Successful Ads in

Saudi Arabia

About Firefly

A Unique blend of ingredients

Boutique Quality

• Dynamic

• Involved

• Creative

• Flexible

• Strategic

• Consultative

Global Network

• Reach and Scale

• Shared Learning and Best Practices

• Harmonized Tools and Methodologies

• Consistent Delivery

• Cultural Sensitivity

LATIN AMERICAArgentinaBrazilColombiaMexicoPeru

EUROPECzech Republic France GermanyGreece Hungary Italy The Netherlands Poland Portugal Spain Switzerland Turkey United Kingdom

AFRICAGhana Kenya South Africa

ASIA/PACIFICAustralia China Hong Kong India IndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippinesSingaporeSouth Korea Taiwan Thailand Vietnam

NORTH AMERICACanada United States

WHERE WE ARE

Over 300 research professionals worldwide

MENA

What we doOur Areas of Expertise

FOUNDATIONAL

• Unmet Needs and Need State Discovery

• Category Exploration

• Ideation and Brainstorming

BRANDING

• Brand Essence/DNA

• Brand Positioning

• Brand Equity

• Brand and Product Development

CONNECTIONS

• Targeting and Segmentation

• Shopper Marketing and Retail

• Media Mix

• Social Media Mining

COMMUNICATIONS

• Creative Strategyand Development

• “Big Idea” Generation

• Creative Assessment and Copy-testing

• Creative Refinement and Optimization

SPECIALIZED IN THE 360° BRAND EXPERIENCE

How WE do it

Ethnography/in-situ

Live

Work

Play

Party

Shop

Eat/Drink

Blog

Depth Interviews

Focus Groups

IDEABLOG

Video Interviews

Family of experts

Quant

Digital

Media

Brand Valuation

Corporate Branding

TOOLS AND SOLUTIONS

The Firefly Difference

OUR TOOLSREFLECT WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE BELIEVE

TOOLS

Philosophy

BeliefsCharacter

THINK GLOBALLY AND ACT LOCALLY

• Going digital through

Ideablog®

• The need for a 360

degree personality

profile

• Reality vs. aspiration...

Which would be

happening where?

• …a combination

approach

If we are ‘different’ now, we would need

a ‘different’ approach

Ideablog® : non intrusive tapping into

consumer’s ‘private’ space

• Conversational

platform

• Accessible via their

mobile : Idea blog

Mobile App

Flexible engagement allows respondents to spend time thinking about the topic to provide rich

and meaningful uploads and responses

Online platform enables recruitment of hard-to-reach target audiences into a “group” setting

Global platform allows clients to conduct research in markets around the world

Benefits of the Platform

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Speak to consumers where they are comfortablewith and open to sharing information (sometimes

even more than they are when in-person!)

‘Real’ life stories – sharing life vignettes

Pictures from their daily life– Ramadan

Iftaar, Personal belongings and websites

they shop from

Any discomfort with sharing personal

pictures countered by sharing

representative pictures

Freedom of expression

• Women are far more expressive on the

online platform as compared to the

offline world

• They would interact with men openly and

voice their opinions

• Men like to share their overtly expressive

personalities online by uploading the

content from their real life. Keek, Taufeet,

Gangnum/Emirati style, Harlem Shake

HOW FIREFLY IMPLEMENTED IDEABLOG® TO EXPLORE

ADVERTISING THEMES IN SAUDI

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REVIEWING IDEABLOG ® METHODOLOGY

Ideablog® at play…

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• Men and women participated

• Aged varied between 18 and 29 years old

• A mix of Egyptians and Saudis

Ideablog® was conducted in KSA

Participants actively engaged for 10

days were online 2/3 hours a day

All participants were exposed to

the same stimulus

Ideablog® at play…

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A 3 phases process to help us focus and delve deeper in understanding

consumers’ responses to themes

1. Exploring 4

themes

2. Participants

shared ads

relevant to each

theme

3. We have injected

ads related to each

theme to amplify

their views

Having looked at the top ads in MENA,

we explored 4 executional themes…

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Music

Humour Celebrity

Slice Of Life

EVOLVED DECONSTRUCTION

OF ADVERTISING

Processing of Ads

A different way to deconstruct Ads

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“ I take time to process before I share my feedback”

• I process the ad at my own

pace, my feedback will be more

detailed!

• Ability to replay the ad

many times.

• Take the time to reflect

before sharing opinions.

• Read the feedback of other

participants , comfortable

sharing contradictory views.

Very Detailed Feedback On Ads

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The ad with Ronaldo for Mobily doesn’t not make sense!

1. What is Ronaldo doing there ? He has no role in this ad and

having him doesn’t serve in any case the brand.

2. If they have used him to attract our attention, it is useless

because he can only be noticeable when he is in the field or

making one of his moves

3. The fact that he is speaking Saudi is even more useless

cause what he said does not make any sense,

4. The brand Mobily comes at the end, no one would

remember it is a Mobily ad.

DEEP DIVE INTO THE THEMES

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MENA Consumers Relationship With Ads And Brands

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• Consumers in the region currently look upon advertising primarily as being Informative:

– About the product/ product demo

– Spontaneous focus is usually on the functional benefits of the product they can identify

• However, the market is moving to ads playing in the emotional space

– Encouraging identification with a lifestyle or image that the brand owns

• In such a scenario, the differentiator across ads therefore becomes the entertainment value offered by the ads through elements.

• And ads which offer these aspects appear to engage consumers more than purely imagery ads.

Having looked at the top ads in MENA,

we explored 4 executional themes…

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Music

Humour Celebrity

Slice Of Life

Humour

The type of humour Saudis enjoy…

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• Ad relevancy results form humor

based around a specific cultural

nuance, using dialect specific humor,

and country specific situations

• There is an evident attraction to a

more satirical, self-deprecating

humor, and use of play of words.

• Humor is perceived as a way that

help people cope with harsh reality

and therefore needs to ultimately

trigger positive emotions.

Omar Hussein in 3al6ayer

(As it goes)- A satirical Saudi

program on internet

380,000 Twitter followers. Every

video has approximately 400,000

views

Saudi Community: Sharing

Self Deprecating videos on

Saudi made by Saudi

1,141,974 viewes, 182,548 followes

and 14, subcribers

Some examples they have shared with us…

Snickers Ad

Funny, Relevant, Self-

Deprecation of Saudi

youth behavior

MTV Arabia Ad

• Relevant situation

• Smart analogy, play of

words

• Positive impact on

protagonists

Mobily Ad

Funny yet the hero is not

in a satisfying situation

Evolve with Your Consumers’ Sense of Humour

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• We do have the license to

explore and play with

different types of humor in

the region

• Play of words, positive Self

Deprecating situation can

be explored

Celebrity

Expectations from Celebrities

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Local Celebrities

Accessibility Fit with Brand

Local celebrities

resonate more and

drive engagement

Brand values need

to fit with the

Celebrity reputation

are likely to drive

persuasion and

credibility

Presence in social

media, taking part

in socially

responsible

activities

Locally acclaimed Celebrities generate a stronger

emotional connection

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Yasser Al Qahtani

Saudi

Respected in football world

Credible in the ad (Gillette)

Tuba Buyukustun

Turkish actress

Pantene commercials

Hend Sabry

Tunisian actress

Followed in TV series

- Not relevant to brand (“her hair is

different than ours”)

Cristiano Ronaldo

Respected football player

- He is everywhere (“no credibility in that” –

KFC ad)

Give Your Brand A Face Which Represents Your

Consumers…

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• Local Celebrities enable to

create a strong emotional link.

• Presence in Social Media has

become important for

Celebrities from the region

• Three elements need to be

aligned: the celebrity values ,

brand image and the brand

story.

Music

Music is About Modern Pop Arabic Music

• In the region, the new trend is Fusion. Mixing Arabic tunes with more Western types of music.

• Music should be selected keeping in mind tastes of the audiences.

• National popular music should be considered. Saudis accept more regional tunes

Qusai Kheder

We love Arabic beats, modern

ones! It attracts the attention

to the ad and makes it more

pleasant to watch

Arab Pop style is what we

love! Beats that we love and

words that we can relate to!

Slice Of Life

Finally ….

Slice of Life Directly Impacts Engagement

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Helps the Brand build Engagement through relevance of the story

ENGAGEMENT

Relevance

• Culturally & socially rooted situations

• Creates identification

Brand Fit Motivations

• The brand needs to fit to the situation depicted

• Brand has to play an active role

• Positive emotions are key drivers for this region

• Negative emotional payoff is rejected ( guilt, fear…etc)

Relevance… Portraying the “ Authentic ME “The Art of bringing Consumer Truth To Life

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• Manifestations of Consumer Truth

become very country specific, not

only regional.

When an ad is showing our reality, how we

Egyptians live and interact, it create a lot of

happiness and emotions… you forget that it is an

ad and you just enjoy watching … For example all

Coke ads reflects our reality in a very beautiful

manner …

When it is an ad which shown Saudi youth doing

things that we do, we feel that the brand cares

about us and understands us … Snickers ad is

great, that’s what we do and how we talk!

Brand Fit… How to tailor the brand and to story

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• Consumers look at ads as being

primarily informative. Usage

occasion, end benefit should be

relevant to the situation depicted.

• Ads showcasing the brand without

establishing a clear connect with the

situation are usually not liked

because consumer fail to

understand.

An ad which show our reality… and the brand has

to make sense in the situation … For example

friends gathering in the street and drinking soda

and eating chips is very true!

The presence of the brand need to make sense

to me… Sometimes there is no relation between

the brand and the ad… Or maybe I just don’t

get it

Motivations… Inspiring Positive Emotions

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• Saudis seem to prefer a more simple

• Situations showcasing negative

emotions such as guilt, discomfort,

shame .. Etc. do not work well in the

region.

We need happiness, hope, love, enjoyment in ads!

Why are they showing her conciseness telling her

not to go for sweets! If I want to eat something

tasty I will eat it! I don’t like such ads which want

to make you feel bad about your choice and

present their brand as “ What is good for you!”

Across

Connect in A locally Relevant Way

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• Slice of life allows to

get into the

emotional mind space

of your consumers.

• Recognizing the

variation of the

market is essential in

order to have winning

executions

The future of Ads in

the region is

happening NOW!

Engagement is more about the story and not just the message

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Evolve with Your consumer

Give your brand a face which they

identify to

Give your brand a local feel

Advertisers Have the Opportunity to Evolve with Consumers

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The power of insight !!!Any Questions?

Get in touch with Rasha Metwali

rasha.metwali@fireflymb.com