Participants at the one-day event included Wael Ghoneim, Head of Marketing MENA and Wael Fakharany, Regional Manager from Google, Diego Semprun, MD of Nielsen Online, Omar Mandoor, GM of Coca Cola Egypt, and Rania Elbakry, Digital & Direct Communication Manager at Mobinil. In addition to Karim Khalifa, CEO of Digital Republic, Ahmed Osama, MD of TE Data, Con O'Donnell, MD of Sarmady Communications, Tim Baker, MD of Hug Digital, James Harris, Head of Digital, UM-EMEA and various industry experts from the MENA region.
Paul Katrib, Regional Managing Director, UM highlighted the importance of new and emerging media to reach out to different audiences and optimize investment for brands. "This conference falls within UM's regional initiatives to keep pushing the potential of the digital platform within our communication strategies, and exploring the ways it could help us strengthen the connections between our brands and the consumer," said Katrib.
Dina Hashem, UM Egypt Managing Director said: "the event organized for the first time in the Egypt aimed to bring industry experts together to discuss global best practices to optimize the usage of online and mobile technologies and facilitate access to and enable target audiences to interact with the brands and share with their peers."
Participants discussed the market dynamics especially the internet infrastructure in the region, mobile advertising revolution, viral marketing and the essential consumption habits and profiles of internet users in the region. And various successful case studies such as Coca-Cola and Mobinil were presented following an overview of the digital media scene in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Rania El Bakry, Manager, Digital and Direct Communication, at Mobinil said: "It was a pleasure to be part of this wonderful event. It was a great opportunity for idea exchange among parties involved in the field of Digital Communication and it was a much needed event to help this field evolve and grow."
In his closing presentation, Karim Khalifa, CEO Digital Republic Egypt re-emphasized that digital is not only about banner ads, but it is about creativity, entertainment, engagement and interactivity as well as building a two-way relationship with your consumer and rewarding them for their interaction with your brand. He called on communication professionals to get ready to take their brands to the next level to reach audiences through mobile advertising, online TV, and location based marketing.
