What's the place of outdoor advertising in a Middle East marketing mix? What are pros/cons? In which countries/executions is it most/least impact?

Middle East as a region is going through a distinct phase of professional uplift and mental growth which has created a sense of analysis and evaluation for things/services people buy/tend to buy/plan to buy or adopt. This 'sense of evaluation' has also trigerred somehow a trend of impressionism.

Both of the above highlighted elements help Marketers and campaigners to peneterate into the 'MIND RECALL BASE' of the viewers/observers/potential buyers. Thats why I feel that the OUTDOOR visibility has a significant role to play in today's MARKETING MIX in the rapidly 'modernizing Middle East'.

I agree with Zafar on his top view of the importance of OOH in the GCC & AP region. To further elaborate, the region OOH industry is highly fragmented without any definitive measurement criteria or base. Each agency / OMA evaluates assets based on internal ratings. However, specialized visuals are being created for OOH campaigns in GCC which hightens the visibility of the assets, while at the same time  creative options are limited. The TOM numbers place OOH as the4th most viewed element of the mix after Electronic, DOOH (Digital Out of Home) is the next big thing in places like Dubai where the trend is to accumalate larger than life displays. Digital & Print. AP (Pakistan & Afghanistan) again is the same as GCC, however, is much more cluttered. Creative options are prime selectors for assets and measurement / ratings will be available by end of2014. OOH is ranked3rd after electronic and print (digital is still in its infancy).