Founder and Managing Partner of Motivate Media Group – Ian Fairservice, explains why staying visible is vital and how partnering with Gulf News will keep print titles top-of-mind.
There are three very pertinent items for the media industry in the Gulf News edition dated Tuesday 21st April 2020.
Their front cover opinion piece is headlined: ‘UAE newspapers in unprecedented crisis’. It makes the point that there is a global surge in the consumption of news and, with so much ‘fake news’ out there, people are turning to established media for reliable information.
True, and whether that’s found in print editions or online is not important. What is important is that without advertising revenue, or as Gulf News points out, a share of the government’s financial stimulus packages, those reliable news sources will dry up forever.
Page 2 poses the question: “Is this really the newspaper industry’s final battle?” and discusses in depth the challenges facing print media locally and globally. Turning through to the bottom of page 15, Vrinda Gupta sums up the situation succinctly with three invaluable recommendations for all companies: Stay agile, remain relevant and be very visible – “being visible in difficult times matters for businesses,” she wrote.
Gupta concludes: “If there is anything that we learned from the 2008 Global Economic Crisis it is that companies that were most visible recovered the fastest”.
Most people in the industry will be familiar with the Wanamaker Dilemma. A prominent US retailer, John Wanamaker famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half”.
Less true today with more sophisticated data available but, in a serious economic decline, brands can’t afford not to take that chance. Marketing remains a must. Companies need to think long and hard about the best possible media mix and do their utmost to stack the odds in their favour.
A lesser-known story is that of Kellogg’s and Post cereal companies in the 1920s. When the depression hit, Post, who were market leaders – and Kellogg’s biggest rival – cut right back on advertising while Kellogg’s more than doubled its spend. By the early 1930s, Kellogg’s dominated the market. And who now has ever heard of Post cereals?
For our part at Motivate we are not just focusing more energy and talent on our online editions, we’re also maintaining the balance by ensuring that much-loved print products reach readers despite the inherent difficulties. Which is why, Motivate Media Group are moving the vast majority of print to a free distribution model that will continue as long as needed.
While maintaining stock at major retailers, starting immediately, through a new arrangement with Gulf News, free copies of What’s On, Emirates Woman, Gulf Business and Identity will be delivered directly to Gulf News subscribers’ homes.
Copies will initially be supplied to Emirates Hills, Emirates Living, Arabian Ranches, JLT, Dubai Marina, Palm Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim and Trade Centre 2.
The philosophy is very straightforward – we are adapting our business model to ensure that no magazines go unread.
This is Motivate’s strategy to maintain service to our readers, visibility for our brands and ROI for our advertisers.
Maintaining brand visibility through difficult times and taking advantage of potential stand-out in a less noisy and cluttered media space is essential for those businesses that strive to come through, like Kellogg’s, stronger than ever. Snap, Crackle & Pop.
Source: Gulf Business and Campaign Middle East
Motivate Val Morgan is a joint venture company established in 1999 by Motivate Media Group and Val Morgan Cinema Network.
Avengers: Endgame marks the culmination of what is arguably Hollywood’s greatest ever storyline, one which began with the release of Iron Man more than a decade ago and has captured the imagination of a generation ever since. This blockbuster has broken several records in the past few months which include – the highest-grossing worldwide opening weekend, highest admissions in the UAE, highest trailer views within 24 hours and the longest runtime in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
The unprecedented anticipation surrounding this film has led to exceptional box office numbers.
Highest-Grossing Worldwide Opening Weekend
As announced by Disney, Avengers: Endgame pulled in an estimated $1.2 billion in worldwide box office in its opening weekend – effortlessly smashing the record of $640.5 million done by Avengers: Infinity War which released last year. The figure makes this star-studded movie the first film in history to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales in its debut weekend – creating a new benchmark in the world of cinema.
Highest UAE Admissions
With over 485k admissions, Avengers: Endgame broke records in the UAE for having the highest admissions in the first four days since its release (Wednesday 24th April – Saturday 27th April 2019), beating the record held by The Fate of the Furious (2017) by 39%.
Last year, Avengers: Infinity War ran for a total of 23 weeks in the UAE and did over 730,00 admissions, making it the No. 1 movie in UAE’s ‘Top 10 Movies of 2017’. Avengers: Endgame is most likely to garner a larger lifetime admission figure of close to 750k admissions in the UAE.
As per Gulf News, a Disney source confirmed that Avengers: Endgame released across 300 screens and has collected Dh26.4 million since its opening day. A well-placed UAE cinema source also stated that the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe recorded well over 500k admissions across the first five days of its screening, becoming the biggest film to ever release in the country.
As of May 7th 2019, the movie has done over Dh40 million at UAE box office.
VOX Cinemas has also confirmed Endgame’s record run since its opening. As per a spokesperson from VOX, “Avengers: Endgame broke our record for advance ticket sales, more than doubling the number of tickets sold in our previous record for the film Baahubali 2. The movie contributed [towards] 80 per cent of the three-day weekend box office and the highest recorded admissions across VOX Cinemas on 26th April 2019.”
Reel Cinemas reported a ‘record-shattering’ opening weekend with the release of Avengers: Endgame, adding that it had doubled its box-office results over its prequal – which took six days to reach the same collection.
VOX Cinemas and Reel Cinemas, together with other cinema exhibitors across the Middle East – such as AMC Cinemas (KSA), screened the movie throughout the day (on a 24-hour basis) during the opening weekend to match the demand of ticket sales.
In addition to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, VOX Cinemas also confirmed that the film broke records in Muscat (Oman) and Kuwait.
Highest Trailer Views
According to Disney, the first official trailer of Avengers: Endgame – released on December 7th 2018, is the most viewed trailer across 24 hours in movie history with over 289 million views (tabulated across multiple platforms – YouTube, Facebook and Twitter). This anticipated trailer surpassed previous records set by Avengers: Infinity War of 230 million views and The Lion King teaser which racked up 224.6 million views.
Longest Runtime in the MCU
While most MCU movies are over two hours long, Avengers: Endgame is the first installment to cross the three-hours threshold with a runtime of 3 hours and 2 minutes – 22 minutes longer than Avengers: Infinity War.
In 2018, not only did Avengers: Infinity War top the worldwide box office, but it was also the only movie to hit more than the $2 Billion mark in worldwide box office revenue of 2018 – making it the fourth highest grossing movie of all time after Avatar (2009), Titanic (1997) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Avengers: Endgame is forecasted to be an even bigger hit than its prequel, and moreover, it has a chance of becoming the highest-grossing film of all time – on pace to dethrone Avatar.
Avengers: Endgame is expected to gather momentum as one of the most successful movies in history with fans already booking to watch the movie for the second time round.
Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films:
Spider-Man: Far from Home – 4th July 2019
Black Widow – 1st May 2020
The Eternals – 6th November 2020
Black Panther 2 – 12th February 2021
Shang-Chi – 7th May 2021
Doctor Strange 2 – 5th November 2021
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 6th May 2022
Sources: Screenrant, Hollywood Reporter, Gulf News, , The National, Arabian Business and CNBC
It is probably no exaggeration to say the past year has been the most momentous year in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s history with the announcement of a wide range of social reforms – boosting entertainment and allowing women to drive, to take effect in 2018.
In December 2017, Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year ban on commercial theaters as part of the country’s 2030 vision (stamped by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) to modernize and move the country forward. Four months after, in April 2018 we witnessed the launch of Saudi Arabia’s first cinema in over three decades (operated by AMC Entertainment), which was followed by the launch of a 4 screen VOX Cinemas at Riyadh Park Mall – featuring an IMAX screen, 2 VOX Kids screens and 1 VIP screen.
As the official cinema advertising partner of VOX Cinemas, Motivate Val Morgan received an overwhelming response from advertisers within hours of the cinema chain launching in the Kingdom. The first advertisers to book on-screen ads through Motivate Val Morgan were Hotels Combined, Chevrolet, GMC, Emirates Airlines, Homecentre and Cartier, to name a few.
On 24th June 2018 followed the end of a decades-long ban on women driving – enabling women (18 years of age and older) to apply for a driver’s license.
For the vast majority of women in the kingdom, the move allowing them to drive represents a new dawn, offering greater freedom of mobility, access to wider job opportunities, and the reclamation of rights.
Timing their cinema campaigns with the lifting of the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia were Audi and Hyundai.
Audi
To mark the monumental day in history, in which woman in Saudi Arabia got into the driver’s seat for the first time ever, Audi created this gripping and inspirational video.
Audi booked a 1-week on-screen campaign to play on all screens of VOX Cinemas – Riyadh Park Mall from 28th June to 4th July 2018.
Hyundai
Hyundai’s #whatsnext campaign is a message from people all over the world, welcoming the women of Saudi Arabia behind the wheel.
Hyundai booked a 6-week on-screen campaign to play on all screens of VOX Cinemas – Riyadh Park Mall from 5th July to 15th August 2018.
An amalgamation where a once banned and re-established medium, screens an advertisement welcoming a deeply symbolic move to put women back in the driver’s seat!
Have a tactical campaign you would like to execute on cinema screens in Saudi Arabia?
Contact a member of our sales team for more information.
Sources: Al Arabia (English), Gulf News, Gulf Business and YouTube (YallaMotor)
