eMarketing Trends|Verbal Acrobatics & Graphic Gymnastics

We are here today at the second Ad Forum evaulating the work of 8 top agencies in relations to the World Cup. The invited agencies will be showing a piece of work and the expert panel (Oresti Patricios, Gordon Muller, Andy Rice, Sizakele Marutlulle along with Jeremy Maggs) will have an opportunity to question them. Our agencies taking part today:

MetropolitanRepublic – Wimpy
Trying to infiltrate the World Cup into the brand, didn’t use soccer but tried to use the patriotism of the country.
We wanted to ignite the brand of Wimpy and the world cup was the perfect opportunity. More than just the add also built a microsite  www.nationalbreakfast.co.za to hold all our viral elements. We also used billboards at the airports, we did a tie up with Engen where Wimpy was situated around the country. Found out that there are various legalities with putting ads on YouTube and therefore the microsite was the perfect solution.

Black River FC – Mini “6 Colours to stand By”
The initiative  for this ad was really to create some buzz and the idea was to get as many flags out there as possible. Mini manufucters give out flags for your mirror for free.

The intention really was to ge South Africans amped. The brand was the catalyst for making the public want to own the flag. We wanted South Africans to love the brand.

Nandos “Ama-Visitors”
Foreign visitors misconception about South African we wanted to have some fun with it. Created various ads showing these stereotypes and how ridiculous it is.  The brand is about commenting about things in society quickly in  a way that Nando’s have become known for.

King James – Kulula.com “the campaig for the ‘you know what’”
Initially pricing campaign – wanting to advertise flights for R499. Sort of expected Fifa to come at us but that just made our jobs easier at the end of the day.
Ran a second add where we removed the icons that Fifa complained about. This campaign success was really on Twitter and Facebook with all the conversations going and free publicity. Once we realised how powerful the anti-Fifa sentiment was here in South Africa we  followed up to trademark the sky on April fool’s day and continued the campaign right through the World Cup.

DDB SA- McDonalds “Four Shadows”
Objective to recruit children to be players escourt during the World Cup. Really wanted to leverage the dream that children have.

We actually added on activities where we went to rural communities and schools to give kids across the country to enter. The purpose of this was really to promote the healthy lifestyle more than just the menu items.

Ireland Davenport – MTN “Africa United Campaign”
Challenges was to do something that will work for a lawyer in Cape Town but also a fanpark in Ruwanda. Created a huge expectation for football in Africa and have high hopes to use this campaign going forward for future. After all the xenofobia attacks in South Africa this campaign was meant to really struck a cord with all.

Volcano – Sony “Imagine football in 3D”
Campaign based on Kaka but one of our challenges was how to show 3D to people watching on 2D.
The activition was key and you have to see this to experience it really therefore we built a huge 3D Dome at the Nelson Mandela Square to showcase our products.
This was not just focused on South Africa but important that it works for South Africans.

The Jupiter Drawing Room (Cape Town) – Hyundai “Gees”
Struggled with Hyundai as it seen as a non-competitive brand in this market. Objective was to improve brand tracking and sales during this campaign. We come in intentionally late to try and understand what the people on the ground is feeling. We have more traffic on our site than Volkswagen and since April we have been outselling Toyota. Hyundai is associated with the World Cup because we wanted to try and push product. The thing that changes perception in the mass market is that people want to buy cars that they have seen on the road

Ogilvy  – SAB “Superfan”
Great idea of reconciliation and making these people ambassadors for the brand. The fans is the liveblood of the sport and SAB reflected that in this add showing the true dedicated fan.

The Annual Habari Media Symposium 2010

The second day of the symposium has opened with Trevor Johnson  (Head of Strategy and Planning, Facebook EMEA). His phenomenal presentation on the importance of understanding social media and Facebook and it’s relevance to the South African market – clearly emphasized the keen interest that Facebook has expressed in being heavily involved in making the application more relevant to the African market and it’s desire to co-operate with cellular brands to enable this initiative to be a success.  He further stressed that Facebook prefers to be acknowledged as an online provider and not a social media platform. Johnson highlighted the influence that Facebook has in the digital landscape via statistics such as 200 million people logging into Facebook  on a daily basis with  100 million people utilising their  mobile devices to engage with the site.  Johnson highlighted that you have to make the user engagement an experience of value. Johnson advised that it’s time to think differently instead of relying on traditional media metrics to try and define the value of campaigns in the social media space. 

Angus Robinson (Founder of Brandsh Media) in his presentation relayed how brands are utilising social media, highlighting how cellphone companies are integrating social media within their application strategies.  He also addressed the attributes of openness, contribution and vulnerability of brands within social media. Robinson also discussed the way brands should  gear themselves up for addressing briefs that require social media as part of their campaigns.  Content augmentation and community functionality were areas that he highlighted to note when working on social media campaigns – he stressed the value in considering the mindset of the user when structuring social media campaigns.  Robinson also presented case studies emphasizing the tidal wave of social media has arrived and agreed with the statement made by the franchise MacDonalds – “The head of your social media strategy is your customer”.   Robinson stressed the importance of taking care of the user beyond their action of a click and that it would be beneficial for one should have an intimate understanding  of the principles of the Conversation Prism (by Brian Solis) that would guide companies in humanizing their brands within the social media communities – thereby bolstering perception of the brand within the social media space. He also punted the benefits of social media releases.  Robinson also touched on the practice of Primal branding which encompasses points such as the creation story, beliefs, icons, rituals, non-believers, language, leader.

In terms of identifying additional opportunities for social media – Robinson recommended Sports sponsorship as a favourable route to explore. Johnson further reiterated the importance of crowdsourcing being a powerful mechanism for  knowledge-sharing in the social media space.

Andy Ellis and Adam Whitehouse, Creative directors at Stonewall+ The Digital Marketing Agency delighted the audience with the analogy of The Web in Wonderland.  They colourfully described how they take brand stories and translate them online. They further elaborated on how important it is for a brand to understand it’s story  and know how to skillfully communicate it online- meeting the needs of their target audience.  They explored the positivity of In the box thinking and brainstorming works with the current parameters that exist for translating stories  in the online space.

This symposium has been a worthwhile event and we wait in excitement for the next one in 2011!

Dr John Ledger – Associate Professor of Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg looks at 2010 as the year of biodiversity and what that means for all of us:

Energy ideas

• After 2010 how are we going to cope with household and business energy needs? Get hold of a solar water heater
• Look at the possibility to invest into a small systems to use sun energy
• You need to convert your lighting to energy efficient lighting
• Wood – use wood burning stoves rather than open burning fires

Environmental ideas

• Respect water and how we use it
• Education is at the basis of everything – need future generations to understand how fragile our planet is
• Support Eco warriors – the people that work tirelessly for the environment
• Johannesburg Zoo – a jewel in this city, support it and likewise establishments

Lebo Biko – Managing Director, BBDO Consulting identified 5 Marketing Trends and 5 Opportunities looking towards 2010.

5 Marketing Trends and Ideas

• Consumers new value equation from impulse and indulgence to value and simplicity
• Brands will have to redefine and re-articulate their essence
• Business should be marketing: yet marketing is not always business
• Definition of consumer equity will need to take into consideration the intangibles – more on meeting unmet needs
• Giving is the new taking and sharing the new giving

5 Marketing Opportunities for 2010

• The 2010 FIFA World Cup has immense opportunities for both country and brand – build next 1994 moments
• The soccer spectacular will build legacies for brands that are not just external- great opportunity to motivate staff
• Brands that connect with soccer will build a new emotional connection with their existing and potential market
• Accelerate the brand externally towards measurable results, legally – use the 2010 as springboard

Keys to success for 2010 and beyond

• Be prepared for the most unlikely events
• Think the unthinkable
• Focus on value but never forget values
• Have a story to tell
• Be adventures
• Be proactive
• Be revolutionary, incremental changes is backward changes

According to Prof John Simpson (Director, Unilever Institute for Strategic Marketing, UCT) consumers behavior lacks quite considerable from what economist tell us is the current state of the economy. So although there are talks about the recession being almost over consumers don’t experience that, in fact the complete opposite. Specific research on how consumers are experiencing the recession will be important for marketers especially looking to 2010. Specific groups have been identified, looking specifically at LSM 5-10 that is making up 80% of spend:

Strugglers are low on confidence and low on financial flexibility
Struggling to survive which has great bearing on what products and brands they buy. Most of them spent money on food. Highly resourceful to stretch their money – bargain hunters. Low Brand loyalty. Have also influenced culture, can’t share anymore.

Pre-family
Brands are very important to them, all about me and me. Don’t compromise on brand image

Young Family
Being hit very hard, sacrifice a great deal. Going more and more towards house brands. They are developing intense dislike of shopping. Looks at the future rather than today.

Older Black Middle Class
Brand is still important, not going to give up anything, brands are still important. Self image and brand are very important.

Prime Timers
Lifestyle spending money on, and to try and improve on it. Not going to change my lifestyle.

Virtuosa had the privilege of attending The Bookmark Awards 2009 held at Movida nightclub in Lonehill, Johannesburg. Fresh oysters, cocktails and oddly named energy drinks were the order of the evening, complete with a body painted girls and Alex Jay as the host for the awards.

It’s fantastic to see that the quality of digital work coming out of South Africa is growing at a rapid rate and exciting to be part of this ever changing industry. In my opinion the Digital Marketing: Microsite category showcased some phenomenal work, the interactive world of the Cell C ‘createme’ campaign by Gloo Digital Design & Wicked Pixels and customizable characters of the ‘Feed your Ego’ Campaign by Hello Computer were inspirational. As well as the clever ‘Idea Bounty’ by Quirk featured in the Digital Marketing: Social Media category. For a full list of the events winners and work check out the Bookmark Awards 09 website.

We look forward to competing in next years awards and contributing to an industry that clearly has a bright future. Check out our great pictures from the event!

Arrrrrr!!

Avast! ’tis international talk like a pirate day 19th September.
One day in the year you can walk around with a stuffed parrot on your shoulder, talking like pirate! Or not… but it’s still a ton of fun =)

Check out the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website!

If you want to join the fun, simply include the following piece of code at the bottom of your page!

• <script src=“http://l.yimg.com/d/lib/ydn/js/pirate1252961643.js”></script>

Check out the blog post on the Yahoo Developer network for more info.

Piratize this Blog Post

Sun International – David Coutts – Trotter, Chief Executive

History of our brand – Sun International as organization formed in 1983 when Southern Sun was in the process of spliting the brand.  During the mid 90’s the casino industry become a very challenging business with illegal slot machines throughout the country. From there on the industry evolved to the regulated industry it is today.

Read the rest of this entry »

Although many of you will be fairly familiar with the members of the panel discussion at the upcoming Journal of Marketing Breakfast Debate, I still thought it a good idea to take a look at each individual and their specific background. Read the rest of this entry »

The software giants are up to it again. Blackberry launched this ad a few months ago and then Apple’s clever response has made for some fun viewing. Great to see some competitive advertising, enjoy these short video clips. Read the rest of this entry »