This was preliminary study for me to get acquainted before a client meeting

1. StarCall

2. Scope of this presentation

3. Inputs
• Client brief
• Dip stick /depth interviews
– 15 bahraini youths
– 5 expats
– Previous obs study done in cyber café on cyber
behavior
• 15 youths x 3 groups

4. Understanding the Environment
• A lot of web sites cater and touch the lives of
many young in the region.
• Cell phones are not just a functional piece but
an expression of one’s individuality.

5. Understanding the Environment(contd..)
• The Arab youths exposed to western media and
entertainment - spawning a new sub culture free
from any ideological trappings.
• yoofi.com, yalla.com, room33.com,
newphonegames.com, ringtones-direct.com have
all exposed the Arab youth to the internet era (a
generation comfortable with gaming, download,
and hooked on to the cyber world)

6. Understanding the Environment(contd..)
• It is unthinkable not to have a cell-phone
as this habit starts at school so much so that
peer pressure would ensure conformity.
Exchanging software packages of games
and music starts very young

7. Why are we there?
• The changing behaviour patterns of
generation X.
• The coming of age of the Arab youth.
• The wireless revolution impacting the lives
of the people like never before.
• The insatiable desire to be techno savvy.

8. Who is this new Arab?
• The biggest export from US is Hollywood
(Tom Hanks, Jim Carrey, Richard Gere,
Julia Roberts are all universally popular)
• The second top draw is Bollywood
internationally recognized idols
• The Arabic cinema also vibrant with the
popularity of Andal Eman, Nou Chiring,
Boussi

9. Who is this new Arab? (Cont’d…)
• The Kallish music with its enormous appeal to the
youth – the fame of a Rached Majed, Rakib
Azama, and Latifa Arfaoui.
• The Radio FMs and music channels (MTV and
Channel V) have made superstars of performers.
The interactive nature of this media and their
reach is enormous

10. How is this generation different from the
previous one?
• Have less attention span
• Less outdoorish (this generation is born hooked to
Cartoon Network)
• More Materialistic.
• Very global in lifestyle, attitudes, and opinions
• Very individualistic (this generation born in a
nuclear family while the preceding one in a joint
family)

11. Who is this new Arab? (Cont’d…)
• The Coffee shop and Restaurant culture (people in
the age group of 18 to 25 frequent malls like Seef
Mall/Dana Mall or coffee shops likes LeLo,
La Vantana, and Star Bucks.
• Hanging out - the boys are seen hanging out in
pubs till late in the night. One also get to see
women (they prefer the safety of numbers for
social approval and acceptability)

12. Who is this new Arab? (Cont’d…)
• The Muslim young women feels
comfortable in jeans and Abbaya- this is the
greatest evidence of social change
happening in the Arab world.
• These women engage in football, aerobic,
volleyball, and tennis!!
• It is not an uncommon sight to come across
youth in funky hair streaks, belly buttons,
tattoos, etc ….

13. Who is this new Arab?(Cont’d…)
• Total comfort in being a DUAL personality
- westernized and yet Arab at heart seems to
be the way of this segment.
• Understanding this psychological shift is
the key to success for any marketer in the
Gulf.

14. Compelling Draw on the web
What are the thing that captures today’s youth?
• Free Emails (isn't the popularity of a
hotmail and Yahoo a case in point)

15. • Downloads of Ring tones, Pictures and logos
• Music Downloads
• Downloads of greeting cards.
• Gaming, chat corner, dating services,
• e- recruitment
• SMS, MMS
FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE
Today’s youth’s mosaic (Cont’d…)

16. His present options
• Smspop, kazaa, imech, edonkey
– Free sms service and free music downloads

17. Value Propositions for Starcall property
Functional Benefits:
• A forum for a community which is interested in
ring tones, logos, pictures, chat centre, dating
service, jokes, reviews of music (the latest
DVD’s), movies, greeting cards…

18. Value Propositions (Contd..)
Functional Benefits
• …Wall paper or Screen saver, gaming,
SMS updates of news, sports, sale, business
headlines, stock market quotes, health tips,
beauty tips.

19. In a space where parity sets in within just a
few weeks ….
How do we differentiate yet another
proposition from Starcall?

20. Evolution of Positioning

21. Key Insight
We are in the era of
cultural globalization

22. Dominant Behavioral Cues
Orientation for Success Arrived in life
Results in External & Internal Manifestations
Need to get noticed in a crowd
•Strong Invidualistic Streak
•Unconventional
•Discarding old rules & making one’s own
Build Bridges
Letting your hair down & Sending time with friends
Being attractive to the opposite sex

23. CORE VALUE
Assertive Gratification
They have a point of view about everything and not afraid to voice them

24. I, ME, MYSELF
Thoughtful
Friendly
Cheerful
Approachable
Cool and Casual
ETHNIC
Be yourself
don’t have to pretend to get
noticed

25. Brand Positioning

26. Branding Options
• Khazaina.com (closet)
• ghorfati.com (my room)
• hajrati.com (my pad)
• emtiati.com (my stuff)
• sandookalbareed (postbox)
• Hayyati.com (my life)

27. Key to success
Browser marketing efforts
• Building Communities
• Constant interactivity and feedback
• Satiating the TA’s camera desire
Sponsor Marketing
• Youth brand promotion corner
• Freebies, goodies, sales promotion from ketfmcg brqands
targeted at the youth

28. Business Segment
• Create a subsegment of the corporate site
• Cannot be merged with youth entertainment portal
– since behavior pattern is sharply diverse
• Offer him a forum for purposeful behavior on the
web.
– Add value to his professional pursuits
– Make his life simpler – single window registration,
sync managers, calendar managers etc …