[gallery size="full" td_select_gallery_slide="slide" td_gallery_title_input="Saudi Marketing Conference concludes with announcement of Pioneer Marketers Award to support young talented Saudis" ids="102031,102032"]JEDDAH — The second day of the 4th Saudi Marketing Conference was concluded with the participation of more than 800 elite leaders and thinkers in the field of marketing, sales and media both locally and globally, as well as social media experts in order to discuss the most common issues in the marketing industry today and explore the latest technologies and methods used in the promotion of various products and services in addition to reviewing ways to develop the positive contribution of marketing in the development of national economy and strengthening its ability to face the current and future challenges. Dr. Abdulhai Megdad, CEO of Mega Training Company, the conference's scientific partner, opened the second SMC day by discussing the role of marketing in Business Continuity Strategy where he reviewed ways to discover growth opportunities during crises in order for the client to outperform competitors in normal times. He pointed out that the continuity of creativity is the key that can move the team towards achieving profit more effectively. Dr. Megdad discussed the most important risks facing companies in general, namely: Strategic, financial and external risks as well as commitment risks. He also stated that the steady and continued growth of the various business establishments can be achieved through strategies that are developed from the customers' needs. Dr. Megdad called on the Saudi retail sector, whether brick-and-mortar stores or online retailers, to earn customers' trust and adopt ongoing and sustainable pricing policies and discounts that do not rely on holiday seasons, stressing that the consumer is mindful of the merchandise prices. During a special presentation, Mr. Tony Sgro, Founder and CEO of EdVenture Partners, talked about the key role of marketing agencies in creating the new generation of marketers, thus, creating the future marketing agencies. He introduced a new and unique experience in preparing next-generation marketers while they are still in college. The innovative program gives students and faculty members in marketing faculties the opportunity to be involved in solving the problems facing EdVenture Partners clients or projects they would like to implement at lower costs and greater efficiency so that each one of them becomes an individual marketer or a marketing team, and will communicate directly with the client in order to understand their needs and desires. Then, they will be provided with amounts of cash to conduct relevant research, and will be given the research tools they need, after receiving from the client a full brief on the challenge or the project. Hence, the student or faculty member will recruit the sources and resources in favor of the initiative that he is working on, until he is finally able to develop a feasible strategy or creative campaign in marketing that has significant impact and would achieve the client's interests, then he will execute it himself, analyze it and investigate its effectiveness after execution, and eventually submit a comprehensive report about the campaign. Mr. Sgro explained that EdVenture Partners has been building effective academic partnerships since 1990 for the benefit of the various entities in the private and public sectors and even non-profit organizations, and has achieved great success in the Arab world, especially in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, mainly "Bl A7yaa" campaign on social media that attracted the attention and interaction of all the leaders in the Saudi society and was about the armed forces martyrs who died while defending the country. Sgro stressed that the employment program of university students and academics had the greatest impact on making them gain extensive experience in marketing, not to mention the financial support they receive for their work. As part of the conference, Dr. Saad Alhoqail, Faculty Member at Alfaisal University, announced the local Pioneer Marketers Award, a non-profit award voluntarily supervised by elite academics and expert practitioners in the marketing field, who believe in the importance of marketing to the success of any organization, whether profit or non-profit. Pioneer Marketers Award is divided into categories: Works of Students, Works of For-profit Organizations, Works of Non-profit Organizations, Works of Government Institutions and Works of National Day. The award includes other subcategories: Cultural Heritage, Identity Launch and Hashtag of the Year. Deadline for nominations is January 17, 2017. Dr. Alhoqail pointed out that the national award aims to support young Saudi talents in the marketing field, and intends to document, assess and reward distinguished marketing campaigns related to social responsibility presented by students, for-profit organizations and non-profit organizations as well as government institutions. He stated its expected role in raising the level of awareness of marketing and spreading its multiple proper applications, while creating a scientifically and practically qualified entity that achieves distinguished marketing tasks and documents them, in addition to providing a fair mechanism that creates a healthy and motivating competition for those working in the Saudi marketing field, as well as supporting the future career of pioneer marketers and bolstering the business world with distinctive marketing professionals. In the next three years, the Pioneer Marketers Award organizers seek to make it one of the most important awards specialized in marketing at the regional level, God willing. Dr. Alhoqail explained that the Award committees include personalities famous for their long-standing experience and in-depth knowledge in marketing. The Board of Trustees, which oversees these committees and approves their decisions, includes leading marketing experts, academics and creative businessmen practitioners in the world of marketing. The Saudi Marketing Conference is organized by ThinkOut, the leading organizer of conferences in Saudi Arabia that was founded and is managed by Mr. Mahmoud Abu Jbara, one of the Arab marketing pioneers, with the support and sponsorship of major government and private agencies. The Saudi Marketing Conference, which was founded in 2009, is considered a special event that grants the exclusive opportunity for sponsors, participating companies and their customers as well as workers in senior management positions to attend the event and meet with decision-makers who will host the event. SMC attracts all professionals specialized in sales and marketing in the Kingdom and the world to inform them about the prevailing trends in these fields locally and internationally.
