ET&S: South Africa: Is Marketing Moving With the Times?

ET&S: South Africa: Is Marketing Moving With the Times?: pinion  A few years ago I calculated that, every year in South Africa, roughly R50 billion was wasted on ill-conceived or just plain bad ma...




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Before now, production process and good concept of product design were all that was need so drive sales. But now the story is no longer the same, the consumer is the king and everything should centre on him. Often time, the consumer is barraged with diverse communications ad that some create conflict of choice. That is the reason why every company that desires to succeed in the 21st century should employ the tool of Market research not only to make decision but also to keep relevance.

South Africa: Is Marketing Moving With the Times?

pinion A few years ago I calculated that, every year in South Africa, roughly R50 billion was wasted on ill-conceived or just plain bad marketing.

This revelation came on the heels of research produced by Millward Brown, that showed 20% of all advertising not only didn't work but actually impacted negatively on the brands it was supposed to be promoting.

So, have things improved? Is marketing still efficient or continuing to shed money as though there was no tomorrow?

Deregulation
 Since 1994, there has not only been considerable deregulation but this country has become well and truly integrated into the international community in every sense of the word - business, sport, culture and crime.

The past couple of decades have seen a major change in the psyche of the South African consumer from being too timid or terrified to complain to toy-toying at the drop of a hat. Global competition has come home to roost.

But still our marketers are sticking to old-fashioned stereotype strategies.

Strategies that pay lip-service to the concept of customer care - our service levels are still pitifully low. Surprisingly enough, it seems to be the previously disadvantaged, who were largely excluded from front-line marketing in the past, who seem to have a firmer grasp and understanding of the importance of customers than those with decades of experience in the marketing field.

Customer service sucks
Customer service, quality and employee development in the marketing field still seem inexorably stuck on wall plaques and in mission statements, rather than put into practice.

But where marketing really seems adrift in the doldrums is in the field of communications.

From a PR point of view, marketers still hang on to naïve and horrendously defensive strategies to protect their products, brands and companies. They're like parents who just can't accept that little Johnny isn't a gullible five-year-old anymore but a young, mature adult.

And, on the advertising front, it is even worse. It is as though those creative teams responsible for our advertising are either stuck in the 1980's or floundering about in desperation. Quite apart from which, I am convinced that not many of our creatives make a point of consuming media to the same degree as their target markets.

Because far too many advertisements suggest that they are completely out of touch with the media which they are employing as a communications tool.

Consumptive media
The main problem seems to be coming to terms with the dramatic changes in media consumption over the past two decades.

Twenty years ago, when South Africa was isolated from international sport, art, culture and to a large degree, business as well, we not only had a lot of time to devote to media, particularly newspapers, television and magazines, but we simply had to keep in touch with what was going on around us, if only to look for clues in the news as to whether we were to live or die in a bloody revolution.

Now things are completely different. We don't need to read or watch the news to know if we are going to live or die - that's a given and depends entirely on our lack of luck with regard to hijackers, Aids and road traffic.

While all of this explains drops in newspaper readership, for example, it also suggests that we have all sorts of other things that demand out attention. The internet and international sport, to name but two.

Shocking shock tactics
All of which means that we have less time and inclination to watch, read and listen to advertisements. And marketers have reacted to this by trying to "shock" consumers into noticing ads. Or entice them with what look like Hollywood productions. Which, in my opinion is a suicidal strategy because consumers, frankly, have far better things to do than work out the subtleties of an ad.

Perhaps it's time to go back to basics in marketing communications. After all, isn't this that the consumer is crying out for?

"Cut the platitudes, shock tactics, subtleties and guesswork; just tell us what you're flogging and one good reason why we should buy it," is what I hear the market saying.

So, has marketing really changed in SA? The short answer is no. Because everything you have read above is pretty much word for word what I wrote 12 years ago. Nothing has really changed.

MillwardBrown lists benefits of research in product development

MILLWARDBROWN, a global research agency, which specialises in advertising, marketing communications, media and brand equity research, has emphasised the need for advertising agencies and business organisations in the country to get expert advice on marketing communication in brand development.

According to the Managing Director, MillwardBrown, Ghana, Soumya Saklani, investing in research creative development process to test strategy and ideas could help save time, costs and ensure that there is return on investment.

Speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday in Lagos to announce the company debut in Nigeria, Saklani stated that the company, with 82 offices in 52 countries, which work with 90 per cent of the top 100 global brands, was set to bring new innovation into marketing communication in Nigeria.

According to him, the company is determined to provide research-based consultancy to help marketers successfully manage their brands, optimise the return on their media and communications investments, and create value for their businesses, employees and shareholders.

He explained, “what differentiates us from other agencies is our passion for brands. As a leading global research agency specialising in advertising, marketing communications, media and brand equity research, we’ve been in the business of brands for more than 35 years.

“Our focus on all things “brand” is fuelled by our clients’ expectations for success and our own appetite for challenge, insight, solutions and innovation.

“We have helped our clients build strong brands and services through research-based consultancy and today, we continue to push the boundaries of marketing research and brand consulting wherever we go.”

Also, the Managing Director of the company in Nigeria, Ugo Geri-Robert, identified Nigeria as the ‘powerhouse’ of Africa, adding that tremendous growth in recent times, rising income levels and consumer aspirations has further increased marketers’ needs to understand real-time how their brands are evolving on their journey and their communications connecting with consumers and by extension their requirement for consumer research.

“Nigeria is at the centre of any growth prediction for Africa and West Africa, a potential BRIC country. If you mean business in Sub - Saharan you must be in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.

“For our global clients, who work with us across the globe, they can expect the same set of our proprietary solutions, high quality of service & cutting-edge insights & advice that has made then choose Millward Brown as their global research partner.

“For marketers, who we haven’t as yet had an opportunity to work for, they can expect from us solid research based insights & recommendations that can help them obtain a stronger return on investment from their marketing communications & strengthen their brands,” he added.

Global Market Research Firm, Millward Brown Makes Entry into Nigeria

WPP-owned global marketing research company, Millward Brown has formally established an office in Nigeria, five years after operating in Ghana from where it served its Nigerian clients. In 2007, it planned to set up a full operational office in the country but was discouraged by complex and cumbersome registration process.

But Nigeria, big market to ignore and Africa’s ‘powerhouse,’ is enthralling to Millward Brown that has beat all odds to set up shop in Nigeria to provide service in marketing communication research to more clients and create value in Nigeria’s over N100 billion advertising industry. Established in the UK in 1974, the objective of the company in Nigeria is to assist organisations, which spend huge sums on advertising yearly, to develop strong advertisements that meet and connect with consumers.

The company’s coming will definitely jolt rethinking in advertising business as a lot of money goes into especially TV advertising. Clients will begin to re-examine the process and their advertisement to ensure they are gotten right with expected ROI achieved. “Our strategy therefore is to help them test the advertisement before they make the massive big budget commitment,” Soumya Saklani, managing director, Millward Brown West Africa, told BusinessDay last week in Lagos.

In some instances, advertisements are produced with good lyrics and visuals to the delight of viewers but do not connect with the consumers and ultimately fall short of creating the necessary impact. To Saklani, advert testing is about optimisation of adverts with the objective of ensuring that advertisers get value for their money.

Clarifying that such expertise insight is complementary to the work of creative agencies, he said the idea is to help organisations save money and focus advert copy and visuals directly in order to achieve return on investment. “Ineffective ad is a sheer waste of money and resources,” he noted.

“In the UK, we test a number of adverts, some of which have won awards. We are the best friends of advertisers. In advert testing, it is the creative agencies that win the glory,” he stated. Second leg of Millward Brown’s objective in Nigeria is brand health research. Under this role, it will help clients understand the strength of their brands in the minds of their consumers.

“We tell our clients what the consumers think about their brands and what they should do for their brands to stand out,” he said. According to him, my strong motivation in Nigeria is based on the fact that Nigeria is without doubt the ‘powerhouse’ of Africa and one of the continent’s leading and most dynamic growth economies, and a significant member of the ‘Next 11’ club of growth countries.

“Tremendous growth in recent times, rising income levels and consumer aspirations has even further increased marketers’ need to understand real-time how their brands are evolving on their journey and their communication connecting with consumers and by extension their requirement for consumer research,” he disclosed.

On how Millward Brown, which offers a full qualitative and quantitative research service in 51 countries working across a wide range of industries and categories, will compete in the local market, the managing director of Millward Brown Nigeria, Ugo Geri-Robert, said “we are not everything but have passion for brands specialising in advertising, marketing communication, media and brand equity research.”

Speaking on the level of research in Africa, she said Africa ratio is about 3 - 4 percent of the global research. In Nigeria, it is lower when compared with other African countries, because the research culture is still evolving.

Mobile now drives consumer spending

Kenyan consumers are increasingly turning to social media and mobile phone advertising to guide their spending. This development has seen corporates battle to come up with strategies to tap into the lucrative marketing.


A survey of Kenyans’ digital habits by research firm TNS RMS East Africa found that 73 per cent of Kenyans would be happy doing all their Internet surfing on their phones.

Further, 67 per cent use social media to research brands, and around half of them would like to be able to purchase products through social networks.

“Growth in Internet access offers big opportunities for brands and marketers that can be explored with the right strategies,” said the TNS associate director of technology, Mr Bob Bugoyne.

Other medium

And according to research data released last month by mobile advertising firm, InMobi, Kenyans are using mobile phones more than any other medium.

In the InMobi survey, 89 per cent of users said they were as comfortable with mobile advertising as with television or newspaper advertising.

Entrenchment of the mobile culture was so pervasive that even while consuming other media, Kenyans still used their mobile phones to connect to the Internet and confirm information, a phenomenon known as second screening.
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TNS found that 19 per cent of Kenyans use their mobile phones to find out more about products that they had just seen advertised on television, while 21 per cent use them to find out about product availability in stores.

Despite the wide engagement with brands online, consumers were quickly turned off if they felt that corporates were intruding into their private spheres. TNS discovered that users are more likely to trust complete strangers than firms promoting their products.

“Digital marketing can actively create brand-resistant consumers. Brands cannot control messaging. Even a stranger on the other side of the world is trusted more,” said Mr Bugoyne.

This leaves companies that hope to leverage on social media and mobile phones in a predicament. They cannot explicitly market their products, yet it would be foolish to ignore the opportunity.

The solution, according to Mr Bugoyne, lies in waiting for consumers to invite companies onto their networks. When consumers post comments online about services or products, this amounts to an invitation.

TNS says that 77 per cent of users use social media as a customer service channel. Fifty-two per cent of them expect responses from companies, and when they are ignored their perception of a company and a brand is negatively warped.

“The majority of those talking about brands have wide social networks with an average of 250 contacts. They do have the ability to make or harm a brand,” said Mr Bugoyne

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Survey identifies corruption, epileptic power supply, crime as Nigeria’s biggest challenges

Latest survey by Research and Marketing Services (RMS) International has identified corruption, epileptic power supply, escalating crime rate and poor education as Nigeria’s biggest challenges। Other details of the research conducted between June and July, this year, shows a thump down for government in terms of infrastructural development. The Nigerian government was rated low by respondents on dam construction, employment creation; poverty eradication, management of resources, economic development and fight against corruption.

The research firm had surveyed 5,000 adult Nigerians in 37 states and FCT through a quantitative research technique via face-to-face personal interviews using a fully structured questionnaire in respondents’ homes। Asked about key development areas the president should focus on during his short tenure, 69 percent of the respondents said he should put adequate arsenal in place to fight corruption, 55 percent wants him to focus on amenities such as electricity and water, while 52 percent said his government should revamp the education sector.

The respondents were asked about the responsiveness of the government to their needs, 19 percent said the government was responsive to their needs, 35 percent said it was somewhat responsive, while 46 percent said it was not responsive to their needs।

According to the research, the respondents were asked to give their feelings about the president’s performance since he took office। It revealed that 52 percent of Nigerians said his performance to date was satisfactory, 20 percent said his performance was static, while 3 percent said his performance was going down.

On the support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s candidacy for next year’s elections, 81 percent of Nigerians said the president should contest the 2011 polls, 4 percent were opposed to his candidacy, while 15 percent of respondents were undecided। The research noted that the president’s approval to contest cuts across region, age, gender and socio-economic class. The respondents in support of his candidature (81 percent) were asked to give supporting reasons for their stance. 47 percent said the president had performed above expectations since he came into office, 29 percent said he had the ability to transform Nigeria into a prosperous nation, while 25 percent said he was transparent and incorruptible.

The 4 percent against his candidature were also asked to back up their stance। 22 percent said the president was not from their party, 15 percent said he should give others opportunity, while 10 percent said he was not from the North. These respondents were mainly from the Northern states of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Sokoto and Bauchi, the research document revealed.

Asked about what they looked for in a presidential candidate before deciding to vote for him, 63 percent said they considered the candidate’s caliber, 33 percent mentioned the candidate’s political affiliation (party), 31 percent first considered the candidate/party’s political ideology, while 27 percent said they considered the party’s manifesto।

Respondents were asked to profile their expectations from the new government coming to power in 2011। 77 percent of respondents said the government should focus on creating employment, 68 percent said they should focus on stabilising the power sector, 57 percent wants to see definitive effort in eradicating poverty, while 51 percent wants to see the government providing free qualitative education in the country. The respondents were asked to air their feelings about the appointment of Namadi Sambo as the vice president. 43 percent of respondents said he was the right candidate for the job, 5 percent said he was not the right candidate, while 51 percent of respondents refused to give their feelings on the issue.

In the 43 percent that endorsed the vice president as the right candidate, 31 percent said he had done a sterling job while governor of Kaduna State, while 27 percent said he was honest and transparent। Those opposed to his appointment were asked to give supporting reasons for their stance. Thirty-one percent said he was a political novice, while 26 percent said there was no meaningful development in Kaduna while he was the governor.

On participation in the next year’s election, 81 percent of respondents said they were going to register to participate in the forthcoming general elections in 2011, 10 percent said they were not going to register, while 9 percent is undecided. Asked if they would vote in 2011, 55 percent of respondents said they would definitely vote, 28 percent said they would probably vote, while 8 percent said they would definitely not vote, these respondents were mainly from urban areas in Lagos, Abuja and Kano.