Disintermediation
Trust is a currency that will only increase in value
Who to trust is becoming an increasingly sensitive public issue. As consumers face content overload from more sources than ever before, it is quickly becoming near impossible to verify the authenticity of digital content. Brands must be on guard to ensure their own authenticity, avoid untrustworthy channels and protect trust earned. Mark Zuckerberg’s latest initiative to […]
Are brands standing on the brink of a fake content war?
As artificial intelligence seems poised to unleash a vast army of content bots on the world, making it impossible to tell real from fake, or fact from fiction, brands must bolster trust and transparency to position themselves above the fray. Donald Trump’s habit of repeatedly ‘crying wolf’ over media stories has played a big part […]
Could your brand commit a content crime?
News media in the United Arab Emirates have reported this week that posting images or video of someone in the Emirates without their consent is a crime punishable by up to AED 500,000 (about US$136,000) and a prison sentence of up to six months (read The National’s story here). To those familiar with the […]
GITEX Digital Strategies Forum
Read about GITEX Digital Strategies 2014 Spot On’s Alexander McNabb will be chairing the Digital Strategies Forum in Dubai next week, which takes place on Wednesday 23 October 2013 during GITEX Technology Week 2013. The conference agenda will take delegates through global digital consumer trends, digital marketing strategy and planning, customer relationship management (CRM), […]
Has news journalism been sabotaged by Twitter?
Talking Twitter on the Business Breakfast is always a pleasure and this morning no less so than usual. The question was, “Has news journalism been sabotaged by Twitter?” and my answer was pretty much a resounding “Yes!” There are three major problems with Twitter and news journalism, I think. One is the challenge of real-time […]
Causing a stir: Twitter and the news media
The latest in a long line of Twitterpower case studies came last week with the news piece in The National highlighting Twitter outrage at the decision to send 25 Emirati women to Bahrain to watch the UAE play Bahrain in the Gulf Cup. The prevailing tide of expressed opinion was strongly against the activity, rallying […]
Are brands at risk from the UAE’s new cyber-crime law?
Taking many media watchers by surprise, the United Arab Emirates President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has approved a new cyber-crime law for the UAE, Federal Legal Decree No. 5, this week. The online law was duly announced by the Emirates official news agency WAM yesterday evening (you can find the contents […]
Honest statistics
As any politician, publicist or PR person knows, one can prove absolutely anything with statistics! And in a region, such as ours, where reliable statistics for many things are so hard to come by, people certainly try! As veteran journalist and long-term UAE resident Peter Hellyer rightly says in Tuesday’s National newspaper, scarcely a week […]
Facebook Arabic triumphs after Arab Spring
Middle East & North Africa users of Facebook’s Arabic interface reach 15.6 million, accounting for 39% of all users in the region. It doesn’t seem long ago that marketers considered Facebook a minority interest and lacking in reach outside of a few select English speaking audiences in the Middle East and North Africa*. The social […]
It’s Social Media Forum time again!
The Social Media Forum is to take place in Dubai next week and it’s already sold out. This is interesting news for those in the Middle East who thought we really didn’t want to listen to another word about social media and don’t ‘need another talking shop’. I must admit, we’ve been avoiding the term […]
