Made in Dubai: Concept's aggressive salesman

If offices are any indication of how successful a person is, then Aldrin Fernandes must be at the top of his game.

Perched on the 15th floor of the Al Thuraya Tower in Dubai Media City with a stunning bird's eye view of the Palm Development, it's a wonder Fernandes can tear his eyes away from the window and get any work done.

But the CEO of Concept Group is not a man who gets easily distracted from the task at hand and admits he is "aggressive" in business and would rather be out winning clients than glued to his desk.

Concept is an advertising agency. It is also a media agency, an events business, an outdoor media owner and a PR agency. So it's got most of the bases covered, you could say.

On meeting Fernandes there is nothing to suggest his aggression he is casually dressed in trendy jeans and trainers and radiates a laid back, cool dude image.

However, his ambitious business plans and achievements to date at such a young age, tell a different story. Fernandes is a self-made man who went into business to support his family in India.

He arrived in Dubai in 1991 with a bachelor of commerce degree from Bombay and "no work experience". His first job was as an accountant in a media company followed by a stint in media sales at the same company.

After this he joined Hawk Publishing, the company behind telephone directories such as the Yellow Pages, where he worked for six years as a sales person.

In 1999 he joined the Concept Group then a small advertising agency employing around 10 staff.

Blessed with the ability to spot and develop business potential, Fernandes quickly realised he was on to a winner and from the beginning began to plot Concept's expansion, buying a stake in the company in 2003 and taking it over completely in 2004.

Under his direction the firm has gone from strength to strength and now comprises seven different business units.

"One of my strengths is that I can anticipate and plan and I can see what areas the company should diversify into and where the potential is in the market," said Fernandes. "What I saw at the time was that rather than just becoming a bigger advertising agency, we should move horizontally into other facets of communication."

Fernandes claims he was never very ambitious and that his success was unexpected, attributing this to the opportunities offered by Dubai. "I wasn't brought up to be very ambitious but I've suddenly become very ambitious," he says.

"I was quite content working for someone else, but once I did get into business I realised this is what I wanted. I think the biggest reason for my success is Dubai I'm made in Dubai and without an environment like this I wouldn't be the person that I am today."

His initial lack of ambition has, however, been replaced by a steely determination and he has aggressive plans for the expansion of his business. He plans to open offices in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman within the next three years and to focus on expanding the firm's main business Concept Outdoor.

Acknowledging this market is becoming increasingly competitive, he predicts that a number of major international players will enter the regional arena and that consolidation will follow.

"I think what's going to happen in the next two to three years is that there's going to be a lot of consolidation. Some of the larger players will consolidate their position they will either acquire the smaller players or there will be international tie-ups.

"There will be maybe four or five players controlling at least 70% of the business," he predicts.

The way to stand out from the crowd, he claims, is through the creation of iconic outdoor advertising. He acknowledges that the creative side of advertising is not his firm's greatest strength, admitting, "creatively we don't do great work", but says this will become an increasingly important weapon in the firm's fight against its competitors. "What we're planning to do with outdoor is to bring in creativity and innovation to advertising. I'm planning in the next three years to really focus on that."

Fernandes certainly managed to make an impact with what he describes as the project he is most proud of the wrap around the World Trade Centre in Dubai commissioned by Emirates Post which he believes is the shape of things to come.

Boasting mind-boggling statistics, the wrap is made up of 16 pieces of vinyl mesh held together by 28 kilometres of rope, weighs in at 11 tonnes and measures a massive 186,000sq ft.

"I think the WTC building wrap is the project I am most proud of," says Fernandes.

"We had to do something which was impactful and which fitted the client's brief and we had to do it to a very tight deadline.

"And we came out with was the second largest building wrap in the world and we had ten days to do it. WTC has never done any advertising on the building so it was very challenging."

Fernandes' ability to complete such a challenging project under such a tight deadline comes from his ability to stay calm under pressure combined with his determination to see such projects through. "I'm very calm under pressure, I don't let the world know that I'm under pressure," he says.

"But I do follow up aggressively on projects or issues which I think are important to the organisation.

"I'm very strict when it comes to deliverables and when it comes to the meeting of targets."

The outdoor industry will be hoping that he applies similar steely determination to the formation of an Outdoor Advertising Association in the UAE, in which he features prominently.

Luckily for his employees, however, as a boss Fernandes adopts a very different approach, describing himself as easy-going and "not strict at all" although he does admit a tendency to get over-excited now and then.

"I get so excited about a new business idea or a new project that my enthusiasm does not allow me to see the negative of any project," he says. "I think my enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of me."

Preferring to focus on the bigger picture, Fernandes avoids micro-management and sticks to what he does best selling.

"I consider myself a sales person. I hate this sitting in the office and micro-managing business," he says. "I like to be out there trying to get business for each part of the organisation. I'm their best salesman."

And with such a wide spectrum of advertising services to sell, those yet to hear from the aggressive Fernandes soon will.

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