Now Hear This ...

Stephen Smith had only been working in Dubai for five weeks with the Arabian Radio Network when he faced his first big cultural problem. A furore erupted over a comedy skit by Virgin Dubai 104.4 breakfast announcer Revin John, in which he pretended to impersonate God. The skit was offensive to those of Islamic faith and many non-Muslims, leading Smith to remove the announcer from his on-air role as anchor for Virgin Dubai 104.4's breakfast time slot. The incident brought home vividly what can happen when cultural sensitivities are ignored.

Smith says: "When you come to work in a Muslim state such as the United Arab Emirates, you need to be aware that it's different from where you've come from." It astounds Smith how some people come to the Middle East and try to operate as though they were still in their own country and culture. "Well that's just foolish! You need to be prepared to work in a different culture and accept that people in other countries may have different views to what you may have been exposed to back home."

It's been a steep learning curve for a boy who grew up on a farm in Savernake in south-western NSW. He boarded for six years at St Bedes College, Mentone, and hoped to become a professional footballer with the Sydney Swans. "When the footy career didn't work out, I was looking for an exciting career, so I rang every radio station in town seeking a direct sales role."

What followed was 15 years working in radio and entertainment, including three years as marketing and sales director with Warner Music and, most recently, five years as general manager of ARN Melbourne (Gold and Mix 101.1 FM). Since August 2008 Smith has been based in Dubai and is responsible for the daily operations of Arabian Radio Network. The network now has eight radio stations - broadcasting in three language groups - Asian (Hindi, Malayalam) English and Arabic - catering for various cultural groups including the expat Indian, Arab and Western communities. ARN broadcasts to an estimated audience of 1.5 million in Dubai and a further three million across the entire UAE.

ARN (Arabian Radio Network) is part of the Arab Media Group (AMG), which has 17 business units including print, TV, online, and direct mail., AMG is lead by CEO Abdullatif Al Sayegh and has become the region's largest and fastest growing media conglomerate in the UAE.

As an international gateway between Asia and Europe, Dubai is home to about 150 different cultures - a diversity reflected among the employees at the company. Smith is managing Hindis, south Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Egyptians, Lebanese, Jordanians, South Africans, English, Australians and New Zealanders. Smith says: "With such a melting pot of different cultures, you have to make sure that you set a clear direction or goal. Every directive and strategy forces me to think: ‘Can this work with the manpower and every culture that I am employing?'"

Cultural sensitivity is required of professionals in the Middle East. Smith says: "What we as broadcasters understand is that to work in this region you have to be savvy and culturally aware when it comes to discussing subjects or issues involving sex, drugs, alcohol and religion."

The Challenge

Managing the mix of religious and cultural issues in an Arab business culture.

The Solution

Smith relies on cultural advisers for advice and to create guidelines on specific issues. "We don't come from an Islamic society, so if anything comes up relevant to the Islamic faith that we do not understand, we get a briefing on it and ask: ‘How does this work culturally here?'"

The great religious fasting month of Ramadan, which began one month after Smith arrived in Dubai, provides a good example. During Ramadan, practising Muslims (about 40% of the company's staff) fast for 30 days during daylight hours and work reduced hours - from 10.30am to 2.30pm. Smith says: "It's not difficult to operate in that period. It's just different. You need systems and policies in place, making sure everything gets done when all the staff are at work - remembering that radio is a 24-hour medium. Sometimes, we found that the team operated more effectively in the reduced hours than in a full working day because there was a real urgency to get the work completed in order to meet employees' religious obligations."

There are specific policies to raise the consciousness of non-Muslim staff about those who are fasting. For example, there is no eating at desks; instead there is a pantry area in each office where staff eat. Smith says: "It's about sensitivity and respect for those who are practising their religion by fasting."

Smith's transition has been helped enormously by his close working relationship with Arabian Radio Network's general manager Mahmoud Al Rasheed. Smith says: "Mahmoud has just been wonderful. He knows that with my experience in radio he's going to learn a whole lot, and I know that this guy grew up here and I'm going to learn a whole lot about how they do things in this region. We've really clicked and worked in well together, which means that we are not uncomfortable asking each other questions."

Smith has benefited from pointers on etiquette and business dealings. For example, it is deemed rude to put out your hand to shake hands with a local Emirates woman. Smith says: "I made a couple of mistakes there and he was able to tell me about it." As to the most culturally effective way to negotiate Smith says: "Mahmoud suggested that maybe it's better to go softly, softly to start with and then go harder further into the negotiation. He was able to fast-track my level of expertise as a negotiator, even getting me in front of the right people to present to."

When it was established nine years ago Arabian Radio Network was the first commercial radio broadcaster in Dubai. Smith's aim has been to finesse the company's level of professionalism in its broadcasting and business arms. He believes this will bring the company into line with international standards and iron out such problems as the offensive comedy skit.

Quality assurance is also as vital in broadcasting as any other industry. Smith says it is important to have systems in place to regularly review announcers' performances - a practice that was done spasmodically in the past. "Every song or every time the announcer opens up the mike must grab the listener's attention and most importantly, be entertaining. Being a great radio announcer is one of the hardest roles in the industry. Being funny, informative and a friend to the listener every day for four hours is incredibly difficult, so it is important that the on-air team are getting regular coaching from their programming team."

On business standards, Smith says: "We have as much fun as we can because this is a radio station not a bank. But there are benchmarks we have to hit such as setting minimum standards for our sales teams in call rates, forecasting and negotiation skills. Smith says: "It's getting back to basics. It means they have the chance to uncover as many business opportunities as possible thus giving them every chance to reach targets."

Underpinning these basics, says Smith, is understanding clients' needs and being able to offer them a solution using a radio medium. Smith says: "It's about being able to be a sales consultant as opposed to an order taker."

Dubai like the rest of the world has been hit by the credit crunch and ARN has trimmed its manpower by 10% and implemented cost savings such as reducing international travel and non-essential expenditure. For example, capital expenditure on studio equipment and IT upgrades can wait until times are better. Smith says: "Radio can perform relatively well in downturns as marketers need to look for alternative cost-effective advertising vehicles to promote their brands We have positioned ourselves in Dubai to take advantage of this situation by making sure radio is top of mind with the ad agencies and clients."

The Results

In April 2009, Smith organised a marketing exercise to promote radio as an advertising medium - the first promotion of its kind for the region. An astounding 2000 people registered for the free seminars, which ran over five days. Smith says: "It put radio on the shopping list for a whole lot of brands that had not before used it."

The company won about 100 new clients from the marketing exercise. Smith attributes this success to his staff's ability to educate clients about how to use the radio. Radio represents only 2 % of the potential advertising expenditure in the UAE so there is considerable opportunity for the medium to grow. ARN has a market share of about 40% of all radio spend.

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