Cultural adoption and adaptation from the Arab world

Some of the cultural constraints of working in the Arab world are a mystery to most and a source of endless frustration to many people working there  within the confines of international HQ'd company processes. Western values aren't adopted and accepted everywhere, and nor should they be, but that's often forgotten when global synergies in ad creative are being chased. Cultural differences are essential to what a friend of mine used to describe as life's rich carpet bag. Accepting and respecting these differences is important, as is taking time to understand how different influences across cultures, languages and borders blend together to create new interpretations, which is why I thought I'd share this TED talk on Arab Pop Culture with you:




I sat in a meeting this morning where someone reminded everyone that the accepted business models of now are based primarily on accepted developed world practices and yet the business growth of the future is going to come from India, China, Russia and other markets that are vastly different in size, scale and dynamics to the ones the current models are based on. 

Change is inevitable and those that can embrace it and adapt to it will be the winners.  As we approach the end of this decade, one thing I am sure about is that the world is going to be a very different place in ten years time as technology marches ever forward changing our lives in ways most of can't even imagine yet.