We had some amazing speakers from Rolls Royce, Ritz Carlton, P&G and Unilever presenting at the event. The delegates also participated in an interactive workshop on crisis communications with our great friend Donald Steel, Former Chief Communications Advisor at BBC.  All in all, this, for sure, was an event, that will help the Omani PR community understand and implement the latest global PR Trends. As for me, I learned a lot of new things.

My 10 most inspiring quotes from the event are below.

1. An influencer isn’t someone with thousands of followers – it’s someone who impacts opinion’

2. 1% of people create the content, 9% share the content

3. Individuals not brands or companies can be thought leaders.

4. A company’s reputation = customer’s experience minus expectation,

5.TV & Newspaper are still sources of news that our bosses look at even with the rise of social media

6. The best forms of communication is : Simple, Clear , Consistent & Swift

7. We have moved into the C2C communication age.Customers talk to each other about us.

8. You have only 7 seconds to make a first impression, so get your visual cues right

9.There’s not enough focus on meeting consumer needs as pros get lost in marketing cycles

10. Decide who you’re going to be on social media, how you’re going to define yourself before starting a profile

Our next PR Summit is from 8-9 October in Beirut. Hope to see you there.

Kosta

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I have been to Baku more than 10 times now and I am always fascinated by the amazing developments in the City. You can feel the buzz in the air and you can really sense that what maybe now is a hidden gem, in couple of years, is going to be a must visit destination for many. So, if you are thinking where to spend the summer or your next holiday, here are some things that I hope will convince you to visit this amazing city.

1. Many call Baku the next Dubai but Baku has something that Dubai doesn’t have- HISTORY. When you combine the new iconic buildings with the amazing historical center of the city, you really feel like you are on the crossroad of the future and the past.
2. No other place offers better combination of European grandness and the spirit of the Orient. When you combine the both, you come up with a city that is so European but in the same time makes you feel the Orient, as it once was.
3. Azeri food is probably the best food in the world. It is a combination of Iranian, Arabic and European food but with a nice local twist. My favorite restaurant is Sahil which is located on the Promenade. If you decide to go there please order the pumpkin gutap, the chicken liver pathe and the chiken pilav. They are to die for.
4. The promenade is my favorite part of the city. 3km long, it is amazing for a morning run or a nice afternoon stroll. You can see there the first oil platform in Baku, drink coffee in one of the many cafes or just enjoy the amazing view of the city center and the newly built Flame Towers.
5. Once in Baku, you have to visit the 360 bar at the Hilton Hotel. The rotating bar offers the best night view of the City. And when the Flame Towers are lit, you really feel like you are on top of the world.

Hope you will get a chance to visit this amazing city. I will be back in November but if you need some tips about places to visit in the city let me know. I will be more than glad to help.

Photos courtesy of Noha Bashir.

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The event featured presentations by some of the world’s biggest marketing experts from super brands such as Coca-Cola, You Tube, Henkel, Philips and PwC.

The two day, international gathering, gave me a great insight into the latest marketing trends. For those of you that did not have a chance to attend, here are the TOP 10 TIPS I learned after hearing the presentations at the event.

1. Start ups are becoming more important than ever. All big brands should partner with start ups and use their technology to create the best experience for its customers.

2. Data is KING. Use data carefully to offer your customers the right product, at the right time. Treat data as the new natural resource.

3. As corporations, our aim in today’s social media era is to LISTEN to our customers.We got the platforms but we do not do enough listening. Listen and then engage. Outperforming organizations not only listen, but collaborate extensively with customers.

4. Websites are becoming more important than ever and we should tailor make our websites according to the needs of our customers.

5. The most important thing to recognise is that being a successful in social isn’t about technology at all. Technologies come and go, but human behaviours, and the motivations for them, remain fairly constant.

6. To create a social brand, one has to pay attention to Business Objectives, the Objectives of Specific Functions and/or Markets, the Personal Motivations of Key Actors, and Customer Objectives.

7. The key to social media success is, knowing where you are headed, before you set off. A friend in need is a friend indeed, but only if the relationship runs both ways and has meaning.

8. Collaboration through digital and physical integration represents the next wave of innovation

9. Use digital to enhance personal engagement

10. Create experiences that bring people together.

Hope this helps.

K.

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Leaving her now infamous fall behind, the second thing that shocked me were the many comments made by people that Madonna’s fall was some kind of a sign from God for her to stop with her devil worship. The satanic rituals comments were also made after her recent Grammy performance.

I have just one thing to say- there is nothing neither demonic nor satanic in Madonna’s performances. On the contrary, throughout both performances, she had one clear message- only love can life us up from the darkness.

As a Kabbalah student myself, I had the privilege to briefly say hi to Madonna in 2008 at one of the Kabbalah Center’s Rosh Hashana events. The person that I saw was not the Diva that many people say Madonna is, but a caring mother, who is loved and respected by her children. And what surprised me the most is that she was really, really nice. She could have come to the event with bodyguards but she didn’t. She could have acted like a big superstar but she didn’t. She was just one of the many people that came to the event to search for a way to eliminate darkness and bring light to the world. Her quest remains the same, even today.

To truly understand Madonna’s Living For Love performances you have to understand the teaching of Kabbalah. You are free to check ukabbalah.com for more info but in a nutshell, according to Kabbalah, our biggest enemy lives inside of us. Some religions and people call it, Lucifer, others Satan, In Kabbalah, we call it the EGO.

The ego is the voice that tells us that we are not good enough and we will never be. The ego is the voice that tells you to hate when you can actually spread love. The ego is everything we should not be but we continuously are. The ego is our biggest enemy and our mission is to eliminate it and bring end to the chaos and suffering in our lives and the world. This is exactly what Madonna does during her performances.

She is not praising the Devil; she is not performing satanic rituals. She is actually fighting and eliminating him and at the end of the performance, as seen as in the Grammy, detaches herself from the power of the Ego and lifts herself up to a world where there is no Ego, but love.

And this is what all of us should be doing.

Spread love, not hatred and let love lift you up!

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Usually I know what to expect from five star hotels. Only the best, of course.

But my stay at the W Hotel in Doha was not just an incredible experience but also taught me some very important lessons about customer service.

And before you read them, let me just say, I have not been paid nor asked to endorse the W Hotel in Doha. I just feel obliged to share with you the amazing things that the hotel does. Things that I feel are important for everyone in today’s business world.

So, without a further due, here are the 5 things I learned from my stay at this incredible hotel.

1. Today’s customer service is all about personalization.

Arriving to W Hotel after 9 hours of flying, I was so tired I could not even keep my eyes open. I went straight to my suite and as I was getting ready to go to bed, I saw on the dining table two muffins with my company’s logo on it. I smiled. The whole thing just felt so special. They prepared muffins with my company’s logo. I mean, how cool is that?
Next to the muffins there was a photo of a very well known place in my country and a note- here is a piece of your country while you are in Doha.

The whole experience felt so special. As a customer I felt special. I felt that the W team put a great effort to make my stay at their hotel an unforgettable experience. And they surely achieved this.

2. All companies should have insiders to tailor to the needs of their customers.

After my stay at W Hotel I realized how important the role of an insider is for all of us in the business world. An insider tries to find out as much information for the client as possible in order to create a tailor made experience for him. Imagine if all of us knew exactly what our clients wanted? What was their favorite drink? Or they favorite food?  I don’t know about you but I am hiring an insider. I want my clients to feel special and I want to know their needs. I think all of us should do that!

3. Never over promise but always over deliver.

I hate when brands over promise. I just think that in today’s economy you have to be realistic not to raise the expectations of your customers and then crash them with your customer service. What I liked about the W is that with everything they did, they over delivered. I have been traveling to 5 star hotels for 10 years now and I always know what to expect. This time it was different. I got much more than I expected and that as a customer made me feel very special. And trust me, I am not an easy customer to satisfy.

4. It is all about the small details.

Many times, we concentrate too much on the big picture and we forget all the small things that can contribute towards the experience of our customers. Especially hotels. You go to a 5 star hotel and the room is huge and the bed is amazing and the bath tub is like a swimming pool but then the service is not good or they forget to change your bed sheets or they do not clean your room properly. At W in Doha it is all about the small details. You have the amazing room and service but you also have that small things that just make you smile. Like the desert I had at the hotel’s restaurant. After a successful event we went to the hotel’s restaurant to have a dinner and they served our desert with our company’s name on it. The staff came to say congrats! It felt so good. Or the coffee they give you in the morning with the sign WAKE UP. My stay at the W made me realize that it is all about the small details. When you master the small details, your clients will always stay with you.

5. What we lack in today’s business world is the human connection and the honest smile.

Aside from everyone knowing my name at the hotel, I felt like most of the staff are my friends. They communicate you with the most friendly smile and spend time with you to make sure you have the best experience ever. It doesn’t matter if it is not their job to get you a drink or to clean your room, or to get you a phone charger. Everyone is concentrating on the needs of the customer and everyone makes you feel special. And all of this is done with a smile. Because a smile is sometimes more important than the luxury suite.

And finally, if you ever go to Doha, take my advice. Stay at the W Hotel. The whole experience will definitely help you create a successful business and most importantly happy clients.

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