Time for action

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Woodward (right) and Harding believe there is a lot of potential for ‘retailtainment’ in the region.

OgilvyAction have called for improvements to how retailers approach category management in the Middle East.

MemacOgilvy has launched the first company to specialise in the path along the decision to purchase in Dubai, and CEO Edmond Moutran has already predicted its latest business will reach 10 markets in the region over the next three years.

"We have brought OgilvyAction to the Middle East because we see a big need for these specialised Last Mile services and experts in consumer behaviour and activation," he said.

Moutran predicted the company would grow from eight to 20 employees in the UAE by April, backed by the huge potential for such services.

"It is all about the ‘big' brand idea that is communicated to consumers at various touch-points to steer consumer behaviour, whether it's sampling, point-of-sale material, retail merchandising or experiential marketing," he said.

The firm has responded to the growth of the GCC - with an escalating GDP of US $600 million in 2006, a 34 million-strong population, the world's 17th largest economy and a Gross Leasable Area expected to exceed 130 million ft ² by 2010.

The team intends to support marketers with the transition from low-end grocer to high-tech, one-stop shops.

"The increase in market competitiveness has meant that brand owners must produce sophisticated marketing activity to be noticed. We have already started our shopper and field research in the region."

Steve Harding, CEO, OgilvyAction, Europe, Middle East and Africa explained that the process begins by analysing the relationship between the brand, the shopper and the retailer, before using planning tools such as MarketAnalytics and ShopperAnalytics.

"These tools enable the measurement of not only the impact of messaging - clarity, quality, distribution and compliance of in-store communication, but also allow the importance of the various touch-points along the final path to purchase."

The activation business is growing at an average of 10% per annum worldwide, Harding said, and he went to describe supermarkets as the "new media."

"Customers are now hit by e-mails, fixtures, friends and blog sites, and there are brands that have grown without TV ads such as Starbucks Coffee and Virgin."

The company has been developed to enable marketers to cut through the clutter and reach consumers at key moments of truth, and ultimately to influence their actions at the point of purchase, backed by its encouraging studies showing that between 40-70% of purchase decisions are made in-store.

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