MTVs Strategy in the Middle East - Case Study Example

Justice and equality are very important for Arabs. All the activities undertaken on behalf of the US and Americans is constantly weighed in comparison to religious standards and traditions (Higgins.org, n.d.). Suspicious attitude towards the Americans and American culture also is common among some representatives of the Middle East region (Higgins.org, n.d.). However, Arabic communities usually place family over self and focus on family pride and honor. By going to the Middle East MTVN has faced some of the above-mentioned challenges as a result of the prevalent culture in the Arab world.

The company had to consider all of these cultural differences and find a balance between Arabic conservatism and American permissiveness. It is possible even to state that the Arabic culture as it is has created a number of challenges: from language and translation to censorship and political sensitivity. As Roedy said, there were three key aspects reflecting the country: packaging, attitude, and language (Case Study, 13). All these three aspects were adapted to the Middle East region and Arabic culture, despite the challenge related to the variety of countries in the Middle East region.

Thus, MTVN management has turned its challenges into opportunities and avoided the risks of cross-cultural conflict and project failure. Question 2MTV’s strategy in the Middle East was perfectly adapted to the local region. The company decided to enter the market with a help of local partners; it gave MTV an opportunity to better understand the needs of its target audience and to deeper penetrate to Arab society. The decision to provide mixed content to the market also seems to be very effective as the “mixture” was selected properly: 60% of international content and 40% of Arabic.

Such a combination allowed MTV customers and fans to enjoy entertaining international clips but also not isolate from Arabic culture and music. Another important factor that should be taken into account was MTVN’s decision to produce and prepare local content by local experts. Allowing local experts to produce 45% of the content and adapting content, MTV has managed to achieve local recognition of the American brand. Moreover, as it has been stated in the case study, MTVN became a channel that unifies people from different countries in the region, namely: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Bahrain, Syria, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, and Bahrain.

MTV has managed to engage Arab youths by offering them the opportunities to advertise their musical talents and express themselves (Case Study, 14). I think that this approach of adaptation to the local market and active interaction with local consumers will make MTVN successful in the Middle East region. In order to succeed MTV will have to continue its strategy of being sensitive and respectful to certain aspects specific to the Arabic world. However, it might happen that the share of international content will grow and the share of Arabic content will decrease, as Arab youth becomes more internationalized and open-minded.

Question 3As time shows, MTV’s strategy really was successful and the company continues to grow its business in the Middle East region. Nothing can tell better about a company’s success than financials. Comparing financial data for the period between 2007 and 2013, there is a decrease in total Viacom’s revenues $ 14 625 mln and $ 13 794 respectively (Viacom Annual Report 2012; Case study). However, according to Viacom’s annual report, Media Networks (includes MTVN) comprised 69% revenue in the total Viacom’s revenue.

This share is considerable and indicates that Media Networks has increased its revenue ($8 756 mln in 2008 vs $ 9 517 mln in 2012). In addition to financial indicators, the success of the MTV Middle East can be evaluated by the number of households its program services reach: 700 million households in more than 160 countries and territories (Viacom Annual Report 2012, 5). Online activity in social media such as Facebook and Twitter also indicates the success of the company in the Arabic world.

As of September 2013, MTV had more than 150 million Fans on Facebook across all its pages, and about 15 million followers on Twitter (Viacom Annual Report 2012, 5). The website of MTV Middle East is full of advertisements for TV shows, clips and other entertaining content.It is difficult to state what MTV should have done differently as the case study presented gives a very brief overview of the business case. Due to this limitation, I do not find an appropriate solution that would be more effective than the strategy developed for launching MTVN on the Arab market.

The company has successfully captured the Middle East auditory and now has to continue to work hard to retain it.