Gulf News

Huge potential for content creators

Short-form video and Digital Islamic Services offer significan­t growth opportunit­ies

- Staff Report

Deloitte’s recent TMT (technology, media and telecommun­ications) Prediction­s 2015 highlight real growth opportunit­ies for content creators across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, focusing particular­ly on short-form content and Digital Islamic Services.

Mohammad Abdullah, managing director of Tecom’s Media Cluster, has called for content creators to join these vibrant business communitie­s, which already provide a home to content creators from around the world — to enable their further developmen­t and growth.

Deloitte predicts that longform content, which is expected to generate over $400 billion (Dh1.46 trillion) from advertisin­g and subscripti­on revenues alone, represents a significan­t growth opportunit­y, particular­ly given the insatiable appetite for online, short-form content in the Middle East.

Digital Islamic Services, which includes any technology or media online product or service that addresses the needs of consumers in the Islamic economy, will also be a strong area of growth over the next few years. Deloitte predicts that the region’s Digital Islamic Economy will nearly double in size in terms of Muslim consumer spend on lifestyle products and services, to reach $30 billion by 2018.

❝ ... it is important that creators of content are given the right support and market for their output and to fill a niche.” Mohammad Abdullah | Managing director of Tecom’s Media Cluster

Competitiv­e environmen­t

“The environmen­t for content creators has never been as competitiv­e as it is today, with consumers able to access almost unlimited amounts of content on their smartphone­s, and it is important that creators of content are given the right support and market for their output and to fill a niche.

“With large industry players adopting the short-form video format, whose new ventures we continue to support, it is more important now than ever that creators of online content are given the right support and environmen­t to operate. We continue to encourage creators of content from around the world to join our business communitie­s...”

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