Qatar, albeit a very small market, has an internet penetration of 99 per cent and a smartphone penetration of almost 100 per cent of the total population. Social media and digital literacy in Qatar are among the highest in the world, making it one of the key media touchpoints to deliver marketing campaigns.
The government has also undertaken several initiatives to develop e-services, reflecting the increasing reliance on digital platforms for services. In congruence to this, the infrastructure of broadband and mobility services is very robust and further strengthens Qatar’s digital ecosystem.
With new digital trends springing up left, right and centre, it is becoming more and more important for brands to consider which trend is worth jumping on or investing in and which ones to be ignored. Let’s discuss a few points below.
For any brand, it is of paramount importance to understand their target audience. While the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has many similarities, the audiences and what resonates with each is very different. Before deciding to jump on a trend, it is key to understand the appetite of your audience in accepting, understanding and consuming that trend. I cannot stress this enough, what may work for one audience might not work exactly the same for another.
Are you one of those companies that has a strong bureaucracy where decisions need to go through multiple layers of hierarchy? Then jumping on a trend fast is probably not going to work for you. Many a time, I have seen brands not consider the go-to-market effectiveness and thus losing out on the impact of a particular trend. So, before you decide to invest in producing content or even launch a new product to jump on a trend, always make sure you consider the timeliness of this endeavour. They do say: strike while the iron is hot.
For any trend, you need to assess if it is something that will be scalable in the future or not. What’s next for your brand after this trend? Always have a plan in place to give the trend more shelf-life, especially if as a brand you have invested a lot of time and money. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that scalability can vary from brand to brand, depending on brand or product lifecycle.
More often than not we see brands jumping on a trend because it looked cool on TikTok or because their competitor jumped on it, or simply because their agency suggested it would make them “viral.” However, be very sure of how this trend will affect your brand perception. While doing so, it is important to also stay true to the cause – will it affect your topline? If you find yourself answering yes – it does improve my brand’s perception in the market and yes, it helps improve the topline – then, by all means, you jump on that trend. It all boils down to understanding what is your end goal.
While some trends look ‘cool’ on paper when they get presented, a lot of times they fall short when it comes to driving the consumer to take a desired action. This is because we tend to at times overlook the potential of humanising our brands. Any trend that helps humanise your brand and gets your audience to relate to it more is definitely a trend you should be jumping on. Relatability hence, is another important point to be considered.
Trends are now faster-paced than they used to be. We are living in a world that is full of popcorn audiences with a plethora of options to consume content and information. Hence, it is becoming increasingly important to jump on trends in a timely manner to reap the most benefit. Brands also need to realise that not every trend is worth actively participating in; sit out on some.
So, consider these focal points before jumping on trends:
- Resonance with your audience
- Timelines and go-to-market process, or rather ease of go-to-market
- Scalability and longevity
- Impact on brand perception, commercial goals and other success metrics
- Relatability in terms of humanising the brand or product
An ideal scenario for any brand is when they are able to influence the trend in their market. So, be a trendsetter rather than a follower. I believe that is the biggest win for any brand.
By Mohammed K Hussain, Brand Media Strategy at Vodafone Qatar
