MTV Arabia challenge free essay sample

Experts felt that one of the biggest challenges faced by MTV while launching MTV Arabia was the prevalent culture in the Arab world. Discuss the Arab culture. How is it expected to pose a challenge to MTV? First of all, it is impossible to talk about groups of people without generalizing. At this point it must be emphasized that there is not just â€Å"one† Arab culture or society. The Arab world is full of rich and diverse communities, groups and cultures. Each of the Arab countries has different perspectives. That’s why differences exist not only among coun- tries, but within countries as well. With 22 countries formed, the Arab region has in some parts the same religious, politics and ethical views and some are totally different Some people would say that it is known for reacting, and some think over reacting nega- tively to controversial content. For example, within the Arab’s there are three types of religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity; so these make some things acceptable in some countries and in others not. Furthermore the Middle East offered a huge population of youth with a rich and diverse culture. And exactly these young people can be seen as the target group of MTV. But you also have to be aware in which parts of the Arabian world you are, because religion, for example, is one of the most important aspects on Arabs’ lifestyle, and has something to do in almost every decision Arabs’ take. Not only political leaders are very influenced by religion on their decisions and those are examples that society view as a model. One of the most crucial facts at MTV decision on entering the Middle East market, was the fact the 65% of the Arab population is younger than 25 years old. MTV as a big Music television channel has to think about these problems, which probably can exist: * Different language (instead of English) * No sexual content (remake some video clips which are too sexy) * Decent clothing (dancing girls with almost no cloth on would be â€Å"dangerous† and not respectful) * No alcohol (Party scenes wouldn’t be liked to see that much) * Anti-American MTV had the opportunity to get 190 million more customers in the Arab community. But, also they have to be aware that family is the center of all In the Arab world, that the father of the family has the first and last word. Also, among Arabs honor is one of the most important qualities and these were also some challenges for MTV. One of the biggest challenges for MTV was the controversial content that it is used to show on their normal channel and regarding this the main difference they had to adapt. The sexuality, use of alcohol, politic criticism and religion criticism are some of the main characteristics of MTV on other countries that are not as conservative as Arabs. With these characteristics MTV has achieved success through the Western hemisphere, be- cause the black humor they use is normal among the youngsters and instead of feeling sensible with these, they see it in a humorous way. But, in the Arab community they still conserve the traditional values supported by their culture. In an effort to adopt the strategy of â€Å"Think Globally, Act Locally† MTVN (Music Television Networks) executives made it a point to learn the cultures and make shows that relate to the cultures as op- pose 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. Because of the potential audience this venture was considered to be one of the biggest launches in MTV1’s history. MTV hoped to provide a culturally unifying agent within a region that has been known for its political tensions. Also, this channel may cor- rect some misconceptions of the region and reduce tensions. The target audience for the channel would be the Middle East youth; providing them with access to music via mo- bile, broadband, and television. Some more challenges MTV expected to encounter included: like already mentioned the reputation of MTV airing sexually explicit programs and images in direct contrast 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. In addition, issues such as the US invasion of Iraq complicated relation among the Americans and Arabs. At this context it can also be mentioned that there are Anti-American sentiments prevailing among a large section of the population. And a last and very important point of view is the different business environment, which makes it very difficult for western companies to venture because it is highly regulated. So for a successful implementation of MTV 10/13/2013 Chapter 4, Application Exercises 1 and 2 2 Application Exercise #2 Arabia the managers have to think and consider among other things, such as language translation, and of course censored language and the possibility to have local TV shows as competitors. Question 2 Critically analyze MTV’s strategy in the Middle East. Comment on its entry strategy and also its strategy of providing mixed content to the market. Do you think MTV will be able to succeed in this market? Strategic planning. When MTVN launched MTV Arabia on November 17, 2007, in part- nership with Arabian Television, it was a result of a strategic planning. Before MTVN decided to enter the Arabic market, they did extensive market research in order to plan how they could enter the market and adjust to local taste and culture without diluting MTVs global brand. They did a profile of their counterparts so that they could better un- derstand what to expect, how they would have to prepare and how they should move on. An external analysis provided them with information on the competitive landscape and the different shifting macro factors they would have to take into considerations, and they got an understanding of the existing cultural differences between the American and Arabic culture. Choosing a local partner was a strategic mover in order to penetrate the market. Cultural competence. MTVN had a major advantage when entering this market. As a global company with lots of international experience, they had a certain knowledge on how cultural differences in cultural values, lifestyles, expectations, verbal and nonverbal language, approaches to formal procedures and problem solving techniques could chal- lenge negotiations. MTVI ? venturing into the Middle East was a result of a combined ef- fort from innovative and enthusiastic personalities, with different cultural backgrounds. Bhavneet Singh (Senior Vice President and Managing Director in MTVNI) and Abdullatif Al Sayegh (CEO and Chairman of ABN) is mentioned as two parties highly involved in the process. Global strategy, local touch. Providing mixed content to the audience was an adjust- ment that was needed in order to adapt to the culture. They tried their original concept but saw that it didn’t fit well with the Arabic culture, and as it didn’t work out to just take away some of their programs or add other shows this strategy seemed to be a best fit. The main challenges MTVN had at first in regard to adapting to the Arabs were solved when they merged with AMG. The relationship seemed to have a long-term orientation, which was a critical factor for MTVN who had a long-term ambition in their market en- trance. MTV were able to think global and act local they were successfully able to ad- just to the cultural needs of the Middle East audience and we do believe that MTV will have the possibility to survive in this market because of their strategic and cultural competence.