Ad industry plays guessing game over 2015 prospects

Dubai: It is a “guessing game” as to what could be in store for the region’s advertising industry next year, according to Raja Trad, CEO of Leo Burnett/Publicis Group MENA.

“There’s no way even a fortune teller would be able to say what will happen,” said Trad. “Iraq was growing like anything before all of this happened, and both Lebanon and Jordan are getting affected. The impact is not confined to one or two markets.

“When something like this happens, the overall psychology of clients gets affected. Especially in this region, where clients tend to look at creating campaigns and spending on them at a regional level. For some time now, Syria’s been lost to them, Iraq as well. And these were big territories o their own.”