Region’s only forum dedicated to women’s marketing takes place this month in Dubai   

Dubai, UAE, March 10, 2015: Addressing the needs of the female consumer will be the topic under exploration at the 7th Annual GMR Marketing to Women (M2W) Conference, which takes place on March 15-16 at The Westin, Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina. Organised by Mediaquest, the region’s largest privately owned media company, the two-day forum will discuss ways in which brands can successfully meet the requirements of women consumers who are becoming more empowered in their relationship with advertisers.   

“Women in the Middle East are increasingly empowered; they are also changing in their attitudes to marketing messaging and brand appeal. It is time for the marketing industry to review their established marketing approaches and really tear-up the rule book when it comes to marketing to the female demographic,” said Alexandre Hawari, Co-CEO of Mediaquest. “This conference will unveil new, cutting edge insight from a multitude of sources and will really challenge participants to break the mould when communicating with women in the GCC,” he added.

Organised by communications publication Gulf Marketing Review, a Mediaquest publication, the M2W Conference was conceived in 2007 in response to a growing recognition that women in the region were expanding control of all aspects of their lives. It acknowledged their demands for new forms of marketing that took into account the changes in their socio-economic status. Over the years, the forum has tackled a number of issues that have impacted on women’s purchasing activities, with the evolving status of digital media and the proliferation of mobile technology a perennial subject for discussion.

“Female consumers in the GCC region are at the fore-front of technology. Their smart phones are their window to the outside world, the facilitator to their personal and professional connections,” said Christina Ioannidis, CEO, Aquitude and Chair, M2W. “This conference will focus on women’s complex digital relationships, their platforms of choice to build their own personal communities and, most importantly, provide marketers with critical learning on how to leverage digital platforms and technology to build loyalty,” she added.

Highlights of the 7th Annual M2W Conference include an International Virtual Roundtable, comprising a panel of experts who will be discussing a topical theme in relation to distaff advertising. The activity will be followed by interactive exercises specifically designed for marketers on what the organisers have termed the world’s first ‘Conversation Engine.’ There will be master classes on building customer loyalty, workshops on how to create deeper cognitive and emotional connections with female consumers and the Best Brands Marketing to Women Awards – the Middle East’s first consumer-voted B2B awards.

Over 300 attendees from across the Middle East and GCC region are expected at the M2W Conference, including senior marketing practitioners, CEOs, CMOs, managing directors, marketing directors, vice-presidents, brand directors, strategic planners, public relations professionals, product managers, creative directors, consumer insight stakeholders, research directors and decision makers in both client and agency organisations.