Fadi Mouannes: Intermarkets Kuwait was established in 1968, long before the invasion of Kuwait and was among the first agencies to resume activities after the liberaton. Since then, we have been steadily growing and we have been recognised as the first agency in terms of media spending, especially with newspapers who swallow up to 60 percent of the advertising budgets.

We are a full-fledged agency that offers all the services the market requires. Our 35-strong staff are equipped to offer all kinds of services the market needs and at the same time we enjoy the full support of the Intermarkets network. Eighty percent of the accounts we handle are local. On the creative level, we have recently won six awards at the Al-Anba’a Advertising Awards.

ArabAd: How do you deal with a market said to be “unsophisticated”?

Fadi Mouannes: What does unsophisticated mean? All Kuwaiti clients are looking for quality services. If they find them in simple concepts, so be it. They want to have the best creative service, the best media plan, the best promotional ideas, the best art work… Our challenge is to meet their quest for the best.

There are two types of clients. Those who know what they want. They understand the business and are professional enough to understand our business to know what we should give and to know what we are giving. There are also those who want the best but do not understand the business. They leave it to us to come up with ideas that would fulfill their objectives. So it is a challenge either way and it is very important that educated people — and there is a majority who are educated — take the leadership.

Originally published in ArabAd, December 1998