TV GUIDE 2018 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TV GUIDE cover final.indd 1 5/3/18 7:37 PM IFC - Innovation.pdf 1 9/16/16 3:52 AM C M Y CM MY CY CMY K 6 MAY 2018 INTRODUCTION SCENE: INTERIOR: A HOTEL CONFERENCE ROOM. Close up on Austyn, a slightly tubby editor (with boyish good looks and a roguish charm). He is terrified. His palms are sweating, he is shaking a little. He holds a pen tightly but is not writing. In front of him is a blank piece of paper. This was where I found myself towards the end of our Future of Video Breakfast Briefing last week. I had just been asked to write my first ever advertising pitch. I write about this stuff all the time, but I’ve never had to do it in the flesh. It was part of YouTube’s workshop about how to produce Ramadan content that would do well on that platform. The – mercifully imaginary – brief was the launch of a new television channel, Hala, with programming focus on comedy, drama and romance. Each table in the workshop had to come up with a YouTube web series that would promote this channel. And my mind was blank. Luckily, I was surrounded by less blank, brighter and more imaginative people and we finally came up with Iftar vs. Iftar, a cooking show that pitches millennial couples against their parents and parents-in-law. Some dishes are traditional, some are modern. Like Hala, it shows how tradition and modernity can exist side-by-side. Richard Hol, ECD of Nomads, who had been moderating one of our panels earlier in the day and was also on my team, stood up, put our idea into words and made it sound pretty good. I’m not sure we’d have won the account, but apart from making me realise how lousy I’d be as a creative, the exercise also made me think about the fragmentation of video. The film category at awards shows used to be won by 30-second TVCs every time. But at the last Dubai Lynx, it was won by an hour-long documentary from Vice. Creatives today are working on anything from six seconds upwards. And the videos they work on might appear on TV or in cinemas as before, but they are more likely to turn up on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat or anywhere else digital. We might see them on our TVs, our phones, our tablets or our computer monitors. You can read a summary of YouTube’s findings on what works in Ramadan in the coming pages, based on Lynn Hazim’s presentation at the workshop. You can also read my brief summary of some of the key points that came out of the breakfast briefing overall. The TLDR version is: tailor your video to the right people and put it on the right platforms and you’ll be OK. During Ramadan, traditional television is still huge. Adil Memon, the content head at Zee Entertainment, says some channels can see a 100 per cent hike in their viewership. And this attracts advertising money. Our first TV guide lists many of the top channels in the region to help planners see which stations have the programmes and viewers that are right for their brands. There’s no denying that video advertising has changed a huge amount from those days of the 30-second spot. But traditional formats still have a role to play as the drama of video plays out. And we will all be able to watch and learn. Austyn Allison Editor, Campaign Middle East Motivate Publishing Group Head Office: 34th Floor, Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 427 3000, Email: [email protected] Dubai Media City: Motivate Publishing FZ LLC, Office 508, 5th Floor, Building 8, Dubai, UAE. Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi: Motivate Advertising, Marketing & Publishing, PO Box 43072, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Tel: +971 2 677 2005, Fax: +971 2 677 0124, email: [email protected] London: Motivate Publishing Ltd, Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER. [email protected] www.motivatepublishing.com Editorial editor-in-Chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Managing Partner and Group editor Ian Fairservice editorial Director Gina Johnson editor Austyn Allison Design senior Art Director Tarak Parekh senior Designer Charlie Banalo Advertising enquiries Tel: +971 4 427 3000 Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Milne Publisher Jaya Balakrishnan senior sales Manager Nadeem Ahmed Quraishi (+971 50 6453365) Group Marketing Manager Anusha Azees ProductionGeneral Manager S. Sunil Kumar Production Manager Murali Krishnan Assistant Production Manager Binu Purandaran Haymarket Media Group Chairman Kevin Costello Managing Director Jane Macken International Director Alastair Lewis The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. Campaign Middle East includes material reproduced from the UK Edition (and other editions) of Campaign, which is the copyright of Haymarket. Campaign is a trademark of Haymarket and is used under licence. The views and opinions expressed within this magazine are not necessarily those of Haymarket Magazines Limited or those of its contributors. Issue 235.TV GuIDe 2018 Got a view? campaignme.com @campaignME Campaign ME [email protected] 11 11 Editors letter.indd 11 5/3/18 10:18 PM 6 MAY 2018 6 MAY 2018 Moving pictures Campaign’s second breakfast briefing addressed the ambitious topic of The Future of Video. Austyn Allison summarises the conversation 12 12-13 Future of video write-up.indd 12 5/3/18 8:18 PM 6 MAY 2018 6 MAY 2018 ampaign’s second breakfast briefing two minutes and 47 seconds, the social media gathered industry leaders last week to amplification that came after the ad had been discuss The Future of Video. On stage released was perhaps more important than the MANY THANKS TO OUR SPEAKERS were representatives from Choueiri film itself. Group, MBC, Google and YouTube, Different people come to different platforms WALID YARED, chief marketing officer, Choueiri Group CTwitter, UM, Nomads, Al Tayer Motors, Vice and with different expectations, so it makes sense YOUMNA BORGHOL, head of data, Choueiri Group Centrepoint. The audience was packed with many that the video content served to them on HIND ABU ALIA, head of digital commercial, MBC Group more big names. After an introduction and key- those platforms varies accordingly. The same note, and before a workshop by YouTube, two pan- ad can feel utterly different depending on ANTOINE CAIRONI, Head of large client solutions els looked at how video is changing and how the in- whether you watch it in a movie theatre or MENA, Twitter dustry can adapt and cope. on your phone, whether it is run on MBC ANTOINE CHALLITA, general manager UM Dubai. The days of a single TV set in the living room or served up on YouTube. SHASHANK MITAL, Senior Marketing Operations are long gone, taking with them 50-plus years of So creative and media plans should look beyond Manager, Al Tayer Motors accepted wisdom about how advertising using cutting down or extending content and thinking RICHARD HOL, executive creative director, Nomads moving pictures should be undertaken. Multiple it can work across platforms. One marketer in the CIARAN BONASS, creative director MENA, Vice Media screens and on-demand services from Netflix to audience asked for advice on what to do with a Twitter mean people can decide where and very tight budget for video. The answer: create AMIN SOLTANI, independent producer when and how to watch content. the most engaging content you can for the target ALEX BRUNORI, MENA creative lead, Google This is making the video landscape much more that is most important, and reach them on the SHYAM SUNDER, senior marketing head and e-commerce fragmented than it once was, and the speakers at most appropriate channel. lead, Centrepoint the breakfast briefing all agreed that one size does Bonass plead a case for casting off the LYNN HAZIM, creative agency consultant, MENA, Google not fit all. There was debate about short-form long-form-short-form conversation altogether. versus long-form. YouTube’s Alex Brunori Consumers are less interested in the brand, or showcased some of the six-second bumper ads even the craft of the ad than they are in stories from that platform, and moderator Richard Hol that mean something to them. He has worked THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS from Nomads joked that we are heading away on video content where he doesn’t know how from the 30-second spot and towards the long it will be when it is being shot; the edit will 0-second spot. But on the other end of the scale, help decide what length best tells a succinct but Ciaran Bonass from Vice spoke about the well-crafted story that the viewer is likely to hour-long documentary on Arab identity that engage with. introduced his brand to the region and won the There are many channels out there for video Dubai Lynx Film Grand Prix on the way.