The Nigerian banking and financial industry expended over N6.2 billion on electronic and print media advertising in 2020, despite the economic downturn engendered by the Covid-19 pandemic that disrupted global business activities.
This was revealed recently in 2020 Media Facts, West and Central Africa, an annual media advertising survey by Media Reach OMD.
In the analysis of the advertising spend, the sector expended N3.3 billion on print or 53.2 percent, while N2.1billion went to Television, or 33.87 percent, and N800.00 million was attracted by the country’s Radio stations, signifying 12.9 percent allocation.
In a holistic review of events of year 2020, an unusual period, the report revealed that global media disruption from COVID-19 was both rapid and severe, although brands were largely able to adapt to the immediate shifts in consumer behaviour and that there was a clear correlation between changes in user activity and advertising spend in the year.
In Nigeria, the Report indicated, the effect and corresponding response to the pandemic which played out majorly from Mar 2020 was a wakeup call to all stakeholders.
“When the pandemic hit, the default response of most brands was to immediately halt marketing activities to assess the situation and thread cautiously considering the impact on business outlook for the year. This meant planned launch campaigns were suspended indefinitely and others had to slow down considering the impact of the restriction on production” it emphasised.
Although, as with most market disruptions, and considering the nature of the pandemic and resultant lockdown certain sectors benefitted immensely from the situation growing by wide margins with minimal efforts.
While players in the Telco, Personal & Health care, Food processing & retail, e-Commerce, Logistics, Medical Supply & Pharma, among others were beneficiaries of the pandemic, players in sectors such as Aviation, Entertainment, Tourism, SMEs, Fashion, Real Estate & Energy suffered losses due to the sudden disruption.
According to Media Reach, another major challenge was the agility required to navigate the highly volatile period of uncertainty in the midst of shifting client objectives and landscape which required constant monitoring, reporting, activation and re planning.
During the period, the Report indicated, economic and situational challenges prompted consumers to reappraise what they buy and which brands they prioritise.
“Disruption from lockdown resulted in new consumer behaviour patterns, usage occasions and need states (this applied to products as much as media), disruption resulted in some innovative response to the situation as seen among media houses and brands .The pandemic resulted in a shift in brands’ approach to CSR” the Report shows.
Media Reach OMD provides accurate and reliable media information based on rigorous research methods, validation and intelligent interpretation of facts conducted by its research and technology unit.