Mba 653

MTV ARABIA Case study MBA -653 Table of Contents Abstract. 1 SWOT digest. 2 Introduction3 Challenges4 Strategies. 7 Conclusion.. 9 References10 ABSTRACT MTV Networks (MTVN) had all over the years developed a reputation for its ability to provide topical anestheticized content without diluting what MTV stood for.However, the troupe face up the most challenging test in late 2007 with its fling of MTV Arabic in the position eastmost, which near experts considered as the biggest launch in the personal line of credits history. While the market in the nub eastern United States offered MTVN with huge opportunities due to its huge young person populace, MTVs controversial content that was kn testify for angering religious, political, and conservative communities could advantageously backfire in the conservative environment prevalent in the surface area. On the other hand, too oft localization to suit the tastes of the region could dilute MTVs global disfigurement.The case di scusses in detail the outline overheared by MTVN to enter and expand in the core East and also the challenges set about by the channel. 1 SWOT Analysis 2 1. Experts felt that one of the biggest challenges face by MTV while graduation appearance MTV Arabia was the prevalent culture in the Arab world. Discuss the Arab culture. How is it expected to pose a challenge to MTV? The Arab world stretches from Morocco crosswise Northern Africa to the Persian Gulf. The Arab world is more or less(prenominal) equal to the argona known as the s decampping center East and North Africa (MENA).It can also be defined as those countries where Arabic is the ascendent language. Arab countries are religiously and ethnically diverse with Islam being the dominant religion in most countries. 22 Arab countries/areas Algeria, Bahrain, the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Oman, paradise, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The Arab husbandry is divided into three main parts, the Urban Culture (Al-Hadar), the Rural Culture (Al-Reef), and the Nomad Culture (Al-Badow).Typically, countries like Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, and Morocco are considered Rural Cultures, while Arab states of the Persian Gulf, Libya, Mauritania and Jordan are considered Badow (Bedouins), while finally the Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Algeria are considered Urban, yet most of the Arab Major Cities are recognized with Urban Cultures, like Cairo, Rabat, Baghdad, Alexandria, Damascus, Marrakech. The Arab countries are religiously and ethnically diverse. The Arab world is a location of several world religions (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) and a multitude of ethnic and linguistic groups.However, the paramount religion is Islam and Arabic the dominate language. To be an Arab, like an American, is a ethnic trait rather than racial. An Arab worldview is base upon the below concepts 1. Atomis m Arabs flow to see the world and events as isolated incidents, snapshots, and particular moments in time. Westerners tend to look for unifying concepts whereas Arabs focus on parts, rather than on the whole. 2. Faith Arabs usually desire that many, if not all things in life are controlled by the impart of God (fate) rather than by forgiving beings. . Wish Versus Reality Arabs, much more than Westerners, express emotion in a forceful and inspire fashion. Their desire for modernity is contradicted by a desire for tradition (especially Islamic tradition). 4. Importance of Justice and compare Arabs value justice and equality among Muslims, and to a lesser degree to others. All actions taken by non-Arabs will be weighed in comparison to tradition and religious standards. 3 5. Family versus self Arabic communities are tightly knit groups make up of even tighter family groups.Family pride and honor is more valuable than individual honor. 6. Paranoia Arabs whitethorn look paranoid by Western standards. Many are suspicious of any Western interest or intent in their land. 7. Shame and Honor Admitting, I dont know is distasteful to an Arab. inferential criticism can be taken as an insult. Be careful not to insult. And women wear mentalityscarves as a lay down of respect, even if wearing Western clothing. 8. Family Family is the center of honor, loyalty, and reputation for Arabs. And males are always the head of the Arab family. 9.Personal Space Most Arabs DO NOT contend the American concept of Personal space in public situations, and in private meetings or conversations. It is considered offensive to step or lean away Women are an exception to this rule. DO NOT stand close to, stare at, or touch a woman. 10. culture and Trust When conducting business, it is customary to first shake the hand of all males present, taking care not to discover too firmly. Allocate plenty of time for refreshment earlier attempting to engage in business. It is chief(prenominal ) to first establish respect and trust.Arab Perspective vs. Western Perspective Arab Western Family Considered the foremost, where the father is patriarchal Important, yet not as central to the life of the individual Friends Part of life, but considered more periphery Core to a few, but mostly important in life Honor very important amongst Arabs. Honor will be protected and defended all costs. Typically not as important ShameAvoided as much as possible, especially in parity to family, where gossip, insults and criticism taken to heart typically not as important time less rigid.Approach to time is much more relaxed and showed than that in Western cultures. Very structured, deadlines must be met. Religion is central to all things varies with individuals, very personal, not discussed in polite conversation. SocietyFamily tribe is most important individual rights. Government Most governments are secular, but still emphasize religion. Purpose is to protect rights and remedy standard o f living. Age and wisdom honored. Youth and beauty praised. Wealth respected. 4 Some of the key differences set are given here Western youth were found to be generally pessimistic close the future, while heart and soul Eastern youth were generally optimistic. * Religion was seen to be enormously important to Middle Eastern youth when compared to their Western peers. * National identify and tralatitious values were extremely important to Arab youth, but not to their peers in the West. For Arab youth, loss of traditionalistic values and culture was identified as one of the extremum three biggest challenges facing the world today, along with rising cost of living and corruption in government. Arab youth generally admired political, religious, and business leaders, while Western youth do not. * Arab youth motiveed to crap a difference, while Western youth mostly wanted to get ahead. * Middle East and Western male youths had very different opinions about gender equality in the wo rkplace, with less than y in 10 Middle East males favoring it. MTV and the challenges posted by the prevalent culture As a response the Arab culture is known for reacting, and some think over reacting negatively to controversial content. The Middle East offered a huge population of youth with a rich and diverse culture.In an effort to adopt the system of Think Globally, Act Locally MTVN (Music Television Networks) executives made it a point to learn the cultures and accommodate shows that relate to the cultures as oppose to exporting the American culture. In order to achieve this goal the channel adopted a decentralized structure and gave commercial and creative autonomy to the local staff. This venture was considered to be one of the biggest launches in MTVs history because of the potential audience. MTV hoped to provide a culturally unifying agentive role within a region that has been known for its political tensions.Also, this channel may correct some misconceptions of the reg ion and reduce tensions. The target audience for the channel would be the Middle East youth providing them with access to euphony via mobile, broadband, and television. The challenges MTV expected to encounter included the reputation of MTV airing sexually explicit programs and images in direct tune of the socially conservative culture of the Middle East. Adjusting content to be suitable for each region may prove to be very challenging. For example, what is acceptable in Dubai may not be acceptable in other parts of Saudi Arabia.MTV also had to be careful not to lose the vision of their brand in its attempts to conform to localization. 5 In addition, issues such as the US invasion of Iraq perplexd relation among the Americans and Arabs. There were also competitors that had already created a niche for them in the region. So, its not particularly knockout to see why MTV had a major challenge on its hands. Its content ( medical specialty, videos and reality shows) could offend the cultural sensibilities of state in the Arab world especially in terms of * Too much skin show * Intermingling of genders * Use of disparaging or swear words References to alcohol * Discussion on religion or politics * Unaccepted gestures such as finger pointing, showing the soles of feet, etc. Another challenge before MTV was that the Arabs were generally considered paranoid by Western standards and they tended to be suspicious of any Western interest. MTV, in a way, stood for what the Arab world most reviled about Western / American culture. While MTV might argue that the values that it stood for were applicable to youth throughout the world, it may still be perceived as something contrary to Islamic ideals and the Arab culture.The launch of MTV in the Arab world could easily be perceived as an imposition of Western culture. Fanatics, or those who venture to be guardians of Islam, could easily rake up the issue and create a lot of trouble for MTV. To complicate matters, the anti -American sentiments prevalent in a section of the Arab world too could pose step challenges to MTV. wiz may argue that with globalization and the advancements in information and communication technology, youth across the globe share similar aspirations and consumption behavior. And that a section of the youth population in the Middle East did want MTV.However, ignoring the cultural differences is fraught with danger, as the Arab youth consider religion enormously important and loss of traditional values and culture as a key challenge. 6 2. MTVs Strategy in the Middle East . Do you think MTV will be able to succeed in this market? Our squad was required to analyze MTVs strategies in the Middle East and anticipate its success in this market. We believe that the company will do well due to its scientific approach to overcome the major challenges faced in the region and efficient managerial decision making.Firstly, it was a good start to establish fat relationship between AMG and MT V, where each of the sides will benefit from its correlation in terms of earnings, great pass water and people that provide MTV Arabia with a lot of resources. Secondly, Arabs have different tastes and preferences compared to US audience. These differences in taste point to all areas including music networks. However, MTV had taken the decision before launching new merchandises to population of the Middle East to adapt the growth to fit local taste.Thirdly, the extensive market research was conducted by the company in order to minimize the risk of failure by the determining the needs of the population and developing the product that will satisfy their needs. Same research revealed that Islamic biases toward Americanization will not affect development of the company within the region since majority of the participants associated MTV brand with other countries rather than US. In addition, the study helped to find inert niche that could be served to attract larger part of the popu lation and generate more profit. Strategies used by MTV 1) Segmentation dodging (a) Geographic segmentation Targeted region Middle East Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, Palestine and Syria. (b)Demographic segmentation Targeted Population About 65 percent of the Arab population consisted of youth under the age of 25. (2) Targeting strategy Before launching the channel, the extensive survey of the region was conducted to understand what people wanted. The survey team targeted people in the 18-24 age groups and travelled around the region to schools and universities canvassing opinions. (3) Positioning strategy During MTVs twenty-fifth anniversary, the company said that it would provide the audience in the region content that would be different from that offered by popular Arab music channels. Though, the Arab market was crowded with more than 50 channels, none of them provided a global political program to export the musical tal ent of the local youth. (5) Niche strategy To overcome competition, the channel proposed to establish itself as a platform wherefrom the Arab youth could voice their local concerns as well as advertise their music talent.For instance, MTV Arabias flagship show Hip Hop Na, where the winner from each city would get a chance to record a track for a compilation CD produced by Fred Wrecks. (6) Product strategy Product provided The channels programming was to have a mix of music videos, music-based programming, general life-style and animated programs, reality shows, comedy and dramatic series, news specials, interviews and documentaries where the key is obviously the language. About 45 percentage of MTV Arabias content was too produced locally, with the rest translated.New products were developed MTV Arabia designed new shows in Arabic to allow for to pan-Arab youth audience. There would be a localized version of popular shows such as do( Al-Helm) and Boiling Point (Akher Takka). (7 ) Promotion strategy Celebrity attraction marked the launch of MTV in the Middle East. The launch featured performances by eminent stars as Akon, Ludacris and Karl Wolf along with local hip hop group Desert heart. (8) Distribution channels strategy The Middle East had the potential to offer MTV legion(predicate) media like mobiles and the Internet to reach its end consumers.MTV Arabia wants to provide Middle East youth with the opportunity to vigil MTV on mobile, on broadband, and on television. 8 (9) Technical innovative strategy Products such as MTV exploit in which the user could download the video at broadband speed, and MTV Flux in which the online users could create their own TV channel were expected to help in luring the variant Internet service providers in the region. (10) grocery stores Entry strategy MTV entered Middle East by tying up with a local partner the Arab media group (AMG) (11) Investment and control strategyThe channel MTV Arabia was formed as a result of a licensing arrangement between MTV and AMG. MTV would earn an estimated US $10 million annually in licensing fees from AMG for 10 years. (12) Hybrid approach Refers to companys ability to fit in local environment with its culture, traditions values, and cognizance of the reality. MTV Arabia was there to entertain people within the limits of Arab traditions and had no intention of showing disrespect to the local culture. It would be a channel for the Arabs and made by Arabs, where the launch team comprised a mix of Saudis, Palestinians, Emiratis, Iraqis and Lebanese.Conclusion This case gave us an understanding of the issues and challenges in entering and expanding operations in new markets which were culturally different from the organizations home/traditional/existing markets, Understanding the pros and cons of entering a new market with a standardized/adapted product to suit local preferences and made us go further in analyzing MTVNs strategy in the Middle East, identify challen ges and explore strategies that the channel could adopt in the future.This case was very useful it made us realize how MTV and other channels experience in global markets. And how localize strategies in various markets. The challenges MTV faced while launching in the Middle East also were disclosed we analyzed those challenges it faced in expanding its operations in the region and the strategy adopted by MTV in the Middle East. 9 References http//www. arabianbusiness. com/the-revolution-will-be-televised-197356. html http//news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/middle_east/7100252. stm ttp//www. businessweek. com/stories/2007-10-21/online-extra-mtv-presses-play-in-the-middle-east https//www. inkling. com/read/international-management-helen-deresky-7th/chapter-5/part-ii-comprehensive-case-4 http//www. businessweek. com/stories/2007-10-21/online-extra-mtv-presses-play-in-the-middle-east www. mtv. com WWW. mtvme. com http//www. arabianbusiness. com/ WWW. hrbusinees. com www. cnn. com www. bbc. com www . businessweek. com www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/ www. hollywoodreporter. com