Last month Social Media Today posted an infographic that Branex had put together on the 7 latest advertising trends of 2018 ( https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/7-advertising-trends-to-look-out-for-in-2018-infographic/522885/ ). Now while the list looked interesting, it made me wonder how applicable it was to the African market (specifically Cameroon). It will come as no surprise that the African market vastly differs from its Western counterpart, not only because of socio cultural norms but also because much of it is still developing. For the purpose of this post I shall be focusing on Cameroon as that is where I can provide the most insight. Cameroon is considered to be a “third world country” which means that most would consider its limitations to be financial or technological when analysing the aforementioned trends.

The first trend on the list, Experiential Advertising, falls under the category of lack of technological advancement. This has to do with advertisers utilising VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) “to deliver an immersive ad experience to their target audience”. The first example that springs to mind is from 2016 when Emirate had a week long VR stand in London Waterloo station allowing passers-by to “visit” Dubai’s top attractions. The stand was extremely popular as it attracted people interested in travelling to Dubai as well as those wanting to experience VR. While this advancement in technology is becoming more popular, the limitations of the Cameroonian market means that it is not a trend that will catch on anytime soon. Virtual and Augmented reality are both concepts that have not yet reached Cameroon due to technological restrictions. However if someone were willing to make such an investment it would become extremely popular, with the stand going from and advertising tool to an attraction in its own right.

The second trend on the list, Programmatic Advertising, is being heavily utilised by the mobile industry in Cameroon. This trend has to do with the automation of advertising, with Branex forecasting that by 2022 80% of the advertising process will be automated. While the Cameroonian market is nowhere near this, mobile networks have been taking advantage of the simplicity provided by this method. It is as simple as mobile companies advertising through automated text messages to their customers. Consumers receive daily messages about the various subscription services offered by their service provider, ranging from the lottery to football match scores. However it is important to note that this is just one small aspect of programmatic advertising and technological limitations mean that this trend is not utilised to its fullest.

The third trend on the list, Mobile Advertising, is one that will be successful in most parts of the world. According to the GSMA mobile phone use in Sub-Saharan Africa was at 444million subscribers in 2017 with 747million sim connections. This is what makes mobile advertising so attractive to service providers. However it also extends to companies outside the telecommunications industry. For example after a phone call to certain companies a message automatically pops up on your phone, this will vary from promoting an event or wishing a happy (insert holiday here) day to the consumer. This is often in the form of a flash message and only occurs when certain numbers are called, inferring an arrangement between the company and service provider. This growing trend is still limited by the abilities of the telecommunications industry with companies not yet being able to take advantage of apps such as Snapchat. While their technologies are not on par, mobile advertising is a growing trend in both the Western and African market.

Contextual Ads is the fourth trend and not only is it a popular trend in Cameroon it also shows the lack of limitations provided by the internet. Data mining allows advertisers to show ads based on consumers online activity. This is something that was mostly seen on YouTube, however with the growth of online shopping sites such as Jumia (an online shopping site where traditional banners are used), it has expanded. The source of the ads range from local to international companies. While local companies utilise it for general promotion, contextual ads allow international companies to make the distinction between promoting Kaspersky or Kaspersky Lab Africa. According to the Pew Research Centre, internet use has increased in Sub-Saharan Africa by 41% which is reflected in the increase in contextual advertising. Social Media platforms have aided in the rise of this method, with Instagram being where the trend is best visible. Despite the fact that I was unaware of this person, ads for music by a Cameroonian artist based in America constantly appear on my Instagram timeline. Similarly ads for Cameroonian hair shops are prevalent even though I only follow UK hair dressers, thus showing how my interest and location have been combined for the benefit of local business. As mentioned before while Cameroon may be a “third world” country this is not a limitation and some trends transcend the hurdles this title provides.

The fifth trend is Video Advertising which has long been a popular method of promotion, it is the location of the videos which have shifted. Companies are choosing to share their campaigns online rather than through the television. Mobile video advertising is on the rise and Social Media platforms are expediting this process in Cameroon. This method is most popular on YouTube and Instagram, where it is easiest to watch videos. The legitimacy of LinkedIn as a business platform has made it the preferred options for companies such as BICEC and Orange to post promotional videos. While companies have taken advantage of the fact that 42% of mobile phone owners use them to access social media (Pew Research Centre), slow bandwidth makes it difficult for the video advertising to impact its target market, but this not take away from the success of this trend.

The sixth trend, Native Advertising, was new to me and I would best describe it as integrated advertising. This is best demonstrated through Google’s search engine which displays ads as search results. Because Google has a global impact it, it can be said that native advertising has been used in Cameroon and Sub-Saharan Africa as a whole. Outside of Google this method is most used with articles on news outlets. There are a number of online news outlets in Cameroon however they prefer more obvious methods of advertising, and have not yet written promotional articles. Therefore this technique is not visible in the Cameroonian advertising industry. The lack of success of the trend in the local market could be attributed to various factors one of which is internet usage. While it has grown by 41% it is still well behind its Western Counterparts, furthermore many companies will not have an appropriate platform to apply this method.

The final trend is Audience Based Advertising, which while possible is limited due to data collection methods. Firstly not much general market research is carried out within Cameroon, which makes it difficult for companies to buy advertising to reach a specific audience. This is not to say that market research is not carried out in Cameroon.

To summarize, of the seven trend indicated above only three are applicable in Cameroon: MOBILE ADS, CONTEXTUAL ADS and VIDEO ADS. The success of all three of these methods is directly linked to increased internet, social media and mobile phone usage. Despite an increase in both these areas Mobile ads in Cameroon are still well behind their Western counterparts. This demonstrates the limitations placed on the development of the marketing industry by a lack of technological advancement. It is also important to note that these trends offered by Branex are only applicable in the “developed world” and thus excludes a large part of the marketing industry.

Finally it makes me wonder if the reverse can be found, are there marketing trends specific to the Cameroonian market that are not applicable to its Western counterpart. (see part 2)