Under the guidance of professors, Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) students recently conducted a series of interviews with QFC-licensed financial entities in order to learn about promotional marketing strategies and distinguish Qatar’s pre-eminent business models.
In the project supported by Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), the undergraduates researched both conventional and Islamic investment practices, comparing asset management firms with commercial banks.
"The QFC has a high number of reputable financial firms operating within Qatar and serving the local market,” Raed Al Emadi, QFC’s chief commercial officer, said. “We take a keen interest in the development and future of the financial sector, which includes our support of students in Qatar, so we were happy to facilitate the research and encouraged our firms to share their expertise and insights with the students."
Students’ findings revealed that Qatar falls into alignment with other GCC nations by “renting” domestic resources to global customers, modeling what is called a “rentier state.” Additionally, Qatar’s mercantile banks were discovered to rely on three main marketing tactics: client segmentation, relationship marketing and branding.
The purpose of streamlined promotion is to distinguish individual banks’ offerings from their competition.
"Northwestern University in Qatar encourages and supports numerous research projects for our students, as well as experience working with local institutions,” NU-Q CEO Everette Dennis said. “Our students have benefited tremendously from this partnership, and NU-Q appreciates the support provided by the QFC Authority and looks forward to working on similar projects in the future."
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