We're not being dramatic when we say this, but many clients are being taken for a ride! Because of a severe shortage of professional Arabic copywriters and skilled translators, many clients find themselves compelled to use self-proclaimed writers/translators who are getting away with murder (best uttered in a Scottish accent for more dramatic effect).

Fact: career translators and Arabic copywriters are hard to find in the Middle East. Not because there isn't enough writing talent, but because whatever talent the region produces is quickly snapped up by the ever-expanding mass media sector, both broadcast and print.

To illustrate: as of 2006, some 250 Arabic TV stations were already on the air, and some 190 more were awaiting their licences. Each would need at least one translator, and umpteen script writers. For figures on the print media, just multiply everything by at least 10!

Left to compete over a limited pool of talent, and faced with tight deadlines, many market communication industries (such as Advertising, PR, commercial publishing and translation) often "make do" with whatever comes their way. This is especially true of smaller agencies.

More often than not, this make-do "talent" wouldn't know the first thing about marcomm. Some don't have Arabic language skills to start with. Others don't have English language skills, and can't understand what they're translating. Some write advertising copy the same way they used to write compositions back at school, drowning messages in a sea of never-ending rhymes and clichés.

The worst offenders are those who have no respect for what they do (the type that says "no one's going to read this anyway"), and those who have no respect for clients or Arabic audiences (their line: "no one can tell anyway"). Both types produce senseless drivel that sounds like words were jumbled at random.

Next: The shortcomings