ADVISORY Mohammad Al Gergawi Mohammed Al Shaibani
Sultan Bin Sulayem Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman
‘DREAM TEAM’
UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs Director general of His Highness Chairman of Dubai World Governor of the Dubai
and chairman of Dubai Holding the Ruler’s Court and chief (holding company for International Financial Centre
executive of the Investment
subsidiaries including DP World, and vice chairman of the UAE
Corporation of Dubai
Nakheel, and P&O) Central Bank
Mohamed Alabbar senior
aide to Dubai’s Ruler,
chairman of Emaar, and
Investment Corporation of
Dubai board member
Nasser Bin Hassan Al Shaikh Essa Kazim
Abdul Aziz Al Muhairi Marwan bin Ghalita
Director general of the Dubai Chairman of Borse Dubai and
Managing director of the Chief executive of the Real
Department of Finance the Dubai Financial Market
Investment Corporation of Dubai Estate Regulatory Authority
The other members of this (as one commentator Contrast this to a seemingly unrelated case back in council is “no great leap—it’s still a fairly low bar that
describes it) “emergency kitchen cabinet” reads like a 2004. A tragic event saw several workers killed when a wall they’re jumping.”
who’s who of Dubai Inc. They include Mohammed Al collapsed at Dubai Airport—the authorities were slow to Some see more fundamental problems with Dubai’s
Gergawi (UAE minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman respond with public statements on the matter. Within a communications strategy. Abed Bibi of the Dubai office
of Dubai Holding), Sultan Bin Sulayem (chairman week, Dubai became one large game of pass-it-along, and of brand consultancy Wolff Olins believes that Dubai
of Dubai World), and Nasser Bin Hassan Al Shaikh soon the death toll was said to be around 70. The actual should first concentrate on effective communications
(director-general of the Dubai Department of Finance). figure was much lower. with its own residents, rather than international investors
Some of the members are rivals in their business lives, Crass though it sounds, it is possible to see a similar and tourists.
something that makes this ‘dream team’ formation even ‘rumour mill’ operating in the financial world. That is why “Brand Dubai needs to get back the trust and
more remarkable. the announcement of Dubai’s debt figure—and the arrival confidence of its people first, rather than the outside
While there is no formal link between Brand Dubai and of a more sophisticated communications strategy—has world. If you want to build a corporate brand, you start
the Advisory Council, there is regular communication come at just the right time. from the inside. This should have been built with the
between the bodies, says Mona Al Marri, CEO of Media However, it could be argued that the new Advisory people first. They looked outside the country first—they
Services Group and head of Brand Dubai. “We do have Council has not gone far enough. Last week, leading credit forgot the people who live here,” he says.
[contact], but not officially. We update them on the agency Moody’s warned that it may cut its ratings for some “Do they [the Advisory Council’s members] compete,
overall communications strategy of Dubai.” of Dubai’s most prominent state-backed companies, or do they speak the same language?” asks Bibi. “Each of
Some commentators deny that there is any PR mandate including DP World, Emaar Properties, Jebel Ali Free Zone these people is the head of a major conglomeration, and
to the Advisory Council, whose role is ostensibly to and DIFC Investments. are competing against each other. Everyone is working
address “economic challenges in key sectors”. But one on their own brand, but what about Dubai?”
prominent UAE media commentator believes that the
Brand Dubai needs to get back
Could an Alastair Campbell-style figure—though
body does have a public relations capacity.
the trust of its people first. They
reviled by many—provide a singular voice for Dubai? A
“The council does have a PR function. I don’t know government press secretary would be of great benefit,
whether the driver is to promote investor confidence or
looked outside the country—
says UAE-based media consultant Frank Kane.
to give the impression of transparency,” the source tells and they forgot the people who “People here may be fearful of Alastair Campbell,” says
Media Week.
live here.
Kane. “But [Margaret Thatcher’s chief press secretary]
“They obviously thought of [forming the body] in Bernard Ingham created the role of the modern
September—privately, they understood there was a The agency cited the need for more transparency government press spokesperson. We need somebody in
problem. But it wasn’t until November that they openly on Dubai government assets, and referred explicitly to that mould—somebody who can get the message across
said that there was a problem, giving a figure on the debt Alabbar’s statement last November. Along with the debt both locally and internationally. It would have to be
for the first time.” figures, Alabbar revealed that Dubai’s sovereign assets somebody who who knows how to play the game.”
It is this latter point—the announcement of Dubai’s stand at $90 billion—but did not reveal the composition of But while the UAE may not have a head governmental
debt obligations by Alabbar last November—that some these assets. Because of this, says Moody’s, “their liquidity ‘spin doctor, s’ ome believe that Alabbar and Al Shaikh
say marked the pivotal point in the emirate’s changing cannot be taken for granted”. are emerging as the next best thing: the leaders of a
public relations strategy. It is telling that last week’s press reports of Moody’s coordinated effort to quell rumours, and provide an
The announcement was significant because—at the announcement—and the rating firm’s call for greater accurate picture of the economy.
time—the rumour mill was in overdrive. Even over the transparency—was met with silence by the Advisory Dubai built its prosperity largely on the back of a
summer—before the financial downturn hit—well- Council. (For the record, Alabbar was not available to carefully cultivated image—and, when the going was
informed sources were reporting that Dubai’s debt comment on this article when contacted by Media Week, good, its leaders proved very adept at handling that
amounted to almost $150 billion. So when Alabbar as he was traveling.) image. The emirate’s future success will depend on how
came out to say that the obligation stood at $80 billion in It is this inconsistent communication that prompts well, in times of trouble, the Advisory Council and others
November, it crushed some of this ‘speculation’. one UAE-based financial commentator to claim that the steward the brand that is ‘Dubai’.
www.mediaweekme.com 08 FEBRUARY 2009 / 15
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