Advertising investment in television in Côte d'Ivoire fell sharply for the second consecutive year (-21% in 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022 and -9.2% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year).
The first quarter of 2023 is thus barely above the level of the first quarter of 2019, when A+ Ivoire had just begun broadcasting and the other Ivorian DTT channels had not yet been launched.
This level of funding for Ivorian television is worrying because it is now at the same level as before the launch of the new Ivorian channels, even though they need significant resources to continue enriching their program offerings.
It is also atypical because, in general, the advertising market is growing faster than economic growth, which was 6.7% in 2022 in Côte d'Ivoire.
3 SOLUTIONS TO BOOST THE MARKET
- Highlight the qualities of the media as a whole:
The effectiveness of developing a case for the media as a whole has been proven in many countries. A common approach to highlight both the universal strengths of television and those specific to the Ivorian situation would have a significant impact on advertisers. In this view, the competitors are other media, not other channels.
- Promote an audience measurement system that is recognized and shared by all
The fact that audience measurement is not yet consensual and remains confidential is hindering the development of the medium. The players are aware of this and have begun to reflect on how to resolve this issue. Let us hope that 2023 will see the emergence of an audience measurement system that is recognized by all, and whose results are indisputable and widely shared.
- Exploit or develop studies that enable advertisers, advertising agencies, and agencies to steer their strategies.
Television is an extremely effective tool, particularly for increasing brand awareness among the population.
Of the 100 food and beverage brands we studied in our Ivorian brand observatory, only 5% have a brand awareness level above 50% and 60% of brands have a brand awareness level below 20%. All of these brands would benefit from communicating on television.
The solution of sharing the costs of this study would both enrich the sales pitches of advertising agencies and finance other studies on other product categories.
Audience measurement, sales pitches, studies… all the tools necessary for the development of television advertising are at our fingertips, but they are not yet being fully utilized by advertisers and their advisors.
There is now an urgent need to make full use of all these tools because if the TV advertising market continues to stagnate or even decline, the editorial efforts made by the channels, which require significant financial resources, cannot be continued and will pose a risk to the entire Ivorian audiovisual sector.