Arabic language apps have moved into the mainstream, reports Ryan Harrison.
The insatiable appetite for Arabic is dominating app marketing plans.
Gone are the days of adding a token Arabic language feature to the app menu. Today, consumers in the Mena region are demanding that mobile carriers and telco operators serve up more choice.
"It's either Arabic or nothing," says Shadi Hasan, managing director of Dubai-based Flagship Integrated Projects, which just launched Arabic bookstore app Rufoof. "Arabic content is no longer seen as a complementary channel that helps marketers reach a new consumer base.
"If your app does not serve the local market then users will not be interested. The more you have relevant content, the more likely you are to sell phones," he adds. The trend is most visible in Saudi Arabia, where more Arab smartphone users prefer Arabic language apps than any other Middle East country.
Research group Arab Advisors found that 47 per cent of Saudis favour their native language, compared to 8.2 per cent of nationals in Jordan and the UAE.
For the telco industry, the numbers out of Saudi tell a compelling story.
Revenue from smartphone apps in Saudi, the UAE and Jordan will grow to $210m in 2015 from $44m in 2011, but crucially 75 per cent of the total coming from Saudi.
Mohammad Abdullah, managing director of Dubai TECOM Investments' Media Cluster, said: "We have always encouraged the growth of local application development, which will also increase the use of mobile applications and devices.
"Rufoof is a fine example of the growth and proliferation of Arabic content. The epublishing of Arabic books on smartphone devices will provide a new platform of growth for writers, and also a new area of growth for our partners."
Still, there other factors that have played a part in influencing marketing strategies during the past 12 months.
For instance, there's something to be said about the "ease of discovery" of new and exciting apps, says Praveen Prabhakaran, business development manager for Nokia Lower Gulf.
Apps need to be intuitive and easy to understand, but critically must take as little effort as possible to find.
Prabhakaran says Nokia rolled out a cinema app - although obviously not in Saudi - that allows users to collect and redeem free tickets and popcorn coupons by tapping their phones at a movie poster.
Weaving Arabic content into innovative apps like this will be top of the priority list for the majority of telco professionals.
Most are now engaging with local developers to come up with apps in the Arabic social media space, the overall aim being to connect people in their own language.
Fundamentally, there is a lot of room to grow for app builders, given that there are few Arabic products on the market. Increasingly, marketers are finding that apps are what define a smartphone, so harnessing this potential could be the key to unlocking stellar results.
© Gulf Marketing Review 2012
