Friday 20 / September / 2024
Muscat: A workshop to highlight and discuss results of an evaluation process made on Origin Oman campaign was organised recently by Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) in collaboration with the London Marketing Office.
The workshop was held at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah in the presence of Chief Executive Officers of local companies.
Eng. Basim bin Ali Al Nassri, Director General of Marketing and Media at PEIE, noted that the study has been carried out to evaluate the real return to the subscribers in Origin Oman Campaign through focusing on certain tools.
"A series of questions were addressed to the targets including those with regard to the campaign’s website, effectiveness of the exhibitions held as part of the campaign, and whether there is a real follow-up on the investments and businesses that were generated through the campaign," he informed.
He added that this workshop represents phase three of the evaluation process.
"The first phase constituted direct interviews with a number of CEOs, VIPs and specialists in the field in order to identify the challenges facing Omani products as well as benefit from their rich experience in the field.”
“Phase two of the process included an online survey for the companies and Origin Oman website’s subscribers. The questions addressed in the survey aimed at helping in understand the way the campaign works and to what extent it has been achieving its objectives,” he added.
“The third phase represents this workshop that aims at highlighting the outcomes of the interviews and survey and thus discussing them to generate further views in an effort to serve the public interest and boost the value of Omani products," Al Nassri pointed out.
He added that PEIE has been undertaking a series of activities, initiatives and event to promote and develop Omani products.
"A number of mobile exhibitions for Omani products have been held in the various governorates of Oman in addition to exhibitions held in the hypermarkets and commercial centres. A number of Omani products exhibitions were also organised in schools in line with a MoU that was signed with the Ministry of Education to disseminate awareness on Omani products in the school communities.”
“Moreover, PEIE has launched a new website for the campaign. It has also participated in organising OPEX events in Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, Dubai and Addis Ababa in cooperation with thePublic Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa), and Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI)," Al Nassri said.
"PEIE has also represented the Sultanate for the fifth consecutive year at Gulfood event through a pavilion embracing Omani companies. Adding to these initiatives, a team specialised in designing and packaging has been formed to undertake efforts aiming at developing the shape of locally manufactured products in terms of their design and packaging aspects. All these initiatives in addition to the presence in various media means have played a significant role in uplifting the presence of Omani products locally and externally and enhance the confidence of the consumers," he added.
On his part, Werner Bullen, Managing Director of London Marketing Office said that this study aspires at raising awareness on the importance of purchasing locally manufactured products and services bearing the Origin Oman logo.
"The study also aims at understanding the expectations and real return of the participants in the campaign, the popularity of the campaign, to what extent the ROI is different according to market segment (e.g. food, industrial products), and whether exhibitions like OPEX and other activities are profitable or not for the participants. Based upon the recommendations collected, we define a long term strategy for development. The main goal is to change Origin Oman into a real business or profit centre where everything is monitored in order to be improved," Bullen commented.
The workshop ended with discussions and more ideas were generated to contribute to the final output of the study.
