Prioritising the creation of high-quality, engaging content that resonates with audiences is key to win over the competition and build a loyal and engaged following.
MBC Group has established itself as a leading media company in the MENA region in producing premium Arabic content that speaks to the diverse cultures and languages of the region overall and Saudi in specific.
In the past few years, MBC has focused on local productions that are relatable to Saudi Arabia’s audience and the wider region, such as Rashash, Beirut 6:07 and ‘The Devil’s Promise’ to name a few.
By producing content that reflects the values, traditions, and cultural nuances of the region, MBC Group has not only been able to attract a large and engaged audience, but it even gained international recognition.
MBC Group’s ‘Every Week has a Friday’ and ‘Beirut 6:07’ have both been nominated for the International Emmy Awards, which is a testament to the company’s commitment to producing high-quality content that resonates with audiences both locally and globally.
This premium content has also contributed to Shahid experiencing growth year on year, ranking number 1 in Ramadan amongst Video on Demand (VoD) platforms, in terms of average time spent and active users.
This provides brands with invaluable opportunities to connect with their audiences starting from:
CROSS-PLATFORM PRESENCE
This premium content goes on to perform well across MBC Group’s diverse ecosystem of media channels, which presents a unique opportunity for brands to reach their target audience across multiple touchpoints, creating a consistent and cohesive brand experience.
It has proven to enhance brand favourability, purchase consideration and ad recall amongst telecom, e-commerce, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and food aggregators. For example, brand consideration increased by 22 per cent for e-commerce companies, purchase consideration increased 20 per cent for FMCGs and ad recall increased by 80 per cent for telecom.
BRAND INTEGRATION
MBC Group’s high-quality productions offer a unique opportunity for brands to integrate within the story and become an essential part of the narrative. This approach allows brands to align themselves with the themes and values that are important to the local audience, creating a more authentic and meaningful connection.
At MMS, we’ve developed an In-Content Integration (ICI) solution that enables us to digitally insert brands into highly popular shows after production. During Ramadan, we used ICI to seamlessly integrate a brand into a hit comedy show, which appeared on both TV and outdoor advertising. This technology can also pinpoint the exact scenes that brands wish to be associated with and allows us to determine the specific scenes and duration of brand exposure throughout an entire season of a show during the proposal stage with a brand.
YOUNGER AUDIENCES
Saudi Arabia has been undergoing major developments and reforms in recent years, including social and cultural reforms aimed at youth and women empowerment and we can see this shift reflected in these productions.
Shows with young male and female Saudi actors like Sikat Safar, Studio 23 and Minho Waladna received top ratings in Ramadan. We also saw the first young Saudi female, get crowned the winner in Saudi Idol.
These young faces are able to create more authentic and relatable connections with Saudi audiences, especially as nearly two-thirds of Saudi Arabia’s population is under the age of 35, according to the General Authority for Statistics in 2020.
Shows featuring these youth, provide a valuable opportunity for brands to connect with Saudi Arabia’s young audience in a meaningful and impactful way, which is why MMS has renewed its strategic partnerships with Twitter, TikTok and Snap, bringing MBC Group’s premium Arabic content to their platforms and ensuring brands are reaching their audiences wherever they are.
MBC Group also launched LOUD FM, Saudi Arabia’s first western nationwide commercial radio station, which caters to Saudi youth, providing them with a one-stop-shop for the coolest, trendiest, and international music, artists and radio content, including world class international DJs and syndicated shows.
Meanwhile, Al Arabiya News Network— the go-to and leading Arabic-language news channel in the region for live events and business news— introduced the digital content brand ‘Akthar’ to expand its audience scope, from businessmen, government and people in decision making positions, to include a youthful and digitally
savvy audience.
MMS is also the official advertising representative of the Saudi Sports Company (SSC) where we offer solutions across both digital and linear broadcast TV on the Saudi Pro League (which has seen a huge spike in viewership with the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this season), F1 and other sporting events.
This offers additional opportunities for brands to be where the audience are.
The key to success in today’s media landscape is a content-first strategy. MBC Group has demonstrated this through its commitment to producing premium Arabic content that resonates with its audience, particularly in Saudi Arabia. This premium content has also provided valuable opportunities for brands to connect with their target audience across MBC Group’s diverse eco-system.
By Ziyad Alomair, Director of Commercial at MBC Media Solutions (MMS)
