Alia Yassin

Farah Batran
Kenzy Zaki
Nour Bassiouny
Salma Nasser
Shaden Soliman

Outline:
 1. Introduction and Project Background
1.1. Client
2. Management and Research Problems
2.1. Management Decision Problem
2.2. Marketing Research Problem
2.2.1. Research Questions/ Components
3. Target Population and Sample
4. Research Methodology
4.1. Exploratory Research/Qualitative
4.1.1. Experts Interviews Findings
4.1.2. Focus Groups Findings
4.1.3. In-Depth Interviews Findings
5. Hypothesis
6. Conclusive Research
6.1 Sampling plan
6.2 Questionnaire design
6.3 Data collection process
6.4 Data analysis and findings

7. Conclusion & Recommendations

8. Limitations
9. Appendix

1. Introduction and Project Background

The telecom industry is very fast paced, competitive, and evolving. There is always

movement going on in the market and therefore, the companies are always adapting and
changing their product offerings to meet the needs of customers and they are always reacting

to the decisions of each other. Due to the industry of telecom being an oligopoly, there needs

to be a regulator in the middle. This regulator is called the NTRA (National Telecom

Regulatory Association) ; which regulates all decisions and ensures fair competition among

the companies and the customers in the telecom industry. There are four main players in the

industry and they are Vodafone, Etisalat, Orange, and We.

According to the interviews conducted with experts , Ahmed Gamal, Farida Yassin and

Mohamed, at Vodafone and at PHI knowledge research agency, Vodafone is perceived as the

“ number one company”. They first emerged as the “international” company and later started

to localize the company to blend in with the Egyptian culture. Vodafone has different

segments including Mass, Data, Flex, and Red to target different people. They divide their

market properly based on similar needs and their tone of voice changes across segments.

Vodafone used to have a segment for the youth called IN with Cairokee as their brand

ambassador, However they closed this segment as they realized that they can’t combine all

youth in one segment and realized that further segmentation was needed. The trends are

constantly changing which is why Vodafone decided to cater to the youth through the data

segment. Data segment has different internet bundles with different prices according to the

trends taking place in the market such as PUB G, shahid, Anghami and BEIN sports etc.

Etisalat is perceived to cater the lower social classes which explains their high market

share. However, they have relatively lower value. Their main positioning strategy is targeting

the youth in a way that suits the egyptian culture. Etisalat has four main segments which are

youth, mass, hybrid, and high value customers. Each segment has its own advertisements and

a public figure along with it. Etisalat is perceived as intelligent but not smart because they have
a good understanding of the egyptian culture and trends; however, they are still considered as

a market follower.

Orange, previously named Mobinil prior to the acquisition and rebranding that occured

in 2016, is, according to the interview conducted with experts in PHI knowledge research

marketing agency, one of the weak players in the telecom market in Egypt. The shift in names

and the rebranding have both created a problem in the identity of Mobinil in Egyptian minds.

Previously, mobinil was a strong player when they strived to position themselves as a local

telecom company that focuses on connecting Egyptians. For example their old Alo campaign

featuring the Shaabi mega star Hakim that Orange now recreated and we will mention this

further in our research. The experts in PHI knoweldge research company have named orange

“Dumb” since it was not able to maintain the bond that was already there between Egyptians

and Mobinil. According to them Orange have ruined this bond by using campaigns conducted

in english terms and using animal names such as “The Dolphin '' to name their packages which

was then renamed and changed into “El Laly '' as a corrective action.

We, the most recent addition in the market, is ,according to PHI knowledge, a brand

that mostly focuses on investment and having a strong network. It was not involved in the

shaabi trend and has no clear differentiation or edge.

This project aims to understand the telecom industry and evaluate the use of trends in

advertising including shaabi tones and celebrities for each of the 4 brands. This study wishes

to distinguish between the youth and the elderly among the upper middle and high class

community in terms of their perception of the shaabi tones in these advertisements. Moreover,

it aims to discover where this trend is going and possibly anticipate future trends or discover

what would be considered attractive.

1.1. Client

We are IPSOS, a global market research and consulting firm with headquarters in Paris,

France. We have been operating in Egypt since 2006 and we specialize in the understanding

of society, markets and people. We were recently hired by Vodafone to gather data about the

telecom industry in Egypt and deliver reliable information about the four main telecom

companies; Etisalat, Orange, WE and Vodafone. We aim to interpret new trends and test

different methods of advertising in an attempt to study audience responses and public opinion

to various media, with focus on the shaabi tones and celebrities.

2. Management Problem and Research Problems

2.1. Management Problem:

How can telecom companies effectively use trends like the Shaabi tones trend in their

advertisements?

2.2. Research Problem:

How do consumers feel about the use of trends, specifically the Shaabi tones trend, and

celebrities in advertisements, and how does it affect their perceptions of each of the 4

Telecom companies?

2.2.1. Research Questions/Components:

● What do consumers think about these companies?

❏ How do youth and parents perceive each of the brands?

❏ Where do youth and parents think these brands are positioning themselves in

the market?
 ❏ How do youth and parents find the marketing mix, mainly ads, helpful in

positioning?

❏ What advertising strategies does each of these companies follow?

❏ Are these strategies affected by what is trendy in the market or not?

❏ What ads can they recall the most?

● The Shaabi tone and what youth and parents think about it?

❏ Are there fans for this shaabi tone among the A and B class?

❏ If yes, what are their favourite songs? Who is the most liked Shaabi singer?

● Mixing between this Shaabi trend and ads?

❏ How do they feel about these ads? Have these ads contributed in perceiving a

certain image about the company?

❏ What are the ads that you remember the most that used this tone?

● What are new trends that could emerge later?

● Will this trend continue or discontinue?

● How can operators make use of trends in ads in order to improve their brand images?

3. Target Population and Sample

The target market of this research includes two segments; university undergraduate

students and their parents. Our report aims to explore and conclude findings about the views

of these two segments when it comes to using trends such as Shaabi tones in telecom companies

ads. As stated in our methodology section, we will be conducting two focus groups each with

a small group of students, interviews for the parents, and surveys for a larger sample of both.

Thus our two samples for the focus groups will be taken from students enrolled in AUC, with
ages ranging from 18 to 23 years old. The students will come from different majors to represent

different backgrounds. Meanwhile, our second sample will be parents, who are 45 years old or

more. Both samples are required to be socially ranked as an A or upper B class and to be

currently located in Cairo or Giza. For the survey we will target university undergraduates and

parents with the same; demographic, psychographic and geographic information as our focus

groups.

4. Research Methodology

As mentioned above, we used two main methods of qualitative research; interviews and

focus groups, to be able to explore the market first before conducting the final conclusive

research. Firstly, we conducted a qualitative exploratory research in the form of in-depth

interviews with Farida Yassin in Vodafone and PHI Knowledge Research Agency experts

Ahmed Gamal and Mohamed to get insights on how the market operates. Those interviews

enabled us to better understand the telecom industry and formulate focus groups and interview

discussion guide questions. In return this allowed us to gain more insights on the industry. We

have conducted two similar focus groups with participants ages 18-23 in AUC. We divided

them into two since as they were conducted online and online meetings are preferably held in

small numbers. Afterwards we carried out interviews with parents at the ages of 45+ years to

understand more about the perception of our older age group. However, this primary research

only allowed us to gain insights and will not be enough for us to drive conclusions as

quantitative research is needed to carry out this part. So, we conducted a survey that was

distributed among people from the two age groups; 18-23 years and 45+ years. The outcome

of this survey will determine our conclusive research. Our goal from the survey was to further

understand and draw conclusions about the different perceptions between the two age groups
for the four mobile operators. The survey will mostly consist of close ended questions, and

will be shared online through emails and social media networks in order to reach most of our

target market. We used the non-probability snowballing sampling technique because it was

very difficult to implement a simple random sample, as it would require a defined set of

respondents which we do not have. We also tried to use some judgemental sampling techniques

to get more responses from the older segment ( 45+) to improve our results. Yet, our main

sampling technique was snowballing. This technique does not represent the whole population

however it was the most appropriate method to use for this type of research.

4.1. Exploratory research:

This section includes the finding of the qualitative research that we have conducted. To

start with, the experts’ interviews findings are combined and listed. Furthermore, results of

the two focus groups are mentioned as well. Lastly, the parents’ interviews conclusions are

also found.

4.1.1. Experts Interviews findings:

Our expert interviews consisted of three experts. Firstly, two experts from PHI

marketing agency were contacted through our tutor, Dr. Ahmed Tolba, and an one hour

meeting was arranged, through emailing them, in their company. Two of our team members

went there, accompanied with other team members, to ask them generic questions about the

telecom market players and industry, marketing trends and what they expect to happen in the

future. That was important to help us in slightly focusing our thoughts and ideas.

Furthermore, one of our members was able to arrange a meeting with Farida Yassin, a family
member that is currently working in the marketing team of Vodafone as marketing senior

specialist and this meeting lasted for 30 minutes. The findings of both interviews were

similar and supporting each other and thus we have put them under one analysis section.

Analysis:

According to our interview questions with experts in PHI marketing agency and Farida

Yassin in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2, we have concluded the following: Firstly, that the

shaabi tone has been an ongoing trend used in the advertisements of the telecom industry

companies. However, this does not necessarily mean that it’s going to remain this way.

Furthermore, the trends in the market are continuously growing and changing in terms of the

provision of new services as well as the behavior of consumers. After conducting the interview

with experts in PHI marketing research agency it became evident that none of the companies

adopt a single rigid strategy in their advertisements but rather they are flexible and change their

advertisement strategy depending on the sector that they are targeting. Conclusion:

The interviews paved the way to construct the discussion guides used in both the focus

groups and the parents’ interviews.

4.1.2. Focus Groups Findings:

Our participants were chosen based on convenience. We went through our circle of friends

of AUC undergraduates and tried to pick students of different majors and concentrations for

the findings to be more randomised. Firstly, we arranged everything through a whatsapp group

for every focus group with the moderator and co-moderator as admins and then a zoom meeting

was conducted. All participants are from high and medium-high social class.
Our first focus group lasted for 1 hour. Students that participated in our first focus groups were:

Mariam Harb, Zeina Shahin, Malak Amer, Farah El Ezabi and Nour Swellam.

Our second focus group lasted for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Students that participated in our

second focus groups were; Fatima Haggag, Rawan Rashad, Salma Shoukry, Abdelrahman

Mohsen and Ahmed Sedky.

Analysis:

Two focus groups were conducted for our youth segment with members from our target

audience. Our findings for the focus groups included the following:

1) Current trends and factors affecting the evaluation of telecom advertising:

Participants were able to easily identify trends such as Egyptian humor, sarcasm,

emotion, tiktok and musicals in advertising. The first focus group evaluated the ad

based on the idea behind it. They felt that a meaningful idea is touching and makes

them happy while watching the ad. However, both focus groups agreed that they were

also pleased with the ads that had no meaningful idea but were rather interesting and

catchy for example: jingles. They believed that if they can remember the ad after a

period of time has passed, then it has been a successful ad. The participants also pointed

out that advertisements were more catchy and watched during seasons like Ramadan

and Mothers Day.

2) Description of the company and the brand image:

When asked to personify each company the respondents had a clear image of Vodafone

and Etisalat. They felt that Vodafone would be a rich, sophisticated, and a wealthy

person. Etisalat was described as being “Nouveau riche”. They characterized Etisalat

as a young cool person in their 20s trying to fit in the community. The participants were
 neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their company’s current brand image and were

not interested in ways to improve it because it was never their decision to choose the

brand they liked the most. However, the participants felt that We and Orange had a

distorted image. Some personified WE as a person that is useless and does not know

what he is doing however this person bears some potential, while others personified

We as a rural man with a nokia phone and no knowledge of technology. As for Orange,

the participants felt that Mobinil is still the brand, and that Orange is not powerful and

is too sophisticated. They personified Orange as a government employee.

3) Advertisements of each company and their effectiveness:

The participants in the first focus group agreed that Vodafone has the best

advertisement campaigns. When asked which ads they remember the most they recalled

Vodafone’s ad with Mohamed Salah and Etisalat ad “wala dah wala dah”. Only a few

participants, in both focus groups, could recall ads for We and Orange. They agreed

that there is a typical trend in the telecom ads which is the use of jingles. When it came

to effectiveness, the participants said that the ads were entertaining however, they

believe that applications, services , and customer service are more important. They

made sure to deliver the message that no matter how effective the ad is, it would never

be a factor they would consider if they are to switch from one company to another. The

main factor that the majority agreed would influence their shift was friends and family’s

recommendation. They also stated that they would not leave one company for another

because of the advertisement effectiveness, but they would if the service itself

deteriorated and they mentioned that they would only switch if necessary because it is

a long process that needs time, effort and patience. Most of the participants in the
 second focus group thought that companies nowadays are spending too much money

on their advertisements and this does not appeal to the consumers (they would rather

this money be invested in improving their services or introducing new services). One

participant compared the telecom industry’s ads to Pepsi and Coca Cola last Ramadan

by mentioning that instead of producing ads, Pepsi and Coca Cola donated the money

they would have used for the ad to a charitable cause. This, in the participants opinion,

is much more effective than “throwing the money away”.

4) Shaabi tone, celebrities, and future trends:

The participants felt that the shaabi tone was effective, and it is still ongoing. In one

case, a participant said that when she hears the word Etisalat she automatically thinks

of the actor and singer Mohamed Ramadan and when she hears the word Vodafone she

thinks of Amr Diab. Another participant pointed out that Vodafone used nostalgia in

their advertisements by getting a lot of famous people together in one ad. When asked

about the celebrities they would want to see more, they said that while important figures

catch their attention, some perceived them as being fake. They suggested more natural

celebrities such as Wigz and Abla Fahita or normal people who are not influencers or

celebrities. The latest Vodafone ad, featuring Tameem Younis, was smartly perceived

by the audience, because Vodafone made use of the most popular trend ongoing which

is the new social media platform Tiktok and other telecom companies are expected to

soon follow. Although they don't want the shaabi trend to be discontinued, they

suggested other trends that they would like to see in the future such as arabic rap, movie

memes, sci fi and more tiktoks.

4.1.3. In depth interviews findings:

Six in depth interviews were conducted with adults from our target audience that were

above the age of 45 from a medium to medium-high social class. These interviewees were our

parents, they were chosen according to the convenience method since it was hard that during

this pandemic we arrange meetings with older target audiences who usually are not into online

interviews.

1) Current trends and factors affecting the evaluation of telecom advertising:

The telecom companies of our interviewees were limited to two companies Vodafone

and Orange. This fact might explain the reason behind them feeling that Vodafone and

Orange are the strongest players in this particular social class of medium to high social

class and in general the leaders of the market. They perceive the actions of the two

other companies to be limited to reacting and creatively copying. One of the six

interviewees still considered etisalat to be a new market player. This brought a new

thought into perspective which is that they trust these two companies, Vodafone and

Orange, the most because they were the first market players and so they have a

competitive edge as what Mona, an interviewee, would suggest.For them they made

their choice of joining these companies and did not need to change, which is according

to Maha, another interviewee, what she hates the most. Out of six interviewees only

one mentioned the idea of having strong market campaigns as a strength of the telecom

company she is affiliated to, which was Vodafone. Other answers were mainly focused

on practical matters like; coverage, customer service, bundles, roaming services and

prices. An agreed upon view was that WE was a weak competitor.

Furthermore, their views on the telecom industry as a whole were diverse. Mostly they

agreed that they improved but some thought that this occurred due to high competition

while others thought that it needed more competition from abroad to step up the game.

Other views were that it was “ok” and one thought it actually needed to improve greatly.

The trends that grabbed their attention and those they liked showed the difference in

taste between this age group, 45 plus, and our other segment, the younger generation.

We previously mentioned that what grabbed the youth’s attention according to our

focus groups were factors like sarcasm, memes and creative content. This age group

had other choices when it came to their preferred style used in ads, this was mainly the

advertisements that they get emotionally connected to. These ads can use family

gatherings, friends reunions and nostalgia to trigger this age group to love them. Their

commonly preferred season is Ramadan and the ads done in this period of the year.

Another preference was the use of celebrities like Akram Hosny who was featured in

the Orange ad, and highly loved by this segment. Another favourite for one of the

interviewees was another celebrity of a different type, one which the ad itself created,

El Mared. Yet one of the respondents preferred a star-free ad that portrays the family

relationships, thinking it might increase the level of connection between the audience

and the company. Lastly, “when the ad is creative and there is an idea behind it, and if

repeated does not become boring” was Mona’s way to explain her favourite ad.

2) Description of the company and the brand image:

In terms of brand image and the connection this has with the advertisements used, we

can assume according to our exploratory research that the older age group has a lower

tendency of creating a brand image using the marketing advertisements tool. They
mostly answered the “Brand image and Ads” question by saying that they find that the

best telecom company in terms of advertisements is Vodafone. Except for Mohsen and

Mona. Mohsen mentioned that he could not make the choice and said that he thinks

that the best ads are those done in Ramadan and not those of a certain company. While

Mona thought that Vodafone was the top until last year.

Another question asked about picturing a loyal customer of each brand. For Vodafone,

they mostly agreed that it is creative and fun. This agrees with their idea of it being an

industry leader. Orange for almost all of them was a businessman from the middle to

high social class. One even perceived it as quiet. This might portray that he thinks that

the target consumer of orange is the elite and that orange is a quiet company when it

comes to industry actions. They perceived etisalat as a hard worker yet formal and have

no certain identity. WE was either not mentioned or mentioned as being a beginner.

The brand image of Vodafone for those affiliated to it was satisfactory for them . For

the one who was an orange client, he thought that it needed improvement for it to be fit

for competing with others.

3) Advertisements of each company and their effectiveness:

The major vibe of the 6 interviews was not remembering a specific favourite yet again

the ones featuring celebrities and aired in Ramadan would have their favourite

combination of elements. They usually mention celebrity names or a part of the song

but do not recall the bundle advertised for. Examples of celebrities they loved seeing;

Hussein Fahmy (Vodafone), AKram Hosny(Orange) and Amir Karara(Etisalat).

Moreover, examples of songs they recall were; gary ya gary(orange), wala da wala

da(etisalat), 3erood lil Rokab(orange) and akwa kart f masr(etisalat) . We were again a
weak player when it came to recalling the ads they liked the most. In general their

favourite advertisements were those emotional and nostalgic. Other styles were either

seen by this segment as innovation and trials to being creative.

4) Shaabi tone, celebrities, and future trends:

Their views on using shaabi tones differed. Some viewed them as being an effective

tool since they are already trends so these companies can benefit from the hype. Some

even thought that it depends on the target market, if the bundles provided are of low

price and suit the lower class, then these ads should talk to this C class in the language

they know. Maha, had different views regarding this matter. She said, “I do not like

this style, because shaabi is not representing everyone, not everyone will appreciate it,

not like family gatherings that we all do appreciate and like regardless of our social

class”. This thought was supported by another interviewee, Mona, who thought that

although she does not like shaabi but still it may suit the tastes of younger generations.

She added that maybe improving the technique of which these trends are being used

can help it reach their generation as well. This view highlights a new possible thought

which is the importance of inclusion in advertisements, that this generation might be

wanting ads that everyone can relate to.

Five out of six interviewees thought that shaabi doesn't help in creating a perception

for the brand in general. Yet Vodafone was a different case, two agreed that their use

of shaabi tones made them closer to the public and that was the only change that was

seen.

The majority thought that this trend of Shaabi, is preferably discontinued, for reasons

like it being there for too long. One suggested that it might be better for companies to
 replace them with actual events and not trends, those like the quarantine we are

currently living in. On the other hand, there were thoughts encouraging it to continue

since the C social class is the largest segment in Egypt. A common thought was that

innovation and creativity was still needed even when using trends.

Celebrities that they liked to see more of in Shaabi Ads were; Amr kamal, Amr diab,

Hassan shakoosh, Leithy and Abo Hafiza. Other styles they wanted to see more of

were Egyptian memes specifically old ones.

Conclusion of in-depth interviews:

Here we tried to explore the thoughts of the decision makers when it comes to choosing

the telecom companies in most of the cases. When they were asked about what they

think about the interview and the topic of trends in general their answers were the biggest

findings. For illustration, the majority thought that this does not affect their choice of

brand, Mohsen even said, “ I just want to dial someone's number and for them to answer

and that is it.” This thought was agreed upon by others who thought that such ads belong

to the TV for entertainment and to make us smile a bit but not when deciding on the

company used. Lastly, Mona suggested that having short real videos of people talking

about their genuine experience and airing those videos would be better than investing in

trends.

5. Hypotheses:

● The following factors; application,services, customer service, price and offers, brand

image, advertising effectiveness, emotional appeals in ads, friends and family, the use

of shabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly affect the total company

evaluation positively.
 ● The following factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends and family, the use of shabi

tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly affect the advertising effectiveness

positively.

● The following factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends and family, the use of shabi

tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly affect the brand image positively.

● Different age groups will show significantly different interests in different ad appeals

across the four brands.

● There is a relationship between the perception of the shaabi trend and the telecom

company primarily used.

● There is a relationship between the age and the perception of the shaabi trend.

6. Conclusive Research:

6.1. Sampling plan:

As Qualitative research is not conclusive enough, Quantitative research was

conducted in the form of a survey in order to find a more affirmative conclusion. The

survey was meant to provide us with a better understanding of the different perceptions

of both age groups in regards to the four telecom operators. We also wanted to

understand ad effectiveness, what attributes are most important as well as their point of

view on shaabi trends and whether they would like for it to continue or not. The

questionnaire was passed on through both the snowball non-probability method and the

convenience non-probability method to reach as much of our target sample as possible.

We collected a sample and drew conclusions on either accepting or rejecting our

hypothesis as well as providing future recommendations.

6.2 Questionnaire Design:

This survey is conducted for a marketing research course at AUC that aims to capture

insights on the recent and possible trends in telecom advertisements in Egypt. This survey will

not take more than 5 minutes and we would really appreciate it if you respond. (Check

appendix 4 for questions)

6.3 Data collection process

We distributed a survey using the non-probability snowball sampling method, where

we sent it to our circle and politely requested that they forward it to their circles. Through

spreading it over whatsapp groups, sending it privately to our friends and posting the link on

facebook, we were able to collect 224 responses, mostly from people our age.

6.4 Data analysis and findings

Quantitative analysis and findings:

Hypothesis 1:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: The following factors; application, services, customer service,

price and offers, brand image, advertising effectiveness, emotional appeals in ads,
 friends and family, the use of shabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly

affect the company evaluation positively.

❏ Null Hypothesis: That following factors; application,services, customer service, price

and offers, brand image, advertising effectiveness, emotional appeals in ads, friends

and family, the use of shabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities do not significantly

affect the company evaluation positively.

❏ Test Used: Multiple Regression

❏ Results and Analysis:

We were able to prove with a high level of confidence that the main factors affecting the

evaluation of the brand were:

Vodafone: Services was the only significant factor that has a positive effect on the evaluation.

The P-value was 0.000 therefore, we are 99% confident of this relationship. The R^2 is 0.302

meaning that 30% of vodafone’s evaluation can be predicted by services. The standardized

beta is 0.554.
Orange: Services and Advertising effectiveness were the two factors that have a significant

positive effect on the evaluation. We are confident that there is a positive relationship between

each of these factors and the evaluation while controlling for the other significant variable. The

standardized beta was higher in services therefore, we can conclude that services have a higher

effect on the brand evaluation than advertising effectiveness. The R^2 is 0.415 therefore, 41%

of orange’s evaluation can be predicted by services and Advertising effectiveness.

Etisalat: Advertising effectiveness was the only significant factor that has a positive effect on

the Etisalat evaluation and we are 99% confident of this relationship. The R^2 is 0.448

therefore, 44% of etisalat’s evaluation can be predicted by Advertising effectiveness. The

standardized beta is 0.675.

We: Application, Customer service, Advertising effectiveness, and Family/Friends were the

factors that have a significant positive effect on the evaluation of etisalat. We are confident

that there is a positive relationship between each of these factors and We’s evaluation while

controlling for the other significant variables. The R^2 is 0.548 therefore, 54% of We’s

evaluation can be predicted by Application, Customer service, Advertising effectiveness, and

Family/Friends. The customer service has the highest standardized beta, so we can conclude

that customer service has the highest effect on the company evaluation.

❏ We failed to prove in all 4 brands that the other variables have a significant effect on

the company’s evaluation.

Hypothesis 2:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: That the following factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends

and family, the use of shaabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly affect

the advertising effectiveness positively.

 ❏ Null Hypothesis: That these factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends and family, the

use of shaabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities do not significantly affect the

advertising effectiveness positively.

❏ Test Used: Multiple regression

❏ Results and Analysis:

We were able to prove with a high level of confidence that the main factors affecting the

evaluation of the brand were:

Vodafone: Emotional Appeals and Celebrities were the two factors that have a significant

and positive effect on the Ad effectiveness. The R^2 is 0.109 therefore, only 10% of the Ad

effectiveness can be predicted by Emotional Appeals and Celebrities. Celebrities have a higher

standard beta therefore, it has a higher effect than emotional appeals on the Ad effectiveness.

We are confident that there is a positive relationship between each of these factors and

Vodafone’s Ad effectiveness while controlling for the other significant variables.

Orange: Family/Friends and Celebrities were the two factors that have significant positive

effect on Ad effectiveness. Shaabi tone was close to significance but it had a negative effect

on Ad effectiveness. Celebrities had the highest standardized beta therefore it has the highest

impact on the Ad effectiveness. The R^2 is 0.343, we can conclude the 34% of orange’s ad

effectiveness can be predicted by Family/Friends, Celebrities, and Shaabi tones. We are

confident that there is a relationship between each of these factors and Orange’s ad

effectiveness while controlling for the other significant variables.

Etisalat: Celebrities was the only factor that had a significant positive effect on ad

effectiveness. The R^2 is very low at 0.055 therefore, only 5% of Etisalat’s ad effectiveness

can be predicted by Celebrities. The standardized beta is 0.270.

We: Emotional Appeals and Celebrities were the two factors that have significant positive

effect on Ad effectiveness. Emotional Appeals had a higher standardized beta therefore, it has

a higher effect on ad effectiveness. The R^2 is 0.184, only 18% of ad effectiveness can be

predicted by Emotional Appeals and Celebrities. We are confident that there is a positive

relationship between each of these factors on its own and We’s ad effectiveness while

controlling for the other significant variable.

❏ We failed to prove in all 4 brands that the other variables have a significant effect on

the ad effectiveness

Hypothesis 3:

Alternative Hypothesis: That the following factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends and

family, the use of shaabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities significantly affect the brand

image positively.
Null Hypothesis: That these factors; emotional appeals in ads, friends and family, the use of

shaabi tones in ads and the use of celebrities do not significantly affect the brand image

positively.

Test used: Multiple Regression

Results and Analysis:

We were able to prove with a high level of confidence that the main factors affecting the

evaluation of the brand were:

❏ Vodafone: Emotional Appeals and Celebrities were the two factors that have a

significant and positive effect on the Brand Image. The R^2 is 0.177 therefore, 17% of

the brand image can be predicted by emotional appeals and celebrities. Emotional

appeals have a higher effect on the brand image because it has a higher standardized

beta. We are confident that there is a significant positive relationship between each of

these factors and Vodafone’s brand image while controlling for the other significant

variable.
 ❏ Orange: Emotional Appeals and Celebrities were the two factors that have a

significant and positive effect on the Brand Image. The R^2 is 0.269 therefore, 26% of

Orange’s brand image can be predicted Emotional Appeals and Celebrities. Celebrities

have a higher effect on the brand image because it has a higher standardized beta. We

are confident that there is a significant positive relationship between each of these

factors and Orange’s brand image while controlling for the other significant variable.

❏ Etisalat: Celebrities is the only significant factor that has a positive effect on the brand

image. The R^2 is 0.209, therefore, 20% of the brand image can be predicted by

celebrities. The standardized beta is 0.470.

❏ We: Emotional Appeals and Celebrities were the two factors that have a significant

and positive effect on the Brand Image. The R^2 is 0.350 therefore, 35% of We’s brand

image can be predicted by the use of emotional appeals and celebrities. Celebrities have

a higher effect on the brand image because it has a higher standardized beta. We are

confident that there is a significant positive relationship between each of these factors

and We’s brand image while controlling for the other significant variable.

Hypothesis 4:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: Different age groups will show significantly different interests

in different ad appeals across the four brands.

❏ Null Hypothesis: Different age groups will not show different interests in different ad

appeals across the 4 brands.

❏ Test Used: Independent Samples test

❏ Results and Analysis:

 *This graph represents the data in the table above.

❏ Vodafone: Different age groups showed significantly different averages in rating

emotional appeals, family and friends and celebrity endorsement in Vodafone ads.

However we failed to prove that different age groups have different opinions in

evaluating vodafone ads that use the shaabi theme.

❏ Orange: Different age groups showed significantly different averages in rating

emotional appeals family and friends and celebrity endorsement in Orange ads.

However we failed to prove that different age groups have different opinions in

evaluating Orange ads that use the shaabi theme.

❏ Etisalat: Different age groups showed significantly different averages in rating family

and friends and celebrity endorsement in Etisalat ads. However we failed to prove that
 different age groups have different opinions in evaluating Etisalat ads that use the

shaabi theme and emotional appeals.

❏ We: Different age groups showed significantly different averages in rating celebrity

endorsement in Etisalat ads only. However we failed to prove that different age groups

have different opinions in evaluating Etisalat ads that use the shaabi theme, emotional

appeals and family and friends.

Hypothesis 5:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the perception of the shaabi

trend and the telecom company primarily used.

❏ Null Hypothesis: There is no relationship between the perception of the shaabi trend

and the telecom company primarily used.

❏ Test Used: Chi-Square

❏ Results and Analysis:

 ❏ We were able to prove that there is a relationship between the perception of the

shaabi trend and the telecom company primarily used with a high level of

significance. People who primarily used Etisalat as their main telecom operator had

the most negative reviews about the shaabi trend. On the other side, the highest

number of positive reviews was from Orange users. Yet we must put into

consideration the fact that users of the forth mobile operators were not equally

represented in our survey, due to sampling errors mentioned above.

Hypothesis 6:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the age and the perception of

the shaabi trend.

❏ Null Hypothesis: There is a relationship between the age and the perception of the

shaabi trend.

❏ Test Used: Chi-Square

❏ Results and Analysis:

We were able to prove that age groups have different perceptions regarding the shaabi trend.

The above test showed that the younger age group gave more positive ratings than the older

generation. Yet we must put into consideration the fact that respondents from the two age

groups were not equal in our survey, due to sampling errors mentioned above.

Hypothesis 7:

❏ Alternative Hypothesis: The younger generation (<=30) wants the Shaabi trend to

continue.

❏ Null Hypothesis: The younger generation (<=30) does not want the Shaabi trend to

continue.

❏ Test Used: One-Sample T-test.

❏ Results and Analysis:

 ❏ We failed to prove that the younger generation (<=) want to continue the shaabi trend

as hypothesised. Although the test showed significance on a 90% confidence level yet

the test was negative showing a negative relationship, further tests must be done to

prove or reject this hypothesis.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the research we conducted, we can conclude that there is a relationship

between age and the perception of shaabi tones in advertisements. People until the age of 30

years felt that the shaabi trend in ads was appealing and they had more positive reviews on it

yet they believed that this trend should not be continued further. While people who were above

30 years, showed less interest in this trend from the beginning. Different age groups proved to

show significant differences in perception when came to the following appeals for each

company;

● Vodafone: Emotional, family and friends and celebrity endorsement.

● Orange: Emotional, family and friends and celebrity endorsement.

● Etisalat: Family and friends and celebrity endorsement.

● WE: Celebrity endorsement.

The shaabi trend did not show any significant difference between the two age groups across

the four companies.

We also found out that there is a relationship between the perception of the shaabi trend and

the telecom company primarily used. For instance, orange telecom users showed the most

positive reviews on the shabbi trend while Etisalat users showed the most negative reviews on

it. Finally, we found that Ad effectiveness can significantly and positively affect evaluation of

all companies except for Vodafone. Also, the presence of celebrities has a great and positive

impact on the ad effectiveness and the overall brand image of the four mobile operators. For

our recommendations, we recommend that all telecom companies should decrease the use of

shaabi tones in their telecom ads. Also, each company should segment the market according

to age, to cater people’s needs more efficiently. Finally, they should increase the use of

celebrities in their advertisements.

Limitations

When we started conducting this research we understood that there were going to be

some limitations with trying to reach a large representative sample for our target market. This

is because we used a non-probability sampling technique which we had to resort to because of

the absence of a sampling frame or database that we can randomly pick from. In addition, the

unexpected arrival of COVID-19 in the midst of our operations caused further limitations. We

were unable to conduct our focus groups in person. As a result, we had to conduct two zoom

meetings with a maximum of 6 people in each in order to better analyze them. This as opposed

to our original plan of having two focus groups with 8-12 participants may have had an effect

on our qualitative findings. Second, we were unable to get a large sample that equally

represented both our targeted segments. We had a total of 224 responses for the survey. We
acknowledge that this is a small sample size that is not representative of the target market

however, it may give useful insights on the nature of the topic. Another limitation we

acknowledge is the majority of our respondents being from the younger age segment. This

was a drawback from using a snowball sampling technique and led to not having a diverse

sample with regards to age, telecom operator, and gender. To better analyze each segment, we

grouped some of the age groups together to better analyze them. We had Vodafone dominating

the majority of responses. As a result, we were unable to create accurate hypotheses with

regards to the other 3 operators. In addition, more than half of our respondents were females

as a result of all the team being females and the majority of us having the same connections.

Appendix 1:

questions from expert interviews 1

1. The positioning of each brand in the market ?

2. What benefit does advertisement add to the company ?

3. The use of celebrities by each company, and what criteria each company uses to

select celebrities?
 4. Are companies considering the use of Sha3bi tones in ads as a must given trend in

the market, or just a short-term fashion?

5. The companies' services and which each is strongest at?

6. What are the trends in the market in terms of growth, new services, and consumer

behavior in general?

7. Which segments each brand focuses on the most?

8. The advertising strategy each company is adopting?

9. Why has each company used Sha3bi tones in their ads recently?

Appendix 2:

questions from expert interviews 2

1. The companies' services and which each is strongest at.

2. The trends in the market in terms of growth, new services, and consumer behavior in

general

3. The positioning of each brand

4. The advertising strategy each company is using

5. The use of celebrities by each company, and what criteria each company uses to

select celebrities.

6. Why has each company used Sha3bi tones in their ads recently and how have they

used them?

7. Are companies considering the use of Sha3bi tones in ads a must given the trend in

the market, or just a short-term fashion?

8. Did the banning of some sha3bi performers affect or will affect their use in future

ads?
Appendix 3:

Focus Group Discussion Guide:

Objective: Gather information about “the four telecoms” regarding their use of shaabi tones

and celebrities in their advertisements. Gain insights on current and possible future trends.

Understand how the use of shaabi might have impacted the perception of the brand.

❖ Opening Questions: To break the ice we will introduce ourselves and the purpose of

study. Talk about the current situation; coronavirus and the quarantine. The

participants’ names, major, ages, telecom company they fall under

1. What is the telecom company that you are affiliated with and what are the

strengths of each?

❖ Introductory Questions: We will show them the logos of each company and ask them

what's the first thing that comes to their mind when they hear the name of each

company.

1. What do you think of the telecom industry in Egypt?

❖ Transition questions:

1. How do you perceive Vodafone, Orange, Etisalat, and We.

2. What are some of the current detectable trends in ads that you can think of?

❖ Key Questions:

1. What are the factors affecting the evaluation of telecom ads?

- In terms of these factors, how do you perceive each of the four telecom companies?

- What do you like most about your company's services?

 2. Describe each telecom company as a person? (moderator gives example by

personifying a company)

- Are you satisfied with the current image of this brand?

- If not, how can they improve?

3. Which advertisements pop to your mind when you think of each company? And

why?

- Do you think this is their typical style of advertisement?

- What is your general evaluation of their ads?

- Do you believe they are effective? And why?

4. (show videos of ads that use shaabi tones)

- Do you think this ad best suits the company’s image?

- Do you think the use of the shaabi tone was effective? why?

- Who would you like to be featured in shaabi ads?

- Do you feel shaabi ads have shaped your perception of the brands?

- Do you feel that the ads mentioned above have influenced vodafone as a brand? Did it

impact the brand positioning? Same for orange, we, etisalat.

5. How do you think these telecom companies can be able to benefit from the trend

in a manner that still supports their targeted brand image and positioning?

6. Closing Questions: Do you want this trend to be continued or discontinued?

Why?

What other trends do you think are promising in the telecom ads for the future?

(example tiktok, movie memes)

Appendix 4

1. Which telecom company do you primarily use?

a) Vodafone
b) Orange
c) Etisalat
d) WE

2. How satisfied are you with your primary operator (on a scale of 1-5) 5 being
the highest
1-2-3-4-5

3. “How do you evaluate each of the 4 operators on a scale of 1-5 (from Bad to
Excellent)
1 very bad 2 bad 3 fair 4 good 5 very good
4. attribute analysis here for you in selecting your all 4 operators (Importance
and Brands’ Evaluations on a scale of 1-5) (it will be in a form of a table)
a) Application
b) Services
c) Customer Service
d) Brand Image
e) Pricing & Offers
f) Advertising Effectiveness.

5. In your opinion, how effective is each of the following in improving

advertising effectiveness for Vodafone? (on a scale from 1 to 5 5 being the
excellent)
a) Emotional appeals
b) Family/ Friends
c) Shaabi tones
d) The use of famous people

6. In your opinion, how effective is each of the following in improving

advertising effectiveness for orange? (on a scale from 1 to 5 5 being the
highest)
a) Emotional appeals
b) Family/ Friends
c) Shaabi tones
 d) The use of famous people

7. In your opinion, how effective is each of the following in improving advertising

effectiveness for etisalat? (on a scale from 1 to 5 5 being the highest)

e) Emotional appeals
f) Family/ Friends
g) Shaabi tones
h) The use of famous people

8. In your opinion, how effective is each of the following in improving advertising

effectiveness for we? (on a scale from 1 to 5 5 being the highest)
a) Emotional appeals
b) Family/ Friends
c) Shaabi tones
d) The use of famous people

9. There is currently a trend of using Shaabi tones in ads. How effective is the use of
such tones for mobile operators?
a) Vodafone (on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest)
b) Orange (on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest)
c) Etisalat (on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest)
d) We (on a scale from 1 to 5, 5 being the highest)

10. How has the shaabi tone trend shaped your idea of your telecom company if it's
used?
a) Positive (1)
b) Neutral 0
c) Negative (2)

11. Mobile Operators should continue using Sha3bi tones in their ads (Likert 1-5)
1-2-3-4-5

12. What other trends would you like to see in telecom ads? (mark all that applies)
a) Arabic movie memes
b) Tiktoks
c) Arabic Rap
d) Others please specify
 13. Gender?
a) Female (1)
b) Male

14. Age:
a) <18
b) 18-22
c) 23-30
d) 31-40
e) 41-50
f) >50

Appendix 5 “SPSS Results”:

63.8% Females and 33.5% Male

82.9%: >= 30

17.1%: <30
Vodafone: 59.4%

Orange: 21%

WE: 6.3%

Etisalat: 13.4%

23.4% = Negative

61.7% = Neutral

14.9% = Positive

Orange:

1. Evaluation:
2. Ad Effectiveness

3.Brand Image
Vodafone:

1- Evaluation

2- Ad effectiveness
3- Brand image:

Etisalat:

1- Evaluation
2- Ad effectiveness:

3- Brand Image
WE:

1- evaluation
2- Ad effectiveness

3- Brand Image
Perception Shaabi and Age

1. Chi-Square test
2. Independent Sample T-Test (NO)
Perception vs telecom companies:

Vodafone: Age and Appeals

Orange: Age and Appeals

Etisalat: Age and Appeals

WE: Age and Appeals

Continue Shabbi and Age

One Sample T-Test

Age ( >30)