Hamad Malik, OSN's chief marketing officer is firmly focused on a customer-centric strategy. Precious de Leon reports.
WHEN GMR meets Hamad Malik at OSN's Dubai HQ he has just returned from Jordan. The cubicles in front of his door are a hive of activity, reflective, perhaps, of the marketing buzz emanating from the region's newest - in its current form - pay-TV company.
It was back in 2009 when Kuwait Projects Holding Company (KIPCO), owner of Showtime and the Saudi Mawarid Group, owner of Orbit, announced the merger of the two broadcasters. The deal resulted in the creation of a new brand, "OSN" (Orbit Showtime Network), reportedly valued at $900m to $1bn. Two years later, OSN launched its new brand identity and positioning with the tag line "Just Imagine". According to OSN, the brand "reflects the network's position as the most imaginative, ambitious and proactive broadcaster across the Middle East and Africa".
Fast forward to 2012 and it's now 12 months exactly since Malik took on the newly created role of CMO. There then followed a far-reaching agency review, which saw PR, digital, media buying and creative accounts go to H&K Strategies, Tribe, Starcom and Impact BBDO respectively. It may have taken some time before it fully flexed its marketing muscle, but OSN is now on a roll. And a closer look at Malik's career reveals just why he is the man to keep the momentum going. Prior to OSN, Malik was CMO of LG Electronics MEA where he worked for 16 years.
Aside from his wealth of regional knowledge, Malik brings to OSN his experience of building brand value into new identities. He joined LG when it was transitioning from Lucky Goldstar. The rebrand meant a change in value proposition, moving from an affordable home appliances company to a global technology innovator. The LG rebrand took two years in all, but was worth the wait. When Malik joined it was a $350m ,to $400m company. By the time he left it was valued at $4.8b to $5b. "When I was presented with this opportunity to take OSN through the journey of rebranding, I had an 'Aha moment' and I thought, 'Was it just that I was at LG at the right time and the right place? or can I do it again?'" he tells GMR.
Malik's professional journey has come a full circle, from the UAE to the US then Pakistan and back to the UAE ,which he calls home. Born and raised in Dubai to Pakistani parents, Malik graduated with a degree in commerce and business administration at the University of Punjab in his native Pakistan. Soon after graduating in 1991,he went to Arkansas State University for an MBA in marketing. His first job was as freelance market researcher in the US. He was then offered a position at the first company that bought the license for private, defense-related production in Pakistan. There followed a chance to return to Dubai and work for the distributors of Toyota special equipments for a year, and in 1995 he joined the then-called Goldstar company.
Proof is in profit
"When [OSN CEO] David [Butorac] joined in 2010, his desire was to make marketing more of a science than something that is driven by emotions. When I joined, my focus was to make the company analysisdriven, while taking customer insights into account. The result was a benefits-driven message," Malik recalls. "For example, we have DVR as a featured service. But what does it mean for our subscribers to have access to this kind of technology?
You have to inspire them by informing them of the benefits of DVR to the way they view programming. "That's been the main change in communications: the ability to bring the science of analysis and insights into the marketing exercise to build a truly customer-centric strategy." Malik shares Butorac's views on a data-driven approach. "For me, the success of a subscriptiondriven business is in delivering growth, controlling the churn and increasing the ARPU (average revenue per user).
And with OSN, our marketing campaign has to be aligned with these corporate objectives." Malik emphasises the shifting role of marketing in driving commercial success and the increasing need for accountability. "Marketers tend to focus on fancy things, but those fancy things sometimes don't have any connection with the corporate objectives. But I believe in being very brutal in asking why we are doing something and what will be the commercial end-result.
"Being result-oriented is important in a subscription-driven industry. It's not like you have a marketing budget you can invest and then have industry awards to show for the money you spent. In this industry, you see the results are in reaching commercial goals and meeting very clearly laid out KPIs. "Marketing for a very long time was a function that wasn't clearly measured. But now there are tools available that can help you see the impact of each action. It has become a science rather than an art."
Two-way
OSN's five-year communications strategy is two-pronged: technology and content. Regarding technology it offers recording and programme scheduling options. It is rolling out more HD channels, now at 19 out of 93. And more recently it ventured into online entertainment through OSN Play, free to all subscribers and featuring movies on-demand. In terms of content, it has long-term deals with third-party channels, Hollywood contracts and Arabic programme syndication.
It also has created its own Arabic programming, aired on Yahala HD. These include Dr Foz & Friends, Discover KSA, Hindustani and Hareem Al Sultan. "We identified a gap in Arabic content creation. This is the direction in which OSN is going, either creating our own content or supporting content production," says Malik, adding that content will be under the general entertainment category, from talk shows to series.
New audiences
As a subscriber-focused company a key focus is gaining new audiences. OSN looks after 24 markets and since the launch of the "Just Imagine" campaign, has been working hard to segment its content according to demographic. Core markets include Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Jordan. At the start of the year Saudi Arabia was a primary focus. OSN reached beyond the urban areas and into rural communities among the A-B and B segments, which tend to be more conservative.
"We wanted to communicate with them that OSN has programming that fits their family needs, like Disney and Discovery channel, as well as our Arabic programming including Yahala HD." Another important segment in Saudi Arabia is females. "TV plays a different role in the lives of women in Saudi than it does in any other markets. Because females tend to spend more time at home; TV plays a huge part of their lives." OSN is also reaching out to the Middle East's tech-savvy audience with OSN Play.
"Building the brand online and creating the OSN experience online is one of our main priorities." Figures for subscribers opting for OSN Play were not available, however, Malik says that the "stringent benchmarks" are so far "being achieved". More than 600 hours of content is available on OSN Play and Malik plans to launch content online, even before it's on TV. "The value of this initiative is in reducing our churn. The more our subscribers interact with us, the clearer the value of OSN will be for them." Malik shares some data on mobile device penetration in three of OSN's core markets.
"Overwhelmingly a big percentage of people wanted to watch content on alternate screens, particularly on mobile devices. Laptops have almost 78 per cent penetration in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE, and almost 12 per cent in Egypt, where a majority still uses PCs. "Meanwhile, smartphones have a high penetration in Saudi Arabia at 68 per cent and in the UAE at 66 per cent, while still exhibiting potential in Egypt which only records 28 per cent penetration. In terms of tablets, penetration is 15 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 21 per cent in the UAE." A primary market for OSN Play is Saudi Arabia partly because there are no cinemas. The UAE is second, followed by Kuwait and Egypt, although Malik does hint at adoption in other markets such as Libya and Jordan.
Multiple screen trend
In addressing this gradual shift in consumption, OSN plans to simultaneously tackle the four global trends in what Malik terms as "multiple-screen viewing". First is convergence. This is evident by the launch of web TVs and convergent tablet-TV viewing. In line with this, OSN is planning to deliver a set top that has both an internet port and a regular satellite port.
Then there's choice. While viewers have hundreds of channels to choose from, research shows that most stick to the three or four they watch most. For OSN, the key here is in delivering the preferred content and to communicate its availability. With companion apps, viewers are using apps that are connected with their favourite TV shows and movies to share their experience and to interact with fellow viewers and fans. Again Malik hints at developments here.
Competition and collaboration between content providers and online companies is also an issue. Slowly, traditional companies are utilising companies such as Youtube to raise the appeal of their own content. OSN, for example, uses Youtube to talk about its content.
The quest continues
While subscriber numbers and the rate of uptake were not disclosed, Malik says the growth during the past two years has been "unprecedented". He intends to build on this through market innovations, collaboration with partners, distributors and the creation of original programming. Daunting tasks, but that's what Malik enjoys. Our interview takes a surprisingly lengthy 90 minutes. Although the discussion ends as the sun sets, Malik's day isn't over.
Another meeting immediately follows to discuss the next marketing initiative. By this time, the bustling cubicles are empty as staff make their way home, presumably to huddle up in front of the TV ... or laptop ... or tablet... to watch the fruits of their labour.
© Gulf Marketing Review 2012
