Shrinking marketing budgets are creating a growing demand for measurement and accountability in the advertising industry, according to a marketing study to be released in next month's Gulf Marketing Review (GMR) magazine.
More than half of senior Gulf marketers saw their budgets decline this year compared with last year, while 20 per cent of them experienced a drop of more than 50 per cent, according to the online study conducted with 250 respondents by GMR and Initiative, the international media agency with offices in Dubai. The recession had increased pressure to provide accountability, according to 90 per cent of respondents.
"We found that as marketing budgets decrease, the pressure to justify how each dollar is spent increases," said Siobhan Adams, the managing editor of GMR. "More than 50 per cent of respondents have had their marketing budgets cut and 70 per cent said they were feeling greater pressure to justify their marketing expenditure."
Although the study found that traditional media advertising, such as television and print, still accounted for the majority of advertising spending, those forms of media were ceding some of their market share to new forms such as online, public relations, sponsorship and promotions. Ms Adams said she was most struck by the speed with which marketers were allocating parts of their budgets to in-store advertising, sales promotions and digital media.
"Until now, many companies viewed these as support tactics rather than core elements of a marketing strategy," she said. "Clearly this is changing."
The study also found that 80 per cent of respondents preferred to use audited media; 75 per cent said TV people meters were essential and 65 per cent said they would not use a channel or medium if return on investment could not be measured.
Richard Beaven, the global chief executive of Initiative and the president of the media jury at this week's Dubai Lynx Awards, said during his address to the festival that the advertising industry still had a long way to go in focusing its efforts on return on investment, rather than just creating media.
In addition to presenting some of the GMR-Initiative study results, he also presented the findings of Initiative's recent independent global online survey. The results found that consumers were anxious about spending, avoiding contact with advertisements yet not willing to cut down on their spending on core communications technologies such as internet and mobile phones.
"It has taken an environment like this for people to realise just how fundamental these platforms have been in people's lives," he said.
The research also suggested that many consumers would not change their attitudes when the recession was over, so marketers must find ways now to reach them in the increasingly important realms of mobile advertising and social networking, Mr Beaven said. In this area, he believed the Gulf, with its high rate of mobile penetration, might be able to stimulate the international marketing industry.
"This region has an opportunity to demonstrate to the rest of the world what is possible, and can be delivered," he said.
khagey@thenational.ae
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Bah
Born: 1972
Husband: Emirati lawyer Salem Bin Sahoo, since 1992
Children: Soud, born 1993, lawyer; Obaid, born 1994, deceased; four other boys and one girl, three months old
Education: BA in Elementary Education, worked for five years in a Dubai school
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Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Company%20Profile
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Company%C2%A0profile
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SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now