Getting Saudi Vision Trained on U.S. Rice

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – Saudi society and, consequently, the market environment, is in flux here as a result of Saudi Vision 2030, a program initiated by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia that has brought reforms in the public sector, as well as the economy and the society as a whole since its launch five years ago.
 
“Forty percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 25, highly active on social media and in the digital space, and more health conscious and open to international cuisines,” said Eszter Somogyi, USA Rice director Europe, Middle East, and Africa.  “While U.S.-origin rice is well-known and been available on the Saudi market for 50 years now, USA Rice recently launched a major four-week promotional campaign to raise awareness and demand for U.S.-origin rice among younger consumers in the Kingdom.”

USA Rice developed bright and unique visuals for this campaign that work well on different digital and offline media, using the color scheme of the Saudi Vision 2030 and communicating the core values of U.S. rice including its suitability for local dishes, ease of use, high quality and nutrition. and calling on consumers to look for U.S. rice brands on their supermarket shelves.

The campaign combines point of sale materials and digital screens in Panda Hypermarkets in Jeddah as well as major cities in the southern province like Abha, Khamis Moshait, Makkah, and Jizan.  Jeddah consumers also heard radio ads on Panorama FM and drove by three LED billboards screens on busy city center intersections.

The digital aspects of the campaign include targeted audio and banner advertising on Anghami, the most popular music streaming platform in the country; posts featuring six new recipe videos created by a popular local chef in cooperation with fatafeat, a popular Arabic cooking and lifestyle channel; YouTube advertising; and banner advertising on apps of local hypermarkets like Pandaclick and Danube App.  Seven individual social media influencers are posting U.S. rice recipes and stories on their platforms in the upcoming weeks that will be reposted on USA Rice social media channels.

“We are estimating the total reach of the combined marketing at more than seven million engagements,” said Somogyi.  “The strength of the campaign is its multimedia approach, reaching consumers at different times on different channels, resulting in higher recall.”

Saudi Arabia is a stable market for U.S. rice, importing more than 100,000 MT annually.  In the first nine months of this year, the U.S. has exported more than 65,000 MT there, valued at $60 million.