HOLDING FORTH: As Managing Director of Yahoo! Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Hussein Freijeh leads the commercial and managerial aspects of the business of his region.
By Anand Holla
When head honchos from top corporates such as Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo!, eBay Inc, The Body Shop, Virgin Media, and GE, take the stage to present their well-earned wisdom on marketing, it’s anybody’s guess that it will be one mother lode of a global marketing event.
Slated for October 18 and 19 at the W Doha Hotel, Marketing Kingdom Middle East 2 is being hailed not just as Qatar’s biggest global marketing event, but also touted to be the most awaited marketing event in the region.
Given how crucial marketing as an expertise has become, more so in the age and arena of social networking, the grand conclave of marketing geniuses promises to educate the enthusiasts with precious insight and an opportunity to expand their network circle.
Kosta Petrov, CEO at P World — the organisers of the Marketing Kingdom Middle East 2 — tells Community, “As the only international marketing event in Qatar, the Marketing Kingdom Middle East 2 offers insights into the latest global marketing trends. The event is a platform to share global ideas and discuss how they can be implemented locally. Instead of regional marketers going to London or New York, we bring the global experts to them. The event also serves as a tool for global marketers to understand Qatari and regional marketing trends.”
Some of the highlights of the event are real life case studies in which you learn about “the best practices in creating tailor-made content, increase the value of paid media and engage your key influencers.” In store is also a lowdown on best international and regional practices applicable to maximise your social media presence, and an interactive workshop on “developing your brand purpose on Facebook and the various strategies of how to achieve business results on Facebook.”
Last October, Doha played host to the first edition of the Marketing Kingdom Middle East, in which digital marketing and social media success was discussed and analysed. It also happened to be the first marketing event in Qatar to feature a speaker from Twitter.
Among many interesting bits of MENA-related data shared on this platform, some were that the majority of users across the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region spend three to seven hours online; Facebook is still the most popular social network across the MENA region, followed by Twitter and then Instagram; and people in the region use their phones 150 times a day for at least three hours.
The speakers at the first edition included marketing experts from Google, Shazam, Coca-Cola and Tate Museum. “With more than 100 delegates from Qatar and the GCC region, the event was an incredible success which gave us an additional encouragement to organise the second edition of the event again in Qatar,” says Petrov.
Four years ago, P World put together its first ever Marketing Kingdom event. Now 10 countries, more than 8,000 delegates in attendance, and a presence of more than 1489 companies later, P World has turned to Qatar for the second time for good reason.
Petrov explains, “Qatar has a very strong and vibrant marketing scene and we feel that it is the next hub of the regional marketing world. Some of the marketing campaigns done in the country are truly fascinating. We strongly feel that Qatar could be the bridge to connect marketing ideas from the West and the East.”
Boasting of annual shows in 11 different countries, the Marketing Kingdom is regarded among the world’s fastest growing marketing events. “This year alone, aside from Qatar, the event was hosted in Croatia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Later this year, the event is also going to Egypt and Iran, making it the world’s largest series of events,” says Petrov.
For Qatar’s second edition, a long line of senior marketing gurus are set to share their knowledge. The two-day marketing magnum opus will kick off in style with a presentation on The Power Of #Now by Benjamin Ampen, Head of Sales, MENA Twitter. Here’s a quick look at some of the top speakers at the event.
Since joining Twitter in 2012, Ampen has launched the company’s sales activities in France, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Prior to joining Twitter, Ampen worked at Google for four years, where he spent his last years spearheading the business development team across the UK and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region.
As the Managing Director of Yahoo! Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Hussein Freijeh leads the commercial and managerial aspects of the business of his region. Before Yahoo acquired Maktoob in 2009 (an Arab company known for being the first Arabic/English e-mail service provider), and during his tenure at Maktoob, Hussein was instrumental in establishing the startup’s renowned sales portfolio to grow the Maktoob Sales Operations into the forefront of media companies in advertising spend and market share. At Yahoo Maktoob, Hussein has been a driving force behind the company’s market leadership in digital advertising and the introduction of innovative products
Paul Fabretti, Global Director Of Social Media, Microsoft, recently joined Microsoft as its global head of social media for its consumer apps and services division. Before this, Fabretti was digital and social media lead at Telefonica, where he oversaw global and European digital and social media vision and initiatives and made sure the company was seen as a beacon of both social media innovation and best practice. He was previously head of the award-winning O2 UK social media team.
Speaking of O2, Kristian Lorenzon, Head Of Social Media, O2 (Telefonica UK), is also part of the stellar speaker line-up. Lorenzon oversees O2’s central social media strategy, governance and the delivery of commercial and customer engagement activities. Areas of particular interest include consumer responses to new media, and social media’s role in omnichannel retailing.
Ernestina Hall, Head of Brand for Good, Virgin Media, manages the Virgin Media Pioneers team and is also involved in the development of further Virgin Media programmes to support young people. Hall joined Virgin Media in April 2011 after seven years at the BBC, where she developed the corporation’s Outreach strategy having previously led a variety of youth engagement, charity and community programmes.
Joep Hutschemakers, Director E-commerce and Media, eBay Inc, is Head of Media and Partnerships at Marktplaats, and is responsible for the B2C media activities to large merchants. Marktplaats is the largest Dutch E-commerce and horizontal classifieds site and part of eBay.
Georgios Kolovos, Marketing Director, GE, is a recognised marketing strategist with strong B2B expertise in the financial services market. Currently, Kolovos leads the European marketing team of GE Capital, the financial arm of General Electric, responsible for 17 countries across Europe.
Sam Thomson, UK Brand and Values Director, The Body Shop, has been the company’s Brand and Values Director for four years now. Previously, Thomson spent 11 years at Procter & Gamble as the company’s brand manager.
As the Brand, Marketing & Culture Director of London 2012 Olympic Games, Greg Nugent was responsible for everything from customer relationships to the look of the Games. He built a database of 5.5 million attendees, turned volunteers into Gamesmakers and coined the phrase ‘Inspiring a Generation’. He now applies the Olympic lessons and more to the business world.
Scott Hicks, Former Client Partner, Facebook MENA, is a general management, marketing and business development executive who builds long term brand value and identifies key business drivers for growth. Hicks executes with a focus on brand strategy, financial objectives and organisational culture. Hicks will hold an interactive half-day workshop: Developing your brand purpose on Facebook and achieving greater business results.
If the spectacular list of speakers has got you excited, you can register yourself by visiting www.thepworld.com and perhaps, even avail of the early bird prices. Register by August 30 and you will get in for USD699. If you register between August 31 and September 27, the price is USD899. As for the late-comers, the registration cost, after September 27, is USD1,099.
