International Advertising Concepts and Market Penetration Limitations & considerations

Market penetration approaches differ from one country or an organization to another, thus the advertising strategy varies.  Some advertisers choose to standardize and stick to the brand origin while others adapt the indigenous symbols of the market they are approaching. The factors advertisers take in consideration is the degree of ethnocentrism, and the level of the animosity of the market regarding a certain country.

The relation between the concepts portrayed lays in the process of taking decision in the different approaches to penetrate a certain market. Let’s look at some examples, if the majority of people living in a country are ethnocentric, the standardization approach might be a bit difficult to apply. If the people are so attached to their country and their products they won’t accept foreign brands thus they won’t buy them.  Brands in this case won’t show the country of origin (COE) of that certain brand and it must take the adaptation approach, in order to avoid brand animosity.

Some advertisers suppose its better to adapt to a market by using symbols that reflects the people, believing that the brand will reflect more to the people when it uses their language, symbols, and cultural norms, and thus will decrease the level of animosity and ethnocentrism. For example, Henkel changed the name of Persil Tunisia, Morocco & Algeria to “Nadif” they utilized a certain brand in order to suit the market they were entering. Organizations like Henkel and P&G tend to use the adaptation approach, while organizations like Pepsi and Coca-Cola prefer to standardize and stick to the COE, it’s true that they are taking a risk of high animosity but they tend to utilize their advertisements by using cultural symbols and famous acceptable figures in the market.

Some advertisers tend to change some of the symbols and words that relates to a country of origin, when a certain political transformation takes place between two or more countries. For Example, Americana[1] used the tagline “Quality” after the boycott that took place in 2003 (Iraq war), Americana changed its tagline to” 100% Arabian” and then changed it back after the boycott was slightly forgotten. American took this step to decrease the level of animosity Middle Eastern felt towards the United States of America, although American is not from an American origin but the country of origin effect changed people’s perception and attitude towards it, due to the fact that most of its brands and chains were franchised.

Adaptation VS. Standardization

The choice between adapting or standardizing the message should to be looked at on a case by case basis. Even  if the same objectives applies in al target markets, it is very possible that it is necessary to modify the advertising according to cultural, social, and economic features of these markets, as well as the motivations of your target customers. Deciding to adopt a standardized or adapted advertising strategy will result in a balance between the advantages of a single campaign, and those of a specific campaign for each market.

In reality, companies often adopt a strategy to integrate these two extremes, the difficulty arising when deciding to what degree each will be enforced.

The different aspects which could be subject to standardization or adaptation are the following: Campaign objectives, target market, choice of media and the choice of the message.

The approach that Pepsi & Coca-Cola uses is and integration of those two extremes which has been recently defined as adapted standardization, which means that they are sticking to the origin of the brand and the country while changing some of the symbols in order to match the needs of a certain ethnic group or culture.

Ethnocentrism VS Animosity

The subject of consumer ethnocentrism is discussed in the framework of advertising country-of-origin effects. The impact of media on consumers' ethnocentric sense during a special situation (animosity) (conflict between two countries) is examined. Then, the effect of a developed ethnocentric sense on consumers' perception of foreign-made brands is studied along two brands with different levels of reputation. Results show that consumers' ethnocentrism can be activated by media and oriented by the context. Only extreme ethnocentric attitudes are found to drive consumer behavior. Respondents exposed to the media campaign evaluate badly the country with which their own country knows a conflict, and therefore express a negative perception for the brands made that country. Highly reputed and less reputed brands perceptions are affected differently when consumers' ethnocentrism is activated. (Koubaa, 2009).

Here comes the link between ethnocentrism and animosity when a certain country has a high level of ethnocentrism, it can’t accept foreign brands, yet when animosity exists between two countries they still won’t accept foreign brands. Putting in consideration that ethnocentrism is unlike animosity and it is engraved in the roots of a certain culture.

if the land receiving the  product has a very high level of ethnocentrism, thus a level of animosity of the brand and the country of origin will increase, in that case the advertisers has to take in consideration that the adaptive approach is best to apply at this situation other than the standardization and sticking to the brand origin.

The practice

As a practitioner  you must be keenly aware of the transient nature of animosity. An alerting or a measuring system has to be created to measure the animosity level in a certain country. Politics transformative and the level of animosity between two countries decrease and increase in seconds, meaning if two countries are doing well in a day they might not be doing well together in another and vice versa. In that case the animosity research has to be updated regularly due to the fact that it changes regularly, unlike ethnocentrism that is rooted in the culture.

It’s true that ethnocentrism is rooted, but that doesn’t mean that I have to neglect the country that has high level of ethnocentrism. Digging deeper into the society we might find sub-cultures that some people perhaps the top educated ones might accept foreign brands. Here we figure out the digging deeper into these sub-cultures we might find a very high potential target segment that will benefit and be benefited from the brand,

Another area that grabbed my attention is the fact that we should be highly aware of the culture orientation, religion sensitivity and a culture historical background. An example that came in mind, is in 2010 when Vodafone launched its “USB Stick” campaign featuring (Samir, Shahir, & Bahir). Vodafone didn’t take in consideration the historical and religious background that might offend the people who were watching “Abas Ibn Fernas” commercial. If Vodafone have studied the culture thoroughly it wouldn’t have been trapped in such an error. Looking deeper into the culture research we figure out that, demographic characteristics, which include age gender and social class, reflects severely on ethnocentrism level on a group or/and individual

 The regulation or legal considerations of a country differ from one another, for example in KSA has a sensitive regulation for females to appear on local TV and billboards and they absolutely forbid  any nudity or sexist images. Another regulation KSA has is the fact that it’s unacceptable for any advertising model even a man to appear with his eyes on billboards and local TV, usually he wears glasses. If those regulations not taken in consideration while penetrating a certain market the brand will brutally fail

Country regulations are part of the creative challenges that faces in advertiser while penetrating a certain market, while it’s not the only challenge an advertiser has to deal with. Language limitation is part of the challenges that must be taken in consideration, and by language limitation I don’t mean only the different language countries speak with.  In international markets the procedure of communicating to a target audience is more difficult because communication takes place across several situations, which differ in terms of language, literacy, and other cultural factors. A message may, therefore, not get through to the audience because of people's inability to understand it due to literacy problems) because they misinterpret the message by attaching different meanings to the words or symbols used, or because they do not respond to the message due to a lack of income to purchase the advertised product.

Some countries have a high level of illiteracy in that case language limitation exists; Illiteracy: as defined by the United Nations is being unable to read and write a simple short sentence about ones everyday life. It limits the person ability to communicate and to learn and to grow. Language barrier also take place in multilingualism countries like Canada, in that case and advertiser has to provide the content to meet the audience needs in different languages

 Another limitation concerning language is the fact that the way I speak to certain social class is different from another. For example when P&G launched Ariel, it had two types of ads, one that is the default for all Ariel ads all over the world, just changing its language to Arabic , while they had another custom made ad for the lower class that speaks in their language. The former example is also applicable for the culture diversity in a certain country, a country like America for example is what we call in international communication a “salad bowl” it has many cultures, like Hispanics, Indians, African Americans and more this diversity will make it hard for advertiser to communicate with one common message for all groups of the society, and here is when proper segmentation takes place.

Media limitations also play a role in the failure of a communication to reach its proposed audience. The process of communication in international markets involves a number of steps. First, the advertiser must decide on the appropriate message for the target audience. Next, the message is encoded so that it will be visibly understood in different cultural contexts.

The message is then sent through media channels to the audience who then decodes and reacts to the message. At each stage in the process, cultural barriers may slow down the effective transmission of the message and result in miscommunication. (Douglas & Craig, 2009)

Media may reduce the role of advertising in the promotional program and may force the marketers to stress the other elements of promotional mix. In addition to encoding the message so that it attracts the attention of the target audience and is understood correctly, advertisers need to select media channels that reach the planned target audience. For example, use of TV advertising may only reach some audience in certain countries while print media will not be effective when illiteracy highly exists.

Works Cited

Douglas, S. P., & Craig, C. S. (2009). Internationl Advertising . New York : New York University- Stern School of Business.

Koubaa, Y. (2009). Ethnocentrism, country of origin, and brand perception in a special context. Inder Sceince Publishers

Truth about Feminism!

About six months ago, I was attending a big event that took place in Cairo, the even overall was so inspiring it had different talks from different speakers about different aspects of life particularly in Egypt. 


One of these talks was about feminism and female rights in the Egyptian society. Before I get into details about the talk, and my own viewpoint regarding its discussed theories and concepts, let me tell you the exact definition of feminism. 

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women.

So lets take a deeper look into this definition: 

The Act

Feminism is a collection of movements: so its not one act, its not something that  can be done within one organization or one campaign, its an ongoing process for change.  

The Action

Feminism defines: in other words it gives a meaning to the cause or to the female equality process
Feminism establish: it creates the right atmosphere and capabilities for women so they can take their rights 
Feminism defends: provide the needed protection and security for women  

The Activity 

Equal (To Men) 

1. Political Rights: The right to compete in the political world 
2. Economical Rights: have equal economical and financial statues 
3. Social Rights: have the same privilege in the social sphere 
4. Opportunities: have the same life and career chances 

So the conclusion out of this definition would be that feminism is not about talking nor giving speeches, its about the actual action in the real world. This bring us back to the talk I have heard about feminism during the event I attended. She was a young female in her mid 30's, her studies and work is all about giving female their rights and prestige in the Egyptian society, while she also holds a Phd in feminism theory and practice.

Her talk was mainly about how we "Women in the A & B Class" are not having full rights , and we are treated  as women, and we are looked upon as people who don't have the same intellectualism level as men. She kept on citing poetry about how we at Egypt are being called names, being harassed physically and mentally and we are not looked upon as active citizens in the society. She claims that we don't have the same work and life opportunities men have, and how women need to be Empowered in the Egyptian Society.   

With all due respect to the speaker, I totally disagree with her, let me tell you why: 

Demographics: 

If we took a look at the population structure, we would find out the both males and females are almost equal in numbers. 

0-14 years: 32.7% (male 13,725,282/female 13,112,157) 
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 26,187,921/female 25,353,947) 
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 1,669,313/female 2,031,016) (2011 est.)

According to the ministry of labor "The participation of women in Egypt's workforce has risen from 15.4 percent in 2001 to 23 percent in 2006," 

Lets take a look at the following tables that indicates women Education & Economic Empowerment, from AUC research center & Canadian International Development Agency, in 2010 

This first graph shows, the ratio between males and females in working occupations, and as it shows women are advancing in numbers more than men.

Whats interesting about the above graph, is the fact the women are advancing in the fields of Agriculture, hunting and education more than men. This indicates two things, 1. Women have more will and power , 2. They do jobs that men are inclined to do, which shows that women may have been looked at as the main source of money in rural areas and so called lower classes. 

The above graph explain itself, take a look and tell me what do you think about the numbers!?

The above table is the latest stats taken in the end of 2010, which shows the differences that are taken places between generations. Women are more advanced in the professional and technical fields, while they still have a high level of competitiveness in the sales and marketing area. Women are still advancing in the field of farmers, and hunters while ironically men are more advanced in handicrafts. If we looked at the unskilled workers field, indicates that women are far more skilled than men! 

Away from statistics what I see with my own eyes, and I am sure a lot of people will agree, is that all mangers and department heads in the A-B class are mainly women. So who do you think need more rights women or men?! 

Who Needs the Rights?

Away from that if we will be talking about women rights and feminism than we shouldn't be discussing that in the A-B classes. Lets start looking at lower classes, women who work daily and than there husbands beat them up for the money. Young girls who get married at young ages to way older men. Also looking at the indicator that women have far more participation in physical work like hunting, farming and fishing, while in God's words women are not made for that kind of work, yet they are still skilled and powerful enough to do so. 

Will give an example I see everyday, the maid that works at our house, gets beaten everyday from her husband so he can take her money, and when you ask her why are you still living with him, why are you keeping up with what he is doing to you? She smiles innocently and says, "He is the man, this is what he should do, without him I would be nothing" 

That is something we should be working on! This women is suffering from what I like to call "Intellectual Rape" she is stuck in the bubble of traditions! This case applies to millions and millions of Egyptian women in lower classes. These are the women we should, defend, define and establish their rights and opportunity not the women in the higher classes! 

The Myth of Empowerment!

Women should be empowered they need rights right and rights! and then? Lets look at the definition of empowerment 

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Yes I believe that women should be empowered by all means, the should enhance their capabilities;ties, adapt new skills and widen their knowledge, they should shine forever! But lets make it clear, women are born to do certain things that men can never do, while men are born to do other things, its not that what they do we cant do, its just that this is simply not our role in life and this is not what we are born to do!  And as a very special person I know said, "I believe that men are women are not equal, but they have equal rights"  I believe in something that is far more important than women empowerment, I believe in "Human Empowerment" I believe that both men and women should be equal in having rights to excel and flourish, they both deserve good quality education, they both deserve to be entrepreneurs they both deserve to have their role in society. They both deserve defending their right to live! 

Taxi Driver or an Entrepreneur!?

A couple of months ago I took a Cab from work like I normly do, yet there was something that is so not normal about it. Books and magazines where everywhere , 2 netbooks where attached to the back of the chairs, a small basket that has game boys & PSPs was set on the front seat. 

I started looking at books, I found a collection of old and new English and Arabic books, some where for Naguib Mahfouz, Abbas EL Akkad, Dan Brown, Paulo Coelho and more. 1 Minute after I have entered the taxi, the driver start telling me you can use what ever you want for free, but if you need internet tell me, because it requires a fees. 

I started talking with the driver, he was a young man in his late 20's , well dressed, pleasant looks, and a not so bad English accent. He started asking me about my experience with other Taxi drivers and what are the things that I hate about riding taxis, he started to scribble things while I was talking on a piece of paper attached to the driving wheel. 

After 10 minutes of riding the taxi, figured that his name is Eslam, and this is his privately owned car, Eslam told me about his dream of having his own business, yet this business was still in the same career of taxi driving he was pursuing. Eslam wanted to gather all his taxi driver friends in one company, dedicated to driving people on-call. He wanted to create a website and FB page promoting the business, his idea was to create a profile for all drivers, with their pictures and complete info about them and about what they do, he wanted to enhance the experience for customers and he wanted to demolish the bad image people have about taxi drivers, he wanted to create a safe place for people to go to. Eslam also mentioned having cabs that are drove by women, so it would be easier and much more comfortable for ladies. 

After this pleasant 30 minutes ride, I started thinking should this taxi driver be considered as an entrepreneur!? He certainly has the spirit and the qualities that qualifies him to be so , and according to WikiPedia an entrepreneur is  an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative! 

I believe that this young man has all what it takes to be a very successful entrepreneur!

Whtats very amusing about Eslam is that, he is not resenting what he is doing, he is not unhappy about his job, he loves it and he is trying to work so hard to make it better for him and for others around him. He worked with the capabilities he had, he didnt wait for an opportunity to come out of no where, he focused and he will start launching his project very soon!

What I regret on not doing is forgetting to take his phone number, a man with an initiative  like this is worth giving attention, and support!

The Key to Getting More Followers on Twitter

If you are new to twitter, you are probably wondering how people get many followers! At first you are struggling to break the 100, after breaking the 100 you are struggling with the 300, than the 400, 600 and so on! The thing is how can you break those numbers, well let me give you small tips and tricks on how to do so.

1. Choose the right Avatar

if you choose a crazy and outgoing and rebellious avatar that will sure help in making your chances doubled, stay away from sissy and regular photos. and make sure you LOOSE THE EGG!

2. Your Bio reflects on you!
if you wrote simple and straight to the points words that describe you well, this will raise your opportunity.
check this link to check the 20 best bios 
3. Tweet , Tweet & Tweet!
its simple, if you have nothing to say, just dont tweet! the more you tweet the more you will get followers! If you thought what people will think about your tweets than you will never tweet! just tweet whatever comes to your mind and you will find someone to engage with. Get engaged with people who share different thoughts and start debating, get in touch with tweeps who share same interest and help people out! A big percentage of people on twitter are seeking help from fellow tweeps, some ask about locations, others ask about food and others ask about products. 
4. Hashtags, they are important
whether you create your own #Hashtags or you join existing popular hashtags this will certainly help in making your chances better

Above all make sure you do not trust websites that tells you they can get you more followers, because they are all scam! And once you break the 600 it all comes easy!

P.S: The More followers you get the more you will get followed, people look at 3 main things before following someone, the avatar, the bio and the number of followers they have!

Crushing Egypt’s’ Rejuvenation

“I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.”~ Ghandi

After nine days of struggle and hard work, we as Egyptians achieved victory yet still not the maximum victory we were seeking, and it even might be a temporary victory and an act of fraud from the Egyptian regime. During the struggles we faced in the Egyptian “Intifada” we have learned a lot and we have gained a lot as a nation. Before going into deep analysis of the situation and mentioning its pros and cons I would like to reveal on the string of events that took place from Tuesday the 25th of Jan till Tuesday the 1st of Feb.

The first day of the protests which was on the 25th of Jan, was a completely peaceful demonstration from few Egyptians, it was motivating and anti-destruction its aim was to ask for our rights as Egyptians and the right of the nation. The same events took place on the 26th and 27th of Jan, and still the world was peaceful despite some attempts of violence from the police on the protesters and vice-versa. During the first three days of the protests the daily life of Egyptians wasn’t affected at all, people used to go to work and come back and some still go out with friends. On the night of the third day the preparation for the “Rage Friday” started and the aim of that day was to “Bring down the Egyptian Regime”. The ghost of communications and the internet caused a huge threat to the government therefore the have cutoff all internet and mobile services for that day. Still that didn’t prevent people from protesting peacefully and cutting off communication tools provoked many Egyptians and that caused an increase in the protestor’s number.

The 28th of Jan was an historical day, and still a day full of maximum violence as the Egyptian police deliberately killed peaceful protestors, whether by live bullets or by the police cars. That act caused more and more rage among the Egyptians. Everyone was sympathizing with the protestors and everyone was with the demonstration and its ultimate fight for a huge cause. Late at that night the Egyptian president made a speech about reforming the government but still that wasn’t enough for the Egyptians because that was not what they want, so the protest was still active and it demanded to be active for the next day despite the order of the curfew. Moving to the 29th of Jan which was a day full of fear and threat to every Egyptian, Mobiles were back on but internet was still off. During that day criminals and gangsters covered Egypt, they caused threat in the streets and in our homes, the country was not a safe place anymore, and with all of that there was no clear sign of the police. The suspicious disappearing of the police around the existing of these criminals frightened the safety of Egypt, the Egyptian army didn’t leave the Egyptian at that critical point and it tried to keep them safe, but still it wasn’t enough. Men and women from all ages went to down the streets with weapons to protect their countries and their homes from the criminals.

While on the scene of the demonstration everyone was still protesting and the Army was keeping the protestors safe. It was announced than that the president have hired “Omar Soliman” head of Egyptian intelligence as his vice-president, and Ahmed Shafiq as the prime minster. Still it was not enough and people asked for more, they asked for Mubarak to leave and they asked for a reform in the constitution and in the parliament. During the 30th and the 31st of Jan still the country wasn’t safe and still people were protecting their streets and their homes but the police made an appearance and still no sign of the internet. The stock market was closed and banks were closed and the curfew moved from 4 PM to 3 PM, the life of every Egyptian was on hold, but that was the price of liberty. The Economy went down and the tourism went down, and each country sent flights to their citizens to evacuate them. Also the new government of ministries was formed but still some names didn’t change.

On the victorious first day of February the president made a speech claiming that he will reform to articles from the constitution and that he will reform the parliament and that he will not elect him self in the upcoming elections on September, and that was still not enough, the crowd demanded for him to go. At the same time protest took place that was pro Mubarak and didn’t want him to leave, that was quite suspicious! Now people at El Tahrir Square are split into half, some are satisfied for the time being and others are still demanding that he has to leave. Until the massive destruction took place, the pro Mubarak protest that is most likely to be created by the government crushed the wonderful symphony that have been created and caused nothing but chaos and destruction.

During the “Intifada” we gained lots of things but still we lost a lot! Now we have our dignity back, our voice and our right. Youth are now empowered, and we know that we can do a lot. We also have discovered that we can protect ourselves from any harm and we can pass any struggles. About 80% of our demands have been achieved and its time for us to have some patience, and give space for the changes to take place, and if not, the Tharir square is still there and we are still alive (hopefully). We don’t want to destroy the country nor our economy, I know that we can reform the nation and the economy and we can make them prosper again but we just have to be a bit patient. Let’s not cause for the demonstration to loose the sympathy of the people who are at home. That was what I wanted to say right before I saw what happened today, the though of not trusting the government was proven true after I tried as much as I can to give them a chance.

Mubarak never resembled the figure of the father to me, and I never ever wanted him in power, he and his regime made lots of unforgivable mistakes and I know that we have no trust what so ever for the government, and the decisions that he took might be temporary just to please us but still lets have some patience, but they didn’t give us a chance to be patient. “When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.”~ Ghandi

Mubarak is asking to open gates of conversation between the government and the nation and he and the government are mad because we didn’t accept that invitation, but it is just too late for conversation because they have never gave us that opportunity. This opportunity just took place out of his fear. Mubarak doesn’t want to stop the blood shed, his regime didn’t stop killing the protesters at El Tahrir, if he really wanted another chance and a another opportunity he shouldn’t have crushed the spirit the people have created. El Tahrir Square is nothing but a mess today; unlike yesterday the people were cleaning the streets and protesting peacefully. It’s just not the time to have some morality and humanity that we haven’t been treated by in that country.

Cutting of the internet provoked Egyptians and revealed the threat that youth cause to the Egyptian regime, and that caused people to increase in the protest as well as the curfew. They tried to cutoff AlJazeera so the truth wont reach Egyptians and that was stupid, they were pressured and that gave them a chance to make mistakes, lets just wait in silence and observe the situation critically. . “In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and difficult quest after Truth.”~ Ghandi

They provoked us, blackmailed and threatened us by deliberately depriving us from safety and pulling away the police so we can learn that we wont be safe without them, but we proved them wrong, we managed to protect ourselves and to communicate and to form the million man march, and have a loud and clear voice. As much as I want patience and I want us to wait and stop the blood shed, I just cant stand what I am seeing in Tahrir now, if he was a person that wanted to give himself and us a new chance he wouldn’t have sent people to kill today. If he wanted a chance to talk he would have given us that chance from the first day, rather than killing hundreds on Friday the 28th of Jan.


I am just so confused about what should be done I want the best for Egypt and its people, I want to raise the economy again and I want people to feel safe, but still if we held our voices now we can never make a move. Especially after the last attempt of violence that took place today! If he cares about the country as every body says, why the hell did he send people to kill and cause chaos today? If he loves his people he should just step down, and Mr. President I wanted you to leave the country gracefully with your dignity and self respect and with our respect to you and to your achievements but you gave us no choice and no space, you crushed our dreams and crushed the wonderful spirits that have been created during the “Intifada”, if you just love the country and love the people even a little please just step down, I am not asking you to leave the country if you don’t want to, but just step down now for the sake of Egypt!

Celebrating the NEW Year with OLD Memories!

Two days ago, I was planning on writing a post about the new year, and how each and every person should be optimistic and stick to their dreams and goals. I was going to write about accomplishments and ambition, and mentioning all the great things in life we all should be grateful for. I was demanding a new beginning with no peaking at the past nor its bad memories!

The engine of my dreams was speeding and speeding , and my optimistic and successful future was paved, and the upcoming bright to-be future of my country started to sparkle. Its either I was driving so fast or there is just a problem with the road I was driving on, my dreams were crushed and my hope for a fruitful years was demolished! Reading about the Alexandria Church Bombing Incident broke my heart and stopped my engine of hope and dreams. For a while I couldn't believe what happened, but deep inside I knew it was expected. Instead of celebrating the new year and new beginnings we looked back at old devastating memories that will ruin the relations between all Egyptians, Muslims & Christians. So rather than Celebrating new beginnings we are getting closer to the end, the end of the Arab nation as whole!

I am not going to talk about politics nor I am going to talk about the internal and extremal affairs of the Egyptian government that did absolutely nothing and acted in pure negativity. Nor the troubles that all the Arab nation is facing, and not even mentioning parts of both religions that are against destruction. But I am going to talk about the Nation and the people who deserves a leap of faith to hang on to, the people who deserves to celebrate their happiness together with no discrimination against any race nor religion, a nation that should unite in order to overcome all the obstacles faced during the last 25 years.

How could we be looking at old memories? Simply because in October 2005 an incident that had the same "Destructive Goals" which is the huge buzz and the discrimination between both Christians and Muslims rather than keeping it together as one nation, the started protesting and killing each other, with know awareness what so ever of who is behind the "Destructive Buzz. As for today people are still looking behind at incidents that are close to the 2005 incidents, they are firing hatred among themselves rather than sticking together at this dim moments Egypt is facing.

As a little girl I remember watching TV and seeing Alexandria as beautiful place, seeing a home for Christians and Muslims and back then even Jews used to live there. The only thing that ever concerned them was looking after each other, sure they used to fight but as one nation, not against each other! I believe that this case didn't appear only at TV it was a pure reflection of reality and a vivid view of the Egyptian nation as whole, not only Alexandria.

Before wrapping up my post, I have one question to ask, if the person or the organization that did that just wanted to destruct the bodies of Christians, Why didn't they bombard the whole church? It would have been an easy task for them to do, but NO, the aim was to destruct the mind and the soul. The aim was to shed hatred among both Christians and Muslims, and assisting them in destructing each other, physically and morally. So, we must not give up we must hold on to the bonds between us, cause dear friends Egypt has had enough!

Starting this post, I had a pessimistic look at my future and the future of the nation as a whole, but I believe that the engine of hope and dreams should be turned back on, but as for myself I wont be able to turn it all by my own, I need my family and Christians and Muslims friends to work with me, I know that what happened is unbearable and I know that a lot of victims died, and I am deeply sorry for that. But we have to unite and stick together and try to prevent any upcoming destructive incidents. It's time to look at the light even if it is so dim and so far away, it time to take a leap of faith and hold on together, and to all youth out there its our time!

Happy New Year every one, and to all my Christians sisters & brothers my deepest condolences for you all, and remember what didn't kill us should always makes us stronger!

Change is Possible!

Referring to my last post|.Egyptian Elections 2010: A Message to All Youth;

I wanted to say that change can take place and that it is already taking place. A couple of days ago before the elections, two Egyptian Facebook pages have been closed, Khaled Saeed & Mohamed El-Baradei. Khaled Saeed is an Egyptian young man who used to live in Alexandria, Khaled was victim of the emergency law that has been taken place in Egypt since the 80's after Sadat assassination. Mohamed El-Baradei is a very promising candidate to the next presidential election (that is if the government gave him a chance). Those two pages were closed due to their opposition to the government and its laws, the question is why close them? Because social media is the most powerful medium that government can't control.

I have to say that I was shocked after these two pager were closed, i thought that social media have lost its power, and that it can be controlled like every other medium is controlled and censored, but 1 day and the pages were activated again. It wasn't a smart move from the Facebook team to close the pages in the first place, because most of its Arab World members are from Egypt. Due to members requests, messages and constant complains the pages were activated again. A small window of hope was unlocked, a small window of change took place and a voice have been made.

The Facebook members that complained chose to change and chose to have a voice, and their number outranked the government. Bravo Facebook members!

The following is the message The Facebook team sent to the members:

Egyptian Elections 2010: A Message to All Youth

الشيخ امام عيسى   العيسوى بيه

Its the end of November 2010, and its time for the Parliament election in Egypt. So the parliament is supposed to work hard to, work out the problems of the country and please its people, I doubt that this is the case in any country not specifically in Egypt, but its most common in Egypt. 

The video above, is a song by El-Shai5 Emam Eissa, Lyrics: Ahmed Foaad Negm, both are prominent Egyptian figures. This song was made a long time ago, before people start realize the failures of the parliament and the Egyptian government, but still the failures existed. I believe that the government and the parliament have been always the same, having the same flaws and the same corruption existed. The problem is within us, within the people, back then we had artists who opposed the government, writers, actors, directors, singers, politicians, workers, business men, employees and even students.

The government is proceeding  in its corruption because of us, the elections remain to be unfair because of us, we don't have voice because we chose to shut our mouth and shut our ears .We don't have an identity nor self respect because we chose so, "They can't take our self respect, if we don't give it to them" ~ Ghandi. Its all about us, we chose to be brainwashed we chose to watch the media they are providing us with, we can choose to be better and we can choose to have a voice. 

So, a message to every one who wants to change the country, change yourself first, change your beliefs and your perspectives, change your attitude towards the country, and chose to have a voice; even if it wont be heard at the beginning, I believe that our population is point of strength not weakness, as they convince us it is.Our number is defiantly bigger than their number, Think about it!

  

Inception

In the oxford dictionary inception is defined as the beginning of something, such as an undertaking; an initiation. Others define inception as a date on which something was introduced or started. Basically an inception is a start of something from its origin.  How can inception be related to the human beings, and how can it be related to their thoughts and ideas. Inception is an idea implanted in someone’s head that can probably change his perception towards something and thus their lives.

 Inception is so strong and it spreads like a virus, but yet it starts with a small and simple idea. Inception is simply your subconscious and how it reacts or believes certain things. Inception can come from a song or a word or even a movie or a book that will change the way we see things subconsciously without us knowing we are affected. The article will be divided into two parts, first is how can people possible create inception the second we will discuss how media can change lives, and implant ideas in people subconscious, does media know its doing this, is it agenda setting do they mean to implant inception?

Let me introduce something I would like to call the inceptive method which is the science of planting images and ideas into a subject's brain. The inceptive method consists of three parts, “The inceptor”, “The Inception” and “The Inceptee” Those three parts go through a channel that is called a subliminal channel.

                                            

The inceptor or the initiator is the one that embed the idea; the inception is the process of embedding the idea, while the Inceptee is the receiver of the idea. The subliminal channel is the subconscious mind, which subconsciously process the idea that eventually becomes its reality.

Inception is so deep, u have to get deep into someone subconscious and plant the simplest idea, the key hear is to choose a scenario that suits  the Inceptee and relate to their experience and manipulate their realities. Its not easy to plant ideas cause the subconscious mind will subconsciously activate its defense mechanism and fight the inceptor and that is how we protect our minds. At a point of your life u are somehow trained to protect your self from invaders whether physically, or mentally. Inception is like invasions of the mind, thus we protect our mind by referring to past experience and knowledge about a certain topic. 

If your thoughts are stable enough you won't be scared of being incepted but you will never know that you are, u just know that u are subconsciously facing a different experience that that  was not installed in your mind, thus it doesn’t exist in your frame of reference. Inception plants a simple idea, yet you help the inceptor of knowing what simple idea will affect you, than you become possessed by that idea, thinking about absolutely nothing but the idea you helped embedding in your mind. 

How can one person create inception? Close your eyes and imagine with me your darkest place, a place you fear the most, a place you feel unsafe in. Open your eyes now, probably no one saw this dark place but you, but are you sure of that? What if someone was in your head? What if someone was standing by you when you were closing your eyes, and monitored your frightened facial expressions? If you closed your eyes and imagined the whole experience and the idea of someone watching you crossed your mind, than my friend you have been invaded. This is a simple idea of inception, inception is much deeper than that, if I would create an inception in your head, I have to go deep into your fears and inner thoughts and study them very well so I can know what will affect you. 

Let’s search together for someone in our lives that we blindly trust and that is a credible source of information to us, yet he is so close to our mind and heart. Will you believe anything that person tells you? The answer varies, it depends on the depth of your subconscious mind and the way you see things. Your subconscious mind might believe the idea he was talking about, but you will need your consciousness  for inception to generate. How is that possible?  Inception is created when the idea is implanted in your subconscious mind, that when you wake up it becomes your reality, your consciousness to live with this reality and to act upon it.

In the movie Inception the idea is incepted in a dream, which is the subconscious mind, therefore when you wake up you will think but nothing but the idea incepted. Can this be inverted?  Well sometimes thinking too much of something make u dream of it and then the process happens starting from your real life ending in your dreams, to some people dream is reality. Meaning that they think too much of something, maybe something they fear, but they wont act upon it or believe it, but dreaming it makes it real for them. The dreams sometimes make the idea realistic for the people.  For example you were thinking about death, probably due to something you heard or saw, you keep thinking of that idea so deeply, accordingly you start dreaming of death. Now death is your reality you’re possessed by the idea of dying, that every time you cross the streets you feel that your life will end. The question is where did the idea of death come from? Did it come from a person you talked to, a close person that passed away or maybe a movie, or even a book? That is where the next idea takes place, inception in media!

 

Media inception is so typical and it possibly happen everyday even every second, but how and who is responsible for that inception. During my studies in media I was introduced to a term which is subliminal messages. Subliminal messages are hidden messages inserted in the media that are not supposed to be seen. Subliminal messaging therefore refers to the act of sending messages directly to the subconscious mind. Taking a deeper look, subliminal messages is implemented in the media by the media or the government to deliver a certain message or even sell a certain product to the subconscious mind of their audience. Therefore the audience is subliminally brainwashed. That is exactly what happens in inception; and idea takes place, it has to refer to the Inceptee (audience in the media scenario), using a subliminal channel (TV, Book, Song, Advertising), and voila you have been incepted without your knowledge!

The question is does the government or the media know that they are actually using the Inceptive method, well sadly they do. How will they control people without following the inceptive method, how will they shape society, demolish identities and destruct cultures? This is their only way to do so, and sadly people are victims of this manipulative process.  Let me introduce another theory which is the Agenda setting theory. The agenda-setting theory is the theory that the mass-news media have a large influence on audiences by their choice of what stories to consider newsworthy and how much prominence and space to give them. As mentioned you have a big hand in causing inception by giving your inceptors clues to your personality and thoughts, by deciding what and what not to do. It’s the same in media, according to the agenda setting theory. You let the media tell you what to watch; you set your agenda respectively. Yet you still don’t know you are being possessed and sometimes owned.

Concluding, inception doesn’t have to be evil, the idea itself might be something for the good of the society, or even for your own good. You just have to be careful of who knows the keys to your personality and mind, and why and how will they use them. 

By the way, the movie was great; it was one of the best movies I have ever seen! Great job Nolan, wonderful choice De Caprio.

Goodbye world, till next time

An amazing report about sexual harassment!

Today which is the 26 of October 2010, Al Ahram newspaper published a report about sexual harassment in Egypt. I believe that this is not an ordinary report but rather extraordinary. Extraordinary sarcastic and humiliating. The report is published on the third page with a huge picture of veiled girls escorted by a wonderful tag line: " even the veiled girls are being harassed". See the picture for yourself. What are we supposed to say about that and what should our reaction be. I really have nothing to say cuz the picture says it all.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone from Etisalat Misr

In The Jungle!

Instability! How many times a day you feel unstable, unsafe and lost. Instability has its own  definition for everyone, for me instability has to do with the fear of being violated, whether on the streets or from friends or even family members, but if i would have only one definition of instability it will be impossible for me, so I will categorize my insecurities and instabilities.1) Socially: Fear of being alone and being left out. 2) Emotionally: Fear of being alone and unappreciated. 3) Education/Career: Fear of not accomplishing my dreams and fear of failure, fear of being ordinary, just nothing but ordinary. 4) Spiritually: Fear of not being close to God, fear of not being what he wants me to be. 5) Uncatgorized: Fear of not being who I am!

Well I guess every one can have his own categories that define insatiability. To sum it all up , our instabilities are like different groups of animals, some of them are living peacefully with us, and yet they can be annoying and others can possibly eat us. Jungle animals, they are the unbearable creatures that can possibly harm us, but in the jungle there are rules that guard every herd, the rules states that every herd, should stay away from the properties of each herd. No herd is ever allowed to violate the privacy of any other unless they might have major threat on the mentioned herd.

These rules are simple to follow, and they do guard animals, but they will never guard a human, so if a human was stuck in the jungle it will be impossible for him to get out safely, so he has to make up his own rules, his own lifestyle so he can cope with the animals. He wont be unharmed but when he learn how to tame them all the suffering will end. and the old scars will remain, but by time you will also learn how to heal. So, in the jungle you can survive, so that is how you can survive with your instabilities but sometimes just sometimes you might fail, and when you fail, you consult someone, in the jungle world it will be the Lion as he can control every one, but in real life , its the closest animal to you!