“OOH” Advertising in Ramadan; It’s time to exceed last year’s losses!

Chief Marketing Officers (CMOS) Magazine monitored the anticipations of market experts working in the Out-of-home advertising (OOH) sector for the current season of Ramadan and to what extent the sector will be able to fix what the Covid-19 pandemic has ruined last year.

Experts anticipated the recovery of the sector during this season to reach 70% of the operational capacity of outdoor advertising spaces.

Without a doubt, the outdoor advertising sector witnessed its worst season ever during last Ramadan, as it coincided with the global measures of lockdown and social distancing, and the consequential unwillingness of the advertisers to use outdoor advertising, since most sectors were badly affected by the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to earlier statements by Ashraf Khairy, Head of Advertising Division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI), advertising agencies suffered sales losses ranging from 200 to 250 million pounds in the last season of Ramadan.

During this year’s season of Ramadan, the advertising sector is optimistic about recovering and overcoming the losses of last year. This notion is supported by pre-Ramadan indicators, February and March in particular amid the expectancy of a 20% to 30% rise in demand of outdoor advertising for this season of Ramadan compared with the pre-Covid season 2019.

“A 60% expected increase in outdoor ads contracts and 30% for satellite channels during this Ramadan”, Hesham Lotfy.

In this regard, Hesham Lotfy, General Manager of Al–Ahram Advertising Agency, confirmed that Ramadan contracts have increased this year by 50% to 60% compared to last year, explaining that this rebound started last February through March with projections of consistency through April, which coincides with the season of Ramadan.

Lotfy attributed this increase to the fact that the society began to cope with the current situation and accommodate with the Covid-19 crisis, hoping that outdoor contracts would continue at the same current rates until the end of the current year.

He pointed out that the return of expenditure for some sectors such as, real estate, electrical appliances, food and beverages prior to the month of Ramadan, is a good sign for the upcoming Ramadan season.

He noted that satellite channel contracts for outdoor ads to promote their Ramadan content had already begun this March, expecting to reach its peak with the onset of Ramadan, achieving an increase of 20% to 30% compared with last season.

He pointed out that although outdoor ads play an important role in satellite channels; previous year witnessed a decline in the promotion of dramas as these channels had begun to rely more heavily on social media advertising.

With regard to the pricing policies of outdoor advertising spaces during Ramadan, he stressed that it will be at the same level as last year. He also emphasized that no one can drive the advertising prices up in the time being amid the fierce competition this year among agencies to compensate for the losses of last year.

 “The quality of Ramadan content along with the entry of new advertising agents will accelerate market performance”, Ahmed El- Shennawy.

Ahmed El- Shennawy, CEO of “Plan A” outdoor advertising agency, stated that Ramadan 2021 will witness an increase in the advertising turnout by satellite channels for outdoor ads, especially for two reasons. The first is the high level of dramas this season, especially since 90% of its heroes are superstars, which magnifies the importance of the outdoor advertising presence.

He added that the second reason is that some powerful advertising agents of some TV channels had entered competition this season, unlike the last one. This will drive market performance further this season.

Follow as for brands; this season is a good opportunity for them to make a comeback stronger than ever, after the drastic shrinkage of the advertising budgets over the last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, especially at the outdoor and on-ground levels, and relatively on a television level. Therefore, the opportunity will be even much greater this year for most sectors, more specifically for real estate, food and beverages.

When asked about the projected increase, he underlined the fact that the comparison with last year is misplaced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, we can say that it would be 20% compared to the last year, i.e., “2019”.

Regarding the subject of pricing policy, he emphasized that it comes close to last year’s levels with no remarkable differences. He also stressed that such an increase will not entirely compensate for the losses of last year, however, it would result in a gradual compensation.

“Social media possessed around 40% of outdoor and Media advertisements”, Mohamed Hendawy.

On a related note, Mohamed Hendawy – General Manager of the Outdoor Ads division at “Optimizerz” – said that it is expected that the operational capacity of the outdoor advertising agencies will be around 60% to 70% this year, with an increase rate of 20% to 30% when compared with pre-pandemic period.

He pointed out that banks, telecommunications, food and beverages and consumer goods will be major players this season, in addition to the health sector which will strive to compete vigorously as the audience will be keen to follow up with the health consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas, the real estate sector would remain a candidate for the largest share of outdoor ads, both in Ramadan and throughout the entire year.

Concerning the pricing policy, he confirmed that the month of Ramadan 2021 will not witness any price increase compared to the previous couple years. Instead, it will witness stability associated with additional advantages for customers, such as offering additional free spaces for advertising within the campaign or better terms of payment, especially as the market had begun to experience meltdown during the previous period, so much so, that some companies had returned some advertising spaces to franchisers due to the inability to cope with the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He emphasized that the government plays an important role in keeping the market of the outdoor ads on the scene, not only that, but it also exerts huge efforts to keep this market moving forward. He gave an example of how the General Authority for Roads & Bridges provided special incentives for the advertising agencies regarding the annual licensing prices and reduced the financial benefits of ads at a rate of 2 to 3 months as a contribution to reduce the scale of the potential risks.

Hendawy noted that social media has acquired between 25% to 40% of the shares of both Outdoor and Media markets. Social media has recently become a pivotal part of any advertising plan. Moreover, its market share has remarkably increased compared to that of the radio.