Glocal Mediators: Marketing in Egypt during the Open-Door Era (infitah)

Abstract

This article discusses the business strategies formulated by Egyptian marketers as they established their enterprises to meet new multinational corporations' (MNCs') demand for marketing—research, promotion, and advertising services. This transition occurred during a period of economic liberalization, known locally as the infitah (open-door era), and rapid economic growth, resulting from the regional oil-boom of the early 1970s. Local entrepreneurship and competition for accounts would create a new, “glocal” business environment in Egypt, which concurrently mediated MNCs adaptation to local economic conditions and “Egyptianized” imported goods.