DMS signs partnership with STEP Group

DMS - which serves as the official digital arm of Choueiri Group – has partnered with STEP Group – a leading digital and new media company in the Middle East, with offices in Dubai, Beirut and Cairo. The tie-up with DMS will focus on harnessing the full potential of STEP Group’s modern digital news and entertainment platforms to benefit the communication needs of regional advertisers. DMS will have the exclusive representation rights to sell advertising space for STEP Group’s current platforms (StepFeed and YallaFeed), as well as its upcoming offerings in the region.

Founded in 2012 with a vision to “build the modern Arab World”, STEP Group owns modern news and entertainment brands (websites, digital video platforms and events) which serve content and experiences to progressive young Arab audiences.  One of its flagship brands is “STEP Conference”, now recognized as the largest and most reputable technology, digital, and entertainment conference and festival in the Middle East for Arab startups, entrepreneurs, and digital natives. STEP Group also hosts “STEP Music”, a leading music festival and digital content platform that highlights the best and rising music talent in the Middle East.     

Launched in 2015, StepFeed is a dynamic content platform for the modern Middle East. Delivering news coverage and entertainment content to Arab millennials, StepFeed aims to inspire and share a positive narrative for the region with its distinct focus on human stories, as opposed to the events themselves. The platform takes on the responsibility of reporting positive stories about Arabs at a time of heightened negative global coverage.

“YallaFeed” was also launched in 2015 as a modern and daring entertainment platform for Arab millennials. It focuses on issues that matter to Arab youth and provides bold coverage of stories that challenge regional taboos. YallaFeed believes the region’s youth hold opinions and interests about topics which they are restricted from discussing. The platform aims to facilitate greater interaction between audiences and those vital stories.

In the two years since their launch the two platforms have already attracted 3 million unique users, garnered a combined total of 70 million monthly video views, and generated significant social reach through distribution networks. Plans are also underway to launch more STEP Group platforms.

Commenting on the partnership with DMS, Co-founder and CEO Ray Dargham said: “We are excited about our partnership with DMS. By combining our focus on the product and obsession for great creative content with DMS’ dynamic sales force and strong brand capabilities, we will continue to build a platform that our audience loves, while unlocking significant benefits for brands.”

DMS’ Chief Operating Officer, Michel Malkoun, also expressed his enthusiasm and stated, “DMS’ latest partnership with STEP Group, a consortium of digital platforms that produce creative and original content for Arab Millennials, is a very exciting development for us. Its premium platforms ‘StepFeed’ and ‘YallaFeed’ deliver a unique focus on innovative Native Content. We are confident that these platforms will offer our advertising partners new ways to reach out to a generation of Arabs who are ever more plugged-in.”