JEDDAH, 25 November 2007 — Nielsen, a leading global information and media company, hosted a Consumer 360 conference on Winning Today, Transforming Tomorrow, here yesterday. It focused on the many dimensions of consumer attitude and purchasing behavior that places consumers at the center of every marketing decision.

After the Consumer 360 success in Dubai, which was held recently under the patronage of Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi, minister of economy of the UAE, the one-day event was organized in Saudi Arabia, which was attended by high-profile speakers sharing their valuable insights into the consumer world.

In his opening remarks, Piyush Mathur, Nielsen’s regional managing director for Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan, said the company had considerable presence in the region as there are offices in 13 countries with a population of 367 million, 5.5 percent of the world’s total.

After establishing itself in 1983 in Saudi Arabia, Nielsen’s offices are in eight cities of the Kingdom — Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Abha, Qassim, Madinah, Taif and Tabuk. It serves retailers, the telecom and IT sector, financial services and governmental organizations.

Giving an example, Mathur said, 593 million man hours were spent annually by Saudi Arabian residents in hypermarkets and superstores, which is enough for the construction of 85 Empire State Buildings.

Mathur said “Consumers are the life blood of any organization. Without consumers, there is no organization, no profit, no value for shareholders.” According to him, retailers face dilemmas of currency fluctuations, cultures, shoppers’ habits, talent and retail landscape realities.

He said the dilemmas included retail consolidation, inflation, demanding consumers, multipronged distribution strategy, raw material cost and media fragmentation. Mathur also mentioned in his presentation three major principles - why shoppers are important and how to convert retail shoppers to buyers of your products and how to attract shoppers.

Hamish Currie, consultant, Basamh Trading Co. Ltd., said Saudi Arabian consumers were feeling the financial pinch as inflation hit a seven-year high of just under 4 percent in July. Food inflation is being adversely affected by the Saudi riyal’s being pegged to the weak US dollar, and Saudi Arabia’s importing food from the EU.

Increased exposure to Western products, via travel and satellite TV, changing lifestyles and a demand for an increasing variety of products are all driving growth in the industry. With disposable incomes high and consumer confidence strong, Saudi consumers can be expected to trade up to more premium products.

Currie, while focusing on the effect of the emergence of foreign retailers on the local scene, said the Kingdom had become more liberalized and opened up to more Western goods. Many consumers have been converted to modern retail formats, providing the convenience of one-stop shopping. Both fully-owned local and partially foreign-owned supermarkets and hypermarkets have opened, providing consumers with ranges of fresh produce, processed foods, household goods and even large appliances all under one roof.

Tarek H. Aswad, executive vice president, Farm Superstores, elaborated on customer satisfaction myths vs. reality. He said interaction with customers, selection of items, availability of items and accessibility might satisfy customers more than price. He said managing customer expectations and satisfaction was a more effective method of building long-term satisfied customers than discount pricing.

Aadham G.S. Junaidallah, executive vice president support of Othaim, tackled the issue of the surge of private labels across the world, the growing challenge for marketers and factors influencing increase in private labels.

Demetris Constantinou, area sales manager for retail self-service Middle East & Africa, of NCR, a leading global technology company, said the consumer of today was both empowered and demanding. Agility is the key in meeting the demand of an “it’s all about me” consumer. He also said maximizing service and operational efficiency were keys to profitable survival.

Mike Chambers, retail manager of Sarawat Superstore, focused on what is driving value with customers - the nonmonetary criteria.

Leveraging Nielsen’s best practices, Ighsaan Jacobs, retailer services manager, Nielsen Saudi Arabia, said the inaugural Consumer 360 conference was designed to reveal how clients could obtain a 360-degree view of their consumer through industry specifics presentations, panel discussions and networking opportunities.

He said Consumer 360 was uniquely designed to demonstrate how Nielsen could create a robust, complete view of the consumer, therefore enhancing clients understanding of how consumers shop and interact with their brands and shop their stores.