To succeed, companies should forget about the future
In a world where technology changes rapidly and businesses that don't
keep up often perish, it's no surprise that many companies keep one eye
on the present and one eye on the future as they develop their strategies.
On the surface, it seems sensible. After all, not paying attention to the future seems like a dangerous if not potentially fatal mistake.
But is this really the case? Or can focusing too much attention to the future be equally dangerous?
Q&A: Samih Toukan, CEO of Jabbar Internet Group
Samih Toukan is Chairman and CEO at Jabbar Internet Group, the leading group of internet sites and web properties in the Middle East and North Africa.
In 2000, along with Hussam Khoury, Samih founded the Arab Internet services company, Maktoob as the world's first Arabic / English email service provider.
Following the subsequent acquisition of Maktoob by Yahoo, Samih founded Jabbar Internet Group, an integrated group of online companies and websites. The group’s assets extend from e-commerce sites to online games, to advertising products & search services.
I caught up with Samih to find out a little more about the companies within the Jabbar Internet Group, and the future of digital marketing in the Middle East...
“Brand Everywhere” – the next big thing in digital marketing?
At Econsultancy’s 2010 ‘Future of Digital Marketing’
conference the main emerging theme was ‘Data is the new oil’. At the 2011
conference, held two days ago in London,
for me the main theme is what I’m calling “Brand Everywhere”.
14 brilliant examples of brands using interactive offline advertising
Digital marketing, communications and advertising isn’t now just restricted to the internet, especially as online channels continue to develop and merge into offline ones.
For example, we’re seeing traditional advertising space, such as television and outdoor display evolving into digitally-driven platforms, like connected TV and electric billboards.
Here are 14 truly great examples of where technology acts as the glue between digital and traditional advertising space...
Optimism and uncertainty in media: the C-suite looks to the future
A new study by Econsultancy explores the opportunities and challenges in media and publishing using feedback from nearly 500 media company CEOs and senior executives.
10 digital predictions for 2011
Last year was a transitional year for most of the industry and now the traction of these changes are likely to take hold on the cold hard surface of consumer engagement.
Not to foreshadow any impending doom, but many of us are likely to see elemental change happen faster in this coming year than ever. And though it appears I waited until after the year turned, I blame my iPhone alarm clock and its 2011 bug.
Innovate your way through the recession
At Econsultancy, alongside best practice, we love to see innovation and creativity within the marketing sphere. Interestingly, it seems that as companies are increasingly scrutinising budgets and resources, the assumption is made that the room for manoeuvring in this way is restricted.
Consumer trends to watch during the recession
The seriousness of the economic downturn is now an undeniable reality, with the optimistic prediction that digital would be unaffected exposed as a false hope. With Britain facing the 'worst recession in living memory,' this will inevitably impact on consumer trends and behaviour.
As economic woes worsen, understanding how this affects customers becomes even more critical. Businesses that have a deeper understanding of the relationship between the economy and emerging patterns of consumer behaviour are far more likely to emerge from the crisis unscathed.
