MIDDLE EAST
14 THE NINE
21 December 2008
LESSONS FROM 2008
It was a year of two halves. For the first six months, the UAE strolled
merrily along in its rose-tinted spectacles, convinced that the growing
international financial crisis would leave our shores untouched. Six
months later, those spectacles have been kicked off its face and tram-
pled in the sand by Mr. Credit Crunch. Here’s nine things you should
have learnt from 2008
1

If you build it,
they may not come
For the past four years or so, the UAE’s ad agencies and
media providers alike sat back and watched the money
roll in from the seemingly bottomless pit of property
developers’ wealth. This year, that pit has proven to be far
shallower than most thought. Projects are now being put
on hold, downsized or cancelled outright as panic grips
the real estate sector. And that’s been bleak news for the
marketing and media industries too: agencies are focus-
ing on ‘proactive’ work a little earlier than usual, as ad
budgets are slashed; print media are receiving more and
more phone calls along the lines of, “Err… you know that
12-week DPS we booked? Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
And the outdoor advertising market? It’s ugly. Although
maybe not as ugly as when all the billboards are booked.
2
Dubai is not the only game in town
2008 may mark the beginning of the end of Dubai’s reign as the most famous emirate. A
few kilometres down the road, Abu Dhabi spent much of the year announcing media launch
after media launch. A $1 billion deal with Warner Bros., the launch of The National, a tie up with TV
production company Endemol, a $100 million joint venture with National Geographic, a relaunch
for Abu Dhabi TV, and the launch of nightclub-soundalike DMC rival Twofour54. And, unlike Dubai,
Abu Dhabi isn’t going to be content merely playing landlord to a host of media companies. It wants
to be a creator too.
While all these events raised Abu Dhabi’s profile in the media industry, it was January’s dra-
matic takeover of English Premiership football club Manchester City—and the subsequent capture
of one of football’s most promising young talents, the Brazilian star Robinho—that really got
international attention.
It hasn’t done everything right (witness Dr. Al Fahim’s hasty removal from the media scene
following his bombastic soundbites after the Man City takeover, or the confusion surrounding who
exactly would be setting up shop in Twofour54, and when), but 2008 was certainly a promising start
for the UAE capital.
3
Keep your fingers out of the till
‘Don’t steal’ is one of the oldest rules on record. And unlike the one about
not coveting your neighbour’s ass, it’s still relevant today. So you’d think
no one would need reminding. But they do.
This summer saw a flurry of arrests of senior officials in Dubai’s finance and
real estate sectors as part of the government’s crackdown on corrupt business
practices. But this lesson is about more than not letting execs get away with
embezzlement. That’s important, yes, but it’s more for the sake of our poor PR
flaks. The arrests proved beyond reasonable doubt that Dubai’s PR industry just
isn’t up to the job when it comes to crisis
management. While ever-more outra-
geous rumours flew round about who
4
If in doubt… Fireworks!
The beleaguered execs mentioned in number three could have followed
the classic distraction tactics used by the Atlantis hotel for its fancy lit-
had been arrested and why, ‘no com-
tle launch do: Fireworks. Having suffered weeks of public humiliation caused
ment’ followed ‘no comment’ as compa-
by a pre-opening fire, depressed dolphins, terrorist threats, broken-down lifts,
nies clammed up quicker than Clammy
molasses-slow check-ins and a certain celebrity shark, the launch party managed
the Clammiest Clam in Clamtown.
to turn a PR disaster into a begrudgingly acknowledged success. Not only did a
A mature, respected PR agency
Dubai hotel manage to attract some genuine international A-listers (as opposed
could’ve convinced its clients to talk to
to making up stories about Brad and Angelina visiting), but the subtly understated
the media. Quickly. We heard nothing for
fireworks display garnered worldwide media attention. It all went off with a bang.
several weeks.
(See what we did there?)
www.mediaweekme.com
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