Sunil John, CEO of ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller presented an industry insight on Stakeholder Analysis - The Arab Youth Survey last October 13th as part of the 2-day PR Measurement Summit held at the Address Dubai Marina, Dubai, UAE. The theme of the event was “Measurement in an Age of Integrated Communications”.
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WHY WE DO THIS
Positioning:
We are more than just an agency. We are an evidence-based communications consultancy
Benefits:
Insights used by policy makers, businesses and the media
A genuine contributor to the global dialogue about the Middle East
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HH SHEIKH MOHAMMED
• One of our biggest successes has been the continuing support of
HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice President and
Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
• His patronage confers a degree of acceptance onto some of our more
sensitive results, in a region where some media may be reluctant to
publish things deemed controversial
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AN OVERWHELMING
MAJORITY
OF YOUNG ARABS
REJECT DAESH (ISIS)
AND BELIEVE THE
GROUP WILL FAIL TO
ESTABLISH AN ISLAMIC
STATE.
1
LACK OF JOBS AND
OPPORTUNITIES
IS SEEN AS THE NUMBER ONE
RECRUITMENT DRIVER FOR
DAESH.
2 MANY YOUNG ARABS BELIEVE
SUNNI-SHIA RELATIONS ARE
DETERIORATING AND
THAT RELIGION PLAYS TOO
BIG OF A ROLE IN THE MIDDLE
EAST.
3
SAUDI ARABIA, UAE
AND THE UNITED
STATES ARE SEEN AS
TOP ALLIES IN THE
REGION WHILE IRAN’S
INFLUENCE
IS ON THE RISE.4 YOUNG ARABS ARE
DIVIDED ON THE
IRANIAN NUCLEAR
DEAL AND THE
SYRIAN CONFLICT.
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TOP FINDINGS
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THE UAE IS VIEWED
AS
A MODEL COUNTRY
THAT IS
ECONOMICALLY
SECURE, AND IS THE
MOST FAVOURED
NATION TO LIVE IN
AND SET UP A
BUSINESS.
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FIVE YEARS AFTER
FIGHTING FOR
POLITICAL FREEDOM
DURING THE ARAB
SPRING, TODAY MOST
YOUNG ARABS
PRIORITISE STABILITY
OVER DEMOCRACY.
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ARAB YOUTH WANT
THEIR LEADERS TO DO
MORE TO IMPROVE THE
PERSONAL FREEDOM
AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF
CITIZENS,
PARTICULARLY
WOMEN.
7ARAB YOUTH ARE
INCREASINGLY
CONCERNED ABOUT
FALLING OIL PRICES,
BUT MOST STILL
BELIEVE THEY ARE
ENTITLED TO
SUBSIDISED ENERGY.
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MORE YOUNG
ARABS GET
THEIR DAILY
NEWS ONLINE
THAN FROM TV
OR PRINT
MEDIA.10
TOP FINDINGS
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THIS GENERATION IS MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL THAN ONE BEFORE
Do you feel people in this generation are more likely to start a business than in previous generation?
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POTENTIAL ENTREPRENEURS: 36 PER CENT OF YOUNG ARABS INTEND
TO START A BUSINESS IN NEXT 5 YEARS
Do you intend to start your own business
within the next five years?
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If intends to start: In which Arab country would
you like to set up your business in?
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GULF ARABS MORE LIKELY TO BOYCOTT BRANDS FOR POLITICAL
REASONS
Would you ever support the boycott of a brand for political reasons?
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(BACKGROUND SLIDE FOR VIDEO)
The Survey, which we have been producing for 8 years now, is now one of the most frequently cited pieces of research into this key demographic.
In fact, the international reception to this year’s survey was unprecedented. We made front pages around the world – in the Guardian, the Washington Post, the Sydney Morning Herald – and of course, extensive coverage in the UAE and wider region.
A highlight for me was when Sheikh Mohammed tweeted key findings to his six million followers
And, on social media, our Arab Youth Survey hashtag originally targeted 5 million impressions this year. To date we have achieved more than 166 million.
Now beyond the main findings, our Survey covers a number of topics in detail that are of great interest to other sectors but don’t form part of our initial ‘media blitz’.
In the months since we released the Survey, some of these have become increasingly relevant.
I’d like to take you through some of these, and explain a little how mining this data helps our clients, and of course, ourselves as an agency.
Now beyond the main findings, our Survey covers a number of topics in detail that are of great interest to other sectors but don’t form part of our initial ‘media blitz’.
In the months since we released the Survey, some of these have become increasingly relevant.
I’d like to take you through some of these, and explain a little how mining this data helps our clients, and of course, ourselves as an agency.
Over the past few years, innovation and entrepreneurship have emerged as the cornerstones of the UAE’s strategy for the future.
So, this finding is favourite of mine, and one that we have presented to policymakers, businesses and organizations throughout the region, and one that shows that the message about entrepreneurship is deifinitely getting through.
“This Generation is more entrepreneurial that the one before.”
Young Arabs are increasingly positive about entrepreneurship with more than half believing members of this generation are more likely to start a business than the previous one.
When asked “do you feel people in this generation are more likely to start a business than in previous generation?” 54 per cent agreed, with youth in the GCC most enthusiastic at 62 per cent, against 54 per cent of North African youth and 44 per cent of youth in the Levant.
And, in the same vein, more than a third of young Arabs, 36 per cent, said that they themselves intend to start their own business in the next five years – 37 percent of youth in the GCC, 39 percent in North Africa and 31 per cent in the Levant.
Across the whole Middle East 34 per cent said they did not intend to launch their own business, while 30 per cent didn’t know.
We then asked potential entrepreneurs – those that said they intended to set up their own business in the five years – to say which Arab country they would like to set up a business in.
24 percent of those youth cited the UAE
Followed by Saudi Arabia (18 percent)
And Qatar (13 percent)
The last slide on entrepreneurs, and policymakers take note:
Young people believe governments can do more to support young entrepreneurs, with 39 per cent saying encouraging affordable lending should be made a priority;
25 per cent calling for education and training to be improved and made more available; and 19 per cent calling for government regulations and red tape to be cut.
Now beyond the main findings, our Survey covers a number of topics in detail that are of great interest to other sectors but don’t form part of our initial ‘media blitz’.
In the months since we released the Survey, some of these have become increasingly relevant.
I’d like to take you through some of these, and explain a little how mining this data helps our clients, and of course, ourselves as an agency.
Now this finding, on debt, is very interesting:
Young Arabs still have very low levels of personal debt. Asked if they were currently in debt, only 12 per-cent said they were, with 88 per cent not having any personal debts.
The breakdown was broadly similar by region, with young Arabs in the Levant having slightly more than average, at 14 per cent, with the GCC having 13 per cent and young people in North Africa having the least, at 9 per cent.
Those GCC youth who do have debt use it for car purchases, credit cards , marriage loans and student loans.
Whole strategies can be built around this one finding
This is an example of some findings on attitudes to money that didn’t make our Top Ten, but which are extremely relevant to our clients in financial services.
Young Arabs in the GCC are wealthy, and they know it.
In the GCC, 47 percent of young people think they’re well off, against just 5 percent who think they’re not – with the rest saying they’re ‘average’
In a similar vein, asked about their financial future, 74 per cent of GCC youth said they were confident about their financial future , with just 13 per cent in GCC saying they weren’t.
Now, using research from Visa’s Millennial Survey, we can actually put a figure to this confidence:
In the UAE, millennials will generate an average annual income of $40,000 by 2019.
Now beyond the main findings, our Survey covers a number of topics in detail that are of great interest to other sectors but don’t form part of our initial ‘media blitz’.
In the months since we released the Survey, some of these have become increasingly relevant.
I’d like to take you through some of these, and explain a little how mining this data helps our clients, and of course, ourselves as an agency.
And, finally, some findings we put together especially for today’s event, and a subject I that I think will be of great interest to professional in our industry: Brands
In this slide we look at the whole Arab world, and can see some striking contrasts.
In the GCC and North Africa, US brands are the most appealing, cited by 21 per cent and 23 per cent of respondents respectively.
But in the Levant, that figure plummets to just six per cent.
European brands, we can see, have wide appeal across the whole Middle East. Far Eastern brands, though, are again defined by region – and, dare I say it, affluence: Japanese brands are very popular in the GCC; while Chinese brands gain the most traction with Levant consumers.
Finally, asked: Would you ever support the boycott of a brand for political reasons? 38 per cent of young people in the Gulf said they would, compared with 27 per cent in the North Africa, and 21 per cent in the Levant.
In fact, in the Levant, 34 per cent of young Arabs said they would not, compared with just 13 per cent in the GCC.
And this finding reinforces something we’ve actually seen here – brands being boycotted in the Gulf for actions taken by parent companies abroad.
Across the Arab world there a lot of ‘maybes’ on this question – around 40 per cent – perhaps suggesting it would depend very much on context.