As traditional advertising revenues plummet globally and broadcasting budgets are slashed, The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South East Asia (SEA) regions have reported tremendous growth in digital adoption and a rise in digital advertising revenue as a result. 

This growth is driven by an increase in internet users, smartphone penetration, and the rise of social media platforms. AI Copywriter tools are now being widely adopted by brands, organisations, and companies in these regions to enhance their digital advertising campaigns.

 Let’s delve deeper into the trends and statistics of advertising revenue and digital adoption in MENA and SEA.

Digital Advertising in MENA

MENA has emerged as one of the fastest-growing digital advertising markets, driven by a young population and increasing smartphone penetration. According to a report by McKinsey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the highest degree of digitisation, while Egypt represents the largest untapped opportunity. The report also highlights a growth in the adoption of digital channels and spending in the coming years, coinciding with the increased use of artificial intelligence (AI) across all sectors.

The Market Size

The digital advertising market in the MENA region is estimated to be worth over 1.2 billion U.S dollars in 2021. The market is expected to continue growing, with a projected growth rate of 20% by 2024. The region’s e-commerce market is also expected to grow and reach 69 billion U.S dollars by 2020. The GCC and Egypt account for 80% of the regional e-commerce market.

Media Channels in the MENA

The advertising market in the MENA region is witnessing a major shift toward digital advertising. Traditional channels such as newspapers are declining, while the internet is taking over with 44.2% of the total ad expenditure in 2020, according to Statista. Social channels account for more than half of the total digital ad spend, surpassing global benchmarks. The region is also moving towards a “mobile-first” strategy, with a majority of internet traffic generated through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Performance Marketing in the MENA

Performance-based campaigns are gaining traction in the MENA region, with 59% of advertising agencies significantly shifting into performance-based campaigns, according to a survey conducted by the Interactive Agency Bureau (IAB). Brands are demanding payment by results (ROI & Return on ad spend ROAS) as well as enhanced consumer insights and analytics.

Digital Advertising Agencies in the MENA

The MENA region has over 500 advertising agencies that have a large number of employees, with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE fuelling the region with small and medium-sized agencies. The UAE is home to big advertising firms, while Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan represent the majority of digital marketing talents and creative resources. However, the highly qualified talents in digital advertising and performance are always moving outside the region to join companies in the European market.

Programmatic Advertising in the MENA

The slow transition from traditional to digital media is one of the key reasons programmatic advertising is struggling to dominate the region. Collectively, the MENA trails other regions in innovation and adoption of ad tech and marketing technologies. The top ad networks in the MENA region include Facebook, Google Ads, IronSource, Applovin, Adcolony, AdFalcon, InTarget, AdZouk, and Ambush. The United Arab Emirates is leading the growth in programmatic advertising due to technology partners and pressure from clients and brands to automate the process and use AI.

Digital Advertising by Sector

According to Ipsos research, the top ten sectors in the region are dominated by beauty care, food, telecommunications, and entertainment. Telecommunications companies, followed by real estate and banking, are the top categories.

Digital Advertising in SEA

SEA is a rapidly growing digital advertising market, driven by a young and tech-savvy population. According to a report by eMarketer, digital ad spending in SEA is expected to reach 15.3 billion U.S dollars in 2021, with Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam leading the growth.

The Market Size

The digital advertising market in SEA is expected to grow at a rate of 13.7% in 2021, with a projected market size of 22.45 billion U.S dollars by 2025. The region’s e-commerce market is also booming, with a projected market size of 153 billion U.S dollars by 2025.

Media Channels in SEA

SEA is also witnessing a major shift toward digital advertising, with traditional channels such as newspapers and TV declining. Social channels are the most popular, accounting for 63% of total digital ad spend, according to a report by Hootsuite. Mobile advertising is also on the rise, with a majority of internet traffic generated through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Performance Marketing in SEA

Performance-based campaigns are becoming popular in SEA, with advertisers demanding more accountability and transparency. Brands are looking for more measurement and optimisation to ensure their campaigns are reaching the right audience and delivering the desired results.

Digital Advertising Agencies in SEA

SEA has a large number of digital advertising agencies, with many emerging startups and creative agencies. The region is home to a highly skilled workforce, with many professionals trained in digital marketing and advertising.

Programmatic Advertising in SEA

Programmatic advertising is becoming more popular in SEA, with many brands and agencies adopting the technology to automate their advertising campaigns. The region is also seeing an increase in the use of AI-powered tools and platforms to help advertisers optimise their campaigns.

Digital Advertising by Sector

The digital advertising market in SEA is dominated by the retail and e-commerce sector, followed by the travel and hospitality sector. The region is also seeing growth in the financial services, healthcare, and automotive sectors.

AI Copywriter Tools in Advertising

AI copywriter tools are becoming increasingly popular in the MENA and SEA regions, with many brands and agencies adopting the technology to enhance their digital advertising campaigns. These tools use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to generate high-quality, engaging content that resonates with the target audience.

AI copywriter tools can help brands and agencies save time and money by automating the content creation process. They can generate a large volume of content quickly and efficiently, allowing advertisers to test multiple variations of their ads and optimise their campaigns for better performance. AI copywriter tools can also help advertisers improve the quality of their content by ensuring that it is grammatically correct, engaging, and relevant to the target audience. They can analyse data from social media and other sources to identify trends and insights that can inform the content creation process.

Conclusion

The MENA and SEA regions are witnessing tremendous growth in digital advertising and digital adoption, driven by a young and tech-savvy population, increasing smartphone penetration, and the rise of social media platforms. AI copywriter tools are becoming increasingly popular in these regions, providing brands and agencies with a cost-effective and efficient way to enhance their digital advertising campaigns. The future of digital advertising in these regions looks bright, with continued growth and innovation in the years to come whilst broadcast and traditional advertising feels the pinch. The time has come for the more conservative amongst us to take the plunge and fully embrace digital and all it entails. 

An entertaining, heartwarming ad is a forgiving excuse to interrupt a good series, especially during Ramadan when people seek comfort after a long day of fasting by watching TV.

During Ramadan, brands compete to produce the best advertisements to enforce their brands and maximize their reach. This is obvious through their choice of celebrities to appear in the ad, selection of music, and stories that emotionally affect the viewers.

Now that Ramadan is a few days away, let’s take a look back to remember the best ads from the last season.

Here’s a list of the most-watched ads on Youtube in Ramadan 2021 that resonated with audiences in Egypt and other Middle East countries.

10. Fresh ‘Ramadan 2021’ Ft. Dina El-Sherbiny & Ruby

With 100K views on Youtube, Dina El-Sherbiny and Ruby’s duet song for Fresh nailed it as a real fresh song. The appliance company “Fresh” is known for its melody songs during the Ramadan season and this one was an extension of the previous years’ trend.

9. ZED

With 260K views on Youtube, ZED’s ad became one of Egypt’s trending memes in Ramadan and beyond. Why? It’s known that Cairo is divided into zones, with El-Tagamo3 and Zayed being the two extremes, making the argument of “no, you come here, you’re further away” this dialog happens every time you want to meet up with a friend from the opposite side. And that’s exactly why the ZED ad worked.

The ad featured a group of top Egyptian actors, actresses, social media influencers, and footballer players, including Nelly Karim, Tara Emad, Karim Abdelaziz, Shireen Reda, and Yousra, Dina El-Sherbiny, Mido, Hazem Emam, Salma Abu Dief, Mohamed Zidane, and more.

8. Mountain View

The real estate giant Mountain View’s ad gained more than 2.6M views on Youtube with its ad about connections and being with our loved ones, featuring Hussien Al-Jasmi’s voice in a heartwarming song.

7. Alex Bank

Alex Bank’s ad gained more than 3.6M views on Youtube – Football fans sometimes or, let’s be honest, want to tell the players what to do and have them actually listen. Alex Bank played on this behavior in a light ad starring Mohamed Salah and featuring appearances from Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

6. Unionaire

With 5.7M views, Union Air’s ad comes 6th on the list of the most-watched and resonated ads in Ramadan 2021. The ad features Sherine’s voice in an uplifting song, starring Ahmed Dash, Asser Yasin, Esad Younis, Mostafa Fahmy and more has become a favorite of many people.

5. Coca Cola Egypt

Coca-Cola decided to come in and capitalize on our heartstrings with an ad that centers on one of Ramadan’s true tenets — our shared humanity and our closeness. The ad gained more than 12M views on Youtube.

4. Bank Misr

Bank Misr’s ad for Ramadan 2021 gained more than 35M views on Youtube – Features Mohamoud Esseily’s voice in an enthusiastic song to inspire people to be confident, strong, and keep going regardless of challenges.

3. Orange Egypt

Personal opinion? This is the best ad in Ramadan 2021 by far. Hussein Al Jasmi’s song for Orange racked up 33M views on Youtube and resonated big with Egyptians and Arabs. If you are an Egyptian who lives abroad or an Arab who visited Egypt before, you will relate, this song takes your heart and mind to a deep nostalgic level.

As always, the Orange brand knows how to win in Ramadan.

2. Etisalat Egypt

With more than 40M views, Etisalat’s ad featuring Nancy Ajram and Amir Karara comes second on the list of most-watched ads on Youtube in Ramadan 2021 in Egypt. Etisalat promotes its new network as the strongest in Egypt.

1. Vodafone Egypt

Ramadan 2021’s surprise, by all means, Sherihan’s return to the screen was a surprise for all the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and even ’90s generations. Vodafone Egypt’s ad ranked #1 on the most-watched and resonated ads list in Ramadan 2021 with 62M views on Youtube alone.

It monopolized conversations, we talked about nothing else except the ad and it makes perfect sense because, honestly, who doesn’t love Sherihan?

Vodafone Egypt’s ad features Sherihan’s story from the get-go till her return in a smart way.

Egypt’s Fashion and Beauty Marketplace, The Fashion Kingdom (TFK), has released a week-long campaign leveraging data for women’s empowerment in celebration of International Women’s Day 2022.

More than a Generic Greeting

The Campaign, launched on March 2nd, went to Linkedin to showcase the power of every female leader working at, for, and with TFK in celebration of International Women’s Day.

TFK is the digital launchpad for local and international Fashion and beauty brands with a hybrid business model of the marketplace, retail, and D2C brands.

TFK empowers the masses to make online shopping easy and accessible through technology and curated exclusive supply driven by data analytics.

For customers, TFK offers innovative curated supply, customer-centric tech & UX, customer-friendly delivery & returns, and a full-fledged payment suite.

TFK helps brands with their digital transformation and readiness to sell online, generating demand and ROI-driven marketing programs, logistics and warehousing services, co-production, and co-financing brands’ collections for curated brands.

How IWD Celebrations Should Be

From Co-Founder and COO Marianne to inspiring driver Abir who drives TFK and drives real change with her inspiring story, TFK employs a fascinating array of empowered females.

Abir says, “Shortly after I applied to join TFK, I was called in for an interview where they had a chat with me about my skills and experience. I dodged the bullet and told them I was an experienced driver and wanted to join the logistics team.”

“They asked me what reasonable adjustments I would need. I was called the following day and offered the job.”

“Naturally, I was over the moon! As a female with a physical impairment, I was waiting for a rejection letter, especially since I was applying to be a courier (driver).” 

Abir TFK

The digital platform boasts a whopping 43% of female employees, one of the highest rates in Middle Eastern startups.

Another eye-opening number is that 50% of their leadership roles are also assigned to females.

On the business side of it all, 32% of vendors on TFK are female-owned and operated brands.

Fadi Antaki, Founder & CEO  of TFK, comments, “I’m extremely proud of TFK’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

“We have made conscious efforts to minimize barriers to recruitment and promotion, and we emphasize the individual’s competencies rather than gender, physical abilities, age, or background.”

Why this story?

This story matters because according to the report “The gender gap in employment: What’s holding women back?” The gender gap in Egypt as of 2022 is an astounding 51.7. The current labor force participation rate for women is 15.4%. For men, it’s 67.1%.

An Egyptian Tech Startup to create a consciously equal work environment is a bright step into an otherwise unfair playing field for women across the Middle East.

Kudos TFK and Happy IWD from us all at Digital Boom.