Ghada Chehaibar

Managing and Creative Director Purple

CHAOTIC TO SAY THE LEAST

It is not easy to describe the current state of the market since it is quite chaotic at the moment and needs organization.

To be positive, always seeing the half-full part of the glass, and following the figures and statistics, the advertising expenses in 2018 compared to 2017 showed only a minimal drop.

The budgets are fairly stable; certainly they are not increasing and especially not comparable to international markets and budgets.

As for media, and contrary to what is actually being speculated about the fact that the digital advertising has swept away all other media and that the spending expenses have converted to online budgets, it is not completely true. The truth and the surprise is that traditional media and mainly television occupies the first place, far in front of the Internet in spite of a considerable progress.

Lebanon does not follow the global trend that places the digital on top of TV. The Lebanese watch TV, never miss the news, and follow the soap operas that have a large audience and a high rating.

Overall the market has not undergone a big change or a big loss; it is changing slowly but not clearly. Otherwise, it is the written press that is dying. On this subject, we are witnessing a real massacre: Al-safir has closed! Dar al Sayad announced few days ago the closure of the company after 75 years of success; and several magazines are fighting against all odds to survive but in vain.

I think that the Advertising Association (AA) and the IAA should propose solutions to protect the press, or it will be necessary to create apps where the reader will have access to several newspapers or magazines, i.e. Le kiosk, to encourage advertisers to spend more in online and offline press.

I insisted on the press as it is one of the issues we are facing with our customers, as they keep questioning the effectiveness of this media! It’s a challenge these days.

To conclude, it will be necessary to establish a transitional project, a change of vision to ensure better days.