Panasonic yesterday announced its global brand unification process had been completed. It also unveiled new strategies for Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East at a press conference at Crowne Plaza Hotel. Together with its new brand image, the Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. (MEI), Panasonic’s parent company, has also decided to newly address issues related to counterfeiting and gray market problems. “These are common problems faced by all manufacturers. However, on our part, we propose to tackle them more vigorously with the cooperation of related ministries and chambers of commerce and industry,” Khaled Al-Ghazzi, general manager-marketing, Panasonic-M.O. Alesayi Electronics Co., said. “With its increased product portfolio, the company has forecast a 20 percent increase in sales turnover by the end of March 2005,” Yasushi Nakano, general manager, consumer electronics department, Panasonic Marketing Middle East FZE, Dubai, said. Panasonic, which was sold together with the National brand name before the unification, has a Saudi market share of $1 billion out of $1.2 billion in the Middle East, its executives said. MEI initiated the global brand unification process on May 1, 2003, to replace the National name with Panasonic for all home appliances and electrical products. “Under the new unified corporate structure, Panasonic has replaced the National name and is now the main global brand,” Nakano said.
Nestle
Nestle, a leading food and beverage company, handed over a check for SR1 million to the winner of its “Celebrate 70 years” promotion, in Dubai on April 15. Held to commemorate its 70th anniversary in the Middle East, the promotion attracted the interest and excitement of thousands of consumers across the region. Abeer Al-Saad, a Saudi national, received the check as her prize after her entry was drawn from more than half a million entries received during the two-month campaign. “Our 70-year presence in the region is a cause for celebration and it’s with great pleasure that we present the grand prize to one of our loyal consumers,” Nestle Middle East CEO J. Cantacuzene said. The winner expressed her delight and said: “Winning the grand prize of a million Saudi riyals is incredible and I thank Nestle for helping me with this prize to make my dreams come true.” Present at the ceremony was media personality George Kordahi who was selected by Nestle to feature on TV commercials, print advertisements and promotional material relating to the promotion.
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce announced on Sunday that its engines would power an additional eight aircraft for Cathay Pacific Airways. Cathay Pacific has announced plans to purchase two Trent 800 powered Boeing 777s and three Trent 700 powered Airbus A330s. Delivery of these aircraft is scheduled to begin in April 2005 and August 2006 respectively. The value of the engine business to Rolls-Royce is $120 million. In addition to the purchase of these five aircraft, Cathay Pacific will also lease from ILFC, three Airbus A330s powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines for delivery beginning June 2005. “It pays testimony to the ongoing strength and success of our Trent family product range,” Charles Cuddington, managing director for airlines, Rolls-Royce, said.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics has shown its major presence with its entire range of latest technology in different categories at GITEX Saudi Arabia 2004, which opened at the Riyadh International Exhibition Convention Center in the capital on Sunday. The electronics, which has an exhibition island in the show, is using GITEX as a platform to showcase it stylish and trend-setting products. A global leader in semiconductor, telecommunications, flat panel display and digital convergence technology, Samsung Electronics employs about 75,000 people in 89 offices across 47 countries. The company is the world’s largest producer of memory chips, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. The electronics giant consists of four main business units — digital media network, device solution network, telecommunications network and digital appliance network businesses.
Promoaction DDB
Promoaction DDB Saudi Arabia, part of DDB Worldwide — Advertising Age’s and Adweek’s 2003 global agency network of the year — held a training seminar in Jeddah for its client servicing, brand planning and creative teams, recently. The two-day course on “Open your mind” was attended by over 30 agency staff from its Jeddah and Riyadh offices, as well as from its media planning and buying partner company OMD. Participants familiarized themselves with DDB planning tools, including “Brand foundations,” “ROI” ad “4D Springboard,” and took part in team based workshops and activities in a relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. The main highlight of the seminar was DDB’s 4D Springboard tool, a unique approach to creating fully integrated marketing plans for clients, that reflects the agency’s new vision regarding the role of advertising in today’s economy.
MAF Investments
Majid Al-Futtaim (MAF) Investments has announced an ambitious expansion road map that is set to dominate the Middle East’s mall market. Having set the standards that have been followed by other mall developers in the UAE and throughout the Middle East, MAF Investments is now planning a mall in Beirut, the first of its kind in Lebanon, and a retail park “Big Box” concept in Dubai, described as the first of its kind in the region. Also in the pipeline are malls in Bahrain and Egypt. Added to this are dramatic plans for Deira City Center and expansions to Sharjah City and Ajman Center at the City Center. “Retail represents more than 8 percent of the group’s revenue so over the next five years it will continue to be the main driver of our business,” Peter Walichnowski, CEO, MAF Investments, said.
ZAYED University
Zayed University of the UAE has “successfully” implemented a new centralized storage system that will significantly enhance the management of student records, portfolios and e-learning tools across all campuses. The new IBM TotalStorage Storage Area Network (SAN) system along with IBM eServer xSeries 345 servers is claimed to be highly sophisticated. Jumbo Electronics IT Group installed the new system with three core objectives in mind, including the management of Zayed University e-Portfolios (student records), backboard applications (e-learning tools) and server consolidation.
GE Energy
GE Energy, a leading supplier of power generation and energy delivery technology, has introduced its specialized products for efficient fuel management, in addition to air emission monitoring and data acquisition systems at WETEX 2004, the annual water, energy and environment technologies exhibition and conference held in Dubai. GE’s advanced technology on exhibit included equipment, services and management solutions designed to serve the region’s power generation, oil and gas, distributed power and energy rental industries.
