MENA region female consumers expect more from advertisers

JEDDAH — Boston Consulting Group estimates that wealth held by women in the MENA region stands at $500 billion; MEED estimates wealth held by women in the Gulf is $385 billion, while Almasa Capital estimates that Saudi women alone control $12 billion of personal cash assets.

Have advertisers kept up with these changes or have they fallen behind the times in how they communicate with the region's female consumers?

This is one of the key issues being addressed at the forthcoming annual GMR Marketing to Women Conference in Dubai — Marketing Women in the Era of Change.

The event, which is organized by Mediaquest Corp, will takes place May 28  at The Westin Mina Seyahi, Dubai.

Now in its sixth year, the conference examines how the changing roles of women in the region is, in turn, changing the way in which they relate to brands, advertising, retail and media.

"To be blunt, it's time for all marketing professionals in the MENA region to rip up the old marketing rules book and take a fresh look at how they relate to female consumers who are, afterall, among their most influential and affluent customers," said Alexandre Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest, and publisher of Gulf Marketing Review.

"Understanding these changes and how they impact the practical and emotional needs of women is essential to effective, sustainable marketing communications," he added. The one-day Marketing to Women conference begins by highlighting emerging global trends among women's brand attitudes and behavior, delivered by international keynote expert speaker, US-based CEO, Euro RSCG Worldwide PR North America, trendspotter and author, Marian Salzman.

She is joined by Christina Ioannidis, an international speaker, consultant, author of Your Loss: How to Win Back your Female Talent, and chief engagement officer of Aquitude, a leading organizational, people and market development consultancy in the UK.

Also participating in the event are a series of top regional spokespeople from Unilever, Fonterra, TNS, TBWA\RAAD, Philips Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson and Yahoo! Maktoob, offering companies and industries insights in targeting and positioning their brands precisely by understanding female consumers' relationship with their choice of brands. — SG