This article ran in Arabic in Forbes Middle East, November 2005.
When I think back at my early years working as a research executive in a leading Market research agency in the region, I remember the internal discussions taking place at work, in an attempt to dissect and analyze our local Arab consumers, like newly discovered marvels being placed under a microscope for deeper inspection and understanding. I used to cringe at the picture my senior non-Arab associates drew of our Arab consumers in their minds, and later in conjured up proud presentations and reports to our clients. That was 13 years ago. Sadly, today, I still cringe at some of the industry’s discourse on our Arab consumer, with constant depictions of Local Arab women who are not only shown as veiled with beautiful black Abayas, but often veiled with mystery as well!
It is this perception of “mystery” that keeps leading to false and distorted representation of our consumers by the industry today, often found in the many articles published in leading English Marketing magazines. I read these articles, and always ask: Why should it come as a surprise to find that a Saudi woman is not only computer literate but also spends a few hours a day on a chat site connecting with the rest of the world when she lives in the same evolving context that sweeps the rest of the world and her counterpart in the West? Or why is it an earth shattering research finding that our young Saudi youth has become very brand savvy and picky in their choice of brands when they are exposed to the same level (if not a higher level) of latest technology, wide array of brand choices and different forms of evolving media, as the rest of the world is? Why is there a discussion on what cultural and religious values still dictate our Local Arab consumer’s evaluation of ads and how can that change to be like the West, when Islam is no more and no less than an everlasting daily life guide and way of life that is untouched by any wave of change?
If we look through our consumers’ eyes, with their context in mind, then none of the above would be a point of any debate anymore, and in fact, we as marketers and researchers can go beyond these old archaic arguments from the 70’s and 80’s and move on to the meaningful realities of the present and future of our ever so developed and sophisticated consumer in the Gulf, who is the equivalent of what is today being described as the “hyper-consumer” in the West – a modern hybrid of today’s world.
Indeed, this is what inspired my vision for starting up Siraj market research and consultancy 6 years ago - a name I arrived at through a verse in the Quran my mother referred me to. My vision then, and still remains fervently so today, is to represent our Arab consumer as they are through Arab context and Arab understanding from researchers that have fully lived and breathed the socio-political context and cultural and religious values of our consumers. Our vision is to unveil this contrived mystery by continuously looking through our consumers’ eyes, using THEIR context, THEIR fast evolution and their language as our starting point. This, coupled with focus on strategic planning and marketing oriented solutions, as well as commitment to impeccable client servicing approach, all represent the backbone philosophy of Siraj since its inception. Thankfully, this has only paid off with no less than fabulous 6 years of operation across the region with big International clients that crave Arab insight and know how.
Now, I look towards the future, with one more vision in mind, which is not only representing our Local Arab consumers the way they deserve to be represented through consumer research, but also encouraging corporate social responsibility initiatives, in order to give back to our community and give back to our consumers on a very basic human level. Siraj’s involvement in Corporate Social responsibility research over the last 5 years has taken us to places like Yemen, Kuwait, Jordan as well as the UAE, and the experience was very enriching and very rewarding, as we see our work going towards encouraging more and more of our clients to give back to our society. I see this as one more step towards representing our people in the right way and encouraging positive action and initiatives to better their lives deeply and not only a superficial level. It’s a great joy to see that this issue is now big on most companies’ agendas.
When asked about problems I face as a company owner, I always smile, as I see these as no more than exciting challenges to overcome. My first wish is to increase Local Arab talent and interest in our field, so we can increase the number of those who can be credible spokespeople for our consumers. My second wish is for our female senior researchers to travel more easily and more often to Saudi Arabia for easier first hand access to our Local Arab female consumers in our biggest market. My final wish is to gain the support of more Local companies and government departments, who tend to prefer big Western companies for their research needs, whilst ironically, big Multinational western companies have turned to Arab local bred companies, like Siraj, with preference over bigger Western multinational research agencies.
I look forward to a good future in our industry, and I see nothing but great opportunities ahead, with an increase in Arab voice and an Arab led discourse on our consumer for a truer and more real representation worthy of them.
