Dana Adhami is a pioneering figure in the Middle East's digital media field. She is now the Head of New Business & Strategy at Catch Interactive, and provides us with insights into the latest trends and where the market is heading.

Q1. Kindly tell us about yourself, your career and your current role at your agency.

I have dual roles of new business and strategy at Catch.  Previous to that, I was responsible for managing the media unit at Catch for over two years, by making sure that all online plans and media schedules are aligned with client objectives and the diverse offering online provides. Recently, I was promoted to head new business and strategy for the agency where I am responsible for developing digital strategic insights for brands, researching & developing new online media opportunities for integration and driving Catch along with my team forward through thought leadership and innovation.

Q2. As one of the leading online media agencies, tell us about the pace of this media's evolution throughout the past couple of years.

It took TV 36 years to reach a large sizable audience, and radio about 13 years, online however took 5 years to grow into the mass medium it is today.   The pace of this medium is exponential, both on a global and regional level.  If we look closely at the Middle East, where online was purely about a 468x60 standard banner advertising not long ago, the dynamics have changed tremendously.

Today, marketing managers and interactive agencies are being challenged to raise the bar online. Display banners are no longer key, and have long ago been removed from the online advertising mix. 
Nowadays, new standards have been introduced in addition to new benchmarks.  Some of the  standards include specialized targeting such as contextual, behavioral, keywords, placement targeting, new banner formats, rich media platforms, among a few.  Our new benchmarks on the other hand, revolve around accountable ROI, digital versus traditional integration, innovative creativity and extending brands into interactive and engaging experiences.

One of the major positive changes in the last year or so, is the full adoption of search marketing and its importance in building brands and driving sales.  With Google having recently set up offices in the region, we are bound to see higher media spends on this medium, resulting in continuous change of the online media dynamic.

The pace is healthy, and indicates solid and positive growth, however I still feel that it is still a learning curve for all of us. Online advertising extends beyond a 30 second spot or a still visual that has set rules and dynamics.  As technologies change and mindsets evolve, new innovations will definitely be introduced into our medium.

Soon, currently existing in overseas markets, the concept of online advertising will evolve and grow into a larger picture to be known as digital advertising where more than one digital platform is integrated, i.e. mobile, search, Bluetooth, virtual worlds, viral…etc.   The meaning of integration will soon encompass integration of diverse digital touch points for effective reach and newness.

I also believe that clients will alter their mindset to start searching for return on involvement measures rather than the typical return on investment we all get grilled for.  I see that the future of online advertising evolving and developing into a new concept, what I like to call ‘engagement advertising’

Q3. What's preventing clients from committing a higher percentage of their advertising budget to online media, to better correspond to the time that consumers are spending on the Internet?

The reasons are numerous, and have been previously discussed by many online professionals.  Many say it’s fear of the unknown, yet listening to clients’ arguments who some claim that it is their online agencies who fail to challenge and push the envelope.

In my opinion, I feel that the reason for clients downsizing online budgets is to do with budgeting itself.  I believe that clients have been using and still are using the same budgeting schemes their existing or previous organizations instilled on them.  The mechanic needs to change as time and consumers change. 

Rather than fixating budgets on expenses, margins or forecasts of sales, clients need to extend the methodology to start introducing a percentage of innovation into their marketing plans/budgets.  The percentage can vary between 10-20%, but should allow clients to visit new territories with their brands and connect with new customers, one of them should be online or interactive initiatives.

Another reason is agency integration.  Now that many of the global agency networks have set their interactive departments, we are finding that the correspondence between the digital planners and traditional planners is a little inconsistent.  Digital planners are usually brought in after the media plan is set, and are used as complimentary vehicles to the communication mix, this usually results in budgets being finalized for traditional and downscaled for online.  Traditional agencies need to integrate their digital arms at early stages of planning to allow proper correspondence for consumer medium consumption.

Lack of metrics, research and auditing are also hindering online budgets from expanding.  This is taking time as the region progresses, however will mark change once audited and valid data is brought to place.

Finally, and I believe is a main reason for online budgets being set back is directly linked to talent, the more passionate and self-involved people become about the medium both on client and agency side, the more we will find that the idea of selling high budgets will become easy.

Q5. Would you say that online advertising on the region's major websites is fairly priced and what kind of impact on prices can we expect from the lower-price opportunities available on international sites and ad networks like Google Adwords?

Yes I believe they are fairly priced, especially when comparing to international sites and ad networks.  However, our market is unique and online rates are representative and directly linked to the value of communicating with the type of user using the medium in this region.  The internet in the US or UK is widely mass, with high levels of audience fragmentation and income levels, hence the low prices.   Also, a high contributing factor is the technological infrastructure available in those countries.  These platforms are deemed high in service diversification and user penetration, allowing online advertising to be low-priced.

 In our region, however, online is still growing at a pace to become mass, and the current online population is considered niche as far as income level and psychographics.  However, as more telecommunication companies branch out in offering and infrastructure within the region, the more this will impact internet connection prices.  Also this will result in an increased online population and internet usage creating standardized cost-effective and relevant prices for the industry.

Q6. Any closing words and/or a prediction for online advertising in 2008?

My closing words are for those who do spend budgets online both on the agency and client side. My predictions for 2008 start with my belief that clients will spend more time looking into ways to succeed online. This in effect will benefit and threaten many.

The CTR approach (Click Through Rate) will alter in importance, as more clients try to create meaningful interactive experiences with their customers, through involvement and relationship.

There will be large integration between TV (video) and the internet, in a way the internet is becoming more like TV and vice versa.  We will find that brands will embrace video within their online communication to sustain synergy across all mediums. This will definitely start pulling budgets from TV due to online’s capacity of extending the experience further through interactivity, higher user control and video streaming capability.

I hope, but this could be wishful thinking, that mobile marketing will start to integrate as a synergistic and consistent platform to online advertising, allowing interactive agencies a new level of creativity and user engagement, however only 2008 will reveal so.