Battle of the brands

Managing expectations of clients has never been a big problem for brand consultants in the Gulf. But increased competition and the emergence of a new generation of discerning consumers is rapidly raising the stakes. Soren Billing reports.

With the temperature outside in the mid-forties, the audience at Sea of Stars, a star-studded musical that premiered in cinemas across the Arab world last month, were already likely to bring a soft drink with them.

If they didn't, they probably bought one on their way out: the film was produced by PepsiCo International and the artists - five of the biggest names in Arab entertainment - are all sponsored by the beverage giant.

Pepsi could easily have built its campaign around some of the international stars already on its roster, which includes Beyonce, Pink and Shakira.

Instead it chose to speak directly to the region's burgeoning young population, many of whom don't drink alcohol. "Pepsi has always been able to bond with its customers like no other brand has," a Pepsi spokesperson said in a statement.

The campaign illustrates the growing importance of branding in the Middle East. The industry is benefiting from maturing markets, especially in the Gulf, where companies are vying for customers' attention and seek to differentiate themselves from the competition.

But in a market where many companies equate their brand with a logo, branding gurus may first have to educate executives about what a brand really is.

"We start talking to them, and suddenly they're just saying things like: ‘We don't like the colour', or, ‘The shape isn't right'," says Duncan James, director of strategy at The Brand Union Middle East. He then has to explain to the company that the problem with the brand can be anything from employing the wrong staff to a lack of investment in the retail experience.

"A lot of our time is actually spent not just doing the work, but educating clients about what a brand is," he says.

Predictably, destination and property branding are strong sectors for branding agencies. "You see so many brands out there, who stands out? That's becoming more of a challenge," says Michael Hughes, executive director of strategy at the firm.

Along with booming sectors such as property, consumer goods, an area traditionally dominated by Western imports, is also likely to see growth.

"A lot of companies are realising that the region has unique needs and you can't just literally import brands and slap the Arabic on there," James says.

In particular, industries that are unique to the region, such as halal foods, will have to strengthen their brands as competition heats up. "In the West, there is a market but it's a very niche market, whereas here it's booming," says James.

A case in point is Barbican, a non-alcoholic malt drink produced by regional beverage company Aujan Industries.

Last month it launched a series of TV commercials showing young, unscripted actors from the Gulf, sometimes in Western clothes, talking about their love of cars, shadow boxing in a gym and playing around on a mixed beach. Barbican is only mentioned in the last line: "This is Barbican. This is my life," says the actor.

For many Gulf consumers who are used to seeing their own in more traditional commercials explaining the many benefits of a certain product, this is a first.

"In researching opinions, it was found that Barbican consumers all shared a desire for self-expression, regardless of their geographical location, and Aujan immediately took this on board to tap into self-expression amongst, predominantly, young men in the Gulf," the company said at the launch.

The campaign followed a highly successful competition on the web where contestants were invited to upload video clips of their run-down vehicles, with winners having their wrecks transformed into flashy, customised cars.

Austyn Allison, managing editor of Communicate, a magazine for the marketing and advertising sector in the Middle East, says that campaigns that speak to Arab youth directly and that don't make them feel "like an afterthought" tend to do well.

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