Every Ramadan, Egypt’s mobile operators compete among each other to present huge advertisement campaigns and every company works to show its strength by using celebrities in its ads. But it was different this year with most ads shot at homes due to the coronavirus outbreak, which lowered the budgets for advertisements and reduced the fees of celebrities.
5D Advertisement deputy CEO Ahmed Sarhan said that there is a general decline in advertising spending for the Ramadan season this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, revealing that mobile operators’ ad spending was 50% less than last year.
Sarhan believes that a large part of the decrease in corporate expenses is due to the declining cost of the advertisement itself, as all ads were shot at home, saving the costs of creating shooting locations.
He added that the fees of actors and celebrities also decreased as ads were filmed at their homes.
Sarhan cited the Vodafone ad campaign, which combined clips of different celebrities all shot at home, including the brand ambassador Mohamed Salah.
Ayman Essam, head of the foreign and legal relations sector at Vodafone Egypt, said the idea of the advertising campaign for Ramadan this year sends a message to clients to maintain their safety and stay home.
He explained that the cost of advertising this year is relatively low compared to previous years due to filming at home and remote work.
Ashraf Khairy, head of the Advertising Division of the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said the advertising spending this Ramadan was at its lowest.
He added that there was a decrease of 60-70% in spending on advertising campaigns this year, and has reached 90% in some sectors such as the outdoor.
Khairi believes there is a noticeable decrease in advertising costs due to the precautionary measures related to the coronavirus.
