Cutting-edge ad campaigns are not just trying to be clever - they can bring big dividends for brands, according to one of the region’s top advertising executives.
Some in the industry have accused Middle East companies of not being creative enough in their advertising.
But investing in creative work can pay off, said Reda Raad, the regional chief operating officer for the advertising agency TBWARAAD.
“It’s not just creativity for the sake of creativity,” he said. “Ultimately when a creative ad or an idea works it brings significant return to the brand and to sales.”
Eddie Moutran, head of the advertising Memac Ogilvy in Mena, said in July that some brands are playing it too safe.
“Some of the advertising [has] no creativity because the client, the brand owner, does not allow it,” said Mr Moutran.
But Mr Raad disagreed, saying that many clients in the region are prepared to push the boundaries in their advertising.
“Obviously this region has been historically lagging behind. But we’ve really picked that up,” he said.
“To put the blame solely on the clients is not fair. You’ve got very sophisticated clients that are really willing to do cutting-edge work,” he added.
TBWARAAD claimed four awards at the Cannes Lions advertising event in June, including one coveted gold award.
Its most-awarded ad campaign was for Red Tomato Pizza in Dubai. The VIP Fridge Magnet campaign centred around an online device sent out to loyal customers from Red Tomato.
This was stuck to the outside of the fridge, allowing customers to order their favourite pizza by pressing a button on the device.
Several other Middle Eastern ad agencies picked up awards in Cannes - proving that the industry has come of age, said Mr Raad.
“You get a little bit tired of all this talk about ‘this region lagging behind, this region not being good enough’,” he said.
“This was probably the best performing year for us [at Cannes] as a region. I think this is a humble message from the region to the rest of the world [saying] ‘look, we’re out there, we’re going to continue to do good work.”
The Arab advertising market is forecast to be worth $4.9bn this year. This is set to grow to almost $6bn by 2016, according to the Arab Media Outlook, which was published in April in collaboration with the Dubai Press Club and Deloitte.
Mr Raad said he expects the ad market to grow by just 2 to 4 per cent this year, given that the industry was shaken by the Arab Spring.
“We’re seeing people being a bit more cautious from a regional perspective,” he said. “The stability of the region is... the biggest issue we’ve got,” he said.