Dubai, March 30, 2020: Today PHD MENA announces the launch of its new podcast series. Created to support marketers and business professionals in building the next wave of challengers, each episode decodes the world of media and marketing and shines a light on the strategies of successful brands. The first episode, which is going live on Apple and Spotify streaming platforms this week, is hosted by PHD and The Marketing Society. 

PHD MENA, which has a decade-long history of sharing knowledge with its stakeholders and business partners through events like BrainScape, is now adding podcasts as a platform to reach an even wider audience. A 2019 study estimated that there were 1.3 million regular podcast listeners in the UAE alone. As this listenership grows thanks to the rising number of podcasts in, for or about the region, coupled with the need to work from home, the agency regards the format as an ideal way to share industry knowledge with clients, partners and the broader industry. 

The first episode features two data enthusiasts, David Barnes, PHD UAE’s Director of Data and Measurement, and Rania Hatoum, Arla Foods’ Regional Digital Lead, who analyze case studies, trends and news about data, technology and analytics. They also discuss future technologies, the rise of eCommerce, successful campaigns that were born out of data and the wider impact of data on business practices.

“Harnessing the power of data is more critical today than ever. The magnitude of data can certainly look overwhelming, but it is the obsession with metrics that gives it a bad name,” Barnes argues. “We must focus on ‘effectiveness’ to build a brand rather than ‘efficiency’. This is one of the key challenger behaviours described in Overthrow II, the book PHD co-authored with eatbigfish.”

“Conversing with David was, as always, insightful, particularly when looking at new ways of approaching and understanding marketing data. Being a part of the first episode of PHD MENA’s podcast series was a privilege and I can’t wait to hear how the channel evolves,” says Rania Hatoum.

“The ambition for our podcast series is to drive conversations on the latest industry developments and tools and to share this knowledge with fellow industry professionals and those wanting to take their brands to new heights. Overthrow II, and its focus on the challenger attitude, has been a powerful eye opener and generated much interest on how to embrace it. With our podcast, we will dig further into this new thinking for brands to build disproportionate growth when they need it most,” comments Luca Allam, Managing Director of PHD UAE.

The next episode will be released in April, featuring PHD MENA’s Head of Strategy and Specialized Services, Daniel Shepherd, who will be sharing his insights on data signals that are most crucial to monitor when building a challenger brand with David Barnes. 

The PHD MENA podcast is available on Spotify, audioboom and Apple Podcasts, simply search for ‘PHD MENA’.