The Residents of Qatar can be divided into the Bedouin, Hadar and Abd. Each one of these groups can be traced from different descendants. The Bedouin for example are nomads from the Arabian Peninsula, whereas the Hadar’s descent mostly from what is today Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. And the Abd are descendants of slaves brought from east Africa. These different groups resemble altogether potential customers to Vodafone.
On their Internet page Vodafone is promoting young and successful business people. Independent, with a high income wearing the traditional clothes (thobe and gutra). These four businessmen (shown in the first picture above) are busy talking to their business partners on the phone. Still they are smiling, showing that they like what they are doing. Although the woman in the second commercial is displayed as being independent (without a man next to her), she is still shown as a sort of celebrity, having a special role in society, being accompanied by photographers. Whereas the “normal” woman next to her husband is shown in the traditional gender role, not talking. He is successful, talking on the phone, maybe doing business, and his wife accompanies him with a smile. Taking a closer look at the TV commercials shows a similar marketing strategy.
1) Ramadan Mubarak – commercial
In this commercial a wife gets a phone call from his husband, telling her that he forgot to tell her that he had invited his colleagues over for dinner that day. She panics and calls her mum to advise her by cooking her mums traditional dish. The two women are talking on the phone, cooking together the same dish at the same time. At the end, the food tastes just as her mum’s does. Her husband is eating with his colleagues and his wife is happy. The commercial ends with the slogan: Whatever the challenge, in Ramadan, Vodafone Qatar is there for you. This commercial displays the typical and traditional gender roles. She is a caring and loving wife, staying at home and cooking for her husband and his business colleagues. At the end, the men are sitting on the floor, eating. However the woman does not accompany them. As it is tradition, the meals during Ramadan, which is the most important time during the year for Muslims, are served at night, being more festive meals than normally. Vodafone uses this important religious event to promote their brand, using typical cultural images.
2) Commercial about stocks
In this commercial two businessmen are shown. One wearing a suit, the other wearing the traditional thobe. Both are standing next to each other looking at the screens with graphics showing the actual stock market results. The man in the suit starts congratulation the other and the word “hamour” is shouted. Then the scene changes and a young man wearing a thobe is shown, reading stock results on his cell phone. His son is shouting, “hamour dad, hamour”, because he has caught a fish. His dad starts smiling, The spot ends with the slogan: If you love staying updated on your stocks, you will love our network.
Depicting the man with this son, being at the harbor fishing and still being able to watch after his stocks, shows that Vodafone is trying to combine traditional roles with their business services.
These examples all have several things in common. They are playing with popular and important codes of the Qatari culture. Being known for supporting racing, Vodafone combines the love for race cars in the Qatari population with their image. Secondly, they are verbal commercials, telling a story that everyone can relate to, showing that it is a network for everyday life.
This marketing strategy, focusing on the high income customers, producing appealing commercials is reflected in every commercial, TV and print. Offering special packages for long distance calls and unlimited free local calling, just to mention a few of the services, are attractive for the customers. Again, the combination between cultural approach combined with interesting prices and, most important packages that reflect the habits of the Qatari consumers, is the main strategy of Vodafone Qatar.
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