Advertising Trends in Lebanon: Spring 2010

The advertising trends in Lebanon for spring 2010 are theme-centered: Spotted! Brands go where the consumers' consumption patterns are headed for the season... and where is the Lebanese consumer at?

Here's the showdown: Weddings, swimwear and the FIFA world cup!

To kick off, it's weddings season soon! Pictures of expensive jewelery designs, fancy hair does and a whole lot of wedding dresses, ...uhm, where are we? ...oh right, the highway from Beirut to Jounieh.

Not to forget, summer is at the door too!... and how can we forget? It's sunny, and fighting off the heat, the roads are filled with ladies wearing bikinis, yes, I am talking about the likes of H&M and Diamony billboards. Oh, right and Vichy has figured it was good timing for its cellulite-free products. Good thinking.

But the best, is for the last! The Lebanese World Cup craze is ready to blow! You will find the weirdest combination of advertisers here, from the more rational shopping items like big flat TV screens (at least one logical match!), we have witnessed everything from Fransabank Credit Cards to Spinneys supermarket ads!

Perishable Products

Listen to this old song and enjoy:

Love is Free For All - Gus Farah (edited version, but no download needed)
Love is Free For All - Gus Farah (download the first song from the list)

This is a tune on which anyone in his 20s in Lebanon can easily sing along to... This once was a successful song; perceived as a classic by many. Often placed side by side with songs like Hotel California.. However, finding its singer is a challenge!
...and for good reason!!! To most people's surprise, it was sung by a Lebanese. This is far from being the classic, many misinformed thought it was. I was not short from being shocked and had to see this for myself to believe it.
This song is unknown to the international public! It never got the attention it deserves...

Can it still be turned into the classic it once should have been, and reach the position it upholds today in the Lebanese youngsters eyes? Time changed since it was launched.... the environment evolved. This type of songs may no longer be played on the radios.

This is a case where what once was a good product, is no longer so. It could have been an international hit back then, it had all the potential to be one.

I sadly admit that this opportunity is lost.

Evolution in Digital Marketing

It is funny how in order to determine the new trends in the market, you need to look at the teenagers... They tend to decide what's in and what's out.

There came a time, not long ago, when search engines (the likes of google and yahoo) were the search tools of choice. Back then, the new ways were being fought by traditional conventional thinkers. Information gathered from the internet was not a valid reference. Today, this mode seems to be more widely accepted.

Now even search engines are becoming outdated. When you tell a kid to look up information about a topic, the first thing he relies on is Youtube! ...It's catching on. Does it normally qualify as a competitor to Google? I suppose not. Was it intended to fill this place? Again, I guess not. However, what the user decides to do of a website is often out of the company's hands. This time, it's in their favor. There is inherent benefit in Youtube's offerings. Something they can seriously work on. Could it be the future of research, there, right in front of our eyes?

In order to effectively market a product today, companies should rely on several new forms of media. The digital marketing is no longer limited to banners and official websites (of which, by the way, one can seriously criticize the efficiency).

Today, marketeers should have four main considerations: blogs, facebook, wikipedia and youtube... and even those are bound to change in the near future.

The power is the consumers'.