Entrepreneurs and the Evolving Digital Media Landscape

The ever-evolving landscape of the digital market has experts speculating and second-guessing the future of digital.  It is a similar trend to what we saw in the dial-up days in the mid 80’s with dotcoms popping up predominantly in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan as well as KSA and UAE.   Back then it was extremely difficult to convince corporations to use and pay for online services let alone advertise online.  Rightfully so, penetration was low and there was a general lack of awareness and knowledge of the space.  Instead of access to information, targeted / measureable ad placement, social media, cpm, cpc, and keyword buys to name a few, that allow you to streamline both your media plans and spend, brands and even dotcoms used to depend on traditional advertising vehicles, PR, and sometimes booking banner space by the month.

There was a general lack of information, and forecasts were made based on growth rates in developed markets.  Now we see digital penetration, including Internet, mobile, pads etc.…on the rise.  We have a wealth of learning’s and best practice for digital and 360 activations to look at based on developments in our own markets.  We see Global players in the digital space setting up shop and paying special attention to emerging markets like ours.  We now have access to higher speed connectivity (in most markets), local Arabic premium content, from articles, to video, to games and apps and the opportunity to measure and track their performance, multiple revenue streams wether subscriptions or campaigns and their convergence rates on the go.

Engaged youth who make up the majority of the Arab population have embraced digital media and the older generations find themselves driven to engage due to their need for quick access to information, with an unprecedented increase in penetration due to the the Arab Spring.

Realistically it will continue to be an upward struggle for the digital space. On one side of the coin it is a lot easier to launch a technology startup, with access to talent, information, incubators, accelerators, startup events, and venture capital funding.  On the other side of the coin it is a lot harder to come up with the next Google, Facebook, Angry bird, or Pinterest with venture capitalists looking at high multiples and a constant flow of ideas being pitched to them.  It is the progress of the above that will continue to drive investors, agencies and brands to evolve and gain deeper insight into the opportunities that exist in digital. Broadcasters, publishers and technology entrepreneurs are realizing the opportunity of building brands that are here to stay using digital platforms.  The digital space continues to grow and attract advertising revenue as brands are on the look out to optimize the marketing communication spend, with a focus on engagment.  

We are all on the the lookout for media types, and individual mediums that are measurable and maximize the impact of the overall marketing efforts to ensure higher consumer engagement of the brand that have quantifiable impact on purchase behavior and brand loyalty.  Accessibility through the S’s (TV Screen, Computer Screen, and Mobile Screen...) as well as other holistic type activations allows for an integrated marketing communication approach not the death of one media type for the benefit of the other. 

We are all still scratching the surface of digital.  As an example, to-date digital advertising is yet to take its rightful share of budgets in our markets.  One thing is certain digital is here to stay and will continue to evolve to meet the simplest to the most complex needs of users and brands alike.