> MBC Group, AMS end deal after nearly 16 years of sustained commercial growth
Early September, MBC Group announced the ending of its five-year advertisement contract with Arabian Media Services (AMS), the Choueiri Group company. Instead, MBC will launch in January 2021 ‘MBC Media Services’, an in-house commercial advertising and sales unit in partnership with Engineer Holding Group (EHG). Commenting on the announcement, Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim, Chairman, MBC Group said: “The media industry has witnessed remarkable changes over the past two decades, driven by technological advancements and the rapid adoption by consumers of social media platforms and mobile devices. We want to move faster to address these market forces and by establishing our own dedicated in-house commercial business unit we will be able to offer better-integrated solutions across our television, digital and OTT platforms. I am delighted that we will be partnering with EHG, which owns Al Arabia, one of the best know ‘outdoor’ advertising specialists in the Kingdom. In his first comments on the non-renewal of the strategic commercial partnership between MBC Group and AMS, the Chairman and CEO of Choueiri Group, Pierre Choueiri said: “We are proud of the mutual trust, record growth and shared successes with MBC Group, over nearly 16 years of sustained growth, across all MBC channels, platforms and offerings.” Choueiri further added:” Initiated in 2005, our partnership comes to an end on December 31, 2020. Our journey has been paved with challenges, opportunities, great achievements and tangible results. We obviously have a lot of gratitude and appreciation to MBC.” Choueiri pointed out, “Our key objectives have always been to grow the Advertising market in MENA, drive innovation, increase investments and consumption activity, create jobs and instill measurability, up to international standards. Clearly, representing MBC Group and partnering with the region’s top Advertisers and Ad/media Buying Agencies were privileges that have helped us achieve most of these outlined objectives, while stabilizing and growing the regional Advertising market, especially in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, among others.” In terms of results, Choueiri highlighted the fact that “MBC Group’s Advertising revenues witnessed sustained exponential, record growth during our multi-year partnership, consistently exceeding the TV Advertising market performance. Basically, this growth – coupled with MBC’S unique know-how - enabled millions of individuals in MENA, over the years, to experience the best multimedia, family entertainment offerings and to enjoy premium TV and Digital content that’s world-class.”
Choueiri added: “We are currently assessing new partnerships with top industry players across the advertising, media and entertainment spectrum; and we are investing in state-of-the-art technologies, with a primary focus on data and analytics.”