Photograph By Ashraf Uddin Apu
By Natasha Rahaman
Executive Director at Asiatic 360
You have 13 years of experience in the advertising industry. Nowadays we see ads focussing on topics that were once considered taboo to discuss; for example contraceptive pills, sanitary napkins etc. How far are we really advancing in getting the message across?
I think we have seen some progress. Much of that progress, however, has been driven by brand marketing necessity. When it comes to social communication, the advances have been less than ideal. We are still bound by certain arbitrary standards of decency and propriety when it comes to creative, effective and meaningful ways to communicate regarding issues such as reproductive health, sexual violence and gender equality. This is an area I would like to see progress, in the coming years.
What areas of development do you expect to see from the paid advertisement scenario in 2016 starting from creatives to client demand to execution?
I think the biggest challenge offline (television, radio, print) advertisers are facing is, a shrinking consumer base. We are losing viewers to foreign channels at an alarming rate. Very soon it will be difficult to justify the trend of expenditure that currently exists within our local media. To this end advertisers must think about bringing more viewers to local channels. The channels alone should not be mandated with this task. What this would mean is that more advertiser generated content, which, given our current media scenario, would lead to higher production values in contrast to channel generated content. We have to start thinking outside traditional advertising and use the programmes as a part of our promotional plans. And of course increase focus on the digital space, as this would allow for much more effective targeting than offline media.
What is the worth and size of the PR industry and what kind of shift in advancement do you expect to see in 2016. What’s holding us back?
The PR industry is quite small in Bangladesh. While the numbers are hard to gauge, the total size probably does not exceed BDT300 million. For the PR industry to grow, the local industry has to become more cognizant of the need for PR services. So far, the bulk of professional PR work is done for multinational clients. The local conglomerates have started coming to the party when it comes to paid advertising, I just hope that they do the same and start engaging in PR services as well.
Businesses rely heavily on the traffic they get from Facebook. Since Facebook was blocked recently along with other social media apps, how’d you reckon the public relations and e-commerce sector managed their markets at the time?
Whenever a major medium gets blocked, advertisers are posed with serious challenges. So far, we as an industry have few alternatives to Facebook commerce. And while Facebook being blocked was a challenge, we as an industry saw it as an opportunity to explore other mediums of engagement online, beyond social media platforms. Instead of bemoaning the unspent money, we should invest in attracting more consumers to web based entertainment and commercial platforms that go beyond social media. By Natasha Rahman