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Cola Makers Target Mideast
Coke moves into what had long been Pepsi
territory, with both firms using pop-star appeal to reach young Arabs.
By Raed Rafei, Special to The
Times
Los Angeles Times
February 4, 2008
BEIRUT -- In one commercial, Arab pop star Nancy Ajram hands bottles
of Coca-Cola to a young couple quarreling, and instantly, the two
lovers make up as colorful hearts and flowers flood out from the bottles.
In another, Haifa Wehbe, a model-turned-singer and Arab world sex
symbol, turns heads as she walks confidently through a film set in
a blue, figure-hugging dress, putting her cool can of Pepsi up against
the face of a sweating technician.
Prompted by a recent surge of prosperity in the Middle East, the giant
American beverage companies have engaged in a fierce race to win the
soft-drink allegiance of Arabs, especially youth. In the last few
years, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. have recorded more than 10%
growth in their annual sales in the region, and executives from both
companies say future prospects look promising.
Though the two soda giants have been global rivals for decades, the
Arab world until recently was almost exclusively Pepsi territory.
For almost 25 years, Coca-Cola was boycotted in many Arab countries
over its alleged support for Israel. It started selling again in the
Middle East in 1990 and has built its market share to about 35%, according
to Ahmed Rady, the company's Bahrain-based Middle East marketing manager.
"Coca-Cola has finally found its ground here," Rady said. "What's
beautiful about this part of the world is its thriving youth, and
we are here to get these young people closer to their passions."
He said his company's sales exceed $70 million annually in the Middle
East, with double-digit growth figures for the last four years. That's
a small fraction of Coke's worldwide revenue of $27.4 billion in 2007.
But with its burgeoning population of Muslim youth who avoid alcoholic
beverages for social, religious or legal reasons, the Arab market
offers opportunities to soft-drink multinationals.
Middle East markets are also less saturated than those in Europe and
the United States when it comes to nonalcoholic drinks, offering greater
room for growth, according to representatives of Pepsi and Coke.
Both companies have focused their marketing on young people through
association with the region's pop stars.
"Most of television content here focuses on entertainment and more
specifically music," said Ali Araj, a manager at MBC, a Dubai satellite
television media group. "So it is not surprising to see that soft-drink
companies look for endorsement by stars with a clear-cut sexual appeal
to reach the youth here."
The two soft-drink firms have sponsored musical events and talent
shows in recent years. They have also devoted some of their marketing
campaigns to soccer, which is popular as well among youth. The companies
also engaged in price wars and dueling promotions and have been supporting
community activities: Coke has been sponsoring the planting of cedar
trees in Lebanon, and Pepsi is sponsoring educational programs in
Egypt.
Recently, Pepsi, which still dominates the region's soft-drink market,
came up with a daring marketing project: producing a full-length musical
movie for the Arab world.
The film, "The Sea of Stars," was shot last year in a quaint village
in northern Lebanon and features five Arab pop stars, including the
Lebanese Wehbe, who landed in the top 50 of People magazine's 2006
most-beautiful-people list. The movie is scheduled to hit screens
across the region in May.
"We are market leaders in the region and we wanted to offer our consumers
fun and hip new ways to communicate with their brand," said Moussa
Mustafa, the Dubai-based regional marketing director for Pepsi Middle
East.
The film, which has cost Pepsi $5 million so far, according to Mustafa,
tells the story of a teenage boy who goes out of his way to revive
his small town. With the help of a group of stars, he manages to bring
hope to his village by organizing a music festival -- sponsored by
Pepsi, of course.
"Pepsi is all about teens," said Mustafa, who said that the company's
market share in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf exceeded 80%. "With
a growing young population in the Middle East, we see a big potential
for us here."
Still, many Arabs regard Pepsi and Coke as symbols of U.S. cultural
and economic hegemony. They remain vulnerable to occasional boycott
campaigns in the Middle East. But local soft-drink companies, like
Iran's Zam Zam and Dubai-based Mecca Cola, pose little threat to their
global counterparts. They may, however, push Coca-Cola and Pepsi to
adopt more local branding strategies.
In late 2004, Coca-Cola made a breakthrough advertisement featuring
Ajram, then a budding young singer. According to Coke's regional manager,
Rady, the promotional clip, which was the most expensive advertisement
in Egypt that year, had an "immediate impact across the Arab region."
The spot centered on a group of teenagers who create a rollicking
party atmosphere in a posh cafe by making music with their Coke bottles,
which inspires Ajram to sing and dance.
Pepsi, meanwhile, has opted for ad campaigns mixing local and global
celebrities. It cast French soccer star Thierry Henry with Wehbe and
Christina Aguilera with another Lebanese singer, Elissa.
Coke has plunged wholeheartedly into its partnership with Ajram, emblazoning
her face on cans sold even in the most remote Egyptian villages and
displaying huge billboards of the star holding Coke bottles and looking
coyly onto traffic along Lebanon's main coastal highway.
Its ads in the Middle East feature songs from Ajram's albums. "Nancy
and Coca-Cola grew together here," Rady said. "Today, we have an excellent
relationship, and it's here to stay."
Times staff writer Borzou Daragahi contributed to this report.
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