Once upon a time, in a previous journalistic incarnation, we were chastised by a reader for describing Ramadan as a season for great television. The reader was irate that we had reduced the Holy month to hours upon hours of great silver screen material. But just as Christmas has become known for excessive shopping budgets and profiteering retailers, so has Ramadan become synonymous with television entertainment, big family feasts, and gift-giving – and, therefore, big money for advertisers. Exclusive TV programming brings families together at the break of fast, while FMCGs use outdoor advertising to appeal to hungry shoppers and magazines advertise luxury products as gift ideas to celebrate Eid.
In contrast, summertime in the region has long been synonymous with quiet, on most fronts. Those who aren’t desert heat-proof escape to cooler climes, events are put on hold until it gets easier to breathe outside, and entertainment is watered down until the advent of Fall.
As of this year – and for the next seven years or so – Ramadan will fall during those dreaded summer months. Will the Ramadan/entertainment dynamic change? The industry seems to be saying no, with media buyers predicting that the Ramadan season can withstand the heat.
“Nothing will change,” says Amer El Hajj, regional media buying director for Publicis Groupe Media (PGM) in Dubai. “Ramadan will always be a special season for viewers and for advertisers, and it’s not related to whether budgets are spent during summer or not. All television stations will get new programs, and viewers will definitely be at home watching those series.”
Mazen Hayek, MBC’s official spokesperson and group director of PR and commercial, agrees. “Ramadan is a season by itself,” he says. “People’s lifestyle changes dramatically, whether it’s during the summer or any other season. Ramadan falling in summer will not change television consumption patterns and habits. Television will continue to be the family member par excellence, and MBC1 is part of the ritual of the month. Just as people associate Ramadan with dates, they associate it with MBC1.”
Cautious. Mazen Fakhoury, managing director of Mindshare MENA in Saudi Arabia, is a little more cautious.
“This is the first year where we’re going to test if there are, in fact, changes in consumer dynamics, because Ramadan is falling during summer,” he says. “Last year, Ramadan was not very strong, and advertisers were more or less reserved from a spending point. This year it’s a new dynamic, so it’s a big unknown. Add to that that we will have a sizeable Q4 [in previous years, Ramadan and Eid fell during this period], so will clients keep some of their budget for Q4 because it’s a hefty period? What we’re telling our clients is that they need to test the assumptions that are being made about Ramadan this year, because Ramadan in the summer is here to stay in the medium term. So we should use this now, to track what the changing dynamics are.”
While Fakhoury and El Hajj both say that last year Ramadan advertising budgets dropped an estimated 30 percent from 2008, El Hajj believes there might be a slight increase in spend on last year. “It won’t be huge. Some are saying this year will be good, some are saying it will be bad, but we think it’ll pretty much be like last year. There may be a spend increase in some categories up to 5 or 7 percent, and others might drop by the same amount.”
Typically, FMCGs and telcos are the biggest spenders during Ramadan, and this year will be no different, according to El Hajj. He adds that luxury brands tend to start advertising towards the end of Ramadan, to attract consumers shopping for Eid gifts.
According to Fakhoury, the automotive industry was active during Ramadan when it fell during the fourth quarter, as car dealers would liquidate stock before the coming year’s models were released. “But now Ramadan is in Q3, so is it a good time for dealers to do an inventory drawdown? I think FMCGs are going to be the ones spending the most, while telcos will be put off the pedal, simply because the World Cup is coming up, and that will consume quite a lot of their budgets,” he says.
Hayek says that MBC1’s biggest advertisers are telcos, FMCGs, automotive, food, confectionary, carbonated soft drinks, juices, and perfumes, and that Ramadan advertising on MBC1 represents up to 25 percent of the channel’s yearly advertising. “One month represents 25 percent of our revenue,” he says. “MBC1’s programming grid is well known and much anticipated by viewers – hence by advertisers too. So most of them come back to us with the same packages. They know the kind of ROI they get by associating their brand with the top rated shows on MBC1,” he says.
Preferred choice. Television – and MBC1 in particular – is the preferred choice for advertisers during Ramadan, simply because TV is an important medium in the Arab world.
“Television in the Arab world is what I would describe as the favorite national sport,” says Hayek. “People love television; it’s like the virtual family member, board member, or cabinet member. If people spend an average of 4.5 hours a day watching television during normal times, then in Ramadan this goes up to six or seven hours per day. Ramadan content is linked to the traditions of the month of Ramadan, which makes television more than ever the omnipresent virtual member of every Arab family.”
Mark Butterfield, former media director for Unilever Middle East and Africa and current media director for Europe and the Americas, says that Unilever brands – save for food and beverages – tend to avoid Ramadan due to “high cost, low cover, and clutter.” “Clutter is massive and makes advertising in any key programs a waste of time,” says Butterfield.
And according to El Hajj, Unilever isn’t the only one avoiding Ramadan. “What’s happening honestly is that, other than those telcos and FMCGs and whoever really needs Ramadan advertising, are on Ramadan programs. But those who don’t need Ramadan avoid it; lots of brands don’t have activity during Ramadan because of the clutter,” he says.
El Hajj says that while television remains king during Ramadan, there are opportunities for other mediums to enter the. “Ramadan is mainly known for television because of the programming; television stations spend millions on programs,” he says. “However, there might be some opportunities online that target Ramadan programming as well. MBC.net, for example, did that last year. Some FMCGs might do some activities in print, especially on cooking supplements.”
Hayek says MBC1 has other revenue streams, but that television advertising remains their overwhelming source of revenue. “Figures of video on demand on MBC.net and of people wanting to watch Ramadan content at their own leisure and pace are growing year on year, so we’re pursuing that trend,” he Hayek. “But commercially, the 30-second spot and on-screen sponsorship remain main artillery in the arsenal of brand builders.”
Despite what the odd irate reader says, Ramadan is undoubtedly a time for television to shine. And summer or not, Ramadan will still be a highly profitable time to advertise, according to industry insiders. Hayek says that some advertisers wonder “why invest that much in advertising during Ramadan?” “Television comes under the microscope during Ramadan, and the role of TV becomes greater due to the change of lifestyle,” he says.
“From a brand standpoint, it’s an occasion to sell more and energize the consumption activity. Ramadan has become seasonality by itself, and that’s why it’s irrelevant which month it falls in.”
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