The recent Arab Youth Survey revealed that 80 per cent of young Arabs, especially in GCC, see Arabic as central to their national identity.
Interestingly, in the GCC the figure was 90 per cent, while in North Africa it was 79 per cent and the Levant and Yemen 70 per cent.
The survey also posed the question, “Is Arabic losing its value” with 60 per cent of young Arabs agreeing with the statement, an increase of 3 points over 2016.
This was most pronounced in North Africa, where 69 per cent felt Arabic was losing its value followed by the GCC at 59 per cent and the Levant and Yemen at 53 per cent.
In a pre-dominantly Arab region, marketing communication plays a major role because the Arabic language, like any other, is evolving.
And if we look carefully, we can see it everywhere — from the slang used on the street through to graphic artists, poets, singers and writers who continue to shape the language every day.
As communications experts, we believe we have a responsibility to fully understand the importance of the language, and the impact it has on millions of Arabs in the region. We need to treat it as a fundamental part of our structure.
A structure that puts the Arabic language in the forefront of our way of thinking and not in the back seat. And not rely on alternative languages to fill the gaps that we feel our language can’t fulfil.
It’s our role to explore our language to its full potential, as an essential part of our culture.
That means brands need to use language that has more true resonance with the target audience. They need to stop literal translation of ideas and concepts from English to Arabic, but rather create Arabic content that stands up on its own and delivers messages in a clear and simple manner.
A great example from an international brand that has been able to create a piece of content that’s disruptive, thought-provocative and authentic is Nike’s commercial, “What Will They Say About You”.
It is one of the few culturally rich, empowering campaigns that sets a great example of how we can truly and genuinely target Arab youth, and in this case, young Arab women.
Even though Nike continues to use its famous slogan “Just Do It” in English in the region, with this campaign, actions are speaking a lot louder than just slogans.
It goes far beyond selling sportswear, telling the story of aspiring female Arab athletes and the challenges they may face in their professional career. It’s an emotional and bold campaign, reflecting the region’s millennial spirit. It’s just one sample, which reflects the change in the brand’s strategy. A region with a population of more than 200 million needs a specific and individualised brand approach to be successful.
One question comes to mind: How can we create a similar impactful campaign? Especially in times where the Middle Eastern consumers are questioning their brand loyalty. According to an online study, 65 per cent of consumers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait admit they find themselves less loyal to brands than in the past.
This is why brands need to work even harder on a consistent and more accurate communication strategy towards their target group.
Creating brand loyalty is not an easy task and it’s definitely nothing a brand can achieve in a short term; it requires a well-thought marketing strategy and a long-term communication plan that sets the tone create awareness and deliver relevant message to the target audience.
BMW Group decided nine years ago to create relevant local content to gain a bigger share of hearts in the region.
Multiple pieces of communication were created that aimed to achieve this one strategy of speaking the consumers’ language.
The utilisation of relevant insights helped the brand talk to the consumers through effective content.
Some campaigns are led by the brand. Ramadan campaigns, local activations and, most recently, the creation of a platform in the consumer language #AnaBMW.
Some are led by the consumers themselves. The campaign around BMW Stories allowed 13 actual customers of five markets to be heroes in the brand’s movies.
It helped the target group to identify themselves with the brand through seeing themselves as a hero true ambassador of an international brand in their own market and language.
Other brands should be following these excellent examples. Preserving the language by using it boldly and effectively in creative campaigns should be an automatic consideration.
After all, it’s an expressive and rich language that continues to evolve in the same way the English language does, and in many ways can be more appropriate for targeting an audience that is conscious of its relevance to their identity.
— Khalil Haddad is Head of Arabic Content at Serviceplan Group M.E.
