corporate image in the global village and then Sami Al-Thuhaibi from Elixir Company presented examples of local institutions such as the International Medical Center and the steps taken to establish corporate images for them. He was followed by May Moziani, director of Corporate Identity at Saudi Aramco. She said that according to research, creating a corporate image is one of the key challenges facing companies because 35 percent of the company’s value is due to intangible factors. “Research also found that the more the image of a company is positive the more profitable it is,” she said.
However, she said that creating a positive corporate image is expensive and lengthy and it can be easily changes because it is connected to the society’s perception of the company.
The second session highlighted the importance of enhancing corporate image. It featured two presentations, one on corporate image beyond media relations Mohammad Tahlawi, Senior Adviser at Aramco affairs, and the second on the creative application for public relations strategies by Sarah Al-Ayed, managing director of SACCS — TRACCS.
The first day of the forum ended with a session focusing on the importance of reinforcing corporate image headed Chet Galpin, head of marketing at the National Commercial Bank. Monther Al-Tayeb, director of public relations at Al-Marai, talked about the corporate image of the organization from inside out.