Wael El Husseini

Managing Director Publicis Levant & Optimedia

STAGNANT AT BEST

Stagnant at best describes the current state of the Lebanese ad market. It has been years since we have seen any significant positive movement in terms of growth. This is not surprising given the sterile performance of the successive Lebanese governments over the past decade, which is reflecting negatively on the performance of all key industries in Lebanon, not just advertising. In short, it is not evolving and will not evolve, not until the Lebanese political gurus realize that they need to evolve.

MULTIPLE CHALLENGES

The main challenges we are facing are namely 1) Continuous economic and political instability in the region and in the country which is reflecting negatively on clients’ appetite to spend and invest; 2) This is resulting in revenues and margins being driven down, even to the extent where many agencies are operating at a loss; 3) This is also resulting in more difficulty on the talent recruitment/retention front, as talents are seeking better and higher paid opportunities abroad.

PART OF THE SOLUTION…

I think moving forward the industry needs to believe more in its added value and be fairly remunerated for it. Also, Lebanon has always been the standard of excellence in creative services so the industry can potentially grow by servicing clients operating outside Lebanon, specifically the GCC.

The industry needs to believe more in its added value and be fairly remunerated for it.