February 11-12, Dubai Internet City 

Billed as the leading tech festival for emerging markets, STEP Conference brought together over 8,000 attendees for the two-day conference this year with different activations held across four main stages. 

MMPWW created a branded booth for the festival, which allowed industry figureheads to come and chat through their programmatic queries and understand which Ad Tech solutions would make the most sense for their business. 

Our Deputy GM, Nader Bitar, was also asked to take part in a closed digital panel by OMD UAE, which explored the future of data unification and consolidation. Joined by Raouf Ketani from Adylic, Bassam Rizk from OMD and Hussam ElHage from Arabian Automobiles, Nader focused on how ‘Trust, Legacy & Scale’ are the cornerstones to unlocking an interconnected customer experience, and why all parties must work together in collaboration and not silo to form a clear picture. 

As technology continues to emerge, it needs to make sense for the end goal, integrating with what is already in place to enhance the offering. Nader went on to discuss why we can’t just implement something for the sake of ticking a box, but instead look to leverage existing solutions like DXPs, which are intuitive and multifunctional that will allow marketers to keep pace with changing consumer habits. There is also the added bonus that DXPs can streamline operational capabilities for businesses too, making full use of the data analytics provided. 

Finally, Nader also touched on the human element in the process, affirming it as the most important part to understanding and then leveraging the data effectively. Ultimately, he concluded, if you have the tech but not the skillset to operate it, then all the acronyms in the world won’t be enough to help you understand what makes your consumers tick.