‘Gulf News’ is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai. It was first launched in a tabloid format in1979. In November 1984, three leading UAE businessmen, purchased the company and formed Al Nisr Publishing. It was then re-launched in 1985 and was free for readers. After the year 1986, Gulf News began to be distributed toother GCC countries like Bahrain, Oman, SaudiArabia, and Qatar
BLAZE TO BRILLIANCE
The way people access news and information is changing, or rather, has been changing fora while. The biggest shift took place with theentrance of television and now it is all aboutdigital information. The internet or online contenthas increased people’s accessibility and exposure.
Of the daily publications, while Gulf News reached 51.2per cent of the non-Arab population, its nearest competitor Khaleej Times showed a readership ofjust 27.6 per cent which shows the ever increasing popularity of Gulf News.
FAITH FACTOR
Most newspapers around the world tend to fall into a segment of readership. In the case of Gulf News and its supplementary products including tabloid classifieds, freehold, appointments and properties, the consumption range is widespread; so much so thatit is considered a reference point by householdswith monthly incomes that are less than Dh4, 000 to those in the bracket of Dh 40, 000 and above.
ENGAGEMENT THAT ENTHRALLS
Gulf News was the first newspaper in the region to promote the arts, culture, music and sport through sponsorship of events. The regionally famous Gulf News Fun Drive was started in March 1986. The 26th Fun Drive was held in December 2006 and saw 750 all-terrain vehicles with over 2,800 participants. An earlier Fun Drivewas recorded in the Guinness Book of Recordsas being a significant first achievement. Their online portal called the ‘www.gulfnews.com’ isa media portal for the Al Nisr Group and acts as a one-stop online location for information inthe Gulf Region and a binder to follow the ANG brand throughout one’s day, via print, radio,mobile, online, or WebTV.
INNOVEDGE
Innovation has been the hallmark of Gulf Newsand it has a host of ‘firsts’ to its credit. They have been the first ones to have a tabloid leisure section, a family weekly magazine and a children’sweekly magazine, separate pages for “news from home”. In 1986, they came up with the first heat set color printing technique with glazed paper.Currently, their headquarters not only have state of-the-art technology throughout, with fibre-optic cabling, but also one of the most advanced printing presses in the Middle East, which offers top quality solutions at internationally competitive prices. They were the first ones to use recycled newsprint. In 1988, they were the first ones touse a computer for page make-up.
BRAND EQUITY
The core values of Gulf News are accuracy, fairness, transparency, credibility, professional responsibility and helpfulness. These basic values of daily operations help them interact with their readers. They believe in building an adaptive, constructive culture that is attuned to readers and customers which will ultimately result in higher amount of readership.
Power Facts
Gulf News’ is ranked number one among the English-language online newspapers in the Middle East
2012: In this year, an Ipsos Survey report showed that 50.7 per cent of all non-Arabs in the UAE read Gulf News.
PROMISE BEACON
1978: The year in which the tabloid format of ‘Gulf News’ was first launched.
1996: The year in which the first online edition of ‘Gulf News’ was launched.
