Karim Nader,

of course, is Lebanon itself. We live with a debt-ridden economy and an inadequate national infrastructure that gives us congested roads, frequent power cuts and sub-standard internet. Why do you think so many of our greatest minds leave the country seeking fame and fortune elsewhere?

This year is no different. Political instability, a troubled socio-economic situation, shrinking budgets, limited market opportunity and a continuous brain drain are severely hampering the adverting industry’s development. What’s more, the huge influx of Syrian refugees who now make up more than a quarter of the population has strained the country’s resources, while the tourism industry has been hit hard by negative publicity and unrest. As always, political squabbling has paralysed government institutions.

In such situations, advertising budgets are the first to disappear. Even the hypothetical threat of conflict can make things difficult, affecting decisions on annual and even monthly plans. As such, the market has been flat for a while now, while budgets are falling significantly and agencies have been undercutting each other, thereby taking the market to the lowest point it has been in years. In short, fear of what may or may not happen tomorrow is stopping marketers from investing in the marketplace or venturing into something new.

Hope springs eternal, of course, and the Lebanese will always be positive by nature, but hope is not translating into increased spend, improved initiatives or further activity from clients. For these reasons we are stagnating.

There are other problems, too, aside from politics. Lebanon’s biggest issue is its size. Geographically it is tiny and its population is