About the company
Almeny was established as a new, ambitious project of Kaiian — the most successful competitor of Uber and Careem in Saudi Arabia. With their perfect understanding of the local market, the Kaiian team saw a glorious opportunity in 2018. In the summer of that year, women were finally allowed to drive a car in Saudi Arabia. However, none of them had a driving license yet.
So Almeny was needed in the market. The app went public in February 2019 and has got the first 100 loyal clients the same month already. Almeny’s carefully selected female drivers teach women to drive cars. The drivers who work for the new service complete intense training, learning car maintenance, communication with customers, and even teacher training.
The challenge
“With Almeny, we want to drive substantial social change in Saudi Arabia. Our goal is to have all women driving in 3 years. This is our way to contribute to solving the gender discrimination problems. With Almeny, the change will happen quicker, more effectively”, says Bader Alarjani, the company’s CEO.
Working with the Onde software solution was the lucky choice for Almeny, as the software is well-tailored to any kind of on-demand service and scales at ease.
However, being the one-of-a-kind service was not easy for the company. As the whole idea of women driving was new, no state regulation was available to the founders. They had to set a precedent for legislative development — speaking of social change, a very courageous move.
Another serious challenge was that people didn’t understand the teaching concept immediately. Many just expected a traditional taxi or didn’t trust the idea of learning skills on-demand.
Right marketing strategy is the solution
To raise awareness and trust and increase the number of active users, Almeny needed an elaborate, effective marketing strategy. Creating a female community around the brand and cultivating its loyalty is key to gaining more customers.
Here are some ideas for marketing campaigns in this case:
- Showing women all the perks of learning to drive;
- Telling them stories of successful community members;
- Encouraging women to establish meaningful relationships within Almeny’s community
Being humane and real is the only way here to get women’s loyalty. Possible channels for such marketing campaigns may include working with nano-level influencers, launching bright media ad campaigns, and partnering with other businesses that share the same values.
The future is bright, and it belongs to daring entrepreneurs
Teaching women to drive is the very first step in Almeny’s business plan. Offering various types of courses via the on-demand app is the team’s bigger goal. Think language courses, business workshops, cooking masterclasses — the sky’s the limit.
Now, Almeny contributes to major social change. There surely will be new challenges as the company develops, but it’s already an inspiring example of how crucial it is to understand the local context and make the optimal use of it. The future is glorious. And it belongs to those who see the opportunities.
