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28 March 2024

Direct marketing ‘a key ad tool’

Published
By Rami Eljundi

 

Direct marketing will grow in the UAE and the rest of the Gulf Co-operation Council states in the coming years, an international advertising expert has predicted. 


In a workshop on creative advertising at the First Dubai International Advertising Festival, Dave King, creative adviser at New Zealand-based AIM Proximity, said: “Face-to-face communication is very important in this part of the world when it comes to promoting and advertising a product and that is why direct marketing is advertising’s best tool in addressing any consumer’s aspirations and needs.

“Being different and creative while getting the message across directly to the customer will be well-received by people here.”


Dave King used a small pizza chain commercial from the US that demonstrated how companies can compete with bigger and older players in the market by delivering to areas that are not covered by their competitors and putting that message across creatively. “The Papa Jones way is a good example of starting a small business and building its base of loyal consumers,” said King.

New streams of communication, such as text messaging and the internet, have been emerging as effective marketing and advertising tools, which advertisers should exploit when directly delivering a message to the consumer, King said. “Direct marketing can be face-to-face when you knock on someone’s door or communicate with him or her online.” 

In the UAE, he pointed out, the Emirates Marketing and Promotions, which is a subsidiary of Emirates Post, has been doing well in utilising direct marketing as a more effective means of reaching its potential customers than other conventional media outlets.

Creative ideas, “not ads”, would become “newsworthy” in direct marketing, King concluded. “And people always prefer to be communicated with directly.”