Gulf companies are not taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by online advertising, a key figure in the regional industry has said.

Gulf Saatchi and Saatchi chief executive and head of the Bahrain chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA) Khamis Al Muqla told the Gulf Daily News that firms that don't pay attention to the latest developments in how to communicate with their customers are guilty of a "missed opportunity".

"If we are talking about the region, and comparing ourselves to leading countries in the West or even developing countries like China and India, then we are very much behind when it comes to online advertising," he said.

His comments come after the recent publication of a new study by pollsters Madar Research showed online ad-spending currently accounts for less than one per cent of the amount spent on advertising in the region.

The time is now ripe for more GCC companies to engage with customers online in what is now a $20 billion global industry, Al Muqla says.

"There is a lot of potential, but we are still behind. If we look at worldwide expenditure for online advertising it is growing rapidly - 2005 figures show there was $20bn spent globally.

"Five years ago it was only $10 billion, so it has doubled and is continuing to grow rapidly. Until recently online advertising accounted for less then one per cent and now you are talking 4.6pc according to 2005 figures," he said.

The benefits for a firm in expanding their online presence are obvious, he added.

"It is a one-to-one medium where you can reach your potential customer or client. In addition, it allows you to have a lot of information about them - so really it is one of the best mediums there is," he said.

There are a number of factors preventing the online advertising market from expanding regionally, according to Mr Al Muqla, not least a lack of experts in the field and the fact that firms have not fully exploited the benefits of rapidly developing new technologies.

"I think we are missing sufficient manpower and expertise, the know-how. We need more specialised people to work in this business. If you go to a traditional agency online advertising is the last item on their agenda - because they are so used to television and radio and cinema.

"What we need is a specialised company to really work in this line of business.

"Technology is developing so quickly - and in five years time from now we will see different technologies. This is why I say we should be ready from now to benefit from this.

"Technology now is available in this part of the world at the same time as anywhere in the world - so it is about of we are ready to benefit from that," he said.

"The concern is a lot of people are using the online media like traditional media. We don't have people who are offering the right production for this medium - because you know you can't just put an advertisement for the printed page onto a website.

"There are a lot more benefits when to comes to how you present yourself using this medium, and I think because we lack the expertise and the resources the medium is not being used. Companies are not benefiting from its potential.

"I think the main thing is we should treat online advertising differently from traditional advertising - that is what is lacking really. In the way in which we present the information, in the way of benefiting from the technology itself because you can now use films and voice ads.

"A lot of people just put a page on the Internet and say 'okay, that is our online ad'.

"So what we need is people on both sides - on the client side and the agency side, to understand the benefits of online advertising," he added.

Locally, he revealed the amount spent on online advertising in Bahrain was less than $1 million last year.

"When it comes to Bahrain la