Blessed be the firework makers

Some easy New Year’s predictions: Dubai’s fireworks suppliers will enjoy a bumper start to the year, those looking for a second-hand, barely-used Lexus will find a bargain, and February Fridays at Mall of the Emirates will be a living hell. Welcome to 2008. Welcome to Dubai Shopping Festival.
A DSF press release, helpfully reprinted by Gulf News, informs us weekend firework displays will last 20 minutes (2007’s were a paltry three minutes), more than 90 Lexus and Nissan cars will be raffled (only to appear next day at 4x4 Motors), and visitors numbers will be up from 3.5million to nearly 4m.
The number of participating retailers will increase from 2,800 last year to over 3,500. Revenues are expected to top $3bn. There will be lots of gold to be won.
The official figures tell us DSF is a continued success, attracting more visitors to Dubai and generating greater revenue. The formula must work otherwise why would Jeddah and Doha, among others, want to copy it?
But what if, for one year, there was no DSF? Would Dubai fail to attract visitors during the best winter-sun period of the year? Would the golf, horse racing and tennis fail to add visitors? Would the world class malls be empty?
This is not to knock DSF, but some clearer evidence of the DSF effect would be welcome. How many visitors are persuaded to choose Dubai because of DSF? How many extra purchases are made because there is a raffle?
At the moment it appears DSF is an industry that needs to keep feeding itself.

The personal touch

As Dubai involves itself in ever larger, and more diverse international deals, it is nice to be reminded that not every deal is based on hard cash and bottom lines. We’re told Sri Lanka’s decision to revoke the work permit of its national carrier’s CEO – a guy out in place by Emirates – will have an “extremely negative” impact on talks with Emirates over the renewal the contract to run the airline.
Never underestimate the power of the personal relationship, particularly, according to the Financial Times, when as many as 70 percent of businesses, either private or listed, are family controlled. Forty per cent of the Fortune 500 companies still under family control.
According to reports, the Sri Lanka government took the hump with Peter Hill after he reportedly refused to bump passengers off a flight from London to Colombo to make way for the island’s president and his entourage. It withdrew his work permit on December 19. The move is not likely to help relations as the two sides discuss an extension to their current deal. Hill had previous said the talks were dragging.
The upside of a personal relationship, or attachment to a business, is often long term thinking, or at least a willingness to stick to the path during tough times. The flipside is personal disputes are often harder to resolve. Disagreements between the members of the Bancroft family are widely seen as having created an opening for Rupert Murdoch to make his $5bn bid for Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal.
It may turn out that Peter Hill’s actions (and words) are part of Emirates’ bargaining strategy.

Du the math

In a meeting with Coca Cola senior management a couple of years ago, the company’s regional md revealed how his life is governed by a continuous check of Coke’s retail presence. Every day, in shops, on planes, in bars, at vending machines, was spent checking whether Coke was beating Pepsi?

In this morning’s Emirates Business 24/7, Osman Sultan, CEO of Du, admits to a similar compulsive disorder: he says he feels a “quiet sense of achievement” every time he answers a call from an 055 prefix.

He must be short on thrills. Despite Du claiming to have passed the one million-customers barrier, a straw poll of friends and colleagues suggests very few people are using a Du number. Etisalat numbers continue to dominate – people still assume mobile numbers start with an 050 prefix. For the most part, the only people using a Du number are new arrivals; many Etisalat customers have booked a Du number, but don’t use it.

This is hardly Du’s fault. With no room to wriggle on price, the UAE’s second mobile operator has limited means to differentiate itself from the incumbent (not helped by both preferring lower case); there is not much of a compelling argument for consumers to shift operators. ‘I have a Du number but Etisalat matches the package, so why should I change,’ says one colleague.

Du has stated it wants 30 per cent of the UAE market by 2009. What it doesn’t say is whether this by market value, traffic or prefix.

Silent Salik

To the surprise of no one Dubai’s Salik road toll system is to be expanded to all major roads and bridges in the city. Electronic gates will be installed on Emirates Road, Al Khail Road and Al Ittihad Road by 2009. Salik will also be introduced at Shindagha Tunnel, Business Bay Crossing and Maktoum bridge.

Since Salik was introduced in the summer, the RTA has inched towards some degree of public interaction. There has been a sharp increase in the number of RTA ads appearing in press and billboards. It is now advertising its complaints line: 800 9090, http://ecomplain.dubai.ae, or fax to 04 206 5532. It might have been nice to flag up some concept of dialogue before the next phase of expansion: a suggestion that public feedback might be taken into consideration.

The RTA says the roll-out is part of “a major push to get people to use public transport”, reports Emirates Business 24|7 - though neither the RTA nor the paper bother to provide details of how. No details on tolls either.

There is nothing wrong in admitting this is a tax on drivers. Sailk is expected to raise Dh600m this year; details of how this money is being spent on tackling the traffic problem would be welcome. A public face for the RTA would be ideal.

Tough business

The UAE is a regional business center, UAE companies make the international news, the country needs a daily business paper. This appears to be the logic behind Arab Media Group’s relaunch of its Emirates Today title to Emirates Business 24/7. The new paper debuted on Sunday 9 December with the publisher confident it will become “an integral part of the life of top executives and decision-makers in the private and public sectors as well as a reference for investors”.

Good luck to them. Given the difficulties in securing a license to print new newspapers (and ITP’s inability to launch a daily business title), Business 24/7 could be a spoiler from AMG – ‘if we can’t crack the market with a general newspaper, we’ll pioneer the business daily sector’.

The first edition certainly boasts a clean, contemporary design (though the 24/7 tag is a little naff – and international business people might wonder why the phones aren’t answered on Fridays), but it will live and die on its content.

Issue one has some decent stuff – strong views from the local business community on the dollar peg, Al Qudra IPO details, water transport plans – but too much of is generic filler. How many times can it rehash a dollar peg/sovereign fund/forthcoming IPO feature? These are fine for weekend supplements, or monthly titles, but not so good for news-led daily papers. There is nothing to shock share prices or embarrass CEOs. Business people don’t make decisions based on happy-clappy feel-good pieces.

In its favor Business 24/7 at least now has a clear positioning (Emirates Today was defined by what it wasn’t, rather than what it was), and AMG’s government ties should ensure access to heavyweight players. Most people are in the UAE to work; business matters. Business 24/7 must avoid becoming an irrelevance.

How to be a popular boss

‘Federal government employees, both nationals and expatriates, have hailed the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to raise their salaries by 70 per cent.’

I bet they bloody did.

The crackpot pay hike is not dependent on productivity or experience – though Khaleej Times says ministry staff have “pledged to work harder to further boost the country’s progress and development”. Which is good of them. And, remember, there was a 25% raise last year. It is aimed at combating rising living costs, but is the same as thinking printing more money beats inflation.

Without getting into the merits of whether these federal workers deserved such a dramatic raise, it is extremely unlikely private sector business would issue a blanket wage policy without tying it into some kind of performance/appraisal scheme. It also undermines efforts to attract nationals into the private sector. What private sector boss can match the sweeping generosity of the government? If you’re a national, apply for work at the ministry and sit tight, this says.

Crowded fairways

As reported last week, superlative-fixated Dubai is to host the world's richest golf tournament. You can argue whether $20m represents value (selling expensive villas, golf tourism, and go-getting Dubai don't come cheap), though even some within the golf community thinks the money is crazy. The Dubai papers are full of the details this morning - with one glaring exception: what will happen to the 10-year-old Dubai Desert Classic?
There's nothing to say Dubai can't host two big tournaments, but with the new $20m scheduled for November 2009 and the Desert Classic due two months later - are they too close?

Beyond tax-free

The UAE has one of the world’s most attractive personal tax environments according to a new global survey of expatriate hot spots by Mercer. I don’t know how long it took Mercer to compile the report (it canvassed 32 countries) but the UAE section should have easy enough: note for next year, guys, there is no direct taxation here.
At first glance the report, Mercer’s Worldwide Individual Tax Comparator, makes bland enough reading. The UAE is top, what more do we need to know. It is cost-of-living and competitiveness reports that we’re most interested in. How or how much expat workers can get for their dirham overseas. Or what it costs to rent a two-bed apartment in downtown Moscow, Bangkok or Cape Town.
Where there is benefit is in highlighting potential concerns for the future. The report highlights the difference in tax breaks for single and married workers. It also looks at flat-rate taxes and social security contributions.
Many observers say a tax environment is in the UAE inevitable (road tolls, municipality fees and state-owned service providers are already revenue-generating), and a consumer tax is expected to roll out. For expats with children, education is a de facto tax. Residents know they’re being taxed; for those yet to arrive there remains a certain appeal in saying you’re moving to a tax-free country. Losing this tax-free status is a significant step. How the UAE plans to introduce taxes will say a lot about the type of people it wants to attract.

Eco, my arse

If we are to believe the papers, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have bought an island at Nakheel's World development. They want to make an eco-friendly resort "to showcase a greener lifestyle and promote environmental issues". Good luck to them.
Could they not have bought a real island, with its own water supply and pre-installed vegetation? Maybe one that didn't need A/C six months of the year.
Or, as Kipp suggests, was it Dubai's tough line on paparazzi that attracted them?

Winning friends, influencing people: Part II

ITP's Arabian Business last week ran a story saying work on Emaar's Burj development had stopped, as workers were on strike demanding better pay. By the next day the story was pulled, and no mention was made of the city's biggest labor dispute until an Arabtec press release appeared clarifying it was now business as usual. Yesterday Arabian Business awarded Mohamed Alabbar its Lifetime Achievement award, hailing the Emaar chief's 'far-sighted approach, innovative thinking and flawless execution'.
There's no disputing Mr Alabbar's mover-and-shaker credentials, but ITP could be a little less crass with its timing.

Form is temporary, class is permanent

Dubai is reported to be lining up a bid to host the world's richest golf tournament. The $20m championship will be the season finale of the 2009 European Tour, and will comfortably better the purse of any of the four majors. An announcement is expected on Nov 19.
As ever, the figures are ridiculous but Dubai might have got its sums right. The city wants to sell itself as the ultimate golfing destination (and flog some of those course-side villas) and, good as the Desert Classic is, it's no better than above-average. The city isn't interested in being an also-ran; it wants the best. If paying $20m gets it to the top-table, so be it.
The downside is money will only get you so far. You spend big this year, there could be someone else spending bigger next (Shanghai?). The Dubai World Cup, the world's richest horse race, is not considered the world's best horse race.
For that to happen, and for Dubai's $20m golf, the city must deliver quality. And deliver it continuously. It wouldn't hurt to create some tradition. At the moment the only tradition appears to be 'spend lots of money'.

Clampdown on the mobile office

Bad news for the Saudi publishing industry: the country's traffic department says it will fine motorists caught reading the paper while driving. Phone users and drivers with children on their lap will also be slapped with a maximum fine of $134, says Arab News, quoted on Kipp. So it's also bad news for Mobily, and more work for nannies.

The Vanishing 40,000

Arabian Business yesterday reported workers on the Burj Dubai were striking for the sixth day running. The 3,000 Arabtec-contracted laborers were refusing to leave their camps and work on the world's tallest building had ground to halt. This morning, AB has pulled the story, and there is no mention in any of the other local media. Strange, seeing as this is the biggest news story to hit one of the biggest industries in what Mastercard this week claimed to be the Middle East's center of commerce.
Locally, the Kipp Report is still following the story, mostly from AP reports. It appears the strike action is far larger than even AB was prepared to admit: some 40,000 Arabtec workers are involved, and they're asking for an extra $55 a month, up from a current $109. To put that in context, the Burj's Armani residences, on sale last week, start at $2,500 per square foot.

Flights of fancy

“Time matters here and one minute lost can cause a million-dirham loss,” says a Dubai businessman, fluffing up an Emirates Today story on the launch of a new helicopter air taxi. The service is hailed as an innovative solution for go-getting business champions to beat Dubai’s traffic snarl-ups.
It is, of course, nonsense. It is a gimmick to suggest Dubai is an every-second-counts kind of town; that businessmen are whisked for meeting to meeting, concluding mega-bucks deals. The reality is that most meetings drag on for hours, are interrupted by endless mobile calls, and that you leave without a decision being made. In 10 years living in London, a city with far worse traffic and far bigger deals, I never once heard of a businessmen using a helicopter to make an intra-city trip.
In a city as small as Dubai it is extremely unlikely a helicopter would be quicker than a motorbike in getting people door to door. It will certainly be more expensive. Is every building to be equipped with a helipad and express elevators to company boardrooms?
And who misses out on ‘million-dirham deals’ because they were a minute late? If the deal is that important to you, set off earlier. If Dubai wanted to speed up business, it could start by cracking down on the late payment of bills.

Who remembers 37th place?

Mastercard is in town pushing its Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index and while there are few surprises in the top 10 (see if you can list – one point per city, bonus point for the right ranking), it seems puzzling to see Dubai only at number 37. Puzzling, that is, if you believe all the IPO announcements, takeover deals and real estate mega-project launches make Dubai the center of the world.

In reality 37^th, sandwiched between Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, is no bad effort given how much Dubai has progressed over the past 10 years. But Mastercard’s assessment seems to be damning it with faint praise: The region’s air and cargo traffic hub, Dubai also claims a flexible business climate that makes it optimal for growing companies.
Given that the top 10 are rated for their stability, openness and ‘knowledge flow’ (or the number of patents/innovations produced), having a good airport and an open mind towards business does not seem all that great.

Innovation over driving

This isn't a car blog, but...there was a great story in the Wall Street Journal last week: a former SAP exec, flush with $200m of venture capital backing, plans to overhaul the automotive business model. Why can’t the car industry be more like the mobile phone industry, is the basic gist of his argument.
Shai Agassi has no experience of the auto market, but he does have a very clear goal: to change the way electric cars are sold. Car makers will sell the shell of a car (the handset), he will sell the battery and top-up power (the SIM card and call credit).
"In the early years of his company, he expects to distribute cars directly to companies or other large buyers," says the WSJ. "But he eventually expects consumers to get their cars from conventional dealers, while he operates an infrastructure that includes the batteries and the charging network. He likens his company to a wireless provider, such as AT&T, that provides a subscription service that makes phone calls possible, while auto makers would be like handset makers such as Nokia."
Brilliantly simple. I wish him luck, and waits to see how the oil and auto business fights to put him out of business.

Hummer: planet saver

Fantastically provocative headline from InfluxInsights this morning: which is better for the environment - a Hummer or a Prius? It picks up an essay from Nathan Shedroff, a graduate of the Presidio School of Management's Sustainable MBA program, that questions whether consumers know the true cost of manufacturing, transport and product life. If a Hummer is made closer to market in a more efficient factory, and lasts twice as long as a Prius, is it really so bad?
Shedroff doesn't have the answers, but he'd like consumers to start asking more questions. Think on it, next time you see a 'green' ad message.

Promises and lies

The difference between what a company promises, and what it actually delivers is known as the ‘brand gap’. Here are some words of wisdom from Mark Stevens in Brand Week:

‘Then there's clubby little Starbucks. The brand says, in effect, "Your home away from home. Your second living room. Your refuge from the rigors of the day." Sure, if you like filthy toilets, dirty tables, unswept floors. I used to love Starbucks but now the promise has turned to week-old grinds. I think of Starbucks as pigpens with java.’
The brands are nothing more than logos, he goes on to say, the promises they pedal are lies. The promise, he says, takes place in the nitty-gritty of execution; of training people how to welcome customers; how to field calls with enthusiasm; to solve customer problems with determination; to see names where others see only numbers.
Now how many businesses in the Middle East does that sound like?

A quiet word

The UAE government says it will deport the workers rounded up after riots at a Jebel Ali labor camp. The Labor Ministry called the protests “uncivilized” (stones were thrown and police cars damaged) and that it won’t tolerate illegal strike action.
The workers can’t say they weren’t warned. The authorities have always insisted on a zero tolerance approach to labor relations, and that they will listen to any legitimate complaints. It can point to progress on contract disputes, wage increases, working hours, accommodation, transport, and summertime breaks.
But this is clearly not enough. The first most residents of the UAE about worker dissatisfaction when the media picks up on trouble - and riots, walk outs and go-slows usually do the trick. The international media is finding the subject an easy stick with which to beat Dubai.
There could be as many as 500,000 laborers currently working in the city, but how many of us really know their issues? From media reports it seems to be same old complaints – wages, accommodation, contracts. But how many of theses are serious, intractable differences, and how many could be solved with a quiet word and a little action?
Giving the workers a voice, letting them know there is an outlet for dialogue, rather than confrontation, would be a better solution than riot police and stone-throwing.

Ministries can't stop meddling

The meddlesome Ministries are at it again. The UAE’s Higher Committee for Consumer Protection, under the Ministry of Economy, is telling private business what they think constitutes a right and proper price rise. Water, rice, cement and fast food suppliers are affected.
The move is a response, reportedly, to a 30% price hike by Oasis water during the summer. Consumers complained and the Ministry felt it should act. Could they not have told consumers to buy another brand of water?
The meddling is the latest example of a culture of Government interference, and comes in the same week as the UAE commits to backing a Bahraini proposal to set a six-year visa cap on unskilled worker visas. And it is not unique: in the run-up to its presidential election, Russia has imposed price controls on basic foodstuffs, and plans an export tariff on wheat. China already controls prices; other importers, including Egypt, Jordan, Bangladesh and Morocco, are increasing subsidies or fiddling with their tariff regime.

The government is right to be concerned about the cost of living for the very poorest in the community, but price fixing is not the solution. It distorts the market, prevents the most efficient flow of capital and undermines business. If consumers won’t pay high prices, someone will find a way of selling at a cheaper price. It shows a lack of trust in free enterprise and that meddling is the default-setting.

Spain plane pain eased

The UAE and Spain have finally signed to allow unlimited flights (for designated airlines) between the two countries. Which means Dubai residents will soon be able to fly direct to Madrid or Barcelona.
Good that this happening, but why has this anomaly existed for so long? And are there other glitches in Emirates network?

The Dunderhead Sharks

There is research that gives you fresh insight, and there is research that confirms what you already know. A report this week from Zurich International Life which tells us expats in the Middle East are loathe to use financial advisors, is very much in the latter category.
While one in three expats say savings and investment is their number one priority, less than 10% turn to financial advisors for advice. Most prefer to take advice from family and friends, 38% work things out for themselves. Worryingly, just 2% of expat Arabs use financial advisors.
Full marks to Zurich for doing the work (500 expats were polled in Bahrain the UAE), but the report falls short of telling is why there is such a lack of take up. I'd suggest an absence of proper regulation, too many fly-by-night operations, a history of rip-offs, and commission-based sales. There may be very many good financial advisors in the region, but the perception is of an industry staffed with sharks. Having met several new recruits to the industry, in the bars of Dubai, fresh off the plane, it is image many seem to revel in.
Will the financial industry take any notice? Does it care? While there are quick bucks to be made from cold calling (I once met a financial advisor who would steal the business cards from the drop bowls in expat restaurants, and start calling the next day), why invest in long-term brand building?

ITP & the art of joined up thinking

Two years ago Jumeirah International rebranded as the simplified Jumeirah. Arabian Business, less than impressed, labeled Jumeirah CEO Gerald Clueless. Or was it Hapless? Or Useless? Either way, it was a cheap play on the Irishman’s family name. The magazine then frothed about the wasted expense of dropping the ‘International’ tag and how the logo looked crap.

Lawless remained outwardly unflustered, but his bosses demanded – and got – action from Arabian Business’ publisher, ITP. Apologies were issued, staff were reprimanded. It was a needless personal attack.
This week ITP completed the latest stage of its penance strategy. Gerald Lawless picked up the lifetime achievement award at ITP’s CEO Middle East Awards. Somehow they resisted using the word ‘flawless’ in their press release.

Higher wages don't kill inflation

In 2005 public sector employees in Saudi Arabia were handed a blanket 15% increase in wages. The gift was not dependent on pay scale or performance; with the economy booming the Saudi government reckoned its huge number of civil servants, all Nationals, deserved a slice of the action.
Two years on and inflation in the Kingdom is running at a seven-year high. Rents in August were up a record 12.1%, with food product prices up 6.6%. Puzzled by this, the government has convened a special council to look at ways of tackling inflation. The panel has just recommended a pay rise for both private and public sector workers.
It has to be hoped the panel has some more ideas. Critics point out that the 2005 handouts have helped create inflation; and the ‘print more money’ approach is not indicative of financial control. Meddling in the wage market also caused imbalances as private sector wages did not bump by 15%. The continued peg to the dropping dollar, and its impact on import costs, is a greater concern.
What this does show is Saudi’s sensitivity to the political impact of rising prices. The country’s huge numbers of civil servants have long benefited from easy work conditions and decent wages. They will be aware the country is enjoying bumper oil revenues, and that the economy is opening up. They want their share; the government wants to keep them happy. If their wages are not buying them as much, pay them more, seems to be the plan.
There is no happy end game in this kind of thinking.

Blessed are the Model-Makers

Cityscape, the world's biggest real estate show, and boom time for model-makers. If a fraction of what is planned actually gets built, then the Gulf will be transformed. Kipp has the slides.

Devon Burj

Funny. Jumeirah Group is threatening a UK developer with legal action if it doesn't change the Burj-like design of its planned Plymouth hotel. Looks part Burj, part JBH to me.
This from the city that is building an Eiffel tower replica full of 'luxury' apartments.

Nike's community gamble

If a brand can recognise a specific customer need and do a nice turn in community marketing, it should be win-win, right?
Possibly not. The Nike Air Native N7 has been produced in consultation with Native American tribes, will be sold only to Native Americans and a percentage of monies raised will go to Native American health programmes. Nike says Native Americans have wider-than-average feet (up to three width sizes larger than the typical Nike shoe) and that Native American communities suffer from higher than average levels of obesity and diabetes. There are less than 3 million Native Americans according to the 2000 census, and the N7 is a small attempt at tackling some of their problems. Nike hopes to raise $200,000 for welfare programmes.
As I see it, the downside is Nike has admitted its core offer is no use to Native Americans, it does nothing for non-Native Americans with wide feet, and other ethnic groups will want to know 'what do we get?'. It would be nice to think Nike will get round to everyone. As Kipp says: What price the Nike Air Arabia?

News media, & self-censorship

Good piece on Kipp, via Communicate, on the intimidation of the media, and press self-censorship in the region.

It’s like the worst kind of lion taming. Brutalize the animals until they behave, reward them when they do (perhaps with corporate press awards), then unveil your act to the public. “Look, the lions are not restrained. They balance on balls because they want to.”
The crowd politely applauds, but they long ago stopped paying attention to the program – and its corporate sponsors. What they really want is for the animal to bite the lion-tamer in the ass.

I'd like to say this is all the fault of the authorities, but I'm not sure I believe that. This blog is written anonymously - should it need to be? Most of the comments on the Dubai Media Observer blog are anonymous. If more journalists were prepared to speak up, go on the record, and back their colleagues, there might be some progress. Truth is, most expats are content to bumble along knowing they'll move on if the pressure gets too much.

Business media buzz, or lack of

I've been enjoying Conde Nast's Portfolio magazine online, though I now hear the print version's not been selling too well. Lois Kelly at Foghound has a great piece on how the 'buzz' has not been great: too many high-anxiety stories, not enough inspiration, an absence of trends-to-decipher. A handy lesson for would-be publishers.

The hellevator

There are 31 floors in this building, and it can feel like I've stopped at all of them some evenings as the office empties. I read an interview last week with Akbar al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, in which he fumed at people pressing the 'up' button when they wanted to go down, and vice versa. If I use the lift here four times a day, this will happen at least once: some dumb fug standing blankly as the doors open at the 11th wanting to up, as we're heading down.
Lifts clearly aren't as simple as we think. Maybe the up/down buttons needs more explanation. Or maybe I'm the dumb fug, and Blankly 11 is zipping up and down, double quick.

Copy cabs

Abu Dhabi is getting a fleet of London cabs (painted pearly white). The fools think the cabs will be an icon of the city. They won't. With a Guggenheim, Louvre, cookie-cutter F1 track and Warner Bros theme park on the way (and copies of Dubai's Film Festival and golf championship already in place), the UAE capital is fast gaining a reputation for unoriginality. Plenty of cash, no idea.
In London, the cabs have become iconic because there are 1,000s of them and they've been running for years. In Abu Dhabi they will just look tacky.

Gazing down, clever branding

The Media City Ramadan tent is sponsored by Schon Properties. Nothing remarkable about that (international company wanting to show it 'gets' Islam), what is clever is they've branded the roof of the tent. With four (and counting) 25-story towers circling the area - along with five low-rise office blocks - there must be plenty of eyeballs looking down. The company is brand building, and big outdoor sites are an obvious route, doing something a little different helps breaks through
With little regulation on outdoor advertising, expect to see more of this: car roofs, low-rise residential blocks (the Greens is surrounded by high-rise), commercial transport, bald guys.
As ever, there is no shortage of media in Dubai; what is sometime missing is a creative use.

Big tent, tall building

Went to Emaar's Ramadan tent at Burj Dubai on Thursday night. An excellent extension of the 'Downtown Dubai' brand: modern, Arabic, stylish, quality food, cool music, and a cosmopolitan crowd. The idea is a bit of a risk for Emaar - the area is a building site, you have to drive through an underground car park to find it, directions are lousy, and there are other Ramadan-specialists - so full marks to them for giving it a go. And there wasn't any sales push. Models of the development were tucked away in the entrance, and tables were flyer-free. Now, if they could get a drinks licence, it might make for a great Eid party venue.

Awash with coffee

Just what Dubai needs, another coffee chain. This from yesterday's Kipp Report.

Coffee Republic, one of the UK’s original coffee shop brands, has signed a deal to open up to 30 outlets in the Gulf. The first will open in Muscat in November, Dubai and Bahrain will follow in the new year.
"We have very big plans,” says head of international business development Khurram Begg, “it is not the case we are just testing the ground, we are very certain.”
He’d better be. Coffee Republic will join Starbucks, Second Cup, Costa, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Caribou Coffee, Barista Coffee, Gloria Jeans – have I missed anyone? – in fighting over prime pitches. Mall owners and retail leasing agents must be rubbing their hands at the prospect of rent battles.

I don't recall if Coffee Republic is any good, but I do know the coffee shops I like aren't chains. U&Me next to the office does a good double shot small latte (not bucket-sized), as does I-can't remember-the-name-of-it in Sultan Business Center. Hard to see what Coffee Republic can bring that's new. The sector needs to move on from coffee - Geek Terminal, out of Singapore, might be a welcome addition.