MIDDLE EAST
NEWS 03
23 November 2008
New faces
BRANDING
at Venture
CNBC Arabiya relaunches
DUBAI Venture Communications is hiring
four new members of staff to coincide with its
With a new tagline and ad campaign, CNBC looks to capitalise on its
third-year anniversary. The communications
expanding audience, who are hooked on the financial crisis
agency specialises in advertising, media and
PR. Following a 50 per cent increase in annual
DUBAI CNBC Arabiya, the 24-hour business-dedicated
billings, the extra staff are needed to cope with
channel, is in the “relaunch phase” of its rebranding,
new clients.
according to company CEO Steve Hall. The network has
CEO Gabby Chamat says: “I can proudly say
launched twelve new programs, as reported in last week’s
that the growth in staff numbers and billings
Media Week, and is now releasing an advertising cam-
at Venture Communications is faster than my
paign to highlight the changes.
previous agencies considering that the market
The international CNBC tagline is “First in Business
has became more competitive, more saturated
Worldwide”, but an Arabic version is replacing it on
and more difficult.”
CNBC Arabiya. “In Arabic the new version works, but not
Commenting on the financial crisis, he says
so much in English,” says Hall. “It roughly translates to
that Venture Communications will look to be
‘When it comes to your money, there is only one’, but ‘one’
more active in winning new accounts and that
in Arabic refers to us being unique and alone,” he adds.
expansion is also planned to other markets in
The channel is, Hall says, entering an aggressive adver-
the Middle East and Europe.
tising and marketing campaign focused mainly on Arabic
newspapers and magazines. The CEO hopes the rebrand
will diversify CNBC’s advertiser base. “Viewership tends
to be businessmen and high net worth individuals, but
we’re looking to extend that to real people who have real
concerns in life, for example with our new call-in show fo-
cusing on people’s concerns.” This, he expects, will move
the advertising away from banks and finance centres to
luxury goods, car sales and consumer items, although he
says it will still be high-end.
Following the changes, Hall expects to see an increase
in viewer numbers. “We’ll have to see what the research
shows, but we’re expecting a far greater uplift than five
per cent. Anecdotally, at least, the response so far has
been extremely positive.”
The company admits that part of the reason for viewer
number increase is due to the credit crunch attracting a
high interest in business news. Hall sees the unexpected
audience growth benefiting the channel’s relaunch, at-
tracting a new type of viewer to the broadcaster.
THE BIG PICTURE
Content
FREE EVERY WEEK Your guide to life in the capital ABU DHABI WEEK’S FIRST COVER
The capital’s first city magazine launches for the magazine to fill, as Abu Dhabi
(see Cover) with George Michael on the continues its push to become a rival
Syndicate get
EVERY THURSDAY www.abudhabiweek.com | 27 November – 03 December 2008
front. Luckily, he’s on stage (his farewell media centre to Dubai. And Turret is
I'M YOUR MAN
After 25 years in the business, George Michael
performance, apparently) in the capital spending a “six-figure sum, in dollars”
arrives in the capital
on December 1—otherwise it would be on its below-the-line promotional
cash injection
NEW TAKE
ON HOLLYWOOD
a seriously disappointing launch edition push, according to Buchanan, in order
from AD's movie wannabe
cover star. to ensure Abu Dhabi Week doesn’t go
Andy Buchanan, publishing director unnoticed. (Unlikely, if the circulation
DUBAI Content Syndicate, a company that
of Turret Middle East, compares the claims are true.)
buys and sells publisher-owned and freelance
magazine to local UK papers such as the It’ll be interesting to see whether
work, is set to grow following new venture
PLUS
ISLAND FLING
Surrey Comet and The Guildford Times. Motivate and ITP respond by making the
capital financing. CEO and founder Maddy
Eco-heaven on your doorstep
PURPLE REIGNS
“That’s what Abu Dhabi Week is, it’s just Abu Dhabi versions of What’s On and Time
in the boutiques this season
Reddy says the investment will go on sales FANTASTIC DISCOUNTS
SUPPORTED BY
in a magazine format,” he says. And, Out truly about Abu Dhabi in response to on designer brands
and marketing staff, and research and devel-
hopefully, with less stories about cats in the new title. And—if they do—whether the
opment.
Shopping 8 Property 10 Nightlife 16 Culture 22 Recreation 26 Lifestyle 28
trees and traffic lights not working. newcomer can hold its own against those
Reddy explains: “At the end of the day the Our pages are packed with Boom time ahead in spite of One to One at the city's Emirati artist courts Golfing tips, local sports Zen and the art of personal
the best labels in town global economic slump newest steakhouse controversy, not camels and children's activities maintenance, AD-style There’s certainly an obvious niche well-established brands.
plump part of the company is in the online
platform so we’re looking to keep the business
model as it is, and focus on the Middle East.”
The investors are a team from the UK, US,
UAE and India. Their interest in the company, Diary Dubai adds features, delays launch
according to Reddy, was due to Content Syn-
dicate’s “highly scalable business model”. DUBAI The hard launch of Diary Dubai, place for collaboration.”
In challenging times CS has bucked down- a PR events listing service, has been put The plan, says Scanlan, is to bring
ward trends. Reddy says the financial crisis on hold as the site undergoes further professionals together. She already has
has actually proven positive. “As publishers development to incorporate a social 400 companies signed to the service and
lay-off, they are often running the same titles media element. expects the social media function to be a
with smaller staff numbers, so they need con- Site founder Emma Scanlan says the daily visit for PR professionals.
tent for their pages which is where we come changes should be complete by February. H2O’s Vaile adds: “Diary Dubai is
in. It has also provided us with a larger pool of She is working with social media special- up and running in a basic version, but
freelancers. We are receiving many more CVs ists H2O on the new features, which will it’s going to be an ongoing project. You
now than last year and publishers are showing add elements that are similar to Facebook can’t just build it and hope people will
more interest,” he says. and MySpace. come. It has to be well-built and func-
Increased business, including an upcom- H2O CEO Steve Vaile says: “With me- tional. The social media function will
ing contract with a major publisher, has led dia and PR you’ll find different compa- make it very attractive for advertisers
to a need for bigger offices. Reddy says he is nies now want to collaborate on different and users alike.”
scouring Dubai Media City for spare space, projects, or they may want to run co-
H20 CEO Steve Vaile
Scanlan says the site will feature adver-
but is coming up empty-handed. branding projects, so it’s about creating a tising after three months of active service.
www.mediaweekme.com
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