year-old Hayssam Hajjar was appointed by Eimar Arabia two years ago as the Marketing Manager for the new Red Sea Mall, he faced the biggest challenge of his career so far. He is from Beirut, Lebanon and was educated entirely in France. “French is almost my first language, and I speak Arabic, English and a bit of Spanish. I went to university in Paris and have a Master's degree in Marketing and am currently doing a Phd in International Marketing.” His marketing career began with a French communications' agency specializing in advertising and events. “After that, I moved to the Savola Group in Saudi Arabia to be the Marketing Manager for three shopping malls, two in Jeddah and one in Riyadh. I came to Saudi Arabia for the experience and challenge because the market is developing so fast and the economy here is really big. I needed experience in a market like this.” Hajjar's challenge in the Red Sea Mall is to communicate with the huge number of tenants who rent their shop space, as well as the customers who come to the mall. “The marketing in shopping malls specializes in communicating with both sides: the first is how we can generate traffic to the mall, and how we can encourage the customers to buy from our stores. This is one of the biggest malls in the Middle East and includes shopping, entertainment and dining. We needed to know the Saudi mentality and how they would interact with all this. The second is the communication with our tenants and how we can attract new retailers to rent our space. Every day I have two or three visits in the mall. For example, I might ask them about their weekend turnover and sales, how many visitors they had – especially during promotions. You can also imagine what a big challenge it is to fill all these vacant stores.” There is a team of three on the marketing team, and also a dedicated Customer Service team. “They are based inside the mall to receive our customers, to inform them about the mall. The investors have set an international standard – so needs of the disabled, and families with babies and children are taken into account. We have introduced innovations such as electric scooters, a Store Guide leaflet, and remaining open all day, from 10 A.M. until midnight.” Hajjar's day starts early and the first thing that has to be ready is his phone. “Our marketing is a mixture between operational and strategic marketing and we work more than ten hours per day. If we have an event or promotion in the mall, we may have to attend during the weekends. Around 70 percent is strategic work – we are talking about surveys & SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in a project or business venture). We need to know our position in the market, what might be missing, we need feedback from visitors, our tenants, and also from our competitors.” Learning about the Saudi mentality has been part of the challenge for Hajjar and is forming part of his Phd. “It is about how French companies will integrate into the GCC markets, especially Saudi Arabia. My job here is helping me because I am learning about the mentality of the Saudi businessman. Sometimes there is a lack of professionalism because of the mixing of the personal relationship with the professional– if someone knows that his cousin is coming to get this contract, he signs it, but perhaps that person is not able to do a good job. At the same time, I know France very well. I hope to finish my PhD next year.” During his time in Saudi Arabia, Hajjar has seen other parts of the country: “I have been to Taif, Makkah, Madina and Riyadh – they are beautiful cities, but unfortunately we are still missing some good organization in terms of the airports – the first time I came here, I thought: ‘Why don't they have a good airport to receive people?' They have to be much better, and the people who deal with the public have to be better trained. In a country that is hosting around 16 million tourists a year, they need to develop a better infrastructure. I was shocked when I first arrived here because there is no metro, or subway! But now I think Saudi Arabia has a very good future, there is a lot of development, such as the King Abdullah Economic City.” Career-wise, Hajjar particularly enjoys the huge size of the Saudi market and the stability of the country. “You have stability and security – this is difficult to find in another country. Also, with this economic crisis, Saudi Arabia is not suffering as much as other countries. I am very happy here as I have a very good relationship with my company and with my CEO – I don't need an appointment to go into his office, I can go any time. Their door is always open for us.”
