Habib Wehbi Reveals W Group Ambitious Growth Plan
By Arabian Business
In an Interview with Arabian Business magazine, W Group Chairman and CEO Habib Wehbi revealed the “555 Strategy”, an ambitious plan that aims to achieve significant growth for the group within five years.
Where do you see W Group in the region’s growing Out-of-Home advertising industry? And why did you name it “555”Strategy?
With the increasing penetration of digital technology and smart solutions, the DOOH industry is undergoing a significant transformation, presenting new opportunities for businesses. Being one of the major players in the DOOH market and having launched a major technologically led transformation plan to move away from traditional OOH advertising, W Group along with its subsidiaries has defined the “555 Strategy”, an ambitious plan to grow within 5 verticals to generate 500M revenue in year 5.
Can you elaborate more on how the group will achieve this plan?
Since 1999, our strategic growth has been aligned with UAE’s vision. As such, and throughout the past 10 years, we have made significant investments in our DOOH infrastructure, technology and data audience measurement to support our business model.
According to reports, by 2024 the OOH advertising spend in the MENA market is projected to increase to $1.5 billion. This promising number will allow the group to explore new opportunities to expand its regional presence in the UAE, KSA and Lower Gulf.
The basis of the group’s strategy is our solid DOOH growth platform in the UAE, which will be complemented by additional growth measures to achieve the desired outcome, and that is through:
- Organic and inorganic growth: Innovation, Technology, maximizing revenues and pricing strategy.
- Business Expansion: Expanding our portfolio to new markets in the region with existing or new business models (KSA and Lower Gulf).
- Strategic Partnerships: Regional and global partnerships to enhance portfolio and product offerings.
We will rely on our strong positioning in the UAE market to implement our growth plan in the region throughout our established verticals.
- W Group a management holding with a diversified portfolio, managing and investing in DOOH media & technology and overseeing the strategic growth of all group entities.
- Hypermedia the leading DOOH media experience across UAE with major contracts with RTA’s Dubai Metro, Outdoor, major Malls, Prime Destinations and In-Store media. The company has invested in major digital transformation supported by real-time audience measurement tools to help clients optimize their ROI.
- DigitAll, a specialized company in Digital consultancy services, project management, content management systems and technology solutions, provides innovative offerings to create the ultimate experience.
- A soon-to-be-launched new company under W Group introducing cutting-edge smart technologies in DOOH data audience measurement, programmatic and digital creative experience to provide marketers with unparalleled insights for an impactful, measurable, and exclusive brand-consumer engagement.
- AT85, the first NFT ecosystem offering a real-life loyalty and utility programs connecting brands and consumers through our strategic partnerships in the region. It is a web3 interactive platform empowering digital economy with diversified Metaverse NFT aggregation rights.
How will the increased availability and utilization of data impact the growth of W GROUP?
With the rise of digital technology, W Group is leveraging data through its partnerships with regional and global data measurement companies. Our next step will be creating our own measurement platform which will allow us to offer brands the opportunity to measure the ROI of their OOH campaigns, using pre-campaign targeting reports that help them predict the potential reach of each campaign.
The deal here is to empower marketers to have a 360 grip on their programmatic DOOH campaigns as they will manage, control, and design their campaigns most optimally in terms of reach, target audience, sociodemographic, locations, timings, and many other metrics.
The new company that we are launching soon will introduce cutting-edge technologies in audience measurement to create new revenue streams for the group by proactively approaching clients who can benefit most from our ultimate smart solutions and optimize their marketing.
Today, employing data technology should be the pivot of any successful strategy. As we’ve already digitized over 2500 Hypermedia’s assets and powered them with data, we are now able to climb a higher rank in OOH technologies by delving into real-time data measurement and analytics, smart triggers advertising, programmatic, etc., for marketers to target their audiences more efficiently and accurately.
Why is the group investing in the NFT?
W Group is Investing in AT85 as a new NFT platform that can provide significant growth opportunities to position the group at the forefront of this exciting new market and reap the benefits of early adoption.
One of the key advantages of investing in this new NFT platform is the potential for revenue growth. The global NFT market size was valued at USD 15.54 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33.9% from 2022 to 2030. The growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for NFTs worldwide due to their uniqueness, individuality, and transparency, among other features.
Where does W Group stand on the OOH global scene?
W Group has joined several associations and organizations in the global OOH landscape. We are now an active member and strategic partner with the World Out of Home Organization (WOO), the Interactive Advertising Bureau association (iab GCC), and the Global Digital Out of Home Association (DPAA). These global platforms provide W Group with unique opportunities for networking to identify strategic partnerships and innovations that can enhance the growth of our media network regionally and globally.
What is your strategy to attract talent to drive your business growth?
The OOH rapidly evolving landscape requests employees who are skilled at adapting to change. W Group’s success is largely dependent on its ability to attract top talents that bring innovation, culture, and leadership to the table, all of which can help our company thrive in a competitive market.
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