round table, straight talk

This is our first issue post quarantine. It includes a mix of content from the March issue which was put on hold while Lebanon went on total lockdown due the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the cover story remains the same from March 2020, as Arabad believed it was an important initiative that we led early on this year and it needed to be shared with our readers.

We also didn't want it to be all Covid-related topics as people are saturated with likewise news, stories and info. Nonetheless, we tracked the sentiments and priorities of ad leaders as they navigate the unprecedented disruption that the pandemic has on their business. They share some of the tools and frameworks that will help them navigate their next move in such a challenging climate.

Advertising spend has always been a contentious issue. Every year upon the publication of our Top 10 Performers report, a polemic arises around its findings. And that polemic is based on the accusation that the region’s adspend figures are erroneous and damaging to the industry. To be honest, those who hold such beliefs are right. It would be almost impossible to find a single person who pays rate card for a TV spot. And you certainly don’t have to be a data analyst to realise that a rate card figure of $1.3 billion for the Lebanese market is simply insane. That’s why something needs to change.

As a magazine dedicated to the advertising and media industry, it is our duty to provide reliable figures. Without them, neither us or the industry can be viewed as credible. We need to find a solution to the continual debate over adspend figures. And, for us, part of that solution means getting the industry together un-der one roof to discuss the naked truth.

That’s why we held a round table with industry stakeholders to ascertain the real level of advertising spend in Lebanon. Because if everyone agrees that only greater industry collaboration and an overhaul of the methodology used for measuring adspend can produce a truer picture of the industry, that’s what we need to do. We need to reduce the gap between fiction and reality.

Of course, the only real way to gauge the true extent of regional adspend is for brands to declare their marketing expenditure or for media owners to declare their income from advertising. That is never going to happen. So we need to correct the anomalies that we see every year and provide the industry with a truer picture of regional advertising expenditure as possible.

I believe we’ve taken a step in the right direction this year.