How do you measure a year? Aside from inches, miles and cups of coffee, one of the best ways to sum up the year's trends is to look at the most popular advertising campaigns. 2008 was a fierce year for Egypt's advertising market: The three mobile operators engaged in a marketing battle to attract customers, new techniques such as SMS advertising were introduced and traditional outlets like radio were rediscovered. Along with the mainstream marketing frenzy, creative public awareness campaigns succeeded in making a statement about issues from bird flu to smoking, while a few corporate campaigns generated unwanted (and very entertaining) controversy. Mobile wars Since Etisalat entered the game in 2006, the competition between mobile operators has been intense, with each company wrangling for the largest market share. Aside from coming out with fresh television, billboard, print and radio ads, Vodafone, Mobinil and Etisalat also sought to retain customer loyalty with new services including advanced credit and limited free airtime. But were they successful? According to marketing analyst Shaymaa Eyad, Mobinil and Vodafone continuously launched competitive campaigns, while Etisalat lagged a little behind. "As an observer, I felt that Mobinil and Vodafone campaigns stood out more this year - this is in part because they are more established in Egypt to begin with, but I do think that Etisalat needs to step up marketing efforts to compete with the other two companies, she said. Notable campaigns of 2008 were part of Mobinil's "Island Paradise ads and Vodafone's Al Ahly and "Do You See? spots. In with the new Egyptian advertisers deserve an A+ for creativity in 2008. This year has been strong in terms of both television advertising and the creative use of new and old marketing techniques to pull in a diverse demographic of Egyptian consumers. Many were surprised the first time they received text message advertising a fast food chain's newest sandwich or a sale at a major clothing store, but now SMS marketing is commonplace. While getting unsolicited ads on mobile phones may be unnerving for some consumers, it is clearly an effective marketing tool that is likely to grow in popularity. According to Dispatch Marketing, a Cairo agency specializing in direct marketing campaigns, SMS advertising offers several unique advantages, including personalized targeting of customers and time-based targeting of promotional offers. Most importantly, SMS marketing is simple to carry out and can reach millions of consumers in seconds. The icing on the cake for corporations is the price tag: SMS advertising is one of the cheapest ways to get the word out. "Advertising by SMS is great because it's very cheap and has high response rates from consumers. It allows companies to be more interactive by constantly providing new offers and products and publicize them virtually on the spot, explained a service representative at Dispatch. Blast from the past The return of radio might be the biggest surprise of 2008. Advertising over the airways has always been a popular technique in Egypt, especially during Ramadan when pre-iftar traffic keeps commuters captive in their cars. Though radio has been somewhat neglected during non-Ramadan ad cycles over the past several years, 2008 has seen a rise in radio advertising as companies rediscover this old marketing standby. "Radio advertising is one of the best ways to reach a large demographic. With people constantly stuck in traffic, there is a large captive audience for radio advertisements for all kinds of products. Companies are increasingly realizing this, said Sherine Fahmy, professor of integrated marketing communications at the American University in Cairo. Catchy jingles and creative slogans reigned, with Sunshine tuna's "Open a can of Sunshine song - which was also played on their television ads - earning a high honors. Reaching out This year's public service ads brought a new face to this genre, which is normally dominated by cheesy clichés. By employing humor, star power and a straight-forward approach to the facts, public service ads dealing with everything from smoking to bird flu, tourism to taxes managed to grab the public's attention. Some of the most effective ads included a campaign targeted at Egyptians who deal with tourists, cautioning them about the consequences of dealing dishonestly with foreigners, and Shaaban Abdel Rehim's ads, where he sings the audience through the essential precautions to be taken against bird flu. Out with a bang A good year is never complete without a bit of controversy, and it was provided in the nick of time. Birell, a popular producer of non-alcoholic beer, managed to create a heated public debate with its newest ad campaign, which seeks to associate drinking Birell with the rejection of "feminine behavior under the slogan of "be a man. The series of adverts created by Leo Burnett for Birell show men engaging in various types of stereotypically non-masculine behavior such as using a drinks coaster or donning a "spiky hairdo, and even commenting on a girl's personality - which is apparently not very masculine behavior. Birell's campaign may be a little sexist, but it managed to spark a debate about gender roles and the negative stereotyping of women - who said advertising wasn't deep?
