Numerous reports, and opinions, have been tackling the dominance of digital media and whether or not it is eradicating traditional media. As an agency, we are often asked if clients are forgoing analogue and shifting to digital.
However, the question is never about analogue vs. digital or whether analogue still delivers adequate RoI (return on investment); it’s rather about clearly understanding how all channels work together and evaluating the contribution of each one against a given KPI (key performance indicator).
With the tools at Starcom MediaVest Group, we are able to look at historical data across multiple channels and understand the relationship that exists between each one and how this relationship impacts sales.
While there is a definite global shift towards digital media consumption, the MENA region today is still largely an offline market – the ratio currently stands at 95 per cent offline. The truth is, there isn’t a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to budget allocation.
There are several factors that come into play, i.e., the industry, in which the client operates, the brand proposition, category consumer behavior, campaign objectives, competitive landscape, etc. What we can safely say is that we need to start developing strategies that cater to a digital world versus trying to approach digital as just another communication channel.
For brands that are more likely to adapt to global shifts in consumer behavior, the focus tends to be on driving effective reach. Platforms have acknowledged the need of maximizing effective reach and are acting accordingly, i.e., the acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook delivers more than 450 million users across Europe and emerging markets.
These kinds of acquisitions are helping accelerate the shift from analogue to digital.
As for clients’ faith in print, it actually all depends on their specific industries. Luxury brands, for example, have always relied on lifestyle-driven marketing – to build their image as well as drive brand exposure. Today, luxury marketers continue to invest in print publishing – and lifestyle magazines in particular – to reach discerning consumers.
And, this trend shows no sign of abating.
Contrary to popular belief, print media is not on the verge of extinction – it is simply evolving. Most print publications today are making hefty investments to build their digital platforms. Consumers are still hungry for content – they are just changing how they consume it. They simply want to be able to access content across devices and platforms. As a result, media agencies need to formulate channel-agnostic communication plans that aim to deliver rich content – via all the right formats.
This doesn’t affect traditional media in any negative way – in fact, I would argue that this is the golden age of TV and print. With the convergence of technology, publishers/broadcasters are able to deliver their content at a lower cost and to a wider audience than ever before.
Analogue media – and most notably television – is still very much relevant across the region especially with the emergence of the second screen phenomenon.
The UAE is definitely adopting the change in the landscape at a faster pace driven by the women/lifestyle publications as well as newspapers. The rest of the region will follow suit quite rapidly.
Brands (and even media brands) are focusing their investments primarily on creating content. There is a lack of good Arabic content in the region and the brands that are able to help close this gap will win.
Magazines targeting niche markets are lagging behind, while broader Pan Arab lifestyle magazines – that have a regional footprint – are still seeing strong numbers. Newspaper sales have remained stable across the region’s key markets – Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The next revolution will come from setting accountability in analogue. Eventually, this will lead to a video-rich model based on the fusion of TV and online video data, which will be a transformational point for the industry in the region.
The writer is the Client Managing Director, Starcom MediaVest Group UAE.
