KOJ Group
People Above All
PROJECT DIRECTED BY
WRITTEN BY
Glen Newton
Laura Watling
KOJ Group
Mr Hisham Al Amoudi, CEO, KOJ Group
Mikyajy Cosmetics storefront
People W Above All
hat is clear when speaking with KOJ Group’s CEO, Mr Hisham, is that people are at the core of the business. This is not just lip service from the business. People are considered the backbone of the company, something that Chairman, Mr Kamal Osman Jamjoom, has instilled in the business since its establishment in 1987.
Celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, Saudi Arabian retail powerhouse Kamal Osman Jamjoom (KOJ) Group began life as a The Body Shop franchise. Driven by its core values and ethics, it now hosts a portfolio of international businesses, as well as its own, homegrown, leading brands. Laura Watling discusses with CEO, Mr Hisham Al Amoudi, why KOJ Group is hailed by its employees and customers alike.
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Although essential to business, making money isn’t everything to KOJ Group. “For Mr Kamal and KOJ Group’s leadership, the business doesn’t exist simply to make money,” explained Mr Hisham, “you can build a palace, but what’s the point if you have no one to share it with?” “We consider cash, profits, and assets all in relation to our people. During the pandemic, while other businesses were choosing to make redundancies, we made protecting all of our people a priority.”
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KOJ Group Readjustments to salaries were made from the top down, meaning those on the highest salaries, such as the leadership, took cuts to support those on the lower salaries. Those on a marked salary and under didn’t see any change to their pay cheque at all.
The business gives equal opportunities to everyone and seeks to employ women who have received a good education and area eager to grow and contribute to the development and realisation of KSA vision 230.
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We have stood by our people during the difficult times, and they have done the same to us. It is a mutual respect.
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Moreover, the group didn’t exercise mass layoffs, despite the sharp decline in its retail sales when the shopping malls were initially shut and then highly restricted for over a year. “At KOJ Group we have created a culture that we are very proud of. We have stood by our people during the difficult times, and they have done the same to us. It is a mutual respect,” said Mr Hisham. One of the key values for KOJ Group is that everyone is considered equal. “We work together, not for each other,” said Mr Hisham.
Proud partners of KOJ GROUP
As such, Mr Hisham is present on the shop floor and takes a hand on approach. “If I notice something isn’t right in a store, like a sign is uneven, I’ll simply fix it myself. I also like to help educate new employees. For example, if a stain needs removing, I can explain to the colleague how to do it. How else will they know?”
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Mr Hisham is passionate about helping the local Khaleeji people to learn retail industry skills through on-the-job training and online learning and development modules. KOJ supports the localisation of retail jobs in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with 70% of its workforce being Saudi nationals and mostly female.
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www.toypro.net
Engagement begins with understanding your customers
Retail Feature
KOJ Group A collaborative approach
The Sleeping Giant
Mr Hisham joined KOJ Group in 1993, early in the business’ journey. Mr Hisham made up part of the, then, 10 strong team members, who had four shops under their belt.
KOJ Group’s franchises include many internationally recognised brands, including The Body Shop, Early Learning Centre, Lego, and now, Subway.
“I worked my way from the ground up,” he shared, “I was trained in the UK, working in The Body Shop on Oxford Street. I’ve experienced everything in our business, from working in the stock room and serving on the shop floor, through to marketing, buying and visual merchandising, and management”.
The KOJ Group acquired Subway’s master franchise for the UAE in September 2021. The Group now has plans to expand the network of stores, renovate the existing stores to match KOJ Groups high standards, and improve the guest experience.
Mr Hisham has been part of KOJ Group for 30 years (in June 2023), with 15 years on the board. He credits Mr Kamal’s passion and vision behind his desire to work for the business.
“Subway is a massive brand globally, but it’s underrated in the UAE market, so we call it the ’sleeping giant’. We plan to remodel the stores, upgrade our guest experience and produce world class marketing campaigns to give it the exposure it requires and improve its brand equity,” explained Mr Hisham.
“Mr Kamal wants to improve our employee’s quality of life. KOJ Group has built a people driven culture, where our colleagues can grow and learn whilst having fun. I’m proud to have been a part of that development,” said Mr Hisham.
Moda, one of KOJ Group’s fashion retail brands
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KOJ Group Fusing the traditional with modern Mr Hisham and his team are currently developing KOJ Group’s own home grown offering too. KOJ Group is looking to strengthen its male fashion house, Mihyar, specialising in Saudi and Khaleeji menswear. Mihyar is currently within the top three brands in Saudi Arabia for traditional menswear but aims to be number one. The brand aims to revolutionise the shopping habits of Saudi and Khaleeji men, by bringing together an extensive product range affordable prices in high standard modernised retail environment offline and online. The range includes ready to wear thobes, which are traditionally made to measure. “Mihyar launched in 2012, and after 10 years of hard work its receiving deserved recognition in the market,” shared Mr Hisham, “we plan to open more stores over the next 12 months, and then in 5-10 years we aim to have 300 stores across the GCC (The Gulf Cooperation Council)”. Moda is KOJ Group’s female clothing brand, modernising Khalejee traditional dress such as the Abaya and Shaila. “Moda is a fashion forward concept,” explained Mr Hisham, “it aligns with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 vision of modernising the country, even taking it to the future. Moda challenges the status quo but with respect, keeping tradition at its core,”. Currently standing at 18 stores, Mr Hisham’s mission is to grow Moda. “I have a special relationship with our home-grown brands. I’m proud to have helped to co-build their eco-systems alongside Mr Kamal, supporting them to become category leaders”. Nayomi on the worldwide stage Nayomi is KOJ Group’s flagship brand. Launched in 1992, the lingerie brand now has 189 stores
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Retail Feature across the GCC, as well as its website shipping worldwide. The largest lingerie brand in the Middle East, Nayomi has been listed in the Forbes Top 40 Middle Eastern brands. “Less than half a percent of local brands make it out of their country - it is our mission for Nayomi to be one of those brands within the next 5-10 years,” said Mr Hisham. Mr Hisham shared the foundations of which KOJ Group’s inhouse brands are based on: •
A clear understanding of the core customer celebrating their uniqueness
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High performing, relevant products sold at the right price & value for money
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World-class customer service from beautiful physical & virtual stores
A 360° experience With over 700 stores across the GCC, eight ecommerce sites and several apps, KOJ Group embraces digitisation and a 360 customer experience. Data has helped KOJ Group to understand its customers, their retail habits and develop ways to develop its offering. As such, it has recently launched a ‘buy now, pay later” service. “In the GCC and in retail in particular, we have spent a lot of time learning from the West, it’s now time for us to implement that into our own home grown businesses and even start to export them to the East and West and around the world, why not!” said Mr Hisham. Four years ago, KOJ Group embarked on a digital transformation journey, undertaking a complete upgrade of its legacy IT infrastructure. This enabled the developments of its eight ecommerce platforms, multiple proprietary apps, and multiple leading CRM programs.
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Retail Feature
KOJ Group These developments were dovetailed with a full upgrade of the store POS to ensure full integration of our front and back-end systems. “As we grew our Omni capability, we made several significant transformational investments in a more relevant, efficient, and agile logistics / inventory infrastructure,” shared Mr Hisham, “Our key enablers have delivered improved fulfilment, quicker customs processing, more responsive online customer service, and an expanded last mile delivery capability.”
Dream is a world of wonder for the next generation of Nayomi customer
Another new homegrown brand in the making
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The challenge of implementing digital advancement, Mr Hisham continued to explain, is that technology is a long-term play. “Investments we make now may not show ROI for another few years. Not only is that a financial challenge, but we also must ensure the board can see the future and agree to invest”.
This year, KOJ group plan to open over 100 retail stores, launch more than 1500 new products across its homegrown brands, and further upgrade its digital platforms.
Final thoughts As our conversation draws to a close, we ask Mr Hisham if there is anything else he would like to share about KOJ Group. The message is clear, and it’s been reflected throughout the interview: Good People First, and above all. “We might not be the largest, most popular business in our market, but we have one of the most unique cultures and we are proud of that,” he said, “money is key but not everything, but money does enable us to help people grow. Having a great quality of life, thriving in a safe, happy, and respectful environment is crucial to us”. “Our mission in life is to build a successful business that improves the quality of life of our people, creates meaningful jobs in the communities we operate and challenges people to realise their maximum potential, in an ethical and fair environment, while having fun.” www.kojamjoom.com
In addition, KOJ Group will enter a new market segment for the Group, creating another new and unique KOJ private label lingerie - Nayomi Dream. “Dream is a world of wonder for the next generation of Nayomi customers, 3-12 years and 13-18 years who are excited to explore their new lifestyle, opportunities, and future ahead of them,” explained Mr Hisham. The pilot store was recently opened in Al Hamrah mall in Riyadh. The second store is slated to open in Dubai Festival City in June 2022. Mr Hisham and his colleagues will fine tune the concept in the first year before accelerating store rollout, aiming to open 50 stores in the next three years. “Its an exciting time for us,” said Mr Hisham.
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Insider
www.pingsecurellc.com info@pingsecure.com +971 4 3232 675
Not a One Trick Pony a Multi-skilled Unicorn!
O
n average, today’s consumers engage with brands digitally across six or more channels (think email, Facebook, Whatsapp, and rich communication services to name a few). B2B SaaS marketing platform, Insider, stitches the data gathered from each of such channels to offer the best in personalised marketing. Now a ‘Unicorn’, Insider is trusted by one third of the Fortune Global 500. Regional Director for MENA, Leo Thomas, discusses Insider’s success story with Laura Watling.
One platform for individualised, cross-channel customer experiences At Insider, our aim is to simplify the lives of marketers. By using AI, the business is able to connect customer data and predict the end-users next move. By doing so, it can individualise consumer experiences, ultimately creating a far more engaging marketing experience. “Freeing marketers from IT helps them create cap-
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Insider tivating experiences that build brand love, at scale,” explained Mr Thomas, the regional director for MENA. The digital marketing platform has three core elements for users: Connect - Insider’s customer data platform stitches together every customer interaction into a clear picture of offline and online behaviours, revealing each customer’s interests, needs, and preferred touchpoints; Predict - the platform’s predictive marketing engine analyses each customer’s historical data and real-time actions to help to predict their future intent and actions; Individualise - The use of AI enables brands to individualise messages to and interactions with their customer at every touch point. “Insider is helping its partners to orchestrate hyper-personalised marketing at scale,” said Mr Thomas, “our platform enables marketers to engage with customers in a personalised way at all touch points”. The business strives to support its partners in improving their customer onboarding and engagement whilst reducing churn. A robust product with customers at its core Insider was established in 2012 with just 6 desks of employees. Now, it is a 900+ employee strong organisation, with over 28 global locations. “Insider is made up of a powerful team of digital disruptors,” “together, we are deepening connections between customers and brands, empowering marketers to break through the noise, individualising experiences at scale and creating a faster time to value”. The business supports a wide range of industries, including retail, automotive, finance, media, travel and telecoms.
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Insider In particular, the MEA region serves over 150 customers (and over 1000 globally), who are considered partners by Insider. These include big brands such as Samsung, Estee Lauder, Avon, Toyota and Ikea.
zero, first, second & third-party customer data into unified customer profiles, AI-led predictive analytics and optimization, journey orchestration, consent management, time-to-value (TTV), and more.
Taking over the globe
An attractive strategy of Insider is that all of its products have been built from scratch internally, making them both “robust and highly scalable”, according to Mr Thomas.
“We are proud of our CEO, Hande Cilingir, who has been named Top Woman CEO (outside of the US) by Crunchbase, as well as a Top 25 CEO in Europe by Software Report,” shared Mr Thomas.
“Supported by Insiders investors, we have an aggressive growth plan, particularly within Africa and India, whilst we also continue to drive our efforts in the GCC,” shared Mr Thomas.
“This also gives us full control and flexibility over how we build our roadmap for future products, ultimately putting our partners first,” said Mr Thomas.
Hande Cilingir CEO, Insider
The business also has robust hiring plans, in which it anticipates to create over 2000 jobs globally in the next four years. “In the MEA region we see the potential to add around 50 new roles over the next three years, with an emphasis on hiring female engineers to fill R & D and product development positions,” said Mr Thomas.
“At our core, we believe the care we have for our partners cannot be easily replicated by competitors”. A global success story
Currently, 60% of Insider’s top executives are female. This business is proud of the culture it has created.
Insider has been named an industry leader by Forrester, Gartner, IDC, and G2, and is trusted by a third of the Fortune Global 500.
“We’re invested in ourselves and each other. We listen, share and work together to build strong communities everywhere. That’s one of the defining characteristics of the Insider team,” said Mr Thomas.
Insider recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Campaign Management (Independent Platforms) Q3, 2021 Insider received the highest possible ratings, 5.0/5.0 in numerous criteria including personalization, platform architecture, innovation roadmap, native & 3rd party integration, predictive analytics & machine learning — and the highest score in the report, amongst all vendors, in the campaign orchestration criterion.
Mr Thomas’ MENA region currently serves customers in the UAE, KSA, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
www.useinsider.com In March 2022, Insider announced its Unicorn status, having finalised $121 million Series D funding and receiving a valuation of £1.22 billion.
Insider named as the Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Customer Data Platforms Focused on Front-Office Users 2021-22 Vendor Assessment
“The additional capital will be used to fuel rapid global expansion, enhance the company’s core technology and scale global sales and marketing investments,” said Mr Thomas, “we plan to spend $50.4 million over the next three years just in the MEA region”.
Insider outplays 11 global vendors to receive the maximum rating, 5.0/5.0, for multiple CDP criteria including the ability to seamlessly stitch
Achieving this funding milestone has also crowned Insider to one of the few female-led SaaS unicorns in the world.
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KOJ Group www.kojamjoom.com
info@busenq.com www.busenq.com