mediaME Interviews

George Akra: Video advertising provides more brand exposure, more engagement and better results

editor — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 01:16:53 -0800

mediaME spoke to George Akra, co- founder of Toot Corp., a company that has several online properties including ikbis.com, a regional video sharing site. George discusses the growth of online video in the region, the effects of the current political climate on video content, and the future of online video advertising in the Middle East and more.

Q. Tell us about the growth of video viewership in the Middle East in the past few years.

We have seen that an increasing amount of people are watching videos online. Internet penetration has increased in several countries especially in the Gulf, like the UAE and KSA, and it is growing in countries like Jordan and Egypt. So, Internet penetration is constantly on the rise, and Internet speed is also increasing regionally. This means people have more bandwidth, and therefore have the ability to watch more videos. This can also be attributed to the breadth of content that is now available.

Q. What in your opinion are the obstacles to faster growth in this regard? Why isn’t there more Arabic content on the Internet?

There are several contributing factors. To start with, I think the major issue is that Internet penetration remains relatively low. It is increasing exponentially, and we now have higher Internet speeds and more bandwidth, but it is still a problem. The other problem is that there is a lot self censorship in the region, meaning people are still afraid of producing their own content. For people hoping to monetize such a service, this remains a critical issue.

Q. From your experience, what are the most popular video content categories in the Middle East? And kindly tell us about some differences on a country-by-country basis.

It really differs from time to time. Before the regional revolutions, we were seeing a lot of content that was funny and entertaining. The videos featured a lot of pranks ...etc. The videos covered a range of genres, but the user-generated content that was most popular was basically the content that was shot in countries like KSA (videos of people drifting in their cars, people pulling pranks on each other). After the revolutions, we had a lot of political content being uploaded. A lot of people uploaded footage of protests that they had filmed with their phones. We are seeing more opinionated videos being uploaded, as people's desire for freedom of expression has increased over the past year.

Q. Ikbis and video communities are at the forefront of the video advertising revolution in the Middle East. Tell us about video advertising options and why they differ from typical web advertising.

Video advertising is different from regular banners in the sense that you are seeing visual content that is animated, that is moving. The advertisement is part of the video itself, so it is very similar to TV advertising because you have to watch the ad in order to view the actual content. It is so effective because you get more brand exposure and more engagement. This type of advertisement will surely yield better results. The 'Click Through Rate' (CTR) of a video campaign will generally be much higher than that of a banner campaign.

Q. Are we reaching the tipping point for video advertising to grow exponentially in the Middle East? Or is it still early?

Most agencies (the major ones, at least) have started running video advertisements. Their clients, as well as the agencies themselves are very happy with the results. We are seeing major organizations now advertising via online video advertisements. There is still a long way to go in the region in terms of development. Advertisers still don't use the correct ad formats (the correct length of ads and proper filming techniques). However, over the next twelve months we expect to see considerable growth in the online video advertising industry.

Q. What in your opinion are the obstacles preventing faster growth in digital media expenditures in the region?

First of all, you have all these companies (and their marketing managers) that still do not believe in the effectiveness of online video advertising. Many people want to stay in their comfort zone. They want to see a tangible ad, a billboard in the street, an ad in a newspaper or on TV. They still don't believe in the power of online advertising and its efficiency and measurability. That's the major reason why we continue to see small online budgets.

Q. What is the next big thing or major technology that will impact video advertising?

Google Adsense has been providing video advertisements for video publishers, and i think they will be making their way to the region soon. Clients will also begin advertising via YouTube, so I think that will be interesting. We are also seeing more ad networks moving into video advertisements, so that will be a trend to observe.

In terms of technology, I think something that would be able to provide video sites with the ability to publish ads without using a proprietary player would be a real breakthrough. We may be seeing that happening with integration of video for various video players, whether it be using 'Flash' or 'HTML 5'.

M Shaharyar Umar: Despite the challenges, double digit growth can still be expected in 2012

editor — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:03:37 -0800

mediaME.com speaks to M Shaharyar Umar, the Marketing Director at Pan Arab Research Center (PARC) in the UAE. He talks about media monitoring tools available today, the relationship between TV and digital, the challenges facing growth of digital media spend, the effect of the political uprisings on spending patterns and much more.

Q. PARC is a pioneer in media monitoring and covers all forms of traditional media, but is yet to cover online media. What are your plans in this regard?

We have been monitoring online usage and behavioral patterns by conducting TGI-Net surveys in key markets of the GCC since 2009. Catering to meet increasing demands, we expanded to include the Egyptian market in 2011. In 2012 we are further expanding to include the Lebanese and Jordanian markets.

TGI Net surveys complement click measurement because it distinguishes online spectators from actively engaged citizens (beyond providing brand consumption habits and deep insights of online users).

Having said this, we do have plans to cover online ad spending monitoring, but we expect the initiative to come from stakeholders.

Q. What’s your view regarding the currently available online media monitoring tools and services; compared to the levels of services available to monitor traditional media?

Online Media is still evolving, whereas some traditional forms of media (print, newspaper) have already reached their peak. Online media is even gaining the strength to carry other media vehicles (web TV, online newspapers, radio on web etc.).

Technically, online media in its current structure is easy to monitor. However, the medium is highly dynamic and vibrant, so monitoring tools have not been able to keep up with the technological advancements. A number of schools of thought exist, and they differ regarding the merits of any online measurement service, and therefore lack standardization.

Online media started from a small base and is registering phenomenally high growth rates in the region. Therefore, the requirement for monitoring tools have increased. However, these tools and services will need to be continuously updated.

Meanwhile, there is an absence of a TV meter (an industry standard to measure TV viewing). It is only now that TV meters are being introduced in the UAE. KSA will likely follow suit very soon. I am positive that the region will keep up in terms of monitoring tools that are still being standardized in west.

Q. How does online media compare to TV and do you see a complementary relationship between TV and digital?

Television is the leading medium in the region and contributes around 64% of the total measured ad spend, up from 43% in 2008.

Watching television while surfing the web is the second most popular activity performed while browsing in most of the surveyed markets. As per the TGI Net UAE survey, it is interesting to find that 30% watch or listen to TV while surfing the web.

TV has blended very well with online media. TGI Net surveys have shown an increase in people watching TV on the web, as well as watching web content on TV sets. The devices can be connected. The relationship between TV and digital is more complementary in nature, but existing traditional TV sets may become obsolete in the near future.

Q. What are the biggest challenges facing the growth of digital media expenditures in the region as a percentage of total expenditure?

Availability of third party auditors and reliable measurements conforming to global standards will increase, and therefore, advertiser’s confidence to allocate sizeable sums of their advertising budgets will undoubtedly also increase. We know that usage of online media has increased significantly, but we do not know whether spending has also increased in proportionate terms. Lack of initiatives from the stakeholders is partly to be blamed.

Q. 2011 has been a year of political upheaval in several Arab countries. Tell us about the actual impact on advertising budgets this year, and what it could potentially mean for advertising expenditures across all media types in 2012.

The region was able to register a modest growth of only 4%, where only KSA and UAE markets were able to report positive growth in the region. The top spending market of 2010, which was Egypt, saw its spending plummet by around 37%.

Advertisers are still cautious, but the fundamentals of the region are very strong. The global economic downturn is also to be blamed, since 8 out of top 10 advertisers in the region are global brand owners. On the positive side, during the first half of 2011, spending was in red and reported a 4% downfall, but the second half made an uptake of around 10%.

Despite the challenges, a double digit growth can still be expected in 2012.

Q. In your opinion, what are the biggest changes we will see in media expenditure trends in 2012?

Television has been following an upward trajectory as newspapers witness a decline. The introduction of TV meters in the UAE is likely to push spending momentum in the medium in 2012. However, challenges will remain for newspapers' print editions. Magazines with niche audiences may survive. Radio is definitely going up, but the audience base is very small.

Meanwhile, online spending in all forms of media is very likely to increase in 2012, but we still have to monitor the figures. Given the trends, it can safely be predicted that the share of online spending will be in the double digits within the next 5 years.

Ahmad Humeid: Companies realizing branding is a specialty, to be dealt with separate from advertising

editor — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 03:49:33 -0800

mediaME spoke to Ahmad Humeid, CEO of Syntax, a leading branding and innovations company in the region. Ahmad shares his opinions regarding the evolution of branding, how clients view branding as part of their overall marketing strategy, the importance of online presence, the value of branding as a service and how it is digitally integrated and much more.

Q: As a branding specialist, tell us about the evolution in branding services offered in the Middle East and the sophistication of such services compared to other parts of the world.

Branding worldwide has developed rapidly in the past 20 to 25 years. However, our part of the world is lagging behind a little bit when it comes to branding. Branding is something that is usually, or supposedly, performed by advertising agencies, but I think advertisers and companies in general are realizing that branding is a specialty that they need to deal with on its own, and therefore they are hiring specialized consultants to build their brands to define their identities and launch their products and services.

Q: Do clients in the region understand the difference between branding and advertising? And to what degree is there an appreciation of the strategic value of such services

Clients have definitely realized the difference between advertising and branding in the past five years. Clients now know how important it is to establish a clear brand identity and clear brand values before starting to communicate with the audience, and therefore, our work as a branding company is actually the infrastructure for other marketing and advertising activities that follow, and we are seeing a lot of interest in the region, whether in the Levant or in the Gulf.

Q: Digital media has impacted every aspect of creative industries. Tell us how the requirements and challenges of digital branding differ.

The most important thing that companies have to consider when taking their brands online is to really think what it is they want to sell and to who. The problem with a lot of websites in the Arab World is that they have been dominated by information that is not really relevant to consumers and clients. What we always stress on is the importance realizing the value that is being delivered to the audience when creating a corporate website, mobile application, Facebook presence, or any other engaging platform. The most important aspect of customer service is the actual delivery, which has been quite a challenge over the past ten years, a challenge in getting companies to start thinking in a strategic way about their web presence and about digital branding.

Q: Regarding regional online publishers, are there excellent examples of digital creativity in branding that are a cause for optimism regarding this field in the Middle East?

We are definitely seeing a lot of interesting niche publishers emerging in this region, and after all those generalized web portals have been established, we are now witnessing a shift to e-commerce, one of the main drivers behind today’s innovation in the region, where the new generation of web entrepreneurs really understand web branding and what it involves, leading to better customer focus and more emphasis on usability and user friendliness.

Q: In your opinion, how has the explosive growth in social media affected the field of digital branding services?

I think companies, organizations and governmental bodies today realize they can’t just have a one way communication medium, and therefore do not control the conversation anymore. So I think this has completely changed the field of online, where Twitter and Facebook have become household names that every Arab family and every consumer knows and is familiar with, enabling consumers to express themselves in new ways. It is therefore very important to invest in a company’s online presence in a way that is both strategic and creative and to also pay attention to social media platforms as they play a key role in the way we do business today.

Samer Abdin: Clients realizing value of video advertising on premium Arabic content

editor — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:08:05 -0800

mediaME spoke to Samer Abdin, co-founder of Istikana.com, an online video-on-demand service for the Arab World. Samer shares his views regarding growth in online video, the importance of Arabic content, the latest in video advertising options and more.

Q. Tell us about the services that Istikana.com provides

Istikana.com is a website that delivers premium Arabic TV content. It is very similar to U.S-based services like Hulu and Netflix. We have a broad selection of premium Arabic content including television series, comedies and theatre productions. Our specialized service is available on-demand, and is accessible across multiple platforms.

Q. What motivated you and your partners to introduce Istikana to the Middle East market?

The idea occurred to us due to the lack of such a service. We saw that equivalent services in the UK and Europe like Hulu and Netfilx had taken off, and we discussed the fact that there was no real equivalent for the Arab World that featured Arabic content. That's how the idea started, and that was the need we were trying to fill. We were trying to meet the public's need to watch the content that they want, when they want it, on the devices that they want.

Q. Tell us why the video audience in the Middle East will utilize such specialized portals compared to international video aggregation communities like YouTube?

I think one of the fundamental differences between our service and a site like YouTube is the 'localization' issue. There is a plethora of content on YouTube, a lot of which is international content, as YouTube is an international website. We are an Arabic site with Arabic content, specifically Arabic TV content. This makes us quite different from a service like YouTube, which is largely user-generated. We have fully produced TV shows, and we don't serve the user generated market. We offer fully produced content. We meet the need of consumers that want to watch certain content, whenever they want, on the multiple devices that they have.

Q. What types of content categories are you offering? Which are the most popular? And what kind of difference you are seeing on a country-by-country basis?

We offer a very broad range of content. Our site offers dramas, comedies, theatre productions, cartoons, documentaries, religious segments, as well as movies. So we really do have a wide range of content. We have accumulated thousands of hours of video. The most popular genre is drama, as well as cartoons and documentaries. People really seem to enjoy the drama genre in the Arab World. It is quite well developed, thanks to the popular Ramadan series. People associate with the content they see and remember these series years after they have aired.

We haven't seen much of a variation in terms of country by country. Most of our traffic comes from Saudi Arabia, and the rest is split between the Levant and North Africa. Generally, the drama genre is most popular in all countries. It seems to be quite a common thing. Cartoons and documentary are also quite popular. However, all the genres have a fair amount of viewership, but generally, we have not seen much of a variation between countries.

Q. Tell us about advertising options on online video communities and why they differ from typical web advertising in terms of the results they deliver.

We offer the full suite of normal web advertising, i.e. all the banner options. We also offer the full suite of in-video advertising, so that includes pre-rolls and mid-rolls. We also offer overlays whether they be static, flash or animated, there is a whole range. The standard web advertising formats are the banners, and they have been around for quite some time now. The viewer generally has limited engagement with banners, and this is proven by one of the standard metrics, the click through rate (CTR).

Whereas with video advertising, viewers just inherently engage with the 'moving, talking' format a lot more than they do with something that is a bit more static or something that is purely display-based, like a banner. Click through rates (CTRs) for video ads are significantly higher than banners, we are talking an average of 4% and upwards. It has been proven in other markets that the video format is inherently more engaging, and provides much better results in terms of things like over all re-call, message re-call, and brand re-call.

Whichever metric you choose to measure by, video adverts tend to fare better than static ones. In fact online video advertising does much better than regular TV advertising. There are all sorts of research done by Nielsen, which shows improvements of up to 50% in terms of the online formats vs. regular TV formats. I think online video advertising is really the new medium for consumer brand interaction.

Q. Tell us about the response you have received so far from clients and advertising agencies regarding video advertising, and tell us about the levels of awareness you are seeing in the market.

The reaction of viewers has generally been quite good. We've had some feedback about scheduling (how often we put advertisements up, and how for how long), and we've taken that feedback into account and adjusted. I think it's a format that viewers are generally very used to and accept, especially when it comes to free viewing.

In reality, it is similar to regular TV. You watch a TV program on regular cable, and expect to have advertising intervals. It's a fairly normal and standard way of doing things. Now, that has transferred over to the web.

On the other hand, advertisers have been very excited by what we are doing. I think there is an issue in terms of awareness and the 'newness' of in-video advertising in the region. It has only been present this past year, but the proof is in the pudding. When a company runs a campaign with us, they tend to be very pleased with the results and tend to come back. We have proven to them that this is a very effective ad format. There is still a long way to go, it is still a young market, but we are very optimistic that next year we will see significant growth.

Q. What in your opinion are the obstacles preventing faster growth in digital media expenditures in general in the region?

There are two main obstacles. One is awareness, which I mentioned previously. The second major issue is the measurement problem, (how to measure effectiveness, how to measure viewership beyond the standard unique viewers, etc...). A lot of work needs to be done to have the facilities to really measure the Return on Investment (ROI), a lot of work needs to be done to accurately measure regular TV advertising, as well as online viewership. As measurement tools improve, people will really start to see the value in online video advertising. People really need to be able to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. I think with time, that will improve.

Q. Apart from advertising revenue, is Istikana planning other forms of monetization of its content? Tell us more about how these can be achieved.

Well, we are keeping a very close eye on that. I think there are fairly significant barriers in the region regarding subscriptions, payment gateways, credit card options, especially in what is acknowledged to be the most lucrative market, Saudi Arabia. Saudis are relatively reluctant to use credit cards online. They currently have the facility to do so, but they haven't taken it up. However there have been some really interesting things coming out of Saudi Arabia with regard to gaming. A considerable amount of Saudis pay for games like 'World of Warcraft' and the like. There is a growing use of SMS payment. Obviously the economics are different there because there is the operator to think about (they do take a cut). There are some very interesting things going on in regards to payment. We are keeping a very close eye on this and when we think the time is right, we will be implementing some kind of payment infrastructure.

Q. What are the upcoming breakthroughs or technologies that will impact online video distribution and advertising?

We're starting to see very specialized services in the US and the UK, providing very innovative solutions for in-video advertising. 'Hulu' now does a 'pick your ad' option. It gives viewers four or five advertisements to choose from, and they get to pick which ad you want to see. In the UK, they have story-based ads, viewers can choose between three or four different stories to follow. Therefore, the video starts with a pre-roll followed by a mid-roll that is a continuation of the pre-roll. I think there are some very innovative services coming out, which will eventually debut in our region.

In terms of video technology, I think we are moving to multiple screen formats. Online TV will be available on mobiles, tablets etc. It will eventually include the actual TV itself. I think those technologies are being developed very quickly with the help of television manufacturers. Eventually, our service will be available on actual TV sets. I think that will be the ultimate breakthrough for our services, because ultimately, TV content belongs on the actual TV set.

Wassim Mneimneh: Publishers adoption of third party measurement systems is still the biggest challenge

editor — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 02:07:42 -0800

mediaME spoke to Wassim Mneimneh at the mediaME Forum. He is the Senior Online Manager at Nielsen Online. Wassim shares with us his views regarding the importance of third party measurement systems, currently available monitoring technologies, the utilization of these analytical tools in the Middle East and more.

Q. Could you briefly tell us about Nielsen's online business?

Nielsen Online is a global leader in online solutions. It provides analytical and measurement tools that enable clients to monitor changing market trends and emerging technologies.

Q: In your opinion, what is the importance of measurement and monitoring the digital media industry at this stage of its growth?

Publishers need a third party measurement system to know more about their audiences and their traffic, instead of relying solely on their own data. As for agencies, it is imperative that they use these measurement systems as planning tools, in order to know how to target their online audiences.

Q: What are the currently available Nielsen technologies and tools used to measure online audiences and monitor campaigns?

Basically, we use 'Market Intelligence' as our online measurement tool. With this tool, we can provide all the metrics needed for online measurement such as reach, traffic, unique browsers, and page impressions; along with demographics that we capture through surveys. The current listing on Market Intelligence consists of the biggest publishers in the region & is being populated constantly with new publishers. We also have a several other specialized tools, one of which is called 'Site Census for online ads”, which we can use to measure and provide demographics of people who have viewed certain online banner campaigns.

Q: What’s your view regarding the utilization of these tools in the Middle East and what are the biggest challenges you face in the region?

Publishers are a bit hesitant to use third party measurement systems. They have always been a bit hesitant. We have always struggled to convince publishers to use such tools, because some of them don't like to have another organization auditing their traffic. Recently, though, they have started to familiarize themselves with the concept. Meanwhile, agencies have welcomed such tools as they need these tools to plan campaigns. Another challenge we face is educating the market regarding the features and importance of measurement systems.

Q: Tell us about some of the specialized products offered by Nielsen for the digital media market.

Nielsen offers a number of tools in the digital media field. We have a social media monitoring platform called 'Buzz Metrics' which was launched last year. Buzzmetrics is the golden child of NMincite (a joint venture between Nielsen & McKinsey). BuzzMetrics deliver trusted brand metrics, meaningful consumer insights and real-time market intelligence to help clients apply the power of consumer-generated media (CGM) to their businesses. This year, we also launched 'Buzz Metrics Exchange' which is an engagement platform for social media, which allows users to engage directly with their audience whether its via Facebook, twitter, blogs, forums or any other social media platform. We also have a tool called 'Video Analytics'. Basically, the name says it all. It is an analytical tool for video platforms which measures and delivers video and streaming metrics.

Q: What's next for Nielsen Online in the Middle East?

In the coming year, we will continue to focus on development in the MENA region. The region is growing tremendously in terms of online advertising and usage. There is much more to come from Nielsen Online.

Racha Mourtada: Users aged 15 to 29 are driving force of growth of Facebook and Twitter in our region

editor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:12:36 -0800

mediaME speaks to Racha Mourtada, Research Associate at the Dubai School of Government. Racha shares with us some key findings from the latest and still unpublished Arab Social Media Report (ASMR), with insights regarding the leading social media platforms in the Middle East today, the evolution of user demographics and much more.

Q. Kindly introduce yourself, and briefly tell us about the Dubai School of Government.

I am a research associate with the Dubai School of Government, which is an academic research institution that focuses on public policy in the Arab World. Specifically, I work on the Governance and Innovation Program which focuses on the policy implications of using information and communication technology for social and governmental transformation.

Q. Tell us about the Arab Social Media Report, how and when it started and why it is important.

The aim of the Arab Social Media Report is to observe social media trends in the Arab World, and to focus on what the implications are for civic engagement, social inclusion, entrepreneurship and innovation in the region. We do that by observing penetration trends, and by observing Facebook and Twitter usage. We look at different breakdowns in terms of age, gender and language. We look at the factors that contribute to the uptake of social media use such as Internet freedom, digital access, income and the growth of the youth population. We started at the beginning of last year, and the first issue focused on general usage trends. In the second issue, we took a look at the role of social media during the revolutions. For the upcoming issue we are taking a look at gender and the use of social media.

Q. Where are we seeing the greatest growth geographically, and in terms of platforms in Arab countries?

Our focus is mainly on Facebook and Twitter, so I can speak about that a little bit. If we look at the statistics, Egypt and Saudi Arabia both have the largest number of users on Facebook and Twitter. However, if we look at penetration rate or the percentage of population, the GCC countries tend to dominate.

Q. How big an impact has the ‘Arab Spring’ had on boosting the numbers of social media users and on driving more interactions and ‘Arab buzz’?

The Arab Spring has had quite an impact on Facebook and Twitter usage. If we were to take a look at the first quarter of the year, when the revolutions were at their height, Facebook usage had increased by 30% when compared to the previous year. The year before, it had only grown by 18%. That is quite a significant difference. In countries that actually went through revolutions such as Bahrain, Egypt and Tunisia, the growth rates have actually doubled or tripled when compared with the previous year. We can definitely see quantitative, as well as qualitative growth. Trending topics at the time all had to do with what was going on so. The top hashtags were '#Bahrain', '#Egypt', '#Libya', '#Protest'. That indicates that the Arab Spring affected the nature of online conversation in the region.

Q. By studying social media habits of Arab populations, can you tell us some specific differences between social media users in the Gulf compared to the Levant and compared to North Africa?

There are definitely some differences in the three regions. In terms of age, we notice that the GCC countries are the most balanced. There is a balance between younger users aged 15 to 29 and adults over 30. Whereas in the Levant and North Africa, there is more gender balance that does not exist in the GCC. So in the Levant and North Africa, the number of male and female users are quite close. Language is probably the most distinctive difference between these three regions. In North Africa (with the exception of Egypt), users prefer to use French on Facebook, whereas Lebanon and the GCC countries (with the exception of Saudi Arabia) prefer to use English.

Q. What would you say are the key findings of the latest Arab Social Media Report? And what, in your opinion, could this mean to marketers and brand managers across the MENA region?

A main focus of the report is the increase of penetration and usage. Facebook and Twitter are growing exponentially. Throughout the year, Facbook has grown by at least 60%. The report focuses on the youth population, and the fact that they are the driving force behind the growth of Facebook and Twitter in the region. About 70% of Facebook users in the Arab World are between the ages of 15 to 29, which is sort of on-par with the global averages. The report also focuses on trends in terms of gender. About one third of Facebook users in the Arab World are women, this is in contrast with the global average of about 60%, and this is what we are looking into at the moment.

Download Racha Mourtada's Presentation at mediaME Forum:2011

Rania Salfiti: Marketing managers must use social media to listen and serve customers

editor — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 04:03:32 -0800

mediaME spoke to Rania Salfiti, the head of corporate and marketing communications at Umniah, a leading telecom operator in Jordan. Rania offers us her views regarding online advertising growth, the importance of the client-agency relationship in the digital age, how social media impacts the organization and much more.

Q. Kindly introduce yourself and your company.

I am the Head of Corporate and Marketing Communications at Umniah. Umniah is a leading integrated Telecom operator in Jordan, and the third most popular mobile operator in the country, with a penetration rate of over 32%.

Q. As one of the biggest advertisers in Jordan, what is your view regarding online media options available to you today in terms of reach to your target customers?

I believe that Jordan is still in the discovery phase when it comes to online advertising. And when compared to international standards, we’re still not there yet and we still have a long way to go. I think this comes as a result of online advertising agencies being not very well structured in Jordan, and a big gap exists between the client and the agency regarding online advertising. I believe we need to fix this, and one way to do so is by creating more direct interaction on this topic between the agency and the client.

The Jordanian culture is not a fully oriented online one. Still, we are working on spreading the importance of obtaining Internet service in every house, which in return, is a barrier to the growth and acceptance of online media.

Moreover, measuring the return on investment (ROI) for online advertising is a challenge in itself that is not enabling clients to recognize the exact value behind online advertising.

Q. What are the main challenges or obstacles preventing a bigger percentage of digital media expenditure?

People are still afraid to fully utilize digital media in their budgets. Internationally, some companies are using up to 50% of their budgets on digital advertising, whereas in Jordan, people are still very dependent on print media. This comes as a result of the penetration rate of print compared to online connectivity which is still low when compared to the other international markets.

Q. Some marketing managers think that 'social media is free'. Is it really? If not, what does it cost and what is the money spent on it? If social media is part of an advertising campaign, does it have a 'paid' component?

Social media is not free, and it's cost is calculated as part of the expenditure within the budget.

Furthermore, building any social media activity requires a certain amount of time, which is also costly. The gap between the start of social media activities and the results is considerable, so it clearly requires time, effort and money. It's definitely not free.

Q. What’s your view regarding the currently available social media measurement tools, and how do we determine the success of a social media campaign?

I believe there are two ways to measure or evaluate social media. First, there's the exposure and reach gained from this platform, whereby the number of fans is not necessarily always an indicator, as you may be able to gather as many fans who do not, in the end, contribute or add any value to the organization’s marketing strategy implementation.

Secondly and most importantly is the interactivity and engagement between the company and the customer; this can be measured by the number of questions asked and feedback received.

Q. From your experience as a top telecom operator, what general advice would you like to share with brand managers regarding handling customer interactions through social media?

We cannot ignore social media as a platform for our marketing strategies. It’s something that is growing exponentially. We need to be there and we need to be able to listen to our customers through this medium. We can’t just sit back as if the platform doesn't exist. Social media sites are now the number one platforms for customer feedback. As marketing managers, we must listen to our customers and serve them via all the available mediums.

‘People will talk… The conversation will happen… So you’d better be there and aware’…

Q. In your opinion, where does the responsibility for managing social media channels lie within an organization?

Depending on the industry of the company, there is a debate as to who should be responsible for an organization's social media as there is more than one school for it. For example, as a telecom operator, the debate is whether it should be the customer care or the marketing department’s responsibility. Both departments feel they have a role and should be responsible for handling social media for the company. However I believe both departments need to work together to make it happen.

At the end of the day, the strategy and the positioning of social media should come from the marketing department; however customer care departments have a responsibility to fulfill the requests and inquiries of customers, so it is definitely a combination of both. The tough part is figuring out a way to work together.

Zaidoun Karadsheh and Tamer Qarrain: Arab content creators have talent and tools to serve this region

editor — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 08:55:52 -0700

We speak to Zaidoun Karadsheh and Tamer Qarrain, co-founders of Media Plus and Sketch In Motion, about the evolution of the interactive design field in the Middle East and how Media Plus works to deliver consistent, memorable user experiences across interactive multimedia, online and mobile applications, audio and visual productions, and animation.

Q. Kindly introduce yourselves and your company.

The dream started back in 2003 when both of us had a strong belief that the Internet space would be part of everyone’s life and will boom in the Arab region. Having a degree in Architecture, while my partner Tamer Qarrain had a degree in Computer Science, we decided to abandon the daily routine and start a digital and interactive media services company. With very limited investment, slowly but surely, we started the business. I used to design the user interface while my partner would develop the interactivity. Today after 8 years, we’ve managed to lead the local market with ‘Interminable Innovation’ products, user experience websites and top notch technology. Media Plus grew steadily from only two founders in 2003, to a team of 25 by 2011, having received over 85 awards in the Jordan Web Awards competitions and Web Company of the year for 2007 and 2009. Recently, we have expanded operations to the Gulf region, USA and Australia. In 2007, we established another company “Sketch in Motion”, which specializes in cartoon animation production, partnering with two creative animators who led and managed its operation! The collaboration between both companies has led to more advanced and visually impressive applications that were unrivaled by competitors. And as technology advances and the world leans more to mobiles, we are eager to jump into new un-tapped areas of user experiences interactivity.

Q. Media Plus started out as a web development company, but has evolved into a leading interactive design agency. Tell us about the services that regional clients and agencies are requesting and how the market has evolved.

Clients now have the awareness regarding the importance of building rich, interactive and bilingual websites. They also realize the value of database-drive, online multimedia productions which requires an increase in both time and budget committed to better serving customers.

Accordingly, we have seen significant growth in demand for services like interactive virtual tours, casual online games, Facebook applications, iPhone and Android Mobile applications and many more advanced ‘branding experiences’. These technologies, and client demand, have driven us into the interactive branding arena.

Q. How important are interactive and engaging elements in the success of online campaigns, micro sites and so on. Give us some examples.

Giving the users the ability to interact allows for an immersive and unforgettable experience. The results and feedback from Arab users has shown that it’s very effective for regional brands.

For example, we worked with MBC Group on several interactive applications for various programs on different channels. A very good example is the wb-based application that was built for MBC Action, whereby users were able to interactively design an imaginary Silverado Car, with the ability to paint it, upload images on it, save completed work and also share with friends. The number of shared images was massive, with over 200,000 images created by users!

Q. Through your sister company, Sketch in Motion, you have integrated animation and cartoons into the interactive experiences you create. Which type of projects ‘in particular’ benefit from this kind of multimedia integration?

We are particularly proud of the Yahoo! Safety Oasis (Y!SO ) program we delivered to Yahoo! Maktoob, which was a Media Plus and Sketch-In-Motion project that put our services in the limelight. Featuring the characters Naya, Zain, Anbar and Hacker the Macker (Willy The Hacker), on a journey through Madinat Al Internet (Internet City). The aim was to engage families and educators to provide resources that educate, entertain and reward young children of ages between 6 and 12, regarding the potential of online learning, as well as the importance of safely surfing the net. We were proud to have been selected by Yahoo! Maktoob, and we delivered original story lines and characters that were born in Arabia, which have been well received; aided by the Arabic content creation expertise of our sister company, Skecth-In-Motion. We thank Yahoo! Maktoob for their commitment to Arabic content and their belief in regional talents for this project.

Q. Media Plus has entered the mobile applications field. Tell us more about that, and give us your views regarding the most popular platforms and the kind of feedback you are receiving.

We love producing content for kids, as we see great potential in this segment. We watched our own kids deal with tablet and touch-screen products and realized how easily the next generation can interact with these devices, specifically to play games.

That realization, coupled with the lack of Arabic content for kids, presents a huge opportunity so we decided to test our market and our capabilities by building two iPhone and Android Apps, as a start, and we are planning to considerably increase the production in the near coming future.

We found that the downloads were minimal at the beginning, but we believe this type of apps is needed and with our focus on this field, and recent promotional efforts, the increasing needs are being met and we have seen much more traction as demand for Arabic e-learning increased, and the spread of devices owned by Arab parents increased. Apps by Media Plus can be found on the Apple and Android app stores, and there’s much more to come.

Q. You have served major clients and won awards and accolades. Tell us more about that, and how important it is for the Media Plus & Sketch in Motion teams.

Starting from Jordan in 2003, where web development was in its early stages, we believed that this would be an industry for the future. We understood that Jordan had limited resources, but we very passionate about what we were doing and aimed to provide our clients with out-of-the-box ideas. That’s what placed us quickly on the local then regional map, winning awards for several years locally and most recently 23 regional awards at the Pan Arab Web Awards last month in Beirut.

Our energetic team is always excited to build on and create new ideas; and are driven by this recognition. With the presence of our sister company Sketch In Motion, our web-based products offer a uniqueness and generate a special type of demand.

Q. What are your views regarding the status of the Arabic content creation industry in the region?

We see great potential in this emerging industry especially with the lack of quality Arabic content online. We strive to always pioneer this field with innovative and interactive ideas. We’re still taking baby-steps and we still have a lot to learn to be able to compete on the global level, but surely Arab content creators have the talent and determination to lead this industry, and we seek to be among the leaders regionally by continuously learning and applying new cutting-edge technologies, while keeping an eye on what others done so far.

Amy Morgan: Our vision of positive transformation drives the success of Unisono and its clients

editor — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 06:38:18 -0800

mediaME speaks to Amy Morgan, the co-founder and Managing Partner and Director of Strategy at Unisono, a leading marketing communications agency from Bahrain. Amy sheds light on the nature of the Bahraini market, its growth the levels of creativity, future trends and much more.

Q. Kindly introduce yourself and your company.

I am co-founder of Unisono, a leading independent integrated strategic communications consultancy. I currently hold the position of Managing Partner and Director of Strategy.

I discovered my passion for strategy and business solutions relatively early as a Business Analyst at Prudential. I later discovered my passion for communication and entrepreneurship – first founding a holistic branding and design consultancy Tap, London, then moving to the Middle East in 2003 and consulting for Sabic-SMO and Saatchi & Saatchi. Having launched Unisono in 2006 with Liam Farrell, we are now a full service integrated company with a team of 38 across a range of disciplines - from strategy, planning and advertising, to PR, digital, branding and design.

They say if you love your job you don’t have to work a day in your life, that’s how I feel about Unisono. Our vision ‘to positively transform’ expresses a genuine philosophy to be the best you can be. We apply this transformational attitude to ourselves and to our clients. This is why brand-centric thinking is at the heart of everything we do – it drives us to think holistically and discover innovative solutions that will maximse our clients’ brand potential in the long term. Unisono’s fully integrated service ensures we can then deliver the vision.

Since its launch five years ago, Unisono has grown 200% year on year. We’ve achieved this through a firm commitment to quality from the start and have worked with several international brands such as Toyota Formula 1, STC and Cityscape. I’m also proud to say that we have successfully created number of award winning brands including bni, Majaal and Ijara, as well as visioning and delivering some of the most memorable and successful brand launches in the region, such as VIVA Bahrain, an achievement we are most well known for.

Q. As a leading marketing communications agency in Bahrain, tell us about the market growth witnessed in 2010, and what were the main drivers of this growth.

Much of 2010 has been about a recovery from 2009. Ultimately, there was growth, but not the kind of growth we have seen during the financial boom. Instead growth has been achieved via careful planning and calculated investment – this applies to most industries including our own.

Competition has reduced in terms of numbers, although it may have become more aggressive, with people ensuring they have genuine unique selling points. Market leaders are also realizing investing in their brand and quality creative communications is a necessity to sustain and even grow market position. Strong brands stand the test of time, and can even grow during an economic downturn as the first thing less visionary companies cut is their marketing budgets.

Q. In your opinion, are the levels of advertising creativity in Bahrain, in general, on par with other advanced markets in the region? If not, what are the obstacles?

If the region pertains to the GCC then the advertising is more advanced with the exception of the UAE. Advertising in Bahrain is fully accepted as a proper school of thought and an industry. Other GCC countries are only now starting to understand the benefits. What we need to see more of is clients working with quality agencies as strategic partners, instead of ‘artwork factories’.

The main reason for the advancement of Dubai and the rest of the UAE in terms of advertising and branding has been their understanding of marketing spend as an investment. Big aspirations were paired with big budgets. This allowed for proper planning and adequate time for the development of quality solutions - this approach delivered big results. Unfortunately in Bahrain clients are often unwilling to invest in quality even though it may cost them in the long run and reduce ROI. No matter how much money you spend on media, if the idea and execution is poor, results are poor.

Q. Kindly mention particular clients and campaigns that achieved significant results working with Unisono.

Though there are a lot of clients we could mention, I’ve selected 3 recent success stories.

Majaal is a brand developed by Unisono with our long-term client First Bahrain that delivers integrated warehousing solutions. Majaal has been very positively received by the market – regionally and internationally, and also received an award for the best industrial real estate brand. Having developed and launched the brand, Unisono continues to provide marketing communications solutions.

A very well known success story for Unisono is VIVA - Saudi Telecom’s operation in Bahrain. VIVA has achieved significant brand awareness and market penetration, establishing itself in less than a year as a significant competitor to long-term players Batelco and Zain. This has been achieved through Unisono’s brand centric approach that has resulted in a truly differentiated brand and innovative, through the line communications – from advertising and design, to digital.

And last but certainly not least, Bahrain Financing Company (BFC). Unisono took them through a rebrand and fully integrated roll out that culminated in the exceptionally well received ‘money faces’ launch campaign. This campaign was identified as having one of the highest recall factors in Bahrain, despite a proportionally low media spend. This has been more recently followed by the ‘Lost’ campaign. BFC has seen a significant increase in results since the launch.

Q. What’s your view regarding the potential of the Bahraini advertising and media market and what is your prediction regarding its growth in 2011?

Bahrain has a diverse cultural mix allowing for unique ideas based on the varied perspectives of cross-cultural communities. This makes it potentially a very exciting market to work in. Of course, as a strategic consultancy, we want to ensure we are focusing in the right areas to deliver ROI for our clients. Our research showed that while print media has traditionally owned a major portion of the advertising spend, outdoor media has been the most effective medium for advertising in terms of consumer impact. Radio is also highly effective.

Although Television was also mentioned as an important tool, the reality is that due to the size of the market, production and media costs, Bahrain generally does not enjoy the economies of scale that make TV advertising cost effective medium - unless there is a regional audience. There is still plenty of room for the region to grow the quality of the advertising and media market and compete with the global leaders. In terms of growth, we expect to see continued growth in media spend, although we sincerely hope to see more investment in strategy and consultancy.

We hope to see more investment in building brands over the long term through customer centric initiatives rather than reactive ‘me too’ competitor driven activities. Annual budgets should be increased but better planned – a general ‘rule’ being approximately 10% of budget allocated to marketing and 15% in key growth or launch years. We also expect growth beyond traditional channels into social media as it develops into a proper discipline.

Q. What’s your view regarding the impact of digital marketing communications in your local market? Tell us about awareness levels and some success stories.

The impact of digital marketing in our local market is still minimal. Corporate institutions in Bahrain have not been able to truly utilize it because the thing to realize about digital marketing is that in order for it to be effective, you need to dedicate resources to the cause and treat it as an investment. The results of digital marketing whether it is social media or whether it is a loyalty program, or even advertising, can be tracked in terms of short term results, but the results need to be measured on a more holistic scale over the longer term.

Q. Unisono has recently launched a Research Division, tell us more about the consumer studies you have worked on, or are preparing, some of the key findings and the importance of this initiative.

The research division recently announced the results of its first white paper on a qualitative study about the perceptions of consumers in Bahrain about conceptual advertising. The results clearly showed that consumers are ready for, and enjoy more conceptual advertising – the public are a lot more intelligent than many people appreciate! This is great news for the creative industry as I think we are all tired of seeing the results of poor investment in low-level work.

The consumer study significantly increased our understanding of why and how consumers respond to different kinds of advertising. It also proved that consumers like and have highest recall for conceptual advertising. This fact is key, as it guides clients to go for creative solutions that may challenge the consumers and increase the profile of the brand and its sales. The next step for the research division is a more in depth continuous study to understand shoppers' purchase and usage behavior and deliver deep understanding and insights to our clients.

Q. Looking towards the future, what other main developments or services are you planning at Unisono?

We began as a branding and design consultancy, and within two years we have become an integrated advertising and digital agency. We look forward to further building our role as strategic partners, developing our offer as a truly integrated communication consultancy and holistic, business aligned, solutions provider. To this end, in 2010, we launched a new PR department as well as a research team, including social media, and are investing in trainings and seminars for worldwide best practices. We need to ensure we deliver measurable results in these new areas before we turn our attention elsewhere.

Another plan on a more ideological level is also to continue to champion industry standards as we did by investing in our own research project. We hope to positively transform the industry landscape into something that works better for everyone. We want to raise standards and build respect. When we respect ourselves and stop selling our ideas and solutions to the lowest bidder, we will be able to do better work and build better strategically integrated client relationships. One requirement is to decrease the number of open-ended ‘unknown criteria’ pitches with very low budgets, these are very time consuming and could hurt our industry. Simply if we start to value our time, our clients will. This will benefit clients and agencies alike.

Clients and agencies need to work together to achieve this – it is a partnership. Clients have a responsibility to adopt professional pitch practices, prequalify and short list agencies on credentials before inviting those carefully selected agencies to a creative pitch. The client should give a realistic budget derived from their business objectives, and then it is the agency’s job to propose the best use of that budget to achieve the goals. This approach will help the client select the right agency for the right reasons – having ‘the lowest price’ as the only qualifier means neither the client nor the agency wins. Likewise section criteria should be objective based on market needs rather than the personal preferences of executives – after all the selection panel are often very far removed from the tastes of the market they want to capture!

Q. Is there anything else you would like to add?

It’s all about positive transformation, and it is a challenge that never ends. We have to keep innovating so we can deliver innovative results for our clients. We have to live our vision, even when it’s not easy. This means the best team, working in the best environment, on the best briefs, to deliver the best results.

It’s about working with our clients as their strategic partner offering business solutions that return real value, we cannot simply be ‘order takers’. Gaining buy into the value of this approach can be tough sometimes, but it is essential if we are to create and grow global brands that put the region on the map. The greatest positive transformation of the regional communication landscape will be through partnership – with our clients and each other.

Karim Daoud: Digital content distribution to every connected device brings entertainment, services, information and education

editor — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 03:17:20 -0700

mediaME speaks to Karim Daoud, CEO of Intigral, a leading digital content, provider which is a joint venture between Saudi Telecom (STC), Saudi Research Marketing Group (SRMG), and All Asia Networks (ASTRO). Karim tells us about prospects for digital content in the region and the world of entertainment, services, information, and education brought together by Intigral-powered solutions.

Q. Kindly introduce yourself and your company.

Intigral is an integrated digital media service provider born in October 2009 as a joint-venture between Saudi Telecom (STC), Saudi Research Marketing Group (SRMG), and All Asia Networks (ASTRO). Intigral is a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive and converged digital content business. That includes aggregation, acquisition, enhancement, enablement, management, delivery and promotion of digital content across multiple platforms, with an overlay of digital advertising solutions and other monetization models and opportunities. Our direct clients are the regional (MENA) telcos and ISPs, and our solutions are based on a deep understanding of consumers’ media usages and habits.

I joined Intigral in March 2010 with a mandate to build a leading digital media business in the Middle East. I come to Intigral with more than 12 years experience in strategy, management and corporate development in the media and telecom industries in the Middle East. My previous positions were at twofour54 (Strategy and Business Development), LBC-Rotana (M&A, strategy, business development), and Booz Allen and Hamilton (with a focus on telecom and technology). I hold an MBA from INSEAD, and a Master’s of Science from the Ecole Polytechnique in France.

Q. Intigral is a service provider for management consulting digital media content. What brought about the establishment of Intigral? What was the market gap you were seeking to fill considering already existing telecom content providers? How will Intigral outperform currently existing services?

We are single-mindedly focused on digital content in all its forms (audio, video, text), and view technology as the crucial enabler of our business. Back in 2009, our shareholders saw an opportunity to create an independent service provider that would serve all telecom operators and ISPs in the Middle East by providing them with turn-key, white label digital media solutions. Looking at the competitive landscape, you will find many regional or international players providing mobile value added services, video content solutions, or managed web services. The value proposition of Intigral is the ability to provide all three services from our converged technology platforms, thereby enabling a truly converged digital content consumption on three screens (IPTV, Web and mobile).

Q. Tell us about your main content partners and the nature of the future partnerships you expect to build.

We view ourselves as a distribution and marketing partner to content owners, allowing their content to be consumed on all devices including mobile, PCs, tablets and TV screens. Monetization models today are mainly subscription and transaction-based, but new advertising based models are slowly emerging.

Today, we have signed up all major regional and international rights owners for channels and video content, and are expecting to add more partners as we expand our channel offering from 50 to 150 over the next few months. From a mobile standpoint, we have agreements with more than 200 local content providers in Saudi Arabia across all categories such as health, religion, poetry, sports, news and finance, utilities and others. And finally, we are reaching out to all regional content developers/producers in the new categories such as gaming, social networks, music, etc… The business model with rights owners is mainly based on revenue share, but there could be some cases where we consider upfront license fees.

Q. Kindly explain your mobile TV strategy which is set to offer over a 100 channels. How does it work and what’s the benefit to the TV stations in terms of revenue.

Our TV strategy is to offer a mix of linear channels (free-to-air and pay-TV) and video on demand libraries to our broadband IPTV subscribers. For Pay-TV players such as Al Jazeera Sports, Abu Dhabi Media Company, and Orbit Showtime, we pretty much act as a distributor of their premium content (without their specific set-top-boxes), so we help them increase their reach into MENA’s broadband households and generate additional subscription revenues. For advertising-funded networks, we sign carriage deals with no monetary impact, but they benefit in terms of brand association and communication exposure.

Our TV offering is mainly geared towards operators’ broadband set-top box connected households with more than 6MB/s of bandwidth, but we can also develop customized mobile TV bouquets with a sub-set of our available channels.

Q. Tell us about the feedback from mobile users in Saudi Arabia and the GCC regarding responses to these services. Who are your target customer segments for your different service offerings?

In terms of mobile content services, we build on a very solid subscriber base in Saudi Arabia already consuming our content via SMS/MMS services. Our strategy over the last nine months has been to gradually introduce portals and applications, allowing them to access this premium content through user-friendly interfaces, surfing on the increasing penetration of smartphones in the Kingdom. An example of this is STC’s Sports portal “Nadeek” which has already attracted a large number of subscribers and provided them with a unique navigation experience into their favorite sports content, in addition to providing chatting and social networking capabilities.

We are also focusing on new categories such as games, social networks, and utilities (location-based services) that will be launched to the market by Q3 of 2012. The model we are advocating is a “freemium” model with a first layer of information provided for-free through the applications, and the more premium content accessible though weekly or monthly subscriptions.

In terms of IPTV, after six months of soft launch aimed at testing the service, STC has commercially launched Invision, its interactive TV service, in January 2011. The uptake among the qualifying subscriber-base has been very encouraging in the first two months of the campaign, with many households being drawn to the unique selling proposition offering all premium sports content into One Box.

Q. What are the next markets you will be entering following Saudi Arabia, would you like to discuss your regional strategy and services?

Our mandate is regional. We will target the GCC and other Middle Eastern telecom operators and ISPs. Having secured content rights for the leading market in the region, it is easy for us to extend those rights to smaller territories and approach other telcos with our offering, be it for IPTV, managed web services, or mobile digital content and applications. Again, our objective is to become the partner of choice of telecom operators for all their digital content needs, and contribute to their customer retention and churn reduction efforts by providing them with the most attractive content offering for their subscriber base.

Q. Please explain the nature of the advertising opportunities you offer clients and advertising agencies? Do you also offer database marketing opportunities?

Our current distribution model is mainly based on subscription fees for premium content. We recognize however the need to have ad-funded content delivery for some categories of content. We already have online advertising opportunities on our web assets, and are in the final stages of building ad serving capabilities for our mobile content offering. Naturally, the category everybody expects to pick up in the region is mobile advertising on telecom services such as messaging and notifications. We put our data mining and database marketing capabilities at the service of our regional telco partners to maximize ad sales on their inventory.

Q. Anything else you would like to add?

After one year of building up capabilities and launching services with our key client in Saudi Arabia, we are ready for business in the region. We are very bullish about the prospects for digital content in the region and view in every new connected device a potential customer of what we believe will be an amazing world of entertainment, services, information, and education brought together by Intigral-powered solutions. Naturally, being the link in the middle of the value chain, our long-term success will largely depend on the content partners, large or small, that we manage to bring on board. We watch with constant amazement the burgeoning of the content and applications industry across the Arab world, and will reach out to all digital entrepreneurs to offer them access to the most promising markets in the region.

Exciting times!