Effies for what

During the last Lynx Awards in Dubai and apart from the ad scam, we had the chance to see the ads that won gold, silver, etc… So basically we had the chance to also judge what the judges deemed a gold variety or a silver one. The Lynx award concept starts and ends with the creativity of the ad. Now come the Effies where during the awards ceremony, a happy MC started shouting out the nominees and happy sponsors named the winners. However, what the audience got to see is bits and pieces of an ad or sometimes nothing with no proof of why it won. They did not share the ’story’ or the ‘numbers’ that made it a success. Thus there we were looking at people receiving their awards with no knowledge of why they won or what was the story ! They are called Effies because they were ‘effective’. The least they could have shared was the numbers that made them so.. A short 2 minute video could have done the job perfectly.

When will it be over for Dubai

Just when you thought that the world economy is recovering and so should that of Dubai, few signs prove this point. The recent excitement about opening the Metro was one. However, that was overshadowed by the negative press about the frequent delays and issues that it is facing. While some might be happy that a lot of people are using the Metro, it became a victim of its own success and a project which is 75% over budget.

City Scape is being held again in Dubai in October. However, its GM declared that the exhibitors are down by 30% and that Emaar and Nakheel decided to participate although they declared otherwise before. This in itself brings some doubts and lowers confidence in the sector. It would be interesting to see what kind of success this City Scape will have.

While I could not find the latest import/export figures for Dubai ports, the one for Abu Dhabi, the Capital, showed a 58% downward trend in automotive import/export figures. This is another indication that automotive which has been a big sector in the economy has gone back to the level it were three years ago.

By the end of this year, Dubai has to pay around US$ 4 billion. Everyone is waiting to see if they are going to keep their commitments. It seems a lot is riding on this. Also, everyone is watching to see how they are going to manage the US $ 84 billion debts that they have.

There has been around 2 million visitors/tourists to Dubai. However, a report mentioned that the length of stay has shortened which means less revenue for hotels and other service sectors that cater for this segment.

All predictions point to the middle of 2010 as a time where a tangible recovery will be felt. So let’s wait and see.

SWINE Flu UAE

The UAE has decided to take drastic measures against anyone suspected of having H1N1/Swine flu. They declared that people arriving in the UAE with H1N1 will be quarantined and their employer given the choice to cancel their employment if he wishes. Also, anyone arriving with a high temperature or flu like symptoms will have to produce a paper/medical report  stating that he does not have the disease. If not, then he will be quarantined, tested and kept away till a decision is made on what to do with him if it is proven that he is infected.

According to the latest media reports, the UAE has witnessed less than 200 cases since the start of the epedimic. Despite that the government has resorted to drastic measures to stop it from spreading.

Of course these actions will be taken only against the expatriate population and visitors and not the native one.

The question here is why give the employers the opportunity to cancel expat employees visas if they have the virus? After all it is treatable in most cases .

Is the crisis over in the UAE?

I got a call from one of the media reporters asking me whether I thought that the industry’s situation is getting better because they heard that an ad agency is in the process of hiring 20 people across the MENA region. In all honesty, I wish I could say yes confidently. What I could say though is that those agencies who land new business are hiring and those who are losing are letting people go. Just the way it always was. I could also say that it is not the same across the UAE or the Gulf.

Daily news about the financial sector in Dubai make the situation look not so promising. Banks are asked to boost their reserves and to embrace for the upcoming defaults on loans. Shops are giving out 50-70% discount. A car company has just announced that you can own a car by paying Dhs 30/day in an effort to boost sales and compensate for lack of lending and liquidity in the market.

On the other hand, Abu Dhabi is building a Ferrari Theme Park, museums and Sorouh one of the real estate companies there has just posted profit in the Q1 of 2009.

One thing for certain is that the public sector is trying to boost the economy by continuing with its efforts to build the infra-structure. The problem is with the scarcity of information on the economy and the financial situation in the region, one can only speculate to what comes next hoping that it is going to be positive.

What do you think?

Outdoor advertising-Dubai

Outdoor advertising in Dubai has taken a big hit. The huge bill boards which used to host immense real estate ads stand empty. The bridges which used to be filled with flags are now simply bridges. The lamp posts with a million and one variation of ads are now scarce and old. Some of the still standing ads have lost color and the message is still there, but the company or the project has been canceled. The building wrap ups which used to cost millions have also gone away. The good news is that you have less distraction on the roads. The bad news is that outdoor is a good indicator of how business is picking up. Recent reports also indicate that shopping centers expect a downturn in revenue. However, what is most troubling is the recent reports about the banks and bankruptcies in Saudi Arabia. Being the biggest country in the GCC in terms of population, GDP and impact, that is something to worry about.

Swine Flu

Just got back from a long trip that included using 4 major international airports and one regional airport (Dubai International, Pearson International (Toronto), Charles De Gaulle (Paris), Schilpol Airport (Amsterdam),  and Halifax ). These are known for being extremely busy. Despite the rising number of swine flu cases and the leaflets and alerts about it, I have not come across any obvious precautions  at airports. No thermal scanners, no medical teams, no one wearing a mask.  Have people grown immune to such news or do they realize that much of it is hype and this flu is no more dangerous than the regular one which kills thousands every year?

I guess while the UN and the countries are issuing out warnings, the media happily writing about the recent stats and number of dead, the actual behavior by countries is quite indifferent or more precisely contained. They do not want to create a panic, which if spread can affect the economy and the already existing crisis. Make up your own mind: to travel or not to?

Paris 2

Economic crisis? What econmic crisis? If you go anywhere in Paris, you’d see that the streets are packed, the bridges are packed, the museums and cathedrals are packed. Everywhere you want to go, you need to wait in a queue. Even if you want to go to to the washroom. With all these people and the money they must be spending  I wonder whether the crisis is nothing but a myth created by the gov and the corporate world with a little help from the media.

Paris in the Summer. Big Mistake

The last leg of a long journey, we expected to have some fun in Paris. The long drive from the airport to the hotel due to a continuous traffic jam made the trip hell and pretty expensive.
The hotel was not as expected. The three star rating turned out to be less than two: Adagio aparthotel on Rue du theatre.  The room was not ready, no room service, no WiFi, no Gym, full of cigarette smoke and completely bad service.  You need to collect your own towels, clean your own room, etc……

Paris in the summer is definitely a big mistake. The number of tourists is so high that they stop you from seeing the monuments or visiting any place. The Champs de Elysees, the famous street, has thousands of people at any given time. People queue to get into a coffee shop; queue to get an ice ream from Haggen Dazs. However, everyone can say afterwards that they’ve been there !

Summer or another name for hell

People are already placing bets that you can fry an egg in the heat and it is not even August yet. Summer came early this year and with it soaring temperatures and a sense of being fried alive. 50 celcius in the shade is common, but wait till humidity hits the land. No matter how many summers you spend in Dubai, you can never be ready for the next one. You dread it, you swear at it and you wish you could leave for its duration. However, the working people can only afford a month out of the country and that is not enough to avoid being caught in the heat.

So what can you do in the summer? Soak in a cool pool for a couple of hours, if you are lucky enough to have access to a cool one, or simply hide indoors in the comfort of a 24 hr air condition and attempt to go out at night when temperatures reach only 36-38 celcius!

Another question seems legitimate: why do you stay in Dubai at all? For the million or so inhabitants of the city, you can find a million answers. However, you can still gather these around certain clusters like: money, nightlife, beach, sun (vs cloudy/cold Europe), money (again), chance to make a fortune (may be not anymore), running away from insecure country, hype, hibernation, and may be more dangerous the fear of change if you’ve been here for a while.

The heat won’t go away it will persist till late in the year may be through January So embrace yourself.

A brave new world

Everything around us is changing. All constants became variables. All tried and tested thinking amounts to no more than speculation. Take finance, investment and banking and the only certainty is the lack of it. Take oil & gas, manufacturing and food resources and the only sure is the next 24 hours where the whole system either collapses or goes haywire. Take media and proof upon proof how helpless and distorted it is; how elusive became truth and honest reporting. Take TV and cinema and you can see that they are running if not ran out of ideas to excite and draw audiences. Take the net and the billion and one opinions about the same issue or product or technology or person and you are lost for genuine meaning. Information overload, product overload, consumption overload and you are looking at a world far from simple. When the only constant is the lack of it, then you can consider planning a thing of the past and learn to live in the ‘now’ taking advantage of every moment that presents itself as a ‘breath of life’. What tomorrow might bring is no more than a guess built on uncertain facts. A brave new world it is.