Seminar to tackle advertising challenges in Uganda

Tony Glencross, the chief commercial officer at Vision Group told Bizcommunity that the seminar is designed to give decision makers a better understanding on effective media buying, measuring return on advertising investment and value, as well as managing public relations in relation to advertising.

The conference is scheduled to take place on 14 March 2012 and will be conducted by Graeme Pitt, the managing director Freshly Ground Insights (FGI), a South African based market research firm. Pitt has 15 years experience in business consulting and management. He was a guest speaker at the Africa Media Leaders Forum in Tunisia in 2011 and has led a number of consumer and retail research projects for multinational corporations in Africa.

Vision Group and FGI are organising the conference on the back drop of endless media buying questions from advertisers in Uganda.

"We have realised that most times, the media buying decision is based on the media consumption habits of the buyer. In more developed markets, these decisions are made more scientifically - using research, industry trends, audience statistics etc. This is a development we would like to see in this market," Glencross said.

He noted that, business managers ought to care about making better media buying choices because it involves financial investment.

"A business manager must know the media consumption habits of his consumers in order to make, support or influence the right media buying decisions. Current advertising trends are indicative figures that must be studied for more effective decision making for all aspects of a business, not just advertising."

The Group believes informed advertising decisions will give media buyers better value for their clients or their companies because they are able make objective decisions to reach intended audiences more effectively.

The intrinsic value of advertising

In general, the conference will be looking at the intrinsic value of advertising by tackling various issues. Vision Group expects that the conference to address the challenge surrounding media selection in a market that has a proliferation of media to choose from, by looking at the relative efficacy of various media channels in the path to persuasion.

The conference comes at a time when advertising spend in the economy is on an upward trend is predicted to grow faster than last year due to a better global economic outlook and declining inflation in Uganda.

According to the Uganda All Media & Products Survey (UAMPS) released in January, Uganda's total industry advertising exposure grew to Ugx 480 billion in 2011 from Ugx 395 billion in 2010. Industry analysts predict that ad spend and exposure will rise this year due to higher confidence in the economy and the proliferation of various media channels in the economy.

The seminar is also designed to tackle topics including; maximizing advertising budgets and the age-old question of advertising in the context of public relations.

"Marketers and advertisers should have a better understanding of the synergistic effect of media, when used together and how to choose the best media for the best result, at the end of the seminar," Glencross said.

A wide range of people, including; chief executive officers, finance managers, marketing managers, advertising public relations and media managers are expected to attend the summit.

The Media Seminar is by invitation only