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Media targeting a divided audience
For Middle East marketing companies, the task of driving their message home to the intended target is becoming an ever more complex task.
- By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:32 July 20, 2007
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Dubai: For Middle East marketing companies, the task of driving their message home to the intended target is becoming an ever more complex task.
The digital revolution has seen the emergence of a wealth of media gadgetry, causing a "fragmentation" of mass communication.
Consumers have more viewing options, greater control over the content they watch and a shorter attention span on one source, say marketing analysts. People who once turned to newspapers, magazines, the radio and TV for entertainment are now being presented with alternatives such as the internet and mobile devices.
Mike Hess, director of global research and insights at OMD Worldwide, New York, said media and technology are now essential to people's lives.
The average internet-accessing family in Saudi Arabia owns 11.9 electrical devices per family (3.4 TVs, 1.4 computers and 7.1 other devices such as mobile TVs) - the highest per household of the 17 countries included in an OMD study on the modern family unit. The US in comparison has 11.1 while India has eight.
In response, marketers must modify the length and type of advert used in each of the different products where advertising is feasible. "Marketers can't be complacent. It's not okay to advertise on a mobile phone by taking the 30-second (TV) spot and simply reducing it. You have to adapt it," said Hess.
He said they must also ensure adverts have sufficient impact to grab the attention of consumers whose attention may be divided between television and the internet and can control their viewing content to cut out adverts.
The study says mobile phone users in most countries are unwilling to accept advertisements sent via their handsets. But they would soon change their minds if adverts resulted in free messaging and calls. This could soon become available in Europe, said Sherif Safwat, executive director for corporate communications at telecom company du.
No guarantee
Even online virtual worlds such as Second Life or Habbo Hotel offer advertising possibilities, he said, though he admitted the chances of these taking on in the Middle East "are not guaranteed at all".
With such an array of products and media sources, today's consumers have more control of the content they watch than ever before, said Elie Khouri, regional managing director, Omnicom Media Group, Dubai. "Technology is helping them cut or edit material that lacks educational or entertainment value - this could also include advertising," he said.
This new media revolution calls into how traditional outlets such as TV will adapt.
Mazen Hayek, group director of marketing at MBC Group, Dubai, argued that TV in the Middle East will survive, but not all stations. "Will the new digital business take audience from our traditional business? The obvious answer is yes," he said.
"We need as content owners and providers to move to multi-platform and adopt mobility and convergence. We need to engage more with our audience and will launch new genre related stations later this year or early 2008. But TV will prevail in the Middle East for the simple socio-cultural and economic reasons. New media is a complement to old media - not a replacement."
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