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In a candid interview with ArabAd, Ibrahim Almutawa, managing partner of Jummar PR, sheds light on the transformative landscape of Saudi Arabia. With a profound understanding of the native language and cultural intricacies, Jummar PR stands out with a unique perspective that international agencies often lack. Almutawa delves into the challenges faced by the PR industry, emphasizing the scarcity of qualified Arab professionals crucial for crafting effective PR strategies.
How would you describe the current general ad business mood in Saudi Arabia?
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is witnessing exceptional dynamic and fundamental economic, social, and cultural changes. These developments have a positive impact not only on the ad business but on all communication sectors. In the last three years, the market has been booming, and we believe the growth will remain high for the next five years.
How do you see the flood of rival companies affecting your business and how do you maintain a competitive edge in such a dynamic market?
At Jummar, as a Saudi local agency, we master the native language (Arabic) and have a deep understanding of the local culture along with robust media outreach. Many international agencies come to the Saudi market with the process, but they lack the required in-depth understanding of our local culture and the social and cultural contexts in our region. This puts us in no competition with others, and I can show you how the international agencies are eager to get support from the local agencies to address this lack. Also, many of our clients used to work with international agencies, and now they have shifted to avail of our services.
What specific struggles or challenges are unique to KSA advertising/PR sector? And what is its most interesting aspect?
The most critical challenge facing the media industry and brands in the Saudi market is the limitation of qualified Arab professionals who understand the region's culture, which is an essential factor in building effective PR strategies, campaigns, and messages.
Interestingly, there is a massive and increasing demand for PR services across all governmental and non-governmental entities in the Saudi market.
What do you think agencies need the most to succeed in a market like Saudi Arabia?
Professionals who understand communication and local culture and can think and implement in Arabic. Most agencies focus on building strategies while there is an actual deficiency of execution in Arabic, which is the language of approximately 90% of the Saudi market population.
“The most critical challenge facing the Communication industry and brands in the Saudi market is the limitation of qualified Arab professionals who understand the region's culture.”
What in your opinion the Saudi Public Relations industry is still lacking?
There is still a need to understand the fundamental role of PR and identify its goals and objectives clearly and obviously, since it's always mixed with promotion, branding, or even social media.
What role do you see your agency playing in the overall Saudi Vision 2030?
The Saudi Vision is the main driver for all people, businesses, and entities in Saudi Arabia. It is the accurate compass of how we can plan, work, grow, and succeed in Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom aims to transform into a compelling global investment and tourist hub, and the Saudi 2030 vision is unleashing unlimited opportunities in all sectors and even creating new sectors that did not exist before we had the vision, such as art, sports, entertainment, and music. The PR role is essential to achieve this goal and participate in building the right image and position.
