Abu Dhabi: To cater to the needs of a generation that does not read books, magazines or newspapers, a new way of creating content has to be developed, media experts in the capital said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit 2014, industry executives stated that the common advertisement may become obsolete with branded messages that are fully customised taking their place instead.
“Only in some cases like watching football matches on television or a drama series and similar shows that a family typically watches, are linear, 60-second commercials relevant. Otherwise, ‘native advertisements’ where the messages are almost as credible as independent content will prevail. The very definition of advertisement will change into branded content messages,” said Raghav Bahl, founder of India’s Network18.
Meanwhile, Etisalat Group Chief Executive Officer Ahmad Julfar said that the current ‘one size fits all’ model of advertisement is going to turn into a fully customisable based on viewer’s trends and habits.
“Travelling trends, eating habits and knowing every single detail about your costumier based on big data collected about them will make advertisements a lot more consumer-specific and relevant to every individual. It is a part of life that people have to accept: data is being collected about many details of our lives,” said Julfar at the Summit.
Similarly, the telecommunications official explained that 5G technology which will enable more content to reach individuals as 1000-times the current speed, is necessary for the younger generations.
“During my time, the satellite television which broadcast details about the Gulf War straight to our homes was considered an innovation. Now, 5G technology will do the same for a group of people who have become completely reliant on digital media and do not read books, magazines or newspapers anymore,” he added.
On that note, Noura Al Ka’abi, CEO of twofour54 explained in an earlier statement that the high-rate at which digital devices are being used is changing the way that media is both made and received. “The Middle East and North Africa [Mena] media industry is undergoing a fascinating transformation. Cultural shifts among the region’s young people have spawned a tremendous creative energy, changing the way media is both consumed and created,” she said.
Faster connectivity, smart devices, a bigger capacity for content and the rapid adoption of digitised environments is also contributing to the growth of e-commerce, research results revealed.
