UAE

YAAP Expands UAE Presence, Acquires Crayons Communications

YAAP a specialized content and influencer marketing company with operations in the UAE, India, and Singapore, has fully acquired Crayons Communications. In a 100% acquisition, Crayons Communications will merge with YAAP.

YAAP acquires Crayons Dubai

With Crayons Communications as a wholly-owned subsidiary of YAAP, clients can maintain their existing relationships with both organizations while gaining access to synergistic value.

In recent months, YAAP has expanded its market footprint and product offerings, resulting in stellar growth. Its clientele includes Coca-Cola, Visit Dubai, Lufthansa, RuPay, American Express, Disney, Amazon, and Square Enix, among other leading brands. In FY21-22, YAAP achieved impressive top-line growth of 97% and a 5X increase in profitability. Thereafter, it has been in the process of scouting for strategic acquisition opportunities across the GCC’s digital content and media landscape.

Crayons Communications boasts over 14 years of market presence in the Middle East with offices in Dubai, Riyadh, and Manama. From homegrown giants such as the Apparel Group and Kaya to MNCs such as Fitbit, Crayons Communications’ portfolio characterizes a rare balance of global-local clients and expertise developed by virtue of longevity. 

Kunal Lalani, founder and chairman of Crayons Communications Group said YAAP coming in will create more opportunities for the company and all the clients will benefit from a wide array of new services. 

Interesting Read: Dubai To Host Global Metaverse Event, Unveils Its Ambitious Strategy 

New services and solutions

Crayons Communications adds key markets to YAAP’s footprint across three countries and seven cities. YAAP is currently developing solutions suites pertaining to Web 3.0 and the Metaverse. 

As innovations such as Web 3.0 and the metaverse become more popular, brands are increasingly interested in end-to-end service providers. The advertising expertise of Crayon Communications complements YAAP’s core strengths in influencer, performance, programmatic, and affiliate marketing, as well as Web 3.0 and the metaverse, resulting in an unmatched synergistic value proposition.

It is expected that the Crayons communication management will continue to work in their respective roles and that the workforce will expand.

And that’s what they said

Atul Hegde, Founder of YAAP-

“YAAP has been actively looking to expand its presence in the UAE in particular and the GCC region as a whole. The Crayons Communications acquisition comes at the right time and gives us a great platform to bring our award-winning services in Influencer Marketing & Performance Media to this part of the world. Crayons has a good foundation of established clients that will help us quickly ramp up our service offerings here. We want to be a dominant player in IM, Web 3.0 (with a focus on building for the Metaverse), and media services. Going forward, as the markets correct globally, it presents us a great opportunity for more such acquisitions in this region.”

Arshad Zaheer, CEO of Crayons Communications-

“I’m super excited to be part of the YAAP group now. With an added network of 7 cities and 100+ digital experts at YAAP, it opens up a whole new world of offerings for us in this region. We are known for always punching above our weight in the past with mega projects like the Chris Hemsworth film for Bayut, the Dubai super sixes property or The Bayut: your home, your choice awards, now our ambitions and goals will be much larger!” 

Interesting Read: How Will Dubai’s Metaverse Sector Contribute To Its Economy By 2030?

Dubai Science Park Curates Thought- Provoking Video Addressing Paralysis

The pandemic has created a perpetual sense of disorientation and displacement. We all, in the past year and a half, have felt anxious, restless, and stuck. 

But this reality, as catastrophic as it is, is only temporary for most of us. There are people in the UAE and across the world where feeling stuck is not fleeting. 

Paralysis is a serious and alarming health condition affecting thousands of lives across the world. Despite its ubiquitous nature, paralysis still remains a hush-hush topic in the United Arab Emirates. 

Interesting Read: Social Media Ad Reach in UAE, KSA: Instagram,Facebook Expands, Twitter falls

To challenge this silence, Dubai Science Park has started the conversation around it. And as part of this wonderful initiative, it has recently curated a mind-provoking video called ‘ Stuck’. Watch it in the space below. 

Courtesy: Dubai Science Park, Youtube

The short video, which is a part of the campaign, brilliantly takes a practical approach to the cause, than being preachy. Conceptualized by McCann Health Middle East, the video does its job in making us feel impatient and helpless – which is the case with most people with paralysis. 

It is only at the end of the clip that you realize what the real message is behind it. And the message is loud and clear – there is not enough dialogue around paralysis in the country and the Dubai Science Park’s health community is here to change that. 

Kudos to the people driving change in the healthcare ecosystem! If you want to know more about this amazing campaign, head out here. 

Interesting Read: CARS24 Arrives In UAE With A Digital Campaign On Burj Khalifa!

CARS24 Arrives In UAE With A Digital Campaign On Burj Khalifa!

India’s CARS24 has arrived in UAE in style! CARS24, one of the world’s fastest-growing eCommerce sites for used cars, unveiled a digital campaign by revealing its brand narrative on the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

By integrating the whole car-buying process online for clients, the India-based business hopes to cause a massive shift in the UAE. 

CARS24 has already sold over 400,000 cars. 

Abhinav Gupta, CEO, Gulf Region, CARS24 said – 

With this campaign on the majestic architectural masterpiece, we wanted to inform our audience in the UAE that CARS24 has arrived. This is one of the most prestigious campaigns for us and with this, we believe that CARS24 has not only made a strong statement in the UAE but also across the world

He also added that CARS24’s business strategy is built on innovation and is intended to break established car-buying standards. 

Gupta said that if customers can buy everything from clothing, shoes, furniture, and groceries online in the twenty-first century, then why purchases cars “ like in the 1980s”? 

He additionally said that CARS24 is a unique way to acquire pre-owned vehicles in which a client may choose their favorite automobile, complete the full payment and paperwork procedure, and have the car delivered to their home with only a few clicks.

Isn’t that amazing? 

Furthermore, before being advertised online, cars on the CARS24 platform must pass a 150-point examination, be completely reconditioned, and pass the RTA test. Every automobile purchased from CARS24 comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee and a 2-year warranty.

CARS24, established in 2015, has been launched in the UAE to provide a smooth experience for UAE consumers wanting to buy vehicles by delivering end-to-end solutions built on a strong technological foundation. 

Sequoia India, Exor Seeds, DST Global, Kingsway Capital, Unbound, Moore Strategic Ventures, and KCK are among the company’s investors. So far, the firm has raised $400 million in financing. Later this year, CARS24 plans to expand into additional Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian regions. 

The company’s unprecedented growth and development were made feasible by using product, technology, and data science to drive growth in the pre-owned car market. This vision and structure also enabled clients to have the best possible experience while purchasing a car online from the comfort of their own homes.

JGroup and Blis To Partner For Exclusive Location-Based Advertising In MENA

JGroup, a Lebanon-based holding company with a presence across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the United States announces strategic partnership with Blis for location-based advertising in the Middle East and Nort Africa (MENA) region. Through this partnership, JGroup and Blis, a leader in location-powered advertising and analytics intend to leverage their strengths to help brands understand, reach, and engage customers in the MENA region to deliver measurable results.

This new partnership is another feather to JGroup’s vast pool of digital advertising products and services because location-powered data is the most accurate indicator of ’real’ behavior and intent at scale when compared with any other type of data. With unprecedented events this year, there is a huge shift in consumer behavior where most people do not prefer to go out. Therefore, JGroup will make Blis solutions available to all potential and existing customers in the digital advertising space to ensure they meet their target audience at the right time and place.  Imad Jomaa, Founder and President of JGroup said, 

“We’ve all experienced changes to our daily routines this year and location-based advertising capabilities have enabled more refined, more relevant, more transparent, and more relatable campaigns for consumers. We’re delighted to be joining forces with Blis, a company that continues to distinguish itself as an innovative and transparent leader, to deepen penetration of this technology in the region.”

Blis Smart platform provides incomparable safety, transparency, and accuracy. In fact, Blis solutions are privacy-focused and enable effective planning, activation, and measurement for marketers. The new partnership will enable JGroup’s existing media customers in the region to better understand their audiences’ real-world behavior and create targeted strategies to drive real-time results. Blis Global Commercial Officer, Dave King said, 

“There is an enormous opportunity for brands across the Middle East and North Africa to better understand and engage with their consumers. Globally, our clients trust the combination of our advanced proprietary technology and strategic expertise Blis offers. Together with JGroup, we’re building upon our existing presence and customer relationships in the region, to give more brands and agencies the power to reach relevant audiences with advertising that cuts through and drives real results.”

The MENA region’s advertising and marketing landscape is changing and attracting investments. The JGroup and Blis partnership is contributing to the growth and providing new opportunities to the next generation of insight-driven marketing. This partnership combines Blis’ technologies and products with JGroup’s extensive media network and digital assets in the Middle East through its media arm, Promofix. Imad Jomaa further said, 

“Location-based advertising is a powerful tool and brands in the region are only beginning to see the opportunities and possibilities.”

Amazon.sa is about to Replace Souq in Saudi Arabia

Highlights:

• Amazon.sa has been launched in Saudi Arabia replacing Souq.
• The eCommerce giant is operating three fulfillment centers and 11 delivery stations with a workforce of more than 1400 across Saudi Arabia.
• All existing Souq customer credentials, wish lists, delivery addresses, payment methods, and customer support queries have been converted to new Amazon.sa accounts.
• In the wake of the pandemic, eCommerce is booming in the Middle East and this online store brings Souk’s local know-how and Amazon’s global experience.

Amazon and Souq announced the launch of Amazon.sa in Saudi Arabia to replace Souq.com. This move came after a year after Amazon rebranded Souq to Amazon.ae in the UAE and 3 years after the e-commerce platform was acquired by Amazon in a deal worth $580 million (Dh 2.13billion).

Ronaldo Mouchawar, founder of Souq and now the Vice President of Amazon in the Middle East and North Africa commented on the launch, said,

“Today marks a key milestone … with Amazon.sa, we want to provide what customers have been asking us for the ability to shop a broader selection of both local products and international goods from Amazon.”

He further added,

“Partnering closely with our local and global sellers, we will continue to delight customers in Saudi Arabia by growing our product range while ensuring great prices, fast delivery, and a convenient and trusted shopping experience.”

Shoppers in Saudi can enjoy free next day deliveries on orders above Saudi Riyals 200(Dh196) or can opt for paid same-day delivery to the selected areas of the kingdom. However, Amazon Prime is not yet available on amazon.sa yet. Customers will be able to shop in Arabic or English on both the Amazon shopping app and website.

Shoppers can search for products and pay in local currency or credit/debit cards or opt for cash-on-delivery options and make installment payments from select Saudi banks.

Rafid bin Amin Fatani, Amazon’s head of public policy in Africa and the Middle East said,

“As we launch today, thousands of Saudi businesses use Amazon.sa to reach their customers and we look forward to growing this number further in the coming years.”

Expansion on cards

The Saudi eCommerce market is growing rapidly and is anticipated to surpass US$ 25 Billion by the end of the year 2026.  Amazon is building a local logistics and operations network spreading across the kingdom. The company announced a new 226,00 square-foot Jeddah facility and Saudi women will make up approximately 40% of the workforce.

This partnership will encourage Saudi consumers to move further towards digital payments. Ziyad bin Bandar Al-Yousef, managing director of Saudi Payments said,

“This new partnership with Amazon will only serve to strengthen the kingdom’s digital transformation in the payments sector.”

Learn more: Adimo Joins Forces With FutureTech, To Create A True Commerce

Nisnass Will Be Winding Up Business By July 16

Due to the severe damage done on the retail market by Covid-19, another e-commerce has to shut down its business.

Nisnass, a beauty and fashion venture from Al Tayer Insignia, recently announced that they no longer be operating from Thursday, June 16. Therefore, it is offering a 90% discount on its products.

Image credit -Al Tayer

However, Ounass, the sister company of the Nisnass, will still be fully operational.

Nisnass started its journey in the e-commerce market in the month of January, the year 2018. Nisnass started its user interaction with a mobile application. Therefore, it made sure to provide the users best on-hand experience, in terms of online shopping. Later, it also expanded the market with the help of a desktop website.

They had a brilliant strategy in terms of delivery! They delivered the product within 2-hours if in Dubai. Also, they assured a next day delivery in all over UAE.

Collection on the website offered the best products and services. Their wide variety range of products, extending from men to women and even for kids. The product range also offered beauty products, homewares and clothing.

In an email, Al Tayer announced the closure, stating: “As with many start-ups, we are compelled to continuously review our trajectory and focus our resources towards achieving our mission in the most effective way”.

They further added, “Nisnass has played an instrumental role in our evolutionary journey and has valuably contributed to the maturity of our organisation and the growth of our digital team.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBas_GIJeza/?utm_source=ig_embed

Although, they provided no specific reason for the sudden closure.

However, according to Al Tayer, they would be refocussing their “talent, absolute focus and resources into accelerating the successful growth of Ounass as the leader in the Middle East online luxury sphere”.

The news of the closure was sudden, and disheartening for the customers. Earlier, The Modist, Dubai e-tailor had to close its business due to the global crisis. They were operational for 3-years and closed their business, two months ago.

Exit Lockdown. Enter Reality – What Comes Next?

10 weeks. 70 days. 1680 hours. Far too many Netflix binges to mention. Meaningless stats at any other time, but in the context of the coronavirus, it’s a stark reminder of our time in lockdown. It’s strange to think that we’ve spent over two months in self-isolation, practising social distancing and learning how to re-interact with everyone around us.

Businesses have moved online, companies have shifted their models, employees have become tech evangelists quicker than anyone would have anticipated. In essence, we’ve been living a do or die mentality during this pandemic, so now that economies around the globe are beginning to open up, what comes next?

I could put my Nostradamus hat on again and make a load of predictions, but really, what’s the point in that? No-one knows what lies ahead, the situation is changing too quickly, with multiple factors at play and an unpredictable virus that doesn’t want to play by society’s rules. The only thing we can be certain of right now is uncertainty, as annoying as that is to admit. We can’t control the environment in which we operate, but we can look at what’s happening to use as a barometer for the trends currently shaping our industry.

The Golden Ecommerce Opportunity

“While the world falls apart, the stock market – and especially Ad Tech – keeps on pumping”. Considering the ripple effect that has been felt throughout every sector, at first glance, this may seem like a stretch, however, the sentiment on Wall Street surrounding digital media, and by extension, Ad Tech is undeniably positive.

Facebook reported flat revenue year over year in April, not usually a cause for celebration, but amid nationwide lockdowns, investors are confident in the platform’s ability to rebound. Similarly, Google and Snapchat beat analysts’ expectations, however, a tougher Q2 is expected. It’s a realistic snapshot of the peaks and troughs that have become commonplace during the pandemic, and as consumer behavior patterns continue to change, the major walled gardens will find new and more innovative ways to gain market share.

You only need to look at how the duopoly has applied itself during the crisis. Gold stars all around. Announcements from Facebook have come thick and fast over the past few weeks, with everything from their Giphy acquisition to the launch of Messenger Rooms and its sister app, CatchUp for video calls, creating a buzz. And amid the fluff – their Bitmoji-inspired Avatar app is a prime example – came what we were all waiting for: a real and very viable move into online commerce.

Facebook ‘Shops’ will allow small businesses to build online stores on both Facebook and Instagram, and in the future, will extend this feature to its Instagram Direct, WhatsApp, and Messenger platforms. Products can also be tagged during live broadcasts, and if Zuckerberg’s estimations are accurate, with some 800 million people already engaging in live video sessions daily across Facebook and Instagram, the opportunity here is huge.

According to Deutsche Bank’s Lloyd Walmsley, Shops has the potential to drive as much as $30 billion in incremental revenue – the bulk coming through further advertising opportunities. This makes sense when you consider Facebook’s rationale in enabling eCommerce across all of its platforms in this way; the closer the consumers are to checkout, the more willing advertisers are to spend. That’s probably why Bezos is laughing all the way to the bank as Amazon’s ad business continues to skyrocket. Of course, Amazon isn’t immune to the fallout either. Investors were told in no uncertain terms to ‘take a seat’ during the Q1 earnings report, amid challenging trading conditions, a pullback from some advertisers, and pressure on price. Still, with a reported 44% growth in Q1 and continuing strong traffic to the site, Amazon will be a thorn in the duopoly’s side for a long time yet. Google, much like Facebook, is looking to guard against this Amazonian invasion. The platform recently added organic listings to its Shopping site, offering retailers exposure to millions of daily shopping searches, while users will have access to a wider range of purchase options. On the surface, it’s likely to gain Google’s market share and advertising dollars over time and has the added bonus of taking aim at Amazon’s convenience model by competing on variety.

Even ‘smaller’ companies are looking to get into the retail game. Criteo continued its move away from retargeting, launching a self-serve ad platform for its retail media network. It’s particularly shrewd given how valuable retail media is right now. As eCommerce continues to surge in lockdown, traditional media budgets are being funneled this way to capitalize on the opportunity in real-time. The ‘Always On’ Mentality at the outset of the coronavirus, programmatic was one of the first to be hit. Brands paused their online campaigns; the default ‘easy’ option, as opposed to reviewing their other marketing channels. However, programmatic has proved to be adaptable, resilient, and flexible in the wake of continued challenges and pressures. It is already rebounding, and I believe digital and eCommerce will take an even larger share of overall advertising in the long run.

Still, even prior to this, publishers were being cautious with their investments and not capitalizing on the programmatic opportunity quickly enough. Of course, change has now been forced at every level. Digitization is a requirement and businesses no longer have the luxury of waiting things out. The nature of operating in 2020 is that you have to be ‘always on’. Adapt. Review. Adapt. Review. There’s no room for complacency.

For my part, I’d say on balance, I’m a pretty optimistic person. Look for the opportunity, acknowledge the risk, but be ready to take action, and that hasn’t changed in the past three months. What we’ll all need to be careful of as things begin to move again is abandoning the ‘critical change’ mindset we have adopted as standard during the pandemic.

Jeff Bezos “Day 2 is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always Day 1.”

It’s probably more morbid than I would have put it, but he has a point. No more stasis. Let’s make every day count.

Ayman Haider

CEO at MMP World Wide – Board Member at IAB MENA

Wassim Mneimneh is a CEO at MMP Worldwide and a board member at IAB MENA. A dedication of a lifetime to career in advertising with a passion for tech, and focus on driving the transformation, implementation, and conversation on the value of programmatic and its ability to rebuild trust and safety for the media industry.

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TikTok Helped UNICEF Gather Funds of $200,000 for the Welfare of Children –

Key Insights:

• The global leader in short mobile videos inspired its community to raise awareness and funds for UNICEF in the latest challenge #JoyOfGiving.
• According to UNICEF analysis, 99% of children and young people under 18 are vulnerable and support disproportionately.
• The challenge was run during the holy month of Ramadan and received an overwhelming response with over 2.3 million views and achieving the donation goal of $200,000.
• TikTok hosted a number of celebrities and regional content creators in 17 thought-provoking live sessions.
• The funds will be utilized by UNICEF to deliver crucial resources and relief to children across the MENA region. 

In recent times, TikTok has partnered with UNICEF MENA (the Middle East and North Africa)  to help the community gather information about COVID-19 and its preventive measures.

Background

UNICEF is on frontlines worldwide with responders in this pandemic and provides them information and resources to keep children healthy and safe from sickness and violence. TikTok, a pioneer in short mobile videos with its latest challenge #JoyOfGiving is raising awareness and funds for UNICEF’s mission.

Be Smart: According to UNICEF analysis, the children and young people are vulnerable to coronavirus and urgent action can ensure that children don’t feel the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in the decades to come.

Details: The challenge #JoyOfGiving ran during Ramadan, the month of giving, invited TikTok’s community of content creators to help in the donation drive by participating in 17 thought-provoking Live sessions. 

The campaign received an overwhelming response with over 2.3 million views, easily achieving the donation goal of raising $200,000. UNICEF will utilize these funds to deliver relief and resources to the children and affected communities across the MENA region.

The intrigue: TikTok hosted several celebrities and regional content creators like Yara (@yara), Balqees Fathi (@balqeesfathi), Khalid, and Salama Al Ameri (@khalidandsalama), Carmen Soliman (@carmensoliman), and Raya Abirached (@rayaofficial) for interactive sessions. 

The session focused on UNICEF initiatives to provide essential supplies to children and personal experiences during COVID-19.

Image Credit: Campaign ME

UNICEF Mena hosted live sessions on its TikTok page featuring renowned musician and composer Jad Rahbani and senior nutrition advisor Vilma Taylor.

The bottom line: The #JoyOfGiving challenge is an initiative by TikTok for the MENA region to spread positivity in adverse times and raise awareness of the critical issues.

Read on: Dubizzle Launches Their Own Self-served Advertising Platform 

Where Do These Global Companies Stand At The End Of Q1: Performance, Insights, And Statistics

We bring you insights and earning calls on various media companies, publishers, agencies, brands, and tech companies performing on a quarterly basis. The iteration focuses on media companies’ financial performance in the 2020 first quarter and taps all the vital data.

Q1 2020 earnings and performance

Though the waters are choppy ahead, we are optimistic that the worst is behind us and have learned to live with the new normal. Consumer habits are changing and the future is more accelerated towards the digital economy. The media landscape has changed especially the TV front and the focus is on opening businesses again with advertising driving the demand.

Q2 Outlook

Q2 advertising for publishers is estimated to be significantly down as much as 25-30% Y-o-Y and for some even 50-55% down. Few companies like Facebook, Snap, Dotdash expects Q2 revenue to be flat or slightly up Y-o-Y. Here are a few key points to consider:

• Google revenue declines by 15% year- over -year, though search activity increased. Advertising spends decreased due to coronavirus recession. However, other advertising mediums are growing like connected TV, ads in video games, or ads in video conferencing. 
• International TV ad sales are down by 30-35% Y-o-Y whereas programmatic revenue decreased by 40-45%.
• Performance ads are down year-over-year and demand from industries like restaurants, travel, retail, auto, and luxury has declined.
• Some advertisers seek opportunities and increase spending in financial services, insurance, telecom, technology, streaming services, and app downloads. Gaming and streaming are gaining a strong foothold and permanently taking a share of our time and wallets.
• CPM’s down by almost 50% giving an advantage to advertisers for huge bargains. New and existing advertisers are looking to acquire new customers at a lifetime low value.
• With no new live events expected on TV  till September/October, it will boost the growth of CTV.
• Attribution for marketers is easy as most sales are online than in-store. The animation is expected to be robust in Q3 and Q4. 
• 90-95% workforce for media companies are operating from home and CMO’s can justify spending using data-driven advertising with trackable ROAS.

Let’s take a look at the financial report card of the global giants.

The Trade Desk

The opening remarks from the trade desks on the present scenario are as follows – Programmatic’s greatest feature is ‘Agility’. One can easily start and stop the programmatic campaigns, unlike linear television. Early April witnesses advertisers stopped/pause ad spend in certain verticals especially travel and remained active in health, technology, games, home, and garden.

However, by mid-April year-over-year spend decline stabilized, and as the month progressed things started improving. Advertisers were trying to adapt to the present environment. For instance, restaurants changed their messaging to “We are open” or “We deliver.”  Consumer products focused on pantry loading and travel companies planned to waive off cancellation fees for bookings. Basically, advertisers started to strategize on how to run businesses on the other side of the pandemic. Now, every company is trying to work out an advertising strategy to connect to consumers and gain share once the economy gets going.

CTV is a clear winner as linear TV’s life is shortened. Unlike traditional TV ads investment where brands and agencies commit billions of dollars without knowing the content and audience, they have the freedom to be more deliberate, liberal, and agile on CTV.

Roku:

• Pandemic has accelerated the shift to streaming by viewers due to excellent content and value.
• In the short term, the video advertising business has slowed down due to budget cuts and low spending by advertisers.
• In the streaming business, active accounts grew roughly 38% Y-o-Y with an increase in new accounts of more than 70% Y-o-Y. 
• Streaming hours grew roughly 80% in April and the increase in streaming hours per account is approximately 30%.
• It is estimated that ad business will grow at a slower pace and gross profit margin will be lower than expected for the year. 
• The behavioral changes of TV ad buyers are positive in the long-term and more people are expected to stay home to control spending in the light of economic hardships and the shift to streaming business will grow further.

Google: 

• In March there was a sudden slowdown in ad revenues owing to COVID 19 and lockdown orders. The first two months of Q1 reflected strong growth. Google search and other advertising revenues generated $24.5 billion, up 9% Y-o-Y.
• After the 2008 crisis, the Google search can be adjusted easily-quickly turn-off and back on which is cost-effective and ROI based. At the inception of the coronavirus crisis, users’ interest was more for information on the virus and non-commercial topics providing less opportunity for monetization. 
• Q2 looks difficult for the advertising business. 
• YouTube advertising revenues were up 33% year-on-year to $4 billion however there were different performance trajectories for direct response and brand advertising.
• Direct response continued to grow throughout the quarter but brand advertising growth grew for the first two months of the quarter and declined in March. This resulted in the slowdown of Youtube ad revenues by the end of March.
• Similarly, networking ad revenue was $5.2 billion, up 4%Y-o-Y for the first 2 months of the quarter, and declined in March in the low-double-digits year-on-year.

Spotify:

• Ads are a small part of the business, nearly 10% of the overall revenues. Therefore it is less impacted compared to other businesses.
• From a long term perspective, it will be an opportunity to move from linear to on-demand due to COVID 19 crisis.
• It is suspected that advertisers will move from pure reach to more measurable ad formats -mostly analog ad formats.
• The conjecture on advertising and consumption front is what is already happening of linear shifting to digital.

Learn more: Spotify Adds $1.7B To Market Cap In 23 Min Post A Deal With Joe Rogan, World’s Leading Podcaster.

Rubicon:

• The first half of April’s revenue was roughly 30% down until it showed signs of stabilizing in the second half.
• CTV continued to grow at a slower rate in April with a Y-o-Y increase of nearly 10%. Ad slot availability grew by roughly 25% compared to pre-COVID 19.
• Being an omnichannel SSP there has been diversity in ad categories and even more after the merger with Telaria. Certain verticals were highly impacted like travel in entertainment but e-commerce, technology, and direct-to-consumer were benefitted. 
• Upfront deals are canceled and focus is shifted to spend from linear to the spot market that programmatic serves.

Microsoft: 

• Reduction in ad spend affected Search and LinkedIn business and assumes that the advertising spend will not improve in Q2 as well.
• Search revenue ex-Tac increased by 1%.

Apple Advertising:

• The economic slowdown and uncertainty on business reopening have impacted the advertising business – which is the sum of App Store search ads, Apple news, and third party agreements on the advertising front.
• This slowdown and uncertain future will have a strong effect on the Service business for the June quarter.

Verizon:

• Owing to the COVID-19 crisis, ad revenue declined by 10% in the second -half of March and the rate of decline only increases in April.
• Industry forecasts a fall of 20-30% in digital media and Verizon media results are likely to be similar.
• It also experienced a decline in advertising and search revenue due to hold back or cancellation of campaigns by advertisers and users searching for fewer commercial terms providing less opportunity for monetization.
• Finally, some staggering numbers were seen- 200% up on gaming, 40% up on video, and 10 times up on the collaboration tools. 800 million calls a day, is double the amount on Mother’s Day, the biggest day of the year.

Netflix:

• Increase in subscriber growth in March and is a pull forward for the rest of the year leading to an assumption that subs will be light in Q3 and Q4.
• Filming is stopped globally except Korea and Iceland.
• Customer services are fully restored with 2000+ agents working remotely.
• With the lockdown orders coming into effect in LA, animation production is up and working from home whereas the post-production of 200+ projects is in pipeline remotely.
• Series writers’ rooms are operating virtually.
• Netflix has invested in Open connect, a pioneering cache system that puts content library as close to members’ homes as possible.  This enables ISP’s to run their network efficiently and at a lower cost. However, some countries networks may face issues due to the increasing usage of the internet.

Omnicon

• The company doesn’t collect weekly revenue numbers by the agency and roll them up at the  Omnicom group level.
• Q2 downfall is expected in double digits and year-on-year revenues will be down.
• The future is challenging but the company expects to get many of those people back as they move into the year ahead.

Learn more about the quarterly performance of other media companies: Financial Report Card Of The Global Giants And Industries In COVID-19

Newspaper Industry Witness Disruption In UAE Due To COVID-19 Crisis.

The current crisis has forced people to stay inside their houses. Several businesses are confronting adverse outcomes due to the circumstances of lock-down across the planet. The familiar lifestyle of people has changed. Human beings are struggling to finish off their daily life work, as there are limited resources available. In these times of adversity, several lines of work are closing or transforming themselves according to the new trends, sustaining, in a new era.

However, the crisis has also provided us with opportunities. Our Earth is healing, the rivers and oceans are cleaning themselves. The air is less polluted, the biggest ozone layer hole is healing by itself. It’s not just the Earth showing good signs of healing and development, many business models have also blossomed. These emerging markets were struggling to survive from old unstoppable human rituals. 

Humans are now learning new ways to live. We are learning social isolation, but being a social animal we can’t stop interacting.

Therefore, social networking platforms have seen a sudden increase in their viewers. Even new viewers are joining on a daily bases. The time spent by them on these platforms has increased.

It’s not just limited to the social networking platforms, e-commerce has also seen a high rise in its user database. Hundreds of thousands of new users have changed their purchase habits, now they are shopping online for their needs and will continue to do the same.

Since centuries news has been a crucial part of our everyday life! To satisfy this need newspapers have played a crucial role in delivering the information to us. During the early days, the news was shared among each other verbally. To share news over long distances trained birds were used to deliver handwritten notes over long-distance. Soon, time changed and things developed. Our world became modern, we started using printed sheets of paper to publish news.

The culture of printed newspaper sheets stayed with us like a lifestyle for centuries now. In the digital age and emerging markets, the digital platforms started publishing the news on their digital platform(E-Newspaper). This epidemic has increased the number of viewers and subscribers for these digital platforms.

In today’s world, we must read the news and get updates from authorized sources. The situation has made paper media a less favorable option for everyday usage. People are preferring digital platforms(E-Newspaper) to keep themselves updated with the news.

In UAE leading news platforms ALBAYAN.AE and EMARATALYOUM.COM have reported an enormous amount of audience shifting onto their digital platforms during this period of crisis. They have experienced a huge increase in their unique users as well as a massive increase in daily viewers of their E-Newspaper.

Nearly 6 out of 10 people are reading news on online platforms. According to the reports, around 46% of people spend time reading news via online platforms.

Image credits – Campaignme.

ALBAYAN.AE

ALBAYAN.AE is one of the most preferred newspaper in the UAE. Even in this time of crisis, it stayed as the most prominent and trusted source for people to gather information. However, the only thing that has changed is the source of ALBAYAN.AE. Earlier people preferred a printed copy of the newspaper, but now most of its audience has shifted to its digital platform(E-Newspaper). 

In 2019 March, ALBAYAN.AE had 867k unique users on its digital platform. Whereas in March 2020, its unique user database has increased to 1.7 million. It’s an increase of +94% in the digital user database. Next month in April 2020, this number further increased from 1.7 million to 3 million which is a +77% increase in unique user data.

Also, the page views of AL BAYAN in March 2019 were 4.1 million. In March 2020, the views increased to 13.8 million(+231%) which was a record-breaking increase viewership. It is still increasing, as per April 2020, the total number of views was 15.3 million, which was another +12% increase in total viewers

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Image Credit – Campaignme.

From last year, this year Ramadan has shown a significant increase in unique users. The growth rate is +87%, the numbers add up to 1,335,460 unique users. Viewership has increased +177% since last year, the numbers add up to 9,349,310. These are the data of the first three weeks of Ramadan ie. from 24th April to 12th May 2020.

Image Credit -Campaignme.

EMARATAL YOUM

EMARATAL YOUM is a wonderful reference for people staying in UAE. It helps them to stay updated with the news, and laws that are being introduced, or old ones that are updated.

The digital user base of EMARATAL YOUM has increased tremendously. In the year 2019, March the total number of unique users that EMARTAL YOUM had was just 804K.

In March 2020, this number increased to 2 million showing an increase of +149%, and another +55% in the month of April making the number of users rise to 3 million.

The viewership of EMARATAL YOUM in March 2019 was 5.1 million. The numbers skyrocketed to 17.5 million(+238%) in March 2020. In April 2020 it is setting a benchmark for the number of viewers at 18 million(+3%).

Image Credit -Campaignme.

In the month of Ramadan, the unique user base has shown an increase of +76% (1,283,908), and the viewership increased to +141%(10,031,460).

Image Credit – Campaignme.

This huge increase in numbers is an indication of the digital boom in the UAE. Hence, brands should make sure that they connect to their consumers as several portals of opportunities are opening. Also, they can advertise their products or do promotions as time is most opportune.

Some of the other famous newspaper of UAE which is receiving a hugely positive response on their e-platforms are listed below:

•  Khaleej Times

To increase the viewership, Khaleej Times is providing free E-Newspaper for its users. The viewership of the newspaper has also increased at a huge pace.

•  National.ae
• Gulf Business news 
• Sport360
• YOUM7
• Al-Masry al-Youm.