Advertising Trends in the Middle East - A Look Towards 2009

Put together the words “Middle East” and “advertising” and what comes to mind are the industry stereotypes, cultural restrictions, uniform creative designs, finding the right people, and the lack of reliable market research. This is not the case, however, as the region moves towards 2009 and a more robust and growing advertising industry that is continually quashing the ever-present skewed stereotypes of the region.

In a region dominated by sub-cultures, the consumer profile of someone in Jordan or Qatar for example, is not the same as a consumer living in Saudi Arabia or UAE. More and more industry participants plan on offering specialized communication services to clients in order to target niche sub-groups. From a cultural standpoint, more people in the region are embracing Western culture and hence encouraging advertisers to test boundaries with an increasing variety of converging media vehicles, especially the Internet, mobile and ambient marketing.

In terms of creative improvement, a budding young audience that is affluent and media-savvy is forcing advertisers to be more creative. Fresh graduates returning from abroad are bringing back with them a plethora of creative insight and ideas that are quickly being adopted into the markets. Despite this positive outlook on future creativity, almost all Middle Eastern markets are expected to face a dearth in the advertising employment sectors in 2009.

The apparent lack of transparency and accountability in all the markets has cast a shadow of doubt on the market research segment of the industry. This has led to the issue of accurately segmenting markets and calculating the returns on marketing spend for efficient allocation of resources.

Expect 2009 to be another year of growth for the sector in all parts of the Middle East. Success will be in the hands of those who step away from the existing stereotype of the region, conduct adequate market research to understand cultural taboos and target them with out-of-the-box creative solutions managed by local but skilled talents.