Ad Agencies Must Reinvent and Give Tailored Resources to Clients
July 7, 2011 by Kevin Michael Gray
Dubai: Mild of manner at most times, Tanvir Kanji practically bristles at any suggestion he is one of the old guards of the UAE's advertising industry. "If that means I have been around far longer than most in the ad industry here, I will say it's one way of looking at it," said Kanji, founder and head of Inca Tanvir.
"But I have my prejudices against that word, which suggests my best efforts are in the past.
"I believe I bring in not only the same energy to my work today as it was in 1976, but the added advantage of years of experience and insight into the consumers' psyche.
"If this number of years requires the use of the word ‘old guard', that's your outlook. It's certainly not mine."
Indeed, a more fitting attribute to one of the founder members of the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association would be that of being a pioneer.
Having said that, these are interesting times the local and region's advertising industry is going through. No sooner had the industry emerged from the gloom of the 2009 financial crisis in the second half of last year, it had to reckon with the impact of the region's on-going political crisis.
Kanji — who was named the ‘Advertising Person of the Year' at the second Dubai International Advertising Festival in 2009 — makes out a case of what could be in store for the industry in what has been nothing less than a topsy-turvy year.
Gulf News: The first-half of the year did not turn out as well as many had hoped for the local ad industry. Are advertisers still shaky about their budgets and spending? READ FULL ARTICLE
