According to half-yearly results calculated on the basis of information collected each month by Omedia, which tracks television advertising investment in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire, the trends in these two countries are completely divergent in the first half of 2023.
Senegal grew by nearly 25%, while Côte d'Ivoire declined by nearly 22%.
In the first half of 2023, Senegalese advertisers also spent more than twice as much money on television as Ivorian advertisers, even though Côte d'Ivoire's GDP is significantly higher.
The two countries have similar growth rates and a developed audiovisual landscape with numerous local channels (admittedly, Senegal has had these for longer), but in Senegal, national channels account for a much larger share of total TV viewership: they represent 65% of viewership in Senegal and around 42% in Côte d'Ivoire (up since the creation of DTT channels).
Competition from digital technology cannot be used to explain the decline of IPTV in Côte d'Ivoire, as Internet penetration and usage are much higher in Senegal. (70% of Internet users in Senegal vs. 51% in Côte d'Ivoire, according to the latest figures from the AFRICASCOPE 2023 study).
It is often said, and we are the first to admit it, that the lack of a universally recognized audience measurement system is a factor hindering the development of advertising in Côte d'Ivoire. But the situation is not much different in Senegal, where few people subscribe to the available studies and the publication or circulation of audience figures is equally rare.
How do Ivorian advertisers go about making themselves known to as many people as possible, developing their brand image or reputation, and standing out from the competition? Can billboards, which are hugely popular in Côte d'Ivoire, even when combined with digital technology, effectively fulfill all these roles? As we mentioned a few months ago, if Ivorian private channels want to survive, they must generate interest in their media among advertisers and agencies and take action to reverse the current trend: in 2023, advertisers are spending less and less on advertising on Ivorian channels than before the launch of DTT.