David Parkinson, Nissan’s head of digital for MEA and India, is optimistic – and he has reason to be. "Clients are always looking to rationalize and optimize their costs." - Bachir Siam, CFO, GroupM MENAĭespite the ad world’s version of locker-room conversations about budget cuts and tough times, client outlooks seem mostly positive. So, with half of 2016 already behind us, have the agencies’ efforts and investments paid off in strengthening client confidence and, eventually, their bottom lines and margins? Brave new world The past year has already been quite challenging for advertising, as overheard at industry networking events. Nearly 30 percent of CFA professionals believe that investor confidence is as low as it was during 2008/09 – and almost the same number believe the overall sentiment is currently more positive. Low oil prices, geopolitical instability and lower government expenditure – the three most important economic issues in the GCC, according to an April 2016 CFA report – have affected several industries across the Middle East, including the usual suspects – oil and gas and energy – and banking, with leading lenders, including First Gulf Bank, Standard Chartered and HSBC, shedding hundreds of jobs in 2015. And, although this belief isn’t grounded in truth, at least for the UAE and the surrounding Middle East countries, His Excellency Obaid Humaid Al-Tayer, the UAE’s Minister of State for Financial Affairs, said in his statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee: “We are still facing a tepid and fragile global recovery, with heightened uncertainty and increasing financial turbulence.” Earlier this year, the CEO of one of the region’s leading agencies announced, almost nonchalantly: “Like it or not, we’re in a recession.” And he’s not alone: nearly 53 percent of UAE residents think so too, says a Nielsen survey, released earlier this year.
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