RIYADH: “Ignite the Ads,” a digital advertising event organized by the Digital Content Council and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in Saudi Arabia, brought together startups, entrepreneurs and advertising professionals at Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center from May 28 to 31.
The first two days of the conference were dedicated to businesses and advertising professionals to help them network and collaborate.
The last two days were open to all advertising professionals and focused on brand awareness, product and service education, social media, and word-of-mouth marketing.
Speakers included Lynnwood Bibbens, CEO of airport network ReachTV; Franklin Weil, CEO of e-commerce firm Myntr; Lujaen Alkanhal, head of social media at Saudi agency Extend | The Ad Network; and Ahmad Konash, CEO and co-founder of Saudi creative agency Onsor Mosha.
The conference covered a wide range of topics from female empowerment and advertising to Generation Z, to trust, data and artificial intelligence.
Sessions included “Decoding What Drives Gen Z and Alpha,” “The Power of True Stories in Creating Advertising Ideas,” “Women in Tech: Pioneering an Inclusive and Authentic Digital Frontier,” and “Transforming Perceptions of Branded Content in Saudi Arabia.”
In addition to panel discussions and keynote speeches, the conference featured various areas such as the Billboard Zone, which served as an exhibition place for businesses, and the Growth Zone, where those attending could interact with businesses to learn digital advertising skills.
The conference formed part of Saudi Arabia’s Ignite program that was launched in 2022 to foster digital content creation and production, new investments and support for next-generation connectivity and communications infrastructure.
Haytham Al-Ohali, vice minister at the Saudi Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said that the Ignite digital content program grew 70 percent year-on-year to SR20 billion in 2023.
