Deloitte and Injaz Al-Arab, an NGO focused on boosting employment opportunities for Arab youth, have partnered to develop a unique social media marketing App to educate students on using marketing across social media platforms to boost sales and retain customers.
The App has encouraged more than 500 students from five Arab countries to create 30-second marketing videos to promote a product or service, which were then uploaded on Facebook.
A total of 55 videos were submitted by 55 student companies, of which, the top 10 students whose video generated the most public votes went on to receive further mentorship in the field of social media marketing by Deloitte volunteers.
Injaz Al-Arab deputy regional director Akef Aqrabawi said: “The youth today are extremely tech-savvy and the App was an excellent method of furthering their learning experience.”
He added: “Marketing is a specialised field that requires individuals to be creative, and through this initiative, we were able to encourage students to think about the multiple ways of connecting and engaging consumers in presenting and selling products. Deloitte has been a fantastic partner and their volunteers really boosted the learning experience.”
To take students’ marketing knowledge to the next level, Deloitte volunteers worked with the top 10 nominees to re-produce their videos to make their campaigns more effective and appealing to their target audience. “Sequence,” a student company from Injaz Bahrain, won the “Best Student Video” award.
Also, the students will receive further mentorship from Deloitte, in addition to being enrolled on a professional online course on social media marketing by Udemy.
Injaz student Amine Dahmani said: “The Deloitte competition was an amazing experience and an incredible opportunity. It helped me and my colleagues develop our skills in leadership, entrepreneurship and communication.”
Deloitte Middle East talent and communications partner Rana Ghandour Salhab said: “In order for the youth to obtain vital work readiness skills, it is essential for private sector companies to participate in their development and learning.”
She added: “This programme has been highly-successful and we are thrilled with the feedback from all participants. In addition, the videos submitted were often highly-creative, highlighting the boundless potential of Arab youth. As an on-going partner of Injaz Al-Arab, we look forward to furthering our investment in building the skills of future young professionals. We are committed to working on social innovation initiatives that make a sustainable impact in our communities.”