Archive for category: Five Minute Focus

Team TMN caught up with former Heat magazine editor, author and media industry expert, Mark Frith, to hear his thoughts on the magazine landscape in the United Arab Emirates

What have you been working on during your time in Dubai?
I came over here to do some consulting for ITP’s celebrity weekly publications. Since giving up magazine editing as a full time role, I have been working with companies on reinventing and revamping existing titles. I look at great brands and work on making them super brands. The great thing about a super brand is that it leads the market and dictates the market. Super brands are strong and powerful and are very difficult to compete with.

What is your impression of the magazine industry in the UAE?
Out here there is a lot more positivity about magazines than there is in the UK. Back home it is more about trying to stem the decline and push things back up. It’s tough everywhere but it feels like a different environment here, which is why it’s so refreshing. One of the reasons I’m so excited about this market is because it still feels like early days. It’ll be very interesting to see how it develops.

You worked in the highly competitive celebrity magazine industry in the UK. Are you competitive and do you see competition as a good thing?
I don’t see myself as a very competitive person by nature, but my goodness, working at Heat brought that out in me. Competition is a good thing. It drives us to want to be better and I’m bringing that over here because it’s quite a small industry. I’ve been talking to some magazines who have no rivals at all, but it’s still very important to have that competitive spirit. That’s the kind of thing I’m doing. I’m trying to get that sense of competing and winning; outperforming what you’ve achieved before and building on that.

With so much competition in the market, how can magazines stay ahead?
You first need to identify what makes a good seller; how to see your editorial compared to others in the market and how to win those battles. At Heat, we had a fantastic rivalry with Now! magazine, which drove both titles to be better.  Those are the skills that I’m working on with the editors at ITP.

What do you think of the talent pool in the UAE?
The UAE is a place for ambitious people; a place for confident people. People who might find that they are underappreciated elsewhere can find a way to further their career and stand out over here. What I have noticed in the competitive London publishing industry is that a lot of journalists have good ideas, but aren’t able to progress as quickly as they would like. Over the last 10 or 12 years, Dubai has attracted some of those people and they have flourished.

What are your thoughts on the Ad-driven commercial set up of magazines in the UAE, compared to the copy sales driven UK market?
What we’re finding in the UK is that although magazine sales are down, advertisements are still quite buoyant. This is why the free market model for magazines interests me. The UK has picked up on this over the past few years and there are very good quality free publications. You’ve got Time Out, which is now free on a Tuesday, Stylist on a Wednesday, Shortlist on a Thursday and Sport on a Friday – all of which are doing well. I think that it is a more obvious market to have an Ad-funded model, like there is here in the UAE.

What should magazine editors do when a rival title lands in the market?
You certainly don’t lose your head. In reality, yours is stronger than a new rival. The panicky thing that people do when a new title comes along is that they worry; they lose direction. You need to have the confidence to know what you’re doing is right. Stay close to your readers and be true to yourself and to them.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer editors?
My main philosophy is to make the most of what you have. Know what you stand for as a magazine, deliver it and make sure you deliver it better than the competition.

So what’s next for you? Will you be a regular visitor to the Emirates?
Well it’s the first time I have visited the UAE and I can definitely see myself spending more time here, although as I have a young family, moving countries is not a consideration right now. I will continue consulting and I enjoy working with Speakers Corner in London who book me to host events, chair panel discussions and present award shows. I love that side of things and would welcome the opportunity to do the same in Dubai also.

For booking enquiries, contact Nick Gold at Speakers Corner, London on +44 (0)207 7607 7070.

As Taxi Media Middle East accelerates towards launch, Team TMN catch up with Managing Director, Brett Pearson, to find out more about the region’s newest advertising platform…

When was Taxi Media Middle East established?
The company was formed in Twofour54 in March 2013 after being awarded the contract for Abu Dhabi by TransAD (The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi). This had followed six months of presentations and bidding to win the contract.

What does Taxi Media Middle East do exactly?
We provide in-taxi entertainment and advertising for passengers travelling in the back seat of a taxi. The units are installed in the back of the headrest and have an interactive touchscreen display.

What territories will you cover?
Initially Abu Dhabi Emirate as our franchise partners have bases in both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. We are also in advanced discussions for Dubai, Sharjah and Qatar currently.

What makes you different to the options already available in taxis in the region?
The only taxi advertising currently available is the traditional external wrap-around, which is only available in Dubai, as Abu Dhabi do not permit external advertising. What makes us truly different is we have a fully quantifiable captive audience and can adapt creative executions more quickly and cost effectively than any other Out-of-Home platform.

For example, Subway have recently used the external taxis in Dubai to promote their “Sandwich of the Day”, but how do consumers know what sandwich is on offer on any given day? These adverts are generic. With our system they could – and have elsewhere in the world, winning a Mobius Award for the execution – actively promote every day’s specific sandwich. This allows our clients to be highly targeted with their advertising to maximise their ROI.

When will the advertising platform roll out?
We soft launch in December for communication system testing with Etisalat, and then the first phase will roll out in January 2014.

What languages will the advertising platform be available in?
We will initially offer English and Arabic as standard to clients, but the beauty of our system is we can technically host any language that does not involve a three-tier alphabet – Hindi for example, as this causes some programming issues. If you look at the top 10 nationalities that visit the UAE, we can host nine of the 10, if required.

Why is this advertising option more effective than traditional print advertising or broadcast?
There are several reasons, but first and foremost, audience size. On full fleet exposure we would deliver a monthly audience of nearly 10 million eyeballs just in Abu Dhabi; to put that into perspective the monthly figure for Facebook or Google in the whole of the UAE is roughly 3.3 million.

Next comes cost – we are extremely cost effective as we are a fraction of the current rate for taxi advertising on a rate card-to-rate card basis. The reason for this is we do not have high production costs eating into a media budget. If you are a venue looking to promote a restaurant or sporting event or concert, our monthly rates are comparable with current listing magazines’ weekly costs whose number of sold copies are a couple of thousand compared to our seven figure viewing stats.

But undoubtedly, one of the best arguments for using our system, besides the previous reasons, is full accountability. Because our system is touchscreen, every single interaction is logged and we will be sharing this data with every client regardless of how big their campaign is, so they can accurately judge whether we are offering great ROI or not.

How much does it cost?
It depends on what you want to do but every single option is extremely cost effective when compared to alternative media offerings. There is an affordable option for every size of business, from your local restaurant right up to a global FMCG brand.

How can you track the success of advertising campaigns for clients?
As the unit is coordinated with the taxi meter, we know exactly how many journeys are done by each taxi everyday and how long they last. Each individual interaction with the unit is logged so we can give accurate data on how many people have seen an advert, interacted with a brand icon, played a game, downloaded a discount voucher, completed a survey or entered a competition. Think of your computer keyboard and every time you hit a key think of that as an interaction on our media unit and our system automatically logs each and every touch.

What else can we expect to see from TMME in the near future?
Well, our core business is engaging customers with brands via taxis in a fun and useful way and we have expansion plans across the UAE and further within the MENA region. But to compliment the Taxi Media units we will also be launching a City Living App so that for no extra cost to clients we offer a continuation of their promotions outside of the taxi cab environment.

How can advertisers get involved?
That part is easy, interested parties can contact myself, brett@taximediame.com / 055 822 4829 or Stuart Matthewson / stuart@taximediame.com or 050 558 8467. We are both happy to go through all of the options available.

Founder of the world famous Cinematheque Jean Marie Boursicot gives Team TMN a little insight into the history and future plans for advert festival, “Night of the AdEaters”

All of the advertisements featured at the “Night of the AdEaters” are from your collection. How did you get started?

As a kid, I was fascinated by cinema. I was a regular at the movie theaters in the “5 Avenues” neighboring Marseilles, but at the age of 10, I saw my first ‘treasure’ – a 4m x 3m poster boasting the merits of a soft cheese made by the firm Gervais. After frequent visits to these film houses, the projectionist at Cine Madeline noticed me and gave me snippets of advertising film for companies such as Gervais ice cream and Krema candy. Of course, I wanted more of these, and I found myself raking through trash cans, but not just any trash cans. These were the trash cans of the film distributors. Little by little, I amassed these treasures and rapidly enriched a collection that combined my passion for posters, ads and the cinema. I never imagined that this childhood interest would one day turn into a career. On the advice of friends, I went to Paris and started working at Publicis, a French advertising agency, where I noticed that the advertising film was being thrown away. Not even the agencies kept them, so I started collecting them, and decided to show them for the first time in Paris in 1980.

The “Night of the AdEaters” has been touring the world for 33 years. Why did you choose to take this library of TV and cinema commercials around the world?

Actually, it was not a choice. Maintaining a cinematheque is a huge task: collecting new adverts; restoring old ones. I even had the very first commercial from 1898! There were thousands of spots. Keeping the collection requires passion, time, energy, and a lot of space to put all these reels and tapes. And, of course, I needed money! I created the Night of the AdEaters to keep this one-of-a-kind cinematheque alive, and it was and still is a way to pay the bills, and to share my passion for cinema and advertising at the same time.

How does the Cinematheque acquire new ads?

We are always in touch with hundreds of agencies around the world, as well as festivals. Every year we receive 15,000 to 25,000 new commercials for the Cinematheque, and some of them are selected for the “Night.”

Who curates the set for the “Night of the AdEaters?” How does he/she decide what to include?

It is a personal choice. This is my way of sharing a much more cinematic vision of advertising. The marketing aspect is overshadowed in favor of powerful images, humor, music, unexpected situation, and the like.

How many languages feature in your commercials?

There are around 40 languages in our commercials, in addition to some rare dialects.

You don’t use subtitles! Why do you think that you don’t need translations?

The “Night of the AdEaters” is all about emotions, and the messages are brief and dense. They can be understood by everyone. They transcend linguistic and cultural differences.

More than 100 cities sign on to your annual tours. How did you get Dubai on board?

Last April, Mohammed Qara’een from Kilograms Creative Tactics got in touch with us through our website AdEater.com. He had previously attended one of our shows in the Middle East, and described the “Night” as a breathtaking experience. Since then, everything has passed speedily and efficiently. I am now in Dubai for the first time.

Will you be broadcasting the festival on networks in the region?

I was not asked to do so, but it would be nice.

Why do you think people should go to the festival?

People will enjoy great moments of cinema with their friends. They will laugh a lot and watch exotic, surprising and beautiful adverts that reflect trends from different parts of the world. The festival is also a great source of inspiration for advertising professionals.

What are you hoping that people will take away from the festival?

Of course I hope they will have a great time, and for those who are not ad-addicts, I hope the “Night of the AdEaters” will convince them that advertising is not only about selling products, but offers moments of real cinema, and can evoke real emotions.

Can ad agencies in Dubai get involved with AdEaters?

Unfortunately, we didn’t receive a lot of commercials from Dubai, this year. I really hope that the “Night of the AdEaters” will encourage ad agencies to send their work to us, and to see how important it is to keep alive the memory of advertising. This is our main goal.

Where can ‘publivores’ get tickets?

Tickets to the “Night of the AdEaters” in Dubai are available through TimeOut Tickets and Platinum Tickets. For further information, call +971 (0)56 349 8212.

Do you have any plans to expand within the Middle East in the future?

We’ve already been to Kuwait, Syria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, but I would love to organise annual “Nights” everywhere in the Middle East. This is the case in Lebanon, where the show has been organised for more than 10 years. We need to find the right partners who understand the interest of preserving the memory of advertising.

 

Team TMN grab coffee and cake with journalist, Craig Hawes, as he gives us the low-down on his newly published book, The Witch Doctor of Umm Suqeim…

Tell us a little about yourself…

I’m a journalist who works for a men’s lifestyle magazine here in the UAE called alpha. I’ve been living and working in Dubai on and off (but mostly on) since 2003 and I’ve also written drama for BBC Radio and a short film screenplay, which was produced by TwoFour54 in Abu Dhabi.

What did you do before moving to the UAE?

I freelanced for various magazines and newspapers in my native Wales and London, but I did other jobs too to pay the rent: hospital portering, stacking shelves in supermarkets, working in a clothes shop. All excruciatingly dull at the time but I don’t regret any of it.

When did you first consider writing a book?

When I left Dubai in 2007. I spent three years intermittently working on the stories, then I came back to the UAE in 2010 with the book pretty much finished.

The book is a collection of short stories… how did the idea come about?

Quite simply, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be any good at writing fiction and was reluctant to spend a year on a novel that might never get published. I was testing the water, then ended up winning a few short story prizes and the collection grew from there. That said, I adore short stories and I read at least one collection a month.

Are the stories based on true events and experiences or pure fiction?

It’s all fiction, although it was inevitable that bits of my own life would get tangled up in the mix too. There are one or two stories that are very loosely based on newspaper stories and apocryphal expat tales. I’ll leave the readers to work out which is which.

Looking back, is there anything that you would have done differently?

No, by the time the book was published I think I’d done all I could to make it the best it could be. I’m ready for a new challenge now.

So with your first book now published, what’s next on your agenda?

BBC radio in the UK aired a play of mine last year and I enjoyed writing the script so much I’d like to get another one commissioned as soon as possible. I’ll also start on another book before the end of the year, but first I have a lot of reading to catch up on.

For others who wish to follow in your footsteps, how easy is the process of finding a publisher?

It’s hard. Getting an agent is essential if you’re sending your book to a huge publisher like Penguin or HarperCollins, but smaller independent publishers are more likely to read and consider your manuscript. The UAE isn’t the best place to start out, though, due to a dearth of book publishers. Hopefully things will improve in the coming years, but there’s no stopping writers sending their work overseas.

Do you have any tips for aspiring fiction writers?

Don’t bother trying to become a writer unless it’s a compulsion. To have completed a book and then get a publishing deal gives you a wonderful sense of achievement, especially as you’ll probably get rejected a lot at the beginning, but the financial rewards are pretty scant unless you’re a bestselling author like JK Rowling or John Grisham. Do it for the love, not the money. Read a lot and write a lot. The ratio for me is 50/50. Oh, and always have a book in your bag or pocket.

Where is your book available to purchase?

The Witch Doctor of Umm Suqeim will be available in all major UK bookstores and online on Amazon.com. Details of Dubai stockists are still to be confirmed. There will also be an eBook version coming soon.

How can people contact you for queries relating to this book launch?

They can contact Claire Hougez, the marketing manager at Parthian Books: c.hougez@gmail.com