WAN-IFRA Middle East conference to focus on cross-platform ad strategies

The conference, to be chaired by Bander Asiri, MD of Al Khaleejiah in Saudi Arabia, will present international and local case studies of publishers who are profiting from the unique position of newspaper companies as multimedia providers.

Holm Münstermann, head of strategy and advertising at Axel Springer Media Impact in Germany, will examine how newspaper companies can profit from the iPad, and what the best approach should be. Should the iPad presence reflect online platforms or the printed issue? And, above all, can the tablet become a mass medium?

"The speaking newspaper"

Also on the programme is Kasturi Balaji, MD of The Hindu in India, who will present a closing keynote address on "The speaking newspaper - a mass-media innovation." Readers literally jumped when they heard their newspapers talking, thanks to a pre-recorded chip embedded in an Volkswagen advertisement. Balaji will talk about how such innovations take advantage of newspapers' unique quality, and how innovative thinking brings them about.

The conference also features Geoff Tan, senior vice president and head of strategic marketing for Singapore Press Holdings, whose keynote presentation is titled "Building a cross-platform advertising strategy in 3D." Singapore Press Holdings is at the forefront of integrated media practices and advocates a consultative, solutions-based approach to ad sales.

The sixth Middle East Conference, under the theme, "Make Money Now!," will be held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, which has been named Best Conference Centre in the Middle East three times by the Depa Hotel Awards.

For full conference details, go to www.wan-ifra.org/middleeast.