IAA’s President Ghossoub criticizes advertising in the Middle East
More than a month ago, the world-wide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Kevin Roberts attacked advertising in the Middle East and described it as a total crap, this happened in a lunch with members of the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association – IAA UAE.
Now the president of the IAA, Joseph Ghossoub, who happened to be the Chairman of the THG – The Holding Group, repeats Roberts words and criticizes Real Estate advertising in the Middle East, just like the Saatchi’s dude did.
As a start, isn’t Ghossoub one of the earlier advertising professionals in our region? Doesn’t this mean that he is among those who set the standards that he is criticizing today? I wonder what did the IAA contribute to the industry during the past years of it’s operation in the region?
I don’t think that Emaar’s iconic image came as a result of THG’s efforts, I guess it was the natural reflection of the huge projects being launched and managed by this real estate giant.
Why do we always wait for someone from outside the region to tell us that we are wrong? Can’t we evolve internally? Can’t we understand our needs and resources to realize our potential?
This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 12:18 pm and is filed under Arabia, Controversial, Marketing, Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
on July 2, 2008 at 8:54 pm tariq wrote:
is Jordan included
on July 3, 2008 at 11:01 am Samer Marzouq wrote:
Sure, the whole Middle East.
on July 4, 2008 at 4:09 pm tariq wrote:
yes he is right and he should say more
on August 22, 2008 at 10:20 am Sari Salibi wrote:
Real estate advertisng in the UAE is like a dam that broke loose. Most of it was designed to sell property and when brand image was to be creatived, they all used the same formula. Deals are one in the region on media deals. Creativity is a commodity that clients don’t see a need to pay for. Most the clients feel that creativity is the icing on the cake. Added to that, most of the ad agencies used the media as the message. Bigger meant better. Sales were happeeing even before the campaigns ran and advertising money was wasted and is still being wasted by agencies giving their clients set menus rather than Al A Carte. Agencies are not supermarkets. Agencies are actually outdated in their setup and approach. Their name (advertising) should be changed first to achieve the intended change. Simple BIG ideas that sell (brand and products) is the way. Anything else is a waste of money… The client’s.