Recently, Cobone.com, dubbed as the Middle East’s largest daily deal site, announced that it has been acquired by international investment firm Tiger Global Management and will now be injected with extra capital to expand into the market as it sees fit. This means that it will no longer operate under the umbrella of Dubai’s Jabbar Internet Group. Samih Toukan, the group’s chairman described the deal as a successful exit for them.

According to the company, it possesses the potential to compete on a global level and now has an enormous customer base of more than two million customers. So why, then, was a take-over more favourable than remaining in its current position? Kipp hears from Warrick Godfrey.

“In the past two-and-a-half years Cobone has grown to be one of the largest e-commerce companies in the Middle East. Throughout the process we were looking for a partner that was aligned to the management team’s overall vision,” continues Godfrey. “When Tiger approached us we were not looking for this deal, but when it came to the table it was clear that it was the best step to fuel Cobone’s growth going forward.”

Godfrey says this acquisition highlights a significant ‘vote of confidence’ for this region’s e-commerce scene – and is the first major investment for 2013, despite consistent interest from global investors over the past couple of years.

E-commerce growth in the Middle East is still going through exponential organic user growth due to increased internet (mobile and broadband) penetration. As more people jump online, and get more comfortable with e-commerce, a natural growth curve has been built into the market.

If you’re one of the site’s two million customers, or hope to be one in the near future, why should you care about this corporate transition?

“Customers can look forward to receiving much more personalised communications from Cobone, he says. “A large focus will be placed on high quality deals. Additionally, we have always made significant changes in our website layout over the past two and a half years. We will continue to invest in our website to improve our merchant and customer experience.”

Paul Kenny, founder and CEO of the company, will retain his current position, along with other members of its leadership team, including Warrick Godfrey, Pieter Sleeboom, Tahira Khan and Loai Ayoub.

The campaign, titled ‘The World Is Our Home, You Are Our Guest’ was created by M& C Saatchi.

Kipp is no expert on brand marketing, but it’s safe to say that any campaign of this magnitude takes a lot of blood, sweat and tears to create a message that would leave a memorable and positive sentiment behind. In Etihad’s case, considering the three-year gap between campaigns, it’s even more pertinent; precisely because it is how the airline will be remembered for years to come. First impressions will be created and existing ones may be re-evaluated.

Peter Baumgartner, the airline’s chief commercial officer says ‘it’s not a rebranding exercise, but a continuation of our brand story drawing from the values of our home in Abu Dhabi and our inspiration from around the world’.

As we’ve already mentioned, we aren’t the experts and although a campaign can be aesthetically pleasing, how strong and unique is the message it sends out? And does it carry a strong defining concept? Kipp turns to a few branding and marketing experts in the region to find out:

Zak McKinven, Brash Brands:

This is an interesting direction for Eithad to take and it echoes the execution of last year’s John Lewis TVC (in the UK) where ‘Two Worlds Connect’.

The production value contributes to a well-shot ad which does communicate the brand very well. However, the tagline ‘The World Is Our Home, You Are Our Guest’ could possibly be construed negatively rather than in a positive way. A single, defining concept would really help in adding a sense of coherence to this campaign.

Alex McNabb, Author & Founder of SpotOn PR:

It’s a beautiful video. When it comes to the filming, the message it sends and the production value, you can’t fault it at all. The trouble with it is that it’s not terribly discoverable, and that’s what you want to create nowadays, digital discoverability. Telling a story through a campaign is an integration of mixed components and not just one element. As far as I can see, that’s a missed opportunity.

The production value is brilliant but putting all their ‘eggs’ and money in one basket and behind one single broadcastable commodity – as beautifully done as it is – is slightly old-fashioned. There should be content behind the ad and its tagline, and create that broader appeal beyond just a single minute of glory.

Scott Feasey, MD of Iris Middle East:

My immediate thoughts were that it is 10 times better than their last campaign.

I like the music, the very stylized, premium feel and the end positioning line. Although, personally I would say it is slightly pretentious and the split screen and frequent cuts makes you dizzy.

Overall I think this is a step in the right direction for Etihad, but it does leave me a bit cold. It doesn’t have the warmth or the emotion it should have – it feels too aloof, out of reach and just not for me.  If I am their guest, I don’t see it.

Said Aghil Baaghil, Marketing expert and author of The Power of Belonging:

The advert does deliver three important things; Luxury, World and Guest. I like how Etihad is a ‘modest luxury’ and simple brand, but my concern is that there are lots of airlines within the GCC battling for the luxury arena, but which one of them owns it? Secondly, I didn’t see how they differentiated themselves from Qatar and Emirates; they both seem to speak the same communication language.

Pepsi

Pepsi gets our vote for the most creative and brand-intensive interpretation of the Harlem Shake. Since it was published on February 13, the video has had 55,800 hits.

Chii’s

Chili’s Harlem Shake scores points for featuring several ‘Harlem Shakers’ eating during the latter half of the video. It is important for brands to find a way to relate to the trend and still stay loyal to its product.

Go Daddy

Web hosting and internet domain registrar, Go Daddy, set their iteration of the Harlem Shake at an Employee Town Hall meeting. Talk about letting the voice of the masses be heard.

 Red Bull

In a matter of five days, Red Bull Racing Australia’s version of the Harlem Shake has had 234,632 hits.

 Lululemon

Yoga merchant and clothing store Lululemon came up with this yoga-inspired version of the Harlem Shake which has garnered more than 20,750 views since it was uploaded on Friday.

When Ambareen worked in London, she frequently dealt with a website called MoneySupermarket.com, which she describes as having been extremely popular at the time. “It was a concept I already knew but when I came here in 2008 and struggled to find the right credit card for me, I assumed there would be a similar comparison ‘go-to’ site that everybody used. There wasn’t. There was no way I could spend all this time contacting all the banks separately because it would take time to get through to each of them. There was nowhere I could go where the information was reliable, up-to-date and clear.”

With their strong financial background, both founders launched the official version of Souqalmal.com in May of 2012, with the hope of providing the ultimate transparent and unbiased platform for users to compare products that they are interested in.

“Pretty much what we’ve done is put every single product with all its information in one single format. We did our homework,” explains Musa. “We’re moving into different verticals now with sections like mobile plans, air miles and schools in the country. Still, we’ve both been in the industry so we’ve built our credibility among many of the banks as well as brought our experiences to the table.”

She explains how their essential focus is mostly on providing clarity and transparency. You don’t need to go through twenty different sites, she says. “You don’t need to rely on each and every one. Normally, you’d have to figure out what banks are out there, who provides what and what are the contact numbers. Once you have that, good luck to you staying on the line for twenty minutes. All we’ve done is put it in one place where you can search and filter depending on what you want,” she adds.

Were banks reluctant to continue providing you with transparent information?

I wouldn’t say it was difficult as such. What we really did is get over the education process; explaining to banks what it is we were doing, says Paula, co-founder. The minute we got over that process, it became very easy, they’ve understood what we’re doing, they believe in it and have become very supportive in helping us update the platform.

Biggest challenge?

The biggest hurdle that we’ve had to go through yet is the education process. Having to go through that brought us back to education, if that makes sense, adds Ambareen. Now all we hear is how badly needed a site like ours has been.

Fear of too much information?

It’s not just pushing the information out there. It creates a nice platform where the consumer listens to the bank and the bank listens to the consumer. It is actually an opportunity – thanks to our review section – for banks to really hear what their customers are thinking.

Why decide on an education section?

In Dubai, looking for schools is a nightmare for parents. A woman has to worry about getting her child a secure position when she is still pregnant,  says Ambareen. I have a 19-month old, and trying to find an available place has been horrendous. I’ve heard about it before but never experienced it. It’s a hot topic and on everybody’s mind.

What would you like your main achievement to be: transparency or change?

I think it’s definitely a bit of both. Whatever is out there, let’s bring it together in one place for everyone to see. It’s an interesting point but whenever you bring transparency to any industry, it brings about change. Many of the banks we deal with actually started using Souqalmal.com as a competitive platform to compare themselves with other banks.

If there is something to be compared, we want to compare it – Ambareen Musa.

Bruj Khalifa, Dubai, UAE.

In a nutshell, it encapsulates horrendous customer support and experience.

E-commerce sites, particularly in this region tend to hear a lot of negative feedback but they can never truly feel the same painful experience that a frustrated customer feels. These videos are specifically meant for them. Many websites lose hundreds of potential customers because of a difficult digital experience. Google says this is what your customer experience might look and feel like:

What’s distracting your customers?

How can it be so challenging to find your favorite type of milk?  

When do visitors check out from your online buying process? 

You’ve become like a home-grown celebrity in Dubai. Do you get noticed outside, and how have you dealt with it?

Yes it’s happening more and more lately. I don’t mind it at all unless I’m having a really bad day but most of the time I enjoy hearing people’s opinions about my projects.

You were described as ‘being your own brand now’. Was that something you worked towards or is all just a blur of success?

I don’t think it was something I worked towards. I came to Dubai with Virgin and got a TV show on Dubai One 8 weeks after arriving. It snowballed from there and I just indulged all of my interests. TV, radio, art, fashion and DIY and I think, by some strange twist of fate, it all came together and made the “Simone Heng” brand. I am just grateful people love what I do almost as much I love creating it.

Do you have a talking addiction?

I grew up in a family of talkers,you basically had to shout to even be heard. Asian people in my family seem to sound like they’re shouting, even if they are just discussing the weather. I think early on in my career I was quite narcissistic and wanted to be heard, most young people do, but 8 years on I think I have become much better at listening and I am bored of what I have to say. I want to learn about other people, whether it be their brands and products or simply their life story. I am pretty bored of me.

Did you used to get a lot of compliments about your voice when you were younger?

I was always chosen for debating teams and public speaking things at school, I used to read in church on Sundays. My Australian accent neutralised a lot in Singapore (where I was working prior to Dubai) and I lose my voice quite a lot now because of the amount of work I am doing so I think my voice has changed a lot, much less nasal now that I am 9 years living outside of Australia. I used to sing competitively in high school too so I learnt a lot about the diaphragm and where your voice comes from during those singing lessons and those lessons still serve me well now.

You talk, you’re filmed, you write and you appear on magazines: does it feel a little surreal to you?

I look at a lot of entertainment and lifestyle presenters overseas, in larger markets, on a much smaller scale I am doing what they do. So I don’t feel it’s surreal, I just think it’s part of my job and the machine needs to keep churning along so I can make a decent living and set myself up for the future. I don’t ever believe in fame for fame’s sake. I don’t like doing press if I don’t have a new project to share. I was on HBO Asia to 300 million people before Dubai and I did covers in Malaysia and the Philippines and I suppose then it was surreal, I was very young. Now it’s work and I accept it.

Turn the page Kipper

The book begins unusually at the end. The first chapter boldly plunges into the deep end and talks about the need to have an exit strategy. Know your exit before you take the bull by the horns, he writes. Every business has an end to it, one way or the other, and most entrepreneurs think they have a good idea but don’t consider their exit strategy.

Is your plan to fill a market gap and sell it off, do you plan to launch an IPO or keep it until retirement? The author stresses that – in either case – one needs to have a plan.

Lincoln addresses many of the regional issues as well as International business tactics. The book covers everything from price wars and marketing for women to forming the correct proposition and planning before you look for funding. It takes the reader through practical theories, stories, experiences and illustrations into why leadership is important, why more women should get into business, what makes a good manager and the art of segmentation among many other core strategies.

“The problem is that most companies operate with an opportunistic mindset when they should be carrying a strategic one,” he says. A lot of businesses are unable to ‘connect the dots’ and John says that this was the primary motive to write and spread his decades of acquired experience and knowledge to the region.

“I too did start my own business at one point,” he says. “And it failed miserably and I’ve learned a lot from it. I talk very openly and honestly about it in the book.”

Why did you apply for the Entrepreneur?

I applied for two main reasons for which I think everybody applied for: the money and the free advertising. I am at a phase where I am building a business. Nabbesh is not a well known brand-it is very new and not too many people know about it, so I wanted to go as public as possible. Writing and shouting about it, so people will sign up and buy into the vision.

It came at a right time, when we were just starting, we just went online so that exposure was very much needed and the money was very much needed. So I thought why not?

How has the show helped you?

The one thing being in a show like The Entrepreneur is, it helps you to become a better public speaker. Since being in The Entrepreneur I have developed my ability to sell myself, and to sell my business. I don’t think it gets any more stressful than when you are talking on television, so now I feel so much more comfortable to talk about my business at any occasion.

Were you able to form a good network of contacts through the show?

Absolutely. I am in touch with some of the judges, post-show. I am also in touch with some of the contestants-we built some great relationships. I really think they should do it again. I am sure there has been a lot of learning on all fronts-after all it is the first time such a show has been made.

Do you think the show will help encourage other entrepreneurs?

It is all about making entrepreneurship desirable, making it hot. Encouraging people to get out on their own and try something different. This is a platform which will provide that push. One it will give budding entrepreneurs the push that you need to get your idea out there and second if you win it will give you the funding-to turn that idea to a product. It is great to get feedback from different people

Filming ended mid-May, what have you been doing since?

I have been building Nabbesh. We knew when the show was airing, I wanted to make sure that we bring Nabbesh to a certain level that we are very happy and pleased with by the time people start coming to check the site. We have been focused on hiring, developing the features, working on partnerships

“We don’t even consider traditional marketing or advertising. It doesn’t exist to us,” says Malas, the Chief Executive Officer and one of the founders of the brand that has quickly grasped global recognition. Kipp may not always be the easiest chap to impress but witnessing the transformation of what at one point was considered ‘street food’ into a multinational brand almost entirely through Facebook is worth talking about. The company has received thousands of franchise inquiries from all around the world and more are continue to roll in but, it wasn’t Malas’s initial intention.

“Before we used Facebook for any business purposes, we thought that as a community tool it was really fascinating. From a consumer stand-point we were very happy with it. Once we did look at it for business purposes, we knew there was a digital revolution that is now integrating both social and business circles and it was a great idea to connect with them directly rather than trying to reach them with indirect ways,” he says.

Kipp enjoys reading about local success stories, as it undoubtedly provides an element of inspiration for aspiring entrepreneurs and growing SMEs, especially in the UAE. Considering that the brand has become the first in the GCC to be used in a Facebook case study says enough about the restaurant’s popularity, but Kipp can’t help but wonder if JF could do it, why couldn’t others?

“There are too many elements that you have to get right before you try to commercialise anything. We are the first people in the world to adapt this particular food category to a 21st century lifestyle. We’ve done to Falafel what Starbucks has done to coffee, basically. We were also able to secure prominent retail locations because they quickly realised that if they miss out on providing Falafel then they will have a gap in the food market. Of course, there is the health factor element too, which is quite an awesome and overwhelming one because this is a category that is fundamentally healthy so we did tick a lot of the boxes,” says Malas.

“There are many stories, probably even greater than ours but the challenge is how do you tell people about it? How do you expose your story to as big of an audience as possible. That’s where we found the quickest way to communicate,” he added.

Turn the page Kipper

As Kipp sat down with Kamal Hassan, President & CEO of Innovation 360 Institute (otherwise referred to as i360), we discussed just exactly how innovative the UAE is in terms of its SME landscape, what makes a good Entrepreneur and the importance of both education and passion when climbing the ladder of innovation.

Innovation 360 is a global innovation management consultancy that helps companies of all sizes and government organizations bridge the gap between innovation strategy and execution.

One of the key topics that Kipp was interested in wasn’t restricted to the mere empowerment of women in the workplace – as it has been a hot topic in the country over the past few years – but the amount of businesswomen and female entrepreneurs. Kipp said that, judging by what we constantly hear and see, there is a lack of them.

“I completely disagree with that,” says Hassan. “Yes there is an imbalance in the population, which translates to the work place but whenever we hold an event or business seminar, over 70 percent of the attendees are female entrepreneurs.”

He continues to express his optimism about this matter and that even though there is a lack of women entrepreneurs in the ‘hard-core’ technology segment, there are plenty on the creative side.

Diversity, naturally, has always been a word that is closely associated with the UAE’s work force. “We have a very diverse culture, which brings a lot of opportunities for innovation. Here we can have a Middle Eastern Arab, a European and an Asian in one company and that creates the benefit similar to areas like Silicon Valley which is rare to find except in the UAE,” Hassan says.

Some of the remaining challenges, according to him, are related to residency, immigration and start-up costs. “Of course, over the last 5 years, many free zones in the UAE have reduced the costs for start-ups dramatically. At one point it would have cost up to AED 50,000 where now it can be as low as AED 10,000.”

“On the part of the government, there are still some changes to be made in terms of residency or immigration because if an expatriate can call the country home then they’re likely to produce and create more.”

While Hassan briefly touched on the issue of a bankruptcy law, or lack thereof, in the UAE, Kipp wondered how far changes made by the government will progress in the next few years.

“I’ve moved here five years ago and since then, a lot has changed. There is a strong push to change policies. The leaders are listening and I think they’re working very hard to push and promote the culture of innovation. The changes might be slower than we would want because innovators want things to happen quickly but there are definitely changes.”

Facebook, despite being the largest and most dominant social network in the world, has recently been under scrutiny and heavy fire. The company, along with its chief and face, Mark Zuckerberg have been bashed with everything from floppy IPO results, invasive advertising, bot-driven data to privacy settings and layout visuals.

Kipp thinks they, like everyone else, deserve a break. Today is their day when they celebrate the connecting of one billion people around the globe and they have made quite an impressionable video to commemorate their achievement.

Facebook announced today that one billion people are using the platform at least once a month. Since its launch, 1.13 trillion likes and 140.3 billion friend connections were generated, with 219 billion photos shared since the launch of this application in the fall of 2005, which represent the total number of photos currently on the site, excluding deleted photos. Facebook also revealed that 17 billion check-ins were made, which included location-tagged posts.

New users joining in the same week as the one billion milestone are averagely 22 years old. The top five connected countries around the time of the milestone were (alphabetical order) Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico and the United States. Facebook currently has 600 million mobile users.

Below is Mark Zuckerberg’s excerpt:

Celebrating a billion people is very special to me. It’s a moment to honor the people we serve.
For the first time in our history, we’ve made a brand video to express what our place is on this earth.

We believe that the need to open up and connect is what makes us human. It’s what brings us together. It’s what brings meaning to our lives.

Facebook isn’t the first thing people have made to help us connect. We belong to a rich tradition of people making things that bring us together.

Today, we honor this tradition. We honor the humanity of the people we serve. We honor the everyday things people have always made to bring us together: Chairs, doorbells, airplanes, bridges, games. These are all things that connect us. And now Facebook is a part of this tradition of things that connect us too.I hope you enjoy this video as much as we do.

Thanks for helping connect a billion people.

So did some unsuspecting volunteers of an internet safety campaign who were invited to have their minds read by a ‘psychic’ for an upcoming TV show. Dave, the ‘psychic’ provides enough theatrics expected from most hocus pocus clichés-from jumping about, looking intensely into your eyes and holding your palms. Until he starts to give you information about yourself, really personal information. From your credit card account number, where you live, to your personal relationships and how much you want to sell your house for.

While the volunteers still have their jaws dropped, the ‘psychic’ reveals the source of his knowledge. The curtain drops down to show a team of hackers with masks (just for theatrical affect) who have been feeding Dave with the results of quick online research.

Here is the video

An excellent campaign, in Kipp’s opinion. It is also one which provides food for thought-just how large is your online foot print? From the basic information you share on social media, it may be time to review how secure your online bank accounts are. Do you need to set up a proper guard for your personal laptop or cellular device? Do you ever use unsecured network? May sound a little paranoid, but it is worth considering. Just think about what Dave could tell you about yourself, if you had walked into his special tent.

For the most part, companies that promote campaigns, initiatives or are merely spreading awareness about a topic are usually, at the very least, remotely relevant to their own industry. McDonald’s Arabia has evidently left that cliché behind and have been promoting a ‘Going Offline’ day on September 28, encouraging residents to switch off their laptops, mobile phones and other sources of technological distractions in order to spend quality time with friends and family.

Kipp initially found this campaign really odd but we weren’t the only ones to question it. Why McDonald’s would promote a campaign that encourages us to switch off our gadgets, was beyond us. Sure, it’s a positive initiative but why aren’t they promoting ‘stay healthy’ day encouraging residents to refrain from junk food or something a little more fitting?

What McDonald’s thinks

McDonald’s Arabia is dismissing any assumptions that there is a catch or personal gain tied to this initiative and that it is nothing more than a mere healthy promotion of appreciating quality time with your friends and family members.

“There will be no prizes. Our main focus is to highlight the importance of spending family time amongst families in the UAE. Nowadays, people have become obsessed with technological devices to the point where many no longer enjoy the simple act of spending quality time with the family- the most important source of support,” said Rafic Fakih, Managing Director to Emirates24|7.

What the people think

(Social Media and Emirates24|7 – We have chosen to exclude names)

“It would have been better for McDonald’s to propose a day without hamburgers and fries and they shut all their shops.”

“I can’t buy the idea. Gadgets have a wider role to play and staying even a few hours without it has negative effects.”

“You could create an event that I can go to with my family where I wouldn’t need or want to use my phone. Then maybe I can go a whole day without texting anyone.”

“This is a wonderful idea – family time alone should be enough of a reason to be a part of this. How about sending reminder messages to all those who haven’t disconnected about how precious family time is.”

“What about people who can only reach their family through phones and laptops?”

“Such a campaign is much needed, especially in the Middle East…but shouldn’t McDonald’s be tackling issues related to its industry like junk food, obesity and non-recyclable Styrofoam packaging?”

What Kipp thinks

Perhaps we, as humans, have become so impulsively pessimistic that we can’t fathom the idea of a company promoting an initiative just for the sake of spreading goodness, but McDonald’s Arabia insists that that is all they are doing and why shouldn’t we believe them?

Sure it can strike someone as suspicious at first but you can also choose to look at it as randomly delightful. After all, the company isn’t asking for anything in return so why not embrace the positive initiative and not worry too much about the source?

Kipp would love to hear what you think about this campaign!

The gold bar vending machine on the 124^th floor of Burj Khalifa, dispenses gold bars along with real-time tracking of the fluctuating gold prices. These gold bars sport a logo of the Burj Khalifa with weights to choose from 2.5 grams to an ounce. The lightest one would cost approx Dhs 500.

And if you’re not into baseball metaphors, in a nutshell, Motorola is (re)launching the RAZR line. Okay, scratch that. The company decided to take elements from one of their most successful models And so the Motorola Razr is reborn.

Why the decision to bring back the RAZR? Here’s Motorola Mobility VP Spiros Nikolakopoulos:

The phone was launched in the US on October 18, then launched in the UK a day after. A press launch was held in the UAE today, October 25, with the phone only locally available in a couple of weeks. Its retail price is worth 2,599AED.

Who are they think won’t be able to wait to get their hands on it? Well…

One of the biggest features of the Razr is the Motocast, which is essentially a cloud platform that allows you to access content on your personal computer from your phone. Given that only 3 percent of the world’s population keep their content on a cloud system, the company focuses on the convergence aspect of the Motocast—which is also available on their some of their current models.

It also has built-in software that studies your consumption patterns and suggests ways to save up to 30 percent of your battery life.

What else can we expect?

Here are the rest of the specs:

The looks:
- At 7.1mm, it is reportedly the slimmest smartphone currently on the market.
- It has a glass face, diamond-cut aluminum accents and a hyper-vibrant 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Advanced display.
- It sports KEVLAR fiber (yes, KEVLAR, the material that’s used for bulletproof vests) and Corning Gorilla Glass to help the screen stand up to scratches and scrapes.

Under the hood:
- 1GB of RAM that hooks up with a dual-core 1.2GHz processor and Android™ 2.3.5 and HSDPA is 14.4.
- It comes preloaded with the Motorola MotoCast app, which provides the user a secure personal cloud, connecting the phone to their personal computers.
- Front-facing 720p HD video camera and 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with 1080p HD video capture to create your own movies—with image-stabilization technology

Is this making you think about making the switch then?

Here’s a product clip:

It comes with optional accessories as well. The Motorola Razr Work and Play Kit allows the phone to connect to your HDTV, speakers and other peripherals for large-screen entertainment. There’s also the Motorola Lapdock 500 Pro with a built-in keyboard and 14” HD resolution screen, Lapdock 100 and 500 Pro looks like a slim laptop, where you can watch movies, edit documents, video chat with the built-in webcam and browse the web with the full Firefox browser.

And today as Spice Holdings celebrates its 10 anniversary, we thought it only fitting for you too to be inspired by the rather inspiring Ansar.

Slicker, bigger and faster than all HTC previous phones, the Sensational XL stands apart for one more reason: its affiliation with Beats by Dr.Dre.

So this is the deal: the HTC Sensation XL offers its indulgent buyer “a Beats audio experience” which is both a combination of the Dr.Dre software and hardware. Apparently, when one plugs in the Dre headphones, the nifty HTC switches to the Beats by Dr. Dre sound profile (software). OK, so I don’t quite get why you need special software to best use the headphones, but you can’t deny that this is an intriguing move from a marketing perspective.

HTC, which is currently aiming for 10 percent market share by the end of the year, is far from a popular choice here in the UAE, where the Blackberry and iPhones tend to be local favourites.

Teaming up with Beats by Dr.Dre, HTC shows a genuine interest in breaking into the young music scene-as illustrated by the launch party at a Nasimi beach next week.

The collaboration with Beats by Dr.Dre also marks a remarkable move to target the young music-loving brand-conscious lovers of Beats by Dre—a decidedly different strategy to gain an edge in the increasingly competitive smart phone market.

I look forward to see how many more such collaborations are likely to come in and just how far HTC will push their current foray into the music world.

Kipp chats with FNC hopeful Saeed Harib, CEO of Dubai International Marine Club as he tells us what it means to be part of the FNC.

To read more about Al Hilal’s latest dealings with a certain $500 million Islamic Bond check out this story.

Source: KIPP

And if you are interested in understanding how Ramadan in the UAE works, why not have a look at Kipp’s findings from our exclusive survey in conjunction with YouGov?

Source: Kipp

Afterwards, take this test to see if you’ve got what it takes to be a player in the world of advertising and media…feel free to share with yo’ friends…

Source:Kipp

In the late 1990s, Mars asked ex P&G exec Omar Salim, a Jordanian who has also lived in Egypt, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, to come out to Dubai where Mars was still a fresh company. After all these years, Salim isn’t cocky about his achievements. In his free time, he enjoys playing with his two-year-old son, debates the state of the world with friends, and reads history books. We ask him about his indulgences. Cars, perhaps? “I drive a Honda,” he says. “If that gives you an idea. It’s a great car.” And this is from a man who’s taking Mars in the region to a global level.

Did you know that Nassef made it to Communicate’s Power List 2011? Check it out.