Click images to view larger versions

Advertising since ‘80s

From black-and-white illustrations to SMS communication, advertising in Oman has come a long way
Nazia Khan

In 2007, the latest in advertising is to use bluetooth-enabled devices to reach consu-mers. So it takes a bit of thinking back now to remember a time when advertisements were limited in their scope by available media, among other factors. In the 1970s and ’80s, advertising in Oman was all about bare basics. Creativity was a risky word and, because of that, advertising was more about listing features rather than engaging communication. The journey from then to now is doubly interesting because it charts not just the evolution of advertising but also the onset of various other developments and their effects.

Fine print
Faisal al Hashar, general manager, retail sales and operations, Shell Oman Marketing Comp-any, recalls how advertisers had access to only limited media in the ’80s. “The newspapers were black-and-white, there was no colour then. No other media had developed either. Owners were not willing to invest more in print media, radio or television channels because the market was still in its infancy.” He continues that the advertising agencies were small because the market was small. “It was like a vicious circle.”

It was not easy going for the handful of agencies either. Ashok Suvarna, executive director, National Publishing and Advertising (NPA), says that in those days most clients looked upon advertising as mere expenditure. “Few considered advertising as an investment in their brand or product. The scope was limi-ted. Things such as below-the-line advertising never happened.” He also recalls that agencies had to be very alert about their copy. “I still remember an ad we had created and released in the ’80s on counterfeit spare parts. The base line said, ‘This ad is released in public interest.’ But then we got a warning from the authorities to change the line to ‘This ad is released in customer’s interest.’

The general level of understanding and exposure among target audiences meant that agencies had to resort to straightforward and, often, mediocre messages. It also meant that companies stuck to what was then conventio-nal. Jabir P, manager, operations, Polyglot Institute Oman, remembers that in the late ’80s, the company advertised by putting up posters in a few supermarkets that existed then, among them Spinneys. “At the time, our operations were much smaller, and this was a way to attract potential students. We sent out circulars as well, but not very frequently.”

A4 size newsletters which were typed out were among the advertising avenues for Intercontinental Muscat. Says Baidha al Sikaiti, the hotel’s advertising and promotions manager, “We advertised mainly in the four newspapers here – the two English and the two Arabic dailies – and also in the Oman Today magazine from Apex Press and Publishing. We also advertised in a magazine from Dubai.”

A look at the advertisements in the December 1980 issue of Oman Today is like time travel to the past. Advertised are video recorders, four band stereo recorders, shorthand courses, calculators, and the ‘new Mazda 323 hatchback’. Video cassettes, says Muscat Pharmacy’s Praful Dave, were a popular showcase for ads then. “These ads were inserted in between the movies which were recorded on video cassettes. It was mostly just product information but it was a different way of attracting people’s attention than the usual newspapers, magazines and posters.” Dave adds that regularly offering small samples of products at supermarkets was another advertising tactic that many marketers adopted then.

Suvarna talks about how advertisers got slots on the English and Arabic news that aired on Oman TV. The advertisements were essentially slideshows of classifieds. “There were generally three simple slides of artwork, which would be changed with a voiceover.”

Says Hashar, “In the early ’80s, advertising was all about ‘win this’ and ‘win that.’ Once this prize era ended, consumers became more price conscious. They were looking for more discounts, and offers from various marketers.”

By the late ’80s and early ’90s, consumers were also starting to look at publications from other regions, which had started pouring into the sultanate. In terms of cosmetic quality as well as creative ideas, the ads in these foreign publications were in a different league. It was inevitable then that standards among marke-ters and advertisers in Oman started going beyond the typical.

Mid-90 degree change
Though the advertising scene improved greatly in the early ’90s and became a lot more creative than it was, there was still no drastic change in style. Says Suvarna, “There were hardly any brand-building exercises happening. Cam-paigns were either promotional or tactical.”

By the mid ’90s, technology progressed so rapidly that a lot of marketers and advertisers wondered whether it was worthwhile to run to keep up with it. With computers replacing typewriters and colour splashing into televisions as well as newspapers, advertising methods and budgets were undergoing radical shifts. The Internet, still fledgling, was neverthe-less hinting strongly that it would be the tool changing the way businesses around the world worked. Soon there were clear enough signs that those who did not adapt would probably be out of business.

So from the stagnation of the early years, there was suddenly a rush of new advertising
concepts, a mix of which are being used by most companies today. Says Sikaiti, “We advertise in different ways, depending on the nature of the event.” Apart from print advertising and ads on television, there are billboards, e-mail shooters and campaigns, telephone sales and quizzes on the radio where vouchers are given away. The hotel also advertises about its restaurants and other facilities and entertainment it provides within its premises, through bro-chures and booklets.

As the tools and media available to marketers have advanced, various methods to measure the effectiveness of campaigns have also become available. It is possible now to correlate sales and volumes to advertising activity.

Explains Hashar, “With the extensive use of technology to measure campaign effectiveness involving number crunching, spotting trends etc, advertising has become more of a scientific exercise. It is critical for the marketer to use the right tools and media to advertise to the right audience.” And available to the marketer – to advertise his products, services and promotions – are fliers, road shows, temporary kiosks, and text messages on mobile phone networks.

Brand 2000 and beyond
Competition is everywhere today, among marketers as well as advertising agencies. The number of players in each category is constantly increasing and a lot of them are associating with international entities and aspiring to meet the ever-evolving global standards.

Advertising spends are rising every year but as clients increase their investment they are also demanding quantifiable justification. This has meant a consistent drive towards the pursuit of more effective and creative communication. One key factor along this line has been the consumer’s exposure to and advertiser’s focus on branding.

Says a source in the advertising industry, “A few decades ago, brands like Volkswagen and Peugeot hardly sold. There was simply no awareness in the market about them. But since then, consumers have become a lot more conscious of international brands. They value brands and aspire to be different from others by using these.”

Companies are pushing advertising agencies along this route of differentiation. Says Sikaiti, “When a hotel advertises or produces promotional material, it is not the same as a petrol company. We cannot have a can of oil in our ad. Our brand standards are completely different. If someone does not understand this, they cannot produce an ad for us. Of course, the agencies are quite creative now and there are also so many of them.”

What is also happening, feels Sikaiti, is that companies truly understand the need for advertising, as also its workings. “Earlier, people put RO150 in advertising and expected RO5,000 back. Now they realise that may be you need to spend RO5,000 to get RO6,000 back. They understand that putting in five ads creates more awareness than putting in one ad. They understand that you need to promote your product. You cannot sit back and take for granted that people know about it.”

To further this understanding, Suvarna feels that clients and agencies must invest in pre-campaign research rather than rely only on previous experiences or gut feeling. “This will help chisel the quality of output and raise the bar.” Meanwhile, more and more international brands are starting to align their communication globally, some with little or no relevance to local marketplaces. Increasingly, distributors and dealers are under pressure to utilise the same. There is a view that this reduces the opportunity to create work locally, countered by the argument that it will lead to improved standards.

Says Hashar, “Since we are part of a global company, we get to do a lot of campaigns that have been successful in other markets. We, however, give these a local touch and implement them in Oman.” He informs that one of Shell’s long-standing campaign associations has been with Ferrari. “But we have not used this campaign extensively in Oman because the market here is not really receptive to advertising related to car racing.”

What evolved markets eventually become receptive to is a host of mature options. This can be reality in Oman only if marketers, advertisers and consumers collectively decide to change the way advertising happens here, rather than expect it.

While it is true that businesses in the sultanate are led by distributors and dealers as opposed to manufacturers, this does not necessarily mean that strategies and operations have to operate short-term and never focus beyond tactical advertising. But with companies within Oman expanding their reach regionally and globally, and more internatio-nal companies setting up operations here, the scenario is bound to change. How soon depends on the players themselves.