The inaugural Digital Media Forum – Dubai 2012, an event to discuss the rapidly growing digital arena, has revealed a number of key trends predicted for the coming year. The event served as a meeting point for industry leaders to share concepts and ideas, as well as forecast developments in the fields of social network marketing, e-commerce and e-education, mobile applications and digital media regulations.
In addition to a number of international experts, speakers who participated in the event included UAE-based advertising and media heavyweights Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett Group MENA, and Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and CEO of MENA Communications Group (MENACOM). Commentary was also provided by Osman Sultan, CEO of du, who explored how ‘social media is a tsunami that has changed everything’, and Khalifa Al Shamsi, Senior Vice President of Technology Strategy for the Etisalat Group, who offered an insight into the telecommunications industry, whose expression ‘customer data is today’s new oil’ resonated profoundly with the audience and on Twitter channels.
Those attending the forum included a mix of industry peers, business executives and students, all active participants in the region’s digital growth. In addition, the event was well-received by Twitter users across the GCC, predominantly in the UAE. Discussions on the social media platform resulted in #DMF2012 (the official hash tag for the event) becoming a top trending topic in the UAE on both days of the forum, with revelations of the event being shared and distributed with a wider audience.
Raja Trad offered his insight, commenting, “The growth of advertising on social media channels in the next few years will be profound. It is now more important than ever for professionals to find ways to make communication innovative and fresh in order to captivate their audiences across various mediums.”
Zafer Younis, CEO of The Online Project, elaborated on the importance of a studied and focused approach in terms of social media, saying. “Professionals need to first evaluate what the message, audience and themes are before jumping on to the digital media bandwagon. For example, Facebook does magic for FMCGs, while B2Bs will benefit more from LinkedIn. Social Media is not all or nothing.”
Dan Stuart, Managing Director of Living Social Middle East, discussed emerging e-commerce in the region, saying “The key to its success is support and collaboration with local business in order to attract a resident consumer base.”
Najla Semaan Mazboudi, Managing Director of SPOTON Media Services and Events, commented on the success of the forum, “We were pleasantly surprised by the feedback we witnessed on Twitter (@DMForumDXB). Our number of followers increased drastically over the two-day period that the forum took place, and still continues to grow. Looking at this positive response, we have already started making preparations for Digital Media Forum 2013.”
