The answer is simple: Be available on the platforms that consumers want you to be available on. These days, that is just about everywhere.

When it comes to digital platforms, Yvonne Johnston recons that the consumer is making the choice to interact: “They are not just there, they choose to follow through and click on your banner”. Gordon Muller warns against this view by adding that consumers do not choose to see your banner or PPC advertisement, it is just there. They choose only when they click on that banner or start a conversation with you on Twitter, for example. So the ultimate goal would be to get that engagement from them and you can only do this if you understand their head space, explains Johnston. Digital platforms, specifically social media, provide marketers with the opportunity to understand this headspace better. We can see what consumers think about brands, and if it is negative, we can interact with them and attempt to change their mind and according to Johnston there is no better brand ambassador than a person that used to be negative about the brand and then changed their opinion.

This power of digital and social media has led to an increase of media spend going towards these platforms and ultimately a decrease on spend going towards above the line (ATL) media, says Jennifer Grace. She further stated that there is value in digital and this is proven by the statistics, but still digital should not be chosen over ATL media but instead be integrated. Donald Liphoko adds that this is why ATL is used to tell consumers where the conversation is; we use ATL to drive consumers to digital. He continues to say that digital is seen as more accountable than traditional media, although we do not know what the true value of a like or tweet is. Marketers are also still wary of using digital as the brand risk is high – “consumers can say what they want online”

In reality, consumers are already saying what they want online, whether your brand is listening and responding or not. Brands cannot afford not to be available on digital platforms if this is where their audience is and although there is risk involved, this can be managed and monitored. Grace also mentioned that although marketers are still wary of digital media, digital media also sees ATL as a threat, but instead should be tapping into it and integrating more. Muller agrees by stating that “We didn’t create TV agencies when we were first introduced to TV as a medium, so why do we have digital agencies? Digital should be integrated.”

Although integration seems to be the ideal, a member of the audience pointed out that “Digital is usually only used as afterthought, but actually requires upfront planning. In reality digital gets 2% of the planning but causes 120% of the headache, so most of the time it’s just cut out.” Muller added that although this is true it is similar to the example of your neighbour relieving himself on your lawn every morning – “It’s not your fault, but it is your problem.” He then continued to explain that the only way around this is through forward planning and not viewing ATL and digital as two separate campaigns.

In conclusion, there are three things to remember:

• The campaign allows you to communicate what you want to, but remember that the audience is always looking – you should be where they are looking and when they are looking.
• Be relevant, topical and funny – keep up with the times, change according to the audience and resonate with those who are looking to participate.
• Remember that every media decision should be logically explainable – the issue is no longer about where to communicate, but about how to communicate.

This is a summary of the information shared at the Journal of Marketing breakfast debate.

The panellists were:

• Jennifer Grace: Head of Media at Native
• Gordon Muller: GSM Quadrant
• Donald Liphoko: Director at The MediaShop
• Yvonne Johnston: Head of Marketing at the SABC

We had a great line-up of panelists to address us on Design and Packaging from various industries that are very influencial in the entire process. The panelists were as following: Gareth Pearson – CEO and Shareholder at BMI Reasearch, Andrew Human – CEO of The Loeries Awards, Adam Botha – Creative Director of Switch Branding and Design, Mariette Du Plessis – Partner at Adams & Adams, and Karen Saville – Client Service Director at Y&R (Johannesbburg).

Jeremy Maggs opened the discussion by sharing a few consumer behavior studies done which reveal that 70% of purchase decisions by the consumer are made in-store hence the importance of outstanding packaging which gives the consumer a different experience in their “mood of purchase moment”.

Gareth Pearson then took over taking us further into detail of “Consumer Insight” by adding how consumers are looking for value and convenience as the main factors influencing their purchase decision. And with the “Green” movement, now consumers are also environment conscious which affects the packaging of products.

The recycling process has quite a huge impact on logistics therefore added costs to the manufacturing of packages. Even though the Green movement has slowed down over the years, government regulations are being discussed to be put in place and the packaging industry will self-regulate through the Waste Management Bill.

Also social media has an impact on packaging, one example being the QR  codes on Doritos pack which pack design and product testing were done resulting from the impact of Waste Management Bill. But regardless of some of the limitations that affect design of packaging, we still come up on top for creativity and innovation in the world with the 2009 World Star Awards being testimony to that as South Africa won 9 awards, Japan 7, Norway 2 and Singapore 1. We must not downplay how creative we are.

Andrew Human then filled us in on how new and innovative packages create a different experience for the consumer. The Loeries Awards focus on the following quality of packaging trends: innovation and relevance to brand and audience. He then shared a few winning examples like, packaging by Bushmills and Cabriere.

It appeared that the most package conscious manufacturers are the Alcohol and Perfume industries. Well it has been researched and discovered that Alcohol and perfume purchases are highly driven by their packaging. Consumers almost exclusively purchase based on the packaging, which affects the pricing of the product.

Another example of great packaging is the Café Royale Tequila packaging – great innovation where South America meets Italy was the theme of the design.

Adam Botha talks sustainability of packaging design, the impact of CPA and the challenge to be creative taking all those parameters into consideration. As packaging is the final point of contact before the consumer makes a decision to purchase, it’s important for your product to stand out driven by creativity as the consumer notices what’s different.

A few techniques you can use is illustration to create a hand crafted, sustainable look. This can also help to curb the new rules of the CPA as The new CPA legislation is challenging creative minds to stay within the boundaries therefore limiting designers from being more innovative.

Karen Saville from Y&R shares with us their Pick ‘n Pay on Nicol project with us and all the design elements that went into the project including their target of their entire concept and how they brought that innovation to life with the help of the contractors they worked with. PnP brought global best practice, briefed architects and went away from the box format.

Y&R focused on making the store a sensory and comfortable experience for the visitors by being involved in every detail of the store. They used iconography rather than wording to achieve a more pleasant and interactive in-store experience for consumers which will make them spend more time in the store and make more purchases there.

Thyme on Nicol restaurant is seamlessly intergrated into PnP on Nicol whereas Good Food Studio is sexier and focused on ingredients. “the more pleasant and interactive you make your in-store experience, the more time people will spend in your store.” ~ Karen Saville.

With all the creativity and innovation needed in the design of your packaging, the companies who succeed at this face a lot of copy cats of competing products using the same theme of their creative to try to steal the loyal consumer purchases made based on the winning packaging.

Therefore it’s very important to register your creative to avoid such, as most companies do not register their creative which would cost them way less than a legal lawsuit against copy cats would cost them. Product creative counterfeiting is the biggest growing industry in the world!!!, and that’s where legal firms such as Adams & Adams come in.

Mariette du Plessis educated us on the legal and regulations side of the whole matter at hand. Any packaging can be protected if it can be graphically presented. She used the Jack Daniels packaging as an example of a very distinctive and subjective design. The Coke bottle is also a great example of trade marking.

Words like “pure” and “natural” cannot be used on packaging. “Original” can only be used if you are the first to launch such a product in that category.  Due to the CPA we need to design packaging to be more transparent and give the right and full information for the consumer. The package must not just only say “green” but the brand must be able to support by giving more information.

Conclusion:

Packaging design is a highly influencing factor in consumer purchase, therefore for product manufacturers, design innovation must be an informed business decision. Not just the design, but also the green and organic factors are now being considered by consumers in packaging.

Innovation in packaging is determined by budget as packaging can cost up to 45% of the overall product cost. Design registration is very important to protect your creative design from copy cats.

Insights for the day: Be interactive, responsible, sustainable, innovative and creative.

Social Media marketing and management of this event was done by saidWot and Virtuosa.

Cape Town became Loerie Town when the creative industry descended upon the Mother City for The 33^rd Annual Loerie Awards, celebrating the best of South Africa’s communication work and providing delegates the opportunity to let their hair down after a year of hard work.

Loeries CEO, Andrew Human, is set on altering the perception of the festival from being seen as a weekend of partying and excess, to one that recognises the hard work of the creative industry and which is taken seriously by the rest of the country. There’s little doubt that the Loerie Awards should be taken seriously. Human feels that great brand communication benefits everyone, and the fact that every Apex Award winner this year was a Loeries winner in 2010 proves that good advertising is effective advertising. The Loeries recognises this and pushes the industry to produce even better, more effective work for clients.

Of course, it would be no fun if the Festival Weekend was all business and no pleasure. This year, the awards ceremonies offered a cult appeal with the inclusion of Riaan Cruywagen and David Hasselhoff as the masters of ceremonies. These ‘retro’ icons fitted in well with the juxtaposition of the use of the old style logo with the more modern slogan, ‘Don’t Hate, Create’, especially with Cruywagen adopting this ‘street’ lingo while dressed in his trademark grey suit.

It was also this kind of ‘out there’ thinking that resulted in this year’s Loerie winners walking away with the much-coveted statues. The Grand Prix-winning work showed just how creative South Africa’s creative industry can be, pulling off anything from a live activation silent marching band for VW’s Golf 6 (Ogilvy Cape Town), to the interactive ‘Flo Browser’ tool relying solely on user gestures for Musica (HelloComputer) and the hard-hitting ‘New Friends’ radio ad for Mercedes (Net#work BBDO). Interesting that the big winners were those who took a chance with riskier ideas, the likes of which we are used to seeing internationally.

Human is of the opinion that South Africa can compete internationally, especially in the medium of radio. He feels that we have untapped potential to succeed because our industry is much smaller than its overseas counterparts, meaning there is scope to gain a lot of experience rather than being pigeon-holed into one speciality.

Talking about being pigeon-holed, there was much discussion over the weekend about next year’s location for the festival, now that its three-year stint in Cape Town is over. However, the resounding opinion among delegates was that Cape Town remains the most relevant host, not least because of its chances of being named World Design Capital 2014. Cape Town mayor, Patricia De Lille, stated, “We will try to keep [them here] for at least the next three years.”

Considering that the 2011 Loeries are being touted as the best ever, perhaps that will become a reality. Regardless of where the festival is held, however, it’s something the organisers and the creative industry can be proud of.

In the case of creating brand awareness, Sport Sponsorship has become popular due to the amount of Television Broadcasting time dedicated to Sport. Unfortunatily, there is a correlation between the amount of exposure on Television and costs. So what if your brand can not afford this large investment in Sponsorship? According to Barends, “if you want to be seen, but you do not have the budget, you must be creative”. He uses the example of Sponsoring a Sport Union or Federation, rather than the team or club. This will allow your brand to be associated with specific products instead of the big event. Vosloo gives a further example of Total forming a female team to extend their publicity.  Sidenberg adds that product placement is also not used as effectively as it could be in South Africa.

But according to Naude as well as Nadia Vosloo (Brand and Communications Manager at Total SA) there is a range of benefits associated with Sponsorships, and brand awareness is but one of them. Sponsorships may also develop due to a need for Corporate Social Investment (CSI). A good example of this is the Sponsorship of community sport events by Total, which leads to a reduction in crime but also builds brand loyalty from a young age, or the provision of vegetable tunnels in Kwazulu-Natal to fight pollution and feed 100 children per day. According to Lyndon Barends, CSI is usually a part of Sport Sponsorships as it also provides the team members with the opportunity to break away from their daily activities. And although individual sportsmen and women are sometimes associated with a specific Sponsor, this is becoming a risk as these individuals can have a influence on the Sponsor, as they generally have access to large audiences via social media.

Ultimately, a perfect fit is needed between the Rights Holder and the Sponsor to make the partnership work. This fit is determined by the brand DNA as well as the objectives of the Sponsor. The objectives may vary from brand awareness, to increased sales, to engagement with the target audience to CSI. In some cases a natural fit exists between the Rights Holder and Sponsor, as the case is with Total and Motorsport.

So at the end of the debate, when the question was asked if Sport Sponsorship is worth it, the short answer was “Yes”.

So are we over-emphasising the need for social media? Herman Degener from Habari Group believes that if your brand is not on social media, you are missing out. “Your consumers are already there – you can talk to them, but do it in a strategic manner.” But where do we start?

1. Listen:

Before you set up your social media platforms, listen and research in order to find out where the best place is to set these up. Know where your consumers are; do they spend most of their day on Facebook or do they quickly check their Twitter feed at the red traffic light? Your social media strategy should start with an understanding of where consumers are talking about your brand. This may be difficult to determine with privacy policies in place, but on certain platforms, like Twitter, it is easy to search for your brand and to read what is being said about your brand.

Remember, consumers are not on social media to interact with brands, they want to interact with their friends, and this is who they will be speaking to about your brand. These consumers use your brand on a daily basis and interact with in at various touch points, meaning that they probably know your brand better than you do. Use this information to your advantage. Use feedback form consumers to improve business processes and customer service, to create new products and to improve the aspects of your brand that they deal with every day. So in short, there is no value in listening if you are not going to use the insights you gained from listening and push it back into your business with the goal of building a stronger brand.

2. Link your Social Media to other platforms:

What most brands are promising online is not translating to what they are delivering offline. It’s important that social media tie in with the rest of your business. Because people are spending lots of time on social media, it’s important to build a bridge between social and traditional media. How you interact on line will determine what you do in your traditional and offline media. It is no longer sufficient to say “follow us”. You should tell consumers, or even better, show them why they should follow you. Use traditional media to give consumers a reason to find and follow you on social media. People have their own impressions about a brand, whether the communication is online or offline, but if a brand is honest offline, it will work better online.

3. Engage

Carla Jones, form saidWot gives simple rules when it comes to engagement:  “Being on social media depends on your business goals. If you have nothing to say, don’t go on. If you have value to add and quality content, go for it.” Angus Robinson from Native added that social media is also not only about the platform – it’s also about networking and building communities of interest. People are passionate about the brand and will therefore follow it on specific social media platforms. This provides the opportunity to engage with them on a more personal level and in return reinforce their passion for the brand. Honesty is again mentioned as an important factor – Social media should not be used to try and fix bad products or services, it should be used to improve and interact. Brands should be honest about what they offer and not try and promote a wonderful product when in fact the consumers think the opposite.

4. Get them talking

It’s one thing to be on social media, and another to manage it correctly – it is important to always communicate in a manner that generates feedback. One way to do this is to follow the example of Woolworths who draws attention by using well-shot, professional images on their social media.

Social media should be used to get consumers talking about your brand. Herman Degener confirmed this: “positive or negative. If they can’t even talk about your brand, how are they going to buy it?” The problem here is that you cannot create a viral campaign – it can only become viral if the content is interesting and engaging. Suzanne Stokes, from MWEB explains this – social media is a form of word of mouth and brands should create content that is authentic and engaging in order to generate feedback from consumers to push back into the business. This creates trusts and loyalty as it leads to consumers becoming influencers. This is important as people listen to other people, rather than to brands.

So, is there a magic formula? Not exactly, but the best way to seed a conversation can be summarised as follows:

Value + Relevance + Engagement.

“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)

The panel included:

• Ashley Dewat – Channel Strategy at Ogilvy
• Barbara Cooke – Acting Executive Director of the OHMSA
• Jacques du Preez – MD of Provantage (Pty) Ltd
• Kevin Kirby – COO of ComutaNet
• Lyn Jones – Marketing Manager of Continental Outdoor Media

Jeremy Maggs lead the discussion, and came out guns blazing. Here is the overview of all the questions:

Why is Ambient media still relevant?

There are new platforms out there however the outdoor space drives consumers to the new platforms.

Someone has to drive those consumers to the many plethora of different options. (Lynn)

We know that with above the line media, it’s getting harder to reach consumers, and more ineffective year after year.  Out of home media can’t be switched off, and you are exposed, always.

Is there quantifiable research?

There has been some research, but the medium has grown faster than most.  We look at the numbers and the members. As a proportion of the media mix, we have grown immensely. (Jacques)

Kevin’s opinion is that these mediums have less wastage.  It’s a media category that requires for more work and studies to be done, so it makes it more difficult.  Homework must be done – targeted media must be researched well.  You need to know who the audience is, and what they want and above all, you need to understand what the creative concept it about.

Barbara – The bigger picture is that around the world, we are seeing fully integrated advertising research thus we can have payment by results. SA doesn’t have that yet, but it is on its way.  Tenders are out today (12 Feb), and will be looked at internationally, also best practice proposals will be looked at.  It has taken so long because the industry hasn’t focused on growing the whole industry, but rather the slices of it.

Digital is becoming the most flexible media.

If all of the research has not been available and going out for tenders, why is it only being done now?

Lyn – Research has been done, and is good, but looked at the industry in a segmented view, and didn’t look at out of home in its entirety.  We need to get to the stage where we measure the whole industry.

Have you been disadvantaged not having the full holistic research available?

Yes, but the industry needs to take responsibility.  The industry needs to take control, as they feel they have funded the research of other platforms too, and would rather take the research for out of home completely on our own.

What tough Q should brand managers be asking of the industry?

Investment and planning tools are needed. The expectation they should have, is to come up with the tools, and the planning to facilitate the spend.

Barbara, what would you say is the current perception of the outdoor industry?

I have no idea what they are thinking, but I would like them to think that it’s an exciting industry.  I think this is possibly THE most exciting medium, as it is growing so fast due to the population becoming more and more mobile.

The youth especially are spending more and more time outdoors, from clubs to bars, to generally outdoors.

Is pricing is unstructured due to supply and demand?

The industry is facing many challenges due to pricing, but you will get people who would want to undercut.

It is about creating value, and people are prepared to pay for quality.

Most members offer good value, but people need to ask the right questions. You need integration, and there is a premium for good exposure.

The price discussion has to follow the strategic discussion.

How does the client know which site is best?

It’s all about knowing what the strategy is behind it.  You need to be able to match your offer to the strategic environment.

How do you know where the good sites are?

Immerse yourself in the market – get out there and find out where you would like it to be.  GoogleEarth is helping a lot with this, and gives a visual element to the market.

Each sites needs to be measured, and it can be told how many people pass that site a day.  There are empirical ways to gate it.

Barbara – The outdoor industry is not the different to any other industry – know your consumer.  So reach and frequency must be measured against a target market.  It needs to be measured on a continuous basis. The mantra is “know your consumer”.

Do media agencies have the upper hand?

The issue is that both owner and agency should be wanting to add top added value to the client’s objective. The problem comes in, in the lack of transparency in the funding model.

It’s difficult to manage, as from an economic point of view you want to be in the game, but you have to be guided from an ethical stance.

Transparency is definitely needed.

A price war is healthy, this is a free market, and the outdoor industry is freer than anybody.  But the consolidation of buying points have become very narrowed down.

Where is the industry going?

Firstly from an outdoor perspective, every marketing point is based on location, through all mediums.  This industry is going to continue to grow.

Outdoor is constantly evolving.  It is going to grow as the population grows more mobile.  Technology will start melting in more, with a digital input.

The right creative use must be encouraged.

New infrastructure development gives many more opportunity.  It provides opportunities to target audience in a more integrated and upmarket way. But the industry must have a positive engagement with government, to help them understand what is possible.

Agencies Agency of the Year

It was time to announce the agency chosen by other agencies, who stood out head and shoulders above the rest. Congratulations to the Agencies Agency of the Year award goes to Ogilvy JHB.

We welcomed to the panel:
Media Panellists:
Adrian Ephraim – Independent Online
Yusuf Abramjee – Primedia Broadcasting
Deon du Plessis – The Daily Sun
Gordon Patterson – Starcom Mediavest Group
Barry Sayer – Continental Outdoor Media
Andy Rice – Yellowwood Future Architects
Anastacia Martin – Mail & Guardian

The Smartest Event of the Year saw a panel of the top minds in media come together to discuss the worries, past events, and future happenings in media for 2010.

The first half of discussion brought up great topics from the World Cup 2010’s involvement, to racial discrimination reporting in news.

There was as shift in marketing from an excitement of the 2010 World Cup, where we now see that not as many companies bought into the marketing field as they should have.

Main opening points:

• Newspapers saw a decline in sales, as most people stayed at home during this period, rather watching at home, as consumer behaviour showed that consumers felt prices would go up, and transport would be an issue during the 2010 World Cup.
• People are also looking for an easier mobile solution.  They’d like to get newspapers on their phones.
• Yusuf Abramjee thinks the radio industry has done very well, and the World Cup boosted it.
• Adrian Ephraim saw a spike in mobile platforms with people at home, and news on the go.  Everything is gravitating towards a digital platform. A shift needs to take place in the print environment, and it needs to become more techno savvy.
• Deon also thinks every facet will adapt where necessary, be it on online or wherever.
• Andy Rice thinks that 2010 isn’t the year to remember from a commercial point of view. Most were caught unawares, in the context of a global recession. People forget that people go back to the brands they trust in times of recession, and they did not adapt their strategy towards it.
• Gordon made a point that most radio audiences are declining. It comes down to content. Not enough effort has been put in to find the want of the consumer. Circulations have declined and will continue to decline, because of pressures that aren’t being communicated. It will fuel the interest in traditional ABL media.
• Yusuf: Newspapers will be focusing more on the niche, and might become high end luxury product.
• Andy Rice: The synergy when you put a media strategy together that blends the best of old and new.  It is fed by digital agencies, as traditional media people need guides. It’s about strategy, content and tone.
• Deon: “The middle of the market moves and warps. 8 years ago when we launched, even 30 years ago to now, shows that LSM 1 and 2 will disappear. We have moved from those markets to a LSM 5 and 6 market.”  Newspapers must move on, and stay on trend.
• Yusuf feels that generalizations should not happen. We need to take stock of what we are doing, right and wrong.  There are major problems within the print industry.  “I wonder if the prolem is not about race?”
• Why do we have to follow international news, why not set a benchmark of following our own agendas?
  Barry Sayr’s response is that international media just does it better.
  Yusuf says “with race agenda it is always diverted to another argument.  There is a lot of room to sell good news”
• Adrian Ephraim “We can’t discard the effect of the New Zealand story for South Africa, and can’t make it about race.”

Questions

Do we have a proper understanding of what audiences want?
Deon: A new charter for us has been done, so we do in depth research regularly.
Andy Rice: I think the media who as businesses live by the survival of brands who advertise there, don’t learn the lesson of brands about differentiation.  There are to aspects to media, the WHAT and the HOW.  The brand differention is what media fails to spot, let’s deliver media in a completely original format.
Gordon: Media need more frequency of engagement. Research is controlled by the media owner, and should actually be owned by the clients who buy, as we end up with this two thirds view of the market, which is just a lie. It affects all agencies, and products that people buy. Clients need to take the responsibility.

Honesty in media – are they really honest?

Barry feels that news and media should be honest and live integrity.  Everything is blown up, with a glossy glow and hyperbole. People want an experience though.

Andy feels that different genres interpret different news worthy articles differently.

Why do digital and traditional platforms not merge to work collectively?

Deon: “it is happening right now.”

Gordon: “We have 2 economies in SA. Digital is routed in the upper LSM, but moving downwards.  Specialization happens because there are too few people in the industry who fully understand it, those who know it, and are in it.”

Adrian: “the attitude is changing. All of a sudden media platforms are becoming interested.  There is a whole world newspaper can’t afford not to be a part of. These platforms need to be educated.”

Jeremey: Do you think you’re selling the concept of digital enough?

Adrian: “We’re still grappeling about it., because the options out there are so ever changing.”

Andy: It’s about, within the media groups, that journalists. It is the digital media’s agency own responsibility to market themselves and get the message of what needs to be done out there. Or sell themselves as evangelists, but those with answers.

Barry: From an outdoor adv point of view, we have to take a broader point of view. You can see a lot of integration internationally with outdoor advertising platforms and digital platforms. Even billboards are becoming immediate and can compete with radio and TV.

What are your things to look out for 2011:

Adrian: More innovation. Tell stories differently.
Deon: The year to sell more and get more ground back.
Yusuf: The legacy of 2010. Local government elections. Corruption. Malema. Govermnet delivery.
Andy: Braver agencies.

TNS research was tasked to give delegates good insight into 2010′s biggest marketing campaign for South Africa – the 2010 World Cup

• Major points:
  It started in 2005.
  Governmet spent R34 Bil over the 5 year period
• o   R31b is considered investment spend
• o   Only R20b is useful in terms of long term sustainability
• ACSA spent R17b over a three year period.
• At it’s highest, spend reached 0.4%GDP
• Overall benefits at the end of the event – R93b (62% before 2010 and 28% in 2010)
• Created 130 000 more jobs
• 415 000 indirect jobs
• R7.4b paid in wages
• Estimated number of visitors – 300 000
• 3.18m people attended matches
• 52 000 flights handled by ACSA
• Gautrain had 13 000 weekday travelers
• 94% of people in the study thought the spirit of the country was very high.
• 80% love the Waka Waka song.
• 8 billion unique people saw at least one part of the game
• Adspend was up 21% over the period
• Moderate contribution of +0.2% to GDP for 5 years, 1% up
• Earlier completion of infrastructure
• Uplifted our image

Marketing panelists:
Graham Pfuhl – Multichoice
Ian Penhale – SAB
Zayd Abrahams – Coca-Cola
Serame Taukobong – MTN SA
Bradley du Chenne – Telesure Investments
Happy Ntshingila – Absa

Have the basics of marketing changed?
Bradley: Basics haven’t change, but things happen a lot quicker. We have to gind new ways for engagement and innovation.

Zayd: New media is part of our toolkit to connect with people, but it is part of a packet
Happy: Basics have been lost in terms of companies telling people, to people telling companies. In the world of today, there are a lot of accountants making decision, because today is a world of costs. You have to look at things a whole lot differently, because price determines. In the same sense you have to find ways to do things more cheaper.
Graham: New media allows us to understand our customers a lot better. It makes you stay on your choice

Do we know our consumers?

Graham: If we hadn’t used research, we wouldn’t know what people thought.
Serame: If you take new approaches to research, then you find out what people think

Happy: a substantial part of research can be attributed to gut feel.

Zayd: the critical thing is to get ROI on all your efforts. The most important thing is to gain insights from the market.

Why are marketers cutting down on sponsorhip?

Bradley: In the near future, sponsorship is under threat because marketing budgets are under threat. It does allow you to connect with the consumer.
Ian: ROI is difficult to talk about in terms of sponsorship

Zayd: things that we now pay for is things we have done with our market since we’ve been in the country.  Now there is a price to it. The challenge comes in with the strategic partnerships that have been signed years ago, and to align them with current goals.

Happy: Contrary to popular belief, ABSA’s sponsorships have been consolidated to what works best. It’s no longer about pushing the brand, to leverage and push some of your business through those sponsorships.

Salame: A few years ago, it was a good medium. But as the years go on, no investment was made to grow these properties. You have to move to where your customers are.

Graham: The big thing on sponsorships is this: do you just chuck money at something and leave it.  To make your money work for you, you have to sweat those sponsorships. In total it is a relatively small portion of marketing.

Do marketers have a broader role in society in terms of social responsibility?

Graham: Marketers do have obligations, but we don’t necessarily do it well.

Ian: Originally it was around building brands. The product dictates the role the brand has in it. It is an increasingly important way of marketing going forward.

Happy: The issue of the business of business going beyond business should not be the marketer’s job, but the relevant department’s. To leave the marketer to do what they are meant to do. The reality is our paradigm has changed. Brands are under threat across the world, so from a brand point of view, you have to integrate the responsibility into the campaign. Consumers want to know if the brand cares about them.

Serame: Companies should influence the negative and positive about communities.

Where is the relevance of customer equity and retainability for brands?

Graham: Retaining the base becomes more and more volatile towards the lower LSM’s.

Happy: We battle to try and hang on to what you’ve got. That’s why you spend lots of money on retaining, but while one door closes, another opens.

Corporate Brand vs Brand viewpoint – shouldn’t they be aligned?

Bradley: Have to become more aware of the roll the corporate brand can play

Zayd: The brand is the company, is the consumer, is the message

Serame: It’s important that the corporate and consumer brands are aligned.

One thing that keeps you awake at night:

Graham: Please can we get more creative.

Serame: Brand engagement is not a fad, and partners should really understand it

Happy: I wish everybody could impress within the company you work for that the marketing role is the role of every person within the organization.

Zayd: Going back to the basics of what is marketing, and making sure that all the basics are in place for the future

Ian: We live in world of increasing change and expectation, and we’re underinvesting in people. The marketing will look different in the future

Bradley: Best we understand user feedback