[Youth] Access to technology, Media Consumption & Social Media Networking

The challenger for attitudes’ stereotype identification is researches and reports – be it a focus group, qualitative, or even quantitative processes can help unveil or unleash real findings towards certain attitudes in a society, community, or group of people of the same interest. 

A new report of face-to-face interviews of Arab nationals and expatriates youth between the age of 18-24 in 9 Middle Eastern countries revealed the truth about Youth consumption to media and access to technology, apart of other findings.

Youth Society has always been unclear and marketeers been lost accordingly; therefore, a couple of reports are these days focusing on Youth to help marketeers design their marketing plan (online or offline); this time done by Asda’a PR firm, covering Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates to unleash country differences at first place and conventionally common trends looking a multiple factors; but as mentioned we covered here on the following that we founded related to you as interactiveME reader:

• Access to technology

• Media Consumption Trends

• Social Media Networking

Okay, but what stereotypes the index of the above three will challenge, let’s see:

1. Women have less access to technology or none in some Gulf countries.

2. Internet is not a trusted source of any type of news

3. Saudis biggest consumptions are online news

4. Online music is not the top content-type consumption

5. Social networking sites are abused as dating sites

Access to Technology

The report shows that almost  4 in 5 of youth own a mobile phone, and 1 in 4 own a web-enabled phone. The report shows also that there is a very minimal correlation between surveyed countries in this report as well as very minimal correlation between women and men access to technology – be it mobile, laptop, desktop, blackberry, iPhone, games console, and music player devices.

The report findings say that nearly 3 in 5 say they use the internet at least once a day, with music and email as the main online activities. Music activities dominate the top five while social networking comes the 6th activity.

Media Consumption

The report findings reveal that TV and newspaper are the main sources of news, followed by internet.

Jordan, Lebanon, and UAE are top in terms of news consumption online. This probably proves why maktoob.com, ammonnews.net, alrai.com, alghad.com, sarayanews.com, andkhaberni.com among the top 20 sites in Jordan according to alexa.com among the top western website like youtube, google, etc…

Websites are the 3rd trusted source of information after TV news channels and newspapers. The top country users who trust website news are from Saudi Arabia then UAE.

Social Media

The report findings show that when online, young people in all regions are most likely to use sites like Google, Facebook and Yahoo. Also, three quarters of the users utilize social networking websites like Facebook for keeping the connection with friends; the 2nd activity is to share and upload photos. Making new friends activity (call it partially “dating” ) comes the 3rd activity and not the first.

The challenge continues for stereotypes carries and researches defender because the attitudes of Arab youth changes with time. However, marketeers in the MENA region can find this report a direction and guidance on where their target audience really is, which medium and how much consumption is happening… The link to the report’s presentation.

Product Placement on Farmville

FarmVille will introduce its first ever sponsored crop- Peanuts!


As a sponsored FarmVille crop, Peanuts will feature a popular Israeli candy brand of  ”Elite Taami Nutz” which is a chocolate bar filled with peanuts.


We recently featured Peanuts on FarmVille Freak as an Unreleased item. The Elite candy company’s website displays a countdown showing farmers will have the opportunity to grow Peanuts as early as next week, with a projected debut date of April 14th. Their advertising company, Saatchi & Saatchi , also confirms this release date. In addition to the Peanut seeds, there will also be a farm competition where farmers are asked to use the crop creatively in the design of their farms.


The Peanuts are rumored to cost “20 credits to buy, sell for 78 credits and can be harvested in 16 hours”. We are assuming, they are referring to credits as FarmVille coins. (Source: Mashable)

With an audience of over 82 million users, FarmVille has the potential to reach an enormous audience. In-game advertising may not be new to gaming, but it will be interesting to see what Zynga’s FarmVille can do with partnerships or sponsoring of commercial marketing campaigns!

YouTube|creative with online videos

ThruYOU: An online video music project launched in 2009 by Israeli, Ophir Kutiel. He takes random YouTube videos, edits and combines them to create original songs.His first creation, “Mother of All Funk Chords” has attracted nearly 1 million views to date
The Subs’ Videocast: Belgian band, The Subs, have taken a novel approach to using annotations in their videos. Viewers are encourage to check out other YouTube videos throughout their videocast - if you don’t fancy clicking, just keep watching.
In Bb 2.0: A collaborative music and spoken word project conceived by Darren Solomon from Science for Girls. Users can play select videos and adjust the volume to create original tracks.
BooneOakley.com: Well known but still worth a mention. The advertising agency turned the concept of having a website on its head and decided their home should be a YouTube video.
YouTube Street Fighter: Perhaps not the greatest game you’ll ever play but the novel approach to a fighting game has attracted nearly 7 million viewers / players.
The Mixable Dancer: Again using annotations, Henrik Leichsenring lets viewers mix beats and make a rabbit (?) throw some shapes on the dancefloor

Yellow Retail |Your Facebook Sad Friend

Yellow Fun To Go «Your Sad Friend» App.-- Feelings & status updaes instead of segmentation

Yellow - The largest convenience store chain in Israel, has launched its Private label - “Yellow Fun to Go” which includes smoothies, ice cream yogurt and chocolate drinks, sliced fresh fruits and many others - all the sweet things that can make you happy while you are on the go.


The challenge
Creating awareness to the new product line and getting people to experience it through the on-line campaign.


The idea
Taking contextual advertising to the next level: we segmented not through websites or content, but for the first time, through the emotional status of our target audience.


We chose to use Facebook ,the largest social network in the world, as the platform for our campaign.


The execution
We created a Facebook application that offers sending a “cheer up gift” to your sad friends.How? After installing the application, it scanns all of your friends’ status in order to find “sad” behavior– depressions statuses such as “I’m depressed”, “I’m bored”, sad pictures etc’. 


The unique algorithm which was created especially for the application graded the “sadness” level of your friends and found your saddest friend. But finding him is not enough - we wanted to cheer him up that finding your saddest friends 2 things happened:


The saddest friends got a notification on Facebook and also a cellular coupon for receiving one of the new Yellow Fun To Go products for free - Something from Yellow to cheer him up.


The Results
In just 2 weeks:

• 167,000 unique visitors
• More than 45,000 people installed the application
• Thousands of people used their cellular coupons and experienced our special Fun and tasty product line, which made their day brighter than ever.

Advertising Agency: McCann Erickson Israel
VP Creative: Eldad weinberger
VP Creative content: Nir Refuah
Creative Directors: Nir Levi
Copywriters: Assaf zelikovitch, Yoav habel
Social media: Danna Blum
Art director: Maayan Froynd

Social Technographics ladder====classifies how people use social technologies

Pepsi Refresh Project

It was a great idea when Aviva Canada did it last year www.avivacommunityfund.org. This will be the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not air an advertisement during the Super Bowl. That’s a big deal, both culturally and financially.


Instead of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi is focusing its energy and money on its online presence where the brand believes a younger and accessible demographic is spending its time. 


The Pepsi Refresh Project is a multi-million dollar marketing platform that invites people to submit and vote for ideas that help make the world a better place. Pepsi is a brand that has always embodied the spirit of youth. Whether through social initiatives, or its place in pop culture, Pepsi has always fuelled and created culture. In 2009, Pepsi launched the Refresh campaign, celebrating optimism and its role in our changing world. This year, Pepsi is putting that optimism into action, with the launch of the Pepsi Refresh Project. Over the course of the year Pepsi will be awarding millions of dollars in Pepsi Refresh Grants. Rather than simply donating the money to charity, the Refresh Project promises to connect to consumers on a personal level, increasing their involvement with the brand by letting them decide which projects to fund. Submissions are welcome from all walks of life: consumers, for-profits, non-profits. Anyone with an idea is eligible. As for how the money is distributed, that’s up to the public too. Voting is open to everyone, and only the most popular ideas will be awarded Refresh Grants. This isn’t a cause marketing initiative. It’s not an advertising campaign. It’s not a social media campaign. It’s a refreshing new way of doing business, based on a firm belief at Pepsi that doing well means doing good.


The Pepsi Refresh Project will feature social-networking campaigns that leverage the participate/contribute-and-vote-online model that many brands have used in the past to encourage consumers to engage with their products via the Internet.


Pepsi is looking to appeal to the consumer’s more compassionate side by offering grants "to those presenting the best ideas to improve the communities we call home and, perhaps, transform the society we call America.” The $20 million digital-based project will highlight a new website and Facebook presence – because isn't that where all the kids are these days? And their parents for that matter?
Ralph Santana, VP of marketing for PepsiCo North America, felt strongly about the new strategy: “We’re living in a new age with consumers. They are looking for more of a two-way dialogue, storytelling and word of mouth. Mediums like the digital space are much more conducive towards that.”

Pepsi Refresh Project

View more documents from Ayman Sarhan.

Pepsi is giving away millions each month to fund refreshing ideas that change the world. The ideas with the most votes will receive grants. We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it.

Join the Pepsi Refresh project today; anyone can submit their ideas and vote for their favorites. Your idea could help change the future. Your vote will help great ideas become reality. For grant ideas, or to submit your own, visit www.refresheverything.com.

The big winner is this development, however, is Facebook. Major brands such as Budweiser and Coca-Cola are increasingly investing advertising dollars and building their marketing strategies around the popular social platform. Facebook allows corporations to contact consumers directly with the creation of brand-centric pages and themed applications. 

And now, Pepsi will skip commercials during the Super Bowl in favor of a more contemporary and personal form of advertising.

If it is successful, look for big changes in how brands invest in Super Bowl commercials in the future and Channel selection guided by reach of your target market should always apply.


Advertising Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, USA
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Schwartz
Group Creative Director: Brett Craig
Interactive Creative Director: Michael Tabtabai
Associate Creative Director: Xanthe Hohalek
Art Director: Dustin Artz
Copywriter: Chris Jones
Managing Director: Erica Hoholick
Account Director: David Dreyer
Management Supervisor: Kristen Latto
Executive Producer/Agency Producer: Anh-Thu Le
Assistant Producer: Doris Chen
Production Company: Paranoid US
Director: Francois Vogel
Director of Photography: Michael Cleary
Executive Producers: Cathleen OConor/Claude Lettessier
Line Producer: Janice Biggs
Editorial: Union Editorial
Editor: Einar Thorsteinsson
Assistant Editor: Daniel Moreno-Luna
Executive Producers: Michael Raimondi, Megan Dahlman
Producer: Joe Ross
Visual effects: Resolution
Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor: Todd Iorio
VFX Artists: Amir Qureshi, Seth Silberfein
Compositors: Evan Guidera, Jason Jenson, John Nierras, Mannix Richenbacher
Music: The Black Eyed Peas One Tribe
Mixing Facility: Resolution LA
Mixer: Josh Eichenbaum