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Case Study
Introduction
This case is about MTVN (Music television network) which wanted to launch its channel in the Middle East. MTVN which first started in 1981 in United States of America, which changed the way music, was heard by people, it had a distinctive feature in the channel as it provided content which attracted the western culture, including explicit material with controversies including the stars of the music industry, they first started by targeting with their music content by airing heavy metal music to the age group of 18-24 and rap music, but over the years, it launched many sister channels such as VH-1 which was popular for rhythm and hip-hop music and Nickelodeon, which was launched in 1977 for the children segment. The complete variety and the content that MTV played made it turn into a renowned brand with the local customers. In 1986 MTV was acquired by Viacom Inc, which marked the beginning of MTV’s global expansion. It first expanded into Europe, providing them with the same flavor of what the channel was all about and then started to enter markets such as Asia, Australia, China, Germany etc in local languages and local content targeting that group of audience. It was very successful in its global strategy of adapting the local culture by respecting them and also providing content of what they were known for, this mix and match made the content spicier for the audience and despite initial barriers, their International campaign was highly effective and successful. There revenues kept on increasing and by the end of 2008, the total revenue was US$ 14, 625 Million including cable network and entertainment division. After expanding its market into the globe, MTVN now wanted to enter the Middle East, which was the only region which was left to be targeted by its flavor. Thus, it had to make strategies which would make the channel effective and efficient in the Middle Eastern culture.
Answer 1:
MTV was known for airing its explicit and controversial material which would not have been accepted by the people of Middle East due to their culture and the extra respectful attitude. Their culture consist of people who does not want to be laughed upon, it is their backgrounds that makes them irritated if any one disrespects them, whether it be a through a channel. Their culture in a broad aspect, consist of: Honor (Self respect): They have a strong self pride and all of them gives the same respect to everyone even if they don’t have the same wealth, position or rank. They have a strong devotion to their extended families, friends and a great belief of unityThey are very hospitable to their guest and visitors. They have a great sense of independence and also have are totally abide to the laws and norms in their region. RegulationsAll these factors with the sense that the people in the middle east do not like the people or the culture of America, may be due to the wars in Iraq and Palestine, it meant they a great level of resistance could come from this region to the content and concept of MTV, for it being an American Brand for Music. On the other hand, Middle East comprises of Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jeddah and others which have a totally different as what would have been acceptable by people in Dubai will not have been accepted by people in Jeddah. The regulations and the laws of the government were also very strict, protecting the rights of the nation such as monopoly in the industry and other with the protection of the local competition by local companies was also a challenge faced by the channel. There is also a big difference in the culture comparing American and the Arab’s, The Americans have a direct attitude which would include having a clear communication style as to ‘ say what you mean’ and ‘ Get to the point ‘ While the Arab’s have a indirect way of communication which includes, emotions which makes their language more defensive rather than offensive. These challenges were to be faced by MTVN if they were to launch in the Middle East, combining all the above factors with the reason that MTV also had to maintain what it actually stood for as it could not have changed the entire complexion of what is was all about, which consisted of music and entertainment.
Answer 2:
To start off , MTVN knew that in order to capture the markets of the middle east it had to a portray its brand as it is there to provide the people with entertainment and there content would respect their culture . For this fact it was very important for them to make alliances with local business in the Middle East which was their first step to enter the market. As mentioned by their chairman, they wanted to give a different experience to the people by providing them with a brand depending on their local cultures. Their strategy included providing 60% international music with 40 % local Arab music, with 45 % of the MTV’S Arab content to be produced locally, edited by local editors who knew the real culture of the nation. The key was that their outlook as to their packaging, attitude and language reflected the Arab nation. According to a survey, about 65 % of the population in the Middle East comprised of youth under the age of 25, thus they had the opportunity to cater more than 190 million audience, thus they wanted to provide the youth flavor in their programming by giving a platform to the local youth performers to be a part of the channel by talking to them and also by showcasing their talent on air. They understood that understanding the next generation was a key aspect for them as there was little or no youth platform present in the Middle East, thus it was a great opportunity for them to cover this sector of the market. Their strategy also included the partnership with different media channels such as mobile and the internet, they wanted that their target audience could follow them through these channels, which would mean a broader market for them as there were 37 million mobile subscribers in the Middle East. They wanted to not only provide entertainment to the market but also provide them with shows which reflected the Arab society through shows comprising of social issues which would include education, unemployment and others. In my opinion, MTVN was able to enter the market of the Middle east with a great success as its great strategy of providing mixed content with the feel that they would provide them with entertainment combining the factors of respected the Arab culture, meant a great degree of affiliation with the nation, capturing the youth market with the flavor of music and getting into the mature market by providing shows on different areas of the society was a key for the producers to get into a region where they was a willingness by the people to be entertained.
Conclusion
MTV have had a great success in the global industry, with its music, entertainment and controversial shows it has captured the hearts of the customers and is one of the best music channels across the globe. The way it entered the market of the Middle East was also impressive despite a lot of restriction and drawbacks, it was a great challenge for them to adopt in a culture which was completed against their content and objective. Even though the Middle East is a place for great opportunities and a market with immense potential, with was not easy for the channel to launch itself as an American brand into the region with culture of self respect, self pride and an anti American attitude.
