Majid Al Junaid: Remarkable step to enhance self-sufficiency
Sharjah Cooperative has greatly expanded its range of UAE-made products across its branches as part of its commitment to support national production. Sales of local goods have grown by over 80% since the start of the year compared to the same period last year. The Sharjah
Cooperative
Society
now offers over 1,000 national products, including a wide variety of food and non-food items such as bread, milk, flour, dairy, rice, oils, beverages, detergents, and household supplies.
Strong demand for local goods
These products have received a positive response due to prominent display space and high quality, allowing them to compete with global brands. This growing popularity strengthens the country's sustainable food security efforts.
Majid Al Junaid, CEO of the Sharjah Cooperative Society (SCS) stated that consumer interest in local goods highlights the importance of boosting domestic production and supporting local farms, in line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah.
Al Junaid highlighted the MoU signed with the Department of Agriculture and Livestock and its affiliate 'IKTIFA', aimed at improving coordination, logistics, and information sharing to enhance supply chain efficiency and support local production.
Distribution of 'IKTIFA' and local brands
Sharjah
Cooperative
Society
now offers 'IKTIFA', Arabic bread and other locally produced items, like Mleiha dairy products and Saba Sanabel flour, ensuring high-quality options for customers in cooperation with national producers.
Backed over 100 local farms.
Over recent years, the cooperative has supported more than 100 productive farms across the UAE by marketing their goods through its Sharjah branches, boosting the sales of agricultural products.
A broad campaign was recently launched to promote local products, including wide discounts and clear 'Made in UAE' labelling aimed at raising consumer awareness and improving competitiveness.
Ongoing initiatives
Sharjah
Cooperative
Society
continues to support UAE-made goods through visible display areas, priority in order fulfilment, dedicated promotion staff, and easier monthly payment terms for suppliers.
Al Junaid affirmed that this expansion is a strategic move to boost self-sufficiency and national food security. He highlighted Sharjah's commitment to sustainable food practices in line with the UAE's National Food Security Strategy 2051, driven by circular economy principles and technological integration.
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Campaign ME
an hour ago
- Campaign ME
Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Leaders reach a consensus on critical marketing strategies
Campaign Middle East has successfully concluded its third event of the year – Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 – which witnessed a room full of client-side marketers, agency and adtech leaders reaching a consensus to get back to the fundamentals of curiosity, creativity, consumer-first mindsets and cold hard business outcomes at the Grand Plaza Mövenpick in Dubai Media City on 29 May. The event began with a look at the fundamental shift towards 'outcomes' to drive business impact. Panel discussions at the event also dissected human-first approaches, personalisation, and the importance of brand fundamentals as channels fragment at speed. Panelists discussed how B2B and B2C expectations are converging, and how AI is increasingly shaping how audiences discover and interact with content and brands. Marketers and industry leaders also discussed the benefits of a fragmented media landscape, the shift from traditional media to precision media, the impact of AI on marketing strategies and the need for brands to adapt to consumer behaviour in an era when consumer attention is fleeting. Challenges around cross-channel measurement were voiced and the potential of creative storytelling and innovative marketing strategies were reinforced. Additionally, the 'education piece' and cultural relevance were discussed while keeping an eye on brand and business outcomes as well as creative ambition. Panellists discussed how to craft creative campaigns that not only inspire but also drive tangible results and resonate deeply with diverse communities. Here's an in-depth look into how the event – organised by Motivate Media Group's Campaign Middle East, in partnership with Bloomberg Media, Platformance, and SRMG Media Solutions – panned out: Welcome speech The event began with a welcome speech by Nadeem Quraishi, Publisher, Campaign Middle East, who briefed the attendees about the brand's latest developments. Quraishi introduced Campaign Middle East's first bilingual edition of The Saudi Report, which marked the brand's first inclusion of Arabic-language content in print in its 16-year history. He also announced the official launch of the brand's Arabic-language website, expanding its digital offering to better serve audiences across the region. He shared the latest details about Campaign Middle East's Agency of the Year Awards, which is scheduled to take place on 11 December in Dubai, as well as about Athar Festival 2025, which is set to be bigger and bolder this year with more than 3,000 attendees, more than 150 speakers, more than 80 activations, and several new zones such as content creation, AI, production, and luxury brand marketing, among others. Chair's opening remarks Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen then took the stage to deliver the chair's opening remarks. He discussed how marketers need to add a 'protein shake' of marketing strategy to their diet — blending creativity, culture, credibility and storytelling. Oommen detailed how generative AI, agentic AI, shopping agents and other AI tools are revolutionising the full marketing funnel, before calling for marketers to embrace change, try-test-and-scale strategies, and choose to upskill quickly rather than relying on what worked in the past. 'If time, attention and engagement are the marketing battlegrounds of the present, then consumer-first approaches of trust and empathy will be the marketing battlegrounds of the near future. Transactional relationships in the market absolutely won't make the cut any more. The industry requires meaningful partnerships with stakeholders across the supply chain; and brands need to resonate more deeply and more personally with communities and individuals,' he said. Calling it a 'challenging path' but one that is brimming with opportunity for those willing to lead the charge, Oommen added, 'Although this may sound very uncomfortable – we must embrace change, choose to educate ourselves, harness technology and cultivate marketing strategies that are both meaningful and measurable.' Keynote: The outcomes graph: Why the future of marketing is not where you advertise, but what it delivers Getting the event started, Wade Eagar, Chief Marketing Officer, took the attendees on a journey into the Outcomes Graph, exploring the shift from media placement to business impact. Eager highlighted the importance of outcome driven marketing, calling for a return to keeping the end-goal-in-mind instead of being focused on a budget-first approach. He also stressed on the need for cross-functional collaboration and performance-driven strategies to to shift the focus from mere metrics to business business outcomes. 'Outcome is a fundamental shift going back to how we drive business value,' Eager said. 'Start with the outcome, not the brief. Measure what you own — and this is the piece I want to bring home — move away from focusing only on the external data that we spend so much time measuring and building a nice story around, and move towards the internal data that shows up on the P&L. However, it's not about throwing the baby out with the bathwater, it's about stitching these two together to align with business outcomes.' He also called for marketers to become a lot more 'commercial' in the sense of learning to work cross-functionally. As a result, there's a shift coming through where marketers are asking: What does the business need, rather than how can we deliver a brief based on the given budget? 'The new marketer is not asking is it brand versus performance — they're looking at both; they're not getting rid of the creative — they're asking for the creative to perform; they're not saying get rid of the data — they're asking for value within the data rather than volume. At the end of the day, we need to understand our customers, and help them to take an exit that drives business value,' Eager concluded. 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However, the critical piece is that we need to think about being human-first.' The discussion also explored how personalisation has progressed from predictive AI — figuring out the best time to send that prospective and speculative marketing email moving into generative AI, where AI crafts bespoke content — to an era of Agentic AI, where shopping agents reach out to consumers on their birthdays, asking about their celebration plans and then taking care of their outfit shopping, from discovery to purchase and having it delivered all before they head out to celebrate. Speaking about the need for 'secret cyborgs' to be celebrated, Sohail Nawaz, MBE, explained, 'Secret cyborgs are those people who are using AI, but nobody knows they are using AI because they're not telling you what they're using. This is interesting at a time where business leadership is figuring out a clear policy on what they ought to do with AI and the governance around it. In such a context, there needs to be a lab set-up within the business environment that pulls these secret cyborgs to test AI tools.' He added, 'These stealth employees using AI are now becoming pioneers in new AI lab environments that companies are setting up, even as leadership teams set out their clear vision for AI's impact on the workplace and organisation. What does this teach us? Don't wait to be an AI expert — just be AI active.' Addressing the conversation around business-to-business (B2B) audiences and business-to-consumer (B2C) audiences, Loay Nour said, 'We make sure that whenever we create any campaign that we take into consideration the two audiences and the channels — especially as we go through the creation of the process. What's interesting is not only B2C and B2B audiences, which we always think about, but also how to create a funnel for B2B2C, because they become your advocates to promote your brand and your campaign.' Wrapping up the discussion well on the blurring lines between B2B and B2C, Virginie Ludmer said, 'At the end of the day, the brand promise is the same. At the end of the day, we're all looking to enhance the customer experience. Whether we're working alongside our dealerships, in terms of B2B, or our consumers, in terms of B2C, we need to really ensure that their success is also our success — together.' To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Panel 2: Fragmented media landscape: A boon or a bane for marketing in the Middle East? The second panel, conducted in partnership with SRMG Media Solutions, and moderated by Nader Bitar, Director of Digital Solutions, SRMG, welcomed to the stage, Mitin Chakraborty , Head of Marketing , Babyshop, Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Arabia, Andrew Ene , Head of Performance, Spark Foundry MENA, and , Head of Performance, and Anjana Murali, Associate Director – Growth & Best Practices, Keyade Middle East The panellists delved into an in-depth discussion on capturing attention and connecting with consumers in a fragmented media landscape; identifying core target audiences and the most relevant media channels to reach them; as well as developing a cohesive brand story that can be consistently communicated across chosen media touchpoints. Nikola Djordjevic said, 'We have all seen a major shift in the way customers consume media and entertainment, and we all need to be where these customers and consumers are. These people don't want to be passive consumers of media on traditional channels such as television anymore; they want to consume on the go and whenever and wherever they choose. So, I think, we as brands need to evolve, as well. It's not about going omnichannel every time. Instead, we need to pick our battles and choose the best medium contextually at a given moment of time depending on where — and when — the consumer wants it.' Mitin Chakraborty built on this discussion, calling for brands to pick and choose channels that are relevant to the brand, and based on what's relevant to the customer and to the category. 'I think that magical mix is what we need – a mix of logic and magic; a mix of the art and the science, which is super critical,' Chakraborty said. 'I think it goes back to always us as marketers, really identifying: What's the problem that we're trying to solve? Now, there are those who may call it grand idea to focus on purpose, but I think it's very important if you're trying to chase brand equity within this fragmented space, It's very important for us to know what is our biggest story, and how that is being translated across every touch point for our customers.' During the discussion, Andrew Ene also shared how the marketers' mindsets have now shifted to multi-channel more than omnichannel, especially since the latter is a term that has been overused through the years. Ene said, 'Omnichannel is more about what's the brand truth that you're trying to communicate to the consumer, and how do you make sure that you communicate that brand truth consistently across every touch point that the consumer engages with. However, when you're thinking of multi-channel strategies, you're thinking about making a choice about where you have the right to win based on where the consumers are at in a fragmented media landscape, and then crafting a story that touches all of those points.' Anjana Murali added, 'The way we fundamentally think about marketing is shifting. Quite often, we find ourselves as marketers sitting in a room to identify five personas that match our brand. However, if you're thinking of narrowing all of your target audiences into merely five personas, you're already missing out. This is where algorithms and AI come into the picture. They can predict and reach people far better than we used to do, and can do.' She continues, 'However, just because AI and algorithms seem to be doing the heavy lifting, it doesn't mean some of us marketers can take a nap. It's important to marry the two together — what AI can do and what we bring to the table in terms of our experience, the creative, understanding the feedback, leveraging what message resonates with the user, and more. That creative and strategic input still lies with us — and that's why at the core, we are still needed.' Before the panel concluded, Chakraborty also highlighted standardised measurement as a common pain point that needs to be addressed on priority — a problem that's becoming a road block for marketers trying to join the dots in terms of decision-making around platforms, providers and an ideal full-funnel approach. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. Fireside chat: Balancing creative ambition, business objectives, and community-driven demand for relevance The final discussion of the event, a fireside chat with marketers, explored ways to measure the effectiveness of cultural relevance within campaigns, while simultaneously staying aligned with broader brand and business objectives. The fireside chat, moderated by Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East, welcomed on stage two client-side marketers, including, Iva Kutle Škrlec , Director, Destination Marketing, Hilton MEA, and , Director, Destination Marketing, and Remya Menon, Associate Director of Marketing, Bayut Iva Kutle Škrlec said, 'I think the whole cultural relevance piece starts by defining what that means for your brand and what you're trying to achieve, because that then determines what you're measuring. Do you need a brand-lift study? Do you need to look at your engagement rates and so on? For example, when we launch channels and newsletters and content that resonates with a lot of people in the region and links into cultural concepts here, we definitely see increased engagement rate, engagement rates, and better response from our customers. But again, there needs to be a piece where you ultimately tie that back to the business and say, 'okay, this is having an impact' or is it just a nice to have, and are we getting it right?' Through the chat, marketers discussed the cultural nuances of the region — how there's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to 'Middle East culture' or the 'Arabic' language, given that the region is a confluence of so many different cultures, dialects, traditions, beliefs, histories, and nuanced forms of expressing each of these. Škrlec added, 'So I think getting that granularity right and to understand what it is exactly that resonates with people — in terms of messaging, offers, promotions and products is essential. The way we market one hotel in this market might be entirely different to another place. That's why it ultimately comes down to that granularity of what matters to each individual community and customer and what impact it has on the brand and the business outcomes.' Building on this conversation of measuring the impact and effectiveness of getting cultural relevance right, Remya Menon, said, 'I'll be honest, the measurement piece is a conversation that we have all the time, almost on a weekly basis with our CEO, and we've been doing this for about two years. And I think measurement and specifically in the context of cultural relevance is difficult, right? But am I saying that it's impossible? No. We have all of our usual levers such as brand lift studies, surveys, feedback loops and so on and so forth. But as a brand guardian, you also have to build your own hardware and use your internal data and what your audience is actually feeding back to you to build those measurement methods.' Through the discussion, the marketers delved into the need to truly listen to consumers in order to get the 'cultural relevance piece right'. Menon added, 'Yes, there are KPI-driven conversations and there are creativity-driven conversations, but the consumers now have made their opinions very clear — they want to co-create with brands. They want their feedback to be heard and to be more involved in the conversation.' The panellists also discussed the need to build the right team structures to ensure that creative outputs and brand is aligned with cultural relevance, and organizational culture: Nurturing a safe environment that embraces mistakes and learning is how you innovate and stay ahead of the curve. They concluded the discussion sharing their take on the course correction required within the industry. To view the panel discussion in its entirety, stay tuned for the full video of the Campaign Breakfast Briefing that will be added to this article shortly. All in all, some of the key takeaways that attendees shared from the event were: Curiosity remains key; those who take a hands-on approach to the latest tools are those who will win. However, the adage 'garbage-in-garbage-out' remains true, given that generative AI tools are only as smart as the information they learn from, and the prompts they respond to. Meanwhile, even as personalisation, shopping agents, precision targeting and tasteful messaging are shaping marketing strategies, the core objective of the 'game' still remains to serve people. The magic of marketing strategies is to take a human-first approach and be a brand that matters to people. After the keynotes and panels at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event, attendees stayed back for a time of networking. 1/4 Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 Attendees networking at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Marketing Strategies 2025 event. For those of you who were unable to attend this stellar gathering of like-minded leaders shaping the top trends and addressing the top challenges in the industry, keep an eye out for the YouTube video of the entire event. Mark you calendars. Campaign Middle East's next event, Campaign Breakfast Briefing: The Future is Now, which will be held on 12 September 2025.
Emirates 24/7
an hour ago
- Emirates 24/7
Dubai Land Department unveils first-of-its-kind Property Token Ownership Certificate
Dubai Land Department has launched the world's first Property Token Ownership Certificate, following the successful sale of the first tokenized real estate project on the 'Prypco Mint' platform — licensed by VARA — within just one day of launch. This milestone further reinforces Dubai's position as a global leader in real estate innovation and digital transformation. The first project launched under the Real Estate Tokenization Initiative attracted 224 investors, 70% of whom entered Dubai's real estate market for the first time. This highlights strong investor confidence and the accessibility provided by flexible, low-cost digital solutions. Investors represented 44 nationalities, and the average individual investment amounted to AED10,714. As the region's first platform of its kind, the initiative continues to draw significant interest, with the waitlist exceeding 6,000 requests. This surge in demand reflects Dubai's growing appeal to new segments of global investors seeking innovative and accessible property ownership models. Dubai Land Department developed the Real Estate Tokenization project in collaboration with the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) and the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates and the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) through the Real Estate Sandbox. It is being executed through Prypco Mint. The initiative aims to broaden the real estate investor base while enhancing transparency and accelerating transaction processes, aligning with the Dubai Real Estate Strategy 2033 goals and the Dubai Economic Agenda D33. Dubai Land Department is currently working to enable real estate developers to list their projects on the platform, further expanding the initiative's scope and unlocking new opportunities for digital property investment. Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.
Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Schengen visa scam in UAE: Fake travel agents charging Dh4,000, experts warn
With the summer travel season in full swing, UAE residents are being warned about fraudulent travel agents charging thousands of dirhams per person for Schengen visa appointments and disappearing without delivering. Faisal M., a resident of Dubai Marina, had planned a summer getaway to the Netherlands, Spain, and Austria with his wife. He ended up paying Dh4,000 per visa to a travel agent who claimed to have guaranteed appointments in early May. 'I received a call from a travel agent asking if I was looking for a Schengen visa. When I showed interest, he explained the charges, which I agreed to,' said Faisal. 'But on the day of the appointment, he asked me to meet him near Wafi Mall.' Faisal said he waited nearly five hours, but the agent never showed up. 'When I called him, he kept delaying and eventually stopped answering my calls,' he added. Over the next few days, the agent kept insisting that the application was under process. Faisal eventually tracked down the agent and convinced him to meet near the Mall of the Emirates. 'I convinced him to meet me before the rescheduled appointment on May 7. I drove him straight to Barsha Police Station and told him to return my money or I would file a complaint,' he said. 'After two hours of argument, he returned Dh5,000. I have his Emirates ID photo and his residence address as a precaution.' Nirmal Rathod, a businessman and distributor of dairy products, escaped a similar scam. He was about to pay Dh3,500 to a travel agent but decided to verify through his trusted agent first. 'I was planning to attend a food and agriculture exhibition in the Netherlands next month. My regular travel agent said he would try, but after a week, he confirmed it wasn't possible,' said Rathod. A few days later, Rathod received a call from someone offering an appointment slot for an extra fee. 'He convinced me, but I still checked with my agent. That's when I was told about the scams happening in the market. I chose not to proceed and skipped the exhibition this year,' he added. Apply through verified sources Travel agents are urging residents to apply for the visa through verified sources. 'Schengen countries are some of the most in-demand destinations,' said Subair Thekepurathvalappil, senior manager at Wisefox Tourism. 'Due to high demand, appointment availability is extremely limited. And it's not just tourists, many business professionals are also willing to pay a premium for visa slots.' 'Always ensure the travel agency has a landline, is registered in Dubai, and has a functional website. Avoid transferring money online to individuals or unverifiable agents. If you must pay, visit the agency in person,' said Subair. Visa facilitation company VFS Global confirmed that the summer season has seen unprecedented demand for international travel, creating a gap between demand and appointment availability. 'We consistently urge travelers to plan ahead to avoid last-minute issues,' VFS Global told Khaleej Times in a statement. 'Appointments and visa processing timelines are determined solely by the respective embassy or consulate.' They highlighted that the appointment slots are available free of charge on their official website and warned applicants not to pay third-party agents offering guaranteed slots or appointments. 'We urge applicants to beware of fraudulent third-party entities who offer appointment slots or guaranteed visas in exchange for a fee,' the statement added. 'We regularly run public service messages across all customer touchpoints to alert applicants against misrepresentation.'
