To succeed in branding, look East – the Middle East

They are arriving one by one, the branding buccaneers from the world capitals. Like top international teams converging on the world cup finals. In this case, the target is the lucrative Middle Eastern market, awash with petro-dollars and a burgeoning appetite to position their home-grown companies on the global stage. The latest in the line of top communication consultanices to open offices in the GCC reads like the top table at the D&AD awards! Lambie-Nairn soon to open in Abu Dhabi has already picked up the redesign of four channels for Abu Dhabi TV; The Brand Union, FutureBrand and BrandFaith have also opened in Abu Dhabi.

Renowned global architects have won lucrative contracts in Abu Dhabi including Jean Nouvel's Louvre, Frank Gehry's Guggenheim, Zaha Hadid's Performing Arts Centre as well as Foster & Partners' Masdar city while Nathalie Crinière has been selected to create the exhibition design for the Louvre Abu Dhabi. Such projects bode well for future branding and interiors work.

Navyblue, is now looking at Oman. They have already picked up the identity for Oman Botanic Garden among its projects. I suppose the touch paper for these arrivals was lit when Fitch bought into GSCS in Dubai in 2007.

These moves are already well-documented and compare to the hiring of international design agencies to satisfy the kudos of local clients seeking fame and fortune: Radiant branded Al Jazeera Childrens TV, QNB and IBQ used Allen International to redesign their brand and branches, Mowasalat hires Vallis Tammaro to rebrand them.

Moving into the Middle East isn’t an easy decision and should not be taken lightly. Entrepreneurs in these oil-rich states are conscious of brand values and astute when it comes to maximizing mileage on their investment. They are keen on brands in general, but specifically they’re looking for a relevant idea with their core DNA rooted in local culture and heritage. Local heroes want to become global brands, flying the flag of their country as brand ambassadors.

It’s quite easy for consultancies from the west to lapse into making too many assumptions from thousands of miles away and hence fall into cultural traps – a kind of self-inflicted ambush in an alien corporate jungle. It also begs the question how international consultancies can possibly ever understand the mores, principles and heartbeat of a nation, never mind the companies and local people within that nation, unless they have lived here for a very long time and steeped themselves in the DNA of what makes people tick.

While Abu Dhabi, Dubai and most countries within GCC yearn to find their rightful place on the world stage and seek international agencies to help them express this yearning, there is a gap of understanding that can never truly be expressed unless it has been experienced. It’s a bit like trying to describe a migraine to someone who has never experienced one.

Cultural differences between countries can put huge pressures on business dealings. There are a myriad of subtle cultural nuances within the GCC that influence decision-making in the boardrooms and finally consumer choices in the marketplace. Our invaluable tip is to do your homework before you pitch your tent here. Pick the brains of Middle Eastern experts, both economic and cultural. Hire western staff who have been here before or those who still ply their trade here. Recruit the cream of bi-lingual Arabs, they are a real asset. Trawl for good local creatives and then blend them with international talent. Suits could be in the shape of thobes (the Arab national dress). Hunt for them, advertise locally. They are invaluable.

But not all is daunting. There are some living examples such as The Brand Union and Landor who have taken the time to learn and understand how to do business here. Alongside them are some very successful local branding companies like grow, the Doha-based branding and design consultancy, founded and run by western expatriates,. These agencies have grown here, have learnt from the pitfalls and have come through with flying colours.

“grow was born in Doha” says Anthony Ryman, Managing Director. “While working as client director for Fitch London on the brand, image and look programme for the Doha Asian Games, I saw many agencies coming to DAGOC and doing their ‘song & dance’ routine – ‘we did this’ and ‘we did that’, for international companies in London, Barcelona or new York. “ I quickly realised that they had no clue about the culture, the people, their ambitions and their yearning. They didn’t want to build a relationship. They just wanted the money and to get out of there ASAP. I saw an opportunity to build a local agency based on international best practice standards, systems and principles. I wanted to focus on clarity, transparency and creativity. We went GLOCAL (global & local). 3 years on and our client list reinforces our positioning – clear thinking and beautiful design” says Ryman.

Take heart. There are several networks who ventured out in places like China or Kiev where the only language spoken was the local lingo. The learning curves in the Middle East are not so steep in comparison.

So welcome to this marketplace. Bring your well-crafted wares with you. There’s competition waiting for you and some unwritten rules that are at first a conundrum. But you will soon get the hang of it, if you invest time and energy to plunge headlong into understanding and living the environment, the people and breathing their ambitions and their longings.

Now’s the time to put together your business plan. Tailor it to the Middle East, develop a strategy rather than get overly excited about all the money you can make from these oil-rich states in a short period of time. Invest in the future. Think before you leap and you will be on your way to success.

And to all the young talent knocking on the doors of the Job Centres back home we say “Veni, vidi, vici”. It’s tax free!

To succeed in branding, look East – the Middle East

A mint on your pillow with your personal oxygen bottle

To truly appreciate what is happening in the hospitality sector in Qatar, let’s first take a step into the future to view the trends which are already with us. Once these trends accelerate, they reach a ‘tipping point’ and become the norm and the benchmark for expectations of service and consumer attitudes.

Everything is speeding up, thanks to our obsession with technology and efficiency. “Instant gratification” is our mantra for the Second Millennium, although whether anything is actually moving in the right direction is a moot point.

Globalisation is increasing the intensity and number of new channels of communication.
You can blame the Internet, mobiles, low cost travel, vlogs, ipods, or blogs. The result is 24/7 access. Instant everything – from goods and services to the sharing of reviews and opinions (myspace.com and facebook.com are examples of social networking), multi-tasking, microwave mums, meals on the run and individuals (and organisations) that want everything yesterday. And if you’re not ‘connected’ in this reality, you can always visit Second Life, a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its 8.8 million residents.

While this connectedness and mobility mean that we’re always on the go, they also blur the lines between home life and office life. The result is stress, anxiety, a lack of sleep, work–life imbalance and, conversely, an interest in slowing things down. Hence the rise of spas and the whole wellbeing industry, downsizing, teleworking and home/offices. I could obviously write a lot more about this trend but I know you’re busy and probably keen to flick to the conclusion!

While all this is happening, there is another trend apparent, the rise of increasing wealth and overall success of mass production have created a new class of “Gold Standard” customer.

As we get richer and more used to luxury products and services, we start to expect added value products and services as standard. So there is a “red carpet” expectation – from upgrades to executive club lounges with free food and drink on tap, to butlers on call and personal shoppers.
We are getting more spoiled and our expectations increase with each experience as we seek that exclusive something that no one else has. Hence the rise of artistry for that one-off unique piece or sculpture and soaring contemporary art prices.
We are witnessing the rise of a new GOLD class: consumers who demand outstanding levels of service, quality, difference and design with all brands, products and services.

At the same time, the importance of celebrities and admiration for the stylishly wealthy – from Roman Abramovich to David Beckham has meant that glamour is most definitely “IN”. Refinement and elegance fused with grace and style now form part and parcel of the luxury hospitality industry’s core offer; sublime experiences with distinct and discriminating taste.
However there is also blurring and polarisation taking place. By 2015 the middle market will could disappear in most developed countries taking mid–price retailers with them.
Many consumer markets are already polarising between economy and premium sectors (low price versus luxury). High net worth customers can happily live in both segments buying $15 T shirts and mixing them with $500 jeans and $250 trainers.

Most importantly, we have the relatively recent rise of the brand as the key core communication principle, the DNA of every company, their soul or brand essence. At grow, we call this the “BIG IDEA”. The brand, probably the greatest gift that commerce has ever given culture, allows us to identify with other like-minded people, products and services to create the world around us in our vision, resonating with our needs and aspirations. It’s a shorthand to identify your “tribe” or “brand” and align with it.
Recently, witness the rise of brand extension. This is where customers are happy to suspend their rational, logical, objective analysis of a brand’s functionality and are willing to go along with a brand they believe in emotionally and trust that it can produce new products not part of its original core competency. So you have Marlboro selling jackets, Caterpillar selling boots and Porsche selling sunglasses. You have bookshops selling coffee, coffee shops selling music, supermarkets selling loans, Ralph Lauren selling white paint and water companies selling gas. So why are we not surprised with Bulgari and Versace Hotels opening somewhere near you?

So with all this going on, what about Qatar and the Hospitality Industry? To set the scene, as we already know, we have massive, sudden wealth. A local population where 65%+ are under the age of 31, mostly well-travelled, well-educated, well-heeled and, well, incredibly brand aware. These are people who appreciate value and values, where heritage, tradition and family are fused and work together with a forward-looking and ambitious outlook on life. And finally, they are online and on the case.

Qatar is growing exponentially. Over 41 hotels, planned or in the process of opening,
with clubs, spas and luxury hotels all here or coming soon and all requiring their share of a growing population. Add to that the visitor mix, with businessmen representing 85% of visitors and occupancy in the region of 70%-75% and you have an interesting opportunity where the demand/supply scenario is going to shift and the hospitality sector is finally going to have to compete for real and differentiate their offer to maintain market share in light of increasing competition.

This is already happening. On a global scale, Sheraton have revamped their identity and added the tagline “Belong”, thus seeking to identify with people seeking a community of like-minded individuals (a “global neighbourhood”).

Sharq Village and Spa has created a luxury hotel resort based on the interesting concept to portray the Qatar brand of yesteryear fused with traditional Arabian hospitality and world-class service in a beautiful authentic Middle eastern village type environment that has grown organically over time, supported by Six Senses Spas. A wonderful notion and a very credible positioning in the luxury boutique sector, especially as cultural holidays are the fastest growing sector of the tourism market, according to the World Tourism Organisation.

I believe there will be a tough battle in the luxury to premium sector in Qatar as the Shangri La, Hilton, Rotana, Millennium, Intercontinental, Sofitel, Renaissance, Al Fareej Resort, Radisson SAS, Hyatt, Kempinsky, Wyndham and La Cigalle fight for market share along with existing Ritz Carlton’s and Four Seasons. It is going to be increasingly important for these brands to identify who they are targeting and reinforce their positioning and differentiation to a very brand-savvy and aware audience that has no brand loyalty and will always gravitate towards the new.

I believe there is room (excuse the pun!) for the Sheraton, Intercontinental, Marriott, Mövenpick and Ramada, among others, to market exclusively to the business traveller,
but then their offer must include ALL the high-tech gadgets, high bandwidth, easy-to-use technology, plasma screens and dedicated secretarial and concierge service to assist these commercial warriors to do battle and win. These people don’t want to muck about with adaptors and connections that don’t work, or cost an arm and a leg to operate.
Instant access, on demand and preferably in-built into the cost of the room.
Examples include DIY check in and check out services, available online. The quicker these hotels focus on prioritizing and servicing the needs of the hotel guests of the future and their insatiable demand for instant convergence and simplicity, the quicker they can garner market share.

I believe there is a huge growth market in two very distinct areas. One is in the budget business hotel, presently catered to by Merweb: simple, functional and available.

Watch out for Stelios and his crew at EasyHotel and the new Yotel. I also believe that the fully furnished serviced apart-hotel as exemplified by the pioneering Le Mirage Executive Residence and Le Mirage Suites is a growing category which is competing head on with 3-4 star hotels. I also believe there is a growing market for the local family seeking a weekend away. Rather than going to Dubai or booking a villa at Sealine Hotel, they could access some hotels here and book 5 or 6 rooms or a villa for their family to enjoy a long weekend.

We’ve yet to witness the arrival of the hip, boutique hotel, the slick-minimalist-style made famous by pioneers like Phillipe Starck and Ian Schrager. Names like Brown’s Hotel, Sandersons Hotel, Anoushka Hempels’ original Hempel Hotel, “41” in London and “Dream” Hotel in New York, among others, satisfy the increasing demand for personalisation and have infiltrated the industry and become a feature of major hotel chains such as Hilton, Starwood and Le Meridien. I am sure that the boutique concept will also feature in Qatar (witness the arrival of “W” hotels) as it grows in sophistication and variety. For the winners in this category, also check out Gansevoort, James and Thompson boutique chainlets in USA.

Luxury hotels have to offer unique, individual experiences, fused with a dynamic theatre of the exceptional as opposed to homogeneous pampering (“am I in Hyatt Boca Raton or Honolulu?). First class service and quality come as standard. Pushing the boundaries of individual service and gastronomy, mixing art, music and theatre with high technology, creating worlds within worlds and legendary experiences represent the next phase of the successful luxury hotel. At the same time, honouring the individual and his/her needs and requirements is key. Witness the 24 hour-a-day-check in policy at the Peninsula Beverly Hills for a clue to personalisation. Other recent hotel 'innovations' include bath butlers at the Sydney Hilton (to run your bath for you), e-butlers at the Dorchester Hotel in London (to explain how everything in your room works), personal oxygen bottles (Optus hotel in Vancouver), iPod rentals (Dream Hotel in New York), Wi-Fi access inside elevators (Langham Hotel in London), and personalized room lighting (Sofitel Paris).

The Hospitality sector has realised that brands are the only key differentiator between their offer and their competitors – as the saying goes: “a hotel without a brand is just a bed for the night”. Investment in your brand is key to your success and will lead to lower customer acquisition costs, increased market share, happy staff and customers and healthy profits. And never forget that your staff are (almost) more important than your customers. They are your brand ambassadors and can retain or lose a client in a moment of unawareness or sabotage. (For more proof and analysis of the value of brand in the hotel sector, read the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration’s groundbreaking analysis of the effect of brand affiliation on a hotel property’s value.)

Your brand is the essence of who you are and what you stand for as a company. The communication of it has to be holistic and consistent – internal as well as external and as a minimum must stand for something that is both meaningful and true, something we can believe in. How you communicate your brand on its journey to the customer and what it stands for is what makes the difference between ordinary hotel brands and truly great hotel brands.

A mint on your pillow with your personal oxygen bottle

Is change as good as a rest?

Change forms an inextricable and inevitable part of our lives. We are born, we live, and we die. This is a fact. To a greater or lesser extent, we accept, reject or embrace change as it affects us moment to moment.

Companies are made up of people and are living organisms, changing, growing and implementing new actions and activities as a response to change. Some of these changes are huge: as a result of a merger of takeover for example. Other actions signal change. I think that we’re all aware and somewhat petrified (for the younger generation read ‘excited’) at the speed of change taking place in this society we call Earth. Not only does time appear to go faster, but many of the rules that were sacrosanct seem to be breaking down or disappearing altogether, with new rules being created and then broken in rapid succession.

Take a job for life: In the good old days after the second world war, you started an apprenticeship with a company and by the time you got to 65, you got the gold watch and were put out to pasture. These days’ statistics tell us that the average lifespan of a CEO of a major multinational company is 1-2 years, and job-hopping for middle management is seen as work experience.

Take trust in a company’s products and their reputation. In the good old days you had bellwether stocks (IBM, AT&T, Bethlehem Steel) and people trusted these companies to deliver and walk the talk. These days you have downsizing, restructuring, mergers and takeovers and of course, not forgetting Enron and their accountants Arthur Anderson –so you can’t believe what companies say or even do anymore (take Shell and their less than exemplary environmental record in Nigeria, or overstating their oil reserves as a case in point). And these days with the all-knowing, all-seeing Internet and its latest manifestation Web.2, people are taking the initiative and the rise of consumer power – blogs, podcasts, video phones and video recorders, text messages and the imminent convergence of telecoms and media mean that the balance of power is shifting. Pressure groups are becoming increasingly more vocal and active and control of the flow of information is passing from those who manufacture and create products and services to those who use them – i.e. you and I.

If you equate this observation to the human population, there is cause to believe that society is moving to a higher level of consciousness, awareness and sophistication. Consumers are saying “no” to being constantly sold to by advertising agencies. Consumers are saying “no” to being lied to – witness the demonstrations against the Iraq War in the UK and to the collapse of Enron and the subsequent enactment of the Sarbanes Oxley Act which forces companies by law to tell the truth on their balance sheet or face punitive consequences.

So how is an H.R.Manager and indeed his boss, the CEO, supposed to react to these fast-changing events and lack of allegiances and trust in companies in general, especially when seeking to attract graduates.

Let’s look at some facts and statistics to see the lie of the land. In a recent study among 1000 school leavers in the UK, when asked the question: “what are you looking for in a job?”, 82% said that they were looking for a job that was “personally fulfilling”. Furthermore, 62% said that they were looking for more of a “balance between work and life”, i.e. more time for themselves. So the days of offering more rewards by way of money, status or perks are just not working anymore with an increasingly educated, aware and sophisticated population.

More and more these days the battlefield where companies compete against each other is fought less and less on price and more and more in the hearts and minds of consumers. The most visible manifestation of this is the increasing importance that brands and branding are taking in the boardrooms. Companies are realising that their brand represents everything in the minds of consumers: not only a promise of consistency and quality, but also shorthand and an expression of their needs and aspirations. Brand and branding is now centre stage, not only reflected as a line item in the balance sheet, but also increasing a company’s share price (or vice versa) depending on whether companies have invested in their positioning and differentiation which is accepted as being believable and true and resonating with consumers’ belief systems and what they deem to be important and relevant as part of their life and lifestyle.

Companies are increasingly aware that brands are the only key differentiator between their offer and their competitors – as the saying goes: “a hotel without a brand is just a bed for the night”. And more importantly that staff are the brand ambassadors of a brand being the closest touch point to the customer. So the question now is how does one motivate staff to fully endorse and believe as well as communicate the brand values to customers? Not being an H.R. professional, I don’t have the answer by way of best practice standards and systems. I do however lead a ‘growing the brand’ seminar for companies to provide the bridge for thought leaders and middle management in organisations to integrate their company’s vision, mission and values and understand how to live these day to day.

What I mean by “how” is that truly enlightened companies that attract the best people and constantly hit the top ten companies to work for, realise that they stand for something that is more than just about the money or product or service on offer. They have embraced a value system (e.g. Apple – ‘think differently’, or H.P. with ‘Invent’) that resonates with our desire for “meaning” or “being” – a sense of purpose. Here we as consumers are looking for honesty, integrity and a value system we can believe in that resonates with our desire for meaning, truth and authenticity.

Companies are increasingly taking over from Governments and the promise of a welfare state is rapidly losing its potency as the benefits of mass production and our increasingly ‘global village’ environment take effect. Companies have to be seen to “care” in word and especially in deed. So the all-important “values” are taking their rightful place as companies embrace their responsibility to give something back – whether it is by way of charity, work in the community, adding value to their offer, or providing their staff with training programmes, motivational and team-building events, flexi-time work structures or crèches for their children.

How you communicate and indeed ‘live’ your brand both internally, at point of origination, and on its journey to the customer and what it stands for is what makes the difference between ordinary brands and truly great brands. Enlightened companies are seeking more and more to empower their staff so that they not only agree to represent the company in a ‘job’ but, more importantly truly endorse the company and its products or services as co-owners – this is becoming the rallying cry for HR managers. Let the brand ambassadors represent the company. Everything else is process.

Is change as good as a rest?

Quintessentially yours. Pearl of Wisdom #1

Years ago I read somewhere about archetypes. Something about that we are made up of more than who we think we are and there's a judge, critic, child, father, mother, brother and so on, inside us, all jockeying for position to guide us with infinite pearls of wisdom. So there's a bitter sweetness (schadenfreude) to companies like match.com and rivals fighting for the position to win our vote and hearts as they lead us down the garden path of true love. Notwithstanding the fact that more than 50% of marriages in the UK end in divorce, we continue, like lemmings, down this path in search of "the one".

In this day of instant everything...from karma to soup, isn't it strange that the one thing we truly crave, desire and need is always just beyond our grasp. "What's that" you say? Yes, I am talking about true love. Not the love - romantic love, that we see in The Holiday (nice movie though it is), but the love we all seek from the moment we are born to the moment we die.
The love of self; the love of being - in the moment, here and now. For this love, we have to STOP! Stop what we're doing, stop seeking, stop gabbing, just stop. And look. No, not there, in drink, drugs, TV or other people, and not in the incessant mind machine that warbles on and on, seeking to protect and control. No, peel away the onion and look for the original self.

Now that's a journey worth considering. Is it hard? I suppose that's what grow -ing is all about.

Quintessentially yours. Pearl of Wisdom #1

Causative formation, or the great leap forwards. Brand and the art of being.

On an island off the coast of Japan, anthropologists arrived to observe the habits of monkeys who were the sole inhabitants of this island. The monkeys were living in harmony, the exclusive inhabitants of the island, on a diet of roots, berries, nuts and seeds. One day, one of the monkeys, called Susan by the anthropologists was scurrying deep in the earth and happened on a sweet potato. Normally the practice would be to eat it unwashed. However this time, Susan watched as one of the anthropologists demonstrated how to wash the sweet potato. Before long, her family had included the practice of washing the sweet potato as part of their daily routine. After a few months, the whole island were scurrying beneath the earth, searching for sweet potatoes. This is where it gets interesting.



A sister island quite some kilometers away was also inhabited solely by monkeys. They too started incorporating sweet potatoes in their diet. Now how did this happen? Monkeys didn’t swim to the first island and see what their neighbours were up to. Nor did birds land and inform the monkeys of this sensational new addition to their diet. So what’s the answer?
The anthropologists seem to think, backed up by numerous scientists, that it was caused by magnetic resonance. In other words, when enough members of a population incorporate a pattern of thinking or behaviour into their lives, then suddenly there is a quantum leap in consciousness and those habits are inbred into the system, so to speak.

If you equate this observation to the human population, there is cause to believe that society is moving to a higher level of consciousness, awareness and sophistication. Consumers are saying “no” to being constantly sold to by advertising agencies. Consumers are saying “no” to being lied to – witness the demonstrations against the Iraq War in the UK and to the collapse of Enron and the subsequent enactment of the Sarbannes Oxley Act which forces companies to tell the truth on their balance sheet.

The rise of blogs, podcasts, email, videocasts, digital diaries, personal video recorders, text messages and the imminent convergence of telecoms and media and the like are providing a powerful voice for consumers to say this is what we want, or not. and companies and their agencies have to move with it, or be superceded by more self-actualised brands.

Furthermore, communication of the brand, given the fragmentation of media has to reside at the customer touch points, which means your staff have to be the brand ambassadors -not just by paying lip service, but truly by enrolling in the Vision, Mission and Values and expressing it through their everyday contact with the customer.

Causative formation, or the great leap forwards. Brand and the art of being.

"Show me the logo". Qatar's search for branding.

“Show me the logo!!” he shouted, midway through my credentials presentation.

“But we have to do the research, analysis and positioning, competitive audit and understand your business model and objectives before we can even begin to develop creative design concepts” I said. To stop him from walking out the room, I had to promise him that at our next meeting we would indeed have some corporate identities to show him. This was 2 years ago in Doha and while the client was a high ranking Government official and Chairman of a NEWCO, this attitude I have found, to my horror, not exactly uncommon in these parts.

True the Doha Asian Games brand image and look programme for which I originally came out to Doha as a London agency client director has lifted the veil, so to speak, on what is possible with excellent branding and what can be achieved with an holistic ‘look and feel’.

With the nightmares of what has happened before, (e.g. a leading Qatari Bank’s new logo created by a Dubai-based company being remarkably similar to Royal Bank of Scotland’s identity), I felt sure that enlightened Qatari companies would welcome a professional strategic and creative advertising and design agency focused on brands when I set up “grow” eighteen months ago, and in the main I was right.

Yes there still is the cry of “I need a logo” for next to no money, but clients are willing and receptive to understand how the creation of a brand which is campaignable and has longevity is more than just about the logo. Our clients want to hear how we can add value to their brand by creating effective positioning and differentiation which will, in the long run, increase their market share, their profitability and lower their customer acquisition costs, while giving them a platform to launch new products and/or services as part of the brand development. These companies understand that what differentiates a great brand from merely an ordinary brand is how the product or service is communicated and perceived at each stage of the customer journey.

So while Qatar makes its great leap forward onto the world stage taking bold steps to define its identity, Qatari companies are working hard to articulate their positioning and establish their communications - from tone of voice to look and feel - that are integrated, compelling and true.

And some of these are companies who used to give their Annual Report to printers and say “here you design and print it”. Now we are receiving calls from companies who understand how important the Annual Report is as a marketing and communications tool to promote their brand, outline their future plans, attract new investors AND reach the entire stakeholder base - employees, analysts, community groups and business partners. When we tell them that it plays a vital role in communicating their strategy, objectives and performance, while conveying their values and culture, long-term factors which influence investors’ sentiments, they are all ears.

And the same is true for advertising campaigns, corporate brochures, CSR, CRM – clients want holistic, integrated communications that are going to deliver, on the brand promise as well as on ROI.

And for those who still just want a logo, go to http://www.makemyownlogo.com.

Anthony Ryman is Managing Director of grow, a successful and refreshingly creative Doha-based advertising and design agency focused on brands. Successful clients include Alaqaria, Carnegie Mellon, Commercialbank, Doha Bank, Harley Davidson Qatar, Four Seasons Hotel Doha, International Bank of Qatar, Qatari Diar, Qatar National Hotels, Ritz Carlton Doha, Ramada Hotel Doha, Sharq Village and Spa, Weill Cornell.
For more information please go to http://www.growqatar.com or email at anthony@growqatar.com

"Show me the logo". Qatar's search for branding.

Qatar. The momentum builds. Invest in your brand

Traditionally the advent of a New Year in the Western world heralds a time of new beginnings and at the same time, letting go of old, outdated behaviours and characteristics which do not form part of the new vision that promises so much for the year ahead.

In Qatar, we live in a country that is both dynamic and forward-looking. Blessed by natural resources, a youthful population and led by a visionary ruler, Qatar has both the will and the opportunity to make its mark and state its claim on the world map.

Looking East, Qatar is positioned at the gateway of Asia. Qatar has already endeared itself by staging the Asian Games in Doha, not only a remarkable achievement because of the many world “firsts”, but also because it has allowed Qatar to fast-track many of the infrastructure projects which will provide a firm foundation to future growth.

grow has always positioned itself as the Doha-based advertising and design agency of choice, focused on brand creation, development and communications to help Qatari companies articulate and differentiate themselves on the global stage.

It is important that now Qatari companies do not lose the momentum created by the visionary leadership and that they invest in their corporate identities, corporate communications and above-the-line advertising to deliver consistent, believable and true representation of who they are, what they do and most importantly what they stand for as summed up in their vision, mission and values.

Companies must invest in the strategic thinking and positioning to inform not only their staff (who will enjoy knowing what they are fighting for and how they can contribute) but also all stakeholders, customers, suppliers – indeed all their audiences. At the same time this must be followed through in the creative design process to develop memorable, powerful campaigns to reinforce the ownership of communication space.

In this way, Qatar and Qatari companies can follow through on the vision and create global companies, powerful and respected enough to stand side by side with the General Electrics and Exxon Mobil’s of this world.

This is our wish for the Qatari business community. We believe our collective expertise of working for some of the world’s leading companies and brands can add value. At grow we believe that growing your brand is growing your business. Whether it’s a new corporate identity, a corporate brochure, website, annual report, ad campaign, exhibition design or event, an integrated, hard-hitting targeted communications campaign can successfully grow your business.

At grow, we seem to be succeeding as seen by our expanding client base which includes Qatari Diar, Carnegie Mellon, Commercialbank, Doha Bank, UDC, IBQ, Ramada Plaza, Qatar National Hotels (QNH), Harley-Davidson and Nasser bin Khaled (NBK) to name a few.

Wouldn’t you like to grow? Your business, your profits, your brand, your market share, your earnings, your confidence, your potential…



Anthony Ryman is Managing Director of grow, a successful and refreshingly creative advertising and design agency focused on brands. For more information please go to www.growqatar.com or phone +974 444 6222

Qatar. The momentum builds. Invest in your brand