MENA Businesses Get Creative During Crisis

MENA based companies are now facing a struggle of their own: How to stay relevant during a time when consumers are overloaded with crisis marketing messages. While some small businesses chose the classic route, sending messages of support to consumers, other SME's got creative: either offering related solutions in record time or showing indirect marketing techniques they know will pay off after the crisis.

From online counseling sessions to e-grocery apps, young developers are finding innovative solutions to newly found daily problems. In Egypt, several apps are offering free psychological sessions to help people cope with the anxiety and fear caused by COVID-19. In UAE, several local businesses such as Ibsais sweets shops and Lebanese Roastery quickly started free delivery services never offered before.

Here are a few examples of how several MENA based companies tried to adapt to the new reality.

Jordan Based Platform Launches an E-learning Portal

In a record time of 1 week, Mawdoo3, the website that prides itself for being "the largest Arabic website in the world" launched an e-learning platform in collaboration with the Jordanian ministry of education. The platform, Darsak (Arabic for Your Lesson), registered a record 1 million users in less than 48 hours, ushering middle and high schoolers into the new online education era.

This practical solution gave Mawdoo3 an additional edge in the educational sector, in addition to having secured a sustainable partnership with public sector.

UAE Based Social Media Monitoring Company turns to Content

UAE based social media monitoring Crowd Analyzer, swiftly started producing Covid-19 related content that quickly kept the company relevant in times of crisis. Posts showing sentiment analysis on the topic, and the difference between how men and women discuss the virus indirectly markets the company's top services and keeps it relevant.

The company went even further, publishing several blogs and facts about the online COVID-19 related conversations and ranking MENA countries based on social media activity.

But while many companies worried about staying afloat, others brilliantly went out of their way to offer support. Gibran, a local translation company in Amman posted on LinkedIn its willingness to translate any Covid-19 awareness material into Arabic, free of charge, in an effort to support the community with solid knowledge. A few days ago, the company even published a new vacancy encouraging talented translators to join their team and work from home. At a time when employment and job security is topping so many worry lists, such small initiates can make a big, much needed positive impact on local communities.