Pakistani professionals discuss 'Branding Excellence in the Middle East'

More than 120 C-level (CEO, COO, CMO) executives from the community and senior Pakistani professionals from diverse industries attended the members-only event.

Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman & World President International Advertising Association (IAA), and Robert Mitchell, President of 'The Tribe' and former regional MD of Saatchi & Saatchi, were the guest speakers. The theme of the event recognized the increasing importance of building and maintaining strong brands in the Middle East.

Starting the discussion, Joseph Ghossoub addressed the misconceptions surrounding branding in Middle East and the challenges that marketers face today.

He said: 'While a brand is the most valuable asset a company can own it can also be the most confounding because, while products are tangible, brands are all about perceptual reality.'

In order to make a sound brand strategy, Ghossoub said, marketing professionals must judge changing social moods effectively. 'You have to be like the Red Indian tracker who puts his ear to the ground, sniffs the air, looks around and says, 'I think the buffalo are going that way'. What makes brands successful is not promotion: it is being a brand which finds itself in the path of major social change.'

Robert Mitchell contributed to the discussion by highlighting some of the attributes that help raise a brand's value. He noted that emotions associated with a brand drive its value, and that customers feel a strong sense of ownership towards successful brands, which must be respected. 'Successful brands understand their customers, stay relevant to them, and are clearly differentiated from the competition,' he said.

A panel discussion followed the presentations of both speakers, which invited questions from guests.

Chairman of the Professionals Wing of the Pakistan Association, Saqib Iqbal, an eminent Pakistani professional in the UAE, presented plaques to both speakers on behalf of the organization.

Concluding the evening, he said: 'These days, customer loyalty is increasingly fickle, especially among young people who now make up about 50% of the customers in the Middle East.'

He said: 'This challenge combined with fierce competition and over-crowded markets shows that only the strongest brands survive. Names, logos, slogans and competitive pricing are no longer enough to protect brand value. Company reputation, image and corporate social responsibility commitments are playing a bigger role in the business of driving brand value.'