Dubai: United States-based market research and electoral pollster firm, Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), will open an office in Dubai next year catering to the Middle East and North Africa market.
The company will operate under the name PSB Middle East and partner with consultancy firm ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller.
Don Baer, Worldwide Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Burson-Marsteller and Chairman of PSB announced the tie-up at a press conference in Dubai on Tuesday.
ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller CEO, Sunil John, has been appointed CEO of PSB Middle East. He will retain his position at ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller.
John said the new partnership provides ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller more than 100 clients with access to PSB services.
Internationally PSB is known for working on winning election campaigns for former US President Bill Clinton and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, among others.
John said PSB Middle East services will fill a gap by assisting governments and corporations in making “informed decisions” because hardly any public polling data existed in the region.
Similarly, Baer said corporations and governments in the region would use PSB services “to reach and understand people they serve much better.”
Arab Youth Survey
PSB already has a presence in the Middle East having worked with ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller on its annual Arab Youth Survey since 2008.
While PSB are known for their work on the Clinton 1996 re-election campaign it has also had high-profile clients including Microsoft in the US vs Micrsoft 2001 antitrust law case.
Baer said corporate clients generate 90 per cent of the company’s annual revenue.
Despite corporations accounting for the majority of PSB work globally, John said he was confident there would be an even share of corporate and government clients.
He said that pressure on governments in the Mena region “to make the right decisions” would generate sufficient demand for PSB services.
John confirmed that through its local partner PSB Middle East had already held discussions with potential clients in the Middle East North Africa region but would not specify who or from what sector.
PSB Middle East will begin operations on January 1, 2014 with an initial workforce of four “specialised research professionals and analyst,” John said.
