The times, they are a changin...

Mobile Internet Advertising will emerge as a really potent force, especially in a market like the UAE where the smartphone penetration is almost 100 per cent

We live in interesting and contrasting times. The world is getting frenetically digital while concurrently we witness the biggest ever boycott in history: with over 600 million devices having ad blockers on them. Fake news, brand safety, sub-optimal quality of advertising and the resultant trust deficit - all play a role in this.
Let's begin with some staggering stats. Globally, the advertising industry stands at around $600 billion. In 2018, the Middle East region contributed a miniscule $3.3 billion of that while witnessing a 4.8 per cent decline in size. Forty per cent of these were contributed by the digital media and the figure is expected to touch 50 per cent by 2021. With over 60 per cent of the population in the region under the age of 24, the skew is not surprising.
The unabashed march of the duopoly (read Google and Facebook) with almost a 70 per cent market share has been somewhat thwarted by the emergence of Amazon as a serious contender for advertising revenues (being the platform rich with shoppers' behavioural data for targeting and providing access to purchase data in real-time).
The elephants in the room still remain in the form of radio, TV and, to an extent, print. And the digital giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, etc., have been using traditional media for their advertising to pretty good effect. The shoe is on the other foot, isn't it? You scratch my back, while I scratch yours!
Brands have taken to 'in housing' seriously though I don't see that trend to continue for much longer and one will witness brands going back to specialised creative and digital agencies to do what they know best.
Mobile Internet Advertising will emerge as a really potent force, especially in a market like the UAE where the smartphone penetration is almost 100 per cent.
Voice search is beginning to get heard in the region Siriously (pardon the pun) and marketers have to gear up for that opportunity.
There is a distinct migration by consumers from being ownership-oriented to experience-driven resulting in a greater degree of personalisation in marketing, and newer business models like subscription coming on stream across unheard of verticals including furniture, automobiles, fashion, etc.
Cord-cutting is increasingly in vogue and subscription video on demand (SVOD) revenues in the region will continue to soar led by the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and other players such as Icflix and Starz Play, etc. SVOD revenues across all of MENA are tipped to more than triple between 2018 and 2024 to reach $2.13 billion.
Data is certainly the new oil while privacy will remain the biggest Achilles' heel. Photos will become more important than reality as the arms race for social capital and self branding heats up.
Digital minimalism and conspicuous isolation will come to the fore as a detox mechanism from the frenzied, ever and over connected world we live in.
Yes, the times, they are changing...

• Media & Marketing