ABU DHABI // FNC election candidates took out a total of almost 30 pages of adverts in Arabic newspapers in the first week of campaigning, an analysis by The National reveals.
Across four popular Arabic newspapers – Al Ittihad, Al Bayan, Emarat Al Youm and Al Khaleej – there were 159 adverts for 71 candidates in the week to Saturday.
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None appears close to reaching the Dh2 million spending cap with newspaper adverts alone. Nevertheless, the papers are brimming with campaign material, and front-page spots in Al Bayan and Al Ittihad are fully booked until the end of the campaign on September 21. Candidates are also advertising on billboards, and on radio and television.
Although two other candidates topped the list for space by buying two full-page ads, or more than 3,300sq cm each, the lawyer Otaiba bin Khalaf Al Otaiba appears to have spent most. He bought nearly 3,200sq cm of space – equivalent to about two broadsheet pages – over six front-page advertisements in Al Ittihad (published by Abu Dhabi Media, owner of The National).
At full price, Al Ittihad charges Dh52,360 for a front-page advert such as Mr Otaiba's, suggesting he has spent more than Dh300,000 in the first week alone – although he is likely to have received a discount on that figure, both as a candidate and as a repeat advertiser.
Half the top ten advertisers, and all the top four, were from Abu Dhabi, suggesting a particularly hard-fought race there.
Adverts by male candidates vastly outnumbered those of the handful of women running. Only two female candidates – Moza Al Otaibi in Abu Dhabi and Mariam Al Falasi in Dubai – were in the top ten, and none took front-page spots.
The most popular outlet was Al Khaleej, which ran about 11 pages in total over the week. It is also the most expensive, with rates of up to Dh114,048 for a full colour page, although again candidates can expect discounts of up to 30 per cent.
The second most popular was Al Ittihad, which had 9.5 pages, and a ratecard price of Dh43,194 for a full page. Al Bayan (Dh97,520/page) had almost six pages of ads and Emarat Al Youm (Dh65,800/page) five.
In all cases, the actual prices vary according to size, placement, number of adverts taken – and, of course, the candidate’s negotiating skills.
The number of ads gradually climbed, from 22 on the first day of campaigning on Sunday to peak at 38 in Thursday’s papers, tailing off over the weekend – 16 on Friday and 14 on Saturday.
Of the 71 candidates who advertised, 37 did so only once in the first week, and 17 took an eighth of a page or less.
"You do not need an advert in the paper every day," said Rashid Al Jabri, who took a single advert. "You need to pace them out to let people know you are there, but not to the point of getting them bored of you."
Most candidates – and almost all the top 10 advertisers – have chosen to focus their campaigns, using the same advert each time and choosing just one paper to advertise in.
Dr Matt Duffy, an assistant professor of communication and media sciences at Zayed University, said this meant they were missing many potential voters.
“The wisest choice would be to spread advertising money over outlets - as long as they have reasonably wide circulation,” he said.
“A famous advertising slogan is that half your money spent on advertising is wasted, but it’s hard to know which half. You don’t know what is effective and what isn’t.”
Ms al Falasi took space in Emarat Al Youm and Al Bayan. "One paper is a tabloid and caters to a younger generation, and the other is the official newspaper of Dubai," she said. "This exposes us to different target audiences. Because the ad is simple the audiences can perceive it in their own way."
She used the same adverts in both papers because she “would rather not change the look or the feel of the campaign. “The message is pretty simple and direct, and I think it is important to keep consistency so people can focus on that message.”
Dr Duffy said candidates could learn from big businesses such as Coca-Cola, which often use a range of different adverts across different times and different media outlets, but with a consistent element in all of them.
“Certainly some consistency is good, because then people will recognise it,” he said. “The Etisalat colour, for example – we all know it. So some consistency is great.”
But if the message were too repetitive, it could risk alienating audiences, "or worse yet, turn them off completely".
osalem@thenational.ae
econroy@thenational.ae
* Additional reporting by Zaineb Al Hassani
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
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Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
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MATCH INFO
Chelsea 3 (Abraham 11', 17', 74')
Luton Town 1 (Clark 30')
Man of the match Abraham (Chelsea)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Celta Vigo 2
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Barcelona 2
Dembele (36'), Alcacer (64')
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