See & Be PR

Tariq Al-Sharabi

Tariq has eleven years experience in PR and advertising in the UAE and specialises in the property development, real estate and construction industries. In his role as Director of Client Services, he supervises and overlooks all client servicing activities in addition to heading a group of accounts personally and ensuring that PR plans and strategies are successfully implemented by his team.

Tariq began his career in client servicing in 1999 at Interactive Graphics, a full-service, advertising agency for local and family-owned businesses. In 2002, he moved to servicing clients in the PR field when he joined Promax PR Agency, where he oversaw activities on numerous international accounts in a wide range of industries, such as banking and finance, pharmaceutical, automotive, airline and FMCG. He also worked closely with the government of the UAE, managing high-profile projects for the offices of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness Sheikh Tariq Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, and the Ministry of Health. Since joining C&B in 2006, he has worked closely with top developers such as Abyaar Real Estate, Cayan, Damac, Define Properties, Mazaya, Mayadeen, Al Manal Development, Al Masah Real Estate and Al Qudra Real Estate, and construction companies such as Drake & Scull International (DSI) PJSC and Arabian Construction Company (ACC).

Tariq is well versed in the complex technicalities and laws related to civil contracting, MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing), WWT (Water & Waste Water Treatment), and project and facilities management. Having overseen the PR for DSI during its IPO and DFM listing stages, his expertise also extends into the planning and execution of PR strategies with regard to investor relations, and other issues related to companies going public.

Born and raised in Dubai, Tariq is fluent in English and Arabic, and has developed strong bonds with both the region’s English and Arabic-speaking media channels, especially business journalists. His insider knowledge of local and regional business environments has helped him gain maximum exposure for his clients with exceptionally positive results.

Thank You UAE

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Jan 072013

Sitting with our resident writer, trying to conceptualise my next blog post, she suggested using passion to lead the way – as it has proved to evoke some interesting writing in the past.

Wait, I’m thinking. Sports? No, I’ve done that before. My job? Done that too. As I gaze out the window in hopes that some idea will just suddenly make itself known, it works and I’m instantly inspired.

The UAE. If I had taken a snapshot from the day I first looked out that very window and compared it to today, that picture would be very different and in a very good way.
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How Public Relations Has Changed in the Past 10 Years

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Aug 152012

So there I was on vacation in Istanbul, my first time there – beautiful city by the way, I totally recommend it. I’ve just finished a whole day of sightseeing and shopping and was walking to the closest metro station to head back to the hotel, when I get a call from my client requesting me to urgently send out a very important announcement to the media (yes, they know I’m on vacation!). Since it was approaching 9pm Dubai time I told them that I would make sure it was sent out first thing in the morning, but the urgency of the announcement wouldn’t let them wait till the next day. So there I sat, on a street bench in the Nişantaşı district of Istanbul, with my shopping bags next to me and my BlackBerry in my hand, sending out emails, text messages, chat messages and making phone calls to the media. Forty five minutes later the mission was accomplished. Feeling good about a job well done, I treated myself to some tasty Turkish ice cream and headed to the hotel. About an hour later, and while flipping through channels on TV, I see the news of the announcement I had just sent out on CNN! That’s when I thought to myself how things have changed in the last few years, and how when I first started working in PR about 10 years ago there was no way I could’ve pulled off getting news out while sitting on a street bench thousands of kilometers away from my office.

How have things changed in PR?
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Is Vlogging the next best thing in PR?

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Jul 252012

To start off, if you don’t know what a Vlog is, let me tell you: A Vlog (short for “video blogging”) is simply a blog that is in video format. Vlogs can be about anything from personal issues, news and politics, to sports.

It’s hard to pinpoint the first ever Vlog, but what is evident is that Vlogging saw a strong increase in popularity in 2005, the same year that witnessed the creation of YouTube. Nowadays it’s picking up fast, from America to Europe and starting to gain speed in the UAE.

Where did Vlogs come from?
As time passes, consumers’ patience and attentiveness are decreasing and so it is becoming more difficult to engage them. This is not the case just with consumers; I see it with my own one and a half year old baby! I can’t go through the whole alphabet book with her without her walking away before we reach F, but when I turn on the alphabet song on YouTube she gets glued to my laptop.
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Why do we need to blog?

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May 072012

A question that has more than one simple answer. You blog to have a voice, you blog to have a presence, you blog to be relevant.
The beauty of blogging is that it is so personal; you see our real personalities, and you see PR as we would have it. It’s more individual than a corporate profile or a company website, because you get a glimpse of how we would do it, before you ever pick up the phone and call.

So simple yet so complex. Sure, anyone can write a blog, but it takes a special team of people to target for SEO and to build a following on Social Media to get their blogs read.

But to get back to the question – why do we really need to blog?
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What’s in a name?

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Apr 122012

The Last Man in Europe

Catch 18

Atticus

First Impressions

Mistress Mary

Do any of those titles ring a bell? At least sound a little familiar? Think favourite or classic novels!

Nothing, no clue?

Well, let me introduce you to 1984, Catch 22, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Pride and Prejudice, and The Secret Garden! They are the very same books – revamped and renamed – to sell (I know, imagine, they weren’t sold out when they were first published)
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Confidence and Compassion; the trick to PR

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Mar 272012

According to Beth Monaghan co-founder of InkHouse Media + Marketing, Confidence and Empathy are two essential traits that PR professionals should have to succeed in their work.

I totally agree. Dealing with your clients and the media can be very similar to being a salesman at an electronics shop; your client is the customer that walks in knowing that he wants to buy a digital camera, but doesn’t know which model to get for his requirements. A confident salesman will be able to clearly identify the customer’s needs, give the customer a sense of ease and comfort and therefore win the customer’s trust in his advice.

In PR, you need to be confident and compassionate, but how do you achieve that?
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Twitter: Can’t live with it, but can’t live without it

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Mar 132012

Twitter is still a foreign language to some people. Just yesterday I was sitting down with our in-house social media geeks talking about how hard it is to stay on top of the game. Social media is not just a hobby, it’s not even overtime; it’s a full time job.
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If it was tweeted yesterday, then it’s old news today. That’s why it’s essential to have someone dedicated who can handle updates as they happen. What’s the point of tweeting press releases for your clients a day later when it’s already out there? If you do that, you’re just plain old news, too.
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You’re in PR? What’s that?

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Feb 232012

How many times have you tried explaining what you do for a living as a PR professional to your family and friends? I find it one of the most frustrating things to do, even more exhausting than getting coverage for subsurface irrigation technology!

Well, with the aim of making our lives easier the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has decided to create a task force to develop a final and universal definition for Public Relations, but after two months of work they managed to narrow it down to three definitions! Making our lives even more complicated.
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Are we losing the personal touch?

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Dec 152011

With the ‘social media revolution’ in full force over the last decade, it’s no surprise that public relations professionals are now turning to their Twitter and Facebook accounts to help get their clients featured in top publications. But does this mean that the public relations industry is losing its human touch? After all, this was an element that used to be at its very core.

A recent article, written by Russell Working, argues that while these social media platforms may not be the ideal way to pitch a story, it could be a handy tool when it comes to building relationships with the media.
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Client of the Century? SHOTGUN!

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Aug 102011

Passion, it’s where you wake up excited and eager and are still going after dark. Chemistry, it’s that relationship between two people where things just click and everything is in perfect sync.

Why are passion and chemistry so important in PR? Think of it this way. How do you convince people to believe if you don’t believe? How do you interact with those you can’t really relate to?

While things will rarely fall perfectly into place – because relationships and people aren’t perfect, there are those special sometimes when the stars seem to be in your favour. I love watching and I love playing sports, so when a sports related client came knocking on our door I was the one jumping over my colleagues’ heads shouting ‘Shotgun!’. Continue reading »