Makooky World is a new Arabic content platform for children in the Middle East. The platform is unique in its offering in that it targets both parents and children and – unlike many other Arabic content platforms – offers different Arabic dialects. The content includes stories, songs and games.
We spoke to Sarah Abdullah, founder, and writer at Makooky World to learn more.
What drove your decision to be a content creator?
Arabic adoption has been on the decrease and it was time we did something differently. To be able to do that, we needed to identify major challenges and offer a solution through creation with a new approach.
Makooky started with writing at the heart of it, making it a brand turning into a business and not the other way around, and from the start, we decided to focus on both users and usage in parallel. Users, especially children, are loyal to characters – a major element for retention at Makooky. The usage is dictated by user-friendly platform that ensures a constant flow of content since consumption is high.
Would you consider Makooky a tech startup?
We are a children’s content/teach start up. We are producing actual content powered by tech.
Working with these two variables that are continuously updated and upgraded, we find that we have an edge with our offering; Our product is agile allowing us to go to the market with something new every time since we can always adapt content to technology and vice versa.
What are your future plans for MakookyWorld?
Scalability is key, and you can only scale when you’re a brand, not purely a platform. Growth in our case can happen vertically and horizontally, be it expansion to other markets, genres or activities since we own our characters and world.
Who is your core target audience?
Our target audience is comprised of children under the age of eight who want to or already communicate in Arabic. Having said that, we are not a B-to-C business only, but as B-to-B as well. Brands targeting children have an appetite for fresh and useful content. We have a kid’s content creation division handling this part of the business. Consumers today look for socially responsible brands who have a purpose beyond selling their product. We are currently in the process of finalizing the last stages of a few assignments with brands focusing on kids. They needed a partner that has creative, production, tech, and kids experience and we are able to create proposals that cover all of these areas.
One of the USPs of the app is the different Arabic dialects. How important was this to you?
Arabic is unique in a way since the written educational Arabic is Classical and the spoken Arabic is always based on a dialect. Children listen to Educational Arabic in school to come home to a very different set of words and phrases. At Makooky, we offer the option of shifting between Classical Arabic and dialects such as Saudi, Emirati, Lebanese and Egyptian covering the main accents understood in the MENA and GCC region, bridging the gap between written and spoken Arabic.
