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Web 2.0 TalkWeb 2.0 TalkFlamingo InternationalFlamingo International

Visit BritainVisit Britain

Researching Arab YouthResearching Arab Youth

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Setting the Scene…..

• Visit Britain's role is to promote Britain overseas

• Been representative in the ME since 1995

• Previous research identified UAE & Saudi Arabia as ‘best prospects’

• Limited marketing resources meant that we were looking for alternative ways of targeting the Arab market

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Setting the Scene….

• Marketing on-line meant that we didn’t have to build a physical presence in the ME – outside of Dubai

• Arab youth market only segment with significant online presence

• Potential to target using a VB Youth Campaign - GB4U which has run successfully in Europe

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The Brief….

• Objectives: » Gain an insight into Arab youth lifestyles» Understand key triggers for deciding to travel internationally» Determine the appeal of the GB4U campaign

• First time had conducted primary research in this market

• Wanted to keep the brief as open as possible

• Wanted an innovative approach

• Aware there may be cultural sensitivities regarding discussion of some topics

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A little more on the objectives

• Lifestyle:

• What hobbies and interests do they have?

• What websites are they interested in?

• Fashion? What clothes do they wear?

• Are they interested in brands and influenced by them?

• What music do they like? (crucial for GB4U)

• Are they interested in British bands?

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A little more on the objectives

• General Travel Behaviour • Where do they usually go?• What times of holidays do they like to take?• Where did they stay?• Important factors for choosing a destination• How they research their holidays• What factors would influence the booking process?

• Perceptions of Britain• What do they think of when they think of Britain?• What attracts them to Britain?• What type of holidays would they imagine taking in Britain?• When would they go? What would they do?• What is their perception of British people and do they feel they

would be made to feel welcome on a trip to Britain?• Would they travel alone to Britain?

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And a focus on GB4U

• GB4U is a youth club with a website which is filled with lots of information

• People get invited to it with an e-newsletter• It focuses on British music and education• When you register you are sent a Lonely Planet

Guide and a welcome letter• The website is regularly updated with

information on travel, work and study in Britain

• Exclusive offers on travel • Quarterly e-newsletters: information and

special offers, prize draws etc.

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And so we needed to understand….

• The appeal of GB4U• Whether it would be appropriate for this target • Would they relate to the type of imagery, the

messages, the tonality that had been included in the Spanish and Portuguese campaigns?

• In the background there was a decision to be made about whether we could use the same material (with a Arab slant) or whether we would have to think about entirely new material…

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What did we propose?

• 7 day blogging task in UAE and KSA

• Invite best bloggers and two of their friends

to participate in a 90 minute online chat

• Freshly recruit and undertake four friendship

triads in each market in order to validate

learnings from first two elements, and

explore response to some NPD ideas.

• SAMPLE: Between the ages of 15-25, young,

cool, trend forward mainstream consumers,

males and females

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The qual research context in Saudi in particular is not always conducive to western clients

getting up close and personal with consumers

• Close hand western presence at one on one depths, home visits, even groups can be disruptive and inhibit.

• However, in KSA very rare for researcher to even be able to enter the Kingdom. One-on-one contact with consumers very rarely gained.

• As a result, we have to leave it to local supplier to conduct, observe and report back: Plenty of good suppliers, but the sense of proximity and intuitive feel does not export well.

•Lastly, response to conventional ‘ethnographic’ approaches (diaries, photo montages, being filmed) is not always possible, OR fruitful.

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What did the blogging platform look like?

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Some of the questions we asked…

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The Methodology….

WHY

Overcome some of the

issues

Internet provides a

community and forum for social

networking

Way to get close to our

target market

Planning on

targeting online

Innovative marketing

and research

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This was one study where we needed to get close to this sometimes elusive target • In the light of both the client brief and the local

qual research context we needed to find an approach that would allow us to have very close, or even better, direct contact with this target

•Web 2.0 presented us with an ideal platform on which to do this

• Blogs enabled us to enter into a personal and multimedia dialogue with individuals in each market

•The blog platform was a safe place for them to share their inner thoughts, feelings, photos, likes and dislikes

•Online groups enabled us to access a ‘group’ response to themes emerging from the blogs, but we also had the luxury of being ‘there’ and being able to ask questions.

• The end result was a living, breathing, un-censored portrait of this target. We came away feeling as if we had a new understanding of what it was to be young in the Arabian gulf.

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Using a virtual meeting place would mean accessing our target in a space they frequented when they wanted to talk, confide and share, but one where they could remain largely anonymous

•A space spontaneously associated with freedom of speech and self expression in both markets

•A space where censorship is not yet in complete control of contribution and content

• A space which enables them to easily illustrate written response with photos, mpegs, drawings….all helping to build a richer picture of their lives

• A space where gender linked expectations of behaviour and etiquette can, to some extent be transcended.

• Our online groups were mixed gender - the first we’d ever done like that in the region. Respondents went away saying they’d had a great time and wanted to do it again!

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Since the findings of the research were intended to feed into the development of an e-newsletter and online club, for us, it also made complete sense to anchor our methodology in the virtual

world

•We were able to observe our target’s use of, and interaction with the web first hand

• They were able to lead us to their favourite sites with a simple click

• We were able to show them stimulus in the medium for which it was intended, not mounted on a board in a meeting room.

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Economy and Carbon Friendly

• A methodology, which, for all its breadth and depth, was highly cost effective

• Also a virtually carbon neutral project!

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We readily admit that there are limitations to such an approach. It would not work for all

qualitative studies in the region

• Stimulus

• No face to face

• Still need the input of local partners to help interpret and reality check findings

• Ethics: photos, mixed sex, anonymity, web censors

• Software issues

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General benefits of an online group

• Teen-approved dynamic – message boards and chat rooms are accepted and familiar forums for debate• Anonymity of the web is particularly pertinent to teen demographic. Allows them to shed inhibitions. Reduces peer pressure and bias• Honest and open discussion (useful when dealing with emotionally difficult subjects)• Written form of communication therefore more likely to take time and be considered• Online nature means that it offers increased access to the target as they do not need to ‘present’• Groups can be local or global (if conducted in English)

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The client experience of our online groups

• Client can view in ‘real time’ and input via the direct line to the moderator• An Instant Messenger system so the client team can input into the discussion and ask questions• Probe past stereotypical views of Britain (expensive and full of rude people!) and drill down on what their views were• Visit Britain is an international company, with international internal clients. In this case, British Council and our offices in Dubai internal stake-holders. This method allowed them to log in to the group and be involved too• No travel expenses and no time wasted travelling• No time was taken out of your working day• Log on in comfort of our own homes!• Electronic immediate transcription - we could then use this for decision making, we had a feel for what was happening

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How it felt being a client in the group

• You felt you were one of them!• You were part of the process of the discussion in contrast to a traditional focus group where you are behind a glass mirror• Our whole team would log on and watch it happening

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Our concerns…

• We were slightly apprehensive as we had never done something like this before• Limited budget - a pressure for this to work• There is no way to keep people in the room as there is with a traditional focus group (lack of control)• Difficult to keep track of who was who (the identity of the respondents)• Non-verbal communication - no body language cues

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So what happened next? • Took us a while to digest the WEALTH of information

• Learnt that we had 2 different types of consumers that couldn’t be targeted in the same campaign

• Couldn’t role out GB4U campaign with a slight Middle Eastern slant – had to be tailored to youth markets in KSA and SA

• Key insights; which online portals to target for Arab youth

• UAE youth looking for spontaneous adventurous travel (experiences not available in home country)

• From the research, we developed a leaflet inviting people to become members of GB4U and log onto the Middle Eastern GB4U campaign website

• Research invaluable to feed market profiles, business plans, market intelligence for UK trade – we are much more informed

• Prime example of joint public diplomacy initiative