São Paulo – Jordan-based entertainment company Beyond Games HQ is expanding. The brand, that already has stores in capital city Amman and the city of Zarqa, is opening a branch in Iraq, too. And the company’s communications team features a Brazilian. Isabelle Joia is the company’s Brand manager & Communication officer.
Joia has been in the Arab country for around a year and a half. Joia majored in Social Communication in Rio de Janeiro, where she was born and worked in firms like Stone Pagamentos. Now she’s responsible for activities like planning and content creation for the company’s online and offline outlets in Jordan’s capital city.
Entertainment and marketing in Jordan
Each store has different themes. There is a space with different trampoline activities. In another indoor park, there are rides like a pirate boat and a roller coaster. Another one, 442 Football Park, is focused on football-related activities. Due to Qatar World Cup, which is taking place this month, this has been one of the stores the company’s marketing has been promoted the most. “We took advantage of this event to attract the public. This time it’s football, in others they’re different actions and involve stores that are more related to each thing,” Joia explained.
She explains that despite the many stores, the company is still small. “For you to have an idea, we’re approximately 50 employees. In the marketing team, we do online and offline campaigns. From surveys with target audience, buzzwords, to understanding operation needs and laying out marketing plans,” she said.
Although the workload is not seasonal, local celebrations greatly influence the calendar of the brand. “We work very hard in the summer. It’s the time of the year that people come from everywhere looking for entertainment. It’s our hardest work season, then after the summer it slows down a bit. We have some holidays here like Eid, and the Ramadan, too,” she said.
The habit of going to the mall is another cultural issue that draw her attention. “I see that there are not many people outdoors, like we have in the beach in Rio de Janeiro or the Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo. So they go often to restaurants, malls, this type of thing,” she noticed.
When it comes to online advertising, the marketing strategist reveals that the most used social media are different in the country’s big cities and small towns. “Snapchat is still very strong here in Jordan. In Amman, we work with Instagram and TikTok, while in other cities like Zarqa, Facebook is stronger. Another thing I noticed is that people here use the phone a lot, so that when they want something, they actually call,” she said.
Arabic language
When she decided to live in Jordan, Joia accepted the invitation of her Jordanian boyfriend, but she always made it clear that it would be temporary. “My plan has always been to work, save money and get my Italian citizenship, and he knew that. When we decided to come to Jordan, our goal was to stay for a couple years, save some money, and me to learn another language,” she said.
The other language was Arabic, of course. To achieve this goal, she studies five times a week and follows a tight schedule. “I was very worried about what to expect, as the language is a very large barrier. I decided to really study it. I’m not that disciplined to do it on my own, so I must have a commitment to a class. Now I speak. I’m not that fluent, but I do speak, and they’re all happy to see a foreigner interested in speaking Arabic,” she said.
To get used to the language spoken in the streets of Jordan, Joia explained that another asset of her was her restlessness. “It was very hard in the beginning, but then I started to get my bearings. I started to work, fight jiu-jitsu, and I’ve also found a choir where we sing in Arabic. And I have a jazz band, too, Studio 23. I’ve always wanted to have a band and sing in bars, and I had the opportunity here. And I thought, ‘I’ll take that jump,” she stressed.
She already spoke English when she moved to Amman, and since the beginning she was welcomed in the country. “They learn English at a very good level in school. Even those who don’t speak it that well, they gesticulated and managed to understand me. They love Brazil,” she pointed out.
For her, being in the Levant country has been worth it. During this period, Joia has visited the Dead Sea, Egypt, and she went to the Wadi Rum Desert several times. “The energy there is amazing. It’s a place of peace,” she says. And for those who think on going to Jordan, she warns, “Here they’ll give the opportunity if they see you’re good.”
See below a video where Joia invites, in Arabic, Jordanians to watch the games in Beyond Games HQ stores:
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
