The Advertisers Business Group (ABG), in partnership with Maktoob, held a networking event at the rooftop terrace of the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai Media City.

Among the attendees were marketeers, brand builders and advertisers from renowned local and multinational organizations. The event was one of several networking events organized by the ABG throughout the year to raise awareness of the work of the association and enable members to learn more on key marketing and media issues. The strong turnout was a clear reflection of the region's growth and critical importance of digital media and marketing.

The guests were welcomed by Sara Sahely, Vice Chair of the ABG, who introduced the members of ABG's  recently established Online Media Measurement Task Force, led by Inger Hedin. The committee comprises representation from major multinational advertisers and has been established to evaluate the internet research in the GCC (and MENA) region.

Sara Sahely introduced the evening's guest speaker, Ahmed Nassef, Vice President of the Maktoob Group and General Manager of Maktoob.com, the Arab world's leading web portal and online community, who gave an insightful presentation on 'Digital Marketing in the Arab World'. He highlighted the fact that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the  fastest rate of internet user growth in the world and touched on the challenges of marketing to a  Pan Arab audience. Some markets in the Gulf, such as the UAE, already have high internet penetration.

Ahmed went on to discuss  online media trends, such as discussion forums. He stressed that internet usage in the region had reached a "tipping point" and that it was time for advertisers to follow the audience and invest more in online advertising. Only 1% of ad spending in the GCC/Levant is currently invested in the internet, although it is growing faster than other media. Digital technologies lend themselves to precise auditing and measurement like no other media platform and the region also has to catch up with other parts of the world in terms of online audience measurement. This will help to grow confidence. 

Ahmed finished by discussing the merger between Yahoo! And Maktoob and what it would mean for users  and advertisers in the region. Benefits would include Yahoo! media products in Arabic, customized for the Arab world, massive combined reach, targeting technologies to improve ROI and investment in industry best practices, transparency and measurement.

"Increased internet penetration will drive online ad spend" stressed Inger Hedin following the presentation."This medium is measurable, which means that the advertisers know exactly what they are getting for their investment. The presentation by Ahmed Nasser, and the following discussion, showed an increased interest in the internet as a medium in this region", she added.