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Elephants Can't Jump
Ensuring brand initiatives work in practice as well as in theory. To have marketplace impact, we believe every research assignment should consist of three elements consumer exploration or validation, within a competitive context, generating commercial outputs.
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Firefish Ltd
29 full time staff, operating in all corners of the globe, on all manner of projects. No methodology is squashed to fit. We approach each brief with fresh eyes and minds, to make sure you get the most out of your research, helping your brand move forward.
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Grass Roots
Grass Roots is one of Europe's largest performance improvement companies. Established in 1980, Grass Roots UK is the founding company of a group with offices and partners operating in 15 countries around the world.
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DIGITAL-MR
In addition to Social Media Research (Web Listening) DigitalMRs solutions also include community panels, access panels, Web usability and a distinct focus on qualitativeresearch online.
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An Introduction to Kuwait
The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic "akwat", the plural of "kout", meaning fortress built near water. Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between India and Mesopotamia. After World War I Kuwait emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of Britain, which lasted till 1961, and the discovery of oil in the late '30s led to unprecedented economic growth. After its invasion in 1990 and the subsequent first Gulf War, nearly 773 Kuwaiti oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army, resulting in a major environmental and economic catastrophe and serious damage to Kuwait's infrastructure. See full country profile.Latest Research News from Middle East
GOVERNMENT: Constitutional Emirate
AREA: 17,818 sq. km
POPULATION: 2,692,526 - note: includes 1,291,354 non-nationals (July 2010 est.)
MAJOR LANGUAGE: Arabic
Some business and general info
The Market Research Industry
Trade and Industry in Kuwait
Recently suggestions have been made in the Kuwait parliament that this benefit should be doubled for the first wife with an extra $8,000 for every subsequent wife.
A little More Knowledge?
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The name Kuwait is derived from the Arabic "akwat", the plural of "kout", meaning fortress built near water. Historically, the region was the site of Characene, a major Parthian port for trade between India and Mesopotamia. After World War I Kuwait emerged as an independent sheikhdom under the protection of Britain, which lasted till 1961, and the discovery of oil in the late '30s led to unprecedented economic growth. After its invasion in 1990 and the subsequent first Gulf War, nearly 773 Kuwaiti oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army, resulting in a major environmental and economic catastrophe and serious damage to Kuwait's infrastructure.
Kuwait is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government. The country has the world's fifth largest oil reserves and petroleum products now account for nearly 95% of export revenues, and 80% of government income. Kuwait is the eleventh richest country in the world per capita, has the highest human development index (HDI) in the Arab world and is designated as a major non-NATO ally of the United States.
GDP: $142.1 billion - $52,800 per capita (2009 est.)
Religions Muslim 85% (Sunni 70%, Shia 30%), other (includes Christian, Hindu, Parsi) 15%
Currency: Kuwaiti Dinar (1 KWD = 2.25 GBP)
Telephone Code: +965
Research Industry
The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) - including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates - had a total MR spend of USD 130m in 2008, an absolute growth of 18.2% (net 6.6%) on 2007.According to the CIA World Factbook, Kuwait exported $50.25 billion worth of goods in 2009, comprising of oil and refined products and fertilisers. These exports went principally to Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, the US, China and Singapore. Imports in the same year were worth $17.09 billion, consisting of food, construction materials, vehicles and parts and clothing, coming mostly from the US, China, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Italy, France, India and the UK.
Kuwait has proven crude oil reserves of 104 billion barrels estimated to be 10% of the world's reserves. Being a tax-free country, Kuwait's oil industry accounts for 80% of government revenue, while petroleum and petrochemicals account for nearly half of GDP and 95% of export revenues. Other major industries include shipping, construction, cement, water desalination, construction materials and financial services.
Kuwait has a well developed banking system and several banks in the country date back to the time before oil was discovered. Founded in 1952, the National Bank of Kuwait is the largest bank in the country and one of the largest in the Arab world. Kuwait's climate limits agricultural development. Consequently, with the exception of fish, it depends almost wholly on food imports.
Email me:
laurence@mrweb.com
I have a PhD in Sociology from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at the Sorbonne in Paris. I came to MR by accident, as the owner/GM of ABC Associated Business Consultants (the main MR agency in the region, which had its HQ in Lebanon), back in the late 70's, was looking for an assistant market researcher. He wanted a sociologist with a PhD because he did not believe much in BA /MBA holders.
What are the advantages / challenges of conducting market research studies in Kuwait?
Kuwait now is an extremely rich country and doing Market Research there is similar to doing it in Western Europe. It is an easy market. Sometimes you have to offer incentives to motivate Kuwaitis who are really spoiled. In this respect Kuwait is not Saudi Arabia.
Do you have any experience working in market research abroad? If so, how would that compare with market research in Kuwait?
All the studies I have done / supervised were in the MENA region. I believe Kuwait is like Lebanon, where tolerance and understanding are quite high. In very conservative countries like Saudi Arabia, feudality, religion and the condition of women put some obstacles to market researchers. Then you hav' dictatorships such as Syria and Jordan, where people are afraid to give straight answers and are suspicious of you. Or very poor countries like Yemen and Sudan, where multinationals are not interested to do business with. In this respect, Kuwait and to a lower extent Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Lebanon are in a different group.
Is the local market research scene growing? What are the current trends?
Market research in Kuwait continues to grow significantly. What I have noticed is that local companies commission us to do many studies and sometimes pay more than multinationals.