The document discusses how the Arab Spring has impacted digital perceptions and brands in the Middle East market. It first provides background on the Arab Spring phenomenon and its economic impacts. It then examines the digital landscape in the region, including internet, mobile, and social media usage. The document also analyzes different types of marketers and their reactions to digital opportunities. Finally, it discusses best practices and case studies for brands operating in the region.

1. Has the Arab spring
changed brands
digital perceptions?

2. Table of
contents
• The Arab spring phenomena
• Arab spring impact on ME market
- Economical
- Marketers› and perception
• Digital scene in ME
- Internet
- Mobile
- Content type
- Social networks
• Brands reaction
- Opportunity
- Skepticism
- Confronting the consumer
• Digital campaigns
• Case studies
• Tips for brands

3. The Arab Spring
Phenomena

4. The Arab Spring Phenomena
A revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests that have
been taking place in the Arab world since 18 December of 2010.
Mauritania, West Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia,Libya,
Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bah-
rain, Oman, Yemen.

5. Arab spring impact
in ME market

6. Economical
• Q1 almost vanished with very little business in many countries.
• Uncertainty about any new investment .
• Uncertainty about achieving any assigned targets . And hence
budget freezing , and hire freezing .
• Huge local conglomerates were marked as anti-xxx.
• Some industries came to a complete stoppage like tourism and
real estate .
• New industries flourished like news and flag printing

7. ECONOMIC IMPACT on
OIL PRICE (table 1)
(Crude Oil – Monthly price)
*source indexmundi.com
Month Value
Sept - 2010 - 75.93 $
Oct - 2010 - 76.14 $
Nov - 2010 - 84.56 $
Dec - 2010 - 90.1$
Jan - 2011 - 92.6$
March - 2011 - 104.42 $

8. ECONOMIC IMPACT IN WHEAT
PRICE (table 2)
(Wheat – monthly price)
*source indexmundi.com
Month Value
Sept - 2010 - 246.25 $
Oct - 2010 - 271.69 $
Nov - 2010 - 270.29 $
Dec - 2010 - 274.37 $
Jan - 2011 - 306.99 $
March - 2011 - 326.54 $

9. Marketers and Perception
The Leprechaun: These are marketers eager to learn what’s new on
the media space, they are knowledge seekers and used to go online
before the revolution in non professional way and get to know power
of online after #Jan25
The Wonderful Wizard: They pretend to be something more than
they actually are, they started hiring digital agencies to show the CEO
that they are good, and they get the job done.
The Locust: These are marketers that hits and run – they won’t go
digital because it’s budget is transparent. They only care about bud-
gets & personal benefits. These guys hurt the whole business.

10. Marketers and Perception
The Back Seat Driver: They provide too much information from the
endless readings they scan on various forums and blogs, And that’s it
The social media expert: These are the ones whom were convinced
with the digital before the revolution and used to convince their heads,
post the revolution they started immediately pilot campaigns online
.
The professional: The professional marketer nothing convince him
except talking numbers & KPIs – they are okay with being online but
still think the TV has their mass audience – they work hard to achieve
goals & prefer long term strategies

11. The digital
scene in ME

12. Media Usage Frequency
15
13.3
12.9
12.5 12 12.3 12.4
11.9
11.3 11.2
10.7
10 9.2 9.8
9.4
Times Per Week
7.9 7.6 7.9 7.9
7.6 7.5 7.6
7.5 7 6.8
6.5
6.2
5.1 5.4
4.9
5
4.3 4.4
3.9
3.6
2.4 2.5
2.5
1.4 1.5 1.5
0
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi Arabia UAE
Access Internet via Desktop/laptop Access Internet via Mobile Listen to Radio (not online)
Read Newspapers (not online) Read Magazines (not online)
Text/Call via Mobile Watch TV (not online)

13. Media Usage Duration
200
199
175
165 162 164
160 158
154
150
144
125
119
103
101
100
87
Minutes / Day
79 80
76
75 73 73
65
59
54 52
50 48 48
43
36 37
33 33 31 29
29 30 27 28
25
25
0
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi Arabia UAE
Access Internet via Desktop/laptop Access Internet via Mobile Listen to Radio (not online)
Read Newspapers (not online) Read Magazines (not online)
Text/Call via Mobile Watch TV (not online)

14. Digital
scene in ME 84%
Internet Usage Rate
70%
51%
40%
39%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

15. 120
Place of Internet Acess
100
97%
91%
83%
80
69%
Percentage
63%
60
56%
40 40%
30%
23% 22% 24%
20 21% 21%
19%
16% 17%
13% 12%
9% 9%
8%
6%
4%
1%
0 0%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi Arabia UAE
Home Office
Family / Friends House On-the-go
Cyber Cafe

16. Frequency of Office Internet Access
90
81%
80
80%
72%
70
60
Percentage
56%
51%
50
14%
40
30
24%
20 21%
17%
14% 13%
10 8% 8% 9%
4%
6%
4% 3% 3%
2% 2% 1% 0%
0 0% 0% 1% 0% 1% 1% 1%
Daily 1-2 times per week 1 time per month
Alternate Day 1 time in 2 weeks Less often than 1 time per month

17. Frequency of Home Internet Access
80%
81% 56%
80
72%
51%
70
60
Percentage
50
40
30
20 14% 8% 9%
21% 24%
17% 14%
6% 13%
10 4%
4% 2%
2% 8% 0% 3% 1% 1%
0 0% 1% 0% 3% 0% 1% 1%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi Arabia UAE
Daily 1-2 times per week 1 time per month
Alternate Day 1 time in 2 weeks Less often than 1 time per month

18. Duration of Internet Acess
120
18.6
100
14.83
13.48
12.91
Hours / Week
80 12.45
11.6 10.91
9.67
60
8.56 8.32
40
20
0
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi Arabia UAE
At Home At the Office

19. Digital
scene in ME 69%
Internet-enabled Mobile Penetration
51% 58%
41%
28%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

20. Digital
scene in ME 57%
Mobile Internet USage 54%
24%
22%
18%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

21. Digital
scene in ME 70%
Instant Messaging
48%
37%
20% 19%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

22. Digital
scene in ME 99%
Mobile Ownership
95%
90% 90%
75%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

23. Digital
scene in ME 69%
Social Networking
45%
29%
20% 20%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

24. Digital
scene in ME 12%
Online Purchase
5%
2% 2%
1%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

25. Digital
scene in ME 18%
Online Research
15%
5%
4%
2%
Egypt Jordan Morocco Saudi UAE
Arabia

26. Twitter
• Positive: It was a powerful tool in spreading
what’s happening
• Negative: It’s embracing role in the Pan-Arab
uprisings
Algeria Tunisia Egypt Libya Syria
#algeria #tunisia #mubarak #geddafi #syria
#bouteflika #sidibouzid #jan25 #benghazi #daraa
#algerie #jan14 #ghonim #gaddaficrimes #mar15
#algrevolution #bouazizi #Molotov #libya #assad

27. Facebook
• Positive: Facebook has no doubt proved the
most vital source of rebellion on the net.
• Negative: Facebook has deleted several
opposition group accounts due to terms of
service violations.
Algeria Tunisia Egypt Libya Syria
• Envoyés Spéciaux • Tunisian Revolt • 25 Egypt • Libyan Youth • Syrian Free Press
Algériens Movement
• 14 Janvier 2011 • El Shaheed • End State of
• Algerian TN • Videos of the Emergencyin
Revolution LibyanRevolution Syria

28. News. Vs games related search queries

29. News. Vs games related search queries

30. News. Vs games related search queries

31. News. Vs games related search queries

32. News. Vs games related search queries

33. News. Vs games related search queries

34. News. Vs games related search queries

35. News. Vs games related search queries

36. Digital scene
in Egypt

37. Knowledge Networkers
The Internet Users Influncers
Seekers
Functionals
Aspirers
Communicators
They loved criticism
They share negatives
They shout to all
They are Creative
They became experts
Percentage

38. Internet Users in Egypt
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20

39. Mobile
90% Ownership
Criteria
% from number of total
41% Internet-enebaled
Mobile
mobile users (72M)
Mobile Internet
22% Usage

40. Digital growth (Micro blogging)
Number of 100,0000
Twitter Users
45,0000
26,0000
Before After July
Jan25 Jan25

41. Neo-Socialism Trend
70% of online conversations directly called for a larger economic
role by the government.
Term February 2011 Mentions % Increase from January
Salary Increase 1.2 million 63%
Food Subsidies 800 k 54%
Job Creation 1.5 million 46%
Public Healthcare 700 k 21%
“ Desert lands in Egypt are
Large and abundant, and
it is our rights as lower-in-
Sample Verbatim come people to have wide
and beatiful apartments with
green areas around ”

42. The Disconnect - between
the Elite & the Masses
Optimism towards
the revolution is
declining as the
youth seem to
disintegrate on
issues that initially
Religious
integrated them.
influence emanting
from groups
inspired by the
25% Drop Salafi movment
and the Muslim
brotherhood is on
the rise

43. Conclusion
Before the Post the
revolution revolution
1. Gaming 1. Use Proxies
2. Social Media 2. Search
3. Movie Download 3. News
4. IM services 4. live streaming
5. Search 5. News Fan Pages on FB
6. Twitter

44. Brands
Reaction
What does this mean to brands?

45. {
There is a big opportunity to involve your customer.
Its time to own your brand
• Listen
• Long Term engagement
• Two way Communication
Opportunities “Conversation “
(Reflected across Brand • Viral Effect
different Vehicles ) • Targeting Location Interest
& Age
• Community
• Real Time Insights
• Easy To Customize

46. Skepticism
?
A bottler was worried about their image and was so much keen
to launch a campaign that is credible and trusted.
An operator preferred not to be active specially after communica-
tion blockage, but they quickly took the vise versa decision and
launched all types of campaigns, branding – CSR – promotional.
An airline agent was never afraid spending online after the revolu-
tion but their agency was afraid not to take their money as it is a
governmental entity, just kidding :)
FMCG’s team was never afraid spending online, they launched
their initiative and made an aggressive activation – their CSR was
a talk of town.

47. Confronting
the consumer
The new social ME, welcome
to the Virtual Life
• The way you communicate
• How you connect
• High level of involvement

48. Digital
Campaigns
Coke
Coke didn’t do any revolution related campaigns but they did a talk of town campaign talking about the positivity in each simple thing we
see - they increased the digital spend.
Mobinil
They launched a CSR campaign during Ramadan supporting 100,000 Egyptian to work- they increased the digital spend
Egypt Air
Egypt air was very active during the revolution promoting the emotional & the functional side of the brand (supporting Lybian & send flights
for free – their normal advertising plan; selling tickets online) they increased the digital spend.
Nestle
Nestle was not active post the revolution; it was relevant to their brand character but in Q3 Nescafé & Ice-cream launched an aggressive digi-
tal campaign – normal spend
Henkel
Henkel was the 1st. In Egypt to launch the CSR campaign online and took Dubai lynx award, It as their 1st. Time to launch a two way com-
munication activation online – but they had budget cuts later.

49. Henkel Egypt
Objectives: Engage with audience via social platforms and give them the chance to contribute & build up
on the positive vibes taking place in the country
Solution:
• Facebook fan page
• Digital campaign Case
Results:
• The ad was viewed more than 25 Million time
on different networks.
• More than 30,000 like on Facebook.
Studies
• 500 Follower on Twitter.
Coca-cola Egypt
Objectives: Spread positivity among their audience
Solution:
• Viral campaign
• Facebook engagement
• Rich media banners
Results:
• Click Through Rate was over the average market
• 688,786 like on Facebook
• 4,012 follower on Twitter

50. Advice
When you are sick, go to a doctor
When you have a case, go to
a lawyer
When it comes to online go to a
digital agency

51. Tips for brands
Strategy
Advocacy
program
Objection
Handling
Crisis
Management

52. Strategy
Let’s agree that from now we will not call it a strategy, but a two
way communication strategy
Don’t say, we are not in the US. Don’t worry, the situation is or will
be the same in your country, too. Soon.
I am sorry to tell you that… The cycle now in your
mind has changed!

53. Strategy
It used to be
Many brands
Love
Fewer brands
Evaluation
Buy Consideration
Final choice
Bond Enjoyment
Buy Advocators Trust Quality
Now it is

54. Tips for the brand –
Advocacy program
• Blogger engagement: Identify the top online bloggers for your business (and begin
building relationships)
• Reputation hype: Create a paid reviews & sponsored articles – top new websites &
industry related portals
• Social Influencers: Create an influencer map to know where your promoters and
detractors live online and connect with them
• When launch: Its like you are getting married, make an event for your ambassadors,
bloggers, influencers & draw via your social media assets

55. Objection
handling
Before launch
• Make a focus group, invite different types of people, present the launch idea.
• Shhh, listen and take notes! List all negative points and put into consideration all the
positive as well, prepare the ultimate defending scenario for negative leveraging the
positive highlights
When launch
• Be active and don’t leave a single feedback without dealing with
• Help address customer’s issues to moving forward with your solution

56. Tips for the brand –
crisis management
• Monitor: understand the problem, elaborate being bold and convincing
• Cultivate: Develop list of online influencers to be recruited (quick response)
• Prepare: Transparent communication strategy / activate crisis landing page
• Respond: Update social media landing pages with crisis message / Activate Twit-
ter aggressively - Consider using video that delivers a human message
• Promote; Launch a search campaign on Google - Create and optimize a variety
of multimedia content to help tell your story in multiple ways
• Control / Lead: Virally or via brand’s ambassadors (attract users into a conver-
sation is the most effective way to build goodwill and brand advocates who will
support you if crisis hits)

57. Logical steps to be on
social networks
1 2 3
Listening Measuring Engaging

58. Sorry, accept interactive
discussions only…Anyone?
Follow me @mostafagamrah
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