The region’s advertising industry has much to do in 2015 to overcome the challenges, ride on the wave of emerging trends and fully capitalise on opportunities presented by the affluent GCC economies.

One key trend that seems to preoccupy media planners and buyers is the growing appeal of mobile advertising in a region which is not exactly prepared — or conducive — to fully embrace the concept. Despite boasting in its ranks markets such as the UAE — where smartphone penetration is the highest in the world — the region comes in last globally with just 4.6 per cent in mobile internet ad spend as a percentage of overall digital spend.

That compares with North America’s 42.8 per cent, Western Europe’s 21.2 per cent, Asia-Pacific’s 17.7 per cent and Latin America with 6.3 per cent.

A key challenge is the slow adoption of mobile-friendly websites and until those proliferate to an adequate level, the mobile advertising segment will remain undervalued despite the massive potential presented by the early adoption in the UAE, in particular.

While no significant trends seem to be shaping ad spends on print and TV channels, outdoor is likely to remain one of the most effective local media, at least for those who can still afford it. According to experts, while high in demand, outdoor’s cost of entry in prime locations is so high that it is pricing out even major advertisers who are forced to look at more cost-effective alternatives.

In the UAE, cinema would feature highly on the list of those alternatives, due to the renaissance it is expected to undergo as a result of the opening of new malls and the ongoing redevelopment of the country’s biggest shopping destinations which will lead to the creation of many new state-of-the-art theatres.

Those with little or no advertising money to waste are likely to increase their investment in PR and social media strategies to help them achieve their communications objectives. For long considered as the caviar of the poor, PR’s popularity as an important component of the marketing mix is gaining momentum and this could be a watershed year for the sector in the region.

Having managed to fully integrate social media in their services portfolios, most regional PR agencies today possess a much more holistic capability and a robust offering that is as powerful in terms of achieving KPIs (key performance indicator) as it is compelling from an effectiveness view point.

The challenge for PR agencies is two-pronged: First they must quickly learn how to walk the walk and talk the talk while creating and delivering PR-led campaigns with strong social media interpretations and not the other way round. On a secondary level, they must have the foresight, ability and appeal to recruit a new breed of hybrid talent that, at least in this region, may not yet exist or hasn’t had the time to fully develop yet.

Digital has been enjoying strong growth and the party will go on in 2015 as e-commerce fills consumers’ cyber trolleys. The UAE is home to 74 per cent of the GCC’s pool of online shoppers and expected to take up $7.6 million in daily online shopping transactions this year. Digital agencies will find it hard to keep up with increasing demand for e-commerce enabled websites.

The development of mobile-friendly sites will be another key focus area for digital services providers, a niche that has the potential to sustain strong growth rates.

Finding itself in the trenches between the fast growing demand for digital and the steady flow of traditional requirements, creative services will struggle to strike a good balance in terms of resources. For nearly a decade, each side has started to embrace the other, yet the line still remains despite being blurred.

So, would 2015 be the agent of change for creatives in the region? For those willing to innovate by embracing a more contemporary way of work, the answer could be yes. How?

By abandoning preconceived ideas, prima donna attitudes and prehistoric collaborative models that usually lead to a confusing, instead of an inspiring, creative brief. Art directors and their teams could look forward to a year during which digital and traditional will integrate seamlessly to produce desired results.

A great multichannel creative campaign can go a long way and help advertisers reap the full benefit from their investment in ad spend, which is estimated to grow in the entire region by 4 per cent year on year versus a global average of 4.9 per cent, suggesting that the market maintains a healthy growth rate.

The writer is Head of PR and Social Media at Al-Futtaim Group and author of ‘Back to the Future of Marketing — PRovolve or Perish’.