INTRODUCTION

It’s coming up for the end of the year. At last. And once I’ve signed off on this issue, I’ll go and disgrace myself at our annual office party.

Then I’ll start working on our Predictions issue for January. That looks promising already, as it will build on many of the insights shared at our Marcomms360 – Predictions 2020 event in November. It was our best Marcomms360 event to date, I think, and our new format (10 speakers, one topic each, 20 minutes of hard forecasting for 2020) was intense but informative, with some expert speakers sharing actionable insights. So make sure you keep reading Campaign next year to see what lies ahead.

For now, though, it’s time to look back over 2019. It was another turbulent year, and few can deny that we live in interesting times for the regional media, marketing and communications industry.

Creative heads have been hopping between agencies. Apart from the HR headache at the region’s creative shops, this is probably a good thing for the industry, as stirring the creative pot is a good way to make sure that ideas, inspiration and experience can mix and make wonderful new work.

There have also been big shake-ups of MENA media agency management. Publicis, Group M, Havas and OMG have all changed their leadership in the past 12 months.

The consultancies continue to move in on traditional communications holding groups, and last year saw Accenture Interactive buy New York-based creative powerhouse Droga5. In the region, the agency has won some big clients and made some big hires, including TJ Lightwala from Group M.

Meanwhile, influencers continue to divert budgets, whether you love them or loathe them (influencers, not budgets). The way brands and agencies are using influencers is becoming more sophisticated, though. Social media too is throwing up new channels for reaching consumers, meaning planners have a lot more places to put their spend, while having less spend to play with as the economy tightens.

We’ve heard a lot of talk of ‘purpose’ this year, and seen it incorporated into campaigns and brand identities with varying degrees of earnest wokeness and general competency. At the Cannes Lions, Troy Ruhanen, president and CEO of TBWA/Worldwide, said that not all brands need a purpose, but they do all need a conscience. Others would disagree, pointing to research that shows millennials and Generation Z are reluctant to spend with brands that don’t stand for something.

One brand that chose to stand for something was Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar. Its Blank Edition campaign by Impact BBDO made a statement about Lebanese politics and won the region’s first Cannes Lions Grand Prix.

However cynical we may be about woke-washing, if our industry can do more with its talent on top of selling products and winning awards, that has to be a bonus.

So here’s to a year of change and challenges and losses and triumphs and all the rest that makes this industry interesting.

And here’s to another year of doing good, no matter what happens.