Advertising reaction from various brands was heavily dependent on the impact Covid-19 had on their sector. It will be exactly six months on 13, September since Kenya reported its first case of Covid-19 . Since then, it has been a whirlwind for brands and the media as they figure out what has now become the ‘new normal’ – a term being used to define circumnavigating the Covid-19 business environment . Globally, the Coronavirus pandemic led to an immediate slash in advertising budgets. The rule of thumb in the advertising industry, according to the World Economic Forum COVID Action Platform, is ad spend follows any rise or fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Covid 19 Time Series
Generally, global GDP has been growing by three to six per cent annually. However, in 2020, the International Monetary Fund has projected global growth at (negative) – 4.9 per cent . This is 1.9 percentage points below the April 2020 World Economic Outlook forecast. This negative growth is expected to hit the advertising industry hard. How brands in Kenya responded In Kenya, the effects of the pandemic were immediately felt as soon as Kenya announced its first case on March 13. “Most brands stopped their media completely – 100 per cent – and this has affected not just the market in terms of revenues for media owners and agencies, but also affected the brands in terms of brand and revenues,” says Serah Katusia, Managing Director, MediaCom East Africa. She estimates between March and August spends in Kenya may have gone down by about 15 per cent overall. A report by Ipsos Kenya media monitoring division lists several brands that discontinued advertising after March and by end of July, they were yet to resume. They include Beiersdorf East Africa Ltd, Keroche Breweries, D Light Solar Ltd, Henkel Kenya Ltd, Brookside Dairy Ltd, Golden Africa Kenya Ltd (manufacturers of edible oils, vegetable fat and multipurpose laundry bars), and Cadbury Kenya. A vacant billboard on Thika Road: Companies have had to slash their advertising spend in an economy depressed by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. [Archive, Standard] Jayne Munji, the Standard Group General Manager, Advertising, says the reaction from various brands was heavily dependent on the impact Covid-19 had on their sector. “For some brands, it did not make any sense to keep campaigns running especially if their sectors were heavily disrupted,” she says. While […]