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 Yet more outdoor media providers have recounted how their businesses have been effectively eviscerated thanks to the collapsing property market in the UAE, according to a report in The National – the second in a week on the same theme.
The latest report, from yesterday’s Outdoor Advertising Forum, quotes execs from JCDecaux Dicon and Synaxis Media as saying their business has fallen off substantially in recent weeks.
“Eighty-five per cent of our clients are in property. All our main targets were real estate,” said Halima Khatoon, a sales manager at JCDecaux, adding that the firm was now targeting other potential advertisers, particularly in the luxury goods and automotive sectors.
She also said the firm would likely be reviewing the prices of slots in the recently-won advertising concession at Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3, which were at one point (presumably very briefly) 10% higher than London Heathrow prices.
Synaxis Media sales supervisor Nabih Muslimani put it most succinctly: “It’s affecting everyone. Our business has just dropped. Everybody is holding their horses.”
The earlier National report had much the same theme, and quoted execs from across the market, all apparently with the same script: it’s going down.
Mohie Patel, veep for advertising at the Khaleej Times, said the paper’s advertising figures had dropped 30-35%, and that 50% of the print market was for property advertising.
Hisham Tammir, COO of Media Com in Dubai, said he had seen clients cut budgets by 15% or 30%, and expected more to come.
But for big numbers, the spotlight once again was on outdoor, as Ahmed Lizzaik, MD of Reach International, said he had seen his client base drop off by 85% since mid October. Lizzaik had earlier told AdNation that he expected outdoor prices to drop by 30-40%.
The gist – it’s all a bit grim, and is probably going to get worse as the last of the property money drains from the market.
The National stories: Portly advertisers forced to slim prices
and Door slams on property advertising spend.
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