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The forgotten demographic?(Campaign Middle East Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) The statistics are compelling. South Asians comprise around 20 per cent of the total GCC population. In Saudi Arabia - the region's largest and most important consumer market - Indians form the second or third largest single group behind Saudi nationals, while in the UAE they are a majority. The number of Keralites alone is estimated to stand at 4.5 million in the GCC, according to Malayalam satellite channel Asianet, while - sheer population size aside - South Asians feature across the entire socioeconomic spectrum. This is complemented by a growing Indian economy that has seen firms such as Marico, Dabur and Tata take an increased interest in the GCC market. Amidst all this, Indian broadcasters have renewed their focus on the Gulf. Amongst others, this year has seen the regional launch of Indian entertainment channel Colors, while Asianet - which has been present in the region for a number of years - established Asianet Middle East in March, thereby giving Keralites access to more localised content. The new entrants join a marketplace already populated by the likes of Zee and Star. The Middle East media ride, however, has not always been an easy one. NDTV Arabia, which launched with much fanfare in 2008, closed down in June last year as a consequence of the global recession. "The economic events of the past couple of years had slowed things down a bit in terms of new launches, but now with the Indian economy growing at breakneck speed and the Gulf showing signs of recovery, Asian TV in the Gulf seems to have shifted into second gear with new launches and new Middle East specific beams," says Mohan Nambiar, CEO of MEC MENA. Amit Raj, director of planning at PHD Dubai, says the incentives to open in the region are manifold. "The Gulf is an easy extension for their existing content, which is very popular here, and an additional source of revenue. The population is significant and the available budgets seeking this audience are large and growing." Colors, which is the flagship channel of the Viacom18 Group, launched in the Middle East in September through Pehla's payTV bouquets. The company's CEO, Rajesh Kamat, who is also COO of the Viacom18 Group, says establishing its Middle East presence is part of the channel's strategic expansion plan. "Even though the affluence levels of Indians in the Gulf region may not be comparable with markets like the US, the fact is that it remains among the top three markets in terms of concentration of Indians overseas," says Kamat. "This is an extremely important market for us from the point of view of revenues - both subscription and advertising." The problem, however, is that the potential of the South Asian market has yet to be fully realised, says Nambiar. If all media newcomers are to reap the rewards of establishing a Middle East presence - and advertisers are to find new consumers for their products - the market needs to be proactively developed. Preconceptions of South Asians as low income earners abound, which means they are often overlooked by advertisers. "That preconception exists and it limits adspend, especially on higher end products," says Nambiar. "But even for mass market brands, this demographic - as a secondary target audience - is often overlooked, with advertisers focused on the Arab market." Bindhu Menon, general manager of Asianet Middle East, adds: "People from the Indian subcontinent are perhaps the single largest consumer segment in the Gulf. [But] their collective purchasing power is often overlooked despite the fact that, as recent reports say, they are the largest buyers of homes in Dubai's gated communities." The impact of limited advertiser focus for media owners is obvious, especially those that are free-to-air, such as Asianet. "From a marketing perspective, the biggest challenge was to convince advertisers of the large cross-section of the demographic they were overlooking, simply because they were unaware or had preconceived stereotypical notions about the purchase power of our community," says Menon. For Nambiar, however, this issue is one of many that are holding the market back. For media owners, the market is under-penetrated when it comes to subscriptions (most Indian channels are pay-TV), and high levels of piracy means many Gulf consumers prefer to watch Indian beams through satellite dishes and subscriptions bought back home, with the Gulf operations of these channels/groups suffering from both forgone subscription revenues and reduced advertising revenues. From an advertisers' perspective, lack of data and adequate clarity in sizing up the market potential - e.g. family households versus single working males, white collar versus blue collar - remains an important issue. There is also the creative conundrum of whether to run an Indian TVC or to adapt an Arabic one. Menon argues that increased research is necessary in order to gauge the true value of the market. "We need to have a broader media survey base that takes into consideration the true demographic of the region," she says. "Marketing professionals must have adequate data at their disposal, and this can be provided by the rating agencies by making their surveys truly representative of the region's demographics." Nambiar agrees that advertisers need to invest in more market research and intelligence, whether formal or informal, to correctly assess the size and potential of the market. And media owners? How can they help overcome the problems stated above? "From the advertising side, by bringing their viewers' purchasing power to the fore in the advertisers' eyes," says Nambiar. "This also includes highlighting the regional nature of their audience. The misperception that Asians/Indians are restricted to the UAE needs to be broken and - relatedly - their large size in the allimportant Saudi market should be highlighted. They also need to demonstrate the cost-efficiency of using Asian TV." But not all believe the South Asian demographic is being overlooked. "Yes, there is a large segment of low income residents from the subcontinent, but there is also a very large middle class and also high net worth individuals," says Raj. "This means brands of all types find value in this audience, particularly FMCG. It's no wonder the likes of du, Etisalat and Zain have dedicated campaigns for them as they are all heavy mobile users. Savvy marketers are well aware of this and not only see but realise their potential." Raj does agree, however, that growing pay-TV penetration and battling piracy are key objectives. "There are many viewers who have brought their decoders back home and watch the Indian feed here in the Middle East," says Raj. "These will never see advertisements aired on the local beam, even though they're the target of local advertisers. "The second issue is cost of subscription, which can be very high in the region in relation to their income, so many prefer not to subscribe. Therefore the penetration of Asian TV viewership in the region is lower than it could be. [Then there's] the demographic imbalance, with 60 to 70 per cent of Asians in the region being single males. Broadcasters still beam largely female centric content, so they're missing out on the fuller potential of this region." Kamat, CEO of Colors, stresses that piracy is being tackled. "We are confident that in the days to come, we will see the industry moving ahead of these challenges," he says. One thing all agree on, however, is that the importance of the South Asian market is only going to increase. "I foresee more localised programming on regular stations and, like telephone rates, TV subscription fees will decrease," says Raj. "All this will attract even more airtime demand from advertisers and therefore more channels coming into the region." For Nambiar, there will be growth driven by a booming Indian economy, as well as increased channels, segmentation, Middle East beams, Gulf specific programming and a focus on digital. "Another important factor could be Saudi Telecom offering cable TV services next year for the first time. This could lead to increased penetration for Indian channels," adds Nambiar. Meanwhile Colors' Kamat only sees growth. "We see in years to come the average revenue per user in the region rising on the back of linear channel offering as well as on-demand content. The Gulf region will continue to remain among the top three overseas markets for Indian content and broadcasters." "We need to have a broader media survey base that takes into consideration the true demographic of this region" Bindhu Menon, general manager, Asianet Middle East "Even for mass market brands this demographic is often overlooked, with advertisers focused on the Arab market" Mohan Nambiar, CEO of MEC MENA (c) 2010 Motivate Publishing. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |