Pakistan Digital Media Advertising Growth Among World's Fastest

[Riaz Haq]

Rapid growth of broadband access in Pakistan is changing the country's media landscape. Digital advertising revenue is forecast to grow by 32% in 2019 to Rs. 10.8 billion ($103 million), 12% of total national advertising revenue (NAR), according to Magna Advertising. Digital marketing expert Lars Anthonisen believes Pakistan is quickly becoming a "digital first country". Anthonisen sees "new opportunities for brands to reach and engage with consumers who may have previously been overlooked". Overall ad spend in Pakistan is expected to rise by 15% in 2019 to Rs. 88.3 billion ($840 million) following a steep decline (-11%) in 2018, according to a Branding in Asia report. Growing availability of smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband is extending the reach of advertisers to digital media where it is possible to precisely target prospective customers.

Return to Media Growth in 2019: 

Magna expects to see a return to growth in Pakistani media revenue in 2019, with television, which makes up two-thirds of total NAR, benefitting from the 2019 Cricket World Cup (+15%), according to a Branding in Asia report.

In 2018, Pakistan media industry went through a major shakeout after a long period of rapid double-digit growth since the turn of the century. Hundreds of journalists and other staff lost their jobs last year.  It was a horrible year for Pakistani media industry which saw steep 11% decline in revenue during the year.

2019 Advertising Growth Forecast. Source: Magna

Digital Advertising Growth: 

Digital advertising is forecast to grow by 32% to Rs. 10.8 billion ($103 million), 12% of total national advertising revenue (NAR), according to Magna Advertising. Digital marketing expert Lars Anthonisen believes Pakistan is quickly becoming a "digital first country". Anthonisen sees "new opportunities for brands to reach and engage with consumers who may have previously been overlooked".

Growing availability of smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband is extending the reach of advertisers to digital media where it is possible to precisely target prospective customers. As of May 2019, there are over 70 million broadband subscriptions in Pakistan and more than a million new subscribers are are being added every month, according to data from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority  (PTA).

Pakistan Telecom Indicators. Source: PTA

Overall Media Market: 

Print and radio are likely to grow as well, now that the initial shock of the government’s strict reforms has worn off and a preliminary IMF bailout agreement has been reached. Digital formats, particularly social (+39%) and video (+31%), will continue to see the strongest growth, +32% to Rs. 10.8 billion ($103 million), 12% of total NAR.

The ad spend in Pakistan is expected to grow by 15% in 2019 to Rs. 88.3 billion ($840 million) following a steep decline (-11%) in 2018.   In 2018, Pakistan media industry went through a major shakeout after a long period of rapid double-digit growth since the turn of the century. Hundreds of journalists and other staff lost their jobs. At least one TV channel, Waqt News, was closed while several others downsized. While such consolidation was long overdue after nearly two-decade long period of explosive growth, the PTI government's decision to reduce advertising budget, which constitutes nearly a quarter of all ad spending in the country, appears to have been the main trigger. Those affected by consolidation are accused the government of exercising press censorship by cutting its ad spending.

Pakistan Broadband Growth:

As of May 2019, there are over 70 million broadband subscriptions in Pakistan and more than a million new subscribers are are being added every month, according to data from Pakistan Telecommunication Authority  (PTA).

China is aggressively pursuing its plans to build a global digital superhighway that runs through Pakistan. This "Digital Silk Road" involves laying fiber optic cables in Pakistan which connect with China to the north and link with Africa and the Arab World via undersea cable to be laid from Gwadar Deep Sea Port built as part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

A 820-kilometer long China-Pakistan fiber optic cable has already been laid between the city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan in the south and the Khunjerab Pass, China in the north  and operational since July, 2018.

By 2020, the 6,299 kilometers of underwater cables will extend to Djibouti from Gwadar and form the Digital Silk Route between Asia and Africa. At the same time, a space-based Silk Road will provide satellite navigation support to all BRI (Belt Road Initiative) countries. The first Beidou base station of the Space Silk Road is already operational in Pakistan since 2017.  BeiDou is making rapid progress with 30 BRI countries already linked up.

When completed, the ambitious global initiative would use an exclusive satellite navigation system, BeiDou, fiber networks and 5G on land and submarine cables to create a multi-dimensional digital mega-project across land, sea and space.

Summary:

Rapid growth of broadband access in Pakistan is changing the country's media landscape. Digital advertising is forecast to grow by 32% to Rs. 10.8 billion ($103 million), 12% of total national advertising revenue (NAR), according to Magna Advertising.  Digital marketing expert Lars Anthonisen believes Pakistan is quickly becoming a "digital first country". Anthonisen sees "new opportunities for brands to reach and engage with consumers who may have previously been overlooked". Magna expects to see a return to media market growth in 2019, with television, which makes up two-thirds of total NAR, benefitting from the 2019 Cricket World Cup (+15%), according to a Branding in Asia report. Growing availability of smartphones, tablets and mobile broadband is extending the reach of advertisers to digital media where it is possible to precisely target prospective customers.

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[Riaz Haq]

The world of advertising – An overview
BY TAYYAB TARIQ NARULA 

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/05/28/the-world-of-advertisin...

Overall, the brands’ budgets are shifting towards digital media at a fast pace and according to Magna Global, an affiliate of the global conglomerate IPG group, it is expected that the digital media spending will surpass TV media spending by 2018

The history of advertising can be traced back to the lost city of Pompeii in 79 AD wherein the advertising messages were found in its ruins. The history of modern advertising starts with the advent of the mediums of mass communication and the first one among them was the printing press. Printing press is said to be the beginning of the European renaissance and enlightenment period due to which people were exposed to the thoughts of the new age philosophers e.g. John Locke, Voltaire, etc. Along with bringing new ideas to the public for enlightenment, it also paved the way for capitalism. In 1472, the first paper bill ads was published by William Caxton for a book and he tacked them to church dooRsSince then, advertising grew with the invention of every new medium of mass communication i.e. Newspaper, TV, Out of Home and Digital.

In 1704, first newspaper ad was published in USA while in 1941 the first TV ad was broadcasted, again in USA. With the advent of cars, out of home advertising became an important medium of advertising. People with a high entrepreneurial spirit found a great opportunity in out of home advertising and even when the government stopped their way, they found creative ways to expand their business. In 1963, the French government put a ban on bill boards, so Jeans Claude Decaux, then a budding entrepreneur, made a deal with the city of Lyons, proposing that he would build bus shelters and keep them clean in exchange for advertising space there. This lead him to create one of the biggest companies in the world in out of home advertising sector having a revenue of more than $6 billion in 2016 and making him a billionaire worth more than $6 billion.

Nowadays, advertising is a huge business because of the rise of transcontinental capitalism. The global spending on advertising for the year 2016 was worth $500 billion, which is more than Pakistan’s total GDP. And if marketing expense is added i.e. market research, public relations, direct marketing, etc, then it makes a total industry of worth $965 billion. Among them, $214 billion were spent on TV and $160.2 billionwere spent on digital, being the two largest mediums. The annual revenue of the Facebook in 2016, which started in 2004 and for the google, the search engine giant, was $27 billion and $89.5 billion respectively. And the revenue model of both of these digital giants only consists of advertising. Among the world’s biggest advertisers are Procter and Gamble, Unilever, L’oreal, Toyota Motor Corporation and Volkswagen.

The world’s biggest advertising markets are US, China and Japan. In US, the multinational companies spend a whopping $180 billion on advertising. The closest market, China is not even half of that. In China, the companies spend 85 billion on Advertising while the next biggest advertising market Japan is again not even half of that with a combined spending of only $38 billion. The other big markets are UK, Brazil, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and South Korea with a combined spending of $140 billion. Interestingly, US spending in advertising is more than the combined spending of the eight countries among the world’s top 10 largest spenders, excluding China. This also represents the strength of the US economy and its high per capita spending as advertising is directly a function of the economy. Whenever the economy performs better, the advertising spending of the companies increases and whenever there is a slump, the advertising sector also faces a downturn.

[Riaz Haq]

Returning to Pakistan after 30 years, the three-day AdAsia Lahore 2019 will start at Alhamra Arts Council here on Tuesday.


https://www.dawn.com/news/1520089/adasia-lahore-starts-today

AdAsia is Asia’s largest and most prestigious ad congress held every two years under the auspices of the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA). Its theme is ‘Celebrasian: Celebration of Advertising and Creativity in Asia’.

Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will open the AdAsia 2019, the 31st Advertising Congress.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is also expected to attend the event.

Pakistan is celebrating advertising and communications by bringing the most inspirational figures to AdAsia with more than 25 speakers travelling from all over the world that will help promote Pakistan’s soft image in the world.

Some 750 delegates around the globe are expected to attend the event. The speakers include William Dalrymple (historian and author), Randi Zuckerberg (Founder & CEO, Zuckerberg Media), Lord William Hague (former secretary of state UK), Tay Guan Hin (Creative Change Catalyst, APAC Global Advisory), Richard Quest (chief business correspondent CNN), Tasuharu Sasaki (Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Network), Atifa Silk (Brand Director, Campaign — Asia), Musharaf Hai (Managing Director, L’Oreal), Javed Jabbar (media expert), Seema Kamil (President and CEO, UBL), Taher Khan (Founder and Chairman, Interflow Communi­cations), Ali Rez (Regional CD, Middle East & Pakistan, BBDO Worldwide), Shazia Syed (CEO, Unilever Pakistan Foods Limited) and Dr Zeelaf Munir (MD & CEO, EBM).

This will be a seminal event for Pakistan’s advertising industry and it is hoped that the fraternity will gear up and send as many young delegates as possible.

[Riaz Haq]

#Facebook Founder's Sister ex Facebook exec Randi Zuckerberg finds #Pakistan friendliest country. Speaking in #Lahore, she said she graduated from #Harvard. In a lighter vein she pointed out that Mark, her famous brother, could not graduate from Harvard.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/579199-randi-zuckerberg-finds-paki...

The third and final day of AdAsia 2019 belonged to Randi Zukerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. She kept the fully packed hall spell-bound during her one-hour lecture, describing Pakistan as the friendliest country.


She justified her praise for Pakistani nation by citing the names of Malala Yousafzai and Benazir Bhutto, the great women produced by it. This, she added, shows that Pakistan is a country that really honours its women. She said it was a surprise for her to know that Pakistan is the preferred supplier of quality soccer balls to the world. This way, she added, Pakistan is known in all soccer playing countries. Randi revealed that she is also a fan of cricket, which is very close to the hearts of Pakistanis. After showering more praise on Pakistani nation, she started her own story.

Randi said as a child and growing girl, she had a passion for singing. She said she would have studied that art, but for her parents, who wanted her to study at Harvard, from where she graduated. In a lighter vein she pointed out that Mark, her more famous brother, could not graduate from Harvard (He is a college dropout). She said after graduation, she went from California to New York to work at an advertisement agency.

She said while she was settled in New York, she got a phone call from her brother Mark, imploring her to come back to Silicon Valley as he needed help in marketing. She said the invitation meant to work with the family and for free, and she was not prepared to do that. She went to California with the intention of staying there for a week. When she went there, she saw a bunch of youngsters locked in a room day and night; eating cupcakes and brandy. Their passion was overwhelming. They had the idea of connecting people. They were locked in Hukapan where they worked tirelessly and kept to themselves only. She said that instead of one week, she stayed there for 10 years.

“When we started, we were a 12-member team. Today, Facebook has 102 offices with thousands of employees.

“As the chief marketing officer of Facebook, my budget was nothing. You have to work on passion project, exploring it day and night.”

Randi Zuckerberg said during these experimentations, some funny inventions were made. She said one colleague invented a mobile lock that locked the phone on jumping. She said to unlock it, the person had to jump the same way. Many, she added, failed and numerous users were forced to go to Apple to get their phones unlocked.

Randi said since her passion was music, she launched a live Facebook band. She said at the time of launch, there were only two viewers and those were her parents. She said it was a complete flop. A week after the Facebook live launch, she got a call from a very famous singing celebrity, who offered to perform on Facebook live. At first, she thought it was a joke, but she did perform. After that she said many showbiz and sports celebrities appeared on Facebook live and the sit clicked to a huge success. She said only four months after the launch, President Barack Obama expressed the desire to use Facebook live to connect with people. This site is now used by 2.5 billion people in the world, she added. She also revealed that Twitter team emerged as startups of Facebook programme.

[Riaz Haq]

AdAsia Comes to Pakistan After 30 years: Logo & Creative Identity Unveiled

https://www.brandsynario.com/adasia-comes-to-pakistan-after-30-year...

AdAsia Comes to Pakistan After 30 years: Logo & Creative Identity Unveiled

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 Jan 27, 2019 

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The logo unveiling ceremony of AdAsia 2019 —Asian Advertising Congress, was held at Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore, on Sunday.

AdAsia is the largest and most prestigious advertising congress in Asia, organized bi-annually by the Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA).

Started off in 1958, AdAsia 2019 is the 31st advertising congress that is being hosted by Pakistan in Lahore from December 2-5 this year. It is the second AdAsia to be held in Pakistan. In 1989 Pakistan hosted the 16th AdAsia which was a roaring success.

The logo which has been designed by well known Pakistani communication practitioner Shahzad Nawaz was unveiled by the AdAsia Organizing Committee and Pakistan Advertising Association (PAA) to the creative & marketing communication industry of the country.

“It is an honor for Pakistan to host AdAsia 2019 after 30 years,” said Sarmad Ali, Chairman Organizing Committee, AdAsia 2019 Lahore. “We have had a tremendous event 30 years ago which is still talked about in the advertising circles and we hope to bring the same magic back but in a bigger and better way.”

AdAsia 2019 will be a motivating and stimulating Congress with diverse topics and speakers from all walks of life, each sharing their experiences and helping others to learn from those.

Sharing his views about the Congress, Chairman, PAA, Ali Mandviwalla said “AdAsia Lahore will focus on technology and communication in the new world. It will serve as a platform for global leaders to share the practices that lead industries in their regions so that we can benefit from it and help them in areas of our strengths. The congress will be a great learning experience for not just the creative industry but for all.”

Speaking at the event, Shahzad Nawaz, termed AdAsia to be a dream project, “It is a matter of great honor for me to be selected for this exciting opportunity and I can’t wait to showcase Pakistan to the world.”

The theme for the Congress is ‘Celebrasian: Celebration of Advertising and Creativity in Asia’, and the communication has been designed keeping the theme and design elements from Pakistan in mind.

Brandsynario@brandsynario

AdAsia 2019 will be a motivating and stimulating Congress with diverse topics and speakers from all walks of life, each sharing their experiences and helping others to learn from those. #karachi #lahore #islamabad

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The logo unveiled sets the tone of the entire communication of AdAsia 2019 in Lahore, which is vibrant, fresh yet culturally embedded taking elements from our region of Asia.

‏علینہ @aleenarathore

The best part about the logo is that it's in اردو language
This is for the first time Ad Asia logo is in a regional language. It clearly shares the Pakistani values and culture #ADAsiaLahore #ADAsiaPakistan

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For the AdAsia Lahore this year, Pakistan is set to celebrate advertising and communications by bringing the most inspirational speakers to Lahore. The Congress is expected to feature more than 1000 participants from advertising and creative communications from around the world, majorly Asia and more particularly South Asia.

Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, has been invited to inaugurate the event. While, the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mr. Asad Umar, has also been invited as Guest Speaker. International speakers like Peter Draper, Former Marketing Director of Manchester United and Richard Quest, CNN Chief Business Correspondent, have already agreed to speak at the Congress.

[Riaz Haq]

BIGO Ads partners with RMI to launch its #advertising business in #Pakistan.BIGO uses machine learning technology, powerful #ArtificialIntelligence algorithms and #BigData to support #branding and targeted advertising solutions. #Media https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bigo-ads-partners-rmi-launch-1040009... via @YahooFinance

KARACHI, Pakistan, April 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile marketing platform BIGO Ads announces Rich Media Inc ("RMI") as the authorized reseller in Pakistan.

BIGO Ads, from BIGO Technology, is an ads platform, providing mobile marketing solutions globally. Covering more than 150 countries, BIGO Ads integrates mobile marketing solutions into imo, the video and audio calling app with global monthly active users (MAU) of 210 million, and Likee, a short video creation platform with global MAU of 115 million. With its strong user base and high-quality content, BIGO Ads enriches the user portrait system and provides marketing solutions for advertisers and partners in different scenarios.

BIGO Ads utilizes cutting-edge machine learning technology, powerful Artificial Intelligence algorithms, comprehensive big data analysis, and processing capabilities to support branding and performance advertising solutions for advertisers. With various advertising formats, such as Banner, Native, Video and different cooperation models like Programmatic buying,

Reserved branding Ads and Auction Bidding Ads, BIGO Ads provides a one-stop integrated marketing solutions for advertisers to reach the targeted audience, increase brand awareness and maximize return of investment (ROI).

RMI is an exclusive partner of Sizmek by Amazon, and Control Shift in Pakistan since 2008 and 2019 respectively. Recently RMI inked the agreement with BIGO to sell media properties of imo and Likee to local media agencies and advertisers to drive higher return on ad spend. RMI holds a major percent market share of digital ad serving business in Pakistan. RMI is playing a digital consultancy role in the market to facilitate the local agencies and advertisers about new innovative ad formats, ads execution strategies and ideas. We are known for strategic digital advertising solutions.

BIGO Ads is glad to partner with RMI. With RMI's in-depth understanding of the market and excellent relationship in Pakistan, as well as the rich and efficient marketing solutions of BIGO Ads, we will provide advertisers with a better service and achieve marketing objectives.

[Riaz Haq]

https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-apac/country/insights-pakis...

Google's “Insights for Brands” in #Pakistan. Searches are surging for #COVID19, "healthy diets", "fast delivery", "gym at home", "Intermittent fasting", "climate change", "electric cars", "clean air", 7 in 10 Pakistanis using YouTube every month. #Lockdown https://nation.com.pk/20-Jun-2020/google-releases-pakistan-s-search...


“Pakistanis and their smartphones are inseparable -- always on the lookout for the best experiences and deals within their vicinity and at the same time seeking authoritative information during these trying times,” said Faraz Azhar, Industry Head for South Asia, Google Asia Pacific. “Our research found rising levels of consumer sophistication, interest in more sustainable products and services, and a move towards a healthier lifestyle as some of the biggest drivers of behavior in the last 12 months. Also, digital video continues to boom with local content on YouTube representing Pakistan’s favorite online destination.”

In the newly released report, Google outlined five key trends that are shaping how Pakistanis search as well as their curiosity on the impact of reduced human mobility on the environment:

1. Increasingly sophisticated consumers

Consumers expect Search to understand the intent behind what they need and deliver the best, most helpful answers. They want high-quality products that are available with a convenient digital experience. 4 in 5 Pakistani consumers research products online before a purchase, and they switch between online search and video. They also want quick access to products and services: 138% growth in “near me” searches and 1.5X increase in “same day delivery” queries between 2018 to 2019. ‘Fast delivery’ searches increased by 1300% and online grocery delivery searches increased by 300% when the pandemic began.

Pakistani student spends 'golden, happy' days in China amid pandemic

2. Towards sustainability and conscious consumption

A combination of the state of the world and an overall rise in awareness has seen the rise of the environmentally conscious consumer. Over a one year period these searches have risen sharply across Pakistan: “climate change” by 1.5X, “electric cars” by 1.5X, “reusable” by 1.3X, and “cimate change” by 1.5X. Users were also curious about the visible impact on air quality and pollution levels, with searches for ‘clear skies’ increasing by 300%; ‘clean air’ by 225%; and ‘clear water’ by 217%.

3. Digital video continues to boom

Video streaming and sharing platforms are where Pakistanis get their fix of information, entertainment, news, and sports. The primary drivers are a combination of affordable data combined with the proliferation of devices and now platforms. 7 in 10 Pakistanis use YouTube every month, with searches related to “with me” increasing 150%, “teeli” by 108% and “vilage food secrets” by 168%.

4. The healthy lifestyle choice

While Pakistan has a rich and diverse culinary tradition, there has been a rise in searches for alternate diets and meal plans predicated around well-being. Searches for “daily exercise” are up 1.6X. Searches for “vegetarian cuisine”, “healthy supplements” and “intermittent fasting” have risen 1.5X. Meanwhile searches for “super food” are up by a whopping 767% and “HIIT” by 600%.

5. COVID-19 implications

With COVID-19 restricting the movement of people outdoors, Pakistanis have started looking for ways to start (or continue) their usual physical routines indoors with ‘HIIT workout’ YouTube searches growing by 600%, ‘gym at home’ by 125%, and ‘home workouts’ by 80%. With more people confined indoors, interest in mental health and well-being has also become an important factor for Pakistanis, with a surge in searches for ‘meditation’ (+56%) in March this year.

[Riaz Haq]

Mondelez becomes 'first company in Pakistan' to run campaign using Google DV 360 and Oracle Bluekai

https://www.dawn.com/news/1626010/mondelez-becomes-first-company-in...


Mondelez — a snacks company whose products include Cadbury Dairy Milk — has become the "first company in Pakistan" to run a campaign using a mixture of Google's Display & Video 360 (DV 360) and Oracle Bluekai. The campaign was executed by communications agency Brainchild.

In a statement, Brainchild shared that the tools were used for Mondelez's "Teachers Ko Salaam" campaign which, while paying tribute to them for "ensuring that life goes on" during the Covid-19 pandemic, also encouraged students to leave heartfelt messages for their teachers at the Cadbury Generosity website and order a personalised Cadbury Dairy Milk gift box for them.

The data-backed targeting methodology used by BrainChild for the campaign resulted in 15 per cent of the engaged audience clicking through to the landing page, the statement said.

"In order to reach high-affinity data sets of students, the team at Brainchild leveraged a second party database — a first for any advertiser or agency in Pakistan — to provide an audience with high-affinity student data sets, delivering highly relevant audiences. Using DV 360 for all the programmatic display buying, the team at Brainchild was able to analyse, adjust, and pivot the overall process," the agency shared.

Ghouse, said the agency used first-party data from the Cadbury Generosity website and complemented it with second-party data taken from Hamariweb and Urdupoint along with DV 360 and Facebook pixels captured.

"The data was then sent to Oracle Bluekai for integration and then back to both DV 360 and Facebook as media channels," he added.

"Tapping the programmatic team at Brainchild, Mondelez becomes the first company in Pakistan to dabble with a blend of DV 360 and Oracle Bluekai in order to activate the power of programmatic media buying coupled with the precision of a data management platform," the statement said.

Google's Country Director, South Asian Frontier, Farhan Qureshi, while reacting to the development said: "It is exciting to see Mondelez Pakistan leverage a mix of first-party and second-party data to create a campaign that is relevant and impactful in the current times.

"As we move towards a more privacy-first advertising ecosystem, first-party data coupled with automation and ML will play a critical role in ensuring that advertisers can focus on privacy while continuing to deliver on business results," he added.

[Riaz Haq]

Over 10 million advertisers contribute 98% of #Facebook revenue. In the 3 months ending in June 30, it pulled in an average of $78 million in #ad sales every 6 hours, much of it from small companies, organizations & individuals. #digitaladvertising

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/business/media/facebook-outage-a...

For more than five hours on Monday, while Facebook and Instagram were dark, David Herrmann fretted about ads.

Mr. Herrmann, a freelance media buyer, said that everyone he worked with relied heavily on the platforms, which soak up the bulk of the $80 million to $100 million in ad spending he manages each year.

One company that advertises exclusively on Facebook watched its revenue plunge 70 percent during the outage from the same period a week earlier, Mr. Herrmann said. Sales slipped 30 percent at another company, which spends $40,000 a day on ads.

“I was more or less checking Facebook consistently throughout the day, hoping it would come back,” he said. “But without clear direction from Facebook, we just had to wait.”


The outage was an unpleasant reminder to many advertisers of Facebook’s powerful influence on their ability to do business.

Ads fuel Facebook, with more than 10 million advertisers contributing more than 98 percent of its revenue. In the three months ending in June 30, it pulled in an average of $78 million in ad sales every six hours, much of it from small companies, organizations and individuals.

But a deluge of criticism has caused many of Facebook’s customers to sour on the company. Frances Haugen, a former project manager for Facebook turned whistle-blower, testified before senators on Tuesday that the company was aware of the harms caused by its services, such as Instagram’s negative effects on teenage girls. Facebook has also faced advertiser outcry over its handling of hate speech, misinformation, privacy and more.

Graham Mudd, Facebook’s vice president for ads and business product marketing, wrote on Twitter on Monday that the outage affected Facebook’s ad platform and apologized “for the disruption this creates for our customers.” Facebook said later in the day that “advertisers were not and will not be billed for ads during the outage.”

Media buyers noted that Facebook went dark at the beginning of the most important period for many advertisers, as they begin holiday campaigns during a season that is expected to be complicated this year by supply chain struggles and pandemic restrictions.

[Riaz Haq]

Hira Mohibullah has moved to the North American market, becoming executive creative director at VMLY&R based in Kansas City. She formerly served as ECD at BBDO Pakistan. Mohibullah now joins the senior ranks of VMLY&R’s U.S. creative team and report to John Godsey, chief creative officer, North America.

https://www.shootonline.com/news/exec-creative-director-hira-mohibu...

Mohibullah spent six years moving up the ladder to ECD at BBDO Pakistan where she worked on such accounts as Unilever, 7UP, Frito-Lay and UNWomen Pakistan. In her time at BBDO, Mohibullah’s leadership was instrumental in elevating the agency’s reputation into worldwide circles. Mohibullah has won over 215 international awards, including Cannes Lions, D&AD and Clio honors, receiving international acclaim for campaigns that have driven social progress such as changing legislation around child marriages, reducing child-burn incidents by 50% and supporting the reunion of missing children with their families.

“With her award-winning creative talent, wide-ranging experience, as well as strong design thinking, I am confident Hira will deliver exceptional approaches and solutions for our clients and continue to push creative momentum for the agency,” said Godsey.

Mohibullah is celebrated for her advocacy of gender balance in the workplace. She has leveraged the power of advertising to impact positive social change in Pakistan, with a special focus on women’s empowerment. A mother of two, she has helped set up a daycare at two of her previous workplaces, enabling more mothers to join and remain in the workforce.

“VMLY&R boasts of a phenomenal body of work that’s powered by human connection and I’m absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to drive that vision forward,” Mohibullah said.

Over her 12-year career, Mohibullah has also worked at agencies including Ogilvy and Leo Burnett and brings 10-year beverage experience on brands including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.

Additional accolades include Cannes Lions See It Be It alumnus, Creative LIAisons mentor and TEDx speaker. She has also served on juries for such competitions as Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clio, New York Festivals, Young Guns and ADSTARS.

[Riaz Haq]

Pakistan: Newspapers fight for survival as sales plunge
Jamila Achakzai Islamabad
11/22/2022November 22, 2022
Print journalism subscriptions and readership have been plummeting as people increasingly get their information from digital sources.

https://www.dw.com/en/pakistans-newspapers-fight-for-survival-as-sa...


Mujahid Hussain, a news hawker in Islamabad, says he is afraid of losing his job amid a downturn in newspaper sales in Pakistan, where people are increasingly getting their information from digital and social media platforms.

"My employer often talks about a slump in newspaper sales and a possible business shutdown. So even if he doesn't close shop, my job is definitely on the line," the 42-year-old father of three told DW.

Hussain pointed out he has already experienced massive pay cuts over the past three years and that his family is struggling to make ends meet.

Many other news vendors in the South Asian country share similar woes.

It was not always like this, however.

Even until a decade ago, the newspaper industry thrived in the country. Daily newspapers, weeklies and magazines used to be a must in offices, living rooms and cafes.

But print publications were first eclipsed by the dozens of private TV news channels that were launched during the presidency of General Pervez Musharraf between 2001 and 2008.

Then came affordable smartphones, social media networks and widespread internet connectivity, which further dented newspaper sales as more and more people began to consume news on online platforms.


Hawkers' lives hit hard
Since the downturn in the newspaper industry has particularly affected hawkers, who mostly work part-time for meager wages, these low-paid workers are taking on other informal jobs to make ends meet.

"Successive governments haven't taken interest in the welfare of newspaper hawkers, so they are generally disheartened, insecure and always on the lookout for better options to make money," said Aqeel Abbasi, the general-secretary of the Newspaper Hawkers Union.

He explained that before Musharraf's government liberalized the broadcast media and telecom sector, Rawalpindi had around 1,600 newspaper vendors and Islamabad 700.

But with the plunge in sales, the number of vendors has dropped to 900 and 480 respectively, he said, stressing that the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing economic crisis had accelerated the trend.

Another problem compounding the woes of newspapers is their reliance on government advertizing for economic survival.Outlets that are critical of government and military policies have had a tough time generating enough advertizing revenue in recent years.

Will they survive?
News hawker Hussain warned that if the fall in sales did not stop, the print media would have no other option but to get rid of most of its workforce.

Some senior journalists share a similar view.

Salim Bokhari, who once edited the leading English-language newspapers The News and The Nation and currently heads the digital media team at the City News broadcast network, said that "no one wanted to spend time reading through newspaper columns" given "the ocean of information available on mobile phones."

He said newspapers might disappear if the trend continued, although he did not believe that this would happen that soon.

"The electronic media era will ultimately make newspapers' doom. The advertizers have diverted their money to TV channels and even the government prefers electronic media for advertisements," he pointed out.

Hassan Gillani, a media development professional, was more optimistic.

"Newspaper readership might have declined after the emergence and development of electronic media but it's unfair to suggest that print media could soon become a thing of the past," he said.