MEDIA REACH ADVERTISING WINS THE 2009 LLOYDS TSB JEWEL AWARD FOR ENTREPRENEUR EXCELLENCE CATEGORY

Founder of the multicultural advertising agency Saad Saraf and Logika Media head Javed Husain were awarded the Entrepreneur Excellence Award at a prestigious ceremony held Saturday, 7 November 2009 at London Hilton, Park Lane. 


The Entrepreneur Excellence Award celebrates the achievement of those Asian men and women who have taken the risk and set up their own businesses and are now making a success of their chosen enterprise. This is clearly demonstrated by the consistent and dynamic performance of Mediareach Advertising as the UK’s leading multicultural advertising agency. Under the inspired leadership of the founders the agency has helped hundreds of ethnic and mainstream brands communicate effectively with the UK’s multicultural public.

This prestigious event was endorsed by Lloyds Banking Group’s Group Executive Director of Wholesale Truett Tate who is quoted as saying, “The Asian business community makes a hugely important contribution to the UK economy and, more often than not, its success is based on an inspiring mix of hard work and ambition.” 

The judges included Britain’s top business leaders:
Khalid Darr, Executive Chairman Carter Anderson
Diana Brightmore-Armour, CEO & Co-Head of Corporate Markets, Lloyds TSB
Nina Amin: Tax partner at KPMG UK
James Caan: Founder & CEO of Hamilton Bradshaw and who most people would recognise as one of the infamous business dragons on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den programme.

Saad Saraf of Media Reach Advertising said: “In the continuously growing culture of multiculturalism in the UK, communications with various market sectors is becoming increasingly challenging in the worlds of marketing and business. We will continue breaking new grounds for our clients and for the agency as a whole while continuing to contribute real value to the UK economy. Winning the Entrepreneur Excellence Award is a confirmation of our dedication and commitment to the market and brands we helped build.”

Now in 2009 there is no sign of slowing down, as the team is actively advising numerous government departments and popular mainstream brands on multiculturalism and communications.

Saad Saraf
CEO
www.mediareach.co.uk

The Irawani Family in Iraq

The Irawani family in Iraq

The Irawani family roots are traced back to the city of Yerevan (capital of Armenia). The family ancestors were a leading religious authority of the southern Russian republics and money was brought to them from the regions.

The family elder (Mirza Mohammad Irawani) known to have moved from Yerevan to Iraq around 1820 (following the 2 wars fought with the Russian Army for control of Yerevan) and the family settled in the city of Najaf. The family is known to have produced some of the leading intellectuals of Shia’a theology and have prominence in religious circles.

One of their elders was Sharif Al-Ulama’s Mohammad Iravani who had the leadership of the religious community and awarded Ijtihad by Sayid Abul Hassan Al-Isfahani, had 2 sons (Jawad & Ali Asghar). Mohammad Iravani taught theocracy in Masjid Al-Tusi (Najaf) in the morning and Usool at night and was known to be excellent in Mathematics. Mulla Mohammad Iravani succeeded Kuhkamara as head of the Turkish faction in the Najaf Hawza and died on Thursday 3rd March 1885.

In Najaf, the Iravani family managed (Masjid Al-Turk) which was to be used by Ayatollah Khomeini during his exile in Iraq.

Masjid Al-Turk, which was run By Mirza Abood Irawani had a unique following in Najaf for operating in a different style such as the candle, lit processions by relatives and extended families (which runs at around 4000 people in the city alone), The processions, which usually recite in Turkish through the streets on Najaf at nights in Ashura.

One of the landmarks was the Irawani Madrassa in Mohey Al-Deen Street in Al-Emara area near Syed AbulHassan Al-Isfahani House which was built in 1884 by Mirza Irawani (management expenses was paid by Mahdi Irawani) when the Turkish students were discriminated against by Iranian students and complained to the Mirza who ordered a madrassa to be built to have study rooms, library and residential rooms on the top floors. The school was demolished during Saddam crashing of the Shiaa revolt in 1991.

Al-Irawani family is a well known for their knowledge in Philosophy, theocracy and have a number of notable people such as Mirza Ali Abdul Hussain Mulla Ali Asghar Mohammad Baqir Al-Irawani (a leading figure and awarded Ijtihad at an early age and had written 10 books – to date 7 have been published by his sons).

Mirza Ali Al-Iravani joined Mirza Taqi Al-Shirazi during World War 1 to write to and incite the Arab tribes in the South of Iraq to revolt against the British Army. Mirza Ali Al-Irawani left back to Najaf after Shirazi’s death; his students include Syed Al-Khoei, Syed Jawad Al-Tabrizi, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, Sayed Ahmad Al-Mustanbit, Al-Khomeini, Al-Shirazi & Abtahi.

Mirza Ali Al-Irawani died in Karbala on Friday 12th April 1933 and was buried in Imam Ali Sahan Room no.23 (3 rooms away from Sayed Abul Hassan Al-Isfahani. 9 years later his wife Alwiya Zahra Syed Ali Zaini was buried next to him (4th room from Bab Al-Saeh)

After Sharif Al-Ulama Mohammad Iravani death in 1888 Hassan Magmaqani who are cousins of the Iravani succeeded him.

Other known Irawani’s are Sheikh Yusuf Irawani (Son of Mirza Ali), a leading religious authority representing the Najaf Marjeia and has a tremendous Turkish and Azeri’s followings in Tehran. Yusuf was arrested by the Shah of Iran for meetings with Khomeini in Najaf in 1973 (the meetings were organised by his brother in law Syed Murtaza Nakhchevani). Sheikh Yusuf was instrumental in solving the problems that erupted between Ayatollah Khomeini and Shariat Madari at the start of the Islamic revolution in Iran. Other notable people include Sheikh Sadiq Al-Irawani, Mohammad Ali, Baqir Al-Irawani and Sheikh Yusuf Al-Irawani.

Sheikh Ahmad, Sheikh Sadiq & Sheikh Tahir is known to be leading the Majalis Husainia in Najaf and the South of Iraq.

During Saddam regime Jassim Al-Irawani was a legendary figure in the city of Najaf for standing out publicly against the Baath regime in 1975 and declaring opposition against the government attacks against Shiite traditions. This resulted in the largest manhunt against him and was arrested in 1977 and executed by Saddam intelligence services.

Both of Mirza Ali Al-Irawani daughters Saddiqa & Nashmiya Irawani were married to Nakhchevani family and are also related.

The Irawani family members are today residing in UK, USA, Iraq, Syria, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Sweden, Poland, and Netherland.

Business:

Saad Al-Irawani: runs a number of advertising, marketing and media companies and trade & construction businesses in London, Dubai & Iraq).

Ali Al-Irawani runs businesses in Iraq, Sharja, Morocco.

Hasson Al-Irawani a well-known finance man in Iraq.

Jawad Al-Irawani (Finance minister for 8 years during Ali Akbar Rafsanjani rule and a director of Jihad Construction companies in Iran, Head of Iran Economic think tank and Chairman of Istiqlal Football club in Iran.

Khadum al-Irawani (deputy minister of economics during Rafsanjani government, head of Iran trading company and chair of the Kish Island trading company.

Sheikh Mohammad Irawani was an advisor to Sheikh Zayed of the UAE and his sons live and work in the government of Abu Dhabi.

Contributions:

Lutuf Ali Khan Al-Irawani built Imam Ali silver Door opposite the Gold hall in 1283 Hijri.

Kumail Bin Ziyad dome was built by donations from Hasson Al-Irawani in 2000.

Kumail bin Ziyad mahogany door was donated By Saad Al-Irawani & his wife Zina Abu Qlam in 2002.

www.arabialine.com

Communicating with the UK’s Multicultural communities

During this economic downturn, you would think that everyone would be clambering about looking for new opportunities, with clients demanding for more effective, intelligent and cost efficient solutions that deliver results like never before. And yet, the industry continues to respond towards this growing niche by assuming that generic solutions are communicating to all.

Ethnic marketing and media is as important as mainstream marketing and media and in some ways can be more important. It’s got nothing to do with tokenism but has everything to do with customer segmentation and understanding your audience. It’s a point that’s not very well understood by many public relations and marketing professionals. Yet ethnic marketing is growing in importance for many mainstream brand owners.

With the minority ethnic population figures growing to 10%,
(Average household size twice the mainstream average) and in certain cities such as London, Birmingham & Leicester the ethnic communities are a third of the population as a whole.

Research has shown that not only are ethnic minorities hardworking and inspirational, they are also economically powerful. In 2007, LDA research stated that the disposable income for ethnic minorities was valued at £100billion.

Ethnic minorities are brand conscious and loyal and are willing to fork out a lot of money for it. They are 3 times more likely to buy a BMW and 2 times more likely for a Mercedes. They are early adopters and keen purchasers of high-tech products. One in three Black and Asian respondents (33% & 32% respectively) identify Nike as one of the brands they buy most often, compared to only 20% of White respondents. Black women spend 6 times more on hair care products than white women.

Britain’s main’s multicultural communities come from around 120 countries and speak more than 320 languages and dialects in London alone.

People of ethnic background are aspirational and value education and status highly; they seek careers such as Doctor, Pharmacist, IT professionals, Banking and Management.

Most of the people from the ethnic origins are religiously sensitive and culturally conscious. Therefore, they react/ respond differently to generic communication messages. But they do have needs and requirements: to get them interested we need to understand and appreciate their culture and traditions in our work/drives.

Conventional and traditional communication channels are not enough to capture “ Hard to Reach Communities”. Other marketing communication means such as outreach need to be utilized.

Ethnic events such as Mela’s, Carnivals, sport events, Music are able to attract tens of thousands of people ready to spend and be entertained, in fact some of these events attracts hundreds of thousands of minority ethnic audiences.

So what are you doing wrong?

Above all what seems to be lacking is an understanding of the audiences, most marketers would not know much about their multicultural customers, what languages do they speak and what religious background they belong to.

Companies wishing to do business with ethnic minority groups need to review the basic premise of their marketing plans to take account of the growing market pluralism and the multi-ethnic reality of modern Britain.

Multicultural groups respond to marketing / communication messages differently from the mainstream. What works for the mainstream market doesn’t necessarily work for the ethnic consumer, as the triggers and hooks would be quite different? Not to mention the language barriers and difficulties that exists, especially within the early settlers and new immigrants.

For instance, within South Asian communities, the disparity between Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis is huge, despite the fact that they come from the same sub-continent. There are differences in language, religion, food habits, festivals, attire etc. On the other hand, similarities exist in the way they live, where the family is the most important social unit, the concept of large joint family where grandparents, parents, brothers, children all live together as opposed to the westernized nuclear family system.

Within South Asian, Afro-Caribbean and Chinese communities, community networks are very strong, and community leaders as well as religious leaders play an important and influential role in opinion forming and changing behavior.

Due to the language barriers, especially amongst women, older generations and certain new immigrants, these communities tend to rely on their own media / ethnic media channels and community networks for information and entertainment, which is evident from the plethora of ethnic TV stations, radio stations and print publications that have burgeoned over the last 10 years in Britain.

The UK is now truly a multicultural country, and will continue to flourish in the face of diversity. If we don’t recognise that people are different we are not going to get anywhere. Businesses is about engaging people and more so in the current financial downturn. We’ve got too many products and too few customers. When people have a choice and prices are falling, that’s when marketing mavericks look at segmentation and precision marketing. The industry needs to quicken its pace to catch up with the changing face of the new society, or risk getting left behind. Not only do we need to accept it, we need to understand and embrace it.

• Mainstream media under delivers, due to high dependence on ethnic media among the first and second generations.
• Mainstream advertisers need to address ethnic sensitivity and not as tokenism gestures. It is significant to think ethnic, not simply translate.
• Multicultural groups are becoming immune to blanking messages. They desire a personalised message with cultural relevance
• You need culture decoding rather than language translation

Saad Saraf
Mediareach Advertising
www.mediareach.co.uk

The UK Multicultural Communities…Why is this the fastest growing market niche.

For years we have been working passionately to promote and raise the awareness of the benefits in targeting the multicultural communities in the UK, a niche that has seen phenomenal growth unmatched by any other market sector.

While the IPA expressed their alarm about an advertising industry for not representing the market as a whole and is mainly White, Men and Middle class.
The industry continues to respond towards this growing niche by assuming that their generic solutions are communicating to all, a strategy that continues to fail to deliver audiences and results for many a clients and more so in hard times such as what we are going through and the requirements for effective, intelligent and cost effective solutions that deliver results.

The targeting of the multicultural community constitutes several cultural or ethnic groups within a society – this includes the wider ‘mainstream/ white’ population. We in the UK are fortunate that we are rich in multicultural communities, a fact that most overlook either out of fear or ignorance.

Multiculturalism in the UK, especially London, is not a new phenomenon – we all have reasons to be celebrating this fact for decades.
With this publication our aim is to show you this picture in its fullness through the description of the creating elements. By understanding the pieces with variety of shapes, colours and textures you will be able to see the whole image.

Targeting a growing market niche

Multiculturalism is here to stay. Marketing directors and innovation mavericks have been highlighting the rise of this lucrative market with huge disposable income and money to spend. So what’s the reality behind this diverse marketplace?

With more than 18% of the UK wealth will soon reside with people of diverse heritage in the UK (Asian, Chinese, Arabs, Russians and other diverse groups).
What these groups have in common is that they have massive wealth and have not been targeted adequately by major brands.

A recent survey revealed that a large number of clients and marketing departments lack basic knowledge and understanding of their clients composition, and lack of cultural understanding.

1 in 3 Londoners Ethnic
One in three Londoners claims to belong to an ethnic group. Not surprising as Minorities have tended to moved to urban areas where job prospects are better.
This is stark contrast to the white population, where almost 50% of them are over the age of 40, whereas only 19% of the Bangladeshi community is over the age of 40.

A8

The most important development which is set to continue is the number of people from the accession countries arriving in the UK.
It is estimated that more than 1.8 million east European started arriving in the UK since 2005 with the largest group being the Polish community which saw the number of Polish people jump from 13 to the first spot in a space of 2 years only.
The number of doctors from the A8 countries registering with the GMC increased by 25%.
The presence of these communities has increased demand for travel, banking and food to name but a few of the services.

Business

There are 300,000 Ethnic minority run small businesses in the UK that contribute an estimated £34 billion to the UK economy (BERR, 2007).

Research finding from a report by Barclays Bank (2005) on BME run businesses in the UK revealed that BME business start-ups grew a third reaching record levels from 32,000 in 2000 to 50,000 in 2004.

The research went onto state that BME businesses are three times more likely to have a turnover between £250K and £1M and to employ staff. There business performance also outstrips that of their white counterparts.

In London, there are 66,000 Ethnic-owned businesses, employing 560,000 and generating combined sales turnover of £90 billion compared to the turnover of all London businesses of £800 billion. These figures do not include approximately 93,000 self-employed Minority Ethnic people (LDA 2005).

The British Polish Chamber of Commerce estimates that Polish entrepreneurs have set up some 40,000 businesses in the UK, creating thousands of jobs.

Saad Saraf
CEO
Mediareach Advertising

www.mediareach.co.uk

The Minority Ethnic Communities – Are We Still Not Getting It?

It’s the same old story. Article after article telling advertisers and marketers about the minority ethnic communities and their spending power.

Did it make a difference? A little, but way too slowly.

During this economic downturn, you would think that everyone would be clambering about looking for new opportunities, with clients demanding for more effective, intelligent and cost efficient solutions that deliver results like never before. And yet, the industry continues to respond towards this growing niche by assuming that generic solutions are communicating to all.

In the past twelve months, I have had briefs thrust at me, requesting for support for an ‘
all-inclusive’ strategy. ‘How is this all-inclusive?’ I would ask, to which I would receive a confident ‘Look at this!’ with a finger pointing at a token ethnic guy standing at the far right corner of the page. ‘Of course, this will be in the respective language’.

This is how diversity is still portrayed. An ethnic face here and there, coupled with some foreign language.  Needless to say, they failed miserably during creative testing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that ALL all-inclusive strategies don’t work. But just taking into account that targeting ethnic minorities go beyond a token character would mean the difference between failure and profitable success.

Ethnic marketing and media is as important as mainstream marketing and media and in some ways can be more important. It’s got nothing to do with tokenism but has everything to do with customer segmentation and understanding your audience.  It’s a point that’s not very well understood by many public relations and marketing professionals. Yet ethnic marketing is growing in importance for many mainstream brand owners.

Census 2001 estimated that there were about 4.6 million ethnic people in the UK but further reports claimed that there was significant under-enumeration and the numbers were far higher.  Eight years later, with mass exodus of Eastern Europeans into the country and the ethnic population growing at 20 times the rate of White population, UK’s consumer profile has changed drastically. The ethnic population numbers are bigger than the population of Scotland and Wales together.

Research has shown that not only are ethnic minorities hardworking and inspirational, they are also economically powerful. In 2003, IPA research stated that the disposable income for ethnic minorities was valued at £32billion, but recent estimates have put the figure closer to £100billion.

Ethnic minorities are brand conscious and loyal and are willing to fork out a lot of money for it. They are 3 times more likely to buy a BMW and 2 times more likely for a Mercedes. They are early adopters and keen purchasers of high-tech products. One in three Black and Asian respondents (33% & 32% respectively) identify Nike as one of the brands they buy most often, compared to only 20% of White respondents. Black women spend 6 times more on hair care products than white women. And don’t even get me started on Asian women and fashion.

So why is it then, that advertising on ethnic media still dominated by ethnic companies, money transfers, cheap international calls and government messages?

No doubt that ethnic minorities do consume mainstream media, but they are increasingly tuning in to ethnic media, which speak to them within familiar cultural context. The ethnic media have grown dramatically from 8 titles 20 years ago to more than 56 TV stations, 24 radio channels and more than 180 titles targeting both younger generations as well as the gate keepers and influencers. These media are a stable diet for most of these groups who pay more than £200 million to subscribe to the specialist channels on top of the £200 million paid in licence fees. While mainstream media channels are losing audiences, the ethnic channels are growing and developing new audiences and attracting more advertising pounds mainly from the ethnic businesses. Advertising in the ethnic media builds brand presence and loyalty and if done correctly can generate revenue and ROI.
www.mediareach.co.uk
The multicultural communities are now more than ever more visible and influential as they rise up the ladder in businesses and corporations. There is a surge of young ethnic entrepreneurs who have different language skills, social networks, education levels and other attributes, which means that their business behaviours differ from that of their parent’s generation. Just in London alone, there are 66,000 ethnic minority owned businesses employing 560,000 people and generating combined sales turnover of £90 billion compared to the turnover of all London businesses of £800 billion. These figures do not even include approximately 93,000 self-employed ethnic minority people.

With all this in mind, doesn’t this seem like a lucrative opportunity? Sadly, many marketers are still reluctant to take the next step. And for those who did, they either took the ‘touch-and-go’ approach – one successful campaign, and never to be seen or heard again – or the ‘world for a pound’ approach – all groups, all languages, all media on a bargain budget. Testing the waters is one thing, but to expect a legion of loyal followers after a brief stint targeting them is another.

The UK is now truly a multicultural country, and will continue to flourish in the face of diversity. If we don’t recognise that people are different we are not going to get anywhere. Businesses is about engaging people and more so in the current financial downturn. We’ve got too many products and too few customers. When people have a choice and prices are falling, that’s when marketing mavericks look at segmentation and precision marketing. The industry needs to quicken its pace to catch up with the changing face of the new society, or risk getting left behind. Not only do we need to accept it, we need to understand and embrace it. Otherwise, it’ll be the same old story again. Article after article telling advertisers and marketers about the minority ethnic communities and their spending power.

Saad Al-Saraf
CEO
Media Reach Advertising
www.mediareach.co.uk

10 Steps you need to take before choosing an effective ethnic & multicultural advertising and communications agency.

1. Professional Competence
The agency must demonstrate high levels of professional competence in the eyes of their peers, clients and suppliers.

2. Professional Development
The agency is committed to the development of outstanding staff talent through qualifications, craft skills training and Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

3. Market Leaders
The agency should be a proven leaders and have comprehensive knowledge in the ethnic and multicultural market. Check the history of the agency and the campaign work they have done

4. Information and Intelligence
The agency should have access to data, statistics and case studies to share with the client. Look at their case studies and check the quality of their work

5. Accreditation
Check if agency is accredited by any professional advertising bodies. Accredited agencies receive expert advice to ensure their work is legally and regulatory compliant.

6. Research the Agency
Read about the agency and ask their clients for references

7. Proven Effectiveness
As a client you must insist on evaluation, ROI and value for money and check if agency have won any awards.

8. Chemistry
Meet the teams and look at the staff and agency capabilities

9. Financial Stability
The agency must demonstrate financial stability and it is the client duty to check their financial situation to ascertain their strength

10. ISBA Recommended
ISBA, the voice of British advertisers,recommends IPA member agencies

Saad Saraf
CEO
Media Reach Advertising
www.mediareach.co.uk

An insight into the ethnic and multicultural market in the UKcu

It’s interesting how mosaics work – each piece contributes to the whole image but a piece on its own is difficult to understand. To be able to realise what they represent we have to see the full picture. I view the population map of the UK in the same way as a mosaic: a culturally and religiously diverse environment with a long history and a promising future in.

A multicultural community constitutes several cultural or ethnic groups within a society – this includes the wider ‘mainstream/ white’ population. We in the UK are fortunate that we are rich in multicultural communities, a fact that most overlook either out of fear or ignorance.

The Olympics is a key example of what can be achieved when you embrace multiculturalism and put our best foot forward. London’s multiculturalism was one of key deciding factors for the Olympics committee when they named London as the host city for the Games in 2012. We all celebrated the news when the announcement was made, how much… Multiculturalism in the UK, especially London, is not a new phenomenon – we all have reasons to be celebrating this fact for decades. This is actually what we, at Media Reach, have been doing for over 21 years. With this publication our aim is to show you this picture in its fullness through the description of the creating elements. By understanding the pieces with variety of shapes, colours and textures you will be able to see the whole image.

According to the Census 2001, which found that 4,635,296 people, almost 8 % of the UK population belonged to a non-white ethnic group. This percentage varied for the four UK countries – while 9 % of the population of England were nonwhite, the percentages for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland were much lower (2 %, 2 % and 0.7 % respectively).  South Asians, make up the half of the Ethnic population, followed by Black, Mixed, Chinese and other.

The categories can be broken down as follows: White Asian Black Mixed White British Indian Caribbean White/Black Caribbean White Irish Pakistani African White/Asian White other Bangladeshi Other Black Other mixed Other Asian Other ethnicities Chinese Other ethnic groups Categories of Minority Ethnic Groups in Census 2001 Migrants from Eastern Europe in the UK 796,000.

This is the number of workers registered in the UK from Eastern Europe, according to Home Office (February, 2008). This figures does not include dependents, the self-employed and people who refused to register as not everyone has to in order to work. 1 million This is the estimated number of Polish people in the country. However, there is a belief that the number is between 1.5m-2m. Despite the number of Eastern Europeans returning to their country of origin there are others still coming. Whilst Ethnic minorities make up 8% of the UK’s total population, (Census, 2001), this percentage varied for the four UK countries. England is home to the largest number equating to 9% of the population. In Wales and Scotland they amount to 2% of the total population and Northern Island is home to .07%.

London is home to the largest number of Ethnic Minorities (including Eastern Europeans) than another city in the UK. London is the most cosmopolitan city home to representatives of 189 countries from the total 192 countries as recognised by UN.

71% The London borough with the largest proportion of ethnic minorities was Brent where 71 per cent of the population is from an ethnic minority group (including White minorities), followed by Newham, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Ealing.

1 in 3 Londoners Ethnic One in three Londoners claims to belong to an ethnic group. Not surprising as Minorities have tended to moved to urban areas where job prospects are better. Demographics The age profile of Ethnic minority communities is generally a lot younger. The overwhelming majority of Eastern Europeans tend to be aged 20-39 years as they come to the UK primarily in search of work. This is stark contrast to the white population, where almost 50% of them are over the age of 40, whereas only 19% of the Bangladeshi community is over the age of 40.

Ethnic community households are larger in number and often have multi-generations living under one roof. Asian households are larger than households of any other ethnic group. Those homes headed by a Bangladeshi person were the largest of all with an average size of 4.5 people in April 2001, followed by Pakistani households (4.1 people) and Indian households (3.3 people). The smallest households were found among the White Irish (average size 2.1 people). Black Caribbean and White British households were the next smallest, both with an average size of 2.3 people. All these groups have an older age structure than other ethnic groups, and contain a higher proportion of oneperson households. 38 per cent of Black Caribbean households, 37 per cent of White Irish households and 31 per cent of White British households contained only one person. Only 9 per cent of Bangladeshi households contained just one person. Language English remains overwhelmingly the most common first language. However, communities migrating to the UK in recent decades have brought many languages to the country.

The Annual Schools Census carried out by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) asks schools to report on the number of children with a first language other than English. The latest data for 2008 shows: • 14.4% of all primary school children have a first language known to or believed to be a language other than English • 10.8% of all secondary school children have a first language known to or believed to be a language other than English.

Identity tends to vary across generations. Older generations (often referred to as 1st generation) and new migrants attach a great deal of importance to their backgrounds. They often have very strong ties with their hometowns and may regard themselves as temporary residents despite having lived in the UK for many years.

The younger generations are generally much more integrated into British culture. They tend to describe themselves in hyphenated identities, and they may feel they have more in common with other British young people than with their parents’ culture. However, most still feel that they are unable to fit in comfortably in either. Education EM more likely to have a degree According to the January 2003 pupil census, at least three in four primary pupils, and four in five secondary pupils, still fit the description “white British”. Asians from the Indian subcontinent form the second largest ethnic group in schools. They account for more than 7% of primary children and 6% of secondary pupils. Children of Pakistani origin are the biggest Asian group in primaries, but Indians outnumber Pakistanis in secondary’s. Primary schools now have more black African pupils than black Caribbean children, however, there are similar numbers from both ethnic groups at secondary level (ONS, 2004).

Labour Market 3.26 million of Ethnic Minorities of working age Due to the high birth rate and net migration the ethnic minority population has been growing strongly. With a younger age profile, the median age for Ethnic minorities is 27 compared with 40 years for white people according to the Labour Force Survey (2005). Therefore it is not surprising that the ethnic minority share of the working age population is increasing – reaching 3.26 million or 9.3% of the 35.2 million people of working age in 2004. The Chinese and Other grouping shows the lowest economic activity and employment rates, 60% and 53% respectively. The other three ethnic groupings, Black, Asian and Mixed, have similar economic activity and employment rates. However, within the Asian grouping the economic activity and employment rates for Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are noticeably lower than for Indians and Other Asians. In all ethnic groups, employment rates are higher for men than for women. Low rates of female employment are likely to be related to the differing roles of women in the home, particularly among the Asian group. (33) In 2002/03 Pakistani and Chinese groups are more likely to be self-employed, as it is shown on Table 11. (14) Lots of Chinese work in catering and operate takeaway food outlets. High proportions of Pakistanis work in wholesale and retail trade.

Many Bangladeshis work in catering and hotel industry and operate the majority of so-called ‘Indian’ restaurants. Famous locations are Brick Lane, Green Street and Southall Broadway; both are famous for its South Asian business success. Brick Lane is known as the “curry capital” of the UK, while Green Street and Southall Broadway is renowned (at least to south Asians resident in the UK) for the multitude of fashion, jewellery and other shops along the length of its high street.

Consumer Insights In a recent report by Ofcom (2007) on Ethnic Minority groups and communication services revealed: • People from Ethnic groups are slightly more likely to own a mobile phone (83 per cent compared to 80 per cent of all adults). This may reflect the younger age profile of these groups, as research shows younger people are more likely to have mobile phones than older people. Among mobile phone users, for Ethnic groups the most popular network is T-mobile, as opposed to O2 for all UK adults. Also a greater proportion of these groups have a contract phone rather than pre-pay than the general population. • Ethnic groups claim to spend more on fixed-line and on mobile telecoms services that all UK adults •

Ethnic groups are more likely to take up new technologies, as those Ethnic groups who have Internet access, have broadband services. • When considering the reasons for having Internet connection at home, a greater proportion of Ethnic groups say it is for their children’s education than the overall UK population. 60% Ethnic groups more likely to have cable/ satellite television services that the average UK population. The main reason for this is that certain (Asians, Chinese and Middle Eastern) groups have particular needs to view programming that feature culture, heritage, news and language associated with their ethnic background that is not being met in the mainstream. 63.8% of viewing by Ethnic groups in multichannel households is of nonterrestrial channels, compared to 42.3% of viewing among all individuals.

Ethnic minority groups are three times more likely to own a BMW and twice as likely to own a Mercedes Benz than the population as a whole. Furthermore, 60% of these BMW’s and 66% of Mercedes Benz’s were bought as brand new cars (Starfish, 2006). Eastern Europeans Research conducted in 2007 reveals some interesting insights into Eastern European migrant in the UK in terms of their mobile phone usage (STMC Consulting, 2007). • One of the first things that Eastern Europeans do upon arrival to the UK is to buy a pre-paid mobile SIM card. They spend, on average, £34 per month on top-ups, which is 74 per cent more that the average UK pre-pay customer. • Currently mobile network provider O2 is getting the largest share (33.2 per cent) of this attractive market segment. T-mobile is the second largest with 20.6 per cent). • Eastern Europeans migrant workers are very loyal mobile customer. The research sampled showed that the average lifetime with a mobile network was 22 months) Some other general insights can be found below: • Eastern Europeans are tech savvy, spending any spare time on their community specific portals. •

Business There are 300,000 Ethnic minority run small businesses in the UK that contribute an estimated £20 billion to the UK economy (BERR, 2007). Research finding from a report by Barclays Bank (2005) on BME run businesses in the UK revealed that BME business start-ups grew a third reaching record levels from 32,000 in 2000 to 50,000 in 2004. The research went onto state that BME businesses are three times more likely to have a turnover between £250K and £1M and to employ staff. There business performance also outstrips that of their white counterparts.

In London, there are 66,000 Ethnic-owned businesses, employing 560,000 and generating combined sales turnover of £90 billion compared to the turnover of all London businesses of £800 billion. These figures do not include approximately 93,000 self-employed Minority Ethnic people (LDA 2005). The British Polish Chamber of Commerce estimates that Polish entrepreneurs have set up some 40,000 businesses in the UK, creating thousands of jobs. . According to LFS and IPPR (IPPR, 2008) calculations, three in every four (74 per cent) self-employed workers are located in the London. Facts:

CONCLUSIONS: The multicultural communities are going to be more visible and influential as they rise up the ladder in business and corporations. They will have more say and targeting the diverse groups and communities is going to be a must for all serious brands and marketers in the UK. In London and around the UK there are a number of cities and towns with more than 35% of the population of a multicultural background. These diverse groups have different cultures and needs and to communicate to them effectively we need to be aware of these differences. Post enlargement we are going to see an on-going inflow of Europeans coming to the UK for jobs and opportunities. While some of the A8/A2 members will go back to their countries, it is estimated that around 40% will stay in the UK with their families and children. The migrants tend to be young, hardworking, highly mobile and can travel to areas of skills shortages very quickly. They generally do not access public services such as hospitals, doctors, benefits and housing. The impact of the A8/A2 migration to the UK has so far been a positive one and we forecast that this trend will be happening in the UK quite frequently in the next decade.

Saad Saraf

CEO

www.mediareach.co.uk

Ethnic and Multicultural Advertising Agency

The state of Iraq’s economy and the oil sector

Since the overthrow of Saddam Iraq has seen quite a dramatical improvement in the state of its economic conditions and that of the oil sector as well.
The new administration inherited a debt-laden country with high unemployment, ailing trade sector and almost paralysed state owned industries and a service sector, which is almost non-existence.
Over the past years Iraq went through a huge challenge with constantly quarrelling politicians with opposing agendas, terrorism was at its highest point in the Middle East, disgruntled neighbouring countries bent on keeping Iraq unstable and turbulent, added to that crime levels unseen before in the country.
The government and US authority realised that before you start kick starting the economic regeneration security must be the number one issue to tackle and any sign of lawlessness and militia controls must be eliminated in Iraq if we to have a civil country.
In today’s Iraq the security situation has led to flourishing businesses; a boom in building and reconstruction, more confidence and can forecasted that a growth in Iraq will continue for the next 10-15 years. Iraq has seen 10% growth in 2008 compared with 1.5% in 2007.
Unemployment has gone down from 50% to 15.5% and Iraq is on target to bring it down to less than 5% by end of 2009. Already employers have reported some shortages of workers and skilled staff.
Iraq inflation figures stands at 7.6% which is lower than that in regional countries such as Iran, Turkey, UAE, Egypt & Syria, which averages 10%.
Iraq’s bank reserve on the other hand stood at $40 billion dollars cash surplus, which was not affected by the world financial turbulence due the bank chiefs policy which is not in favour of investing in foreign financial markets.
Average oil outputs in Iraq has gone up from 2 Million barrels a day to 2.4 Million barrels in 2008 (generating 65 Billion Dollars) out of which 1.8 Million barrels are exported and 600 thousands barrels are refined through Iraq refineries.
Iraq is also boosting its refining capacity based on European standards and will be producing unleaded petrol and adding 140,000 barrels a day in Doura refinery and 70,000 in Shouaiba Refinery with new refineries planned in Nasiria (300,000 and Karbala 150,000, Karkuk 150,000 and Emara 150,000).
Iraq decision to increase its Gasoline products prices in line with regional countries has resulted in the government reducing its imports of white oil from neighbouring countries from a massive $3.5 Billion dollars in 2005/06 to $300 million Dollars in 2008. The smuggling of Iraqi refined products to Kuwait, UAE, Syria, Jordan, Turkey and Iran has virtually ceased.
The Oil ministry has been working on developing Iraq production capacity and entering in Service Agreements with International Oil companies to maintain the level of productions and offering them an incentive for increasing the output.
In the second round in December 2008, 35 companies were shortlisted for licensing agreements to work on the world largest oil reserves in Iraq.
Iraq Oil drilling company have bought 20 drilling machines and put orders for more to come on line. Iraq is working to achieve 5 Million barrels a day by 2011.
The future for Iraq new generation will be brighter and more promising.

www.arabialine.com

www.mediareach.co.uk

The Rise of the Arab Empire

Arabs are proud and a confident race.  They are enterprising and had perfected trade and their love for poetry and art unmatched by any other civilisations.

The Arab conquest of the ancient world in the 7th and 8th centuries saw them launched as an imperial system with rapidity unmatched in history. In a matter of a century they held sway from the border of France to Central Asia, Spain, North Africa, The Byzantine territory and the Persian Empire.

The new realm embraced a great diversity of regions and people. Arab conquerors were able to hold their subjects lands together. They then let the local rule their territory.

The Arab empire of the first conquests was transformed into the Muslim world of the middle Ages. As the Arab monopoly of power declined, people became rulers of their own segments of a multiracial Muslim world.

It was within the Muslim setting that a new culture, as a result of Arab conquest, was created. Arabs did not impose their culture by invasion (not the same as what Western civilisation did to the East during the European colonialism). Arabs came with impressive military strength with a simple desert culture and tradition.

The development of distinctive Islamic culture reached full stride at the time that Arab leadership of the empire began to wane. First the conquerors were absorbed with consolidating their rule (establishing new state, maintaining public order, strengthening the military and collection of taxes).

Arab elite tended to live apart from their subjects in garrison cities. When the conquest settled into an accepted and permanent order and its monopoly of power given way to broader rules, did the new culture develop?

During the Abbasid dynasty of 750, convert Muslims and client peoples moved from the fringes of the new society to the centre bringing with them their heritage, culture and civilisation. In this way outstanding achievement of Muslim culture appeared. Arab literature reached its peak; the great code of Canon Law was formulated; philosophy, science and medicine were given new dimension and content. Muslim civilisation – rich, sophisticated, varied symbolised societies of the Islamic world and took its place among the great cultural achievements of human history. Arab conquest brought with it constructive forces that set the stage for a civilisation to emerge (unlike other Mongol conquest which left ruins and destruction).

The Arabs explained that their conquest was in the path of God, which meant a new social order was to be established. The empire that resulted from invasion was conceived as permanent and self-perpetuating.

The vision of empire created the need of setting for new social and cultural order. The new world state paved the way for the emergence for an imperial culture. Within this new empire of diverse cultures of ancient world were shaken out of their regionalism and forced into new and fruited interaction.

Once Arab conquerors relaxed their conquest, they sat as pupils at the feet of the people they subdued and proved to be very acquisitive. Arab classical works were translated into Arabic, impressive buildings inspired by classical designs were built, and Arab scholarship in grammar and literature influenced by Greek patterns began to flourish. At the same time, the diverse people absorbed one another’s cultures; barriers to travel through the empire were broken down so people can travel. Contacts with Arabs produced Muslim converts; intermarriages and the emerging Islamic order became multicultural and intercultural.

Islam

Arab conquerors brought with them the faith of Islam. And Islam was a decisive factor in the process of cultural creation. Many invaders such as the Mongols ruled but then they were absorbed by the culture they conquered.

The Arab conquest was Islamic as well as military which meant when a territory has been conquered, it became part of (Dar Al-Islam), a society under Muslim rule in which Muslims could practice their faith without hindrance. This did not mean that all the subject people became Muslims. However, it meant the Islamic way was to be accepted institutions, state and society.

Islam vision of God, man and society was definitive and rested upon divine authority.

The Language

The language of conquering tribesmen of the desert seemed both alien and primitive. Arabs had a tradition of oral poetry; their grammar was yet to be explored. The vocabulary of Arabic reflected simple and limited experience of the desert. Yet Arabic overcame these handicaps and quickly became the dominant language of culture and scholarship in the rising Muslim world. Those who did business with the Arabs learnt Arabic. The Qur’an, source of all belief and piety was in Arabic and could not be translated into other tongues. Prayers were in Arabic and the fact that God had chosen Arabic as the language of revelation made the study of its grammar a religious necessity.

Arabic displayed a remarkable potential as a medium of sophisticated and complex communication. It had strongly marked structure of Semitic languages, in which the parts of speech are closely and clearly related. It could create new words out of existing verbal forms and its ability to compress shades of meaning into a single dramatic expression made it a vivid and exact language.

Arabic is the new state over arched local languages and literature to create a new and universal intellectual realm where Persian philosophers, Arab theologians, Jewish and Christian physicians and Indian mathematicians could speak a common language and have a sense of sharing in a common intellectual order.

www.arabialine.com

www.mediareach.co.uk

Media Development In Iraq

Historically, Iraqi’s have been the innovators of branding and marketing techniques, with the silk route, Baghdadi merchants, carpets sellers, perfume retailers and pottery and handicrafts to name but few trades.

If we add another exciting country in neighbouring Iran who Between them there are nearly 100 million people with an ever growing disposable income and the desire to spend on luxury products and international brands.

Most of the brands that are marketed in the Gulf countries appeals to 2-4 million people and the majority of buyers tend to be the foreign workers, and for decades the bulk of brands marketed in those regions being smuggled to both the Iraqi and Iranian markets.

Since the liberation of Iraq, the country has seen a massive demand for products and brands and a buying spree by the public as the income of Iraqi families increased from $20 dollars per month during Saddam era to some $400 per month now.

Multi-national brands have taken advantage of this sudden boom in a relatively quiet market locally by aggressively driving products sales in Iraq through their distributors in the Gulf or through Iraq neighbouring countries.
Iraq has certainly led the economic growth in the Middle East and will continue to do so for the next 2 decades.

International brands have been quick to act with distribution deals, partnership agent agreements and establishing offices in Baghdad.

Brands which had developed a presence in Iraq include such brands as Nokia, Siemens, LG, Phillips, Daewoo, Kia, Coca Cola, Pepsi, BMW, Ford, Vauxhall, Panasonic, Sanyo, Canon, Dell, BAT, Dunhill, Kraft, Nestle, P&G, Unilever, Toyota, Caterpillar, Cummins and a host of banks.

Cars were imported through the Ministry of Trade during the previous regime which has since with more than 1.3 million cars imported into Iraq some car brands have done better than others with the German car Opel taking the largest share with 300,000 cars sold into Iraq.

With the openness of the market and the liberation of the media came an increasing phenomenon, the advertising and media development.
In Iraq today there are 20 Independent television networks with a further 25 licences waiting to be approved.

The main stations leading this on slaught are led by Al-Iraqia, which part of the Iraqi Media Network consisting of FM & AM radio stations dotted in different regions and the main TV station based in Baghdad.

The Iraqi media commission an equivalent to Ofcom was established to legislate and develop some guidelines to broadcasters.

The commercial radio stations have some 32 FM & AM radio stations beaming news, chat, discussions, light entertainment and music 24 hours a day.

Most of the religious and political parties have their own media networks & establishments.

Other stations taken advantage of the only truly open and free media outlets in the region with the state department funded media joints Al-Hurra TV Iraq , Sawa radio and the BBC Arabic which is beaming on an FM transmitter in Baghdad.

The press was the first medium to take advantage of the liberation from 46 titles during Saddam regime to more than 165 newspapers now, dailies, weeklies both tabloid and broadsheet. The largest and most prominent titles being Al-Sabah (part of the Iraqi Media Network), Al-Zaman, Al-Mada (which appeals to the intellectual classes and was behind the leaking of oil for food UN scandals) and Al-Taakhi.

Iraqi’s seem to be delighted with the new freedoms they have got, and the craze over satellite channels never seem to slow down, with Iraq seeing the largest growth of satellite dish purchase (7.5 million satellite dishes have been installed over the past 10 months), even poor people in shacks have access to satellite TV as Iraqis want to compensate for the isolation from the outside world they have endured under Saddam.

The other major development is the outdoor poster sites which are dotted all over Iraq (in High Streets, top of buildings, public squares) and is developing at a faster pace with different sizes and last month saw the introduction of the mobile poster trucks and bus advertising mediums being launched.

Despite all the opportunities this market offers, its advertising and marketing business is relatively new ad weak, there are lack of good quality production facilities, postproduction equipments, models, promotional gifts concept.etc.

In the past year our agency have been developing a number of scheme to improve the marketing of brands entering the market or those who wish to enhance their market share in a crowded market.

We have introduced field teams, which access religious, sports and cultural festivals and interact with the masses and offer gifts.
The teams are from different cultures, so the Kurdish speaking team will cover the Kurdish northern areas as most of the people speak Kurdish Sorani while the Arab team will cover other parts of Iraq and a mix of Turkoman/Arabic/Kurdish will cover Kirkuk.

We also developed a relationship building team that interact with the retail trade to improve and cement the relationship between brands and retailer, which ultimately leads to top of mind and help increase sales.

Our public relation staffs has ensured that client merchandising and products are featured in prominent positions and get maximum coverage in the national and regional Iraqi media.
The press releases and the creative artworks will have to be adapted to different languages and cultures to reflect Iraq’s diverse cultures.

Camera crews are available but work on slightly older formats and need training in new media skills and techniques to catch up with what the west has to offer.

Above all it is important for any brand to get to bed with the right agency, which is able to deliver quality solutions and respond to the clients evolving needs.

It is also worth mentioning that some major brands (based in the Gulf) are placing some campaigns in Iraq through intermediaries who have no knowledge and understanding of the advertising market in Iraq and the rules governing the advertising scene in Iraq.

In fact while some advertisers are under the impression that their campaigns are being advertised prominently, they are in fact being brought down by Baghdad municipality.

Arab Star has devised a professional model, which ensures that clients approve the advertising solutions and clients are kept informed of the progress of the campaign, which is evaluated, and a weekly monitoring report is sent to the clients.

Campaigns should be planned well and partnership with well-established agencies must be formed to ensure that major brands get a strong presence and an increased market share in an ever-expanding market.

Saad Al-Saraf
CEO
Media Reach Advertising
www.mediareach.co.u