Launch of first ever Muscat Regatta 2009

Today i attended the press conference of the first Muscat Regatta and it was interesting to see that Marina Bandar Al Rowdha came up with something really good; from the sponsors involved, Bank of Beirut, Oman Air, NFC, Ministries of Tourism and Sports' Affairs, to the technical company behind it, GWM Racing.

Here is the official release:

The launch of the first ever Muscat Regatta was announced in a press conference yesterday, attended by the chairman of Marina Bandar Al Rowdha, Mr. Saleem Q. Al Zawawi and the Managing Director of Bank of Beirut Mr. Remy Zambarakji, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Sports Affairs.

The Regatta will involve a series of 9 races, the highlight of which will be a 230 mile Muscat to Khasab race which will be held on December 10th ending at Khasab in the Governorate of Musandam. The launch of the Muscat Regatta is important in the Sultanate, as prior to this in spite of Muscat’s rich sailing heritage as a thriving seaport; its involvement in the Sport was limited to being the final destination in the annual Dubai – Muscat yacht race.

Mr. Saleem Al Zawawi commented; ‘We at Marina Bandar al Rowdha feel that it is high time that Oman, as a Maritime nation with a sea-faring tradition going back over hundreds of years, has its own blue-water yacht race. The planned Muscat Regatta which will start here on December 1st is the result of over a year of hard work and will fulfill the aspirations of many Omani and Expatriate sailors”.

The Regatta will be held under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism and will be managed by a British firm of International repute; GWM Racing Limited. The company has many years of experience racing, including in the Caribbean and Mediterranean seas. A number of sponsors have also signed up to support the landmark Regatta, including Bank of Beirut, who will be presenting the winning boat of the Muscat – Khasab race with a perpetual USD$50,000 prize, entitled the ‘Muscat – Khasab Bank of Beirut Chairman’s Cup 2009’.

Remy Zambarakji, Managing Director of Bank of Beirut, Oman said of the decision to sponsor the Regatta; “The bank’s aim is to support this exciting sport and take it one step forward to become an international race. We are certain that the Regatta in general, and specifically the Muscat – Khasab race will be a great success, and we are very proud of our sponsorship and involvement, especially considering the fact that Muscat and Beirut share centuries of maritime heritage together”. 

The recent successes of Oman Sail on the European circuit has fired the imagination of many young Omanis wanting to sail and according to Al Zawawi, building a competitive platform for these young sailors is something very important to all involved in Muscat Regatta 2009.

“We are helping to build the National Sailing teams of tomorrow in hosting this event, providing them with an important opportunity for competition to hone their newly acquired skills. The Muscat Regatta now has the potential and the financial support to become not just a regional event, but also an international one – attracting yachts from all over the world.” Al Zawawi concluded.

The Muscat Regatta 2009 will be held from December 1st to December 10th at Marina Bandar al Rowdha, Muscat. For further information please visit: www.marinaoman.net

Well, good luck to them!

PR insight and tidbits (2)

Consistency is a critical part of your organization's ability to build a strong, credible reputation in your community and among those groups of people who have the most impact on your success. Consistency breeds credibility, which breeds success!

There are several areas in which consistency is the key element, including:

Consistent Message. It's difficult to build a strong identity in the marketplace if you do not consistently communicate a clear, coherent message. Decide what your organization's message is going to be -- that is, how you want to be perceived by your target groups. Once you decide on a central message, stick with it. If you constantly communicate a consistent message, in time it will become familiar to your target audiences. Communicating a consistent message over time greatly increases the chance that it will resonate among your target audiences and that you will achieve your communication goals.

Consistency in Design. Most of us instantly recognize the Pepsi logo, the Chevrolet logo, or the Nike "swoosh". These logos are almost universally recognizable because they consistently appear in nearly all of their respective companies' advertising and collateral. Maintaining a consistent visual design will increase your organization's recognition among your target audiences. If your graphics and design are done well and properly utilized, in time people will become familiar with your logo and the general visual appearance of your organization's marketing and advertising materials. That's why it is critical that all of your organization's collateral -- from your web site to your stationery to your brochures to your business cards and print ads -- follow a consistent graphic theme. 

Consistency of Media. Once you choose the media through which you will communicate your message, stick with it. Don't be a "here today, gone tomorrow" advertiser -- give your plan time to work. Once you commit to a specific media that reaches your target market, maintain consistent visibility in that media. If you plan to advertise in a specific publication, do it consistently. If you plan to send out an email or print newsletter, do it consistently. If networking is a key part of your marketing strategy, consistently network within the same groups. Again, this consistency will help your target groups become more familiar and comfortable with your organization.

Consistency is one of the fundamental keys to the success of your marketing program. The more familiar people are with your organization, the more credibility you have. The more credibility you have, the more likely they are to do business with you. If you have a clear message, consistently communicate that message through the appropriate media, and maintain a consistent visual design your target groups will become increasingly familiar with your organization. This will, in turn, enhance your long-term profitability.

If you have any questions we, at MPiRe, will be delighted to help you.

Blogs & PR

Blogs are increasingly being recognized as a key part of corporate public relations, according to a major research study conducted by Text 100, a prominent international PR agency. Text 100 recently consulted with a pool of 449 bloggers worldwide, in order to discover the role that bloggers play in corporate public relations, communication and marketing strategies. 

One of the most important findings is that bloggers are often seen as “influencers,” rather than traditional journalists. This means that companies throughout the world realize that because blogs are often written by every-day people and in a more personal manner, their opinions on company services or their product reviews can impact consumer choices and trends. Most of the bloggers interviewed for this study focused on three topics in their blog entries, namely the business world, computers and technology, as well as lifestyle or consumer issues.

In 90 percent of the cases, these bloggers had some type of contact with corporate PR representatives and also valued these contacts. The proportion, however, was even higher in the United States, were 96 percent of bloggers interviewed had weekly contact with PR representatives. Most of these bloggers also noted that what makes their writing unique and interesting to a wide range of players in the corporate world is that they offer an array of product reviews, regular interviews, as well as maintain contact with their readers through feedback. Importantly, however, these same bloggers noted that what they disliked most was when PR representatives simply forward corporate press releases, without a more personal, or targeted message.

The fact that more than 9 out of 10 bloggers come into contact with PR departments shows how important blogging has become in the corporate world and how seriously companies take this dynamic form of communication. But this reality also demonstrates how useful it can be for companies to develop their own blogs, rather than simply relying on the blogosphere.

Why this blog? (should have been my first post really!!)

I’ve been considering joining the blogosphere for some time now, I’ve been reading local blogs and I have now decided to take action and open my own blog....again! This is the third time!! I discovered blogging thanks to some local bloggers, who made me curious about blogging, kept me company for a while and inspired and motivated me to start this blog.

My blog, and some of you might find really boring...

...will mainly focus on the PR industry, how it needs vision and innovation to continue advancing and gain the due respect...well, in Oman. It might change over the time with new topics and type of info.

I invite everyone, professionals and not, to join me for discussions, learn from each other, and grow together through collective intelligence.....that's where this blog's name comes from.

PR insight and tidbits

I hope this section will provide you with interesting and useful information that will help you in your business or career. Each time I will include PR insight and tidbits, interesting articles about companies, links to information on networking opportunities which might help you develop new business relationships, and information about our company and what we're up to. We will start from the ABC of PR to finish with Social Media and how technology has rapidly changed PR.

What is Public Relations?

We define public relations as Strategic Reputation Management. In a nutshell, public relations is the process through which organizations develop and implement strategies which influence how they are perceived by important individuals and groups.

The first step in the public relations process is determining which individuals and groups are most important to your organization. The list of individuals and groups whose opinions can impact your organization's fortunes may include customers, potential customers, investors, employees, spouses of employees, leaders of important trade organizations, elected officials, and so on.

The second step is determining how you want to define your organization -- that is, how you wish to be perceived by those key people and groups. Do you want them to view you as an expert on a specific topic? Do you want them to view your organization as one that provides reliable products or services at a lower cost than your competitors? Do you want to be known for top-notch personal service? Do you want them to be aware of your organization's commitment to the community? It is important to ponder questions such as these.

While it is important to determine how you want your organization to be perceived by those key groups, it's equally important that your public relations efforts be grounded in truth. Don't try to establish yourself as an expert on a certain topic unless you really are an expert on that topic. Don't stake your organization's reputation on customer service unless you really do provide excellent customer service. Don't sell your organization as a great place to work if all of your employees are unhappy. If you attempt to build an image that is based in fiction rather than fact, you do so at your own peril.

Once you have determined which groups and individuals are important to your organization, you can develop and implement a plan of action which builds a solid reputation for your organization - a reputation grounded in truth.

Next time I will explain how consistency breeds to credibility and how important it is for your marketing and public relations efforts.

If you have any questions we, at MPiRe, will be delighted to help you.

10 Reasons why brands fail on Twitter / Social Media

If you’re a brand and you’d like to harness the power of social media (via Twitter), it’s honestly, a difficult situation to be in. Because Twitter is a community where the signal to noise ratio is really huge and you could make out the difference between spam and a genuine guy in the minimum possible time compared to any other social media channels.

For the same reason, life for brands on Twitter is tough for sure but not “un achievable” a target, or so do I prefer to believe. And I can substantiate my stand.

Why or How does brands fail on social media?

1. When they don’t get “social”

Obviously, there is no “power” held with popular people on social media, if at all there is anything that makes them popular, it’s because they are social. They interact, discuss, learn, make noise and have fun. It’s because people like to have them within their circle of friends. So when brands get reluctant to get social, they fail.

2. When they talk only about the product.

Some brands hop on to Twitter hoping that they can shout about their products, and get people interested. That’s fine as long as you are an established brand like Coke or Obama. People will keep waiting for your updates, and they are okay if you only talk about yourself. But if you’re a brand that’s struggling to get attention, you got to mix it up until you reach an authority.

3. When they don’t answer, where they’re supposed to.

And don’t expect people to get all nice with you. They’ll ask questions, criticize or even bad mouth you. But all they want are answers. And when you don’t answer them at the right time, people will strike you off the list of their “trusted” friends.

4. When they don’t accept mistakes.

Accepting mistakes are a great way to get close to people. I think its the most powerful and effective tool I know to win someone’s heart. Now, don’t get blind that discussing mistakes will mar your reputation. No. That’s a big mistake, when you accept and discuss mistakes, the one portion of the community who are “willing to befriend” you will stick with you. The other portion of critics will anyway go away, if you discuss it or not.

5. When they don’t understand people.

Brands exist because people use them. When they fail to understand people, they lose the game. And to understand people, you needn’t take mass psychology classes, just behave like you are one among them. When you fail to do that, the gap between the brand and user widens.

6. When they don’t give value to the followers.

Being a good brand is half task done. But that’s not enough. You got to give value to your followers. May be an exclusive discount offer or an exclusive product review? Use the principle of divide and rule. Give value/ Reward to your followers – leave the carrot dangling for the cynics – Leave your critics with no options. That would be a great way to make things interesting.

7. When they aren’t fun.

This is one factor I found very interesting with brands getting online. Most of the time, companies are “scared” to get social, while they want to make their presence social. And what happens is that they play a double game, which fires back at them. Many companies online draw rules left and right to keep “things in control” and what they don’t understand is that the rules in social media is not set by you but the people. So if you got to save you a** through all that’s happening around, you better be the fun-guy-around. Don’t get scared to talk to people, that’s not the essence of the whole idea.

8. When they fail to create win-win situations with people

Another strategy that’s a 100% winner all the time is creating opportunities and letting people win. It’s easy to play it, but it’s not easy to take the initiative. Creating win-win situations is a must for any brand to succeed, and it’s one of the few ways available where you can get the users/followers involved. A nice example would be the “Taste casting” thing that happened at a restaurant recently. Where a new product ( I guess pizza) was introduced to a bunch of tweeps from the locality. The restaurant could get a cost effective way of advertising their products while the tweeps felt happy that they were being treated exclusively as elite. Classic win-win situation.

9. When they are bothered at all.

Okay, so if you aren’t bothered at all about your users/people, you better get out of the way. This is hard to imagine but there are folks out there who don’t give a damn about what people think about them. I think this is a lie and only a big damn excuse.

10. When they have bad products.

Obviously, social media isn’t a place where you can expect magic to happen if you have a failed product. If you are one, better try rebuilding your brand and not pushing the same thing across to people.

GM Reinvention is a similar project that’s come out recently. When it met with the worst times in business, it embraced social media and came up with this new idea of limited products and introduced it through social media. It’s getting great responses to the website now and I think this is a great way to rebuild your brand.

So, essentially, In Social Media, brands just don’t remain brands as in traditional media. They got to understand the pulse of the crowd and morph themselves in to a more..well “social” form to be successful one.

It’s amazing what social media can give back to you. It always gives you back in multiples..always. You give them value, they give it back..a lot. You try to be smart, they get smarter!