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What are the latest advertising ideas and trends that are reshaping the marketing industry in the Middle East these days, in your opinion?

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Question added by Mariam Eid , Marketing and Communications Manager , Executive Solutions
Date Posted: 2016/03/23
Lamya Adam
by Lamya Adam , Front Desk Team Leader , Mariott

If there is one mistake small town businesses make more often than any other it's, "What ever is left over, we'll use for advertising."

 

Marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. I know it sure seems like an expense to me when I'm writing the check, but trust me it's not.

 

Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion.

 

When do you advertise the most? For most businesses it's the first day of business. Don't you have a Grand Opening, balloons, flyers, ads, on-site radio stations, contests, and prizes? Did the income from sales pay for that? No, it didn't. You advertise most when you need business. You advertise more when you don't.

 

An average cost of advertising is usually 1 to 5% of gross sales, which can vary according to location, local advertising rates, and industry. Car dealers need more advertising than funeral homes.

 

Before we get to the 25 tips let's look at the basic strategies of successful advertising.

 

* In order to be successful, your advertising must provide a consumer benefit or solve a problem.

* That benefit or solution must be wanted by the consumer.

* The product or service you are offering must be tied directly to that benefit or solution.

* The benefit or solution must be distinctly communicated through medial advertising. In other words, be clear, forget the advertising glitz and make sure the message isn't lost in the ad.

 

A small-budget advertiser doesn't have the ''deep pockets" to develop big advertising campaigns. Some time you need to break the rules to be noticed. Avis did it by admitting they were "Number 2" in the car rental business and that campaign took them from 6th place to second place. When they stopped that campaign they dropped back to 6th again. In the past year they have gone back to it.

 

Budget conscious advertisers must achieve top results for their advertising dollar. Expand your dollars by adopting some creative techniques.

 

Here are 25 tips I hope will help you.

 

Advertising ideas: Radio, newspapers and magazine specialists will frequently give free help in developing an advertising strategy. Things like demographic information, money-saving ways to produce your ads etc.

 

Advertising ideas: Place your ads in off hours or in unusual locations for less. Many times you can still reach your target market with these spots.

 

Advertising ideas: Instead of a one-time big splash ad, be consistent with frequent small ads that work.

 

Advertising ideas: Monthly magazines sometimes have unsold ad space at the end of the month they will sell at a discount.

 

Advertising ideas: If you have an 800 number, put it in every ad for immediate response and feedback.

 

Advertising ideas: Try advertising consistently in the classifieds. These ads may draw more customers than more expensive display ads.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you barter for the cost of ad production? Maybe the newspaper needs painting in exchange for an ad about your paint store.

 

Advertising ideas: Piggyback advertising are the ads you receive with your Mastercard bill. Is there someone in your town that sends out a lot of bills? Can you put a small flyer in with their bills and split the postage? Or pay a small fee?

 

Advertising ideas: Split advertising costs with the people who sell to you. Vendors and manufactures are always looking for exposure. Let people know you carry their products and have the vendor pick up part of the ad cost.

 

Are there up front advertising discounts for cash?

 

Advertising ideas: Consider advertising in regional issues of national magazines. The costs are lower and you can still reach your target market. TV Guide is a good choice. It stays around for at least a week. Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report may stay in local doctors offices for years.

 

Advertising ideas: Share ad costs with neighbor business. Video stores and Pizza parlors are natural partners. Have coupons to each others stores or share the cost of flyers.

 

Advertising ideas: Try reducing the size of your ad (not in the Yellow Pages) or length of your radio spots. A 60 second spot is not twice as much as a 30 second spot but you won't get twice as many customers for a 60 over a 30. Going with small ads or shorter spots will allow you to do more ads which normally pulls more customers. It's better to be there every day with small ads than every month with one big one.

 

Advertising ideas: Develop tight production controls to minimize the need to reject finished ads. The message is more important than the messenger. Don't try to produce ads that win awards, produce ads that sell.

 

Advertising ideas: Who are your very best customers? Aim your ads to talk directly to people like them.

 

Advertising ideas: What will suppliers give you in the way of point-of-purchase materials. Posters, stand ups, handouts, etc. Some have excellent display racks you can use.

 

Advertising ideas: Some national chains like Coke and Pepsi provide outdoor signs for businesses. There are also indoor lighted signs you write on with special markers to advertise your special offers.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you sponsor a community event? A fun-run, golf tournament, or other event that will be well publicized in the community. Your name may not be prominently displayed but sometimes the positive exposure in the community will bring in new customers.

 

Advertising ideas: Small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. Pin your ad reps down and make them show you exactly how their media reaches your target audience.

 

Advertising ideas: Exploit the media you choose to the fullest. If your message is verbal, you don't need TV. Use radio, billboards and newspapers to the fullest.

 

Advertising ideas: Consider direct mail. A letter and brochure before customer contact can increase business. An IBM study concluded that selling time can be reduced from 9.3 to 1.3 total hours with direct mail advertising. A Sales and Marketing Executives International Study showed salespeople went from eight orders per 100 cold calls to 38 orders per 100 when direct mail was used.

 

Advertising ideas: Try an editorial style ad. These are ads that look like actual stories in the newspaper. They will have "advertisement" at the top of the article. Develop a good headline, and 50% more people will read the article than would read an ad of the same size.

 

Advertising ideas: You can't match larger competitors dollar-for-dollar but, you can use unusual approaches (like the Avis idea above), color, music, slogans, humor (be careful here), or media selection to win your market away from the big guys.

 

Advertising ideas: Due to the high costs of conventional advertising on, radio, TV, newspapers, many cost conscious business have been forced to look for lower cost methods. Can you advertise on parking meters, taxi boards, balloons, blimps, and grocery shopping carts. Community bulletin boards, movie ads, and weekly newspaper shoppers.

 

Advertising ideas: Key your ads. Put something in the ad that will let you know which media it came from. On coupons, put a code that will record the paper and date of the ad. In radio or TV, have them mention the ad to get the discount. Ask every customer how they found you.

 

Advertising ideas: Plan for a rainy day. During the year put a small amount aside each month for emergencies. You never know when you'll need to react quickly to whatever the competition is doing. You must be able to capitalize on breaking national events or news regarding your industry. If negative things happen in your industry you may need to respond quickly to make sure the right message is presented.

 

Advertising ideas: Always give the customer more than you promised and more than they expected. This is tip number 27 of the 25 we advertised. Maybe this last one is the one you needed.

 

Shahwali Shayan
by Shahwali Shayan , Property Portfolio Manager , Propertica Pvt. Ltd.

Social Media Marketing in my opinion is the future of Mass Marketing. When it comes to marketing, the most crucial aspect is the attention of a potential consumer. Billboard, Mall Ads, Cinema Ads have all been regarded as the best tools for marketing in the conventional world when social media had not evolved to what it has become today. Every single person in todays day and age uses some sort of Social Media. The only segment within the market that is not on social media is the elderly, who need to be marketed in a more specified way. However, having said that, from the younger generation to the middle aged generation, everyone uses Social Media. The use of ads on social media has been proven to boost sales unlike any other medium. The fact that we as millenials spend hours on Social Media means, that marketers can use the instrument for a fraction of the cost to influence their consumers Directly and Indirectly. The middle east has seen a vast development in Technology over the past few decades. Considering the widespread availability of Wi-Fi and Internet across the region, means that the general public has access to social media. The use of Reference People and Social Media Influencers to market the product as well as paid ads on Social Media has been seen as one of the fastest growing trends in the region. Brands need to incorporate Technology in whatever way they can to influence the consumers of the Middle East. For instance the use of Augemented Reality is a great way to fuse consumer technology with Marketing, because it forces a potential consumer to reach out for their smartphone, point it at the ad and watch it come to life. This means that Augmented Reality Ads allow marketers to grab the attention of a consumer in a way that is far more effective than regular Billboard Marketing.Augmented Reality

Ehab Otibi
by Ehab Otibi , Online Advertising Account Manager , Ttec

I think the trendiest in marketing industry recently is awareness campaigns for social case, many brands start to produce awarness campaigns to social/ community cases and in many time it's not related to the brand at all, but it help to make the brand more appealing to the people, and the people share that kind of campaigns on social media a lot, why?? because it touch them in what they need and what they care about.

The best example is Zain telecom campaigns, the company successfully make thier name associated with beaty, kindness, success and created a loyal base of customers not by giving the best offers and solutions, but by making people love the brand itself.

another example was an ad by Cocacola against racism and prejudging, which hit thousends of shares and million of views, and only simple product replacement in the ad for Cocacola was enough.It's very smart way of marketing 

Sabir Khan
by Sabir Khan , General Manager Marketing , SHIVALIKA RUGS PVT LTD

Digital Marketing is trending nowadays.

Advertising through social media tools like Facebook, Google Analytics, Twitter, Instagran.

Sending Newsletters, SMS, Telecalling.

Banners and Displays at Airports, on public transports like Metro,Taxis etc.

Muhammad Annam Abbas
by Muhammad Annam Abbas , Founder And CEO , Victory Adviser

Social Media Channels, Youtube and Mobile Apps and Marketing are the latest trends in Middle east and its reshape the marketing industury.

Uzma Yusuff Yusuff
by Uzma Yusuff Yusuff , Senior Manager, Digital Transformation , Reed Exhibitions

Mobile Video Advertising

Behavioural Data

Social Media Advertising

Mohamed Hendy
by Mohamed Hendy , Commercial director & Co- founder , The matchers

from what you mention i think you are asking about the  ideas not the tools right?!, if i understand that right please let me tell you what i think, in the middle east the population is increasing because the deaths to births ratio is decreasing, so generations X and Y (people who were born from 1965 to 1990) are the most common segment who have the intent of buying and the power of money to buy, so the most common and latest idea in the advertising industry is playing on nostalgic concept, and that was and still trend used by multinational companies in middle  east, and believe it or not it is still working.

Lamya Adam
by Lamya Adam , Front Desk Team Leader , Mariott

If there is one mistake small town businesses make more often than any other it's, "What ever is left over, we'll use for advertising."

 

Marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. I know it sure seems like an expense to me when I'm writing the check, but trust me it's not.

 

Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion.

 

When do you advertise the most? For most businesses it's the first day of business. Don't you have a Grand Opening, balloons, flyers, ads, on-site radio stations, contests, and prizes? Did the income from sales pay for that? No, it didn't. You advertise most when you need business. You advertise more when you don't.

 

An average cost of advertising is usually 1 to 5% of gross sales, which can vary according to location, local advertising rates, and industry. Car dealers need more advertising than funeral homes.

 

Before we get to the 25 tips let's look at the basic strategies of successful advertising.

 

* In order to be successful, your advertising must provide a consumer benefit or solve a problem.

* That benefit or solution must be wanted by the consumer.

* The product or service you are offering must be tied directly to that benefit or solution.

* The benefit or solution must be distinctly communicated through medial advertising. In other words, be clear, forget the advertising glitz and make sure the message isn't lost in the ad.

 

A small-budget advertiser doesn't have the ''deep pockets" to develop big advertising campaigns. Some time you need to break the rules to be noticed. Avis did it by admitting they were "Number 2" in the car rental business and that campaign took them from 6th place to second place. When they stopped that campaign they dropped back to 6th again. In the past year they have gone back to it.

 

Budget conscious advertisers must achieve top results for their advertising dollar. Expand your dollars by adopting some creative techniques.

 

Here are 25 tips I hope will help you.

 

Advertising ideas: Radio, newspapers and magazine specialists will frequently give free help in developing an advertising strategy. Things like demographic information, money-saving ways to produce your ads etc.

 

Advertising ideas: Place your ads in off hours or in unusual locations for less. Many times you can still reach your target market with these spots.

 

Advertising ideas: Instead of a one-time big splash ad, be consistent with frequent small ads that work.

 

Advertising ideas: Monthly magazines sometimes have unsold ad space at the end of the month they will sell at a discount.

 

Advertising ideas: If you have an 800 number, put it in every ad for immediate response and feedback.

 

Advertising ideas: Try advertising consistently in the classifieds. These ads may draw more customers than more expensive display ads.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you barter for the cost of ad production? Maybe the newspaper needs painting in exchange for an ad about your paint store.

 

Advertising ideas: Piggyback advertising are the ads you receive with your Mastercard bill. Is there someone in your town that sends out a lot of bills? Can you put a small flyer in with their bills and split the postage? Or pay a small fee?

 

Advertising ideas: Split advertising costs with the people who sell to you. Vendors and manufactures are always looking for exposure. Let people know you carry their products and have the vendor pick up part of the ad cost.

 

Are there up front advertising discounts for cash?

 

Advertising ideas: Consider advertising in regional issues of national magazines. The costs are lower and you can still reach your target market. TV Guide is a good choice. It stays around for at least a week. Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report may stay in local doctors offices for years.

 

Advertising ideas: Share ad costs with neighbor business. Video stores and Pizza parlors are natural partners. Have coupons to each others stores or share the cost of flyers.

 

Advertising ideas: Try reducing the size of your ad (not in the Yellow Pages) or length of your radio spots. A 60 second spot is not twice as much as a 30 second spot but you won't get twice as many customers for a 60 over a 30. Going with small ads or shorter spots will allow you to do more ads which normally pulls more customers. It's better to be there every day with small ads than every month with one big one.

 

Advertising ideas: Develop tight production controls to minimize the need to reject finished ads. The message is more important than the messenger. Don't try to produce ads that win awards, produce ads that sell.

 

Advertising ideas: Who are your very best customers? Aim your ads to talk directly to people like them.

 

Advertising ideas: What will suppliers give you in the way of point-of-purchase materials. Posters, stand ups, handouts, etc. Some have excellent display racks you can use.

 

Advertising ideas: Some national chains like Coke and Pepsi provide outdoor signs for businesses. There are also indoor lighted signs you write on with special markers to advertise your special offers.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you sponsor a community event? A fun-run, golf tournament, or other event that will be well publicized in the community. Your name may not be prominently displayed but sometimes the positive exposure in the community will bring in new customers.

 

Advertising ideas: Small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. Pin your ad reps down and make them show you exactly how their media reaches your target audience.

 

Advertising ideas: Exploit the media you choose to the fullest. If your message is verbal, you don't need TV. Use radio, billboards and newspapers to the fullest.

 

Advertising ideas: Consider direct mail. A letter and brochure before customer contact can increase business. An IBM study concluded that selling time can be reduced from 9.3 to 1.3 total hours with direct mail advertising. A Sales and Marketing Executives International Study showed salespeople went from eight orders per 100 cold calls to 38 orders per 100 when direct mail was used.

 

Advertising ideas: Try an editorial style ad. These are ads that look like actual stories in the newspaper. They will have "advertisement" at the top of the article. Develop a good headline, and 50% more people will read the article than would read an ad of the same size.

 

Advertising ideas: You can't match larger competitors dollar-for-dollar but, you can use unusual approaches (like the Avis idea above), color, music, slogans, humor (be careful here), or media selection to win your market away from the big guys.

 

Advertising ideas: Due to the high costs of conventional advertising on, radio, TV, newspapers, many cost conscious business have been forced to look for lower cost methods. Can you advertise on parking meters, taxi boards, balloons, blimps, and grocery shopping carts. Community bulletin boards, movie ads, and weekly newspaper shoppers.

 

Advertising ideas: Key your ads. Put something in the ad that will let you know which media it came from. On coupons, put a code that will record the paper and date of the ad. In radio or TV, have them mention the ad to get the discount. Ask every customer how they found you.

 

Advertising ideas: Plan for a rainy day. During the year put a small amount aside each month for emergencies. You never know when you'll need to react quickly to whatever the competition is doing. You must be able to capitalize on breaking national events or news regarding your industry. If negative things happen in your industry you may need to respond quickly to make sure the right message is presented.

 

Advertising ideas: Always give the customer more than you promised and more than they expected. This is tip number 27 of the 25 we advertised. Maybe this last one is the one you needed.

 

I hope these tips will help your business grow. Not all may be relevant to your particular situation. Hopefully, they will illustrate the importance to plan and control your advertising budget.

Lamya Adam
by Lamya Adam , Front Desk Team Leader , Mariott

If there is one mistake small town businesses make more often than any other it's, "What ever is left over, we'll use for advertising."

 

Marketing and advertising is an investment, not an expense. I know it sure seems like an expense to me when I'm writing the check, but trust me it's not.

 

Without enough money put aside for advertising your sales can go down and you suddenly have less and less for promotion.

 

When do you advertise the most? For most businesses it's the first day of business. Don't you have a Grand Opening, balloons, flyers, ads, on-site radio stations, contests, and prizes? Did the income from sales pay for that? No, it didn't. You advertise most when you need business. You advertise more when you don't.

 

An average cost of advertising is usually 1 to 5% of gross sales, which can vary according to location, local advertising rates, and industry. Car dealers need more advertising than funeral homes.

 

Before we get to the 25 tips let's look at the basic strategies of successful advertising.

 

* In order to be successful, your advertising must provide a consumer benefit or solve a problem.

* That benefit or solution must be wanted by the consumer.

* The product or service you are offering must be tied directly to that benefit or solution.

* The benefit or solution must be distinctly communicated through medial advertising. In other words, be clear, forget the advertising glitz and make sure the message isn't lost in the ad.

 

A small-budget advertiser doesn't have the ''deep pockets" to develop big advertising campaigns. Some time you need to break the rules to be noticed. Avis did it by admitting they were "Number 2" in the car rental business and that campaign took them from 6th place to second place. When they stopped that campaign they dropped back to 6th again. In the past year they have gone back to it.

 

Budget conscious advertisers must achieve top results for their advertising dollar. Expand your dollars by adopting some creative techniques.

 

Here are 25 tips I hope will help you.

 

Advertising ideas: Radio, newspapers and magazine specialists will frequently give free help in developing an advertising strategy. Things like demographic information, money-saving ways to produce your ads etc.

 

Advertising ideas: Place your ads in off hours or in unusual locations for less. Many times you can still reach your target market with these spots.

 

Advertising ideas: Instead of a one-time big splash ad, be consistent with frequent small ads that work.

 

Advertising ideas: Monthly magazines sometimes have unsold ad space at the end of the month they will sell at a discount.

 

Advertising ideas: If you have an 800 number, put it in every ad for immediate response and feedback.

 

Advertising ideas: Try advertising consistently in the classifieds. These ads may draw more customers than more expensive display ads.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you barter for the cost of ad production? Maybe the newspaper needs painting in exchange for an ad about your paint store.

 

Advertising ideas: Piggyback advertising are the ads you receive with your Mastercard bill. Is there someone in your town that sends out a lot of bills? Can you put a small flyer in with their bills and split the postage? Or pay a small fee?

 

Advertising ideas: Split advertising costs with the people who sell to you. Vendors and manufactures are always looking for exposure. Let people know you carry their products and have the vendor pick up part of the ad cost.

 

Are there up front advertising discounts for cash?

 

Advertising ideas: Consider advertising in regional issues of national magazines. The costs are lower and you can still reach your target market. TV Guide is a good choice. It stays around for at least a week. Time, Newsweek, and US News and World Report may stay in local doctors offices for years.

 

Advertising ideas: Share ad costs with neighbor business. Video stores and Pizza parlors are natural partners. Have coupons to each others stores or share the cost of flyers.

 

Advertising ideas: Try reducing the size of your ad (not in the Yellow Pages) or length of your radio spots. A 60 second spot is not twice as much as a 30 second spot but you won't get twice as many customers for a 60 over a 30. Going with small ads or shorter spots will allow you to do more ads which normally pulls more customers. It's better to be there every day with small ads than every month with one big one.

 

Advertising ideas: Develop tight production controls to minimize the need to reject finished ads. The message is more important than the messenger. Don't try to produce ads that win awards, produce ads that sell.

 

Advertising ideas: Who are your very best customers? Aim your ads to talk directly to people like them.

 

Advertising ideas: What will suppliers give you in the way of point-of-purchase materials. Posters, stand ups, handouts, etc. Some have excellent display racks you can use.

 

Advertising ideas: Some national chains like Coke and Pepsi provide outdoor signs for businesses. There are also indoor lighted signs you write on with special markers to advertise your special offers.

 

Advertising ideas: Can you sponsor a community event? A fun-run, golf tournament, or other event that will be well publicized in the community. Your name may not be prominently displayed but sometimes the positive exposure in the community will bring in new customers.

 

Advertising ideas: Small businesses can seldom afford saturation advertising. You must be selective in the media that reaches your customers. Pin your ad reps down and make them show you exactly how their media reaches your target audience.

 

Advertising ideas: Exploit the media you choose to the fullest. If your message is verbal, you don't need TV. Use radio, billboards and newspapers to the fullest.

 

Advertising ideas: Consider direct mail. A letter and brochure before customer contact can increase business. An IBM study concluded that selling time can be reduced from 9.3 to 1.3 total hours with direct mail advertising. A Sales and Marketing Executives International Study showed salespeople went from eight orders per 100 cold calls to 38 orders per 100 when direct mail was used.

 

Advertising ideas: Try an editorial style ad. These are ads that look like actual stories in the newspaper. They will have "advertisement" at the top of the article. Develop a good headline, and 50% more people will read the article than would read an ad of the same size.

 

Advertising ideas: You can't match larger competitors dollar-for-dollar but, you can use unusual approaches (like the Avis idea above), color, music, slogans, humor (be careful here), or media selection to win your market away from the big guys.

 

Advertising ideas: Due to the high costs of conventional advertising on, radio, TV, newspapers, many cost conscious business have been forced to look for lower cost methods. Can you advertise on parking meters, taxi boards, balloons, blimps, and grocery shopping carts. Community bulletin boards, movie ads, and weekly newspaper shoppers.

 

Advertising ideas: Key your ads. Put something in the ad that will let you know which media it came from. On coupons, put a code that will record the paper and date of the ad. In radio or TV, have them mention the ad to get the discount. Ask every customer how they found you.

 

Advertising ideas: Plan for a rainy day. During the year put a small amount aside each month for emergencies. You never know when you'll need to react quickly to whatever the competition is doing. You must be able to capitalize on breaking national events or news regarding your industry. If negative things happen in your industry you may need to respond quickly to make sure the right message is presented.

 

Advertising ideas: Always give the customer more than you promised and more than they expected. This is tip number 27 of the 25 we advertised. Maybe this last one is the one you needed.

 

I hope these tips will help your business grow. Not all may be relevant to your particular situation. Hopefully, they will illustrate the importance to plan and control your advertising budget.

Mohamed Magdy Zaki Elsayed
by Mohamed Magdy Zaki Elsayed , Brand Manager , Corona

Nostalgia is the biggest advertising ideas nowadays, however a lot of brands are building their campaigns on positioning by competitors.

hemant jakhde
by hemant jakhde , DISTRIBUTER , Dag Motorcycle Industries Nigeria Ltd

Bulk SMS through Available mobile companies ,out door big screan add , scrolling bill bords at airport.

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