Online Media 'Clicking' with Audiences


e-Newsletter

Jawad Abassi Jawad Abassi

Information and communication technologies are rapidly changing the way people receive their information. In the Arab world, some more traditional forms of communication remain dominant, however with increasing internet usage and higher levels of participation in "new media," such as social networking sites and blogs, the media and marketers are in need to rethink how best to reach their target audiences.

Jawad Abassi, the founder of the Arab Advisors Group, a company specializing research and analysis in the Middle East, offered his thoughts on the some of the latest media trends in the region. Abassi shared his comments after a presentation he made at ictQATAR's "Media Connected" forum on January 17, 2009.

Can you tell us about the Arab Advisors Group and the research you do in the Middle East?
As the liberation of the telecommunications sector in the Arab world started, I decided to start my own company and offer a unique research service to our clients. 2009 marks our seventh year of operation and I am proud to say we have succeeded in offering quality research services that have won our clients' trust. At the beginning, we only offered research in the field of ICT, but later we decide to be a one-stop-research company with extended research studies in other fields, such as primary media research and analysis of market opportunity and risk assessment, among others.

What do you think is the primary way people in the Middle East are receiving information presently?
Based on a recent media study that we have undertaken at the Arab Advisory Group, we have found out that television remains the most dominant news medium in different Arab countries, such as Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt and Lebanon. However, the importance that each country places on the print medium varies. In Qatar, for instance, newspapers come as the second most important news source, whereas in Egypt and Lebanon, newspapers are less frequently used as sources of news. On the other hand, the Internet is still lagging behind, but Qatar has shown the most dependence on Internet for news, compared to the other countries in the study. In the future, I expect the Internet to be a more important source for breaking news, rather than the print medium.

Do you believe that technology has changed the field of media research? If so, how?
Absolutely. Researchers can now conduct online surveys and online panels. As opposed to the insufficient data about audiences that advertisers can gain from the print medium research, online media offers more accurate and detailed segmentation data with information about the locations and online habits of users.

Many established print media organizations now have an online presence, with each having online versions of their daily issues. How do you view the online versions versus the print ones?
Online news sites ensure more interactivity with the users who can comment on news. News is no longer a one-way process. Having online news sites offers newspapers the ability to charge "bundle" prices, as the advertisement viewership will not be only for their print version, but will be viewable also online. The real value of an online version is not only in terms of revenue, but rather in leveraging the quality of the newspaper's coverage. Take the New York Times as an example. Realizing that by the time its news stories are posted online, readers would have already read the print version or saw the news on TV, they have started to offer more in-depth analysis on the web. Thus, their web presence is not a replica of the print medium, but rather a higher level.

What do you think of the new media that have emerged, such as social networking and blogging?
Websites as Facebook and Twitter enable users to create their online 'social circles' through which companies can very efficiently employ viral-marketing techniques, with word-of-mouth travelling very fast on these sites. People share the breaking news they find relevant to them, thus such sites are becoming more useful sources of news.

Communication is a relatively intangible process that is difficult to measure. How is the increase in online communication changing the way media can be assessed?
I believe that communications can be difficult to assess and measure. I think that whenever an advertiser sets an advertising budget, 50% of this budget will be wasted, but the problem lies in which 50% was actually wasted and which half effectively reached the right targets. Using a multiple-media advertising strategy may ensure more exposure, yet advertisers can not know which medium had the best impact on audiences. However, with the fast-paced emergence of the online media, and the new pay-per-click Google approach, even the criteria of evaluating the cost effectiveness of media has been transformed. CPM (Cost per reaching thousand audience members) used to be the prevailing method, yet businesses today use 'clicks' to more accurately assess the amount of business generated, hence comparing that against the advertising expenditure. The future will be for the Pay-per-click method.

What flaws, if any, does this method have?
There are cons. Basically web operators continue to resist the method since it is ignores the actual traffic to their websites and only takes into account the action users take (in terms of clicks). Awareness, image, and other non-action based goals are ignored, which also means reduced revenues for such websites. However, I still think such Google approach is successful since it has enabled advertisers to catch up with media fragmentation. Ads have moved into the blogosphere. Even bloggers can advertise now.

Finally, tell us about your participation in ictQATAR's Media Connected.
The event was an opportunity to meet with many people who all share the passion for media and technology. I think the discussions at the event did catch people's interest all along. In the future, I would like to discuss the broadcast media, and how it is being affected by the internet. This is an interesting topic that can be emphasized in the upcoming Media Connected event.


- By: Mina Nagy

Watch the Video: Jawad Abassi's Speech at ictQATAR's Media Connected Forum:







Add Comments