The level of international ignorance about Abu Dhabi presents an opportunity to savvy marketers, says Toby Southgate, managing director of The Brand Union's local office.
The level of international ignorance about Abu Dhabi presents an opportunity to savvy marketers, says Toby Southgate, managing director of The Brand Union's local office.
The level of international ignorance about Abu Dhabi presents an opportunity to savvy marketers, says Toby Southgate, managing director of The Brand Union's local office.
The level of international ignorance about Abu Dhabi presents an opportunity to savvy marketers, says Toby Southgate, managing director of The Brand Union's local office.

Making their mark


  • English
  • Arabic

Toby Southgate remembers the date just over a year ago that he realised the potential for the communications industry in Abu Dhabi. He was living in New York, mixing with investment bankers in the final months of the industry's bonanza, when the news hit the papers that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had bought a stake in Citigroup. It was Nov 27. "Even guys who worked in banks on Wall Street were like, 'Where is Abu Dhabi? Is it in Dubai?'" he recalls. "In that kind of level of ignorance, you've got to see an opportunity."

So he decided to capitalise on it by joining The Brand Union, an international brand consultancy, and helping the company to set up shop in Abu Dhabi in March this year. Less than nine months after opening, the modern, glass-lined offices on Airport Road are becoming too small for business. "At the moment, we are generating more work than our team of 12 people can handle," says Mr Southgate, now the managing director of the Abu Dhabi office, which handles strategic communications for clients such as Mubadala, Sorouh and the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC). "If we can find the appropriate space and the appropriate talent, I would expect by the end of next year we would be more like 30 or 40 people."

Although Dubai remains the hub for the advertising and communications industry in the region, Abu Dhabi is playing an increasingly prominent role, with many of the major global advertising networks looking to move into or significantly expand their presence over the next year. One of them is the BPG Group, a regional communications company with a staff of 240 that does work for major Abu Dhabi projects such as Masdar and Saadiyat Island. In the past year, the company has increased its Abu Dhabi staff from four to eight and had to find larger office space. More growth is on the way.

"The business plan for 2009 is to significantly grow our Abu Dhabi office," says Clark Williams, the executive vice president and chief operating officer for BPG Abu Dhabi. "We have pretty much doubled our size, and plan to hire a bit more in the Arabic art direction and copywriting in the future." He likens the advertising industry in Abu Dhabi today to that of Dubai several years ago, when those who were hired to do communications work found themselves in the role of ambassadors for the entire emirate, not just the brand.

"We handled the Dubai Shopping Festival for the Dubai Government, and it was not just the business, it was also a reflection of Dubai," he says. "Just like it's not just Masdar, it's also how Abu Dhabi is perceived." Working for the Government has its advantages, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. "If you are doing work for Abu Dhabi, you will be doing a lot of government work," Mr Williams says. "That sector is not as connected to the economy or to the global financial meltdown that is happening. It's related to initiatives that are going to happen whether there is financing or not."

The prevalence of government-related communications work may be one of Abu Dhabi's main attractions while financial times are tough, but it was the promise of the diversification of the emirate's economy that attracted the first wave of major international advertising companies. Among those leading the way was Team, which became the first regional advertising agency to start in Abu Dhabi, rather than Dubai, when it set up shop in 1989. In 1997, it teamed up with the global advertising giant Young & Rubicam to form Team/Young & Rubicam. George el Maalouf, the managing director of the Abu Dhabi office, says he has seen at least one advertising bubble come and go in the capital.

"Many agencies came to this market and have closed their operations and left, and we are one of the few global agencies that have stayed," he says, noting that in the early days many of the local business sectors were dominated by monopolies. "Now you have competition across almost all the sectors, and whenever competition is there, it means you need communications agencies next to you. About three or four years back they [the agencies] started to turn their eyes to Abu Dhabi."

Today, Team/Young&Rubicam represents clients such as Sorouh, Daman and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, and has not yet felt the impact of the global economic downturn, Mr Maalouf says. "We are still recruiting," he says. "We are business as usual." Impact BBDO, another communications group, opened an office in Abu Dhabi two years ago, and since then its staff has grown from 11 to 55. Sam Husaini, the managing director of the Abu Dhabi office, says the decision came as part of a realisation that Abu Dhabi's growth could not be serviced from the company's Dubai office.

"In Abu Dhabi, to be successful in business, you have to be able to strike strong relationships, to get people to trust you and to show them you share the same values," he says. Today, the company boasts clients such as Etisalat, Aldar, Yas Island, Mubadala, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and the Abu Dhabi Media Company, which owns and publishes The National. It plans to continue its expansion next year, shifting its digital division, Impact Proximity, from Dubai.

The growth of major advertising agencies such as TBWA, FP7, Team/Young & Rubicam and BBDO in Abu Dhabi prompted BKP Music, the Dubai-based music and audio production studio, to open an office in the city this autumn. "When we first started to touch base with the agencies here, some of them were two or three people, and now they are like 60 or 70 people," says Barry Kirsch, the company's chief executive. "They are growing in leaps and bounds."

But Abu Dhabi's air of invulnerability to the global economic downturn is something of a double-edged sword for its growing communications industry. Property developer clients may still be able to pay their bills, but property prices are still sky-high, squeezing companies seeking bigger offices or hiring talent from abroad. "Hiring for Abu Dhabi is still very difficult because of the housing situation," Mr Williams says. "Singles who don't want to room with other people can't find studios or one-bedrooms, and for more senior people with families, it has just gotten ridiculous for villas."

He gave the example of an employee who last year rented a villa in the Al Raha Beach area for Dh250,000 (US$68,061) a year, and says it is now costing twice that much. "The salaries for middle managers are not going to cover that," he said. "My interviewees know the housing costs, and they say 'Look, this is a good salary if housing was cheaper, but 80 per cent of my salary will go towards the roof over my head'."

Mr Husaini calls the housing market the biggest barrier to the growth of the business, adding; "I have quite a bit of my staff commuting from Dubai." Mr Southgate says he is still "desperately" hunting for bigger offices at a price the company can afford. "Our ability to grow has really been affected by the real estate prices." The tight property market may help to explain the position of major advertising players such as Saatchi & Saatchi, which runs its regional operations from Dubai. "Definitely, we'll be moving to the Abu Dhabi area, that is clear," says Elias Ashkar, the company's chief executive for the Middle East and North Africa. "The question is timing."

Grey Group is in a similar position, as is Belgiovane Williams Mackay (BWM). "It's part of our development plans, but we don't know when it will be exactly," says Claudia Corbelli, a senior account manager at BWM, which has been working with Etisalat and Mubadala for the past two years. "It's a market that definitely needs an office." khagey@thenational.ae

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
INVESTMENT PLEDGES

Cartlow: $13.4m

Rabbitmart: $14m

Smileneo: $5.8m

Soum: $4m

imVentures: $100m

Plug and Play: $25m

The specs
  • Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
  • Power: 640hp
  • Torque: 760nm
  • On sale: 2026
  • Price: Not announced yet
Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

SPECS

Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now

Who is Allegra Stratton?

 

  • Previously worked at The Guardian, BBC’s Newsnight programme and ITV News
  • Took up a public relations role for Chancellor Rishi Sunak in April 2020
  • In October 2020 she was hired to lead No 10’s planned daily televised press briefings
  • The idea was later scrapped and she was appointed spokeswoman for Cop26
  • Ms Stratton, 41, is married to James Forsyth, the political editor of The Spectator
  • She has strong connections to the Conservative establishment
  • Mr Sunak served as best man at her 2011 wedding to Mr Forsyth
Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

Band Aid

Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

Results

5pm: Al Falah – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bshara, Richard Mullen (jockey), Salem Al Ketbi (trainer)

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: AF Musannef, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Al Dhafra – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Mualami, Antonio Fresu, Abubakar Daud

6.30pm: Al Khaleej Al Arabi – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hawafez, Adrie de Vries, Abubakar Daud

7pm: Al Mafraq – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: JAP Almahfuz, Royston Ffrench, Irfan Ellahi

7.30pm: Al Samha – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Celestial Spheres, Patrick Cosgrave, Ismail Mohammed

Brief scores:

Toss: Australia, chose to bat

Australia: 272-9 (50 ov)

Khawaja 100, Handscomb 52; Bhuvneshwar 3-48

India: 237 (50 ov)

Rohit 56, Bhuvneshwar 46; Zampa 3-46

Player of the Match: Usman Khawaja (Australia)

Player of the Series: Usman Khawaja (Australia)

AT%20A%20GLANCE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EWindfall%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EAn%20%E2%80%9Cenergy%20profits%20levy%E2%80%9D%20to%20raise%20about%20%C2%A35%20billion%20in%20a%20year.%20The%20temporary%20one-off%20tax%20will%20hit%20oil%20and%20gas%20firms%20by%2025%20per%20cent%20on%20extraordinary%20profits.%20An%2080%20per%20cent%20investment%20allowance%20should%20calm%20Conservative%20nerves%20that%20the%20move%20will%20dent%20North%20Sea%20firms%E2%80%99%20investment%20to%20save%20them%2091p%20for%20every%20%C2%A31%20they%20spend.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EA%20universal%20grant%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EEnergy%20bills%20discount%2C%20which%20was%20effectively%20a%20%C2%A3200%20loan%2C%20has%20doubled%20to%20a%20%C2%A3400%20discount%20on%20bills%20for%20all%20households%20from%20October%20that%20will%20not%20need%20to%20be%20paid%20back.%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETargeted%20measures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMore%20than%20eight%20million%20of%20the%20lowest%20income%20households%20will%20receive%20a%20%C2%A3650%20one-off%20payment.%20It%20will%20apply%20to%20households%20on%20Universal%20Credit%2C%20Tax%20Credits%2C%20Pension%20Credit%20and%20legacy%20benefits.%3Cbr%3ESeparate%20one-off%20payments%20of%20%C2%A3300%20will%20go%20to%20pensioners%20and%20%C2%A3150%20for%20those%20receiving%20disability%20benefits.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scores:

Toss: Rajputs, elected to field first

Sindhis 94-6 (10 ov)

Watson 42; Munaf 3-20

Rajputs 96-0 (4 ov)

Shahzad 74 not out

The details

Colette

Director: Wash Westmoreland

Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West

Our take: 3/5

Results
%3Cp%3E%0D%3Cstrong%3EElite%20men%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Amare%20Hailemichael%20Samson%20(ERI)%202%3A07%3A10%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Leornard%20Barsoton%20(KEN)%202%3A09%3A37%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Ilham%20Ozbilan%20(TUR)%202%3A10%3A16%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Gideon%20Chepkonga%20(KEN)%202%3A11%3A17%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Isaac%20Timoi%20(KEN)%202%3A11%3A34%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EElite%20women%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E1.%20Brigid%20Kosgei%20(KEN)%202%3A19%3A15%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Hawi%20Feysa%20Gejia%20(ETH)%202%3A24%3A03%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Sintayehu%20Dessi%20(ETH)%202%3A25%3A36%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Aurelia%20Kiptui%20(KEN)%202%3A28%3A59%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Emily%20Kipchumba%20(KEN)%202%3A29%3A52%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode

Directors: Raj & DK

Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon

Rating: 4/5

Name: Brendalle Belaza

From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines

Arrived in the UAE: 2007

Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus

Favourite photography style: Street photography

Favourite book: Harry Potter

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
%3Cp%3EHigh%20fever%20(40%C2%B0C%2F104%C2%B0F)%3Cbr%3ESevere%20headache%3Cbr%3EPain%20behind%20the%20eyes%3Cbr%3EMuscle%20and%20joint%20pains%3Cbr%3ENausea%3Cbr%3EVomiting%3Cbr%3ESwollen%20glands%3Cbr%3ERash%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog

Name: Younis Al Balooshi

Nationality: Emirati

Education: Doctorate degree in forensic medicine at the University of Bonn

Hobbies: Drawing and reading books about graphic design

SPECS

Toyota land Cruiser 2020 5.7L VXR

Engine: 5.7-litre V8

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Power: 362hp

Torque: 530Nm

Price: Dh329,000 (base model 4.0L EXR Dh215,900)

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills