DUBAI: Understanding the Saudi consumer is a key goal for many marketers in the Arabian Gulf. You only needed to glance at the program for this year’s Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity — the annual advertising show and awards — to realize this.
Yet of those consumers, it is those born after 1995 — otherwise known as Generation Z, or post-Millennials — that are of particular interest to brands. Why? Because they are reshaping the face of consumerism.
On a global level Generation Z tends to be socially conscious, rebellious and ethical. In 2015 the economist, author and professor, Noreena Hertz released the findings of a research project into the attitudes of 13 to 20-year-olds — a group she nicknamed “Generation Katniss” after the star of “The Hunger Games.”
Hertz found that only 6 percent of this generation trust big corporations to “do the right thing.” For 20 to 30-year-olds, it was 12 percent. She also revealed that the generation’s wider concerns focus on data privacy and inequality, while traditional institutions were distrusted.
Efforts to reach Gen Z
Drawing on research conducted across eight markets in the region, media agency UM MENA has studied the behavior and purchasing decisions of Generation Z regionally. It has done this via the use of both “big” and “small” data. For Saudi Arabia, this meant a survey of 440 teenagers in the Kingdom, the use of ethnographic focus groups and social listening exercises.
“Many international brands faltered when trying to communicate with teens in the region,” said Melissa Moubarak, strategy manager at UM MENA, during a talk on Generation Z at the Dubai Lynx.
“Some, particularly the edgier ones, have come in with a very Western brand of edginess, one of complete rebellion and dissent. Others, in an effort to be culturally conscious, have tried to communicate along a very conservative line. Both got nowhere fast. The majority of today’s Arab teens cannot be considered subversive the way Western teens are. But at the same time, their exposure to globalized ways of thinking have made them a lot more liberal than most of the societies they live in.”
Flashes of rebellion
In Saudi Arabia, UM’s research has found that 87 percent of those who fall within the Generation Z bracket believe it is important to be accepted by society, while 56 percent said it was important to stand out and be noticed. The result is flashes of rebellion. This rebellion takes shape via little streaks of “uncommon” behavior that breaks day-to-day conformism.
“These happen more frequently in the virtual world, but also extend into the real world — a dash of purple lipstick here, a hidden tattoo, crazy hair color under a hijab,” said Moubarak. “This is how we are seeing the rise of unusual hybrids among Arab teens.”
She points to trends such as “Hijabi Lolitas” (in which head coverings are added to the Japanese fashion look) and Mipsterz (Muslim hipsters) as an example, both of which try to combine the best of both worlds. A further indication of this is that 53 percent of teenagers in Saudi Arabia said they prefer to overlay the traditional with the unusual.
Virtual versus real world
Their preferred means of communication is the smartphone and various forms of social media and messaging apps. It is here that the lines between the virtual and the real become blurred, with 18 percent of the Saudi teens admitting they would prefer to have no face-to-face communication whatsoever, against a national average of 3 percent.
Virtual communication also means a tendency toward visual communication, such as the use of emoji, with almost three quarters of those polled in Saudi Arabia saying it is important to seem active on social media.
“What we have noticed, however, is the natural talent this generation has at crafting beautiful visual stories around their personal brands,” said Moubarak.
“Growing up under the digital spotlight has made teens today acutely aware of their personal brand and how they portray themselves online.”
Teens live in an “ego-system” where their personal tastes and preferences reign supreme, driven by deep impulses toward convenience, said UM’s research.
Social media climbers
Generation Z is also less likely to use Facebook and has an affinity for Snapchat. It is always on and broadcasts live to the world. If you add this to the fact that Saudi Arabia has the highest YouTube watch-time per capita globally, you end up with a picture of youth that is changing the rules of influence and engagement.
“The implications for brands? Harness their talents as self-promoters,” said Moubarak. “Over two-thirds said they wanted to be famous online, more and more of them are entrepreneurial, self-taught, making use of the masses of applications freely available to them to voice who they are online. Interestingly, this has become more than just play for them. The desire to become famous online, coupled with success stories of ‘influencers like them’ has made their communication a lot less about play and a lot more serious.”
Among those on stage with Moubarak was Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest. A social media influencer as well as a climber, she offered her advice to those seeking to stand out and be noticed.
“If you ask me what advice I give to any generation, it is this,” said Moharrak. “First be honest with yourself about what you want and if you were born in the Arab world, sit down with your family and tell them ‘this is my dream’. Because that is the first step to getting there. Have that conversation. Give your parents a chance to talk to you. Don’t just hide.”
Marketers chasing Saudi Arabia’s elusive Gen Z
Marketers chasing Saudi Arabia’s elusive Gen Z

Trump administration tightens social media vetting for foreign students

- US will now impose much stricter social media vetting for visa applicants, requiring them to make social media profiles public to check for anti-American content
- Washington told US missions abroad they can resume visa processing for students, after appointments were suspended in May
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday ordered the resumption of student visa appointments but will significantly tighten its social media vetting in a bid to identify any applicants who may be hostile toward the United States, according to an internal State Department cable reviewed by Reuters.
US consular officers are now required to conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting” of all student and exchange visitor applicants to identify those who “bear hostile attitudes toward our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles,” said the cable, which was dated June 18 and sent to US missions on Wednesday.
On May 27, the Trump administration ordered its missions abroad to stop scheduling new appointments for student and exchange visitor visa applicants, saying the State Department was set to expand social media vetting of foreign students.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had said updated guidance would be released once a review was completed.
The June 18 dated cable, which was sent by Rubio and sent to all US diplomatic missions, directed officers to look for “applicants who demonstrate a history of political activism, especially when it is associated with violence or with the views and activities described above, you must consider the likelihood they would continue such activity in the United States.”
The cable, which was first reported by Free Press, also authorized the consular officers to ask the applicants to make all of their social media accounts public.
“Remind the applicant that limited access to....online presence could be construed as an effort to evade or hide certain activity,” the cable said.
The move follows the administration’s enhanced vetting measures last month for visa applicants looking to travel to Harvard University for any purpose, in what a separate State Department cable said would serve as a pilot program for wider expanded screening.
ONLINE PRESENCE
The new vetting process should include a review of the applicant’s entire online presence and not just social media activity, the cable said, urging the officers to use any “appropriate search engines or other online resources.”
During the vetting, the directive asks officers to look for any potentially derogatory information about the applicant.
“For example, during an online presence search, you might discover on social media that an applicant endorsed Hamas or its activities,” the cable says, adding that may be a reason for ineligibility.
Rubio, Trump’s top diplomat and national security adviser, has said he has revoked the visas of hundreds, perhaps thousands of people, including students, because they got involved in activities that he said went against US foreign policy priorities.
Those activities include support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza.
A Tufts University student from Turkiye was held for over six weeks in an immigration detention center in Louisiana after co-writing an opinion piece criticizing her school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. She was released from custody after a federal judge granted her bail.
Trump’s critics have said the administration’s actions are an attack on free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
FEWER APPOINTMENTS?
While the new directive allows posts to resume scheduling for student and exchange visa applicants, it is warning the officers that there may have to be fewer appointments due to the demands of more extensive vetting.
“Posts should consider overall scheduling volume and the resource demands of appropriate vetting; posts might need to schedule fewer FMJ cases than they did previously,” the cable said, referring to the relevant visa types.
The directive has also asked posts to prioritize among expedited visa appointments of foreign-born physicians participating in a medical program through exchange visas, as well as student applicants looking to study in a US university where international students constitute less than 15 percent of the total.
At Harvard, the oldest and wealthiest US university on which the administration has launched a multifront attack by freezing its billions of dollars of grants and other funding, foreign students last year made up about 27 percent of the total student population.
The cable is asking the overseas posts to implement these vetting procedures within five business days.
WhatsApp ‘concerned’ services to be blocked after Iran calls on citizens to delete app

- Iran state broadcaster urged the public on Tuesday to delete the messaging app from their devices, saying it was sharing data with arch-rival Israel
- WhatsApp said it does not “provide bulk information to any government”
WASHINGTON: WhatsApp said it was “concerned” that its services would be blocked in Iran after a state broadcaster urged the public to delete the messaging app, saying it was sharing data with arch-rival Israel.
State television IRIB appealed to Iranians on Tuesday to delete WhatsApp from their phones, alleging that the app collected users’ personal data and “last known locations and communications,” and shared them with Israel.
On Wednesday, Israel and Iran exchanged fire for the sixth straight day, with Israel saying it struck a nuclear site near Tehran.
A WhatsApp spokesperson dismissed the IRIB claims, saying all messages sent on the app were “end-to-end encrypted,” with only the sender and recipient able to access them.
“We’re concerned these false reports will be an excuse for our services to be blocked at a time when people need them the most,” the spokesperson told AFP.
“We do not track your precise location, we don’t keep logs of who everyone is messaging and we do not track the personal messages people are sending one another,” they said.
WhatsApp also does not “provide bulk information to any government.”
Israel launched a massive bombing campaign against Iran on Friday that has hit nuclear and military facilities, as well as residential areas.
Iran has responded by launching missiles and drones, and early Wednesday said it had fired hypersonic missiles at Israel.
Tehran announced Friday that it was placing temporary restrictions on the Internet for the duration of the conflict.
Numerous sites and apps have since been at least partially inaccessible.
The authorities appealed to the public on Tuesday to “minimize their use of equipment connected to the Internet and to take appropriate precautions” online.
For their own safety, civil servants and their security teams have been banned from using any connected devices, including smartphones, watches and laptops during the Israeli air offensive.
In the wake of nationwide protests triggered by the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, Iranian authorities had blocked several apps and online services, including WhatsApp.
All new Facebook videos to be classified as Reels soon, Meta says

- Social media giant said change would simplify how users publish visual content
LONDON: All new videos uploaded on Facebook will soon be classified as Reels, simplifying how users publish visual content, social media giant Meta Platforms said on Tuesday.
The Instagram parent said Reels on Facebook will no longer have length or format restrictions, and include all types of video content — short, long and live.
Previously uploaded video content will remain as such on the platform while videos posted after the change will be classified as Reels. The company will also rename the Video tab as Reels tab.
As part of the update, users will be prompted to confirm their audience setting or select a new one if their feed posts and Reels currently have different settings. The update will also give users access to more creative tools.
Meta said it will gradually roll out these changes globally to profiles and pages over the coming months.
Trump to extend TikTok sale deadline for third time, White House says

- Trump said in May he would extend the June 19 deadline after the app helped him with young voters in the 2024 election
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump will extend a June 19 deadline for China-based ByteDance to divest the US assets of short video app TikTok for 90 days despite a law that mandated a sale or shutdown absent significant progress, the White House said on Tuesday.
Trump had already twice granted a reprieve from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban on TikTok that was supposed to take effect in January. “President Trump will sign an additional executive order this week to keep TikTok up and running,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
That would extend the deadline to mid-September.
“President Trump does not want TikTok to go dark,” she added, saying the administration will spend the next three months making sure the sale closes so that Americans can keep using TikTok with the assurance that their data is safe and secure.
Trump said in May he would extend the June 19 deadline after the app helped him with young voters in the 2024 election.
Earlier on Tuesday, he had told reporters on Air Force One he expected to again extend the deadline.
“Probably, yeah,” Trump said when asked about extending the deadline. “Probably have to get China approval but I think we’ll get it. I think President Xi will ultimately approve it.”
The law required TikTok to stop operating by January 19 unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app’s US assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale.
Trump began his second term as president on January 20 and opted not to enforce it. He first extended the deadline to early April, and then again last month to June 19.
In March, Trump said he would be willing to reduce tariffs on China to get a deal done with TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to sell the short video app used by 170 million Americans.
A deal had been in the works this spring that would spin off TikTok’s US operations into a new US-based firm and majority-owned and operated by US investors, but it was put on hold after China indicated it would not approve it following Trump’s announcements of steep tariffs on Chinese goods.
Democratic senators argue that Trump has no legal authority to extend the deadline, and suggest that the deal under consideration would not meet legal requirements.
Iran celebrates state TV presenter after Israeli attack

- “This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast
TEHRAN: Facing the camera with a defiant gaze, her index finger raised in the air, Iranian TV presenter Sahar Emami became an icon in her country after an Israeli attack on the state broadcaster.
“What you can see is the flagrant aggression of the Zionist regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian broadcaster,” she said on air Monday as several explosions were heard in the background.
“What you just heard was the sound of an aggressor against the motherland, the sound of an aggressor against truth,” added Emami, who is known for her impactful interviews with government officials.
“This dust you see in the studio...” she began, her finger raised, before being interrupted by the sound of yet another blast.
The journalist, clad in a black chador, rushed out of her seat and disappeared from view.
The destruction in the studio, which quickly filled with smoke and dust, was broadcast live before the transmission was cut.
Emami, who Iranian media say is in her 40s, is a familiar face to viewers in the Islamic republic after some 15 years on air with state television.
She resumed the broadcast just a few minutes after the attack, as if nothing unusual had happened.
The broadcaster’s headquarters in the capital Tehran with its recognizable glass exterior was badly damaged in the fire that broke out as a result of the Israeli attack.
Official media shared images of charred offices and studios no longer usable.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday denounced Israel’s “cowardice” in striking the state television building, in an attack that the broadcaster said killed three people.
“The attack against the Iranian broadcaster demonstrates the Israelis’ desperation,” Araghchi said.
Conservative newspaper Farhikhtegan said on its front page on Tuesday: “Female journalist’s resistance until the last moment sends a clear message.”
Ultraconservative publication Kayhan said: “The courage of the lioness presenter surprised friends and foes.”
The government put up a banner in Tehran’s central Vali-Asr Square honoring Emami, showing her image paired with a verse from the Persian poet Ferdowsi that celebrated the courage of women “on the battlefield.”
The state broadcaster has aired the clip of Emami during Monday’s attacks multiple times since then, celebrating its presenter.
State TV meanwhile mocked a reporter for the London-based Iran International TV, which is critical of the Iranian government.
In footage from a live broadcast, the reporter in Israel is seen rushing to a bomb shelter after warnings of incoming missiles from Iran.