Vice Media Group has been in the headlines with bankruptcy talk, fears that it is laying off hundreds of workers and no longer publishing journalism on its website. Many of these reports are “misleading”, according to Tarek Khalil, Managing Director of MEA for VICE.
In an exclusive interview with Campaign Middle East, he sought to set the record straight and highlight the healthy state of its Middle East division.
“Contrary to what the (news) outlets have said, our website is not shutting down. We are just re-strategizing our content approach.”
Khalil explained the background behind the VICE Group’s troubles, and how it is in a phase of restructuring. “It’s no longer cost effective for us and the industry as a whole to distribute content the way we have done previously.
“Moving forward, our publishing arm is transitioning into more of a studio model and as part of this shift we’re putting more emphasis on our social channels because that’s where people engage with our content the most.”
VICe has its own editorial platform called VICE Arabia.
“Obviously with every restructure there’s the very unfortunate and heartbreaking part where we lose great people and obviously with this restructure we have lost some great people.
“We haven’t been too affected in the region here. VICE as a brand isn’t going anywhere,” he proclaimed.
VICE Group MEA has around 7 million monthly users in the Middle East engaged across its platforms. Saudi is its highest audience size of around 5.5 million.
As it continues to grow in this region, VICE has been busy reinforcing its team. Rafael Lavor joined as Head of Strategy for the Middle East and Africa, while John Davenport joined as regional ECD.
The new business model being adopted by the wider group was rolled out two years ago in the Middle East as the forerunner.
“It was easier for us to implement this new approach because of our size. We’re almost 40 people between our UAE offices and our KSA offices.” This compares to more than 1,000 U.S- based employess fragmented across the country.
No label
How does VICE Media describe itself, given it is a publisher, creates film, and regularly partners with brands?
“You can’t really label us. We’re not really an agency. We’re not really a publisher. We’re maybe a creative publisher.
“We really see ourselves as navigators of culture because we’re very in tune with the pulse of culture and because we are publisher-born and have the editorial side of our business.”
Khalil talked proudly of Vice Arabia’s work with Adidas Originals, a successful global campaign that VICE led regionally.
Last year, Adidas launch of its global Originals campaign, paying homage to the legacy of the three-stripes.
“We gave the world an Original. You gave us a thousand back,” read the campaign title – articulating the brand’s strong focus on authenticity.
As part of localising the campaign in the Middle East, Adidas MENA joined forces with VICE Arabia.
The campaign featured stories of 17 regional artists based out of the UAE and KSA. Through these narratives, the artists delved into their professional journeys and their connection with the brand’s values.
“The campaign was a massive success for Adidas because they really forged a deeper connection with their audiences. It really served as a platform for sharing original stories from the region and people really got engaged with that and started sharing their own stories as well.”
“Our campaign was centered around their authenticity, their spontaneity. We wanted to shed a light on the journey that each of them had in life, embracing things like their successes, their setbacks and the paths that they took.”
VICE Media is very much focused on Gen Z, an audience that craves authenticity. It has partnered with Sole DXB, a popular youth platform and festival, sponsoring the skate park at the event in December.
This expertise positions VICE Media well to tap into the Saudi youth culture.
It has helped launch two new brands in the Kingdom, aimed at young people – for a dates company (Nua) and coffee manufacturer (Jazeen).
So how do you go about making dates cool, when they resonate more with the old generation?
“There’s obviously a massive drive for getting people to be more healthy in the Kingdom. And that was one of the angles that we considered, putting a big spotlight on the health benefits of dates.
“We created a brand that actually connects with the youth.”
