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Of the many changes the world has gone through in the past year since the start of the pandemic, consumer behaviour and evolving expectations from brands is an important one that is also critical for marketers and advertisers.

Over the last decade, product and service communication and announcements have increasingly gone digital. A natural progression considering the ubiquitous nature of online communication and media channels such as social media platforms, news websites and services, online advertising channels and others. In the scenario, where do traditional platforms like print, television, radio, etc, stand and to what extent should brands and businesses rely on them for communication and advertisements?

Kenya and Nigeria cautiously optimistic in their marketing endeavours

Covid-19 has turned the world upside down for almost every industry. The marketing industry is no exception. Globally, close to half of marketers have reduced their marketing activities for the meantime, aiming to increase them to full capacity again in the future. From a Sub-Saharan perspective, we see Kenya and Nigeria following this trend, while the South African shows more polarization: On the one hand some marketers have reduced their activities altogether while some on the other hand have actually increased them during the evolution of the pandemic.

With each passing day, there is a growing choice of platforms for people to consume news, entertainment, sports and engage socially on. At the same time, this leaves marketers and brands with a difficult choice of having to choose between the various platforms or prioritize one over the year. Thanks to the unusual year 2020, consumer habits have further changed, making the task of marketing and advertising even more difficult.

In the Middle East, when we look at brand and advertising reach, digital media sources strike a hard punch than the traditional avenues of radio and television. The move to digital platforms is more widespread in this region (looking specifically at the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia) than it is in other areas of the world.

The year 2020 has been an anomaly in all senses. This also applies to people’s interaction with various media platforms, both digital and traditional. The fact that for the first time a large section of the global population is spending a lot more time indoors compared to before most likely has had an impact on how we are consuming advertisements and other product and brand messaging.

Social media enjoys high exposure in Africa

Of all the communication channels available today, social media is the channel that most people claim they have been exposed to in terms of brand and advertising messages, since Covid-19. This exposure to social media is particularly high in Africa, with South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria leading the pack in this regard. These African countries claim to be much more exposed to digital media in general than the rest of the world does, and less to physical magazines than their global counterparts.