Dina El-Dessouky Discusses Top Challenges for Brand Managers, This Ramadan

As it coincides with COVID-19 pandemic for the second year in a row, this Ramadan is expected to see some differences compared to the last year’s season, especially at the level of planning and strategies so that brand managers can create marketing strategies that adapt to the changes resulted by the pandemic.

That’s why Chief Marketing Officers magazine talked to Dina El-Dessouky, Head of Strategy at FP7 McCANN Cairo to get her opinion about the top challenges that brand managers are going to face during Ramadan.

Brands are going on smoothly with their original plans and hopefully won’t need to come up with multiple scenarios to be ready for whatever comes next like last year.

If the hero Ramadan categories and brands successfully found a way to be present last Ramadan, they definitely will this year!

Commenting on that main question, Dina said: “I honestly believe that the real challenge was last year not this year, because that’s when uncertainty had hit an all-time high. We didn’t know what was going to happen next, we couldn’t really do big productions for safety and curfew related reasons, and in terms of communication; brands that would normally be talking about togetherness and the spirit of Ramadan were stuck because that was the exact opposite of what they were supposed to be calling out for in the times of COVID. This year, I believe that things are much clearer. Egyptians are getting used to the new normal, and brands have had the time to plan now that this year, there are no surprises (so far).”

Regarding the consumer behavior shifts during the pandemic and how it could be reflected on the marketing strategies of Ramadan, Dina sees that the situation is more stable for the majority of categories than last year, so brands have planned their budgets accordingly.

She Added: “I believe the primary difference is related to on-ground and mega Suhoor sponsorships and events that had been put to a stop because of the curfew, which is likely to continue to happen this year. Other than that, I believe brands are going on smoothly with their original plans and hopefully won’t need to come up with multiple scenarios to be ready for whatever comes next like last year.”

But has TV lost its glory in favor of Digital Platforms? Dina replied: “Brands have experienced the importance of digital and social more than ever last year. Not just for promotion of their products and services, but also for selling them. They also got to explore new platforms that they now seek engagement on like TikTok that’s become a proof that a campaign is winning on engagement. So definitely digital is booming; however, I believe that TV hasn’t lost its glory at all. It still remains king no matter what. I am not quite sure if this would have changed if the Ramadan entertainment content was still spilling and was all over the internet like it used to be before legitimate platforms had acquired exclusive rights. However, given the current situation and given how brands can’t have their ads appear amidst streaming content online anymore, TV remains to be the key medium to be seen in Ramadan.”

Regarding her expectations if certain sectors which were affected by the consequences of the Corona crisis will withdraw from the advertising scene this season in favor of others, she commented: “If the hero Ramadan categories and brands successfully found a way to be present last Ramadan, they definitely will this year! I just believe the real difference is that last year the campaigns were under so many restrictions. This year, we should be seeing big productions again like we used to before COVID kicked in, and we can’t wait!”

Visit this link to grab your free digital copy of CMOs Magazine, now!!!