Originally posted on: Capital Business Magazine, By Jenny Kassis, Executive Editor.
Saad El Zein, Chief Executive Officer, The Network Communication Group, considers the advertising, marketing and communications industry as a school that teaches new and different things constantly.
“People working in this industry are exposed to different challenges. They need to be creative and prompt.”
Advertising and Marketing – The evolution
The industry has been witnessing a massive evolution from its early beginnings mainly due to the digital transformation the world is undergoing. “We used to call it advertising, and then it became communication,” says Saad. “This is a revolution rather than just an evolution. Communication has changed; we were never exposed to the internet. Our job was more exciting, the efforts we used to put were massive as we used to go on the ground to discover things ourselves. Today, internet is facilitating all tasks.”
Digital has created this revolution and the original meaning of advertising agencies has changed. “In our days,” he adds, “our work was centralized; the agency used to do everything and the client service executive was in charge of all duties.
This gave employees the ability to multitask and the real knowledge of the business. Nowadays, each person is specialized in his or her own field. This decentralization didn’t help much, although it was needed as it provides more specialized staff.”
However, Saad confirms that centralization could be once again around the corner. “Yes, we do have different companies, but the integration of ideas between them is becoming a must. We can see that the format is going back to where it was. We have different disciplines but the thinking now tends to be more centralized.”
“With media agencies becoming the heroes, advertising agencies are losing their charm,” Saad admits. “There is a question mark about the role of media agencies. I believe there should be a conversion in this industry, as it has to provide strategic thinking and creativity. The idea must create a bond between the brand and the consumer. This is why I believe advertising agencies should become creative hubs and activation hubs. Moreover, it is crucial to create a bond and affinity with consumers as they are the decision makers nowadays.”
The world has changed,” he says. “We can’t negate that digital is taking a major part of this conversion. We have to follow the trends and embrace change. We have to change our formula, and the way of doing business to overcome these challenges that are growing day by day.”
Read more of this post:
http://www.capitalbusiness.me/main/details/business-planet/913#.Vl18T_2FMdV
