Amid the myriad of online opportunities, El Masna3 is capitalizing on those that lay in Arabic content. “The Arabic language is hugely under-represented on the Internet. We hope to [fill this gap] by creating high-quality content that enriches the usage of Arabic language online,” says Naguib. In December 2013, El Masna3 produced Arabic Web Days, a new initiative to support Arabic content creation online, in collaboration with global and regional digital players, including Google, Wamda and Yamli.

Mobilizing power

One of the most notable developments impacting media and digital dynamics in Egypt is the growing popularity of mobile, as data released by the Egyptian government indicates that mobile phones enjoyed a penetration of 116 percent in October 2013.

“The role of a mobile is much more significant in Egypt than in more developed countries,” says Adham Roushdy, vice-president of ad agency Advantage and Mediair Carat Egypt, explaining that, among lower socio-economic classes, more people are going to be introduced to the Internet for the first time in their lives on their mobiles, rather than on a computer, effectively creating a new market for mobile advertising. “The lower [social] classes, most of which cannot afford an EGP [Egyptian pound] 1,000 computer, can afford an EGP400 phone. Twinned with cheap online mobile packages and the increasing availability of free Wi-Fi in public areas, mobile advertising will become an exponential medium in the near future,” asserts Roushdy. Easier access to the Internet and recent launches of low-cost smartphones should boost the latter’s penetration in Egypt, which, for now, pales in comparison with that of mobile phones, standing at a modest six percent in 2013, when compared with five percent in 2012.

Arbitrary skepticism

However, for all of the digital activism and its inevitable growth in Egypt, many local businesses are still clinging to tried-and-tested traditional methods the industry has adopted over the past 50 years. “Some play it safe and are unable to see the merits of doing things differently. This way of thinking is old school and no longer resonates with consumers,” says Auf.

With the exception of Egypt’s biggest advertisers, which include multinationals such as Pepsi and local telco giants such as Mobinil, Roushdy believes that the percentage of budgets being shifted to digital remains relatively small, as the biggest issue he faces when dealing with some less sophisticated and tech-savvy clients is their need to feel secure. “They are used to seeing their ads on newspapers and television. Some businesses were courageous and smart enough to fully understand the power of digital advertising and invested in it, while all of the others are still 50 years behind”, and as such, tend to direct only their leftovers to digital.

For completely different reasons, this wave of skepticism has equally reverberated in the traditional media market, leading to the dropout and shutdown of many agencies in the market after the 2011 uprising, “because of financial problems” and competition over little work, says Walid Shishini, regional creative director and co-founder of Cairo-based branding agency, MeMark. He adds that clients’ cautious stance on media spend and investments, as well as on the country’s happenings, has translated into heavy budget cuts. “Many events get cancelled at the last minute for security reasons. So, naturally, several clients are worried. Everyone asks: ‘What’s next?’”

Brotherhood unmanned

During the short-lived MB rule under Morsi, the future of Egypt’s media scene itself looked uncertain, says Roushdy; “had they [the MB] continued [in power], the likelihood of them closing down channels and imposing regulations would have been high”.

However, in an ironic twist of events, Morsi’s removal from power by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, led by El Sisi, and the subsequent coup that overthrew the MB, were followed by a series of forceful shutdowns of many of the brotherhood’s owned and supporting media outlets in Egypt. “It [the shutdown of MB outlets] didn’t have any direct impact on the advertising industry as a whole. Advertisements on these channels targeted a certain segment of society that is, in fact, a minority. A majority of the people watch [more commercial] channels, such as Al Hayat and Al-Nahar. Also, people refrained from advertising on MB channels because they [saw] political risk [in associating with them],” says Shishini, adding that the National Democratic Party backs most of the TV channels that attract the biggest chunk of advertising money and viewer ratings, with “even many MB and Islamist businesses advertising [on them], rather than their own channels”.

But, while Roushdy agrees that the impact of the MB media shutdown on the industry has been minimal, he says that nobody knows the real numbers: “The reality is [that] those [MB] channels had viewership that encompassed certain factions of the population. It’s hard to determine the size of that [viewership] because no research has ever managed to include [it] properly.”

Trust issues

In fact, in January 2014, Ipsos became the target of a naming-and-shaming campaign led by a consortium of Egypt’s top broadcasters, including CBC, ONTV and Dream TV, accusing the firm of bias in reporting audience ratings in favor of foreign media outlets and even hinting at threats to national security. Rumors flew that the reproachful broadcasters were seeking damages on the grounds that low ratings had negatively impacted their advertising income. Shortly after, Ipsos released a slew of statements vehemently denying the allegations and warning that it would take legal action “against any baseless accusations that defame both its name and its clients’ reputations”.

Despite Ipsos’ somewhat successful efforts to sweep the blunder under the rug, the controversy sparked a heated debate around the transparency and credibility of key media players in Egypt, which, according to Tarek Atia, CEO and founder of EMDP (Egypt Media Development Program), are compromised by the absence of “proper and transparent independent auditing mechanisms for the media. There is a big margin of error in our research methods. The same thing goes for the newspaper industry. Nobody knows the true circulation numbers of publications, such as Al- Ahram and Al-Masry Al-Youm. So advertisers are just guessing”. Worse, Atia says that ineffective market monitoring and research are no more than by-products of the reluctance of some major media players to disclose figures and numbers, and their deal seals on the back of back-scratching, network- ing and personal relationships.

Nevertheless, there have been a number of attempts over the past few years at building awareness around the need for accurate and transparent measurement systems, such as independent circulation audits for newspapers. “The media business is one of the businesses that are improving in the country. We are getting closer to international standards than other industries in Egypt,” says Roushdy, predicting that still, the regulation of the TV advertising clutter would pose a challenge in the near future. “Media channels are trying to regulate viewership in a meaningful way,” he explains, adding that regulatory measures, such as capping the number of sponsors or advertisers per program and raising air time prices, will prove beneficial for the industry, as well as improve the quality of TV content in the long run – even though “more and more channels are popping up, providing more opportunities for advertisers”.

Conspiracy puppets

That is not to say that TV advertising was spared from the general air of tension and paranoia that has shrouded the country’s media scene. In December 2013, telco operator Vodafone Egypt was embroiled in a rather odd PR scandal after airing an advert that featured Abla Fahita, a comedic puppet character that had been popular on social media in Egypt since 2011. The ad showed Abla Fahita searching for her deceased husband’s mo- bile SIM card and mentioning the use of a sniffer dog at a shopping mall; a scenario that Egyptian blogger and conspiracy theorist Ahmed Spider translated into a coded message for a planned bombing attack by the MB at a shopping mall, filing a lawsuit against the operator. As such, the state prosecution service was asked to carry out an investigation into the ad and the motives behind it. And it did.

While Vodafone insisted that the tactical ad only aimed at encouraging users to reactivate their old SIM cards, and that Abla Fahita was no more than a comedic character, a Twitter hashtag, #FreeFahita, was humorously created in favor of the puppet and was featured on primetime TV shows and programs, including that of highly popular satirical comedian, Bassem Youssef. This wasn’t the first time Vodafone and its agency were associated with national security threats over a simple ad. In 2011, Egyptian artist and music composer Amr Mostafa suggested that Vodafone’s slogan, “The Power Is in Your Hand”, subliminally called on Egyptians to protest against Mubarak. Simultaneously, activists and revolutionaries were outraged that Vodafone had allegedly tried to take credit for inspiring the revolution, while it was believed that telco companies operating in Egypt had followed a government order for a communications blackout during the 2011 uprising.

Content is pharaoh

The Abla Fahita controversy may have brought to light the disturbing level of mistrust during Egypt’s turbulent times, but it also received amused response on social media, with the ad’s video on YouTube garnering more than 1.7 million views in just one week. “This particular case shows the power of content and entertainment. There’s no monopoly over what [content] goes where and there’s no telling how people could react,” says El Masna3’s Naguib. “Content and pop culture result in something much more powerful than a simple advertisement.” “The quality of the creative industry in Egypt has matured in a way we have never seen before. Much of the creative content we are witnessing is courageous and is breaking taboos. The reality is that we are all impacted by the politi- cal situation. Many of [those in the creative field] have their own views and they are reflecting those views in advertising,” adds Roushdy.

MeMark’s Shishini says the industry’s witnessed significant changes over the past 20 years, but that those changes are now faster than ever with the advent of digital media and the revolutionary power it has brought forth. “Egyptian people realized how creative they are through the field of advertising,” he says, adding that: “Politically, the past three years have created more freedom of expression. But businesses are still afraid of political agendas so they don’t alienate a segment of society. In business, we have to remain neutral. We avoid politics as much as we can.”

Today, the biggest trend in Egypt’s creative industry, much like elsewhere in the world, is content creation, asserts Khaled Zaki, content manager at JWT Cairo. “This specific trend has been growing over the past few years. But it’s only started to catch on as of recently.” Ice cream brand Maxibon’s launch campaign in Ramadan 2012 was indisputably one of the most memorable Egyptian series of ads over the past few years. “We weren’t trying to create something new, we were trying to tell a story,” says Zaki. The ads, one of which featured young men DJ-ing Shaabi music (popular working class music in Egypt) and ‘eating’ whoever interrupted their jamming time, were well received by audiences for their humor. The phrase “My father, my father. What on earth have you done to him?”, sung by one of the characters in the ad after his father was ‘eaten’ by his friend, became an online sensation; it was tweeted 4205-plus times and was turned into an online meme with a total of 123 different comics shared 6735 times on Twitter and Facebook.

Political implications

But, while the Abla Fahita controversy was unintended, and rather on the entertaining side, and other ads simply aimed to please with apolitical content, several advertising campaigns capitalized and hinted on the country’s political climate over the past two years. Recently, commuters on Cairo’s October Bridge were met with a billboard ad calling on Egyptians to be patient, for the “big man” was coming. This was highly reminiscent of the 2012 campaign by former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq when he ran against Morsi; a similar teaser billboard ad on the same bridge promised to reveal Egypt’s “next president”, later informing people that it was Shafiq.

In fact, many MB figures speculated that the second such stunt on the October Bridge was a presidential campaign for Sisi, prompting military authorities to release an official statement deny- ing his involvement in the billboard ad. Media personality Tamer Amin claimed that his sources confirmed it was Shafiq’s campaign, while presenter Amany Al-Khayat maintained that the ad was part of an American conspiracy to divide Egyptian votes in the upcoming elections. After much speculation, the teaser campaign revealed that the “big man” was Hawanem, a new pasta brand. The reveal was surely anti-climactic, but it resonated with much of the Egyptian public.

Political Play: Pasta brand Hawanem’s teaser campaign used political and army undertones

Advertising agency Inhouse’s co-founder, Haytham Ezzo, the creative director behind the controversial campaign, says he purposely played on the political environment: “I wanted a strong message to create a word-of-mouth debate. [At the time], everyone was talking about the upcoming presidential elections,” he says.