With any new media there is always concern and uneasiness regarding its use, but the growth of digital has now surpassed this child-like stage, where more brands are now choosing to allocate a larger percentage of their budgets towards the use of digital media over the use of traditional media than ever before. According to the Digital Media and Marketing Association “The outlook for the South African digital publishing industry is positive with excellent results being recorded in the first quarter of 2010.”

It can therefore no longer be said that digital is an ‘add on’ to a brand strategy due to its rapid growth over the last few years. Digital should be seen as a viable platform; just like that of television and newspapers and just like with any other platform the selection for a brand will ultimately depend on the overall objectives determined within the strategy. A brand should thus always utilise a media neutral approach.

If digital does however work for the brand there are various advantages of its use. Digital can be updated and changed whenever necessary, unlike that of traditional media, so if there is an issue with a website for example, it can be fixed almost immediately. Secondly, the concept of instant links back to the world of digital and directly correlates with the ideals of the new consumer who ultimately thrives on instant gratification.  Digital media is also much more measurable in terms of reporting, as information is more freely available and through Google analytics for example information is collected and organised almost immediately.

There are many other digital tools for tracking and measuring data and many can be utilised free of charge, making it a lower cost medium in terms of measuring. Lastly, digital is more focused on Return on Investment (ROI), however it is vital to ensure what the set criteria is in order to achieve that success. According to Ahmed and Tunnah, who are both involved in large corporate digital endeavours “If you don’t have clear criteria for success and a way to measure your progress against them, there’s no way you can be deemed to succeed.”

Conclusion

Digital should no longer be seen as an ‘add on’ to a strategy, because it has gone through a rapid growth over the last few years.  It should however be viewed as a platform, whereby it is selected so as to achieve specific objectives. A brand should never just push digital to fit into a specific message, as this will simply result in wasted time and limited results. Digital offers many advantages over the use of traditional media and therefore if it is determined that digital media is relevant in achieving the objectives, the desired goals must be identified so as to measure the brands overall success.                                                                   

  How does your brand operate?

Have you used digital as an ‘add on’?

Are you operating in a media neutral way?

How it works:

1. You post a status update to share information which could be anything from announcements, product releases, promotions, or just news articles straight from your Company Overview page.
2. Your status update is then posted directly to each of your followers’ homepages where they can comment, like or share your update with their entire network. (Companies will need to be very active and provide interesting and relevant updates to their followers to really reap the full benefits of this feature.)
3. You can also monitor engagement metrics of your posts to see what type of posts best work for your business goals and through this analysis you could optimize your conversations.

This feature could generate lucrative leads to companies that use it smartly and also acquire a loyal clientele.

You can learn more on how to set up your company page effectively to best benefit from this feature by studying the How-To Guide, for all the do’s and don’ts.

“Creativity is key to making a success out of any campaign”

– Xolisa Dyeshana -

These were the words that sparked the conversation at the Journal of Marketing breakfast debate on 30 July 2011, which lead to some interesting views on how Direct Marketing should be used. Direct marketing today is no longer about a junk pamphlet in your post box, it is about finding clever and attention grabbing ways to get the message across to a very specific group of people. According to Lynn Madley, CEO at Euro RSCG and one of the panellists at the debate, the shotgun approach does work in some cases, but targeted communication works much better. She also adds that brands should speak to consumers in a way that they want to be spoken to and Social Media plays a large role in this.

Today, traditional media is used in Direct Marketing to drive the audience to other platforms, like social media. Brands are warned to not be on social media for the sake of being on social media, but rather to have a well thought out strategy to work from. Because social media gives consumers the power to voice all their opinions, it’s better to just watch and respond if really necessary if your brand does not have the ability to provide quality content on a regular basis. On the other hand it is also important to remember that in this age, due to social networks, reputations are fragile. You need to know what is going on with your brand online and few brands can get away with not having a social media presence – brands need to engage on a personal level.

From a direct marketing point of view, what can be more personal and more direct than engaging on social media platforms? It provides the brand with the opportunity to become more than a brand – to become the consumers’ ‘buddy’. This will of course be strongly regulated by the new Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which defines direct marketing as a personal approach to directly or indirectly promote goods or services.

So, engaging directly and becoming the consumers’ buddy is important as we are no longer in the business of marketing, but in the business of engagement. And this again is important as the success of any direct marketing campaign can be measured by the interaction received from the audience.

That leaves one final question: Do consumers today, in this multi-tasking era, have the attention needed to participate in prolonged campaigns?

*A note of thanks to the panellists, whose wise comments contributed to this article.

Lynn Madley (CEO: Euro RSCG), Andrew Ambrogioni (CEO: Action Ambro’s) Danie Strachan (Senior Associate: Adams & Adams) Brian Mdluli (CEO: Direct Marketing Association of South Africa) and Xolisa Dyeshana (Creative Director and Partner: Joe Public)

Our panelists were:

• Natasha Basson – GM of Brand & Communication, MTN SA
• Terry Volkwyn – CEO Primedia Broadcasting
• Gordon Patterson – CEO of Starcom Mediavest
• Rachelle Jaques – Sales Manager of the Media Connection
• Omar Essack – Executive Director: Broadcasting – Kagiso Media

Jeremy Maggs lead the discussion and here is an overview of all the questions and answers from the session:

Is radio as a medium dying?

• Terry Volkwyn – We don’t think radio is a dying medium but it does face challenges from digital media. The most important factor for radio is that the medium is driven by advertising and this is pivotal to its survival.

• Gordon Patterson – Radio is not dying, infact stats show that listening minutes are increasing over South Africa and radio has the advantage of ‘direct reach’ to clientele.

• Natasha Basson – Radio is not dead but when marketers advertise, they should advertise by programme and not by station.

What are the limitations of radio advertising?

• Gordon Patterson – The limitation is that marketers are planning/targeting TV advertising by station but they should plan by programme (people tune in to a station because of the programme not because of what station it is).

“In addition, broadcasters are now in a habit of discounting sales and advertising services and this is hurting industry player (for example SABC making loses due to discounting)” – Gordon Patterson – CEO of Starcom Mediavest.

• Natasha Basson – Another limitation the industry has is that research is limited in terms of knowing more about their ‘listenership’ (who they are and more about their demographics).

How do small businesses owners benefit from Radio advertising?

• Gordon Patterson – They need to know which radio stations are in their area and analyze the cost effectiveness of advertising with each station. It is also important to look at the budget and consider advertising with local radio stations.

• Terry Volkwyn – My advice would be to approach a radio direct sales team and calculate the cost per response.

• Rachelle Jaques – The benefits of small companies is that they are flexible and there is a lot of room to be creative in advertising.

“Using community radio stations for small business advertising may be most beneficial however they are limited to the community” – Rachelle Jaques – Sales Manager of the Media Connection.

Do Brands use radio to build the brand or just for product promotion?

• Natasha Basson – Depending on your strategy, national radio broadcasting stations are often used for company branding campaigns (e.g MTN) whereas regional broadcasting stations help in ‘sell brand products’.

What should clients expect from radio advertising sales individuals?

• Terry Volkwyn – We make sure that the sales team is fully trained and give professional consulting so they approach clients (advertisers) effectively.

• Omar Essack – A good radio sales team must understand their clients’ needs and strategize the ways in which they can reach the sales conversion. They must offer the client the most relevant channels to reach the most optimum strategy for the advertiser.

What is radio advertising added value?

• Omar Essack – Radio advertising added value are the extras added on to the service offering such as in depth reporting of results.

• Rachelle Jaques – Added value is not an advertising discount but more of a ‘tailor-made’ service – monitor, watch and respond to the client’s needs anytime.

• Gordon Patterson – this is addition support that makes sure that radio stations run a campaign that works.

When can you tell that a campaign is not working?

• Natasha Basson – It takes roughly 24hours to see if a radio campaign is going to be successful or if it needs extra attention to reach its benchmark – especially if it is an interactive radio campaign.

In conclusion, the last question the panelists addressed was “How will radio work for businesses?” It was generally agreed that radio advertising will work effectively when advertiser focus on leveraging on the relationship the radio station has with the community in order to unleash the power of its advertising potential.

The panelists for this debate included:

• Chris Vick (advisor to Minister Tokyo Sexwale)
• Rich Mkhondo (MTN Corp. Affairs)
• Dr Sarah Britten – Author and has worked with Kulula & SARS
• Peter Mann (CEO of Meropa)
• Jacqui O’Sullivan (GM of Sasol)
• Peter Bruce (Editor of Business Day)

There is growing reliance of Public Relations (PR) in the broader marketing mix and this discussion aims to understand why PR is still important for brands today. Jeremy Maggs lead the discussion and here is an overview of all the questions and answers from the session:

Is PR about engagement?

• Rich Mkhondo – There is a divide between PR and what companies want to inform their clients. The objective of PR is to build a bridge between that divide. Public Relations Practitioners are used as sounding boards for brands and there is skepticism from clients.

What is good PR Spin?

• Jacqui O’Sullivian – Bad PR characteristics give good PR a bad name, and they are characterized by poor communication, no PR objectives but good PR understands transparency.

“Spin is not the enemy, ‘bad’ spin is” – Jacqui O’Sullivan (General Manager of Sasol).

• Chris Vick – Spin must look at ethics and values rather than just aim to paint the brand in good light, therefore ‘integrity’ is key.

• Rich Mkhondo – In terms bad PR campaigns, the onus  should rest with companies/brands to tell the PR companies the truth before ‘spinning’ the story

How is digital shaping PR?

• Sarah Britten – It is interesting how the digital space is changing the print media for example Twitter as an avenue of WebPR.
• Peter Mann – There is a risk once a PR campaign is sent out from the news room as it can no longer be controlled and people are able to use Twitter and Facebook to share news.
• Jacqui O’Sullivian – We need to leverage of social media and the rest of the digital space (there needs to be a social media strategy in your PR campaign).
• Sarah Bitten – PR Practitioners have to watch, learn and engage with social media when it comes to PR campaigns

When does PR go wrong?

• Peter Bruce – Most PR is wasted because it hits the wrong targeted market. PR campaigns must be well structured. We need to have a good understanding of role players in the brand marketing mix.
• Chris Vick – PR campaigns go bad when we do not understand the objectives of PR campaigns and neglect to build relationships with the journalists that help you run the PR campaigns.

How do you develop a good PR ‘spin campaign’?

Jacqui O’Sullivian (GM of Sasol) answered with the following key points:

• Sit with right people (advertisers, PR practioners, marketing department) – get the key players to understand one goal & one vision.
• Shape the right message in no more than 5 characteristics.
• Do not be too corporate (or too informal) in communicating and remember who you are talking to – target market.
• Respond early to avoid bad reputation.

How do you develop a good online PR strategy?

• A good PR strategy must cover both : ‘traditional media avenues (newspapers) and new media channels (digital)’.

How is new media such as Twitter changing PR?

• Peter Bruce – Twitter is a very powerful tool for PR management in that it adds value to brands and also provides more regular engagement with the market.

Why do brands need PR strategies over just advertising?

• Chris Vick – No one wants to invest in one strategy and in addition, no one needs a PR strategy only when they are in trouble but rather all the time. There should be continuous brand reputation management.

• Jacqui O’Sullivan – It’s all about continuous PR reputation management to manage your brand on and offline.

How can small businesses do PR?

• Dr Sarah Britten – Small businesses may use the digital space (e.g. Twitter; Facebook) to manage their company PR and be able to readily communicate with the market.

Will social media take over PR – (the need for PR practitioners)?

• Social media space might not take over and surpass traditional PR but the social media space needs to be managed well as PR Practitioners have no control over this space.

Where is the PR industry going?

• PR is still relevant and still plays an important role in brand reputation management.
• PR will be heavily influenced by social media marketing moving forward and therefore PR strategies must continue to engage with it. We must aim to work with the social media space in order to leverage off it for effective PR strategies.
• PR remains an integral part of brand communication and in needs to become more strategic (effective reputation management).

Loerie ads are judged according to 5 categories:

• Innovation – creativity in terms of being distinctively different
• Quality – how well is the idea executed
• Relevance to the brand,
• Relevance to target audience,
• And relevance to the  chosen medium

On the menu today to talk and question about winning ads are:

Andy Rice, Chairman, Yellowwood Brand Architects
Oresti Patricios, CEO at Ornico Group (Pty)Ltd
Steve Miller, CEO at BF Strategy
Lou Boxall-Davies, Chief Strategist at Morris Jones
Geoff Whyte, Managing Director at Snackworks

Advert 1:

The Vodacom Music Station, done by Draft FCB, directed by Neo Mashingo.

Goal: To promote that Vodacom provides the listener to have radio at their fingertips, their own choice of music.
Creative angle: The DJ Keeps talking over the music, that the listener really wants to listen to. Where as they have their own choice of music via Vodacom.
Delivery: Pointers were given for the voice artist to talk about, and then were elaborated on in studio.

• The voiceover artist did a fantastic job at depicting the DJ.
• The ad explains that it is music without a DJ, any category any music. Like listening to a radio station, on your cellphone.
• Was flighted on vernacular ALS radio stations.
• The Vodacom brand doesn’t come out strong, but appears as a spot read by the DJ.
• Sales increased in terms of data markets. A lot of teaching still needs to happen. The campaign was driven to teach people on ALS stations to use their phones for other functions, like data, and not just voice.
• In terms of building the brand, they wanted the brand to be viewed as a friend, with a comedic thread.

Advert 2

Yuppiechef vs Woolies
Agency: Hello World
Danni Vos, CEO

The sign, which had the incorrect URL on, which Yuppiechef held ransom.

Yuppiechef.co.za hijacked Woolies’s misspelt URL, registered it, and held it ransom.  Challenging them to donate money

• They had less than 14 days before Valentine’s day.
• Social media driven, but mainly driven by the PR.
• How do Yupppiechef now continue to engage? They are an online company, so they continue with online and social media.
• It’s about finding the right social idea, and backing it up with the right brand.
• If it were to be done again, would it be done differently: Because of time constraints, strategy couldn’t be planned.  A bigger base could’ve been achieved, and the Yuppiechhef current bas could’ve been utilized.
• Great opportunistic campaign, and a great PR exercise – what was the PR strat: was totally focused on radio and online media. Power of online has turned a corner, to use Online PR more – to engage online bloggers more.
• Built their social media database immensely.

…./2

The panel included:

• Brain Ferns – Y&R Touch, Creative Director
• Adelle Wapnick – MD, Creative Strategist, Cross Colours Consultancy
• Nathan Reddy – CEO of Grid Worldwide Branding and Design
• Bill Marshall – MD, Syndicate Graphics (Pyt) Ltd
• Janet Kinghorn – Creative Director, Coley Porter Bell South Africa
• Brian Steinhobel – Steinhobel Group of Companies

“Packaging plays an important role in the marketing mix of today. It doesn’t matter how good your advertising is, the last hurdle to purchase is and always will be the allure of what is on the shelf and whether hands will reach out and guide said item to the shopping trolley”.

The interesting points from the morning debate include:

Brian Steinhobel – Steinhobel Group of Companies

• The power of packing is never to be underestimated – it is extremely important.
• The way a product feels is also as influential as the way it looks.
• Packaging design must be careful not to over shoot in its packaging design as consumers mostly know what they will purchase before they get to the shop.
• Progressive and technology consciousness are the characteristics of great designer in packaging.

Adelle Wapnick – MD, Creative Strategist, Cross Colours Consultancy

• Carrying out the brand strategy should be reflected in the packaging.
• Use all mediums to show branding/packaging – online and print should be the same.
• Take into consideration the product and the consumer and how it all fits in together.
• The marketer is the most critical person in the mix in order to understand the dynamics of engagement, budget, target market – he/she is the custodian of the brand.

Janet Kinghorn – Creative Director, Coley Porter Bell South Africa

• Breaking down the user is important in packaging – for example gender, or age of the user (done to relate to the consumer).
• Packaging must be tactical – when someone walks down the aisle, you have literally 2 seconds to grab the consumers attention.
• Simplicity is key in packaging: focus on creativity and avoid focus on constraints (e.g budget).
• The Marketer should communicate and make the designer understand all the portions of the business and the product.

Nathan Reddy – CEO of Grid Worldwide Branding and Design

• New trend: Bio-degradable packaging – for example Puma campaigns with shoe packaging and t-shirts.
• Use of initiatives such as bio-degradable packaging is gaining popularity among consumers.
• Consumers are generally prejudiced so you have to mix beauty and intelligence in your packaging.
• Brands fight for product positioning through their packaging to differentiate themselves from the competitor.
• Clever brands are looking at new ways of packaging to their consumers.
• Consumers are now more conscious: thinking where a product comes from and where it is going.

Brain Ferns – Y&R Touch, Creative Director

• The story of the egg: everyone understands what it is and where it comes from, therefore product packaging should aim to catch the eye of consumer and he knows what the product is.
• Create packaging that goes back to the basics – simple, innovative and works.
• Packaging has to match the product – there has to be a fine balance.
• Talk and engage with the ‘above-the-line’ department in order to get the packaging right.
• Best packaging considers new trends in the market (keep it fresh) and works around the constraints.

Bill Marshall – MD, Syndicate Graphics (Pyt) Ltd

• Understand the technology that your packaging will use consider all constraints.
• Test your boundaries in your creativity – always ask “Why can’t I do this”.
• Every aspect part of your packaging must match your brand positioning and brand strategy.
• Packaging is very diverse and designers should challenge the way the consumer thinks of the product.

Look of for the next Journal of Marketing Debate: “Squawking About Winning Advertising”.

Date: Thursday, November 4

Time: 7:30am – 12:00pm

Location: Michelangelo, Sandton

Google Buzz has surprised many experts who thought Google would never make it in the social media world. In the past Google suffered embarrassing setbacks with their attempts at creating a rival to Facebook and Twitter. Google Friend Connect and Orkut never really left the ground but Google Buzz shot into outer space.

The growth of the newest challenger to the social media crown has been phenomenal. According to statistics released by Google, just after the launch on the 9th of February 2010, there have been over 9 million posts and comments in about 56 hours, amounting to around 160,000 posts and comments per hour.

Google Buzz also generated big shock waves in mobile phone market. Google revealed that over 200 mobile check-ins per minute, nearly 300,000 mobile check-ins per day. The key to this success is the fact that Google Buzz is embedded into Gmail.

Gmail has millions of users around the world and by putting the Google buzz tab just under the inbox tab; Google applied a very innovative idea. When a user logs into their Gmail account they are greeted by a Google Buzz tab. The system is almost similar to Twitter the greatest difference is its integration to Gmail.

Many Gmail users find the system very convenient, when they open their e-mail account, they can quickly read the newest mail and won’t have to leave the account to create a social media post. Twitter, Flicker, Picasa and Google Reader can also be connected to the system. You can share pictures but this will be saved at Picasa. The most convenient aspect of Google buzz is that you don’t have to set it up if you have a Gmail account.

Key Features

• Simple interface
• No set up required
• Social media integration
• E-mail integration

Initially there were major privacy concerns. The system had an auto follow function where a user automatically followed people he regularly sent e-mails to. According to Ben Parr Co-Editor of Mashable “the auto follow function can let people figure out your email habits.” Google has changed this to an auto suggested model. This allows you to control who you follow. Another concern is that your inbox can be flooded by Buzz spam.

There are clear indications that Google Buzz is already taking some market share from Twitter and Facebook. People are spending more time on their Gmail accounts than before and this is surely taking some time from Twitter and Facebook. The Buzz threatens Twitter and Facebook’s ad revenue. Advertisers are certain to be impressed with the reach that Google Buzz has.

The future of Google Buzz will depend on how it is going to react to upgrades by the two social media giants. Some predict there is going to be a major dog fight between the three networks. If this fight gets very intense Google buzz will be the last network standing. Google has immense resources and will be able to match any upgrade. Google has been salivating for some time now at the prospect of properly sinking its teeth into the social media world. It has shown great determination at penetrating the social media realm overcoming numerous setbacks. Like a hungry dog biting into a bone it won’t let go of its new grip on social media.

There has been so much said about this in the last 24 hours, and it is hard to keep up with all the blogs, news and article mentions. Let me try and summarize quickly…

Yesterday Microsoft announced sealed agreements to access real-time content from social networking sites Facebook and Twitter to boost search engine results in Bing. According to Microsoft executives at a presentation at a San Francisco Internet conference, Bing is hoping to take on current dominant search leader Google in the sphere of Social Search and will have access to Twitter’s entire store of public data in real time as well as content from social networking site Facebook. At the same conference, it was also announced that a standalone Twitter search service will be offered at Bing, with some ranking technology other than sort by date involved, and that shortened URLs will be expanded. And finally, there would be some integration within the regular Bing service itself.

Only a few hours later, Google’s Marissa Mayer announced Google Social Search will be launching in the coming weeks. This feature will allow you to see results for queries from people in your social network and will work only via your own Google Profile. In your profile, if you add add links to social networks you’re a member of, such as FriendFeed or Twitter, Google will scan who you are connected to and give your results from those people which will then be integrated in to regular results. Google emphasised their goal of creating the most comprehensive, relevant and fast search and believe that their search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, looking forward to having a product showcasing how tweets can make search better in the coming months.

There has been such talk for some time and even though Bing (MSFT) beat Google to it by first announcing the integration of real-time data into search results, it is clear that this move from both indicate what the future of Search holds for us. Social Integration. Real-time data in Search results! This indicates the importance of consumer perception and the value of comments made by the average consumer and the trust they have regarding brands and products.

This is somewhat confirmed by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg saying that The Future is Social, Not Search. While Google is by far Facebook’s biggest rival in terms of Paid Advertising, it was clear that no love is lost between Google and Sheryl Sandberg, an ex-Googler. Sandberg said that Facebook is leading the net from the information age to the social age, where people will be finding their important answers not through Google but through their friends. As for search, Sandberg said Google would still have a place in the future, even if it’s not very big.

The face of search is indeed going to change and the race to be there first is definately on. The next days, weeks and months will be very interesting.

How will consumer behaviour affect search and the ranking relevance of brands and products in the SERP’s?

My personal prediction is that this affect won’t be seen immediately, but that it will slowly take affect as both Search Engines integrate real time data over the coming months.

For me, the future of Search will neither be Search, nor Social. The future of Search will be “Social Search” – Integrated Real-Time Search, (hopefully) relevant, updated results, as it happens.

How Bing and Google will control what is included in the search results will be interesting to see, but this can only be a good thing for companies doing Online Reputation Management. Hopefully businesses and corporates will be forced to operate in the social spaces more to not only control the conversations, but also add to it, or respond.

Resources:

• Facebook and Twitter Now More Important to Search Rankings?
• Microsoft’s Bing seals Facebook, Twitter deals
• RT @google: Tweets and updates and search, oh my!
• Bing To Do Deal With Twitter, Launch Its Own Twitter Search
• Google Social Search Is Coming & More On Google-Twitter
• Microsoft, Google in deals with Twitter, Facebook
• Google’s New Social Search Is A Big Chess Move Against Facebook
• The Future is Social, Not Search, Facebook COO Says

Users can vote for their favourite designed newsletter on the site. The Virtuosa Newsletter has been featured and voted as one of the most original designs on the site. What makes this even more cool is that Virtuosa was featured next to the Playstation Portable[PSP] newsletter.

Visit Ben’s site to view all the featured newsletters. To subscribe to the Virtuosa Newsletter click here