ICCO Summit 2013 Presentation by Mohamed Al-Ayed, CEO of TRACCS, the biggest independent communications group in the Middle East and North Africa. The presentation was delivered on 11th October 2013.

1. CREATING A VOICE
Communications Capacity
Building in the Middle East
Mohamed A. Al Ayed
President & CEO –TRACCS
Paris – Oct 11, 2013

2. The Reality
Exploding Young Population
Image is Internally Driven
Eyes on the Middle East

3. The Hard Truth
They Are Young
They Are Ambitious
They Are Ambivalent
They Aspire To Be…

4. Extending
The Limits of Empathy

5. The Full Picture
The Developed World

6. Stereotypes
The Middle East
Victims, Villains, Catastrophes

7. Until 1990 Communications in the
Arab World were…
• State controlled
• Propaganda-oriented
• Censored
• Limited
• Closed to the outside world

8. The Turning Point
• 1990 CNN the first international satellite allowed
into the region
• From that point on satellite dishes proliferated
• 1991 Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC)
founded
• 1993 Arab Radio and Television Network (ART)
founded
• 1994 Orbit Satellite Channel launched
• 1996 Al Jazeera Network founded
• 1999-2000 Saudi Arabia and Iraq the last Arab
countries to provide public internet access
• And everything changed…

9. IMAGE TRANSFORMATION

10. For the first time we began to
see the region in its diversity
• Every region within MENA is
strikingly different.
• Every country within each region is
unique.
• Common Ground:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Language
Religion
Family values
Music
Development aspirations
Enormous youth population – 60%
under 30
• Highest unemployment in the
world: 24%*
• Differences:
•
•
•
•
•
Dialects
Religious interpretations
Political systems
Economies
Social cultures
* UNITED NATIONS EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON ADOLESCENTS, YOUTH AND DEVELOPMENT 2011

11. Much of this change has come
from COMMUNICATIONS

12. Today in the Arab world there
are…
• Over 700 satellite channels
• Of 658 fully operational FTA satellite TV channels targeting
the Arab World 68% (448 channels) have an online
presence.*
• Over 200 independent newspapers
• Hundreds of radio stations
• Arabic is the fastest-growing language on the internet,
• Arabic-speaking internet users increased 2,298 % from
2000-2009**
• 70 million on the Internet
• 43 million on Facebook
• 1.4 million on Twitter
*Arab Advisors Group examined
** Internet World Statistics Report

13. Developments in the Middle East
2001-2005
2005-Present
• 9/11
• The Dubai experiment & DEVELOPMENT BOOM
($2 trillion of projects in 2008)
• Countries began positioning process
• Oil revenues ruled
• Population explosion
• Rise in unemployment
• MENA still perceived as a backwater
• Huge revenues, hyper-inflation
• Proliferation of broadcast media
• GLOBAL RECESSION
• Nationalization programs
• The social media revolution
• THE ARAB SPRING

14. Communications Then & Now
2001-2008
2008-Present
• Advertising was king
• Global recession forced companies to reassess
communications strategies
• PR seen as a promotional press release service
• Boom drove growth of PR business
• Rise of CSR
• Gradual government uptake of PR
• PR taken more seriously
• Crisis communications
• Issues management
• Two-way communications
• MENA seen as important emerging market
• The social media revolution
• Institutionalization of CSR
• PR becomes government mandated

15. The Growth of PR
• Between 2003-2013 – 5,000 PR practitioners joined the
profession in the region
• Rise in the volume of business (average of 30% across the
board)
• Rise in the number of government RFPs (50 RFPs in Saudi Arabia
alone)
• Government agencies realized the importance of PR
(education, investment, healthcare and housing)
• Average of 35% growth annually since 2010 with some growth
in markets hitting 50%
• 2013 has been a fantastic year for PR in the region despite
political challenges

16. Public Relations & the Five Critical
Phases of Development
Innovation
Trust
Development
Realization
Exploration

17. The New Influencers
Salman Alodah
Ahmad Shugairi
Ahlam Al Shamsi
Faris Awadh
Religious scholar
3,682,267 followers
Media
4,483,916 followers
Singer
2,613,291 followers
Football Commentator
774,423 followers
Oula Al Faris
Muna AbuSulayman
Fahad Albutairi
Wael Ghunaim
Media
1,189,194 followers
Activist
144,409 followers
Comedian
1,096,698 followers
Internet activist
1,252,506 followers

18. Challenges
• Polarization
• Shortage of feeder streams
• Training within
• No concerted effort to nurture Arab talent
• Serious shortage of skilled and highly trained
Arab PR professionals
• Because of this the profession has remained
shallow and the workforce transitory

19. Exist or Perish
• The PR profession needs to be liberated
• For public relations to become a sustainable profession in the Arab
world, there needs to be a revolutionary approach to building
talent
• The industry can only mature if it is led by seasoned professionals
from the region who understand the language, the culture, the
religious and social landscapes of each country
• This means that companies need to stop looking solely at the
bottom line and invest in the region
• It should be the role of experienced foreign professionals to
nurture talented local practitioners
• The PR industry should reach out to universities and other
educational institutions to provide knowledge transfers

20. The Capacity Building Triangle
• Know How
• Industry Drivers
Agencies
The PR
Imperative
• Regulation
• Credibility
• Feeder Streams
• Scientific Approach
Government
Universities

21. Driver’s Seat by TRACCS
Program
Driver Seat Workshop
Details:
One day workshop to educate university students about the importance of Public
Relations, its evolution and engage with them
through exercises and interactive sessions
Key Component:
Creating a Virtual Company with a PR Function
Launched in:
June 2010
Partner Universities:
• King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
• Prince Sultan University
Targets:
Mass Media & Marketing Students
Results:
• Over 200 students trained
• 50 students to be placed in PR jobs in 2014