IAA attracts top notch speakers for Outside the Box conference

President of IAA Jordan and World Vice President for Communications and Public Relations Mr. Sharif Abukhadra said,

'Hosting a group of renowned speakers for the second time comes as a direct result of the acclaimed success the 2005 conference achieved. Similar to last year, we have invited a number of prominent international as well as local specialists and experts to take us on a journey outside of our normal comfort zone and through some high level, quality examples of international marketing communications.'

According to Abukhadra what distinguishes this two-day conference is its focus on educating and enriching attendees' knowledge, saying that this is what the Jordanian market needs at this stage, a market yet to reach maturity. 'Outside the Box is now considered one of the most famed conferences in our region that specializes in advertising and marketing communications subjects and we want our industry professionals to be real Box Breakers in how they approach their work,' Abukhadra went on to say.

'The need for such a conference is quite essential given the continued rapid growth of our industry here in Jordan. Recent advertising expenditure reviews highlight that we should expect this industry to witness even more growth. Whilst this is great news for us within the industry it also says that we must be up to date with the latest international practices - a full justification for the continuance of the IAA's annual knowledge building platform - the 'Outside the Box' conference,' added Abukhadra.

'Branding' comes this year as one of the topics of the conference. Graham Hales, Executive Director, Interbrand, UK, will provide a holistic look at the world of branding, giving key insights around the creation of appropriate set of brand values; while Linda Cornelius, Senior Partner, Executive Group Director, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, will discuss how brand values transcend product attributes to become part of the social consciousness. On the same subject, Nabil Amasha, Chief Marketing Officer, ARAMEX, Jordan, will consider how the unique customer focused culture should be instrumental in building distinctive world-class brands that are capable of competing against global giants.

'Shock Therapy' is not often thought about unless it is a medical matter - however Fadi Saad, Regional Manager, Grey Worldwide Middle East & North Africa, Saudi Arabia, will discuss how the previously traditional and predictable life cycle of brands no longer applies today, showing movie examples of advertising that truly shocks.

This year public relations again will have a presence amongst the creative collective with Patrice Tanaka, Co-Chair, Chief Creative Officer, Director-Consumer Practice, CRT/Tanaka LLC, USA, speaking about the elements that are common to all breakthrough PR campaigns, including consumer product, corporate or issue advocacy campaigns. She will examine the historic evolution of public relations in the United States which is considered a country that always provided the ideal climate for the development of such a dynamic communications discipline. Tackling the same discipline from another angle, Dave Robinson, CEO, Middle East Hill & Knowlton, UAE, will consider how PR sits within our fast changing world, looking at the 'new media age' and how we should be 'living in a responsible world'.

Abukhadra pointed out that Hales from Interbrand was not the only renowned speaker to return to the conference for the second time. Herve De Clerck, Dream Leader and Editorial Director, AdForum.com, Switzerland, whose sessions, which included the best ads of 2004, received wide acclaim by the participants, returns to show creative work from across the world, explaining why the ads are considered to be the best in the world for 2005.

Other disciplines with marketing communications world of direct marketing, online marketing, media planning and booking, and marketing research are also to be discussed in the conference. Hussein Dabbas, Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Services, Royal Jordanian (RJ), will look at the marketing process of transforming RJ from a government run entity to a privatized customer-centric showcase started at the grass roots - the brand and what it stood for. He will also consider the history of the RJ brand and why a complete turnaround was necessary and continues to play an important part.

By introducing a forecasting tool that integrates consumer research and media information to predict media support for a given execution, Suresh Ramalingam, Head Customized Research (GCC), ACNielsen, UAE, will highlight how to link the 'right' ad with the 'right' TV media spend, while James Mathewson, Founder, Trust Digital, UK, will display UK and US case studies to explain the concept as well as the issue of reducing media wastage and maximizing media yield. Furthermore he will talk about 'what is next for online advertisers', showing the '5 key take-outs for online advertising success'.

Also Elliot Polak, Founder, Text Appeal, UK, will take a look at 'calculated' versus 'invisible' risks by examining 'worst practice' case histories and how we can all improve our global marketing processes. Giles Horton, Global Account Managing Director and Head of Business Development, Wunderman, UK, will share an increasingly common view that clients have become so comfortable with creative mediocrity and that often agencies content themselves with producing work they shouldn't and can't be proud of.

The final name on the impressive roster is Drew Neisser, President & CEO, Renegade Marketing Group, USA, who will take a look at the growing power of consumers and how that power is affecting every stage of the sales' cycle.

Abukhadra concluded by saying, 'This conference embraces a clear vision from the top - to bring top notch specialists from around the globe to share their expertise with local professionals, thereby creating an effective base that surely contributes to the development of this industry and its professional, thus the development of our national economy'.

Simultaneous translation will be provided throughout all the sessions of the conference to ensure that maximum benefits are attained.