In This Month's Issue

Cover

Crunch time coming?
The economic travails facing many marketers in the West have yet to significantly strike the Middle East. But, warn industry experts, there may be trouble ahead

Shorts

The rules of the game
Saudi consumers aren’t idiots, says Impact BBDO’s Hubert Boulos. So why do advertisers continue to treat them as if they are?

Advertising

Committeed to the cause
In June, the Advertisers Business Group (ABG) (formerly known as the GCC Advertisers Association), an industry body representing the interests of companies that spend more than $1 million a year on regional advertising, elected a new chairman and a new committee. We find out a bit about their backgrounds and discover what concerns ABG will be addressing in the near future. People meters and media transparency top the list.

Marketing

Children are our future
How kids are helping the world’s weirdest shoe crack the Middle East
More Mr. Nice Guy
Honesty, integrity, cooperation, less time at work and lots of profit. It’s an unlikely mix, but that’s what guerrilla marketing is all about, according to the guy who invented it

Outdoor

Keeping you in the loo
Public toilets are the one place in Saudi Arabia you can show flesh without getting flushed. And your customers will sit down to read your ads. Its proponents say washroom advertising is more than a flash in the pan

Parting Shots

The legend of Spamalot
We look at the unsolicited mail in our inboxes, and see who’s jamming our computers with junk

Branding

Scents and sensibilities
Holiday Inn is going upmarket with a new global rebranding – including its own patented smell – and is hoping to find a place in the Middle East market

X-pert Files

Can we crack Iraq?
Media Reach’s Saad Al Saraf says the country is hungry for brands. But they need to tread carefully to win the population’s hearts and minds