The stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the first to the second quarter of 2020, has significantly impacted the ability of corporate brands to spend on advertising.
According to filmmaker and digital marketing expert, Editi Effiong, the drop in revenues has led many businesses to cut their advertising budgets, as they strive to cut costs of operations and stay afloat.
Speaking during the weekly Nairametrics Tweet chat, Effiong added that the cut in advertising spending has, in turn, affected other businesses that depend on running advertising campaigns for clients.
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“Advertisers generally spend more during “festive” periods, making Q4 the biggest quarter in Nigeria. The biggest spender in the Nigerian market has traditionally been a beverage group. COVID-19 has deflated on-location consumption. When you get a 90% revenue drop, advertising isn’t very useful” he explained.
The Telecoms and VOD platforms have, however, increased their advertising budgets due to the boom in data sales and online activities.
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Fintechs are also not left behind as they have upped their ad spending to encourage the migration of payments to digital channels.
COVID has also accelerated the rate of digital adoption. Even the most committed skeptics have given in and brushed up digital plans for their brands.
One of my clients didn't own a smartphone until 3 years ago. Now they consume digital content almost exclusively/
— Editi Effiòng (@EditiEffiong) May 14, 2020
A shift from cinema models to video-on-demand (VOD)
Effiong, who has also been a filmmaker even before founding Anakle, a digital agency, observed that the global entertainment industry has not been spared a hit from the pandemic.
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Caveat: I’m not an all-knowing media expert.
But one immediately obvious fallout is that the global production industry has ground to a halt. No one is making films, TV series or web series right now. Global players like Netflix have closed all production.
— Editi Effiòng (@EditiEffiong) May 14, 2020
Even though physical production has been ground to a halt, some artistes have taken to online production, using mobile media like Instagram and tiktok videos.
The lockdown and the physical distancing guideline has also accelerated a shift from the cinema model of entertainment to the video-on-demand where users access entertainment without the restriction of a typical schedule.
For artistes, stage performances have also been suspended for a while, thereby affecting performance artistes.
Effiong noted that it was not easy to predict when things would return to normal, even after the pandemic, as the world had undergone a major paradigm shift in the way of doing business.