Insights from WARC's Prize for MENA Strategy 2020

WARC, the global authority on marketing effectiveness, has today released the 2020 MENA Strategy Report, outlining insights and successful marketing trends following an analysis of the results of this year's WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, an annual case study competition that rewards the region's smartest strategic thinking. 

Lucy Aitken, Managing Editor, Case Studies, WARC, says: "As certain MENA markets are already enduring their second wave of COVID-19 and several continue to be buffeted by economic recession, identifying new strategies for growth is vital for brands. 

"In this report, we've identified new approaches that this year's winners have incorporated in their campaigns that can help brands to build strong strategic frameworks that have growth baked in. From finding niche audiences in smaller markets to developing more resonant touchpoints, marketers in MENA are becoming more resourceful and creative in how they grow their brands."

The four key takeaways highlighted in WARC's 2020 MENA Strategy Report are:

 1.Target the frontier markets

Pragmatic solutions that help specific communities in MENA's frontier markets can be instrumental in driving growth. Empowering marginalised communities, particularly within the region's smaller markets, can be an effective way to brand-build.

This year's Grand Prix-winning initiative from Tunisie Telecom helped female farmers access social security via their handsets. The technological innovation instigated by the campaign set the precedent for a new digital government vision.

Melek Ourir, Strategic Planner at Wunderman Thompson Tunisia, advises: "Resist the temptation to ignore smaller markets and audiences that could unlock significant growth for your business."

2.  Unconventional touchpoints can underpin strategy

Identifying new, creative touchpoints strengthens strategy, resonating with or delighting audiences.

Three standout campaigns addressed consumer challenges and were not constrained by where the brands were traditionally 'allowed' to be present: clothing retailer Babyshop promoted the long-term health of mothers; cheese brand Puck reclaimed share at breakfast and lunch; and NGO Donner Sang Compter encouraged those who spill their own blood onto the streets in the tradition of Ashura to donate it instead.

Admiring the risks and the rulebreakers among this year's winners that explored new touchpoints, judge Sunjay Malik, Associate Director, Strategy at PHD UAE, says: "Media mixes are rulebooks that we set ourselves, which over time make us less imaginative and less brave. Long live the rulebreakers, who in challenging themselves inspire us to be better." 

3.  Humour: a strategic shortcut to likeability

Making people laugh is one of the most powerful ways to connect and can make your brand distinct from the competition. 

Winning brands that used humour include Burger King, which launched a new spicy menu with its Who Said Men Don't Cry campaign; telco Jawwy used entertaining video content to resonate with Saudi youth; and Egyptian telco Etisalat crafted a comic campaign to win customers over to its hybrid offer.

Jury member Shagorika Heryani, Head of Strategy at Grey MENA, says: "There's always a place for humour - even during a crisis. Smart brands understand the relationship between humour and humanity. Companies know that we buy from brands and people we like. And humour is a shortcut to likeability and authenticity."

4. Localise to resonate

This year's winners are a treasure trove of local insight, proving how time invested upfront to unearth strong local insights tends to pay dividends in terms of a robust strategy.

Best-in-class examples include: KFC in Saudi Arabia, which communicated its commitment to locally-sourced chicken by turning all of its brand assets green - the colour of the Kingdom's flag; and Grand Prix winner Tunisie Telecom, which devised a programme to offer social welfare coverage to female farmers. 

The announcement was made at the “X” by OJ Lifestyle launch held in Dubai last night

The former world boxing champion will be moving to the popular tourist destination in the coming months

Amir plans to take boxing up a level in the region, and will be opening a boxing academy in the emirate in association with the Dubai Sports Council

The former world boxing champion and Olympic silver medallist, Amir Khan, yesterday confirmed he was moving from Britain to Dubai in the coming months as he looks to bring boxing to the well-known tourist destination in the United Arab Emirates, which was also home to the Special Olympics last year.

The well-known sports personality, who hails from Bolton, UK confirmed his move at the “X” by OJ Lifestyle launch, which took place in the Coca-Cola Arena, Dubai on Tuesday 15th September 2020.

As Amir gears up to making his official retirement from boxing, the sportsman who is opening a boxing academy in Dubai, will also be partnering with longtime friend, British expat entrepreneur - Omar Jackson, founder of “X” by OJ Lifestyle as he looks to move into the business side of the sport.

Amir Khan said of the move: “I’ve tried to keep it a secret, but I thought it would be a good change. I’ll still be going back and forth between Bolton and Dubai, but I want to do a lot more in Dubai and I’m in talks with the Dubai Sports Council and Omar Jackson (of the OJ Lifestyle brand) to improve the boxing landscape here. Maybe one day we could have a boxing arena in the Coca-Cola arena! Moving here is definitely a challenge, but also an opportunity to open more doors for boxing in Dubai.”

“X” by OJ Lifestyle is an app-based membership platform that embodies the core focus of the OJ Lifestyle brand; to “energise, thrill and inspire”. It provides access to hand-selected brands that cover every lifestyle category. “X” members will unlock a thrilling new world of unique experiences, value added offers and exclusive packages. The membership programme covers all lifestyle requirements from luxury experiences to daily necessities.

Omar Jackson and Amir Khan will be launching a gym ‘The BOX’ by OJ Lifestyle – powered by Amir Khan by the end of 2020 at the Coca-Cola Arena Dubai.

Asia’s leading travel tech platform announces the full-service launch offering flights, hotels, staycations, activities, and more

Amid rising Indian Premier League fever rolls out its first campaign ‘Game On!’ for cricket fans in the UAE

MakeMyTrip (NASDAQ: MMYT), one of the leading travel tech platforms in Asia announced its foray into the United Arab Emirates with its portfolio of rich travel offerings for travelers across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Umm Al Quwain. With over two decades of experience in serving and catering to the ever-evolving traveler needs in the region, the company has now set its focus on redefining the experience for travelers in the UAE through its wide gamut of offerings spanning across flights, hotels, staycations, activities and more. 

In parallel, as the UAE gears up to welcoming and hosting India’s biggest cricket celebration, the Indian Premier League, to add more thrill and excitement for cricket lovers, MakeMyTrip will launch its first customer engagement campaign, Game On! on the 19th of September.

As the company enters one of the key global travel and tourism hubs, Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder & Group CEO of MakeMyTrip says “We are excited to bring MakeMyTrip to the UAE and introduce rich travel offerings that are stamped with our deep understanding of evolving traveler needs that will serve the expatriate as well as Emirati population in the region. We are looking forward to elevating the travel experience through hassle-free booking processes, safe travel options available at great value, and seamless post booking support. As the travel industry gets back on the rails after pandemic-led disruption, we continue to believe in the long-term opportunity in travel and are confident of the opportunity that the UAE market represents as a global travel hub.”

MakeMyTrip is one of the leading full-suite travel companies globally that enables travelers to book their end-to-end journey on a single platform with just a few clicks. As the company expands into the UAE market, MakeMyTrip brings with it an all-inclusive travel platform that will allow travelers to discover, choose, and book from a wide range of travel options. The offerings on the platform are tailored to suit the diverse interests and demands of all customer segments. The travel offerings on the platform are well suited to serve the needs of the UAE’s large expatriate community as well as the local population. The services are already live on MakeMyTrip Website, Mobile-Web and App in English, and the Arabic version is set to be launched soon. 

With people gradually returning to travel in the new normal post the pandemic, MakeMyTrip has readapted its offerings to assure safety standardization and augmented hygiene standards in compliance with the guidelines issued by WHO and local travel authorities. Together with its partners across the value chain, the company has successfully rolled out its offerings for airlines, hotels and holiday packages including Staycations, Daycations in conformity with MySafety, our safety assurance program that ensures safety across all travel touchpoints.   

The Game On! campaign has been themed and conceptualized around reviving the vigor of celebrating life in the world post-COVID-19  -- by marrying two most loved out and about activities -- cricket and travel. The campaign includes a one-of-a-kind gaming contest on the app allowing travel and cricket fanatics to participate in daily raffle contests and trivia on IPL – gratifying winners with ‘unlimited cash earn, and unlimited burn on anything travel’ and more. 

This season, MakeMyTrip is also rooting for and co-sponsoring three teams including Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). As part of the Game On campaign, winners of the daily run ‘predict and win’ contest will also get an exclusive chance to interact with their favorite players virtually. 

Interbrand, the world’s leading brand consultancy, won three awards at last night’s seventh annual Transform Awards MEA. Interbrand’s excellence in the rebranding project of the digital leading company in Middle East, stc, was recognised in a room brimming with industry specialists.

The implementation, positioning and creativity of the corporate brand is becoming an increasingly treasured business asset.

The Transform Awards evaluate exemplary work in brand development and acknowledge the growing significance of brand in strategic corporate communications – developing and sustaining a strong brand is imperative for success.

Interbrand received two Silver awards in the ‘Best brand development project to reflect changed mission, values or positioning’ and ‘Best rebrand of a digital property’ categories. The latter award is shared with the digital agency FROG.

Also, the brand consultancy got a Bronze award, together with the audio branding agency CORD Worldwide, in the category ‘Best use of audio brand’.

Launched in December 2019, stc’s rebrand represents a pivotal change for the company which leads a digital transformation in Saudi Arabia and the region, aiming to unify the brand in all its markets (KSA, Bahrain and Kuwait) and establishing a consistent brand promise in all these markets. The creative direction of the identity “Everything’s going forward!” is what inspired the visual identity that aims to trascend the telco category.

Nancy Villanueva, Interbrand’s CEO Iberia & Middle East, states: “The visual identity was designed to focus on simpler, bolder and more iconic elements that transmit a forward-thinking strategy and represent a unique and solid story. This is primarily achieved through a key visual we call the “slider”: ‘making everything move towards the future’.”

The awards ceremony, hosted by Ali Al Sayed, was held at the V Hotel, Dubai.

Zenith’s Commerce Director Stuart Johnston, in partnership with Publicis Commerce, reviews Facebook’s latest announcement and venture into Commerce. 

Facebook announced the arrival of Facebook Shops, a brand new e-commerce solution enabling brands to develop digital storefronts on Facebook and Instagram.

Accelerated to capitalise on the dependency of e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic, the timing of this arrival plays into the hands of Facebook’s desire to both attract brands who are desperately shifting spend online channels and to leverage the obvious rise in digital consumer spending.

Facebook needed this new development

Facebook Marketplaces, the platform’s existing commerce solution, is more of a classifieds peer-to-peer space than a credible e-commerce destination. At the time of writing, the top marketplace items in my local London area include a pair of used trainers, a caravan from 1974, a second-hand sports bra and a listing for what I can only conclude is a Bitcoin scam. Just last weekend, I used the platform to sell an open bag of cement I no longer had any use for; hardly an appropriate ecosystem for brands or consumers to engage in mass online retailing.

With marketplaces like Amazon, Zalando and eBay asserting their dominance in this space, Facebook was clearly left behind. Similarly, the growth of stand-alone first party owned brand stores on Shopify platforms have also diverted ad spend externally, as brands target customer acquisition on the likes of Google where consumers intent is far stronger. Clearly, Facebook needed to do something to alight its commerce credentials.

Facebook Shops’ arrival offers an interesting solution to attract marketplace activity within its walled garden ecosystem, allowing brands to integrate a virtual storefront and interact directly with consumers within Facebook, Instagram and in the not too distant future, WhatsApp.

Will Facebook Shops dethrone Amazon?

The billion-dollar question that many will be asking is what impact Facebook Shops will have for brands and, more generally, the commerce landscape.

The current iteration of Facebook Shops is a major foothold into the commerce landscape for small to medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs. Initially, I see this working really well for the surge in direct-to-consumer brands and a large chunk of small to medium sized businesses, where traffic acquisition and initial discovery is often a major challenge. I suspect this is more of a longer-term threat to Shopify as a standalone solution, as brands may elect to focus resources and media investment into maintaining and driving traffic to a Facebook virtual storefront rather than an owned transactional website.

Short-term, Facebook Shops is mostly about embedding call to actions into social content or a perceived virtual storefront, beyond the limited existing capability we see within Instagram.

However, the solution is still far too nascent for significant impact for major brands at this stage, particularly those in the FMCG space; the muddled customer journey and lack of checkout integration, forcing customers off-site to complete a transaction, are major obstacles in achieving a seamless commerce experience that rivals the likes of Amazon. It’s worth noting that Facebook Shops only works as a solution for brands who can handle order fulfilment, delivery and payment processing themselves, notwithstanding owning their own product feed, so it won’t be right (or even open to) mass brands just yet.

We should not forget that the overwhelming majority of consumers head to either Amazon or Google for product discovery and transaction intent too, so changing this behaviour and disrupting dwell time across Facebook and Instagram to stimulate a purchase will inevitably take time. Amazon, for instance, also has far superior capability in terms of fulfilment, with over 150m global Prime subscribers, which cannot be overlooked.

What is interesting is that Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that there will be no charge for Facebook Shops – perhaps there will be some kind of commission for future iterations of checkout integration and payment processing – but the main play here is for advertising revenue. Clearly, Facebook has watched Amazon’s ad business boom exponentially, growing 40% to surpass a whopping $141.bn in 2019 alone, as brands hand over ad budgets to elevate visibility through their marketplace media offer.

Whilst large brands may consider leveraging Facebook Shops to test and learn or just have some visibility on the platform where product discovery may be a long-term opportunity, I think further iteration will truly unlock the potential of what Facebook are sitting on.

I suspect the most sizable impact will arrive when consumers, who can have payment and delivery address details saved within Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp, can purchase directly from in-app media or organic content, without leaving the ecosystem or live-chat. Such development increases the significance of calls to action, dramatically reduces the barriers to purchase and Facebook’s future end-to-end solution starts to become a worthy game changer. Be under no illusion that this will be coming very soon.

Right now, Facebook Shops is not an Amazon-killer and I am not convinced that even medium-term it poses a significant threat to Amazon’s 30% share of the UK retail market and dominant power in the global market. Brands should keep an eye on the development roadmap and perhaps consider testing lightly where capability allows, but should not expect significant disruption just yet – it is certainly more of a long-term play and opportunity for Facebook.

Written by Stuart Johnston,Global Commerce Director, Zenith

Residents claim to have reduced their spending in major categories recently due to the threefold increase in tax

With the new Value Added Tax coming into effect in Saudi Arabia recently, YouGov’s latest survey reveals nine in ten (91%) residents claim to be financially affected by the increased tax rate in the country. Out of these, 61% said they have been affected severely, while 29% felt a minor impact of this move on their finances.

Working residents seem to be more strongly influenced by the new tax rate than the non-working population (95% vs 86%). Similarly, respondents within the income bracket of SAR 5,001- 20,000 were more likely to say the increase has affected them (at 96%) than households belonging to other income groups.

When specifically asked about the implications of the new VAT rate on their business, 77% of respondents working in senior management positions reported a negative impact. Only 16% felt no impact of the tax rise, while a very small number (7%) said it had a positive effect on their business.

Not only their personal monetary situation, the KSA public foresees an adverse effect on the country’s financial position as well, with half (50%) stating the tax jump might negatively affect the economy. On the other hand, just one-in-five (22%) are hopeful it might have a ‘very or somewhat’ positive impact on the country’s economy.

In order to adjust to the new tax regime, around half (51%) of the respondents have limited their purchases to only those items that are necessary, while 45% have started buying cheaper alternatives. Some (37%) have postponed their plans to purchase certain goods while others intend to buy these items through international e-commerce sites (19%) or during their travel trips abroad (11%).

At an overall level, residents seem to have reduced their spending in all the listed categories in the past few days because of the increased VAT. The main areas where people have cut down their expenses are clothing (56%), dining out (51%), electronics (50%) and luxury items (49%). Nearly half (48%) claim to have reduced their overall personal expenditure.

Many have cut back expenses on entertainment (42%) and transport (41%), but spends on groceries have witnessed the least reduction comparatively (37%). It appears residents are giving more preference to essential items than leisure or luxury products, and therefore spending has changed to suit their current needs.

In terms of understanding the new VAT implementation, 45% of Saudi residents said it was easy for them to understand it, while a small proportion (20%) said it was difficult to comprehend.

A similar proportion of respondents claim to understand its impact on products/ services- with 43% finding it easy and 19% saying it was difficult to comprehend. Only 39% claim understanding of the new VAT’s implication on businesses was easy, while 20% found it difficult.

YouGov Omnibus data collected online among 1002 respondents in the KSA between 17th and 24th August 2020 using YouGov’s panel of over 6 million people worldwide. Data is representative of the adult national population in KSA.

With overall spending power of almost $100 billion, brands are looking to better understand Gen Z as their consumer habits start to take shape.

For many years, millennials were in the spotlight for brands and marketers. But as the next demographic block comes of age and their buying power increases in the workforce, Gen Z will be the main target for brands as their purchasing power increases and is expected to overtake millennials this year accounting for 32% of the global population. Whereas in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region the Gen Z penetration is 16% of the overall population and more than 72.5 million. When the countries in the EMEA, region are compared; Russia has the highest Gen Z population with 16.2%. Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and UAE follow with 15.8%, 12.2%. 2.6% and 0.8%. The country with the lowest percentage is Denmark with 0.5%.

Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z consists of the true digital natives who has never experienced a moment with the internet and digital technology. For this reason, digital channels are critical to effectively communicating and reaching Gen Z. Mobile games and interactive videos come to the fore here, because for Gen Z, having fun, being able to socialize, and using technology at the same time is very important.

According to the Global Trends Among Gen Z report by Global Web Index, we know that smartphones are a must for Gen Z. This generation spends an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes every day on mobile, and this is a very high figure compared to other generations.

Gen Z, who spend the most time on smartphones, have some of the most important purchasing power in mobile. Therefore, while communicating with Gen Z, brands and marketers should plan their strategies according to this generation’s behavior, preferences, and habits in mobile environments.

In a recent research conducted in partnership with Global Web Index, AdColony highlights the most important differentiators and insights about who Gen Z is, what drives and interests them, what they are doing in mobile environments, how strong their purchasing power is across different verticals, their behavior in mobile games compared to other generations, and how advertisers can reach them in the best possible way. 

The report features seven sections for advertisers and marketers to keep in mind while building marketing and communication strategies for Gen Z and leveraging mobile advertising to engage their target audience.

As one might expect for a younger audience, 63% of Gen Z lives with their parents, where 52% of the whole generation are students. The need for acceptance and belonging to a community are key characteristics of Gen Z. Around 2 in 5 say they are easily influenced by other people’s opinions — 17% more likely than the global average. Additionally, 73% say it’s important to feel respected by their peers. 

Around 64% of Gen Z say they are constantly connected online and 57% feel more insecure without their mobile phone than their wallet. As 97% of Gen Z owns a smartphone, unlike earlier generations m-commerce has a huge impact on the purchasing power. Gen Z’s were spending an extra 1 hour and 13 minutes on their mobile devices per day in 2018 compared to 2015. And since 2016, mobile devices have surpassed PC and laptops in terms of daily time spent.

81% of Gen Z members say that brands should provide funny and light-hearted videos and content to entertain people. This approval rate goes down as respondents get older: 78% for millennials, 73% for Gen X, and 62% for Baby Boomers. 

Mobile games have since filled the need for socializing and providing fun moments to spend with friends. From a gaming perspective, 45% of millennials consider themselves as gamers, while this ratio increases to 54% for Gen Z.

During August, Panda achieved the highest uplift in Ad Awareness of any brand in Saudi Arabia

Panda, the retail company, enjoyed the greatest improvement in Ad Awareness of any brand during August. The uplift coincides with the brands back to school campaign, which focuses on getting ready for the new school year and the associated special offers on school supplies.

In addition to the messaging highlighting the back to school promotions, Panda has also created recipe tutorial videos. These were shared on social media and centred around meals and snacks that can be prepared to take to school, using ingredients available at Panda stores.

YouGov brand tracking data shows that the campaign has resonated with the general public, with Panda’s Ad Awareness score rising by 8.2 points, from +20.9 at the beginning of the month, to +29.1 on the 26th August. Among females, these numbers are even higher, with Ad Awareness reaching +31.0 at the end of August, increasing by 12 points throughout the month.

Looking at how this uplift in Ad Awareness has impacted Consideration for Panda, at the total population level, Consideration has increased by a slight 1.5 points. However, among females, Consideration for Panda has increased significantly, by 10.3 points, from +24.5 in July (simple average for the month), compared to +34.8 for all of August. This shows that while the adverts have cut through and were noticed at the total population level when analysing the impact of the campaign, the behavioural changes were apparent only among females.

The success of this campaign will continue to be tracked in BrandIndex over the coming weeks, and we will get a better idea of whether these campaigns have translated to greater Current Customer numbers for Panda in KSA.

UAE’s homegrown online travel portal, Musafir.com, has announced the success and continuation of repatriation flights to help facilitate travel for passengers in the UAE who have been stranded and impacted due to COVID-19 in the UAE. 

So far, Musafir.com has facilitated the travel for over 20,000 passengers.

In collaboration with key corporate clients and NGOs in the UAE, Musafir.com organized chartered flights to help tourists who have exceeded their stay in the UAE; and residents who have lost their jobs and with it their primary source of income. 

Raheesh Babu, Chief Operating Officer, said: “The impact of this global pandemic is far and wide – no one is immune from it. We have always believed in standing together in solidarity with our customers and the communities we operate in. Thanks to the support of our partners and government authorities and our teams who have been working round the clock, we were able to support the successful return of over 20,000 people, including the elderly, pregnant women, and children to their country of destination. Further, we were able to facilitate visa extensions for over 5000 expatriates stranded in the UAE. We hope to continue our assistance and support as part of our responsibility and values and thank the authorities.”

IATA accredited Musafir.com was founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, Sachin Gadoya, and Albert Dias in August 2007 and inaugurated by Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Thani in 2009.

Musafir.com is the UAE’s first premium-experience travel website that offers flights to over 3,000 destinations, and hotel stays in over 85,000 properties around the world, holiday experiences, and much more.

The word Musafir (pronounced moo-saa-fir) means “traveler” in Arabic, and the company is known by three promises – great choice, no-nonsense convenience travel, and a premium experience.

The campaign that worked with Gulf talent achieved more than 920 million impressions, with more than 10,000 interactions across the Explorers' channels

Global smartphone brand OPPO today revealed the results of its Find More campaign that saw it partner with three Find More Explorers – award-winning content creator, YouTuber and online personality EMKWAN, UAE’s first female film director-producer Nayla Al Khaja, and renowned photographer Jumana Jolie. The campaign saw it work with the talent to create a video series aimed at inspiring the people of the UAE to continue pushing their boundaries of creativity, deliver content that reflects their creative potential, and essentially strive for more. Throughout the campaign, OPPO gained 920 million impressions through diverse media channels, with more than 10,000 followers interacting with the content. 

Exploration has been in OPPO’s DNA since its inception when it embarked on a journey to explore and pioneer extraordinary technology. The Find series signifies the spirit of exploration and with the unique Find More campaign, OPPO aimed to inspire and empower people, with explorer stories to tell, to find their own X factor and take a step further to push to their full potential. 

Ivan Wu, UAE Country Manager for OPPO, commented, “Conveying the spirit to explore more possibilities, our latest Find More campaign saluted these explorers who have pushed themselves to achieve new heights in their respective fields. We also wanted to inspire the UAE to go forward and explore more so we are thrilled with the number of people we were able to reach. OPPO is a youthful brand, for the youth, and we are committed to supporting our future explorers across the region.”  

Each of the explorers were selected for the unique way they explored in their everyday lives For renowned photographer Jumana Jolie, OPPO enables her to constantly see fresh perspectives and capture anything new that inspires her along the way, whatever location she was in. Emirati Film Director Nayla Al Khaja believes exploration is inescapable – exploring stories, characters and details and the endless possibilities of what she might discover drives her forward. She described the OPPO as “helping me see between the lights and shadows – it is my second pair of eyes where I go.”

Commenting on the campaign, content creator EMKWAN had this to say, “I have a constant need to chase what’s next and what’s new – something which I see in what OPPO brings to the region, so I was honored to partner with them on this campaign. I have always used technology to explore and push the boundaries of what is possible and OPPO allows me to discover more every day.”