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 Are you looking for a Middle East advertising agency?

 

With rapidly growing economies in Middle East regions like the GCC there are many great opportunities to invest in this area of the world. Reaching audiences and target markets across the region comes down to choosing the right advertising channels to get your marketing message across. IstiZada knows the marketing channels and demographics across the Middle East and MENA regions. Having this insight sets us apart as an advertising agency focused on bringing you the most ROI from your marketing campaigns to the peoples of this developing area of the world.

MENA advertising agency

 

What makes Middle East advertising unique?

 

Language

Language is central to any people group’s culture and identity. For much of the Middle East the main language is Arabic. Since people are so tied to their native language advertising in that language is an essential part of reaching your target market in the region. This not only applies to using Arabic in your advertisements, but using Arabic in several other relevant places. This means using Arabic portals, publications, TV stations, and websites to reach your audience because that’s where Arabs spend their time. It also means that your brochures, marketing materials, and websites are available in the local language. Many companies have neglected some of these vital aspects in their advertising campaigns and have failed to successfully engage a Middle Eastern audience. A reason for this is that successfully developing Arabic certainly poses a challenge, given the fact that it is not one homogenous language the way that English is. In fact, while there is one Standard Arabic language, it is mostly used in official contexts and is not actually spoken on a daily basis. Everyone who speaks Arabic speaks in a dialect, and each Arab country has its own unique dialect that ranges in similarity to Standard Arabic. We at IstiZada are well-versed in the dominant Arabic dialects, and we always consider how best to use the Arabic language, whether standard or dialect or a mix, for the advertising content we develop.

 

Culture

Understanding culture is also a key aspect of successful advertising in this region. Assuming that potential clients and customers are going to respond to the same messaging in your ads that westerners respond to is a mistake. For example, Middle Easterners come from a collectivist cultural background. When it comes to purchasing decisions many of their major decisions rely on social indicators and cues to help them determine which purchase to make. Understanding this fact can help inform which channels and marketing messaging to use to most effectively attract new customers and get more value from your existing customers.

 

Ad Creative

From color to messaging to directional elements within any advertising creative how an ad is crafted can impact its effectiveness in this region. Sure maybe in Latin script languages newer fonts like Helvetica perform better and are easier to read than other fonts but what are the fonts that appeal to Arabic speakers? Understanding that not all the same rules that work in ad creative in other cultures will apply in the Arab world is an important insight. Knowing this reality and testing your assumptions can lead to a competitive advantage over other industry competitors who are trying to reach the same audience.

 

Peak advertising times

This is one area that many marketers from outside the Middle East region miss.  As much of the Middle East keeps a relatively late sleep schedule many of the most important and busy traffic and viewership times are later than they would be in countries in North America and Europe. Holidays can be very lucrative times to launch advertising campaigns in the Middle East. The month of Ramadan is one month where many Arabs will be awake through the night and there is even potential to see great results from running ads as early as 3 or 4 in the morning. White Friday, the equivalent of Black Friday in the US is a also a time where targeted ads can have a stronger effect. Savvy advertisers will understand these time differences and take advantage of them to produce more return from their Middle East marketing efforts.

 

Of course the above aren’t the only things that make advertising in the Middle East unique but we hope they are helpful regardless.
 

If you are interested in working with a Middle East focused advertising agency or learning more about running ads in the Middle East contact IstiZada today!

 

 

 

 

IstiZada’s Direct Response Marketing Service List

Jordan Boshers

Jordan Boshers is the Chief Digital Strategist at IstiZada, a digital agency that helps companies market to Arabs. He has 10+ years of experience running successful digital marketing campaigns in the Arab world. His insights into Arabic SEO helped him grow previously unknown websites to dominate Arabic niches on Google including growing one site from 0 to more than 1 million users monthly. Jordan has consulted for hundreds of companies including helping corporations like Amazon, Berlitz, and Exxon Mobil with their Arabic digital marketing. Learn more here or on LinkedIn.

View all posts by Jordan Boshers