The 16 countries in the Middle East have nearly 42 million Internet users and Arab-speaking countries in North Africa, including Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan and Tunisia, already make up half the top 10 digitally connected markets in Africa with over 27 million Internet users.

The CMO Council is conducting a benchmark Rate the State of Marketing in the Middle East audit to gain insights and views from senior managers at MENA companies. It has already surveyed more than 200 multi-nationals on their Perceptions & Intentions in the region. Initial findings have been shared with advisory board members and are attached.

Discussions and interactions at the inaugural board meeting included:

--  Putting the MENA region on the global marketing map; growing knowledge
    and understanding of the region's enormous potential, sensitivities and
    nuances.
--  Addressing and satisfying the diversity of nationalities (over 200 in
    Dubai, alone), ethnic groups, and religious norms in the region.
--  Accommodating the huge disparity between different socio-economic
    groups, plus migrant worker and multi-lingual considerations.
--  Finding good regional marketing partners and sourcing, cultivating and
    keeping new talent.
--  Need for a rigorous training program in tandem with local universities
    to produce marketers that have relevant skills and the right strategic and
    business mindset.
--  Deficiencies in media reporting and lack of accurate and available
    audience numbers and circulation figures in the region.
--  More effective use of market data and customer analytics for decision
    support and marketing effectiveness.
--  Better integration of people, process and technology; addressing big
    gaps between business requirements and IT capacity to address it.
--  Need for better interaction and integration between IT and marketing
    groups; oil and gas companies tend to be the best at this.
--  Trust as an essential ingredient in doing business in MENA. Personal
    credibility tends to be more important than company credibility, which, in
    turn, is more vital than product credibility.
--  Relationship marketing requirements in the region require longer go-to-
    market cycles and more patience in gaining momentum and uptake.
--  Strategies for penetrating closed and conflicted markets in the region
    - Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, Tunisia, etc.
--  Understanding how governments and para-statals work is vital.