1. Successful Ads in
Saudi Arabia

2. About Firefly

3. A Unique blend of ingredients
Boutique Quality
• Dynamic
• Involved
• Creative
• Flexible
• Strategic
• Consultative
Global Network
• Reach and Scale
• Shared Learning and
Best Practices
• Harmonized Tools
and Methodologies
• Consistent Delivery
• Cultural Sensitivity

4. LATIN AMERICA
Argentina
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The Netherlands
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AFRICA
Ghana
Kenya
South Africa
ASIA/PACIFIC
Australia
China
Hong Kong
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Indonesia
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Philippines
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Taiwan
Thailand
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NORTH AMERICA
Canada
United States
WHERE WE ARE
MENA
Over 300 research professionals worldwide

5. What we do
Our Areas of Expertise
FOUNDATIONAL
• Unmet Needs and
Need State Discovery
• Category Exploration
• Ideation and
Brainstorming
BRANDING
• Brand Essence/DNA
• Brand Positioning
• Brand Equity
• Brand and Product
Development
CONNECTIONS
• Targeting and
Segmentation
• Shopper Marketing
and Retail
• Media Mix
• Social Media Mining
COMMUNICATIONS
• Creative Strategy
and Development
• “Big Idea” Generation
• Creative Assessment and
Copy-testing
• Creative Refinement and
Optimization
SPECIALIZED IN THE 360° BRAND EXPERIENCE

6. How WE do it
Ethnography/in-situ
Live
Work
Play
Party
Shop
Eat/Drink
Blog
Depth Interviews
Focus Groups
IDEABLOG
Video Interviews
Family of experts
Quant
Digital
Media
Brand Valuation
Corporate Branding
TOOLS AND SOLUTIONS

7. The Firefly Difference

8. OUR TOOLS
REFLECT WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE BELIEVE
Philosophy
TOOLS
Beliefs
Character
THINK GLOBALLY AND ACT LOCALLY

9. If we are ‘different’ now, we would need
a ‘different’ approach
• Going digital through
Ideablog®
• The need for a 360
degree personality
profile
• Reality vs. aspiration...
Which would be
happening where?
• …a combination
approach

10. Ideablog® : non intrusive tapping into
consumer’s ‘private’ space
• Conversational
platform
• Accessible via their
mobile : Idea blog
Mobile App

11. Benefits of the Platform
Online platform enables recruitment of hard-to-reach
target audiences into a “group” setting
Flexible engagement allows respondents to
spend time thinking about the topic to provide rich
and meaningful uploads and responses
Global platform allows clients to conduct research
in markets around the world
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Speak to consumers where they are comfortable
with and open to sharing information (sometimes
even more than they are when in-person!)

12. ‘Real’ life stories – sharing life vignettes
Pictures from their daily life– Ramadan
Iftaar, Personal belongings and websites
they shop from
Any discomfort with sharing personal
pictures countered by sharing
representative pictures

13. Freedom of expression
• Women are far more expressive on the
online platform as compared to the
offline world
• They would interact with men openly and
voice their opinions
• Men like to share their overtly expressive
personalities online by uploading the
content from their real life. Keek, Taufeet,
Gangnum/Emirati style, Harlem Shake

14. HOW FIREFLY IMPLEMENTED IDEABLOG® TO EXPLORE
ADVERTISING THEMES IN SAUDI

15. 1166
REVIEWING IDEABLOG ® METHODOLOGY

16. Ideablog® at play…
17
Ideablog® was
conducted in KSA
Participants actively
engaged for 10
days were online
2/3 hours a day
• Men and women participated
• Aged varied between 18 and 29 years old
• A mix of Egyptians and Saudis
All participants
were exposed to
the same stimulus

17. Ideablog® at play…
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A 3 phases process to help us focus and delve deeper in understanding
consumers’ responses to themes
1. Exploring 4
themes
2. Participants
shared ads
relevant to each
theme
3. We have injected
ads related to each
theme to amplify
their views

18. Having looked at the top ads in MENA,
we explored 4 executional themes…
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Humour Celebrity
Music
Slice Of Life

19. A different way to deconstruct Ads
EVOLVED DECONSTRUCTION
OF ADVERTISING
Processing of Ads
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“ I take time to process before I share my feedback”
• I process the ad at my own
pace, my feedback will be more
detailed!
• Ability to replay the ad
many times.
• Take the time to reflect
before sharing opinions.
• Read the feedback of other
participants , comfortable
sharing contradictory views.

20. Very Detailed Feedback On Ads
21
The ad with Ronaldo for Mobily doesn’t not make sense!
1. What is Ronaldo doing there ? He has no role in this ad and
having him doesn’t serve in any case the brand.
2. If they have used him to attract our attention, it is useless
because he can only be noticeable when he is in the field or
making one of his moves
3. The fact that he is speaking Saudi is even more useless
cause what he said does not make any sense,
4. The brand Mobily comes at the end, no one would
remember it is a Mobily ad.

21. DEEP DIVE INTO THE THEMES

22. MENA Consumers Relationship With Ads And Brands
23
• Consumers in the region currently look upon advertising primarily as being
Informative:
– About the product/ product demo
– Spontaneous focus is usually on the functional benefits of the product they
can identify
• However, the market is moving to ads playing in the emotional space
– Encouraging identification with a lifestyle or image that the brand owns
• In such a scenario, the differentiator across ads therefore becomes the entertainment
value offered by the ads through elements.
• And ads which offer these aspects appear to engage consumers more than purely
imagery ads.

23. Having looked at the top ads in MENA,
we explored 4 executional themes…
24
Humour Celebrity
Music
Slice Of Life

24. Humour

25. The type of humour Saudis enjoy…
26
• Ad relevancy results form humor
based around a specific cultural
nuance, using dialect specific humor,
and country specific situations
• There is an evident attraction to a
more satirical, self-deprecating
humor, and use of play of words.
• Humor is perceived as a way that
help people cope with harsh reality
and therefore needs to ultimately
trigger positive emotions.
Omar Hussein in 3al6ayer
(As it goes)- A satirical Saudi
program on internet
380,000 Twitter followers. Every
video has approximately 400,000
views
Saudi Community: Sharing
Self Deprecating videos on
Saudi made by Saudi
1,141,974 viewes, 182,548 followes
and 14, subcribers

26. Some examples they have shared with us…
Snickers Ad
MTV Arabia Ad
Funny, Relevant, Self-
Deprecation of Saudi
youth behavior
• Relevant situation
• Smart analogy, play of
words
• Positive impact on
protagonists
Mobily Ad
Funny yet the hero is not
in a satisfying situation

27. Evolve with Your Consumers’ Sense of Humour
• We do have the license to
explore and play with
different types of humor in
the region
• Play of words, positive Self
Deprecating situation can
be explored
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28. Celebrity

29. Expectations from Celebrities
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Local
Celebrities
Accessibility
Fit with
Brand
Local celebrities
resonate more and
drive engagement
Brand values need
to fit with the
Celebrity reputation
are likely to drive
persuasion and
credibility
Presence in social
media, taking part
in socially
responsible
activities

30. Locally acclaimed Celebrities generate a stronger
emotional connection
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Yasser Al Qahtani
 Saudi
 Respected in football world
 Credible in the ad (Gillette)
Tuba Buyukustun
 Turkish actress
 Pantene commercials
Hend Sabry
 Tunisian actress
 Followed in TV series
- Not relevant to brand (“her hair is
different than ours”)
Cristiano Ronaldo
 Respected football player
- He is everywhere (“no credibility in that” –
KFC ad)

31. Give Your Brand A Face Which Represents Your
Consumers…
32
• Local Celebrities enable to
create a strong emotional link.
• Presence in Social Media has
become important for
Celebrities from the region
• Three elements need to be
aligned: the celebrity values ,
brand image and the brand
story.

32. Music

33. Music is About Modern Pop Arabic Music
• In the region, the new trend is
Fusion. Mixing Arabic tunes with
more Western types of music.
• Music should be selected keeping in
mind tastes of the audiences.
• National popular music should be
considered. Saudis accept more
regional tunes
We love Arabic beats, modern
ones! It attracts the attention
to the ad and makes it more
pleasant to watch
Qusai Kheder
Arab Pop style is what we
love! Beats that we love and
words that we can relate to!

34. Slice Of Life
Finally ….

35. Slice of Life Directly Impacts Engagement
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Helps the Brand build Engagement through relevance of the story
ENGAGEMENT
Relevance
• Culturally & socially
rooted situations
• Creates
identification
Brand Fit Motivations
• The brand needs
to fit to the
situation depicted
• Brand has to play
an active role
• Positive emotions
are key drivers for
this region
• Negative
emotional payoff is
rejected ( guilt,
fear…etc)

36. Relevance… Portraying the “ Authentic ME “
The Art of bringing Consumer Truth To Life
37
• Manifestations of Consumer Truth
become very country specific, not
only regional.
When an ad is showing our reality, how we
Egyptians live and interact, it create a lot of
happiness and emotions… you forget that it is an
ad and you just enjoy watching … For example all
Coke ads reflects our reality in a very beautiful
manner …
When it is an ad which shown Saudi youth doing
things that we do, we feel that the brand cares
about us and understands us … Snickers ad is
great, that’s what we do and how we talk!

37. Brand Fit… How to tailor the brand and to story
38
• Consumers look at ads as being
primarily informative. Usage
occasion, end benefit should be
relevant to the situation depicted.
• Ads showcasing the brand without
establishing a clear connect with the
situation are usually not liked
because consumer fail to
understand.
An ad which show our reality… and the brand has
to make sense in the situation … For example
friends gathering in the street and drinking soda
and eating chips is very true!
The presence of the brand need to make sense
to me… Sometimes there is no relation between
the brand and the ad… Or maybe I just don’t
get it 

38. Motivations… Inspiring Positive Emotions
• Saudis seem to prefer a more simple
39
• Situations showcasing negative
emotions such as guilt, discomfort,
shame .. Etc. do not work well in the
region.
We need happiness, hope, love, enjoyment in ads!
Across
Why are they showing her conciseness telling her
not to go for sweets! If I want to eat something
tasty I will eat it! I don’t like such ads which want
to make you feel bad about your choice and
present their brand as “ What is good for you!”

39. Connect in A locally Relevant Way
• Slice of life allows to
get into the
emotional mind space
of your consumers.
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• Recognizing the
variation of the
market is essential in
order to have winning
executions

40. The future of Ads in
the region is
happening NOW!

41. Advertisers Have the Opportunity to Evolve with Consumers
Engagement is more about the story and not just the message
42
Evolve with Your
consumer
Give your brand a
face which they
identify to
Give your brand a
local feel

42. 43
The power of insight !!!
Any Questions?
Get in touch with Rasha Metwali
rasha.metwali@fireflymb.com