Houda Tohme, Deputy General Manager, Havas Media UAE’s perfect day would need 30 hours. In a conversation with Arabian Marketer, she speaks on the trends shaping the business, and what needs to change for growth…
What drives you to work every morning?
Knowing that I am able to surround myself with the most diverse, intelligent and creative group of people in the world. Having the privilege to collaborate on innovative projects with them on a day-to-day basis is why I love what I do.
What is the one thing that you want to change about this industry?
The sense of unnecessary urgency. We are in an industry that takes itself too seriously. We behave like our campaigns are a ticking time bomb and god forbid an ad is aired late or a banner is in the wrong place, people’s careers are on the line. Valuing the clients’ needs is key but we need to also remember as marketers, delivering quality work requires time and patience.
Is the slowdown becoming a reality?
We are noticing budget cuts, reconsideration of major projects, rigorous real time reporting, extreme risk calculations and now more than ever stringent decision-making. On the other hand, times like these trigger creativity and finding efficient solutions with limited resources. It is challenging but we have been here before and we can do it again.
What do you see as the key growth drivers in 2016?
Today above all, we have data, which is the power to validate consumer behavior and depict the right insights and trends to better optimize and drive ROI. It’s estimated that 90 percent of data has been accumulated in the past two years. The pace at which digital and data are evolving is exponential. The question today is how do we cope with this profusion of data and structure it in a way that systematically informs business decisions and more so, how quickly can actions be taken based on changing consumer behavior in real time.
What will be advertising & marketing sector’s biggest challenges in 2016?
The challenge lies in bringing mobile, video and content all this together in a seamless communication approach from a consumer perspective rather than from a marketer POV. We often forget that a consumer does not differentiate between our ‘labels’. Just like we figured out that consumers don’t think in silos for offline vs online media, we also need to acknowledge that they do not care whether a communication is a piece of branded content or an ad. At the end, it has to non-intrusive, relevant and engaging.
