The Middle East is one of the world’s most exciting emerging markets. Although its economies have traditionally relied on the export of oil and gas, many – especially those in the Gulf – have made a conscious effort over the past two decades to diversify and move up the value chain.
This has certainly paid dividends. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations have shot up the Ease of Doing Business rankings in recent years, owing to a slate of pro-market reforms designed to attract foreign investment and encourage new sectors. According to the latest World Bank Gulf Economic Update, annual GDP growth in the GCC will reach 4.7% by 2025.
The region is awash with new projects, ventures, and companies – from the redevelopment of Dubai’s ‘World Islands’ to Saudi Arabia’s ‘The Line’ megaproject. This can make it difficult for a company looking to expand into this market to make itself heard above the din.
It is imperative, then, that businesses looking to expand into the Middle East establish a clear brand and communicate it effectively. Accomplishing this will require a PR plan of action that can navigate the region’s cultural, political, and regulatory idiosyncrasies to build trust and communicate a core proposition to the audiences that count.
In this market, then, deep regional knowledge is very much at a premium. Sapience Communications, a Dubai-based PR and digital marketing agency, uses its decades of collective experience in this market to create and execute powerful strategies for established regional players and new entrants alike. In this blog, we will outline how a SME or larger organisation can build a PR strategy that facilitates its entry into this exciting and dynamic market.
PR campaigns for the Middle East: what to know
When developing a PR strategy to support expansion into the Middle East, it is important for a company or organisation to be aware of a few salient facts about the region and what it is like to do business there. These will, in turn, inform how it ought to approach the market and how best to position the business or organisation to succeed.
The economic transition
As mentioned, the economic story of the Middle East over the past few decades has been one of rapid diversification away from fossil fuels. This has been particularly successful in GCC countries, which have significantly improved their EDI (Economic Diversification Index) scores over the past twenty years.
Economic diversification and modernisation remain the overriding policy goals of, for example, the Saudi and Emirati governments; and there is considerable enthusiasm amongst Middle East businesses and investors for the growth of new sectors and enterprises in the region.
Current areas of focus for Middle Eastern policymakers, investors, and businesses include real estate, hospitality, finance, healthcare, renewables, and b2b tech – broadly defined. To this end, most jurisdictions in the Middle East now offer various tax holidays or exemptions and ‘golden visas’ for foreign businesses or investors involved in target sectors.
This also, of course, has implications for how a business looking to enter the Middle East will position itself from a PR perspective. To generate enthusiasm in this market, it will be greatly beneficial for a business to show how it will play its part in the region’s economic transition. Making the case for your good or service being one of the first of its kind in the region, or emphasising how it will spur on the growth of new sectors, is an excellent way to generate interest among consumers, regional media, policymakers, and other key stakeholders.
One example of this is Volkswagen’s 2019 PR campaign in Saudi Arabia, which involved setting up the Kingdom’s first ever car club for women. The campaign was credited with a 25% increase in Volkswagen sales nationally, and achieved coverage in leading international titles like Cosmopolitan and Vogue.
Regulation
Despite its economic progress, the Middle East is still a highly fragmented market. Common standards and regulatory alignment between jurisdictions are few and far between. According to the World Bank, the broader MENA (Middle East & North Africa) region is the least economically-integrated in the world. Exceptions exist. GCC countries have achieved a certain degree of economic alignment – though progress has stalled in recent years due to diplomatic tensions between the member states.
This has major implications for a new entrant’s business and PR strategy. Businesses looking to expand into this region should be aware of this relative lack of market integration compared with, say, the EEA – and of the frictions it will mean for international transactions and supply chains. This will also affect reporting requirements, which businesses should be mindful of when conducting financial PR across multiple jurisdictions in the region. One key example of this is Islamic Finance. Businesses in Bahrain and the UAE must adhere to the standards set out by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) – but in other countries in the region these are not mandatory.
Businesses entering the market should also look to take advantage of the regulatory incentives on offer. For instance, Saudi Arabia now maintains five Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on the pattern of Shenzhen in China, each specialising in certain industries – such as logistics, computing, or science and technology. The UAE has launched the ‘NextGenFDI’ initiative to attract digitally enabled businesses from overseas, which offers special visas, faster incorporation and licensing, and lease incentives. An early association with such programmes is an excellent way to burnish a businesses’ credentials as regional innovators, and helps to build credibility with the local media and other key stakeholders.
Culture and society
The region has a number of common cultural features that shape its business and communications landscape:
- Commerce in the Middle East puts a large emphasis on personal relationships and face-to-face contact. Familial and tribal relations, while not strictly commercial, are a very important part of doing business in the region.
- Islam is of course a powerful force in society; many of its structures carry the force of law throughout much the region, and religious festivals like Ramadan punctuate the ordinary business calendar.
- English language proficiency is not so widespread, especially outside of the GCC nations.
- The population of the Middle East is on average much younger than in, say, the European, East Asian, or North American markets.
The best PR plan to support business expansion into the Middle East will keep these salient facts in mind. For one, they call for a PR and digital marketing strategy that is aware of the region’s religious sensitivities and how they vary from country to country. As the veteran Middle East PR professional Francesca Venturi put it:
“A successful PR event in Kuwait City will not be equally successful, let’s say, in the United Arab Emirates or Qatar. Despite sharing similar geography, language and Islamic culture, they differ greatly in lifestyle, social behaviour, and laws. You can easily go from planning a launch event in Dubai with live DJ, fireworks and cocktails, to committing to running a public event in Kuwait where promiscuous dancing is strictly prohibited and alcohol banned.”
Successful PR and marketing in the Middle East will also put personal relations at its heart. The primacy of these kinds of interactions means that attending industry conferences, trade shows, and networking events has an excellent return on investment. This also means that PR and marketing strategies with a focus on influencers – such as political, religious, or tribal leaders – will pay major dividends.
PR and marketing in this region – especially for consumer rather than B2B audiences – would also benefit greatly from professional translation services in order to better reach its target customers.
Finally, given the age profile of the region, successful PR to support business expansion will lean towards digital PR and social media channels: in particular Facebook, YouTube, and X – the Middle East’s most popular platforms. In a recent survey of the MENA region, two thirds of respondents reported getting their daily news from social media – a much higher figure than in North America. According to Al-Arabiya News:
“A perceptible trend is the rise of online portals as a source of news for young Arabs. In 2019, over a third (38 percent) named online portals as their primary source of news; this has increased to 42 percent in 2023, also marking a 10 percent increase over 2022.”
Politics and diplomacy
The Middle East has long been marked by political and diplomatic instability. This has even been the case in the region’s more developed markets: Qatar was put under blockade by Saudia Arabia and the UAE from 2017-21. As such, public affairs and crisis communications will be a much more important part of a PR strategy in this region than in other markets.
Practical steps
After thinking about the state of the regional market and how best to position your business there, it is also important to consider how a PR programme to support expansion can be executed in practice.
Pitching to regional media
Below is a list of leading Middle Eastern titles that serve as a good starting point for any programme of media relations. The region’s media is eager to hear from PRs, and is particularly keen on offers of exclusives. There is a marked shortage of journalistic talent in the region, so a PR campaign that furnishes outlets with images, statistics, and quotes in its news releases and pitches will have a competitive edge.
Choosing a local PR and digital marketing agency
PR and digital marketing in the Gulf and beyond have experienced meteoric growth over the past few decades as the regional market has grown and matured. The UAE is now home to over 50 large PR agencies, and many international agencies – Sapience included – have now established a regional office. The best Middle East PR and digital marketing agencies will be attuned to the characteristics and trends in the region – namely, the economic transition, the ability to navigate cultural and religious sensitivities, an emphasis on personal relations, and strong social media capabilities.
Incorporation and advice
Formally taking the plunge by establishing a Middle East presence will take different forms in different jurisdictions. As we have seen, this is fairly seamless in markets such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. In others, the process can be more opaque.
Given this, as well as the previously mentioned importance of personal introductions and connections, businesses looking to expand into the Middle East are advised to partner with local legal and PR expertise to ease the entry process. Any capable Middle East-based PR agency will have a rolodex of contacts, as well as robust public affairs experience, that will allow it to build relations with key stakeholders and navigate around red tape on behalf of its clients.
Insight from our experts
Sapience Communications are seasoned experts in the Middle Eastern market, with intimate knowledge of how companies can achieve business goals here through strategic positioning, branding, and increased visibility. We asked key figures in our Dubai office about how best to navigate the opportunities and challenges for companies looking to enter this market.
Iain Allison – Board Adviser, Middle East & India
Q: What tends to surprise new entrants into the Middle Eastern market?
In the digital age it’s easy to assume that business will be conducted in a more anonymous and impersonal way. That certainly isn’t the case here: personal comity is an essential precondition for any business dealings across the region. Cultivating those, or partnering with someone with expertise on this front, is an essential first step for any new entrant.
Q: Which sectors are best suited to expand into this market?
All of them. This has very much been the story of the region – especially the GCC countries – over the past two decades: rapid diversification into all kinds of new industries. Companies involved in everything from technology to finance or renewables will find a raft of incentives here, as well as, in most cases, a set of business-friendly regulations.
Irina Bond – Senior Consultant, Middle East & India
Q: What is the regional media landscape like, and how will this effect PR strategies for businesses?
National and sector titles are an important part of the story, not least to build up credibility amongst many of the audiences and stakeholders that a business would want to reach. This kind of media is, however, less developed and has less reach than in, say, North America; the real area of growth is on social channels. A PR and digital marketing campaign to reach business goals will skew more towards the latter than it would in other markets – but some balance between the two is of course ideal.
Q: What should a business look for in a local PR and marketing agency to partner with?
Local knowledge is key. The Middle East varies drastically in terms of its levels of development and its regulatory systems; and religion is very much the dominant social and cultural force. More than anywhere else, PR and marketing is not simply a matter of press releases and marketing emails: businesses need advisers who know how to navigate the region and what makes it unique.
