Said Aghil Baaghil is not your ordinary marketing strategist — as a consultant, his forte is in launching new restaurants. In this interview, Baaghil speaks about marketing, restaurant launches and his plans for the future.

Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?

My experience in Saudi Arabia started in 2004. I was born and raised abroad. In 2004 I came to Saudi Arabia when I was asked by a local group to join them and we created a company called LOGIC, which launched Pearls Cafe and Black Rose. I also created the first virtual restaurant, the kitchen-to-home concept, Yalla Utlob, Fork-n-Knife etc.

In 2008, I joined a great group called Inseed, which wanted to initiate restaurant concepts — it’s a food and beverage company. With Inseed I created Bengala, a seafood restaurant with four outlets across Jeddah. We are working on franchising; I think it’s going to become a very dominant brand in the Kingdom.

What inspired you to focus on restaurants and the food and beverage sector?

I would say its lifestyle. I’ve always focused on lifestyles and not the brands. I want to create dining experiences.

We noticed your name on the soon-to-open ‘Kaakati’ store in the Rawdah Star complex. Can you tell us about that?

I wanted to create the biggest confusion in the Lebanese world regarding Lebanese kaak. These pies are filled with various fillings like salmon and are served hot. I worked on the design and the brand building.

Can you tell us a little about Craze Art Café, one of your most recent projects in Jeddah?

A name is very important... the name creates conflict. People who don’t understand the meaning of craze ask is it crazy? It generates publicity. Only a very focused audience will understand this.

The restaurant also sells art. Craze has a studio that produces art. They don’t take it off the wall. Every piece is ordered for you. We also want to promote abstract local art in the future. Craze is a Marketeers brand that we are planning on expanding internationally.

Do restaurants and business in general need help in marketing in Saudi Arabia?

Oh, 100 percent definitely. They all lack proper marketing plans. Their ego is driving them. If people focused on proper marketing models they would be able to build their products. Numerous global brands exist here, but there are only two to three Saudi brands that exist outside the Kingdom such as Sabic and Aramco which have made a global impact. We live in a global market, but it doesn’t mean if you have 50,000 locations in the Kingdom, and one in London or Egypt that you are a global brand. I think they should wake up and realize that marketing and advertising are completely different.

If you had to sum up the restaurant scene in Jeddah in three words, what would they be?

Redundant, lacking proper environment and without personality.

Are there any cuisines that you feel the Saudi Market lacks?

New cuisines are difficult to launch here. We have three or four vacation destinations which have affected the restaurant market here — Paris, London, Madrid, Italy and New York. So when you bring a Jamaican brand here, who in the world is going to go there? Japanese has taken off, mainly Sushi, because the trend took off as a lifestyle in the West and not necessarily because people holiday in Japan.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in Jeddah, or favorite dish?

There’s a little place called ‘Asian Restaurant’ in Jeddah on Sari Street which is great in terms of Thai food. As for favorite dish, I’ve always liked chicken casseroles.

What are your plans for the future?

I want Marketeers to take a global perspective. I’m a marketing strategy consultant, and I would like to take a step further in which I’m going to release another book this coming December. I was the first Arab to write my own marketing models. That’s how Dan Hill reached me and I endorsed his book ‘Emotionomics’. In terms of my business, my plan is to make Marketeers a global brand.

(Rashed Islam is a food critic who hosts Jeddahfood.com)