Abeer Alessa, founder and managing director of Bold Agency and member of the Chamber of Commerce 'Advertising Committee', and Jacob Benbunan, co-founder and global CEO of Saffron Brand Consultants, believe and truly recognize that for a brand to cause needful impact it has to have the right balance of art and science. While art works around attraction, relevance and differentiation. It alone can't sustain or complete the brand, which needs a combination of communication, experience and time, to create and form that long-term relationship, they said in a joint interview. Following are the excerpts: Q1. Tell us a bit about Bold and the importance of brand development? Abeer Alessa: Bold came into existence in 2012 to break stereotypes regardless be it of the communication industry or the Saudi people not only for the local audience but also for a global audience. In order to do that, Bold truly recognizes to make sense of any communication or marketing, we need to make sure the brand is set up and sustained in the right way. Getting the brand right from the start is of key importance for other marketing parameters to play their role and eventually set the right desired image of the brand. Q2. Where does Bold see the direction of the global branding industry going in the next few years? Abeer Alessa: Bold sees direction of brands be it local or global playing a major role in the future of economies and businesses and even countries. A major example is the impact of the Vision 2030 brand and its roll out that has brought about a complete change of mindset and opportunity for not only individuals livings in KSA but major business and government sectors all in their entirety to work for a common vision. We truly believe in defining a purpose and vision for the brand and then chalking it way forward keeping in mind, during the times of pandemics and hard to catch pace of digitization, a brand also needs to ensure a "design system' and not guidelines that equip a brand for all digital activities and as touchpoints. Q3. What has been the impact of branding on global developed markets? Jacob Benbunan: Branding with its perfect balance of art and science is bringing an awareness and a sustained differentiation in a world that relies on disruptors and entrepreneurs in this fast paced digital transforming world where cultures and markets are getting closer and connected and relevance will be a key driver. Q4. How will Bold and Saffron new partnership help bolster the brand offering in the KSA market? Jacob Benbunan: Saffron with its experience of creating brands in different industries and countries globally has its structured knowledge and experience to offer to the KSA market and Bold is that true partner that works on similar values to Saffron and compliments them while add that key relevance to KSA that we mentioned above. Q5. What will Bold get out of this partnership? Abeer Alessa: Bold believes that Saffron will play an essential role in not only uplifting the current bold mindset but also helping them structure and apply the best of the world practices in addition to their best in KSA knowledge and experiences. With the best of both worlds combo offering to any prospective brand in KSA, it would just be an opportunity hard to miss for any entity belong to any segment.
