Brand specialist Deykin says marketing sector should revert to old-fashioned values
Dubai, 02 January 2004: A return to Islamic values in the regional advertising and marketing sectors could take the Middle East ahead of the rest of the world in terms of ethical practices, says the brand specialist, John Deykin, managing director of Dubai-based tmh.
He said: “The paradox in modern marketing is that we are seeing a return to old-fashioned values, where there has been a noticeable growth in advertising, marketing and PR companies that choose their clients by ethical means, and refuse to take accounts where the company is not believed to be a good corporate citizen.
Deykin called into question the practice of multinational corporations running advertising campaigns to publicise their commitment to charitable causes.
He said: “Large companies should decide what side of the fence they are on when making a social contribution - and come clean about it, without using spin. In fact, ethical companies would take advertising and marketing out of the equation totally - by all means do charity work, but be faceless, and don't try and benefit.”
The question of ethics in advertising will be addressed by Deykin as part of his speech to more than 200 marketeers at The Gulf Marketing Forum the fourth annual Gulf Marketing Review event – to be held at The Ritz-Carlton, Doha on January 12 – 14.
The regional marketing communications sector is in need of regulation, according to Deykin, though he points out that heavy-handed policing of the industry is not necessarily the answer. He said: “The industry needs to lay down some voluntary ethical codes, and ensure that they are adhered to, while the authorities can play a role in communications in public sectors such as schools and healthcare.”
In Deykin’s opinion, brand advertising and modern marketing methods, such as web-based and proximity marketing, can also be on questionable moral ground.
“Brand advertising attempts to influence people on the basis of emotion such as brand loyalty, status and trends, rather than through a rational choice based solely around product quality and price,” he said.
“Needless to say, the main reason for bringing experiential marketing methods into question is simply because they work so well.
“By addressing the emotions, we can “create” a need for a product and services that the consumer does not need. While this is entering rocky ethical ground in affluent societies, it becomes even rockier when this advertising pressure is exerted on societies that are still developing, and have socio-economic problems that can only be exacerbated by blatant consumerism.”
The theme of the conference is Marketing in a Changing World, and has attracted a host of leading speakers, including the world-renowned marketing guru Philip Kotler.
The event has a number of internationally recognised corporations as partners, including Qtel, Qatar National Bank, Al Jazeera Channel, Qatar Airways, Salam International Investment Ltd, Canon, The Ritz-Carlton Doha, The Economist magazine, and BBC World.
Kotler and Deykin are joined in the speaker line-up by: international newscaster Tim Sebastian; Dr Henry Azzam, CEO of Jordinvest in Amman; Dr Zainab Karake Shalhoub, associate dean of the Business School, American University of Sharjah; Professor Colin Gilligan of the Sheffield Business School in UK; Trevor Stokes, president and CEO of American Express Middle East and North Africa; Andrew Butter, partner at Moore Stephens in Oman and UAE; Qtel’s Sheikh Fahad bin Jassim Al Thani; Christophe Fauconnier, vice president of Synovate Censydiam in Belgium.
Break-out seminars will be delivered by Simon Bond, regional business development director for Impact Proximity, and Jim Donaldson, regional director for Hill & Knowlton in Bahrain.
-Ends-
Further information:
Strategic Solutions, for The Gulf Marketing Forum,
Tel +971 4 391 5390,
e-mail media@strategicsolutionsonline.com
Conference Division; Gray Business Communications
Tel +971 4 349 6663,
email judig@gatewayGBC.net
The Gulf Marketing Forum,
www.themarketingforum.com
Gulf Marketing Review,
www.gmr-online.com
© Press Release 2004
