Advertising spend in the region increased from $6 million in 1990 to $280 million in 2010, while spend on public relations hit $1.1 billion from $47 million during the same period, said the organisers of an ongoing media event in Dubai.

The fifth edition of Corporate Communications Conference opened on February 27 at the Mövenpick Hotel JBR in Dubai and will end tomorrow (March 3).

The event will highlight online communications, the impact of social media, establishing a strategic communications function and crisis communications.

“Speed is of the essence in modern communications. This has given rise to a ‘nano second culture’ for most enterprises,” said Donald Steel, chief communications adviser, BBC UK and speaker at the Corporate Communications Conference 2011.

“However, speed of communications should be coupled with accuracy and transparency, the failure of which can be detrimental to a company in many ways,” he added.

Social networks represent communications in the ‘nano second culture’. As the Deloitte report states: In 2011, social networks are likely to globally surpass the breathtaking milestone of one billion unique members. They may also deliver over two trillion advertisements.

Steel is of the opinion that with the growth and significance of social media, organisations need to adapt the new evolving medium.

“Social networks are huge. However, many company CEOs want to see return on investment (ROI) through these mediums. The ROI and impact on a business for social media can be tracked through innovative tools such as unique impressions, clicks, fans, page views among others,” Steel said.

A recent Deloitte report stated that 70 to 80 per cent of Fortune 500 companies will support at least one tablet variant for some portion of their work force, demonstrating accessibility of information anywhere and reinforcing the need for prompt communication. – TradeArabia News Service