Director of the Commercial Advertising Department at the Ministry of Information Mesfer El-Hayyan confirmed that the ministry has succeeded in attracting advertisers significantly during Ramadan this year, as reflected in the 150 percent increase in advertising revenues compared to the same period last year, reports Al-Jarida daily. Al-Hayyan told the daily that “the Media Services and New Media Sector had earlier laid down a comprehensive marketing plan for the month of Ramadan — an advertising marketing season for all satellite stations, especially since this period witnesses an increase in the percentage of television viewing every year.”

He said the agent of the sector, Jassem Al-Habib, supervised the implementation of the marketing plan, which was approved by Undersecretary of the ministry Munira Al-Huwaidi with the aim of attracting the largest number of advertisers. He confirmed the ministry earned big revenues during the 20 days of Ramadan — more than KD 500,000. — and these revenues are expected to increase during Eid Al-Fitr holiday. “It is good to achieve these revenues while the corona pandemic is ongoing, especially since this crisis has had a negative impact on advertisements in various media platforms, particularly television,” he pointed out. “Last Ramadan, the revenues from advertising did not exceed KD 200,000 as a result of the emergence of coronavirus. During Ramadan in previous years, the ministry earned more than KD 1 million from advertisements, but this amount decreased dramatically due to the corona crisis,” he added.

He attributed the current revenues of the ministry to its strategy of attracting advertisers, the most important aspect of which is reducing advertisement fees for governmental companies and independent institutions by 50 percent. The new regulation also stipulates giving discounts to owners of small enterprises, he revealed. He added: “The Media Services and New Media Sector, represented by the Commercial Advertising Department, is preparing to launch an integrated marketing plan that includes advertising campaigns every three months based on carefully studied fundamentals in terms of prices and privileges to encourage advertisers to advertise on Kuwait Radio and Television.”