1. 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? 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 strategy of “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 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 MTV1’s history because of the potential audience. MTV hoped to provide a culturally unifying agent within a region that has been known for its political tensions. Also, this channel may correct 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 mobile, broadband, and television.
The challenges MTV expected to encounter included: 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.
There were also competitors that had already created a niche for them in the region. 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? The strategy of MTV in the Middle East was smart and intelligently executed. MTV researched the culture of the Middle East and used their findings to develop a strategy for the negotiation process. MTV prepared, built a relationship with the Middle
East through music, communicated information regarding the network, persuaded the people of the Middle East to discard possible reservations they previously had regarding the acceptance of the network, and reached an agreement with the Middle East that did not compromise the vision of MTV. MTV editors were hired to ensure that the content of all materials was not offensive to those that chose to invite MTV into their homes. MTV set themselves apart from other channels by providing the Arab youth with a forum to discuss local concerns and advertise local talent.
The strategy of providing mixed content offered Arabs access to shows in English with Arabic subtitles. Exposure was limited to audience of the middle and upper classes because of their previous exposure, a well as interest in Western entertainment. I believe that this project will be extremely successful in exposing the youth of the Middle East to MTV. I also believe it will prove to be a lucrative venture because of the different avenues of exposure available now that were not previously available for youth like broadband and mobile devices.
