June-August 2009
There are valuable lessons to be learnt from those looking to make their mark with male students, reports Alex Malouf. Imagine, if you will, a marketer's dream. A young, vibrant population, with plenty of time to spare and disposable income. There are an estimated 160,000 university undergraduates in Saudi Arabia alone, with similar numbers reported across the rest of the Gulf.
To a number of brands, students have been the reason for their revival. Take Aujan: its youth-oriented brand Barbican has gone through a transformation in the past couple of years as the company has looked to reinvigorate sales and growth.
"As a brand, Barbican has been around since 1982. However, the malt drinks category was perceived to be dull, and more health oriented. We transformed how people looked at the category. How? Through youth marketing, especially to ages of 18 and above. Now, malt drinks and Barbican are seen as cool and friendly," says Ahmed Shaboury, Aujan's head of brands. To capture new market share the Saudi beverage company undertook extensive research in understanding students. For Shaboury, it's all about credibility.
"Before we launched our 'This is Me' campaign we were constantly being told by students that [Gulf] marketing lacked credibility. Gulf nationals were being marketed to by Egyptians and Lebanese. What we did was to ask Saudis to market to Saudis. We wanted them to express themselves naturally. Incredibly, we never had a storyboard for a Barbican commercial. Our preproduction meeting was less than an hour, because we wanted the Saudis in the advert to be spontaneous. All that we did was aimed at addressing the credibility issue. Our brand not only transformed the image of the category in general, but it also tripled our sales. Today we sell three times more Barbican than we did three years ago," says Shaboury.
"When we asked university students five years back, at the start of our campaign, about Barbican they said we like what you're doing but it's still too old. We changed the look of the bottle, the layout and the look. Now, when the guys go out on Wednesday or Thursday they're not holding a can. They're holding a brand that gives them kudos."
As part of its drive to build credibility, Aujan and Barbican teamed up with events firm UMBi to sponsor its car customisation and adventure sport shows, Adrenaline Sports Live (ASL) and Barbican Turbo. With a key target segment being students, UMBi turned to youth marketing agency Oobers to get the message out about the events.
"We had over 19 sports on offer at ASL, and what was important to us was segmentation. Some activities were aimed at older visitors and others for students. We needed credibility to sell the show. If you want to talk about skateboarding, you need a skateboarder. Oobers helped us with peer-to-peer comms, through clubs, associations and opinion leaders," says Kent Daniels, regional director for UMBi UAE.
Founded several years back, Oobers has built what it calls a regional youth community based on interests. From this group of 12,000 people Oobers employs brand ambassadors, people whom the agency identifies as leaders in their social groups who can evangelise on behalf of Oober's clients. For Hassane Mourad, co-founder, Oobers, the tie-up with UMBi and Barbican was a dream come true.
"They were targeting markets that had never been tapped by conventional marketers, such as car customisation. We called in our brand ambassadors from the car and sport sectors, briefed them about the event, and we then rolled out our viral marketing campaign. Six opinion leaders from the car industry and six from sport went out into their own interest groups to spread the word.
"Once we began, the whole campaign took on a life of its own. We didn't look at demographics as much as passion, and our student marketing approach is peer to peer."
Tapping into that passion for creativity is the goal of MBC for its "Movies in Motion" campaign.
With its aim of unearthing talented young directors from around the GCC, MBC works hand in hand with schools and universities as well as advertising online and on television.
"We're in our third year now and we're working with 60 educational establishments across nine countries. We've partnered with the New York Film Academy as well as Sony Ericsson and we're advertising on our movie channels to tie in the themes. Movies in Motion is all about connecting with youths, interacting with them, and nurturing talent," says Andrew Maskall, senior marketing manager for MBC Western Channels.
While MBC can leverage off its broadcasting muscle, Maskall is pushing dialogue with viewers online. That interaction will enable the public to vote for the winning film online. Movies in Motion is not just about entertainment: Maskall and Simon Hunter, president of the New York Film Academy, both believe that education is essential to get students to enter the competition.
"We want to find the next generation of student filmmakers, and do that by following a process that is as simple as possible. While I've found that the urge for storytelling is fascinating here, especially among women, most schools don't have filming degrees.
"I didn't expect to have a super turnout as I would do in Los Angeles or New York, but we've had audiences of 90 students. We want to develop the next generation of filmmakers and build that infrastructure," says Hunter. For Mohammad Salama, head of marketing at Sony Ericsson MENA, reaching out to universities and educating students are his two key pillars of student outreach.
"When it comes to students we are very active, be it through road shows and brand activation. We've combined youth and music marketing through our work with Rotana. We're a pioneer in mobile imaging through our Cybershot phone line and MBC's campaign is a perfect fit for us. Our phones are popular for spot usage. When you're out and something captures your attention you'll use your phone to take a shot. Students are taught how to film on Sony Ericsson phones at the universities MBC is working with."
In the opposite direction, one educator who has moved into the corporate world is David Jenns, managing partner of education consultancy firm Libra. Jenns, who has worked with the UAE Ministry of Higher Education for 12 years, established Libra with Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Shakhboot Al Nahyan to give communities access to school facilities and learning activities. He believes that corporates need to look at the youth market and students in a different way.
"Companies do recognise the value of working with the youth but they don't know how to go about it other than, say, through sponsorship, branding or events. They're missing the mark. The corporate sector needs to work in partnership with educators such as ourselves to provide both the student community and business with a win-win... Corporates need to become positive role models."
For Intel's GCC marketing manager, Shabab Al Ghamdi, university students are his most effective evangelists. "We've targeted students through road shows, to show them the latest technology and let them try to test what's new in IT. We've also given them offers and discounts. Why? Because we believe in their influence on others. They're keen to know more and they help us to spread the word."
One sector that has yet to take on the university challenge is banking. In Europe and the US, banks offer students specialised accounts, overdrafts and credit cards to win over the next generation of professionals before they enter the job market. However, despite some notable exceptions such as Gulf Bank's Red initiative, banks have shied away from the student market, as one marketing executive admitted.
"I agree that there are potential market segments untapped, but, firstly, over the last few years banks have been looking at the low hanging fruit (and there has been enough to pick with the more obvious segments) and, secondly, although these segments are tomorrow's customers there is a certain leap of faith required in terms of short-term return on investment [for the banks]."
Much of the youth marketing is channelled through social media such as Facebook and YouTube. For Husni Al Khuffash, UAE country business development manager for Google, the move towards online advertising is better late than never. "We as individuals understand social media but companies still don't. Many marketers were in a comfort zone up until now. They weren't asked about ROI by their management, or if their message was reaching the right audience. It's not about money. Queen Rania [of Jordan] didn't pay anything for her YouTube channel. What we've lacked is accountability. However, this year is shaping up to be the best in the region for digital marketing," says Al Khuffash.
"I don't know anyone under the age of 15 who is not online. Every marketer I know wants to get engaged, but 99 per cent of them don't know what engagement is. I've learnt that the hard way. Google has tools that are available for free for marketers who want to talk to their audience, especially to students and the youth market.
"Times are changing and the purchasing power of a 15-year-old is more than a 25-year-old, say, 10 years ago. Marketers are waking up but those who leave it too late will have to pay more. Everyone will go online sooner or later."
One Saudi Arabia-based marketer agrees that firms are missing the point when it comes to students.
"I think the marketing industry doesn't focus on students as a unique segment," says Hani Khoja, one of the founders of marketing consultancy Elixir.
"There's too much reliance on mass media. We're not looking at the medium being used, at the content revolution. Youth are much more reliant on digital. Traditional TV still has a role to play but less than before. The curve from traditional media to digital is much steeper here than in other markets. Our youth are embracing change, but most companies are not keeping up. To grow in this niche market you have embrace the tools and the media that students use."
Aujan's Shaboury agrees that marketers can learn a few lessons from students in the Middle East.
"Whoever is not looking to talk to and work with students is missing the biggest opportunity in the market today. Students are just waiting for someone to talk to them, unlike you or me, who work. They're bored, and they've got disposable income. We take risks; we do something unconventional. And you know what? We know it will work."
© Gulf Marketing Review 2009
There are valuable lessons to be learnt from those looking to make their mark with male students, reports Alex Malouf. Imagine, if you will, a marketer's dream. A young, vibrant population, with plenty of time to spare and disposable income. There are an estimated 160,000 university undergraduates in Saudi Arabia alone, with similar numbers reported across the rest of the Gulf.
To a number of brands, students have been the reason for their revival. Take Aujan: its youth-oriented brand Barbican has gone through a transformation in the past couple of years as the company has looked to reinvigorate sales and growth.
"As a brand, Barbican has been around since 1982. However, the malt drinks category was perceived to be dull, and more health oriented. We transformed how people looked at the category. How? Through youth marketing, especially to ages of 18 and above. Now, malt drinks and Barbican are seen as cool and friendly," says Ahmed Shaboury, Aujan's head of brands. To capture new market share the Saudi beverage company undertook extensive research in understanding students. For Shaboury, it's all about credibility.
"Before we launched our 'This is Me' campaign we were constantly being told by students that [Gulf] marketing lacked credibility. Gulf nationals were being marketed to by Egyptians and Lebanese. What we did was to ask Saudis to market to Saudis. We wanted them to express themselves naturally. Incredibly, we never had a storyboard for a Barbican commercial. Our preproduction meeting was less than an hour, because we wanted the Saudis in the advert to be spontaneous. All that we did was aimed at addressing the credibility issue. Our brand not only transformed the image of the category in general, but it also tripled our sales. Today we sell three times more Barbican than we did three years ago," says Shaboury.
"When we asked university students five years back, at the start of our campaign, about Barbican they said we like what you're doing but it's still too old. We changed the look of the bottle, the layout and the look. Now, when the guys go out on Wednesday or Thursday they're not holding a can. They're holding a brand that gives them kudos."
As part of its drive to build credibility, Aujan and Barbican teamed up with events firm UMBi to sponsor its car customisation and adventure sport shows, Adrenaline Sports Live (ASL) and Barbican Turbo. With a key target segment being students, UMBi turned to youth marketing agency Oobers to get the message out about the events.
"We had over 19 sports on offer at ASL, and what was important to us was segmentation. Some activities were aimed at older visitors and others for students. We needed credibility to sell the show. If you want to talk about skateboarding, you need a skateboarder. Oobers helped us with peer-to-peer comms, through clubs, associations and opinion leaders," says Kent Daniels, regional director for UMBi UAE.
Founded several years back, Oobers has built what it calls a regional youth community based on interests. From this group of 12,000 people Oobers employs brand ambassadors, people whom the agency identifies as leaders in their social groups who can evangelise on behalf of Oober's clients. For Hassane Mourad, co-founder, Oobers, the tie-up with UMBi and Barbican was a dream come true.
"They were targeting markets that had never been tapped by conventional marketers, such as car customisation. We called in our brand ambassadors from the car and sport sectors, briefed them about the event, and we then rolled out our viral marketing campaign. Six opinion leaders from the car industry and six from sport went out into their own interest groups to spread the word.
"Once we began, the whole campaign took on a life of its own. We didn't look at demographics as much as passion, and our student marketing approach is peer to peer."
Tapping into that passion for creativity is the goal of MBC for its "Movies in Motion" campaign.
With its aim of unearthing talented young directors from around the GCC, MBC works hand in hand with schools and universities as well as advertising online and on television.
"We're in our third year now and we're working with 60 educational establishments across nine countries. We've partnered with the New York Film Academy as well as Sony Ericsson and we're advertising on our movie channels to tie in the themes. Movies in Motion is all about connecting with youths, interacting with them, and nurturing talent," says Andrew Maskall, senior marketing manager for MBC Western Channels.
While MBC can leverage off its broadcasting muscle, Maskall is pushing dialogue with viewers online. That interaction will enable the public to vote for the winning film online. Movies in Motion is not just about entertainment: Maskall and Simon Hunter, president of the New York Film Academy, both believe that education is essential to get students to enter the competition.
"We want to find the next generation of student filmmakers, and do that by following a process that is as simple as possible. While I've found that the urge for storytelling is fascinating here, especially among women, most schools don't have filming degrees.
"I didn't expect to have a super turnout as I would do in Los Angeles or New York, but we've had audiences of 90 students. We want to develop the next generation of filmmakers and build that infrastructure," says Hunter. For Mohammad Salama, head of marketing at Sony Ericsson MENA, reaching out to universities and educating students are his two key pillars of student outreach.
"When it comes to students we are very active, be it through road shows and brand activation. We've combined youth and music marketing through our work with Rotana. We're a pioneer in mobile imaging through our Cybershot phone line and MBC's campaign is a perfect fit for us. Our phones are popular for spot usage. When you're out and something captures your attention you'll use your phone to take a shot. Students are taught how to film on Sony Ericsson phones at the universities MBC is working with."
In the opposite direction, one educator who has moved into the corporate world is David Jenns, managing partner of education consultancy firm Libra. Jenns, who has worked with the UAE Ministry of Higher Education for 12 years, established Libra with Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifa bin Shakhboot Al Nahyan to give communities access to school facilities and learning activities. He believes that corporates need to look at the youth market and students in a different way.
"Companies do recognise the value of working with the youth but they don't know how to go about it other than, say, through sponsorship, branding or events. They're missing the mark. The corporate sector needs to work in partnership with educators such as ourselves to provide both the student community and business with a win-win... Corporates need to become positive role models."
For Intel's GCC marketing manager, Shabab Al Ghamdi, university students are his most effective evangelists. "We've targeted students through road shows, to show them the latest technology and let them try to test what's new in IT. We've also given them offers and discounts. Why? Because we believe in their influence on others. They're keen to know more and they help us to spread the word."
One sector that has yet to take on the university challenge is banking. In Europe and the US, banks offer students specialised accounts, overdrafts and credit cards to win over the next generation of professionals before they enter the job market. However, despite some notable exceptions such as Gulf Bank's Red initiative, banks have shied away from the student market, as one marketing executive admitted.
"I agree that there are potential market segments untapped, but, firstly, over the last few years banks have been looking at the low hanging fruit (and there has been enough to pick with the more obvious segments) and, secondly, although these segments are tomorrow's customers there is a certain leap of faith required in terms of short-term return on investment [for the banks]."
Much of the youth marketing is channelled through social media such as Facebook and YouTube. For Husni Al Khuffash, UAE country business development manager for Google, the move towards online advertising is better late than never. "We as individuals understand social media but companies still don't. Many marketers were in a comfort zone up until now. They weren't asked about ROI by their management, or if their message was reaching the right audience. It's not about money. Queen Rania [of Jordan] didn't pay anything for her YouTube channel. What we've lacked is accountability. However, this year is shaping up to be the best in the region for digital marketing," says Al Khuffash.
"I don't know anyone under the age of 15 who is not online. Every marketer I know wants to get engaged, but 99 per cent of them don't know what engagement is. I've learnt that the hard way. Google has tools that are available for free for marketers who want to talk to their audience, especially to students and the youth market.
"Times are changing and the purchasing power of a 15-year-old is more than a 25-year-old, say, 10 years ago. Marketers are waking up but those who leave it too late will have to pay more. Everyone will go online sooner or later."
One Saudi Arabia-based marketer agrees that firms are missing the point when it comes to students.
"I think the marketing industry doesn't focus on students as a unique segment," says Hani Khoja, one of the founders of marketing consultancy Elixir.
"There's too much reliance on mass media. We're not looking at the medium being used, at the content revolution. Youth are much more reliant on digital. Traditional TV still has a role to play but less than before. The curve from traditional media to digital is much steeper here than in other markets. Our youth are embracing change, but most companies are not keeping up. To grow in this niche market you have embrace the tools and the media that students use."
Aujan's Shaboury agrees that marketers can learn a few lessons from students in the Middle East.
"Whoever is not looking to talk to and work with students is missing the biggest opportunity in the market today. Students are just waiting for someone to talk to them, unlike you or me, who work. They're bored, and they've got disposable income. We take risks; we do something unconventional. And you know what? We know it will work."
© Gulf Marketing Review 2009
