UAE learning from its recent PR crisis but challenges remain

A new survey of UAE public relations during the global economic crisis shows government communications lacking in credibility, and with lessons to learn from the multinationals that make the UAE their home in the Middle East.

This is the conclusion of a study of 367 replies to a survey conducted for the Middle East Public Relations Association by Insight Discovery, a Dubai based market intelligence consultancy.

Government loses trust

The crisis has lessened local trust in the UAE government as a source of information with only 10 per cent of respondents citing the government as ‘most trusted’ source in 2010 as compared with 19 per cent in 2009.

Government communication during the crisis was considered ‘not credible at all’ by 54 per cent of those surveyed, while business achieved a neutral score. Those ranking the government ‘very credible’ fell from 21 per cent in 2009 to just 6.1 per cent in 2010.

In general the survey characterized communications within the UAE as ‘reactive, unclear, slow, biased, limited, and unreliable but respectful’. A third of those replying rated PR from federal and local government as ineffective, and only 8.7 per cent thought them effective.

The study was discussed at the 2010 MEPRA Symposium held in Dubai today. Government officials had declined an invitation to attend. But industry practitioners said there was a widespread acknowledgement within official circles that better PR needed to be a priority, and that more money was being allocated for this purpose.

Multinational businesses in the UAE and the international media were voted the best for communications by a total of 71 per cent of respondents. This is somewhat ironic in view of the widespread local criticism of the international media for inaccurate and unbalanced reporting during the crisis, particularly about the events surrounding the Dubai debt moratorium at the end of last year.

Silent PR and media

The silence of local media during this period is also generally seen as a low-point in its recent history, although the hysterical speculation of the global media proved to be equally misleading.

It is to be hoped that some lessons are drawn from what visiting PR guru Lord Chadlington thought was ‘an excellent piece of work’ from the Insight Discovery team. He remained optimistic that lessons could be learned but also gave a timely reminder that policy and not only presentation was the real issue.

Indeed, it is all very well for the Dubai PR industry to commission a survey that shows the government that it should be paying for its advice to fix things. There does also need to be a new strategic plan for the city to articulate, and that is actually the more difficult problem.