The previous season’s losses will be reflected in the advertising budgets allocated to Ramadan

Manar Mohamed Al-Amin, founder and CEO of Sparkle Media Services, confided in an interview with Chief Marketing Officers magazine that her company is currently taking steady and deliberate steps towards contributing to improving the media content industry in Egypt and across the Middle East, aiming to build a bridge to connect the global market and to occupy a leading position in this field at the Arab and global levels. During the interview, she also discussed the upcoming Ramadan season, her expectations for the extent to which the advertising turnout on TV will be impacted by COVID-19 and whether the pandemic›s continuation of the second season in a row will cast a shadow over the rates of

Let’s delve into the content of the interview...

TV ads or not.

It is noteworthy that Ms. Al-Amin has held many administrative positions in the media sector of the past few years, specifically in the fields of broadcasting, content acquisition, communication strategies, and media budget planning. She is currently a member of the board of directors of the CBC Channel, the Arab News Agency «ANA,» Future Media, and BeeLink Art Production, as well as being the founder and CEO of Sparkle Media Services.

Sparkle works in accordance with a deliberate strategy to achieve a quantum leap in the content industry.

The Coronavirus pandemic has positively affected online platforms and the digital media industry.

First of all, what is the nature of the company›s work, and what services does it provide? Within which markets is it located?

Sparkle Media Services is a newly established company, and its headquarters are located in Dubai, with its offices located in Egypt, Jeddah, and Abu Dhabi. The company is comprised of a team of experts who specialize in the creation, development, and strategy of effective content. Sparkle Media Services prides itself on meeting the requirements and interests of the Arab viewer throughout each stage of development and implementation of said content starting from the idea itself until it reaches the target audience in a complete and professional manner in accordance with global standards.

Making a solid contribution towards the advancement and improvement of the media industry in Egypt and across the Middle East is the company›s main goal. They propose to do so by providing professional content to the Arab and global audiences, while also maintaining quality filmmaking, as well as promoting and displaying it, contributing to introducing new talented content creators, and working to develop and integrate them into the labor market.

Initiation of this project will begin by conducting studies and analyses resulting from extensive, conclusive research data on the subject of the market›s necessities, the necessities of the various display media, along with their patterns, and the needs of the audience.

Then researchers will determine the type, nature, and budget of the project according to those results and our analytical skills for those data by developing a strategy to assist them in this process.

Finally, the team will determine the executive production company that is most compatible with the nature of the proposed project.

So, Sparkle does not produce its projects on its own?

We at Sparkle Media Services are a company that aims to develop the media content industry. We are not a media content production company—meaning that our roles are limited only to setting our vision and using our tools to manage all aspects of the content industry in accordance with global standards. One of our main services consists of determining the type, size, and nature of a project by using our analytic skills in reference to market research results.

We pay close attention to the demands of the market, through our means of presentation and the audience›s necessities, as well as making advancements in the market, developing and implementing strategies for promotion and distribution in accordance with the latest global standards and principles. As for production, our role is limited only to managing the production process to ensure that the final project is in line with the strategy set for this specific project.

Cairo Show is a brand that has reinvigorated

and changed the concept of traditional

theater

Is there a plan to expand during the coming period, whether by developing services or penetrating new markets?

We have worked hard for many years to achieve new and innovative standards in everything that we do. Our goal is to make a qualitative leap in this industry, and I and all the members of the Sparkle Media team work using a systematic and deliberate strategy with the purpose of meeting that goal.

We intend to become a bridge to connect the global market, and to reach this we are taking deliberate and steady steps—towards becoming a leading company in the content and distribution industry at the Arab and global levels.

How has the Coronavirus pandemic affected the media content industry economically?

The Coronavirus pandemic, unfortunately, has negatively affected all industries around the world. Although this pandemic, admittedly, has not left any aspect except that it has affected it, I prefer to always look on the bright side.

Since the slogan of social distancing and home quarantine has become the title of the stage, I think that this has had a positive effect on the media industry, especially the online and digital platforms, in which it has created conditions for changing the viewer›s culture and fixing their sights, especially in Egypt.

The time that people spend watching movies and serials, which are shown across various electronic platforms, undoubtedly increases when they are stuck at home, isolating themselves out of fear of contracting the virus.

One example of this is the positive impact that the Coronavirus has had on Netflix, as the numbers of subscribers has increased dramatically, reaching 16 million in the first quarter of 2020. Because of this phenomenon, its profits more than doubled in comparison to those of the same period of the previous year.

Indeed, Netflix is not the only platform witnessing an increase in profits because of people being stuck at home. There is also Disney +, the new broadcast service from Disney, which exceeded 50 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2020, which puts it at an amazing leap toward its long-term goals.

What do you expect for the next Ramadan season in light of the continuation of the Coronavirus pandemic, whether with regard to the volume of advertising turnout on TV or the pricing policies of the ad spots of the channels?

There have been losses incurred by various industries for a whole year because of the precautionary measures that have been applied around the world, which naturally affect the size of the budgets allocated by these advertising sectors, so I expect that the volume of advertisements and their pricing policies will be affected by a greater rate than last year.

As one of the founders of the Cairo Show Theater, how did the idea for it come about, and what distinguishes Cairo Show from similar experiences?

Rather than just being a theatrical troupe that produces shows, Cairo Show is an entity with a strategy and approach that seeks to affect and change the field of theater production in parallel with attention to

all its entertainment aspects.

The moment the viewer arrives to one of our theaters, we take him on a unique entertainment experience and continue that until he exits our building, leaving him and his family with a set of special memories of our theaters, which were built with the highest level entertainment, artistic, and technical standards around the world.

Plans are drawn up to produce a show based on this strategy. Thus, Cairo Show is not a theater production company. It is a brand that has changed and refreshed the concept of traditional theater.

How many plays have been produced so far?

We have produced various entertainment theatrical performances from: “King Lear”, a dramatic play, which is considered one of the most wonderful immortal human stories starring the star Yehya El-Fakharani; “3 Days in Sahel”, a comedy play starring the star Mohamed Heneidy; “Aladdin”, a play starring the star Ahmed Ezz; “Hazeloum”, a play starring the star Ahmed Mekki; the Singing Youth play “Al-Ain”, starring Khaled Sarhan and the Bahjja Band; “Frozen”, a children›s play; and “Happy New Year in Arabic”, starring a group of comedy stars.

With regard to the cinema, have digital platforms affected its status? Especially in light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the viewer being directed to online platforms as an alternative to the cinema?

Despite the impact of electronic platforms and their use, which has been an idea that has been in existence for many years now (with the exception of Egypt and other Arab countries in which it is a somewhat new idea), these platforms encourage cinematography and are not to be considered a reason for a complete transformation, especially since the movies released by these huge platforms are presented in theaters and allow ordinary audiences to watch them on the cinema screen.