All Arabs are old, conservative and traditional. Wrong!
Arabs today are mostly young, totally connected through their smart phones like the youth in any part of the world, a bit confused between modern and traditional thinking, and yes, will definitely marry within their community. Right!
1.Bringing Arab culture to the Cannes centre stage was the only Arab speaker at the festival – Yousef Tuqan, Chief Innovation Officer at Leo Burnett, MENA.
He busted some popular myths about Arabs, threw light on the modern Arab in the Middle East and showed regional and global brands on how to how to get their communications right with this audience.
1.68% of MENA is under 34, 55% of Saudis are under 25 and a similar ratio applies across the region. In an environment of government control, people consume information through the net and are using social media to propagate their thoughts, comment on society and sell their ware. Arab women are selling food through Watsapp; religious leaders are on Twitter; youth icons are on YouTube. The region is becoming the hot bed of creativity with hard hitting social campaigns being aired. This year the KAFA campaign to eradicate domestic violence in Lebanon – “ Vote for us and we will vote for you” won the Glass Lion at Cannes and The Lucky Iron Fish project from UAE won the Grand Prix in Product Design, Dubai s building its brand through #MyDubai
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Young Arabs are bored and looking for change, said Yousef. They are desperate for content. Don’t be scared to communicate with them. There is a huge opportunity here for creativity and impact.
