Experts will discuss the impact and the opportunities provided by targeted and digital marketing at a key summit in Dubai later this month.

The IIR Middle East Total Marketing  summit, to be held from November 20-23 at The Address hotel, Dubai Mall, will address the complete marketing strategies needed to meet the growing needs of the increasingly-integrated marketing responsibilities faced by industry executives, said a statement.

According to recent statistics, the Mena region is home to approximately a 10th of the world’s Facebook users. Currently, the region has over 56 million Facebook users, representing a market penetration of 16 percent and the total number of Twitter users in the Middle East is estimated to be about 6.5 million people.

These figures show how marketers cannot ignore digital natives that increasingly turn to social media in their daily lives. In this digital age with an increased reliance on technology, marketers need to be consultative in their approach to consumers, according to a top marketer, it said.

“We need to find a way to be consultative marketers and evolve to become digital natives. We have to adapt our marketing approach in a consultative way, or we will be forced to,” said Jeremy Foster, head of marketing, government and industry relations, Ericsson – UAE, and key speaker at the IIR Middle East Total Marketing.

Foster further stated: “The successful future for marketing is connecting to people in the moment that they’re in a natural cycle. A natural cycle, for example, is being hungry at lunch time. If you understand the context of cycles, the consumer will feel in control.

“Consumers have changed. Marketers need to learn how to control consumers, by adding context in their natural cycles and by using consultative marketing,”  he added.

Hasan Fadlallah, founder and managing director of BrandLounge, Branding and Marketing Strategists, elaborated: “The role of digital marketing cannot be neglected anymore nor can it be looked at as a complimentary tool. Digital marketing is now the focal point where marketers and brand agencies turn to at the start of any brand activation and engagement program.

“Our presence as gold sponsors for the Total Marketing summit comes as a natural step due to our belief in the program, content and structure of the topics and the need to redraw the branding and marketing roadmap in times of severe competition and change.”

Speakers from across the Middle East, Europe and Asia will be converging at the renowned event, to discuss the future of marketing, the latest consumer and research trends, as well as provide practical solutions for marketers in the industry by identifying key trends.

A series of case studies will be presented and numerous networking opportunities will be available at the event. - TradeArabia News Service