Second Annual Advertising and Communications Conference kicks off in Jordan

In his opening remarks, Sharif Abukhadra, President of IAA Jordan and World Vice President for Communications and Public Relations, welcomed the guests and participants and expressed his gratitude to the numerous sponsors for their distinctive role in supporting the event.

He said, "Our aim this year is to build on the success of last year's conference. Feedback over last year shows that our conference gave professionals across our sector a renewed sense of direction and a set of standards to rise to. I believe we have again an exciting line up of speakers this year."

In reviewing the recent trends in advertising expenditure, Abukhadra pointed out the correlation between the tremendous growth of the Jordan market, the Kingdom's GDP and its advertising spend. In 2005 the size of the advertising industry grew by 34% to a record US$162 million and expenditure in the first four months of 2006 again continued growth, reaching US$52million, a rise of 24% on the same period in 2005. In evaluating the role that advertising and marketing communications plays within Jordan, Abukhadra commented, "the (advertising and marketing communications) sector has become a key contributor and driver of the Kingdom's economic development.

Abukhadra went on to encourage attendees to digest the best practice examples offered by the speakers and consider how best to apply the shared knowledge and vision in their line of business.

As keynote speaker, Joseph Ghossoub, Chairman and World President of the International Advertising Association said, "We live in an increasingly connected world, where trade barriers are down, and the digital revolution is up. We have the ability to do business or almost anything else within the blink of an eye, with billions of people around the world".

He also went on to say, "If we do not make use of this connectivity, of the changing world around us, we will fall out of the competitive, global economy and into the darkness of the has-been, once-were worlds".

In his speech, Ghossoub also applauded the Chapter's hard work, which led to winning the IAA Chapter Excellence award, stressing that it is no small achievement, particularly for a young Chapter competing against some of the best and oldest Chapters around the World.

The first day of the conference covered a number of hot topics related to branding, public relations, direct marketing, online marketing, media planning and booking, and marketing research. The sessions started with Mr. Drew Neisser, President & CEO, Renegade Marketing Group, USA, who took a look at the growing power of consumers and how that power affects every stage of the sales' cycle. Mr. Suresh Ramalingam, Head Customized Research (GCC), ACNielsen, UAE, followed and highlighted how to link the "right" ad with the "right" TV media spend by introducing a forecasting tool that integrates consumer research and media information to predict media support for a given execution.

While Patrice Tanaka, Co-Chair, Chief Creative Officer, Director-Consumer Practice, CRT/Tanaka LLC, USA, spoke about the elements that were common to all breakthrough PR campaigns, including consumer product, corporate or issue advocacy campaigns. She also examined 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.

Afternoon sessions started with Mr. James Mathewson, Founder, Trust Digital, UK, who displayed UK and US case studies to explain the concept as well as the issue of reducing media wastage and maximizing media yield. He also talked about 'what is next for online advertisers' by showing the '5 key take-outs for online advertising success'. Shifting to another subject, Mr. Nabil Amasha, Chief Marketing Officer, ARAMEX, Jordan, showed how the unique customer focused culture is instrumental in building distinctive world-class brands that are capable of competing against global giants.

Mr. Elliot Polak, Founder, Text Appeal, UK, finished off the day by taking a look at 'calculated' versus 'invisible' risks by examining 'worst practice' case histories and how we can all improve our global marketing processes.

Abukhadra concluded by expressing his belief that participants 'take-outs' from the conference would again set a benchmark on everyone's horizon in achievement and personal development. He added, "We believe the conference's varied sessions and discussions helped educate and enrich attendees' knowledge by shedding light on new and beneficial ways to their line of work".

The two-day conference which is held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel is sponsored by a number of local companies with Al Rai newspaper at the forefront as Platinum sponsor. While Al-Kawn Radio & TV Broadcasting (FannFM and Rotana), Al Farida for Specialised Publications and Al Waseet newspaper hold the Golden sponsorship. As for the Silver sponsors, they are: Team Young & Rubicam, Publicis Graphics, Seagulls, IPSOS and Amlak newspaper. While Al-Nahda press printing, Mupi and Al Bawaba portal are the Bronze sponsors. Adding to that, Royal Jordanian is the official carrier.

Additional sponsors included: Al Ghad newspaper, Maktoob, Asda'a Public Relations, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Intermarkets, Aramex, Wunderman, Trancity, ArabAd, Beity, Pro4, Media Plus and Wanadoo.