There is no such thing as a mass mind. The mass audience is
made up of individuals, and good advertising is written always
from one person to another. When it is aimed at millions it
rarely moves anyone. – Fairfax Cone, of Foote Cone & Belding
RO22.85mn in 2005, RO31.73mn in 2006, RO41.58mn in 2007 –
advertising in print media is clearly on a roll. Despite TV,
radio and several below-the-line avenues, print media rules
when it comes to its share in the advertising pie. Every year
when we conduct the survey, we know there may not be any major
upsets or victories. Yet we go about it because the little
details that are usually missed in the large picture will
give our readers, advertisers and marketers a clue as to what
can be expected and an understanding of the dynamics of the
year that went by. But this year the survey showed that there
has been a churn. There are three new entrants into the top
ten list. Displacing petroleum products, airlines and perfumes
sectors, real estate, healthcare and food and beverages have
moved into the hallowed arena.
2007 was also the year of media innovations. False covers,
belly bands, jackets, gatefolds, reverse gatefolds, you name
it, the print media had it. The next two years could be even
more interesting as far as ad spend and innovations are concerned.
With the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) inviting
proposals for a second fixed line telecom licence and a third
mobile licence, there's bound to be a lot of action in this
sector.
In keeping with the theme of our cover story, we have put
together a special issue on advertising. Oman got its first
taste of ambush advertising in February this year raising
hopes that it could be the beginning of an aggressive advertising
trend. By all appearances, below-the-line advertising, which
accounts for a lion’s share of companies’ ad budgets internationally,
has caught on here as well. Marketing campaigns are increasingly
moving away from using mass media branding towards utilising
more direct response marketing methods.
Mohana Prabhakar
mohana@apexstuff.com
Managing editor
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