When Trinidad And Tobago Businesses Advertise Locally They Get the End of the Stick with Doo-Doo

Critiquing The Snail Pace Evolution Of The Advertising Industry In An Emerging Market


As a small cosmopolitan emerging market with strong economy and a population of 1.3 million people Trinidad and Tobago is an ideal model to showcase the development of information industries.

The local advertising industry specifically, has not kept pace with what is accepted as normal in the more developed markets.

It is accepted that media advertising is an indispensable revenue generating tool for most businesses. In fact, every year local businesses shell out literally billions of dollars to advertise their products and services.

Ninety percent of those dollars spent on advertising is never leveraged. The professionals in the industry continue to prey on the ignorance of their clients. Well “prey” might be a bit harsh word to use when most of the clients run like lambs to the slaughter, money in hand to purchase full page newspaper ads or high frequency TV ads at premium prices. And most of them know exactly what they want because it’s their money and their business.

All of the media establishments to include all the local daily and weekly newspapers, radio, television, advertising agencies, and magazines sell high priced, ineffective advertising. Truth is that they should all be forgiven, for they know not what they do. Only in a rare exception are advertising results measured.

Businesses and individuals purchase advertisements for one reason and one reason only; to sell, rent or some how enter into a transaction with their targeted consumers.

There are the exceptions as in the case of well known companies using it to maintain their brand, image or top of mind awareness For example, RBTT, First Citizen’s Bank or in the case of large international conglomerates like Pepsi and Coca Cola.

Then there are extraordinary exceptions where government ministries advertise their programme with out any intention of generating revenue or acquiring employees. It is extraordinary that the responsible authorities would take out a full page ad to inform the pubic of the existence of something like the CEPEP programme. Questions are rarely raised. Read More