Elie Haber

Mindshare

by Thomas Schellen

The now grown-up child of a merger of media units within the United Kingdom-based WPP communications group, Mindshare manages its media and marketing services offering for the Middle East and Africa from the United Arab Emirates. The UAE office of Mindshare, which just bagged the “Media Agency of the Year” award at the MENA Cristal Festival, is led by Managing Director Elie Haber. Executive caught up with him immediately after his return from Lebanon’s mountain resort Kfardebian to his work sphere in Dubai.

  • What does it mean to be recognized as “Media Agency of the Year” in 2012?

We have been debating for ages now whether awards win you new business and elevate your position in the market. Basically, we came to the conclusion that the main benefit of winning awards and being the agency of the year is to lift up the mood of the team. It puts you on the radar of new clients, but it is not a major contributor to new business. It boosts the team spirit in the office and gives a good vibe in the office; that’s it.

  • What are the main factors that motivate your generation of decision makers to strive for excellence in the advertising and media communications space?

At this level, I don’t think money can be a major motivator for you. I don’t think there is a big difference in money whether you are a managing director or a chief executive of a regional office because the lifestyle is already upgraded. The main driver to keep you motivated is the growth that you achieve for the company: what you achieve in digital growth, your contribution to the market and your reputation in the market, plus retention [of talent] because with what is happening now in the market, everybody wants ‘digital’ people and social media people. That makes it very difficult to retain our teams. If you can create the right environment in the office, which is key for staff retention, this is what keeps you motivated.

  • What are the major contributions that your generation of decision makers should make to the development of the regional advertising industry?     

A major contribution today could be building the knowledge of the new generation. I sit on the board of the [International Advertising Association]. One of the mandates that we have put for 2013 is to reach out to young professionals. How can we reach the young professionals, educate them, put them on the right track, help them with their career growth and identify gaps in the market? For example, if you go into the market now, you don’t find local talents in media and advertising — Saudis, Emiratis; you don’t. We have failed to reach young professionals. It can be a good contribution to educate on this level. Another contribution could be in reaching young women.

  • Are the Lebanese still a major pool in sourcing talent for the media industry?

Yes, if you look at the media industry in the way it is structured in the UAE, more than 60 or 70 percent of the people are Lebanese and then you have Europeans, mainly from the UK, and Indians. The Arab talents in the industry are either Lebanese        or Egyptian.

  • And this situation is continuing?

It is still the same. We are now hiring more people from Europe to come here to educate us about digital and social media and search because, locally, you don’t find people for senior positions when it comes to digital. Eventually the Lebanese are here to stay, and I think the industry will always remain dominated by Lebanese.

  • Do you have a specific expectation about the regional market developments in 2013?

An article was published where we predicted between 8 and 10 percent increase in ad spend in the Middle East and North Africa region. I have to agree with that in order to have consistency in the media. This is all subject to political instability. Unless we have political instability, we are estimating an increase of 8 to 10 percent across the whole MENA region. The UAE could be higher, Egypt could be higher; it depends.   

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Thomas Schellen

Thomas Schellen is Executive's editor-at-large. He has been reporting on Middle Eastern business and economy for over 20 years. Send mail
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