Varying responses to TV advertising in Riyadh and Jeddah - Part 2

In the first article we saw how ads tested in both locations scored higher on Bonding - relevancy - than on Attention - capturing the audience's interest.

We will now identify some other key differences and similarities.

Riyadh awarded higher scores on all key measurement scores. Consumers in Riyadh tend to use fewer brands on average. This impacts consumer-brand relationships. Riyadh is relatively more committed to the brands they use simply because their consideration set consists of fewer brands. This is corroborated by data from different research studies - tracking, U & A's, copy tests, product tests. For example, brands used by Jeddah consumers in the last 30 days will invariably tend to be more than those in Riyadh. Moreover, Jeddah's willingness to 'try new brands' is higher. Existing commitment and involvement with a brand definitely impacts how one responds to a new ad from the same brand. This is applicable to Bonding parameters - Attention needs to work for itself, based on ad quality.

The main features of responses to effective ads in each location can be summarized as:

Riyadh:
1. Want ads that are easy to follow
2. Like ads that leave a good warm feeling and have characters that they are comfortable with
3. Need ads that 'fit' their preconceptions of the brand
4. Tend to view ads more emotionally
5. Look for greater Relevance and Brand Empathy
6. Less open to believe new ideas, therefore, one needs to curb one's creative licence and not 'over promise'.

Whereas our sample in Jeddah judged the more effective ads on the basis of:
1. A higher level of understanding i.e. they understood advertising claims better than Riyadh
2. Believe product ideas and claims more easily
3. More open to accepting new and different ideas
4. Tend to have better perceptions of effective ads i.e. award higher ratings
5. A bit more rational - is the ad communicating new 'news' and is there a meaningful difference between the brand and competitors?
6. More impacted by Brand News and Differentiation

A markedly new and different brand proposition may cause problems 'fitting in' with the current brand image for Riyadh audiences. Hence, ads for Riyadh should perhaps tread more carefully on new ground, promising benefits that can be perceived as a logical extension of the brand's current positioning.

Effective ads according to our copy testing norms were more readily accepted, liked and better understood, in Jeddah. There was no problem for an ad with new ideas to fit their existing image of a brand. Perhaps this is a reflection of their relatively more 'open' nature. Though Jeddah, like Riyadh, is also impacted by Empathy and Identification with the users, consumers in Jeddah, being more 'open', are able to empathise better with new and different situations.

We feel Jeddah is currently ahead in the evolution ladder in advertising literacy and market positioning.

Children appeal more to Riyadh audiences. They reassure Riyadh viewers about family values and Bonding. Humour appeals to audiences in both locations - if an ad can blend Humour without offending, it stands to win Attention in both markets.

In the final third article, we will summarise our findings and provide some recommendations for advertisers.