Podcast: Snap Inc's Alistair Burton on ‘brands that win' during Ramadan

Campaign ME

28-02-2025

On the latest episode of Campaign Middle East's On The Record podcast, Alistair Burton, Head of Digital First and Omnichannel Retail at Snap Inc, discusses the need for brands to develop a deeper understanding of their audiences, create immersive and interactive experiences, and to use data to optimise and achieve their business goals – especially during Ramadan.
Through this conversation with Campaign Middle East, Burton shares how Ramadan is the perfect point of time when communities come together, relive memories, and share meaningful moments on platforms such as Snapchat to engage and connect with one another. To help businesses connect more meaningfully with their audiences, the app has launched Sponsored Snaps, an ad placement tool that offers businesses the opportunity to deliver full-screen vertical video messages directly into Snapchatters' Chat inboxes.
Snap is also bringing back the hugely popular Snap AR Ramadan Mall and has launched Hazar Fazar, an AR experience made available through branded lenses that brings GCC cultural stories to life.
Snap success: Connecting with hard-to-reach audience and achieving higher average order value
At the outset, Burton explains how the platform has leveraged extremely high smartphone penetration in the Middle East, specifically the UAE and Saudi Arabia, to cater to correspondingly high reach and – more importantly – extremely hard to reach audiences.
'What does Snapchat bring to the table? It brings 25 million active users in Saudi Arabia and 4.5 million active users in the UAE with huge reach across both Gen Z and hard-to-reach GCC audiences, who have a much higher purchasing power. Why does this matter? One of the partners we're working with is getting 39 per cent higher average order value. This is really accelerated during a time such as Ramadan, where people are planning, shopping and connecting more on the platform,' he says.
Burton also alludes to the number of stories being viewed on the platform: 10 billion stories being viewed in Saudi Arabia every day, with GCC audiences opening the app more than 45 times a day. But to truly stand out from their competition and have a meaningful effect on their audiences, Burton calls for brands to connect with audiences.
'Brands that win don't just advertise, they truly connect with their audiences,' Burton says.
Improving top-of-mind awareness, and balancing brand and performance
He also calls on brands to better utilise the platform's technology and data capabilities, especially given that the platform is developing on a daily basis with new products and new features that can benefit brands.
'When you see the top brands in the world, they monitor even a 1 per cent drop in their top-of-mind awareness, for example. This is very significant because they want to be that brand that people think about when they are thirsty, or hungry or have a specific need. The platform helps you maintain that top-of-mind awareness and use data, signals and optimise campaigns to achieve business goals,' Burton adds.
During the podcast, Burton also calls for organisations to find the balance between brand and performance, instead of the current silos within the market that cause these two aspects to be at loggerheads with each other.
'Everyone should be aligned with one 'north star' goal, and that begins with understanding how brand and performance work with each other. In short, having a strong brand that people resonate with will drive better performance, and lower acquisition and conversion costs.'
Leveraging a digital-first strategy on Snap
Burton calls for brands to embrace a truly 'digital-first' approach that goes beyond merely running ads on the platform.
'In terms of how to leverage your digital strategy, brands need to understand four things: first, understand your audience. Second, make sure you're building native experiences on Snapchat. Third, create personalised and immersive experiences based on deep audience insights that the platform provides. And finally, make sure you're measuring and adapting your strategies based on the data.'
For more insights – including insights into authenticity, privacy, Snapchat Chat tabs for businesses as well as Lenses and filters – watch the full video above.
CREDITS:
Guest: Alistair Burton, Head of Digital First and Omnichannel Retail, Snap Inc.
Host: Anup Oommen, Editor, Campaign Middle East
Videography: Mark Mathew, Creative Content Producer, Motivate Create
Edits: John Melencion, Content Producer, Motivate Media Group
Studio and post-production: Ahmed Abdelwahab, Studio Manager, Motivate Media Group