Are the region’s marketing professionals falling short of women’s expectations?
Dubai, UAE, May 2012: From Tahrir Square to Times Square, the aspirations of women are radically changing, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East.
Wider educational, workplace and political opportunities, along with increasing personal wealth, are reshaping their expectations for their communities, their families and, most of all, for themselves.
According to Al Masah Capital Limited there are 3.3 million women in the workforce today, an 83 per cent increase since 2000.
Women’s financial status is rapidly changing too.
Boston Consulting Group estimates that wealth held by women in the MENA region stands at $500 billion; MEED estimates wealth held by women in the Gulf is $385 billion, while Almasa Capital estimates that Saudi women alone control $12billion of personal cash assets.
Have advertisers kept up with these changes or have they fallen behind the times in how they communicate with the region’s female consumers?
This is one of the key issues being addressed at the forthcoming annual GMR Marketing to Women Conference in Dubai – Marketing Women in the Era of Change.
Now in its sixth year, the conference examines how the changing roles of women in the region is, in turn, changing the way in which they relate to brands, advertising, retail and media.
“To be blunt, it’s time for all marketing professionals in the MENA region to rip up the old marketing rules book and take a fresh look at how they relate to female consumers who are, afterall, among their most influential and affluent customers,” says Alexandre Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest, and publisher of Gulf Marketing Review.
“Understanding these changes and how they impact the practical and emotional needs of women is essential to effective, sustainable marketing communications,” he adds.
The one-day Marketing to Women conference begins by highlighting emerging global trends among women’s brand attitudes and behavior, delivered by international keynote expert speaker, US-based CEO, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR North America, trendspotter and author, Marian Salzman.
She is joined by Christina Ioannidis, an international speaker, consultant, author of Your Loss: How to Win Back your Female Talent, and chief engagement officer of Aquitude, a leading organizational, people and market development consultancy in the UK.
Also participating in the event are a series of top regional spokespeople from Unilever, Fonterra, TNS, TBWA\RAAD, Philips Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson and Yahoo! Maktoob, offering companies and industries insights in targeting and positioning their brands precisely by understanding female consumers’ relationship with their choice of brands.
Region’s female consumers expect more from advertisers
Topics include: exclusive research; marketing to moms, social media, Saudi women’s changing lives; changing lives through sustainability, women and social media. Demonstrating the huge importance of the subject matter, many leading brands have pledged their support, including Yahoo! Maktoob, Cadillac, Al Aan TV, Creative Edge, Zee, Haya and dotmena.
The event, which is organized by Mediaquest Corp, and takes place on May 28, 2012, at The Westin Mina Seyahi, Dubai is moderated by Carol Talbot, one of the UAE’s most sought after motivational speakers.
To book your place, please visit http://www.gmr-online.com/m2w.php
About Mediaquest Corp.:
Founded in 1997 in the UAE, Mediaquest Corp. operates in Algiers, Beirut, Dubai, Jeddah, Paris, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Tunis.
Publishing in three languages, and with more than 20 consumer and trade titles covering business, marketing, communications, women’s interests, lifestyle, entertainment and automotive, Mediaquest Corp. is poised to become one of the leading media companies in the Middle East and North Africa.
Recognizing our media, franchise owners, clients and colleagues as our principal assets, Mediaquest Corp. is committed to setting the industry standard in customer service.
Celebrated titles include Arabies, Saneou Al Hadath, TRENDS, Gulf Marketing Review, Communicate, Haya, Raceweek, Kippreport.com, Autocar Middle East and Policy.
About Gulf Marketing Review:
For the past 19 years,Gulf Marketing Review has been the most authoritative and reliable source of information for marketing professionals across the Middle East. An indispensable blend of robust analysis, meaningful insights and solid research spanning a broad range of marketing disciplines, issues and product categories has kept GMR at the forefront of the region’s business media for nearly two decades. www.gmr-online.com
