A brief description of Tarek Nour

Nour began his career as a computer instructor at the Ahram Newspaper building and it was there that an acquaintance asked him if he could create a radio jingle, since as an artistic youth, he was a musician and also hosted his own radio show. After he successfully did so, he was requested to create, direct and film a TV ad.   He made his first advertisement for; “Nile Medicine Company”. The ad was for a product called viola and it was in black and white.  One ad lead to another and Nour realized that he enjoyed the creative, audio and visual aspect of TV advertising so in 1976 he created the first private production house in Egypt.   He eventually opened up his own advertising agency in 1979.  Today Tarek Nour’s communications group consists of 18 companies.

Nour selected his own name as the name of his agency because this was the norm back at that time. His logo was creative and unconventional for the times and represents his face standing behind a camera lens, hence the “half face”.

What inspired Nour to pursue a career in advertising was the early art of advertising in Egypt such El Set Taheya and cartoon usage.  He believes that advertising combines, art, voice talent, broadcasting and music.  Nour chose to become a producer and director, because he doesn’t like to be upfront, but behind a work, like behind the camera or the microphone.

Advertising is a form of entertainment that can influence people’s behavior by using different techniques to convince people either through logic or by playing on their emotions.  Ads can make people smile, cry, and be surprised or amazed. An advertisement can alter people’s behaviors in four ways:  first by attracting them, second by grabbing their attention, third by making them take a decision and finally by making them act upon this decision. Advertising is foremost a commercial operation about a service, a product or a person and thus one has to be artistic to advertise.

Nour thinks that a good advertisement should contain the 3 Ss; simple, surprise and smile. He decides which clients to work with based on; idea, challenge, time and profit. According to him, ads should use the slice of life approach yet, be unconventional and unexpected. They should be quick and easy to grasp as their time is limited. As for the creative, they are lawyers who try to convince people with their case in the ad. He also believes in the power of celebrity testimonials in ads to convince people and increase sales.

Nour can’t choose which means of advertising is the most effective as they all complement each other. However, he finds TV the most convincing medium for advertising.  For example, when the radio was invented people said that everyone will turn to it and press would disappear but it did not happen. In addition, different means of advertising can reach different segments, for example illiterate people who can’t read press ads can watch TV ads or listen to radio ads. Outdoor adverting can make streets and buildings look more exciting and attractive like the neon lights and creative billboards in Times Square, New York City. As for mobile and internet ads, he said that they are good means of advertising because people can choose whether they want to see the ads or not. He expects this type of advertising to flourish because nowadays 60% of internet users in Egypt are under 26.

He believes that 3 main things helped in the development of Egypt; Satellite, mobile and internet. He believes that they haven’t reached their maximum yet, and expects a boom.