marketing mix magazine nov dec 2007

CONTENTS

Vol 25 No. 11/12 I 2007 I MarketingMix 1

2 2

0 1

0 9

5 6

3 9

4 3

I 2 1 I Expert Opinion:Michele Venter-DaviesMichele gets googly over alternativemedia

I 2 2 I Assegai AwardsMarketing Mix takes a closer look atsome of the Gold prize winners

I 3 6 I Expert Opinion:Nici StathacopoulosNici tries to define direct marketing

I 3 8 I Expert Opinion:Nicci ColumbineNicci finds the value in call centres

I 3 9 I Expert Opinion:Yoav TcheletYoav tells us how to measure ROIonline

I 4 0 I This thing calledCRMSusan Moerdyk shares some insightsfrom Markinor’s State of Marketingstudy

I 4 3 I Afrikaans MediaMarketing Mix looks at the Afrikaansmedia landscape

I 5 0 I Marketing At-RetailMarketing Mix brings you the latestthinking on Point of Sale marketing.

I 5 5 I Expert Opinion:DMXCraig Cesman explains the differencebetween interruption and enjoyment

I 5 6 I Law MixFayeeza Kathree-Setiloane andOmesha Moodley look at ICASA’ssubscription broadcasting licences,and public service broadcasting

1 1

1 4

5 4

I 0 2 I Book ReviewMarketing Mix reviews Purple Cow:Transform Your Business by BeingRemarkable, Seth Godin’s latest

must-read for marketers

I 0 4 I Ed’s note

I 0 6 I DMAAfter its first operational year, the

DMA reports on its successes and

introduces new founder members.

I 0 7 I NewsAll the latest gossip in the wonderful

world of the marketing mix

I 1 2 I Expert Opinion:Richard DuncanRichard talks about mobile battles

down under

I 1 3 I EffectiveMarketing in AfricaInsights from experts and brand

managers who have made it in Africa

I 1 4 I Brand AnatomyMarketing Mix explores the

intriguing personality of Smirnoff

Vodka

I 1 6 I Expert Opinion:IMMHelen McIntee gives marketers advice

on how to bounce back

I 1 7 I 7 Day [B]itchJoe Public’s creative director, Pepe

Marais, tells us why he’s a dog lover

I 1 8 I Direct MarketingMarketing Mix looks at Direct to

Home marketing, and finds some

exciting new ways to boost a direct

to home campaign

MarketingMix

MarketingMix I Vol 25 No. 11/12 I 20072

When a guy like Larry Weber decides towrite a book and impart his knowledge and

wisdom to marketers on how to use social net-

working and digital communities to build

brands and business, you should be devouring

every word. If you don’t know who Mr Weber

is, then look up info on the W2 Group.

The basic premise to the entire book is how

to communicate with consumers using the

Internet and its various new technologies. One

of the most valuable but least understood

aspects is the online consumer community.

Weber points out succinctly on his opening

page that ‘instead of continuing as broadcasters,

marketers should – and will – become

aggregators of customer communities. Rather

than broadcasting marketing messages to an

increasingly indifferent, even resentful, audience

jaded by the 2 000-plus messages the average

American is reputedly exposed to every day,

marketers should participate in, organise, and

encourage social networks to which people

want to belong… And the social web is the

most effective way in the history of the world to

do just that on a large scale.’

So what exactly is the social web? Weber calls

it ‘the online place where people with a

common interest can gather to share thoughts,

comments, and opinion.’ It is probably better

known by its longer title of social networking,

including some of the most well-known web-

sites – MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Flixster.

Weber insists that the Internet is becoming

the most important marketing medium, the

umbrella if you like. So if you believe this can be

true, even in South Africa at some stage, then

Weber offers a myriad of social web case studies

and a step-by-step guide on what and what not

to do to succeed in this dynamic and important

new world.

As mentioned, the job of a marketer in this

environment is aggregator, which can be done

in two ways: providing compelling content

(research, ideas, opinions) and environment

(where people can share knowledge) for

customers to visit and/or by participating in

the public arena by taking part in discussions

as experts in the relevant fields. This way, a

marketer can become involved in building

communities.

A community can provide targeted brand

building, lead generation, partnerships, research

and development and employee communica-

tions. In making the transition to the social web,

Weber offers a neat chart on old versus new

marketing. Some of the differences include:

Component: brand equity

Old marketing: brand recall is Holy Grail

New marketing: brand value is determined by

customers: how likely are customers to highly

recommend good or service?

Component: targeting

Old marketing: target by demographics

New marketing: target according to behaviour

Component: communication

Old marketing: broadcast style: create and

push message out for customers to absorb

New marketing: digital environment for inter-

active communication through search and

query, customer comments, personal reviews

or dialogue.

The most important pages in the book come

in Part II where Weber, very kindly, provides a

seven-step guide to building a customer com-

munity as well as expert advice on various

strategies including social networks, reputation

aggregator and blogs. Filled with very useful,

easy-to-understand and digest info, Weber pro-

vides everything you need to know on social

webs as well as plenty of case studies.

It’s worth reading even if you think you’re

not interested in online communities. Oh, and

by the way, Weber says that Web 2.0 is actually

Web 3.0 with Web 4.0 just around the corner –

the use of rich media, broadband and high defi-

nition – making the Internet more emotive. �

How digital customer communities build your business

by michelle sturman BOOK REVIEW

Marketing to the Social Web

By Larry WeberJohn Wiley & Sons, IncR264

An essential read for anyone studying PR and one tohave as a ‘helping hand’ for practicing PR professionals.

The last edition was published in 2004 so quite a bit has

been added since: new case studies, including the Nelson

Mandela Children’s Fund; event checklists, new information

regarding corporate social responsibility and the role of PR,

and an updated chapter on our multicultural market.

The necessary building blocks of PR are in the handbook

and include:

Fundamentals of PR; PR and research; PR and marketing;

planning a PR programme; PR and the media, effective com-

munications; promotional activities and PR and crises. �

Handbook of Public RelationsEighth Edition

Handbook of Public RelationsEighth Edition

Chris Skinner, Llew von Essen, Gary Mersham, Sejamothopo MotauOxford University Press Southern AfricaR325

Marketing to the Social Web


ED’S NOTE

It is with great sadness, but great excitement that I write

this, my last ed’s note to you, my dear readers. Great

sadness as I leave the print world, but great excitement as

I move into the world of cyberspace, bits, bytes, blogs and

daily reporting.

But fear not. I’m not moving far. In fact, I’ll still be sit-

ting behind my usual desk with the same laptop in the

very same office as I take Marketing Mix online. The web-

site will go live early next year and will keep you up to

date with news and views that are important to the mar-

keting world. Like the print edition, all the news and information posted on the Marketing Mix

website will be carefully selected and it won’t be filled with every press release that pops into

my inbox.

There will also be views from some of the country’s top marketers and media gurus offering

advice, opinions and information in bite-sized chunks along with the chance to interact with

them. The website will also offer the Marketing Mix archives – a wealth of information captured

from over 20 years’ print editions. There will be lots more features on the website but you’ll have

to visit it to find out what they are. If you want to contribute to the website in some way, give

me a shout and I’ll be happy to chat to you.

In the meantime, I’m very pleased to announce that Fulvia Becatti is your new editor and takes

over from the next edition of Marketing Mix.

Have a wonderful holiday season and the next time you hear from me will be from

www.marketingmix.co.za.

PROPRIETOR AND PUBLISHER:

Systems Publishers (Pty) Ltd.

Tel: (011) 234 7008

North Block, Bradenham Hall,

Mellis Road, Rivonia

PUBLISHER: Terry Murphy

EDITOR: Michelle Sturman

e-mail: [email protected]

JOURNALIST: Fulvia Becatti


SUB-EDITOR: Jenny Bastomsky


ADVERTISING MANAGER:

Robyn Andrews


PRODUCTION:

Spencer van Graan

e-mail:

[email protected]

SUBSCRIPTION ENQUIRIES:

Daisy Mulenga

Email: [email protected]

Copyright of all material in thispublication and supplements are

reserved by the proprietors, exceptwhere expressly stated. The opinionsin this publication do not necessarilyrepresent the views of the publisher.

Database:List Perfect

3 944 Jan-June 2007

A whole new world


DMA

A year in the life of...

New founder membersThe DMA has three new founder members:

HomeChoice, Avis and Computer Facilities.

Avis“Avis benefits from its relationship

with the DMA by being kept

abreast of industry trends and leg-

islation. This allows us to communicate with our

customers in a caring way and ensures we

remain sensitive to issues around communica-

tions legislation. While we regularly communi-

cate with our members through our e-zines and

personalised correspondence, the DMA enables

us to see how the industry is growing and what

other industry players are doing and achieving.

It provides a great networking opportunity and

allows Avis to share its work with the larger

direct marketing community,” says general man-

ager of marketing, Zanele Mamba.

Computer Facilities“Computer Facilities is proud

to be a founder member of the DMA.

Furthermore, we are proud to provide the asso-

ciation with additional services free of charge,

such as maintaining its membership and Do Not

Contact Me databases, providing accounting

services as well as handling bulk e-mails and

SMSes.

“The direct marketing industry has always

required a controlling body which looks after

the interests of all, and the lobbying that has

taken place over the past year with government

has been essential for the entire industry. The

original wording of some of the proposed acts

would have crippled our industry and made

thousands of people redundant. We are pleased

that government has listened to us and has

taken notice of our concerns.”

“The DMA is in its infancy and was recently

awarded the New Association of the Year award

by the Services Seta. This is a great achievement

and most definitely a feather in the cap for the

enthusiastic CEO Brian Mdluli and his team. The

relationship that has been developed with the

Services Seta and the Department of Trade and

Industry as well as other organisations bodes

well for the future of the DMA.

“The very well-organised Assegai Awards, held

at the beginning of November, paid tribute to

everyone involved with the DMA and we, as

Computer Facilities, were very surprised but

honoured to be awarded the Assegai for

Organisation of the Year,” says Ian Geary, man-

aging director, Computer Facilities.

HomeChoice“As South Africa’s biggest catalogue retailer, the

state of the direct marketing industry and any

legislation that affects our trading environment

is of prime concern to us. Having a single body

to communicate with members on issues affect-

ing them and, more importantly, having that

body act as a strong lobbyist for the industry is

vital. The success of the new DMA will in large

part depend on it having the support of big

industry players. That’s why we decided to

become founder members. We look forward to

seeing the DMA grow into a body that encour-

ages and develops high standards in direct mar-

keting, keeps the industry abreast of global

trends and provides a collective voice that gives

our industry the gravitas it needs when speak-

ing to government,” says Anthea Abrahams,

marketing director, HomeChoice.

To join, visit www.facilities.coza/dma

DMA fees are paid annually on the anniver-sary date of joining the organisation and arebased on the size of your company. Paymentcan be made via cheque or EFT. An invoicewill be e-mailed as soon as you have completed theonline membership. Before you go to thelink above in order to register to become amember, you will need to have the followinginformation available:

� Your company details� Your company coordinator’s details ie

the person who will be responsible forkeeping your company details up todate on a quarterly basis

� Your company decision maker’s detailsie the person who will authorise yourmembership of the DMA and theessential payment of membership fees

� The details of staff members who youbelieve should receive informationupdates from the DMA on an ongoingbasis. If you do not have all the detailswith you, your company coordinatorcan go back into the system at anytime to update these details

Contact details:(011) 577 [email protected] www.dmasa.org

The DMASA has come through its first operational year, and its successes

were reflected on at the AGM held in November. “By all accounts the DMA

has had a challenging but phenomenally successful year, a fact that bears

testimony to the high calibre of our board members, leadership and indus-

try, and their commitment to making the association work for its members,”

says Brian Mdluli, CEO, DMASA. Over the past year, the DMA has made

progress engaging with government and the industry, securing a number of

rulings vital to the well-being and growth of the direct marketing industry

as well as to the serving of consumer rights. “The DMA board has set some

tough standards for all board members in lobbying government at the most

senior levels on pending legislation,” says Mdluli.

DMA membership has grown to eight founder members and 140 corpo-

rate members. The number of founder members will be capped at 10 and

so far includes: First National Bank, RCS, South African Post Office, MTN,

Computer Facilities, ABSA, Avis and HomeChoice.

During this year, the DMASA also became one of the signatories to the

proposed Marketing, Advertising and Communications BBBEE Charter (which

was accepted by Minister Pahad and is now with the DTI for approval).

The Assegai Awards were welcomed back, with close on 140 entries.

Board members announced for 2008:Patrick Muthui — Rand Merchant BankDarryl Joubert — Intimate DataIllona Hilditch — Alexander ForbesIan Geary — Computer FacilitiesMichelle Perrow— Lesoba DifferenceChristiane Duval — UmthethoJanras Kotsi — South African Post OfficeBrian Mdluli — DMA CEOAlbie Aucamp — African BankJeff van der Watt — Rand Envelope and Tunley’sGary Simpson — Premier Growth Group

Andy Quinan and John Rollason have resigned from the board.

Join the DMA…

NEWS


The LIVEMOBILE ‘Portal in a Box’ lets advertisers

reach a potential market of 27 million South

Africans, and 415 million more African mobile

users, on their mobile phones through a portal

that takes soccer news directly to cellphone.

After 18 months of development and behind

the scenes work to ensure that content can be

rendered to different types of handsets.

“The plan is to launch a country-specific ver-

sion of the portal across Africa and even glob-

ally. This will ensure that we can offer country

specific users a localised experience and also

offer the service to country specific sponsors

and advertisers,” says Patrick Kuwana, CEO,

Umliba and director of PA Sport South Africa

(which Umliba also has a stake in).

The system requires handsets to be GPRS

and WAP enabled, but with 95 per cent of all

phones sold in the past two years being GPRS

enabled, Kuwana is positive about the offer-

ing. He refers to data collected by Admob (a

leading global mobile advertising network),

which found that in September 2007, South

Africa had the third highest number of mobile

ad impressions in the world after the US and

India respectively.

The LIVEMOBILE service will deliver mobile

soccer channels for the Barclays English

Premiership League, the South African Premier

Soccer League, other major global soccer

leagues and competitions; channels for rugby,

cricket and Formula One will be available soon.

The majority of the data is sourced from PA

Sport, but the service also allows for mobilisa-

tion of content from existing Internet sources

(websites, blogs, social networks, etc). “This

means we have an endless source of content

that we can provide to mobile users,” says

Kuwana. “Even though we have focused on

sports first the platform will soon introduce

channels for entertainment, business news,

African country by country news and others.”

Advertisers can choose from text and/or

banner ads as well as click-through ads. “One

unique aspect of the service is that it can

mobilise existing web-based ads, without forc-

ing the advertisers to make changes to their

creative. Web-based ads get optimised in real

time to the end-user’s device,” says Kuwana.

Currently, Umliba is pursuing a sponsorship

model, rather than an open-ad network

model. Ad placement pricing varies based on

the commitment and scope provided by the

sponsor; a portion of the pricing can also be

based on click-through traffic.

“At the moment, we are offering a fixed-fee

sponsorship structure on a per country basis. If

a company wishes to sponsor multiple country

portals, they can do so at a discounted rate,”

says Kuwana. “The value to advertisers is the

ability to get their message delivered directly to

a user using a rich media experience within a

context that is relevant to the user. They are

guaranteed that the user will see them and,

more importantly, the user can be profiled and

further communicated to directly,” says

Kuwana. Traffic through the site will be

monitored, so advertisers will know exactly

how many people are viewing their ads.

For users, the basic service is free and

includes fixtures, results and league tables, etc.

The premium service, which will have an expect-

ed monthly fee of around R20, will offer users

access to live match commentaries, previews

and downloads (wallpapers, ringtones, etc). “A

feature we are bringing into the service early

next year is the ability for all users to participate

in chat forums and messaging, using the instant

messaging (IM) communication option which

will be freely available,” says Kuwana.

The portal is powered by BUZmob, a pub-

lishing service for mobilising Internet content

developed by Canadian company Contec

Innovations.

You can link to the live demo by entering

your cellphone number on http://umliba.buz-

mob.com/urlsms.php?page=soccer.

Urbandictionary.comMoobs: a combination of ‘man’ and

‘boobs’. This is what happens when fat gath-

ers in a male’s chest area and gives him the

appearance of having breasts. Usually seen in

overweight males, but can strangely also

occur in men who are not overweight.

Facebook surprise: when you don’t know a

picture has been taken of you until you see it

uploaded by someone else on Facebook –

usually an embarrassing picture.

Summer teeth: used to describe somebody

who is missing some of their teeth – summer

there and summer not!

Textual intercourse: the consummation of

a relationship via SMS.

Husband chair: a chair in a women’s

clothes store or department for a guy to sit

on and wait while his wife or girlfriend

shops.

Work hot: a person that may or may not be

hot, but is the most attractive person in the

set of people you work with so you lust after

him or her.

Man stand: The act of a man standing

outside a shop while his wife, girlfriend or

partner shops inside. Man standing involves

looking into space, at other women, or in the

case of multi-storey shopping centres,

leaning on the railing of an upper floor

watching the people below.

The soccer link


NEWS

Five new channels have been added to

the DStv bouquet: Sony Entertainment

Television (SET), Animax, One Gospel, M-

Net Stars and Style Network.

According to Chris Hitchings, director

of sales, Oracle Airtime Sales (OATS),

these channels are not yet commercially

viable. Following a six-month ‘settling’

period, OATS will make a decision as to

whether to consider commercial insertion

on any of these new channels. “This deci-

sion will be informed by a variety of fac-

tors, including; channel audience ratings,

environment, likely demand from industry,

the ability to add value to our current

sales proposition, etc,” says Hitchings.

In the meantime, here is some back-

ground info on Animax and SET.

Marketing Mix will take a closer look at

the other channels in future issues, and

will let you know when they will start car-

rying advertising.

Channel: Sony Entertainment Television (SET)

Ownership: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Launch Date: 2 November 2007

Platform: DStv, channel 108

Programme highlights: Launching

under the tagline ‘100 % Entertainment’,

the SET channel delivers a family friendly

mix of programming genres that appeal

to a range of audiences. Programming

includes movies and series, including such

popular shows as Las Vegas and Party of

Five. According to Ross Hair, senior vice

president, International Networks, EMEA,

Sony Pictures Television International, the

parent company has been debating

whether or not to create mobile content

for the channel. “There is constant debate

about whether to set up a production

facility dedicated to short content. We do

see people downloading more and more.

But the debate questions whether they

prefer long or short content,” he says.

“We are excited about the SET channel.

Our movies and high-quality entertain-

ment set us apart, so we hope to intro-

duce our linear services to mobile soon.”

Target audience: anyone between the

ages of 15 and 49 years.

Channel: ANIMAX

Ownership: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Launch Date: 3 November 2007

Platform: DStv, channel 111

Programme highlights: This channel is

dedicated to Japanese animé, and it cov-

ers a range of genres (romance, horror

etc). “We have entered this channel into

markets in which the animé audience was

not so big, and we have grown it,” says

Hair. “animé deals with serious themes,

universal themes. Visually, and in terms of

content, it is different to anything else

that’s out there.”

Animax has joined forces with MXit

locally, as part of the marketing campaign

for the channel. MXit’s core users are,

demographically speaking, Animax’s core

audience, so the mobile channel is ideally

positioned. “Our targeted audience is a

desirable fan base. It is both Internet and

mobile savvy, and with the amount of

time spent watching TV declining, we

must reach it via mobile and online

media,” says Hair. Consumer testing will

be carried out too, and the team also has

plans to take info and content to the web

and cellphones.

Target audience: viewers and fans aged

between 15 and 29, looking for alterna-

tive content and entertainment.

Your brand’s face, that is. The social networking giant has just released its

advertising ideas to the world, and Facebook ads looks good even for

South African advertisers. South Africa is the eighth largest country in

terms of active users, while the South African Facebook network is one of

the top three fastest growing networks on the website.

So what’s on offer? Facebook has introduced Facebook Pages that

allow brands to build a Facebook page, including video, photos, appli-

cations, etc and Facebook Social Ads that deliver precisely targeted ads

that can run on users’ news feeds or is visible on the left side of the site.

Facebook Insights make up the final part offering market intelligence

and analytics information. A sales team can be contacted to help with

campaigns although Facebook’s step-by-step guide to building ads and

brand pages is easy.

Other useful tools include Beacon, which is a few lines of code

added to a brand’s own external website. Beacon sends information

back to the user’s Facebook profile when they take an action – a pur-

chase, signing up for a service, etc. However, there was uproar from

Facebook users regarding its opt-out only policy and on December 5

2007, CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg posted this message on the

Facebook blog: “Last week we changed Beacon to be an opt-in sys-

tem, and today we’re releasing a privacy control to turn off Beacon

completely. If you select that you don’t want to share some Beacon

actions or if you turn off Beacon, then Facebook won’t store those

actions even when partners send them to Facebook.”

Help is also at hand in the form of applications through Platform

and polls can be developed. For more detailed information, visit

www.facebook.com/ads.

Local Facebook brand pages

• BMW South Africa

• Traveldex South Africa

• SmartSphere South Africa

• South African Travel

• All About Africa Tours & Travels

Your face on Facebook

NEWS

Bokomo Weet-Bixthanks you Marketing Mix recently took a closer look at

the Bokomo Weet-Bix ‘Thank You’ campaign

and sales promotions (Vol. 25, issue no.

9/10; page 54), and now we can report that

the campaign succeeded in raising R1 million

for Childline over six months.

According to Bokomo Foods brand man-

ager, Jan Louw, the campaign was designed

to thank consumers for their support over

the years as well as to create awareness and

generate funds for a worthy cause.

Bokomo replaced the Weet-Bix name on

all packaging with the words ‘thank you’,

and targeted consumers of the brand and

South Africans who felt that “they could

make a difference by contributing to the

future of our country and our children”.

Bokomo donated 7.5 cents for every pack of

Bokomo Weet-Bix sold between April and

September 2007, to a total of R1 million.

Plus, consumers who bought Weet-Bix stood

in line to win cars, Sony Playstations and

Bokomo hampers. “The strength of the

brand coupled with the clever selection of

media largely contributed to the success of

the promotion. A good mix, since entries

through SMS and IVR averaged 104 000 per

month, and over 600 000 over the

six-month campaign period,” says Louw.

The campaign was supported on pack as

well as with in-store marketing; TV, radio

and print media campaigns also raised

awareness. “Integrated campaigns are

essential when promoting to broad

consumer bases, such as Weet-Bix’s,” says

Louw. He adds that the contact details and

data collected in the campaign might be

used for future interactive promotions. The

strong link with Childline will continue through

on-pack promotion of the Childline logo and

the opportunity to donate directly to

Childline through an on-pack SMS number.

Writers blockThe US writer’s strike is having a significant impact on TV production, wreaking havoc with pro-

gramming schedules audiences were down by around nine per cent across the pond at the time

of going to press. Major TV series such as 24, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Prison

Break have stopped production while talk shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and

the Late Show with David Letterman are off the air. Depending on how long the strike lasts, it

could begin to affect programming in South Africa, M-Net in particular.

Although, according to Jan du Plessis, director of Channels, M-Net, the strike will have to

continue until April 2008 to affect us locally. “In the worst case scenario, it will mean that

viewers will not see their favourite series’ episodes consecutively. At this stage the only major

casualty is 24 Season 7 where the US broadcast date has been postponed indefinitely from a

January 2008 start, possibly skipping the 2008

season and premiering only in January 2009,”

says Du Plessis.

Oracle Airtime’s director of Sales, Chris

Hitchings is quick to reassure advertisers that

options are being looked at in the worst case

scenario. “Naturally, the first prize for us is an

uninterrupted schedule, however, where series

may be interrupted or episodes shifted, we would

have to be sensitive to advertisers’ needs and provide

flexible options; that is, either offer suitable

alternatives or allow advertising to shift timing

along with the relevant programming.”


NEWS

A classic road-trip song with ananthemic chorus

Rock – independence and happinessFilterTake a Picture

The WiseguysOoh La La

Dance along and sing-along fun song Dance – upbeat, positive and energetic

James BrownI Feel Good

One-year anniversary since his death Funk – loud, crazy and radical

Jungle BookBare Necessities

Animated and loved characters Kids – youth, silliness and lighthearted

Sly and the Family StoneIt’s a Family Affair

It’s lasted the test of time and is stillpopular at clubs and bars.

Soul – sexy and soulful

QueenDon’t Stop Me Now

Powerful and fast paced Pop – optimistic, frenziness, fun andcelebration

StereophonicsA Thousand Trees

Great melodies and choruses Rock – freedom, expression and inde-pendence

Zoot WomanIt’s Automatic

Flow and consistency for creating arelaxed setting

Chill dance – comfortable, positiveand relaxing

LiraFeel Good

Great vibes song with beautifulvocals

Soul – playful and proud

UnkleJamWhat am I Fighting For

A fresh and unique hit Pop – wild and rebellious

Which music is currently

enjoying its 15 minutes of

fame or would make a brilliant

soundbed for an ad? The list

below includes a wide range

of local and international

music styles and, most impor-

tantly, it highlights which

songs are hip and happening

within different target markets

right now.

The following list is courtesy

of Roy Harman, who manages

South African artists and works

on various music entertainment

productions and events.

For more information on

how to match your brand

with an appropriate song

e-mail [email protected]

or call 083 407 4928

Just add music

Act and song Why it’s hot Genre and emotion evoked

NEWS

Oops – you’re badConsumers International (CI) has released the results of the annual

International Bad Product Awards 2007. Criteria for the selection of

‘winners’ included company size, global scale of sales and marketing,

consumer impact and potential actionable change by the

corporation.

And the top prize goes to…Award: Bad drug promotion

Company: Takeda Pharmaceuticals

Action: Advertising sleeping pills to children

Say what? This is how the story goes: The US sub-

sidiary of Japanese drug firm Takeda Pharmaceuticals aired

a TV ad for its sleeping drug Rozerem. The ad was aired in time for the ‘Back

to School’ season and used images of kids, school buses, classrooms, etc.

The voice-over said: “Rozerem would like to remind you that it’s back to

school season. Ask your doctor today if Rozerem is right for you.”

Importantly, the ad didn’t mention the serious side effects and the precau-

tions for children taking the drug!

The Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) only gave Takeda a slap on the wrist and

took six months to insist the ad be removed.

CI says: “This case demonstrates the lengths to which some drug compa-

nies will go to increase sales of their products, how direct to consumer

advertising can promote irrational drug use, and how weak regulation can

foster irresponsible corporate behaviour. This company is our overall award

winner for irresponsible behaviour in 2007.”

Award: Bad drinks marketing

Company: Coca-Cola

Action: Repackaging tap water

Details: The problem is the packaging of tap water

by Coca-Cola which caused consumer outrage. The international bottled

water, Dasani, had to be taken off the market in the UK although it is still

selling in the US and South America. Technically, Coca-Cola did not do any-

thing illegal but its advertising could be construed as misleading.

CI says: ”Sustainable access to essential services, such as water, is a basic

consumer right. By bottling this universal resource to sell back to us,

corporations, such as Coca-Cola, have created a US$100 billion industry at a

time when one billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking

water. Making profits out of increasingly fragile water supplies is unsustain-

able, irresponsible and against the basic rights of consumers everywhere.”

Award: Bad food

Company: Kellogg’s

Action: Advertising junk food to kids

Kellogg’s has been slapped on the wrists for spending billions on advertising

cereal that is considered unhealthy for kids – especially those under 12. The

issue is not only how it markets – giving away spectacular prizes, for exam-

ple – but what it markets – in particular some cereals with a high sugar

content. Complaints also abound regarding the slowness to change its mar-

keting and communications.

CI says: ”We are committed to stopping the marketing of junk food to children.

Together with our members, we are campaigning for international restrictions on

marketing to under 16s, to give our children the chance of a healthy start.”

For the full information on the Bad Product Awards 2007,

visit www.consumersinternational.org.


by richard duncan EXPERT OPINION

The battle of the mobilesAcross the globe there is a huge war inprogress on a scale that few have ever wit-

nessed before.

This war has been brewing for some time

and has seen the breaking out of numerous fire

fights and skirmishes across the world as the

mobile telecommunication giants flex their mus-

cles and fiercely contest their positions, each

vying to secure their seat at the telecoms table.

However, what we have seen to date is no

match for what is still to come, and the battles

won today will directly impact on the shape of

the market in the future.

As consumers, we have seen the clouds of

war looming overhead for some time and

watched the giants in cellular technology butt

heads. We have witnessed the handset and air-

time wars, the proliferation of capped plans, the

emergence of 3G, and the widespread accept-

ance and adoption of SMS as the new way of

communicating – changing the way we stay in

touch and in a few short years radically altering

the way we write.

For the average mobile user, there is little

appreciation of the scale of this war and what is

really at stake. It’s not about winning customer

contracts today but securing the rights and

leadership of tomorrow’s mobile data market,

which promises far greater revenue streams

than the telecommunication players are

already enjoying.

We should have an inkling of what is at stake

based on the significant investments being made

in advertising and sponsorship alone. They may

each have their own unique brand positioning

and approach, but they are all united in seem-

ingly having money to burn. An hour hardly

seem to go by without these brands proudly

pounding us with their brand message, presence

and profile across television, print, radio, cinema,

outdoor and online. In South Africa, there seem

to be few major sporting or cultural events that

haven’t been adopted or swamped by the trio of

Vodacom, MTN and Cell C.

The battle has extended deep within our

living rooms as each player leverages its own

brand assets, be they the strong corporate

identity colours of green and blue, dominating

yellow or powerful red; the charismatic characters

of Vodacom, tonality of Cell C or youthfulness

of MTN.

The battle in South Africa is emulated else-

where in the world; in England with Orange,

Vodafone and O2, and in Australia with Optus,

Vodafone and Telstra. Interesting to note that

Down Under, Optus carries a distinctive yellow

corporate identity, much like MTN, and an

acclaimed association to talking animals (which

has striking similarities to M-Net’s brand cam-

paign in 1995/6), whereas Telstra, as the national

fixed-line carrier, sports a blue corporate identity

that closely resembles that of Telkom.

For now, mobile users tend to be limited in

their use of their handset for making calls and

sending SMSes as the various data usages are

costly, unfamiliar and are a poor second to the

ease of fixed-line Internet. But, when the main

players put their minds to it, they will change the

category, evolving customer habits and expecta-

tions and when this finally comes right, mobile

users will become even more dependent on their

mobile phones. This is not something that can

be forced though, as highlighted by the CEO of

Optus, Paul O’Sullivan, late last year: “Customers

are technology agnostic. If you try to force tech-

nology down their throats, you will fail.”

With the convergence of mobile telephony,

television and the Internet, the battle of tomor-

row is to own the high ground of data transfer.

The brands that own this territory will command

healthy control of the future as consumers

increasingly rely on their mobile phones to

access data while on the move, make better use

of their down time while commuting and turn

to their handsets to make purchases. Imagine

being able to buy something in a shop using

your phone without having to pull out your

wallet, sign a credit card slip, remember a PIN

or figure out where to put the change. Well,

imagine no further.

“The best way to predict the future is to

invent it.” – Alan Kay

So whatever the brand, the future is very

promising. The real unknown is which brands

will be left at the end of the data convergence

rush and that is why we have witnessed a veri-

table bloodbath of competitive activity in the

past decade and why the next 10 years promise

to be no less blood thirsty. As the saying goes:

‘to the victor the spoils’. �

The real unknown iswhich brands will be leftat the end of the dataconvergence rush andthat is why we havewitnessed a veritablebloodbath of competitiveactivity in the pastdecade and why thenext 10 years promise tobe no less blood thirsty

“

”

Richard Duncan

Sydney, Australia+61 41 154 [email protected]

AFRICA by fulvia becatti


Effective marketing in AfricaAfrica waves at us from beyond ourborders, bearing great potential for brands and

business. Marketing Mix shares some key

learnings and insights from the brand experts

that have ventured forth.

Standard Bank has found traction in several

countries across the continent through, in many

cases, joint ventures with existing banks.

Marketing director: Africa, David Wingfield,

reports some of the key challenges.

� Lack of credible research (with the concept of

research being underdeveloped in many

countries). “Once you have identified what

you are trying to achieve, decide whether

research or tracking is really necessary,” says

Wingfield. He suggests that wherever

possible, companies should use desk research

(this is viable for building profiles of markets,

competitor analyses, country risk analyses and

so on). Blogs and websites may also shed

some light.

� Lack of media audience data and spend

numbers. Available data lacks consistency,

with media owners each giving you a differ-

ent view. “Research only what you don’t

know, and go with the known entity – people

will tell you what you want to hear,” says

Wingfield.

� Complexity of markets locally, regionally and

continentally makes it difficult to approach

the market as one mass. (“What you can do

with R100 in one market is very different

from what you can do with it in another

market,” says Wingfield).

Complexity of the research taskThe Western mindset that many adopt when

approaching this market has no relevance to this

market or researching it.

These are unsophisticated markets, so it is

not viable to look for the highest common

denominator.

� Infrastructures are underdeveloped

� Timing

� Multiple language barriers

� Political hotspots or conflict areas (where

business runs the risk of affecting incoming

global aid, for example).

Media consumptionIn terms of media consumption, Sharon

Penhallrick, managing director of Telmar SPC

Media Systems and Consulting, has found that

while there are some similarities to the South

African environment, there are some key differ-

ences to be taken into account. “Carnivals, high

school sampling campaigns and activations

must be used together with traditional media,”

she says, emphasising a holistic approach.

TV is still a new and aspirational medium in

many countries, especially beyond the urban

centres. The phenomenon of community view-

ing is relevant. “They have had problems in the

past with PBS broadcasting; now they are enjoy-

ing deregulation, privatisation and the establish-

ment of new networks as well as improved pro-

gramming,” says Penhallrick. “We need to be

more creative with TV through sponsorships,

infomercials and product placements, etc.”

There is a lot of room for edutainment as fillers

between programmes. Local programming

especially is viable for product placements.

Radio is powerful both in rural and urban

areas. Regarded as the ‘personal friend and con-

fidant’, this medium has the highest penetration

and is the most cost efficient. Penhallrick sug-

gests the creative and interactive use of DJs, for

example, in campaigns.

Newspapers have high reach in literate urban

markets, but the prevalence of print media

varies incredibly (fly-by nights are a problem).

Relative to electronic media, print costs are high

and the quality of colour reproduction may vary

from one market to the next. Circulation figures

are not always accurate. Community newspa-

pers are a viable option (in Kenya, community

papers have 54 readers per copy).

“Outdoor media has disproportionately high

ad spend, but it is the ideal partner for radio in

the rural areas,” says Penhallrick.

Cinema is growing and is becoming especially

popular with the youth; however, piracy is a

major issue. “Keep in mind that in some coun-

tries, the men will go to movies in the evening,

but the women will stay at home and cook,”

says Penhallrick.

The Internet is making inroads, but the per-

centage of Africans that have Internet access

remains low. Cellphones, meanwhile, are

increasing at a phenomenal rate. “People use

more than one cellphone, on different net-

works, so they can get full coverage,” says

Penhallrick.

In the cellphone domain, MTN has succeeded

in rebranding across Africa. Group marketing

director Santie Botha had the following insights

to share. MTN learned that because each coun-

try is unique applying one (or even two or three)

brand slogans to the brand wouldn’t work.

Instead, it allowed each country to depict the

MTN brand in a way that would work for it.

Several countries are experiencing war of

some sort, so the environment holds unique

challenges, while in some states, traditional

religion and culture must be considered.

In most countries, word-of-mouth marketing

was found to be powerful. MTN also found that

in the emerging markets, soccer and music are

aspirational and very engaging; MTN has since

sponsored soccer matches and also got behind

the FIFA 2010 World Cup, for example. “Don’t

think you know better. Don’t impose the brand

and the product rules without proper research,

and don’t think you can do it alone,” she says to

summarise. “Success will be achieved through a

strategy that recognises the strengths of the indi-

vidual country and embraces its differences.” �

Success will beachieved through a strategythat recognises thestrengths of the individualcountry and embraces itsdifferences.

“

”


The 2007 Power 100 drinks brands list(compiled by consultancy Intangible Business)

sees Smirnoff vodka in the number one posi-

tion. It is also the spirit of choice for agent 007,

whose vodka martinis have become a trend all

of their own.

This year, Smirnoff launched the ultimate

global venture, the Smirnoff Experience, which

forms part of the Smirnoff Signature campaign.

Ten candidates were selected from around the

globe to represent each of the vodka’s major

markets, with one mission: to spend a year trav-

elling to the biggest events in every country

around the world, and document the Smirnoff

lifestyle at its best. Their journey traces that of

Vladimir Smirnoff , the son of the brand’s cre-

ator, almost a century ago. The Signature adver-

tising campaign is also based on this concept

and reinforces the brand’s rich heritage.

The Smirnoff Global 10 are based in an

upmarket apartment building in über trendy

London for a year; as young brand ambassadors,

they are doing for the Smirnoff brand what no

amount of advertising could ever achieve on its

own – creating huge hype, aspiration, and

credibly. The campaign is generating substantial

media coverage globally, says Siyabonga

Mpanza, Smirnoff vodka marketing manager.

Plus, the website (www.smirnoff.com) will carry

the videos documenting the venture, making the

Smirnoff experience accessible to millions.

The campaign strategy involves clever PR,

strategic radio, cinema and TV campaigns

(featuring the Signature ad campaign), and sup-

port in clubs and pubs. The Smirnoff Experience

got many hopefuls queuing at the audition venues

(á la M-Net’s Idols) with the dream of becoming

one of the Smirnoff Global 10. Akona Ndugane, a

22-year-old who hails from the Eastern Cape, is

SA’s Smirnoff Global 10 representative.

The European, Japanese and US auditions

were based on digital entries (videos and web-

sites). According to Mpanza, the challenge

locally was the relative lack of digital penetra-

tion. “Our core consumers both have, and do

not have, Internet access, so our strategy had to

Smirnoff vodka

by fulvia becatti BRAND ANATOMY

The history of vodka:There are conflicting theories about the origins of vodka, with some believing it originated inRussia, and others, in Poland. The spirit is said to have been brewed for the first time aroundthe ninth century, and some believe that it was initially used for medicinal purposes. Accordingto the Vodka Museum in Russia, the spirit was originally produced from grains (abundant inEastern European regions). Visit www.vodka museum.ru/english for more information.

BRAND ANATOMY


be adapted to reach a wider audience,” he says.

Radio served this campaign best, as it allowed

for quick updates to venues and dates of audi-

tions. SMS, MMS and e-mail added a further

dynamic to the campaign, and allowed Smirnoff

to talk directly to its biggest fans.

“The communication was integrated and well

thought through,” says Mpanza. The word of

mouth and viral aspects that were the result of

the campaign have made the Smirnoff brand

more alluring. “This experience has allowed us

to get together with the guys who really love

the Smirnoff brand,” says Mpanza. “People trust

ads less and less. This venture gives us the

opportunity to meet with them authentically

and create fun experiences that they will go out

and share with their friends. This is the best

form of brand advocacy,” he says.

This Smirnoff experience earns the brand the

added kick of being the first drinks brand to

engage in this type of multiple-platform global

journey to retrace the steps of one of the central

characters in the history of the brand. Well

renowned for its originality, Smirnoff was also

the first to extend its brand through the Ready

to Drinks or RTDs, with Smirnoff Ice.

South Africa is one of the top five markets for

the brand, out of more than 130 markets in the

world.” In fact, we are the only major market to

still sell Smirnoff 1818,” says Mpanza. “In the

context of a massive global company, this is a

great position to be in; it affords us a lot of

latitude as a market, in terms of marketing

initiatives. “We must be doing something right,”

adds Mpanza. “When we talk, the centre

listens”. Achieving global alignment and local

relevance is a fine balancing act, but one which

finds a powerful tool in searching for or

spinning ideas from other markets.

A few months ago, Smirnoff Black was

launched locally and has created a buzz.

Positioned as the jewel in the Smirnoff crown,

this variant is targeted at a niche market of dis-

cerning vodka connoisseurs. “We produce it in

small batches, made with the finest ingredients,

and distil it four times. It has certainly earned

the premium it commands,” says Mpanza.

Smirnoff may enjoy its top spot, but this is

not a position without threat. Other premium

vodka brands are vying for top position. “There

are lots of new premiums entering the market,

but this is what grows the market. The more

players there are in the category, the more noise

we make. There needs to be a critical mass of

players in a category, to make it top-of-mind,”

says Mpanza. “The greater we all become at our

game, the better for all”. �

The history of theSmirnoff brand:In 1864, Pierre Smirnov began distilling vodkain Moscow – with a distinct focus on quality.Smirnov’s focus paid off – the brand wasawarded the title of supplier to the RussianImperial Court. The brand was awarded thecoat of arms four times, which speaks notonly of the quality of the vodka, but also thepublic’s appreciation of it. In 1910, Pierre’sson, Vladimir Smirnov took over the businessbut his succession was short lived. During theOctober Revolution, the communist govern-ment confiscated the distillery (having pro-hibited private business) and the Smirnovfamily fled. Vladimir went into hiding, andover the next few years, managed to escapecapture five times. Eventually rescued by theWhite Army, Smirnov travelled via Poland toParis, where he established a new distillery.

In 1933, bankruptcy forced Smirnov to sellthe production rights and the brand toRudolph Kunett, a Russian who had emigrat-ed to the US. The brand did not fare well inthe US (primarily a whisky and beer market),and Kunett was forced to sell the licence toJohn Martin, then president of Heublein, whomarketed the vodka as a white whisky (pio-neering the versatility of the white spirit).Cocktails were born and took the US bystorm. By the mid 1940s, Hollywood haddeveloped a penchant for vodka cocktails (asseen in the first Bond movies). This cocktailexplosion carried the brand to the globalsuccess it enjoys today.


Not so long ago I was called on to providean expert marketing opinion on the subject of

’product recall’. Last week I was contacted

and asked to comment, from a marketing

perspective, on the way in which the

’grounding‘ of aeroplanes by a certain airline

was handled and communicated to the public.

In both instances, it appears that, in my

considered opinion, the issues of these

’product failures‘ were handled very poorly

indeed. This was further endorsed by

subsequent research that I conducted both

into relevant theory as well as previous

examples and case studies.

We all know that in business and indeed in

marketing, ’there is no such thing as zero

defect.’ And we are fully aware that things can

and do go wrong – products or services can

and do fail, but perhaps what we are not so

aware of is that it is how the company

’recovers’ from the failure that influences

whether the customer will remain a customer.

In fact, we should all familiarise ourselves with

the facts – effective marketers do have a

number of options to consider when something

goes wrong, all of which have at least one

common denominator, namely ’communication‘.

This is the critical component as companies

have to deal with both the potential loss of

sales as well as the loss of consumer confidence

in the brand. As marketers, we understand that

every purchase will, to some extent or another,

involve a certain amount of risk to the customer,

such as will it do the job, will it fill the need, etc.

Because of this, we must support our sales

strategy and its implementation with communi-

cation plans that are designed to reduce this risk

as much as possible and thus increase

customers’ feelings of comfort. This is particularly

important in the services marketing industry,

where intangible products are very difficult to

assess from a quality point of view.

In instances where there are apparent

defects or problems that result in a product

recall, these feelings of risk are hugely amplified

and the need for communication is therefore

dramatically increased.

In my experience and with my subsequent

research into this matter, I can find no examples

of products not being reintroduced into the

market following their recall and subsequent

damage control, except perhaps the Concorde,

where issues of safety could not be guaranteed

and thus it was decided to remove the plane

from operation. This, of course, raises the issue

with regard to the local grounded aeroplanes.

How much damage has been done to the

brand, will people ever feel safe flying in those

planes again? In fact, many companies have cal-

culated their ’window of risk‘ and once they

have gone beyond that limit, it is often not

worth the investment of trying to re-establish

the brand.

A bank, for example, has only a certain

number of hours that it can afford to be off

line. After that time, it realises that it has lost so

much in terms of revenue and credibility that to

reopen is simply not an option!

In most circumstances, however, it is likely

that the company will reintroduce the product

into the market once the problem has been

rectified. In fact, a common line of thought is

that a crisis (of which product recall is certainly

a major one) should be regarded as an

opportunity and not a threat and, as such, a

contingency plan should be in place in the event

of a crisis.

This is supported by the fact that by contacting

dissatisfied customers to offer an apology,

explanation and possible compensation,

provides the company with yet another

opportunity of an interactive encounter, another

’moment of truth’, which can help to establish

or re-establish a relationship that has been

damaged. It also helps to identify more clearly

the profile of customers for which the need for

the product exists, especially in mass-marketed

consumer products.

It stands to reason that just because the

product was defective, it does not mean that

the need for the product and its core benefit

disappears. Doing nothing to correct the

problem and return the product to the shelves

shows a huge lack of commitment to the

customer on behalf of the company in filling

that recognised need.

Customers (and remember even as

marketers we are all customers ourselves)

recognise that problems may and do occur.

They know that if dealt with effectively they

will remain loyal to the brand and, in fact,

depending on the ’services recovery levels’,

they may even increase their loyalty and

feelings of comfort, knowing that the company

has the interests of its customers at heart.

Failure to acknowledge and communicate the

problem, its extent and how it has been dealt

with may position the company in a negative,

indifferent light and show a lack of interest.

Take the Tylenol case, for example, when the

product was tampered with and injected with

cyanide. It was found that after the recall and

relaunch, more consumers purchased the

product because of the new ’safety‘ packaging.

The company communicated that it had

tightened up on all areas of the production and

distribution process, thus making customers feel

’comfortable‘again.

In summary, if a well-designed communica-

tions plan is implemented during and after the

crisis or product recall, consumer loyalty and

brand image can be maintained. The 2003 Pick

‘n Pay ’poisoner‘ scare was handled so effectively

that its share price remained constant and

consumers still supported the supermarket

chain. The company’s fast action and upfront

communication led to its recovery. Pick ‘n Pay

CEO, Sean Summers, was commended on his

visibility, availability and working with the media

during the crisis. �

Helen McInteedirector, IMM graduate School ofMarketing(011) 628 2038 [email protected]

What to do when products fail?

by helen mcintee EXPERT OPINION

7 DAY [B]ITCH


08/10/075am, and I wake up to my screaming alarm. Kill it. Five minutes later it

screams again so I spill out of bed and splash on my gym clothes.

Hit the gym and then hit work at 7.30am. Breakfast, admin, orders.

9am – meetings and more meetings followed by lunch on the run and

studio hoo-hah. I get a phone call from our TV producer – WE’VE GOT

JUST JINGER FOR OUR AIDS GIG! We can finally start doing the posters.

Confirm the date – 28 November (okay, so I’m shamelessly doing a bit

of PR, but it’s for a good cause). Finish work at 5.30pm and rush to Wits

for my Zulu lesson. 8pm, finished my tuition, ngiyabonga, and hit the

squash court.

09/10/075am. That damn alarm again! I get up with my eyes still closed – VUKA!

Enjoy a game of squash with my wife. Breakfast, admin, reviews and then

a 10.30am meeting at Naledi High School. This is the first time that I’m

going into Soweto without a guide and it is totally liberating.

The place has a vibe. I return to Sandton for an interview, a few key meet-

ings, a creative rationale and then squash. I’m playing in my club’s cham-

pionships and am desperate to do better than last year.

10/10/07I really struggle to get out of bed so I hit the gym later than usual and

then run behind on admin. Run into orders at 9am. We are busy as hell

with about 20 new jobs in the system! Run through all the work and

finish in time for my second interview at 11am with a school in

Alexandra. WOW! It’s an eye-opener of note. I literally travel 2km from

our plush new office in Sandton to be confronted by a poverty-stricken

township! I cannot believe what happens right on the doorstep of South

Africa’s wealthiest business hub. Mental note to take our entire company

for a little reality check.

11/10/07I wake up positive. Yesterday’s visit to Alex really gave me perspective.

Off to gym for my second weekly squash game with my wife. Breakfast,

admin and 8am meeting. My list for the week has somehow grown to 91

jobs. I run through the studio to sign off a few jobs, doing everything at

super-speed. Time to prepare for noon meeting with my creative directors

– and I brief our PR agency. At 4pm I fit in another quick game of squash

and then head off to Velocity. On the way I get a phone call – WE WON

ANOTHER AD OF THE MONTH!

12/10/07Alarm goes off at 5.15am. Hey, hey, it’s Friday! The usual gym workout,

and then a breakfast meeting with a potential sponsor for our Aids

concert. Yebo Gogo, we have a great brand behind our project. What a

way to start my day. Head back to the office – today we’re shooting three

TV ads! At 4pm, another highlight of my week – our new CI review. It’s

looking awesome! Crisis management keeps me busy until 7pm, after

which I hit the office watering hole to enjoy a few cold beers. Home at

8.30pm; on the couch with my gorgeous wife, our two dogs and the cat,

easing into what promises to be a relaxing weekend. Go Bokke!

13/10/07Bliss. No alarm until 9am. Squash, followed by brunch with my wife and

then off to the Vaal River for a picnic with our dogs. Spend the day doing

absolutely nothing, except running after dogs running after rabbits. Back

home, some friends pop over for a braai. The only difference between my

braai and the Voortrekker Monument is that my braai is bigger. Watch

England and France in the RWC semi final – hit the sack at 1am.

14/10/07We have breakfast in the garden. I fire up my computer at 11am and

start planning my week. Write all my emails for Monday morning,

organise my schedule, prepare for my creative presentation, write a

Rock4Aids corporate proposal and manage to do my Zulu homework for

Monday’s class. I finish in time for my Sunday squash game. We get back

home and watch the Rugga! Yes! Go Bokke – all the way to the RWC

Final. We hit the sack with a smile at 11.39pm. I’m ready for another

big week. �

Pepe Marais, rock (wanting-to-be-a-star)

Aids activist / sports fanatic / dog lover / family man oh, and executive

creative director at Joe Public


Direct to Home is one arrow in the directmarketer’s quiver, and one that is improving

thanks to new technologies and improved serv-

ice delivery across the board. Suburbs protected

by booms still present a challenge for many dis-

tributors and direct marketing companies, but

they are finding ways around this. “Besides

community newspapers, there has been limited

success [for companies trying to get beyond the

booms],” says Melvin Chagonda, CEO,

Primedia@Home. “However, most marketers are

looking at alternative points to access these resi-

dents. The main points are shopping centres

and meeting areas close to the suburbs as well

as intersections close by.”

Perhaps marketers can achieve more through

the use and integration of new technology and

media, for example, geodemographics, geospa-

tial mapping or variable data printing. These

technologies allow for a more targeted and per-

sonalised approach and therefore less wastage

of ad budgets and greater response rates.

“Direct marketing is growing as customers are

demanding better returns on their investment.

Hard-pressed marketers are wanting a medium

offering more precision. There is a lot of innova-

tion in campaigns nowadays,” says Chagonda.

by fulvia becatti DIRECT MARKETING

Speaking directly

SA has one of the highest rates of cellphonepenetration, with one cellphone per adult consumer. As costs to the Internet via your cellphone start to comedown, online cellphone marketing will present a broadrange of opportunities.

“”

DIRECT MARKETING

Variable Data Printing (VDP)The days of vague direct mailers are over, thanks to this technology

which allows customer-specific info to be merged with creative doc-

uments. The result is highly personalised communications, which

lead to higher response rates and a better relationship between the

brand and its target consumers. Jacquie Golding, executive chairper-

son, Creda Communications, refers to one of Buick’s campaigns in

the US. Through VDP mailers, the company targeted 516 715

prospects; it sold 19 575 vehicles amounting to revenues of US$494

million. The advertising/marketing cost to sales ratio was less than

1.2 per cent (which was less than the industry average of 2.7 per

cent). Golding adds that the Digital Printing Council and the

Rochester Institute of Technology have proven that personalisation

delivers response rates of between 17 and 35 per cent.

Graphics and words as well as photographs can be personalised.

Car dealerships, for example, can send their customers letters and

pamphlets and include photographs and details of the dealers who

attended to each customer. “The technology is not the constraint;

the database is the most critical issue. For VDP one-on-one market-

ing to be effective, the database must be 100 per cent accurate.

This is a huge problem for the majority of companies, as the base

information is often not up to date,” says Golding.

Research conducted by InterQuest estimates that VDP will

continue to double each year, and that in 2007 it will have

increased by 30 per cent. However, in SA, the picture looks a

little different. “Local marketers are still in the mindset of mass

marketing, as the cost per item is less than that of a personalised

marketing campaign,” says Golding.

Geodemographics:With geodemographics, marketers can identify customers not only

according to basic demographics, but also according to where they

live and therefore where they shop. It’s goodbye to the shotgun

marketing approach, says Lorraine Deane, communications manag-

er, MapIT. “Most marketers, if not all, profile their clients, be it by

age, race, gender, household income, etc; incorporating this demo-

graphic information into a spatial tool makes logical sense,” says

Deane. With a geodemographic approach, marketers can carry out

very specific and direct analysis in an area (regionally or nationally),

and then determine exactly where to market their products; results

can be mapped in great detail. “The results offered by geospatial

tools are right down to street level,” says Deane.

The cost of a full GIS that combines data sets with spatial info

may be prohibitive for the smaller companies; however, there are

also solutions for them. “Most marketers are already using this

although the level of usage is still low per marketer. The slow down

in the economy is going to put pressure on the marketers to ensure

more precision in their campaigns,” says Chagonda.

Precision aside, marketers could also aim for the online environ-

ment (which is free of the constraints of booms and printing costs),

and look to e-mail and search engine marketing for new solutions.

Integrated into a direct mail campaign, these new marketing tools

offer huge potential. “Integration is a matter of pulling through a

campaign on various media and portraying a consistent brand mes-

sage,” says Dirk Tolken, MD, Peronii Solutions. It may be a while yet

before marketers use these new technologies extensively. “It takes

time for new industries to mature, also for the fly-by-nights to be


weeded out, and we’re noticing that it’s finally

been happening over the past few years,”

says Tolken.

Previously, he found that the bright minds

who pioneered new media developments were

not always great marketers, but things have

changed. The marketing industry is taking

notice of new media in a big way. As to the

question of costs, it seems that online market-

ing really does present an affordable option

(compared with traditional media). Tolken

believes that as more and more companies

enter the online space, so competition will

drive cost inflation. “Expert advice also comes

at a price, as with any industry,’ he says. On

the plus side, doubts about measurability are

being dissolved. “Online marketing tools are

entirely measurable in real time. The problem

is that those measures aren’t always put in

place or communicated to clients in executive

(understandable) reports,“ says Tolken.

E-mail marketing:E-mail marketing may not be new, but it is

gaining favour with marketers and brands.

“Local marketers trust new media, and there is a

definite shift from direct mail to e-mail market-

ing, as it’s measurable, targeted and significantly

more cost-effective,” says Michael Gullan, MD,

Guerrilla Marketing. Through this medium, mar-

keters will find it easier to target a market that is

predominantly male, LSM 8-10 and 35-60 years

of age. But the trend locally is to combine online

and e-mail marketing with more traditional mar-

keting media such as TV, radio, outdoor and

print, he says. He has found that e-mail market-

ing costs up to 78 per cent less than a run of

5 000 paper-based direct mail ads. “Interactive

campaigns using graphics, videos, music quizzes

or games gain a consumer’s attention immedi-

ately,” he says. E-mail marketing allows the

consumer to respond through the same medium,

this saves them having to phone or fax, for

example. “Responses via e-mail take one hour to

two days with maximum exposure on day one.

A direct mail campaign would take a minimum

of seven to 12 days to generate any responses,”

says Gullan. Results are measurable (click-

through rates, conversion rates, etc) and one can

track how a person arrived at the client’s website.

However, recent research by E-mailStatCentre.com,

has found that marketers are relying too heavily

on click through rates and deliverability to gauge

the success of an e-mail campaign; the focus

should be on the metrics that tie directly to

financial returns.

With the legal issues surrounding junk mail

and spam, permission-based databases are the

way to go. “As marketers, we need to assess the

pros and cons of spam and the resulting

negative brand association continuously,”

says Gullan.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)Search engine marketing is showing promise.

“SEM is the fastest growing form of online

marketing in the world. This trend is also

rapidly gaining popularity in SA, as marketers

start to understand the benefits that SEM,

such as Google Ad Words, offers,” says

Gullan. He has found that globally, banner

ads generate a 0.25 per cent

click-through rate. “The current trend is to

make use of more targeted banner ads where

more demographics and user info are

available, such as on Facebook, which

generates a click-through rate closer to five

per cent,” says Gullan. While globally, 60 per

cent of online marketing spend is allocated to

SEM programmes, in SA, it is allocated to

banners ads.

SEM includes pay-per-click marketing; “this

can be extremely effective and it yields short-

term results, where search engine optimisation

is more of a long-term approach,” says Tolken.

These ads are served up contextually (when the

consumer runs a search for ‘shoes’ on Google,

ads related to this search topic will appear in

the search results). You only pay when someone

clicks on your ad, and you bid against competi-

tors for the price you pay per click. “It’s not that

easy though. The price you bid is not the only

factor that determines your position. It’s also

about the quality of your ads and landing

pages, and various other factors,” says Tolken.

SEM can include paid-for inclusion into

search results pages. In this case, advertisers pay

the search engine every time a consumer clicks

on the ad. “Compared to overseas, we have

been a lot slower in our acceptance of this

medium. This is disappointing, considering how

quickly we accepted cellphones, for example. It

is only a matter of time before the newer media

gets uptake,” says Chagonda.

Looking ahead, we can expect to see more

integrated campaigns and exciting use of new

media and technology. Chagonda believes that

cellphones will become the next big advertising

medium locally, given the high penetration

rates as well as their ability to personalise the

advertising message. Gullan agrees: “SA has one

of the highest rates of cellphone penetration,

with one cellphone per adult consumer. As costs

to the Internet via your cellphone start to come

down, online cellphone marketing will present a

broad range of opportunities.” �

DIRECT MARKETING

The lines are blurringAccording to marketingcharts.com, the DMA USA has found that the lines between directmarketing and brand marketing have blurred and, thanks to the versatility and measurabilityof direct marketing, more marketers are integrating direct marketing tactics into their brandmarketing. A report published by the DMA USA found that 56 per cent of respondents useone or more direct marketing channels in conjunction with their brand-awareness advertis-ing. The report also found that a fairly large proportion of respondents are using trackableoffers, list building, calls-to-action, targeting, user-response analyses, search engine market-ing and optimisation, and so on. On average, 64 per cent of marketing dollars are allocatedto direct marketing and only 36 per cent to traditional mass marketing. Personalisation isalso ranking higher on the list of priorities and having a positive effect on brands.

Yes, I know all about ‘the good sales pitch’,

but where does b**&#!t stop and confusion

start? What is actually going on in media

circles? The battle between the ‘traditionalists’

and the ‘alternatives’ is as rigorous (but not

nearly as entertaining) as the Red Bull Box Cart

one! The brand manager is being bombarded

with informative articles confirming a decline in

‘traditional media’ – while many agencies

continue (huffily) to proclaim that this is all

rubbish and there is, in fact, an increase in

above-the-line... long live the DPS!

The parade of ‘alternative media’ boffins

gets progressively longer and more vociferous ...

prancing along behind a ‘ring maestro

incognito’. What is one supposed to deduce

from numerous ‘business development

managers’, each one declaring their ‘alternative’

has been proven to be the ‘fastest growing’ or

‘most impactful’? And each one has impressive

statistics to back up these claims. There are two

sides to every story (three sides, actually – your

side, my side and the truth) but one does

not know which way to turn as the trad/alt

debate rages.

In recent months I have made a concerted

effort to absorb the media opportunities in

which I find myself immersed in the course of

an average (boring) week. Sitting on the lavvy in

a five-star hotel I gaze at the A4 creative

masterpiece lurking just out of focus on the

back of the cubicle door... ‘affordable’

pregnancy test kits became a non-starter for me

a while ago, but I nevertheless contemplate the

number of petrified teens who visit luxury hotel

cloakrooms and rush immediately to the nearest

pharmacy for ‘pe(e)ce of mind’. But later I flip

through a women’s magazine and wonder just

how many readers stop to read the detailed

copy for lotions and potions guaranteed to

bestow the kiss of eternal youth or remove

heinous imperfections.

Then there was a table talker for a luxury day

spa... as I tried to read the copy among the

empty bottles, the overflowing ashtray and dis-

carded toothpicks, I realised what a wonderfully

pristine space this would be in which to show

my brand off to its best advantage – especially

later during the evening. Not nearly as effective

as shoving a commercial into the middle of a TV

rugby game watched by inebriated and irate

rugby fans that spend much of their viewing

time engaged in passionate arguments about

the score in the 1962 match.

As I pointed my ‘Bluetooth’ (I of the blue

rinse!) at an off-con poster to download an

MP3 of a beer commercial jingle, I wondered if I

truly enjoyed engaging with the medium. Yes, I

guess I did... but how long before the novelty

wears off? How many jingles would people

download... or do they collect them? But then I

thought of that ‘clever’ billboard that became

more and more irritating as the year wore on...

people eventually took a different route to work

to avoid its cheesy one-liner.

The long wait at Oliver Tambo International

was hardly enhanced by the repetitive slogan for

‘whichever’ car hire brand was emblazoned on

the belts shaping passengers into a maze of

sheep ready for the dip. But neither did that

radio spot using the MD’s daughter add much

to my morning drive (irritating little madam).

The misunderstood term ‘guerrilla marketing’

is overused at the best of times. Viral marketing

has become the bad rash of many cell users and

over-zealous brand ambassadors can kill the

conversation. Evangelical marketing is just that.

Buzz drags teens into underground hives.

Ambush creates consumer anxiety.

Mobile is so in-your-face that the plastic surgery

industry is likely to benefit.

But ... CONSUMERS LOVE IT. We love brands

that enter our worlds and know how we spend

our time. Housewives don’t sit and watch the

soaps religiously every evening... they go out to

bars and restaurants and make friends with

table talkers before they pop into the ladies for

a quick bonding session with ‘the back of the

door’. Women feel noticed when mobile pays

them attention or when Bluetooth delivers

an unsolicited gift. Men enjoy flirting with

ambassadors and beaming vital info to

networks of colleagues.

Who has time to sit and watch one channel?

Who has nothing to communicate or discuss

during the drive to work? Who really notices

anything in the clutter of the urban landscape?

Confused I may be. Sceptical at the sales

pitch I am. But... I am backing ‘alternative’ –

with the odd magnificently produced cinema ad

thrown in. �

Michele Venter-Davies

Faculty head: Marketing andAdvertising, AAA School (011) 781 [email protected]

Traditional versus alternative

EXPERT OPINION by michele venter-davies


Viral marketing hasbecome the bad rash ofmany cell users and over-zealous brandambassadors can kill the conversation.

“

”

– which crew do you support?


Category: Direct Mail

Gold: Lesoba Difference

Campaign title: Liberty Life Architects

Client: Liberty Life Architects Campaign

Campaign brief and objectives: The Liberty Life Professionals

campaigns comprise an existing selection of life products, repackaged to

appeal to specific professional market segments. In this case, architects.

Expected a conversion rate of two to three per cent.

Challenges: Numerous products are available from many life assurance

competitors, offering generic targeting of the professional market.

Target audience: Architects, nationally, who are not Liberty Life

customers. Upmarket, LSM 10, high-income earners, elitist, fairly

opinionated and predominantly white. The agency identified a

commercially viable database, 2 500 customers, on which an outbound

campaign was conducted to screen and scrub data; 250 prospects

were identified.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: Campaign offered

professionals protection against unforeseen events that might impact their

businesses. To communicate this offer, the agency designed a mailer pack

that would appeal to this market. The pack carried the message that the

offering is (like them) original, definitive, imaginative, unique and

individual; it would offer them archetypal financial protection specifically

designed for them. The creative concept appealed to their area of

expertise, and also stroked their ego: ‘Imagine a world without

people like you (comparing them to famous architects such as Frank

Lloyd Wright). The campaign sent the message that if something had

happened to these visionaries, we would have missed out on seminal

design; make sure it doesn’t happen to you, by ensuring you are protected

with Liberty Life.

The door opener was a stylish moleskin notebook, with a bellyband and

the call to action was a book plate. The mailer included a series of

collectible postcards featuring the works of famous architects and listed

product benefits on the reverse. Also, ads were included featuring the

marketing message. Sales aids outlined the benefits of the product. The

Leave Behind was the affirmation and a reminder of the long-term

benefits of the product.

Campaign costs: R248 501.50

ROI and results: The campaign generated many inbound calls and

compliments from architects. From a mailing of 2 500, a 10 per cent

conversion was achieved. With an annual average premium of

R1 872, this campaign yielded R7.02 million (a premium return of R35.39

for every R1 spent).

by fulvia becatti ASSEGAI AWARDS

The 2007 Assegai Awards recognised excellence in direct marketing. Marketing Mix takes a closerlook at some of the gold prize winners across the various sections and categories.

Section 1: Media


Category: Alternative Media

Gold: Tequila JHB

Campaign title: Drunk Driving Can Be Fun

Client: Toot-n-Scoot

Campaign brief and objectives: To raise awareness of Toot-n-

Scoot and its services as well as prompt trials of the service. Individuals

who have over-indulged can call Toot-n-Scoot and a driver will be

dispatched on a collapsible motorbike. The driver will place his bike in the

boot of the customer’s car and will then drive the customer home (where

the driver unfolds his bike and heads off to the next call).

Challenges: Awareness levels for Toot-n-Scoot were low, and the client

had a limited budget. Anti drunk-driving media messages were not

making enough impact, thanks to various barriers. Message fatigue,

means that consumers are not responding to the ‘shock tactic’ TV ads

anymore. Also, catching a taxi home and leaving one’s car at a pub or

club is considered costly, and car theft is a problem.

Target audience: Older South Africans are set in their ways (have

watched their fathers drinking and driving, and are therefore difficult to

convince). Younger drivers are a more suitable target audience, as they

have not grown up in a drink-driving culture. The agency therefore targeted

males and females under 30, to create a new ‘drinking-and-driving’ cul-

ture in South Africa.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: To break through

the traditional Arrive Alive/don’t drink and drive messages, the agency

decided to poke fun at irresponsible behaviour and explore how drinking

affects one’s judgement, specifically over the festive season when people

are drinking and partying more. It created a festive season creative

ambush (if it’s surprising and unexpected, the target won’t zone out the

message), and sent a group of ‘ugly’ people into pubs and clubs. This in

itself proved challenging, says creative director, Hagan de Villiers. “It

proved difficult to hire ugly people, but they were an absolute must for

the idea to work… Most casting agents laughed nervously or stared

blankly when we asked them for their ugliest people. We rephrased that

to ‘most interesting looking’, which didn’t work either. ‘Unusual’? No

chance. Our resolve was then to get regular people and ugly them up

with the help of a make-up artist”. Each of the candidates wore a T- shirt

carrying a message such as: “When I start looking like a supermodel to

you, it’s time to call Toot-n-Scoot”. These people were made the medium.

Posters of these characters were placed on toilet doors; cigarettes lit

from the wrong end were placed in ashtrays with the message: ‘When

you start doing this, call us”. The parking lots were tagged with huge

‘walk the line’ pavement art; the artwork featured a jagged white line,

and the message: ‘if you can walk this line, call this number’.

Campaign costs: Below R50 000.

ROI and results: After the first execution evening, the story hit the

radio stations and national newspapers as well as marketing websites.

Continued exposure was achieved through DJ discussions and live call-ins

on the three biggest radio stations (with a combined listenership of 3.1

million). None of which was paid for by the client. “It was surprising. One

can determine an approximate rand amount based on similar media

placement costs but that’s just an indication of what it might have cost,

not what its true value was or what its true reach was. For us, its true

value lay in the fact that an extremely important message was being

spread across our nation by credible third parties. How many lives might

have been saved? We’ll never know, but we do know you can’t put a rand

value on that,” says De Villiers. The campaign and its media exposure

translated into new registrations and Toot-n-Scoot enjoyed an ROI of over

2 000 per cent.

ASSEGAI AWARDS

Category: Mass Media

Gold: Action Ambro’s

Campaign title: Rand Show TV commercial

Client: The Rand Show

Campaign brief and objectives: Reposition the Rand Show as a

family event with something for everyone. Generate feet through the gate

(ticket sales). Increase spending in terms of shopping.

Challenges: The Rand Show has been running for 117 years, but over the

years has been clouded by controversy and a poor image (marketed as many

expos rolled into one). It was perceived as a boring fleamarket/trade show.

“The major challenge was to come up with a concept that is broad enough

to cover both the Rand Show and the events that occur within it,” says Philip

Southern, creative director, Action Ambro’s. “The challenge from there was

making a commercial that would have broad based appeal while not becom-

ing something that only appeals to the lowest common denominator”.

Target audience: Any member of the public, but specifically, families.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The agency had to

change the strategic approach from a fleamarket position to an event

boasting hundreds of activities and indulging a variety of interests. A TV

campaign was created (in conjunction with press, response marketing,

outdoor and pole advertising), which would address each and every activi-

ty taking place at the Rand Show during its three-week run. The TV com-

mercial would therefore need to carry 18 different messages for the 18

activities that would take place each day (these would need to change on

a daily basis). To achieve this, the agency devised two low-cost commer-

cials that highlighted the five most important events, and then tagged

each one with a 10-second call to action sting, which changed daily. The

brand idea was ‘bring everyone’, and this was communicated by showing

individuals performing actions that don’t make sense without the involve-

ment of a group of people.

Campaign costs: R250 000 to R499 999.

ROI and results: The TV ads proved very popular and received an

Orchid Award in the first week of flighting. “Research also indicated that

TV was the main reason that people attended, in comparison with other

ad mediums),” says Southern. Attendance increased by 50 per cent, bring-

ing in 600 000 visitors (up from around 350 000) through the gate,

despite fewer concerts (which are major drawcards). Children’s ticket sales

increased by almost 60 000.


ASSEGAI AWARDS

Category: Multiple Media/Integrated Marketing

Gold: Wunderman SA

Campaign title: SMS Ya Seiva

Client: MTN

Campaign brief and objectives: To increase SMS usage by five per

cent among the target audience; to educate them about how to enjoy the

benefits and savings that can be achieved by using SMS (quick, convenient

and more cost-effective than a cellphone call). To establish top-of-mind

awareness of MTN’s SMS service.

Challenges: Industry trends showed that the SMS market had potential

value but only if the previously unaddressed sectors of cellphone users

were taught how to make use of SMS. The competitive environment con-

sists of three other cellphone network operators.

Target audience: Low income, poorly educated and in some cases

illiterate South Africans aged 16 to 24 in both rural and urban areas.

Almost all of this target market owns cellphones (mostly second-hand)

and all purchase their airtime in advance (prepaid). There was an excep-

tionally low degree of SMS usage among this market.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The quick, catchy

slogan of ‘MTN SMS Ya Seiva’ was relevant in all 11 official languages (an

MTN SMS can save you time, money and hassle). This core message was

communicated via an incorporated media campaign that included the

unusual use of industrial theatre at taxi ranks and bus stops, backed up

with a graphically illustrated, entertaining comic book. “This ensured that

we reached our target market with a powerful and consistent message,

and addressed them in a communication style that was relevant and

meaningful to them,” says Matthew Kretzschmar, executive creative direc-

tor, Wunderman SA. These explained how to send an SMS as well as why

it will save the sender time, money and hassle. The comic book also intro-

duced an SMS-speak dictionary, special offers on phones and a competi-

tion. “The comic book (which was distributed to millions of South

Africans) invited a direct response to enter a competition which achieved

significant results,” says Kretzschmar.

Murals of the comic book characters were painted on the walls of build-

ings frequented by the target market. All of this was supported by tradi-

tional ATL elements (TV, radio and prints). The campaign positioning: MTN

is your partner in communications everywhere you go, extends the idea

that MTN’s SMS services can help you to achieve what you want from life.

Campaign costs: Media cost R2 million; production cost R1 million.

ROI and results: The competition received over 100 000 entries (a

response rate above 10 per cent). Over one million people attended the

live industrial theatre events. The promotion resulted in 8 500 handset

sales per week (as opposed to the norm of 2 000, an increase of over 300

per cent). In two months, SMS usage increased by an extraordinary 8.5

per cent to 50.12 per cent among the entire MTN customer base. The

campaign achieved MTN’s second highest monthly SMS activity ever. The

campaign also won a 2007 DMA USA Echo Award as well as the 2007

Lester Wunderman Gold Award for Marketing Innovation.

Category: 3D


Campaign title: Medshield Aids Day Campaign

Client: Medshield

Campaign brief and objectives: Medshield had undergone a

change in their direction, strategy, business model and target market.

Therefore, objectives included, raising awareness around HIV/Aids;

building the Medshield brand within the corporate sector (particularly

among small and medium-sized enterprises), getting the Medshield brand

into the boardroom of prospects and drive enquiries; and, to drive

engagement with target markets.

Target audience: Target audience were mid-sized and large blue-chip

companies’ decision makers (when it comes to medical aid selection) –

specifically HR directors.

Using a database, the agency moved from a total universe of 232

records, down to 100 records. From this, client anticipated a door

opening opportunity at five corporates i.e. a five% response rate.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The strategic route

taken was to send an engaging, interest-generating and interactive pack

to selected corporate recipients/prospects. Medshield put up a defined

amount of CSI investment money in increments of R10 000 to give away

to an AIDS charity – and the agency’s job was to find an interesting way

of ‘allocating’ this money while also achieving the marketing objectives.

The agency decided to build the awareness/participation pack around

something memorable and tangible that could be displayed in the

recipient’s office – the idea being that when a travelling Medshield

representative spotted the pack elements displayed in the offices, during a

certain time period around AIDS Day, Medshield could elect to donate

the R10 000 to the AIDS charity chosen by the ‘winning’ company.

Recipients would then feel they were getting something of value, while

also being given the opportunity to help a charity of choice, by simply

putting up, in a prominent place, the stunning photographic canveses.

The positioning strapline developed by the agency for the medical aid was

thus ‘A Tradition of Nurturing’. Each photograph was packaged in a

brown cardboard carrier with strong call-to-action copy on the front that

read: ‘Invest in life… Let Medshield donate R10 000 on your company’s

behalf to the AIDS charity of your choice’. Each recipient received one of

six black and white shots, printed on canvas; each canvas came with an

A5 brochure resembling an art catalogue, tied together with symbolic

red ribbon. The brochure featured a letter, all the photos in the collection

as well as information on Medshield. The brochure was perforated so

that the photographs could also be torn off and used as postcards.

Each photograph was accompanied by a business card sized tag with

the photographer’s name and date of the work – to convey the art

concept further.

Campaign costs: Cost per lead: R3 703.

ROI and results: Of the 100 packs that were sent out, 94 were

delivered successfully. Twenty seven companies responded to the

campaign (which equates to a 28.7 per cent response rate). Sales from the

campaign are not as yet concluded as medical aid is changed annually,

hence leads have been worked during 2007 for swap-over in January

2008. It is anticipated that 40per cent of leads ie 11 conversions will be

secured. Some R270 000 donated to HIV/AIDS causes – determined as

five per cent of the value to be generated from converted business.


ASSEGAI AWARDS

Section 2: New Media

Category: e-Marketing


Campaign title: Nestle College of Chocology

Client: Nestle. Together Nestle is a special initiative set up by the compa-

ny to ‘get closer’ to its consumers and target markets. It is a club that

encourages dialogue between Nestle and its consumers through special

club communications, newsletters, free samples as well as value-added

benefits, such as event invitations or the sending of a recipe book. This

platform has enabled the company to better understand consumers and

their buying habits.

Campaign brief and objectives: To drive engagement with the

brand and to gather vital research data in respect of buyers of Nestle

chocolates. Secondary objectives included supporting the ethic of open

dialogue that is the basis of Together Nestle; creating awareness and

building the Nestle brand; creating a sense of fun around the brand and

products; establishing the Nestle brand as technologically smart and

gaining the buy-in of a younger audience.

Target audience: Chocolate and sweet consumers between the ages

of 18 and 30, both male and female. An initial base of 1 200 Together

Nestle participants was targeted, the idea being that pass-on would occur

within the common interest community group (although the pass-on is

not governable).

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale The most cost

effective way to achieve the objectives was to communicate electronically

through an appealing viral campaign that recipients would want to pass

on. This would serve as a means to educate recipients on the different

Nestle brands of chocolate. An opportunity to win a prize (Carrol Boyes

cutlery), once recipients had provided certain information that Nestle was

looking for, would also be included as a call to action and response

booster. The viral game was based around the idea of chocolate and

one’s habits in terms of consuming it. The agency knew from research

that the way in which chocolate is consumed indicates personality; based

on this, it created a ‘chocolate horoscope’. Also, in the registration section,

it asked for their actual date of birth and, using Linda Goodman’s star

signs, the agency linked each profile with one which is close to the

personality of the engager. Within the game, participants had to complete

certain fields to gain entry to the next level (great for data building). Plus,

participants who referred friends gained an additional entry for each

referral. Weekly winner e-mails and referred friends e-mails were sent

throughout the campaign.

Campaign costs: R35 000

ROI and results: The campaign built a peer database of 13 470

(an increase in base size of 89 per cent). Pass-ons from some participants

exceeded 200 referrals. The cost of acquiring this data via traditional

interviews of the initial 1 200 base would have been around R114 000.

The campaign therefore enabled a saving of 325 per cent for the client.

Category: Mobile marketing

Gold: Digital Solutions Group (DSG)

Campaign title: What’s Your Flava?

Client: Nando’s Chickenland

Campaign brief and objectives: To get to know its customers,

and increase frequency and wallet share from customers. To drive

additional feet to store and increase awareness of the nearest store to the

customer as well as insight into customer preferences.

Challenges: This campaign would require a fundamental shift in the

manner in which Nando’s marketing uses its advertising.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: This cellphone SMS

marketing competition would complement a five-week ATL marketing and

advertising campaign.

The agency included a 34141 short code premium-rated, action-driven

SMS number in the ATL advertising, with the focus on customers sending

an SMS containing their favourite Nando’s restaurant and chicken ‘flava’.

Customers received immediate responses (winners received a virtual SMS

voucher instantly). Plus, customers had the chance to win a trip for two to

lunch at Nando’s in London, Sydney, India or Dubai valued at R60 000.

The instant winner SMS voucher redemption mechanism required that

the Virtual Call Centre receive and process customer SMSes instantly,

matching the restaurants against its existing restaurants database and then

sending a return SMS (including vouchers, of which there were 25 000).

Specific voucher numbers were issued to specific restaurants, and once a

voucher had been redeemed, it had to be removed from circulation

nationally to prevent repeats.

The challenges for DSG and the Virtual Call Centre were exaggerated by

the fact that Nando’s restaurants make use of three different types of

point-of -sale systems (integration had to cater for three different

interfaces, namely Linux, Java based and Microsoft based).

However, results could be viewed in real time. The web-based MIS

system provided Nando’s marketing with intelligence on media placement

and success in the various regions. The reporting also covered how many

SMSes were received and processed nationally.

Campaign costs: R2 premium-rated service.

ROI and results: Nando’s processed over 100 000 SMSes, and

therefore generated in excess of R1 million (a new revenue stream never

captured before by Nando’s in all its ATL campaigns). The campaign also

boosted restaurant turnover due to additional purchases that have been

valued at an average basket size of R60. The issuing and redemption of

25 000 quarter-chicken vouchers with an average basket size of R60

generated approximately R1.5 million in five weeks.


ASSEGAI AWARDS

Category: ERM

Gold: Wunderman SA

Campaign title: FNB Project Protocol

Client: FNB

Campaign brief and objectives: First National Bank’s Commercial

Division staff needed to know basic protocols, which included general

business etiquette (how to answer the phone, how to handle a business

lunch, etc). Previously, this was communicated to staff by means of a

two-day seminar, facilitated by a lecturer. These seminars were poorly

attended, and so FNB approached the agency with a brief to make the

Protocol Training more interesting.

The objective was to get at least 50 per cent of the staff to complete all

the training (an improvement on previous attendance of 30 per cent).

Challenges: The programme needed to appeal to a broad range of

people and work in all areas of the country. The programme needed to

stand out, because staff members are constantly bombarded with com-

munication about the bank’s many products and programmes.

Target audience: FNB Commercial staff members; approximately

2 000 people, based across the country. Staff ranged from senior man-

agers to entry-level staff.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: Staff were engaged

via the intranet, through a ninja-themed campaign. The information to be

presented was broken into manageable point-form sections, each of

which was followed with a multiple-choice quiz; staff needed to complete

the quiz with a score of 70 per cent or more to continue. Once the quiz

was completed, staff were rewarded with a fun and interactive game (fea-

turing a ninja chicken). Fun prizes (both individual and regional), including

helicopter flips, hot air balloon rides, and chauffeur driven limo rides,

incentivised the interactions.

Staff were driven to the intranet by a number of marketing devices:

posters, live actors as well as e-mails and desk drops.

The database was updated regularly, indicating which staff members

still needed to participate in the training; this allowed the agency to target

these staff members directly with follow-up e-mails, and encourage their

participation. The main campaign line was: ‘Beat your boss’. Follow up

executions featured lines like: Thrash Tracy from Tshwane.

Campaign costs: Production cost of R200 000.

ROI and results: The training programme was attended by 59 per

cent of staff, whose reactions were positive. The client now has a database

of staff members who have completed the training and can continue to

encourage other staff members to participate. “The campaign changed

the way FNB approach training in that it was an unexpected and different

way of tackling what can be seen as a very boring subject. The energy and

intrigue of the Ninjas was infectious and resulted in many more people

completing the training than in previous years,” says Kristen Pote, senior

copywriter, Wunderman SA.

Section 3: Strategic & integrated marketing

Category: CRM/loyalty

Gold: PrimaPlus

Campaign title: Shell G-Force Programme

Client: Shell Lubricants

Campaign brief and objectives: To build strong personal and

business relationships between the various role-players in the Shell

Lubricant distribution chain. To drive Shell Lubricant distribution and sales

volume in both independent workshops (IWSs) and independent spares

shops (ISSs) that buy in bulk from specific Shell Lubricant distributors. A

prolonged approach was needed to create long-term loyalty. Need to offer

a compelling reason for bulk distributors and end-users to choose Shell

over other lubricants.

Challenges: In the lubricants sector, Shell has a number of competitors.

Target audience: Channel operators who buy in bulk and distribute

the product as well as frontline staff (mechanics, forecourt attendants, etc).

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The agency created

the Shell G-Force programme, a rewards and points-based programme

with an accumulative nature. Points are earned on specific Shell Lubricants

purchased from Shell resellers and distributors. Once enough points are

earned, these can be redeemed for rewards listed in a catalogue. Makro

provided the rewards and the G-Force Makro Reward Card. Keith Lindsay,

says that new business director, Prima Plus adds that the partnership with

Makro was a major innovation, seeing as it was the first time that they

had launched a third paty, co-branded, re-loadable card in their stores.

The theme for the programme was ‘G-Force weather’. Teaser e-mails

bearing the message: ‘Storm warning – high G-force expected’ was sent

to all delegates attending the programme’s launch event. These were

followed up with theme-appropriate gifts (branded hard hats and torches,

etc) as well as brochures which explained the salient aspects of the

programme. Distributors were then asked to recruit the owners of the

stores they service onto the programme (with an incentive of 2 500 points

to accelerate the process). The recruitment data was captured to a data-

base and an acknowledgment SMS was sent to each recruit; they also

received personalised packs (welcome letter, catalogue, etc). From then on,

they were required to send in copies of Shell Lubricants invoices to earn

points. Quarterly and monthly communications were sent to members

and key metrics reports were sent to Shell head office on a monthly basis.

Value-added events allowed for interaction between customers and

distributors. A call centre was established to deal with queries. According

to Price, the call centre is an in-house info hub, which is run by a team at

Shell. “By far, the majority of calls received are programme related and

these are directed to PrimaPlus, where the members’ data is housed.

Point queries, addresses changes and other communication is therefore

immediately dealt with in real time,” says Lindsay.

Campaign costs: R1 million plus.

ROI and results: At the time of entry, 495 ISSs and ISWs had been

recruited (against a target of 600 for the campaign). Of these, 83 busi-

nesses are new stockists of Shell Lubricants. An amount of R191 189 has

been earned in G-Force points, of which R25 352 has been claimed and

redeemed for rewards.

ASSEGAI AWARDS


Section 4: Technology Solutions

Category: Database

Gold: 5th Dimension Marketing

Campaign title: Tim and Tom

Client: 5th Dimension Marketing

Campaign brief and objectives: To develop and provide an easy-

to-use analytical tool that would deliver significant segmentation potential

for the direct marketer.

Challenges: Recency-Frequency-Money (RFM) as an analytical tool was

developed over 50 years ago, but analytical skills are required to build

such models (which we refer to as TIM – time-interactions-money). 5th

Dimension Marketing needed to create an easy-to-use software program

that would enable anyone to run TIM models.

Target audience: Marketers using a database (to date, the target

audience has been the agency’s own client base).

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: To address the

objectives and challenges, the agency developed tracking of movement

(TOM), which would reveal trends in the TIM data. With the TIM module,

client data is loaded into the program, and the user can input various RFM

options and view different output scenarios (viewed as RFM segments).

Once the user is happy with the results, the total database is sorted into

27 RFM segments. Customers in the model are now available for cam-

paign selections.

The TOM module (part of the same program) allows for further segmen-

tation to identify customers that are increasing or decreasing in value,

exhibiting inconsistent behaviour, etc. All of this can be sorted and analysed

by segment. Results are available immediately, at the click of a button. This

module enables marketers to move away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ communi-

cations. Plus, the selected customer data can be immediately exported to a

CSV file for mail merge or other campaign purposes. “This software sits on

top of the client’s data. The user of the software can then play with differ-

ent variables across the three parameters (recency, frequency and money)

to create 27 different segments. Each segment then has a logical set of

actions that flow from the segmentation,” says Keith Wiser, managing

director, 5th Dimension. He adds that this is ideal for companies that have

regular interactions with clients, but stresses that it requires good transac-

tional data to work with. “It’s particularly useful for finding what we call

‘shooting stars’, that is customers who suddenly show signs of high activi-

ty; or what we call ‘black holes’, which show the converse behaviour.

ROI and results: TIM and TOM have been used to create campaigns

in the casino environment, where customer behaviour is known to be

extremely volatile. It has also been used to improve targeting for a

fundraising client; in part, it contributed to a 76 per cent increase in

response rates and a 33 per cent increase in average donation value. For

another client, it has been used to identify prospects for a new product

from the existing database.


ASSEGAI AWARDS

Category: Copy

Gold: PrimaPlus

Campaign title: Vuyiswa Goes Home (annual report 2006)

Client: Home From Home

Campaign brief and objectives: Home From Home provides sup-

ported and supervised community-based foster care for orphans, aban-

doned and vulnerable children. The agency wanted to create the first ever

annual report for Home From Home, to serve as feedback to existing

donors, as well as a marketing and awareness tool for potential donors.

The report needed to show how and why Home From Home was

established. Also, to convey the seriousness of the plight of the orphaned

children, by sharing some hard-hitting facts and statistics, while also

detailing the progress the home has made.

Challenges: A limited budget; this was to be the first annual report,

for a newly established organisation.

Target audience: Existing and potential donors.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The annual report

was created in the style of an old-fashioned children’s reader (Vuyiswa’s

story) which most people could identify with (the language was kept clear

and simple). The design was used as the vehicle for carrying harder facts

and figures; these were worked creatively into the design elements with-

out having to deviate too much from the story. The story itself would be

typical of the stories of many of the children being cared for by Home

From Home, and therefore provides real insight into what these children

go through.

The size of the annual report lent itself well to being posted, without

incurring excessive postage costs. With the help of the agency’s print

suppliers, the obstacle of a tight budget was overcome: the agency

managed to produced the 2006 Annual Report for Home For Home at no

cost to them other than distribution costs.

Campaign costs: NA

ROI and results: Home From Home have found the annual report

very useful as a door opener for cold calls, as well as a reporting tool for

existing donors. The report took the pressure off volunteer fundraisers,

who could send this book on to companies and generate greater interest

(ie. higher chance of conversion).

Section 5: Creativity

Category: Art Direction

Gold: BrandNew Advertising

Campaign title: Where Does Poo Come From?

Client: BrandNew Advertising

Campaign brief and objectives: Self-promotion of specialist agency.

It wanted its target audience to call it to secure a meeting with them.

Challenges: Marketing directors, managing directors and marketing

managers are bombarded with requests for business from advertising

agencies, media owners and other suppliers on an ongoing basis. Previous

experience taught the agency that cold calling was not going to work (voice

mail and hardened personal assistants made it impossible to sell the service).

Target audience: Marketing directors, managing directors and

marketing managers of blue chip and multinationals based in South

Africa. Fifty large companies were targeted.

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: The solution to the

problems was to develop a direct mail piece that could be hand delivered

to the corporate head office of the targeted companies. The piece needed

to provide insight into the services offered by the agency without revealing

too much. It set a goal of 20 calls, resulting in 15 meetings, leading to at

least two invitations to pitch on creative briefs.

The creative included a funny story, which challenged the reader to tell

their target audience a different story (or at least, with the help of the

agency, to tell their existing story in a different way). The mailer was made

up of a personalised envelope and letterhead, and a modern storybook.

The envelope asked: ‘Where Does Poo Come From?’, to intrigue the recipi-

ent. The storybook answers the question with an unexpected twist, and

the letter ties it all together and concludes with a strong call to action.

“The art direction and the theme that we used ensured that the pack

stood out above the clutter in what can often be a staid and boring cor-

porate environment,” says Shaun Symm, creative director and managing

member, BrandNew Advertising.

Campaign costs: R17 111 (ex VAT)

ROI and results: Fifty per cent of the recipients called the agency.

“The campaign proved to clients that the service we offer delivers a

return,” says Symm. “Thus far, we have completed work for two of the

companies who contacted us, leading to a 14 per cent increase in billings.

In terms of ROI, for every R1 spent on the campaign, the return was

R49,50.”

The success of any direct marketing campaign rests on thequality of the service bureau charged with handling themountains of data to be utilised. This is why ComputerFacilities, a service-orientated bureau and outsourcingfacility, has been in business for 25 years. Computer Facilitiesis a direct marketing industry stalwart that is recognised for itsservice to clients, advertising agencies and the DirectMarketing Association.

Computer Facilities has a long history with the directmarketing industry after it started as a mainframe computerbureau. The company has changed with the times and todayits business is 95% direct with clients and 5% involvementwith agencies and clients. Amongst their clients are some ofthe biggest South African corporates including Absa andNedbank and they also host the Direct Marketing Associationdatabase. Computer Facilities focuses on four main aspects of directmarketing services: An Outbound Call Centre, dataprocessing, laser printing and fulfillment through theirintegrated offerings detailed below.

One of the latest additions to the services being provided is Geo-coding – this is the process of assigning geographiccoordinates (e.g. latitude-longitude) to street addresses, aswell as other points and features. With geographiccoordinates, the features can then be mapped and enteredinto Geographic Information Systems.Geo-coding assists clients in exploring their customermarkets, help project sales and analyse market penetration.

YOUR DIRECT MARKETING PARTNER

The success of Computer Facilities is measuredin terms of our clients’ perception of theservice they receive, not our perception of theservice that we provide.

COMPUTER FACILITIES BUSINESS PROCESSESDirect Marketing processing facilityComputer Facilities provides the following services:• Capacity to process millions of records per campaign• Comprehensive data checking• Data enhancement and correction• De-duplication of names and addresses where no ID number present• Comprehensive data demographics analysis

Valid8 – Developed by Computer Facilities andcertified by MicrosoftThis comprehensive package verifies postal codes and suburb/place namesaccording to the Post Office official tables and Computer Facilities own tables ofthe most common misspellings – applies corrections where applicable. It alsocaters for address formats in the informal areas and provides comprehensivedemographical statistics.

Laser printing and associated servicesCapacity for print runs in excess of one million. Letter set-upsDigitising logos and signaturesSorting data by postal code and any other field e.g. surnameApply all variable data to Computer Facilities unique print package PrintNet,which offers full document composition capability, merges variable data withletter copy and creates images and prints.

Call CentreOutbound telemarketingInbound response managementOver two years ago Computer Facilities extended its services to include a 48 seat out bound call centre. In August 2005, Computer Facilities was awardedthe Nedbank Card Business and a year later increased the number of seats to112. The Call Centre is currently concentrating on outbound selling. Salesprogress is monitored by clients through an on-line reporting service, reflectingup to the minute results

Response management facility Policy Administration – including the issuing of policy documents and thecollection of premiums Mailed responsesBulk inbound faxesBulk SMS Hosting Web Services Bulk e-mailing Daily statistics through their On-line Reporting Services

CRM – database management and control facilityCustom-built solutionsComplimented by the Response Management Facility

Company StructureComputer Facilities: Level 1 BEE Compliance. On 1 March 2006, 49% of Computer Facilities wassold to its employees. An employee trust was set up forall staff. To qualify for the trust, an employee has towork for 12 months and if an employee leaves thecompany within three years, they forfeit the non-transferable units.

Amazing fact: the average length of service atComputer Facilities, excluding the call centre staff, is inexcess of eight years.

Contact Computer Facilities:387 Surrey Avenue, Randburg

Tel: (011) 577 2600 • Fax: (011) 577 2662www.facilities.co.za

Managing Director: Ian Geary: [email protected]

A major retailer is using this service todetermine where stores should be locatedconveniently close to their customers.

Advertorial

“Our difference is not based on price; we’renot the cheapest. Our difference is based on ourimpeccable service and the fact that our clients’ needscome first – this is why clients stay with us for years.”– Ian Geary, Managing Director, ComputerFacilities.

ORGANISATION OF THE YEARThe Gold Award received at the DMA’sAssegai Awards on the 5th November 2007.

Ian Geary thanks his staff for their dedication,attention to detail, and team work in servicingour loyal clients.


ASSEGAI AWARDS

Category: Creative Solutions

Gold: PrimaPlus

Campaign title: MWEB Voice Box

Client: MWEB Business

Campaign brief and objectives: Promote Voice over IP (VOIP)

to 1 000 of MWEB Business’ high-usage ADSL customers. MWEB prom-

ised to save them up to 60 per cent on call costs charged by Telkom.

Challenges: Broadband connectivity is still relatively new in SA, and

penetration is also low as a result. VOIP offers an alternative to Telkom’s

services at much lower cost (it uses an ADSL line). But awareness of

VOIP is even lower than for ADSL. The corporate market has not been

addresses by Skype, which offers VOIP. MWEB Business wanted to be

the first to introduce VOIP to businesses using ADSL, as a package that

could save them money. But it knew that its customers were afraid of

and unfamiliar with the technology. The market associated VOIP with

Skype, and thought one needed headphones and devices to talk

through the computer. They were not sure about the quality of VOIP or

how to install it. Other concerns included hidden costs and downtime

of the service.

Target audience: MWEB Business’s 1 000 top ADSL customers

(companies who were using ADSL substantially enough to indicate that

they would benefit from the call cost savings through VOIP).

Marketing strategy/tactics and rationale: MWEB needed to

break through the clutter that busy CEOs and CFOs of medium-sized

companies receive each day, so that they could communicate the bene-

fits of VOIP to them. They needed a 3-D pack that was startling, but

not complicated; it needed to cut through the ‘it’s too complicated,

don’t tell me about it attitude’ of their targets, while showing them the

benefits of the service. MWEB promised to save its targets up to 60 per

cent on call costs charged by Telkom. This programme is still rolling out,

but is staggered; this means that MWEB’s account managers can

schedule appointments, conversions and installations.

The 3-D pack included a phone (to take the focus away from com-

puters) and an incentive of R100 in free calls. A personalised letter that

talked about VOIP and the offer was included in the pack. Because the

letter was sent by the CEO of MWEB, it carried more weight. It also

introduced the account manager and included their contact details.

The front of the box promised potential savings, and once the targets

opened the box, a simple switch automatically started the phone ring-

ing. On answering, a voice explained that they’d just experienced how

easy it is to use VOIP, and directed them to the account manager’s busi-

ness card and the information brochure. This was interactive, exciting

and startling. “The potential ROI is huge. If you consider the average

medium-sized enterprise’s Telkom phone bill, and then think about that

revenue going to MWEB instead and for a sustained period, and then

add on service charges (which are still lower than Telkom’s), it’s an

enormous, brand-new revenue stream,” says Kathryn Price, creative

director, PrimaPlus.

Campaign costs: R200 per pack. “MWEB were was prepared to

put in the money if it got the results – it had confidence in the pack

and saw the cost being recouped quickly,” says Price.

ROI and results: At the time of entry, 60 per cent of all packs had

elicited a confirmed appointment with an account manager. The cost of

the packs was recovered through installation.

Incorporating the best of the Assegai Awards

Marketing Direct is about best practices delivered by the best direct marketers in South Africa. The workshop will draw from the

Assegai Awards 07, demonstrating the principles of successful direct marketing.

Marketing Direct ProgrammeResearch Stimulating ResponseAndrew Ambrogioni, the 2007 Assegai Awards Direct Marketer of the Year, will identify the triggers that boost response. Andrew

will also look at the power of emotion based on astute interpretation of data analytics and qualitative research techniques.

Integrated MarketingHow should marketers select and weight the appropriate components of the marketing mix to boost direct response?

The session will be led by Michelle Perrow, newly inducted into the DMA Hall of Fame and MD of Lesoba Difference, a big winner

of the Assegai Awards.

The Role of Creative in Direct Mail TodayTraditionally, direct marketers have always underestimated the importance of the creative execution. However, in the time-pressed,

design-savvy environment of the ‘noughties’, good creative can be the difference between a direct mail piece being binned,

opened or actioned.

Primaplus’s creative director, Kathryn Price McKay, puts the importance of good copy and design under the spotlight and showcases

the work that won both Gold, and the Inkosi Award at the Assegais 2007.

Mobile MarketingRick Joubert, executive head for Vodacom, talks about the impact of mobile marketing including:

� Mobile as an outstanding stand alone direct marketing medium

� Mobile as an integrated response channel.

Adapting to LegislationThe National Credit Act, the Consumer Protection Bill and the Protection of Personal Information Bill have and will affect marketing

practices. Christiane Duval is a director of the Direct Marketing Association and closely involved with the legislation. She will advise

on how to ensure your marketing practices remain customer friendly and within the constraints of the legal requirements.

Direct Marketing MasterclassAndrew Ambrogioni, the 2007 Assegai Awards Direct Marketer of the Year, will involve you in preparing a direct marketing

campaign drawing from the best practices demonstrated by the Assegai Award winning entries. You will learn some golden rules

and hot tips, which will significantly increase response to your direct marketing campaigns.

PricingR2 650 per delegate

R2 250 per delegate for three or more delegates (plus VAT)

Enquiries: Daisy Mulenga, [email protected] or 011 234 7008

Marketing Direct – Best Pract ices Workshop21st February 08

Sandton Sun Hotel , Johannesburg


In recent months, I have faced many clientsasking for direct marketing, but who have no

lists of their own of who to market to. Before

we embark on any marketing campaign, we

have to understand the objectives of the cam-

paign and what is available to us so that we can

maximise the budget and ensure we achieve the

desired results.

Although many marketers don’t have data-

bases, they are now realising that they need to

have more information, including the answers

to these burning questions:

� How do I find out who my customers actually

are?

� How do I find out more about my

customers?

� How do I ensure my customers return, when

I don’t know who they are?

The client’s brief requests a ‘direct marketing

campaign’ to build the above information, but

they don’t have lists to market to. Agencies then

recommend an indirect approach using ATL

channels, but often our traditional marketers

feel that these are not direct channels. How do

we overcome this argument, and how do we

engage consumers who use our brand and yet

are faceless? When we judge awards, we look

at campaigns in the direct category, and need

to shift our thinking: just because the channel is

not mail or e-mail, doesn’t mean it’s not direct!

We have to start somewhere, be clever in the

use of our channels, test and trial, and see what

delivers the best results. This argument defies

logic in many instances – if I spray the market

with flyers then how do I know it works? The

answer is quite simple: if your creative breaks

through the clutter and has a very strong call to

action, then you will realise results. Once you

capture the information, you can ascertain

whether this worked or not. But we have to

build the list somehow in order to answer the

above questions.

To build these lists, we need to go into the

above-the-line space, which means we have to

develop indirect direct campaigns that have a

very strong call to action. Whether these

‘adverts’ appear in the form of radio, TV or print

they are, in fact, direct marketing in its oldest

form; we have to engage our consumers (even

if they are using our products) in activations –

malls, traffic lights, taxis, streets and online.

As part of the creative, and besides the

strong call to action, often we have to incen-

tivise – how do we know that consumers aren’t

just responding for the gift or draw for a prize?

We don’t. We can only ascertain that after we

have our list and start communicating to con-

sumers and then measure their change in

behaviour towards our brands. But I believe that

using traditional channels and offering incen-

tives gives our marketers a fighting chance to

build their bases – we know advertising works,

but by maximising our messages using tradi-

tional direct marketing language, we will at

least know which 50 per cent of our advertising

worked.

The other burning issue we face in direct

marketing is even more interesting for me.

Several clients are happy to spend millions on

television advertising, building their brand, with-

out setting measurable sales objectives; but they

will give their direct marketing agencies a

smidgeon of their budget and set down very

hard and tangible objectives for sales. If we only

engender a three per cent response, then we

have all ’failed‘. But at least we know we got

that response and sold product. Plus, with that

three per cent response we can find like-minded

consumers within that base and target them

more specifically.

Marketing is an art and a science – it is

imperative that we build brands that consumers

want to use. Once we have the consumers,

that’s when the science of direct marketing

kicks in – as soon as consumers use your brand,

find out more about them, and target your

messages clearly – relevant, regular and engag-

ing communication will no doubt bring them

back, will ensure they tell their friends about

your brand and will ultimately ensure they move

up the loyalty ladder.

Our London office recently ran a campaign

for Golf Plus; it investigated who had bought

the vehicle in the past (by closely examining the

owners’ information) and discovered that many

Golf Plus owners had a very strong interest in

gardening. Using this information, it then

embarked on strong campaigns at gardening

shows, displaying the vehicle and activating the

brand by giving out books, cards and informa-

tion. By targeting in an environment where it

knew the audience had an affiliation to the

vehicle, it could maximise its ’indirect direct‘

message and prove sales directly to its efforts. �

Nici Stathacopoulos

managing partner of proximity#ttp(011) 447 [email protected]

How do we define direct marketing?

by nici stathacopoulos EXPERT OPINION

By targeting in anenvironment where itknew the audience had an affiliation to thevehicle, it could maximiseits ’indirect direct‘ messageand prove sales directly toits efforts.

“

”

Digital marketing is hot, innovation is constant and to optimise response it is very important toappreciate now-now marketing best practices. Our speakers know the South African market,they are at the leading edge and they work with major corporates all the time, and they’re veryresponse focused.

Digital Media Perspective

How marketers should evaluate and select the appropriate components of the digital media mix. How digital media

will evolve in 2008. An appraisal of the research data available and most importantly the metrics that really matter.

Andrea Mitchell, head of Digital Activation at thirtyfour, and is a much respected digital marketing strategist.

How BMW Compiled and Executed their Digital Marketing Plan

The objectives, the reasons for selecting and weighting the mix, the creative approach and the results.

Scott Gray, Interactive Marketing Manager, BMW.

Online Media

Elan Lohmann, head of Social Networking/Media Services at 24.Com, will give you best practices advice on how to

optimise your online marketing spend, covering:

� Marketing 2.0

� Online media selection

� Smart ways to boost online response/ Going viral in the digital space

� Social networking/social media/Facebook widgets etc

� How to initiate conversations with your market, build relationships and create trust.

Mobile as a Medium

Why Mobile is not merely sub-set of “digital” media and could be the ultimate interactive medium.

Mobile as a medium has arrived and is no longer just a great idea. Rick Joubert, executive head, Vodacom.

The Case for Integrated Digital Marketing

Roelof Van Wyk and his company, Trigger (winner of numerous awards) are on the global edge of Integrated Digital

Marketing. He will state the case for integrating digital media with the traditional response methods, but more

importantly to stimulate response, justify the ROI, and add some zing to the traditional media landscape.

A morning workshop

R1 950 per delegate

Three or more R1 750 per delegate (plus VAT)

Enquiries: Daisy Mulenga, [email protected] or 011 234 7008

2nd Interact ive Market ing Summit18 March 08

Sandton Sun Hotel , Johannesburg


As companies increasingly consider thebenefits of call centres to support their customer

service and customer relationship management

(CRM), marketers need to better understand the

role of the contact centre and how it can play a

more integral part in responding to customer

feedback and influencing a positive customer

experience.

As a starting point, marketers need to be

familiar with how call centres fit into the

customer service supply chain. Call centres

provide a number of functions and, depending

on whether they are captive (internal division of

the organisation) or outsource (contracted

provider) and whether they are primarily in-bound

(receiving customer calls) or provide both

inbound and outbound (calls made to cus-

tomers), the first interaction a customer has

with a call centre creates a lasting impression of

the company’s service approach and influences

the perception of its brand.

Therefore it is at this level that the customer

experience needs to be managed. To achieve

this, marketing should develop a close relation-

ship with call centre managers to better

understand the dynamics that influence

performance and service levels at the front line.

Quality and quality assurance are important

factors in maintaining service levels and driving

performance of agents. Call centre managers

rely heavily on their quality assurers to monitor

the quality of interaction agents have with

customers. This is largely undertaken through

listening to call recordings and providing feed-

back through team leaders and supervisors.

Regular reporting, analysis and control are key

to ensuring that the required standards are

consistently achieved.

Marketers should have access to this information

to ascertain both the positive and negative

factors that affect customer satisfaction. With

this information at hand, marketers will be

better equipped to assist call centre managers

to address issues relating to brand awareness

and delivery of brand values, as well as respond

more accurately and timeously to customer

concerns through direct responses.

Marketers, and particularly brand managers,

also need to play a more active role in the

training and soft skills development of agents.

This is currently the most critical development

area within call centres in SA. A historical lack of

exposure, core competency development and

socio-economic integration has generally resulted

in disadvantages among the emerging labour

force. There is a wide gap in work-readiness

skills, which is currently being addressed through

national training initiatives, but more specifically

a shortage of soft skills among agents. There has

to be a strong correlation between customer

engagement and brand resonance. This is some-

thing that is not sufficiently evident in the

customer service delivered by agents.

It is important that marketers, together with

communication specialists, are included in agent

training programmes from the outset. As part

of their induction training process, agents need

to be educated on the significance of quality,

credibility and reputation management to fully

appreciate their role and, to some extent,

responsibilities in delivering on the brand’s

promise to customers. Marketers can provide

practical tool kits to agents to help them under-

stand brand values and drivers, and also guide

experiential learning in educating agents on the

factors that influence brand perception.

However, one of the most evident gaps in call

centre service delivery, and certainly something

that, in my experience, affects brand perception,

is the lack of information about the customer

and the relevance a service or product has to

the person the agent is engaging with over the

phone. While appropriate timing of calls to

customers is an important aspect to manage, it

is not the call that irritates the most, but that

agents are generally not provided with sufficient

information about the customer in relation to

the purpose of their call.

Call centre agents are employed and trained

to handle the vagaries of personalities and

emotions expressed by customers, yet all too

often they are confronted by a frustrated

customer simply because they have inconclusive

or inaccurate information, or worse, have not

been briefed that the customer already has the

product they are promoting! Particularly in

terms of outbound campaigns, customers want

to feel that they are being targeted as individuals

not as a number on a list!

This is something that marketers certainly can

remedy. South African agents are positively

regarded internationally for their unscripted

friendly conversation and engagement ability

and high customer satisfaction desire. Adequate

briefing and access to relevant customer data

and product or service relevance will add much

value to the agent building a rapport with a

customer over the phone. Marketers could

further build on this if they coordinated more

closely with sales and customer service to advise

call centres of customer preferences, feedback,

and even personal details, such as birthdays,

that will make that extra difference to customers

and create a positive impression of the brand.

It is an imperative within the training process

that marketers ensure that agents, team leaders

and supervisors working on a campaign or

account are continuously and consistently pro-

vided with information about the company they

are providing the service for. Agents need to

become brand ambassadors for their clients,

constantly striving to deliver on the brand’s

promise and fulfil or exceed customer expecta-

tions. To achieve this, marketers and brand

managers need to integrate their internal branding

campaigns with call centres to inspire, motivate

and incentivise agents. It is for this reason that

recognition and reward play such an important

part in driving agent performance.

In today’s competitive business environment,

even in emerging markets such as SA, a

company can no longer lay claim to a market

segment and take customer and brand loyalty

as a given. �

Nicci Columbine

managing director, Columbine Communications(011) 880 [email protected]

Call centre benefits

by nicci columbine EXPERT OPINION


It is important to remember that theInternet is an advertising medium and should be

treated as such – not simply as a technology

vehicle with advertising elements to it. As such,

a marketing strategy applicable to the Internet

needs to be devised in a strategic and profes-

sional way.

The effectiveness of Internet advertising can

be measured if you can answer four questions:

� What’s the goal of your website?

� What’s the goal worth?

� How many times did you achieve that goal?

� What did it cost to achieve it?

By using the four questions above as a guide

for measuring ROI in an online environment,

you will not go wrong.

The four questions in more detail:

What’s the goal of your website?This fundamental question needs to be correctly

answered before any online marketing plan is

even thought of. Is the goal to generate sales or

leads? Is it to get users to view specific content?

Or is it simply to raise awareness?

Once you have answered the first question,

you can start putting together an online market-

ing plan, which should include all the elements

of how you are going to make the answer to

question number one become a reality.

What’s the goal worth?This is where it starts to get interesting. If you

didn’t answer the first question correctly then

you surely aren’t going to answer this question

accurately. Every business – be it online, offline

or both – has a value assigned to the goal spe-

cific to that business.

For example, an online gaming website that

offers a wide range of games that can be

downloaded or played online. Each game has a

cost associated with it and a selling price.

Obviously, the difference between the selling

and cost price provides the goal value (for the

purposes of this example other costs such as

marketing, distribution, etc that impact on the

goal’s value, are not included).

So if the goal’s value is R100, it has to be

included in the online marketing campaign. If

an online marketing campaign that only uses

pay-per-click (PPC) is being run, then there

would be a cost associated with every click on

the advert. By combining conversion tracking

into the campaign, using a goal value of R100,

I would be able to accurately see what the

ROI is.

To put this more clearly: a campaign is run

over one month using a budget of R30 000. A

total of 7 500 clicks – which equates to R4 per

click – were received. A total of 1 135 games

were sold, which is a conversion rate of roughly

15 per cent. At a goal value of R100 per game

= R113 500/R30 000 = R3.78. In other

words, for every R3.78 spent, there was a

return of R100.

How many times did you achievethat goal?As can be seen from the example above, over

time an accurate picture of how online market-

ing programmes are performing can be por-

trayed. This allows changes to be made, where

necessary, without estimating and relying on

website statistics and data. That’s not to say

that statistics and data supplied by organisa-

tions such as Nielsen shouldn’t aid the develop-

ment of an online marketing strategy, but once

you start working in a scientific and controlled

way – the data generated will be infinitely more

powerful and useful.

What did it cost to achieve it?By following the steps outlined above you will

now have an exact figure for all your online

marketing programmes. This will allow you to

fine-tune any current and future campaigns and

eliminate the guesswork. In SA, online is still

considered a sideline advertising medium. The

funny thing is that it is only with online advertis-

ing that returns can be measured in real-time

and down to the last cent. Which other adver-

tising medium even comes close to that?

Conversion tracking and ROI return methods

can be applied to all online marketing cam-

paigns, be it banners, rich media, PPC and

more. Use that benefit and power to your

advantage. �

Yoav Tchelet

director, iLogic(011) 832 [email protected]

Measuring ROI online

EXPERT OPINION by yoav tchelet

It is important to remember that the Internet isan advertising medium and should be treated as such– not simply as a technology vehicle with advertisingelements to it.

“”


Wearing my customer hat, I had to thinklong and hard about how my life has been

touched by CRM initiatives. Apart from an

occasional SMS on my birthday from a few

companies with whom I part money at the end

of each month as well as the occasional sale

notification from a retail store that is actually

intended for Mr Shongwe (still have to meet

him), my life is relatively free from meaningful

CRM communication.

So maybe I’m not spending enough money

at the right places, but it did make me think

about how customer information can best and

most efficiently be used to build better relation-

ships with those important customers.

by susan moerdyk CRM

This thing called CRMThis thing called CRM

CRM


The whole customer relationship manage-

ment or CRM thing created quite a buzz in the

‘90s, with one school of thought leading us to

believe that it would ultimately put us in a posi-

tion to manage our customers on a one-on-one

basis. That didn’t quite come to fruition, as we

all know that keeping relationships alive and

healthy requires going beyond simplistic

approaches and being technologically focused

only. But, despite all this, CRM is indeed still

alive and kicking. Any company disillusioned

enough to neglect CRM initiatives is depriving

itself of an essential engine of knowledge and

profitability. So how do business leaders feel

about CRM?

Markinor and Brand Leadership launched the

State of Marketing survey in 2006 where

400 heads of marketing were interviewed

telephonically. The driving force behind the

survey was to establish the state of marketing in

business in South Africa – thus exploring

challenges with which marketers are faced,

business and marketing priorities, marketing

involvement in different areas of the business,

branding, measurement of various matrices and

stakeholders, and more.

This survey was repeated this year to establish

whether any changes had occurred. Acquiring,

retaining and managing customers followed

profitability as the second most important

overall business priority, with almost one fifth

(17 per cent) of respondents nominating this as

their overall business priority. In this year’s

survey, we decided to investigate how our

marketers feel about CRM.

Close to one third (30 per cent) of marketers

stated that CRM is the most effective manner or

tool to reach customers or potential customers.

Once the appropriate technologies are in place,

it really is a very cost-effective way of customis-

ing messages to reach valuable customers.

Advertising lags slightly behind, with just over

two out of 10 respondents believing this to be

the most effective tool. When using CRM infor-

mation effectively, direct marketing and promo-

tions are likely to have a much greater return

than traditional advertising for a fraction of the

Our challenge is not to create messages from thedata we have available, but to identify customers’ needsand expectations first and then to collect the datarequired to speak their language effectively.

“”


cost. It is also more measurable than above-the-

line advertising. Getting your satisfied customers

to do your marketing for you is no doubt a great

way of reaching a broader audience. Hence

‘word of mouth’ ranks third in this toolbox.

When looking at who supposedly takes

ownership of CRM in each of the targeted

organisations, it would appear that almost half

(42 per cent) of respondents feel that it is the

responsibility of the marketing team to keep

conversations alive with customers. It is quite

comforting to see that this responsibility is not

seen to reside with the ‘techies’. Almost two

out of 10 respondents believe it is the responsi-

bility of each and every employee to manage

customer relations. The importance of CRM is

reflected in the fact that the responsibility lies

with the CEOs, directors or board members of

seven per cent of the targeted companies. It is

encouraging that three-quarters of those

responsible for marketing and brand strategies

also look after CRM initiatives, since we know

how important it is to have consistent and

integrated customer initiatives and messages.

On goes the mantra that retention is cheaper

than acquisition. This is clearly reflected by the

responses received when asked what the key

objective of CRM is. Relationship building and

customer acquisition rank second and third

respectively. However, it appears that CRM is

fulfilling the most basic of marketing functions

as opposed to really adding value to the cus-

tomer experience. In the increasing drive to be

completely customer centric, CRM is just the

most fabulous opportunity to enhance customer

experience by sending out individualised (or

close to) messages to those stakeholders we

value most. And let’s face it; as companies we

aim to do many things but ultimately we are all

in business to make profit. Why not use CRM to

its full potential?

Hopefully, the 31 per cent of respondents

who stated don’t know/not applicable have

mastered the art and don’t have any frustrations

with their CRM programmes (but it is doubtful).

Companies frequently perceive the customisation

and development of meaningful CRM strategies

from all the customer data available to be

complex, costly and disappointing. We asked

respondents what their key frustrations were

when implementing their CRM programmes.

Although there wasn’t a single issue that

overshadowed the rest, it would appear that

time, as always, is the key obstacle in our fast-

paced lives. This is followed by qualified and

motivated staff – and we all know that getting

all employees on board when embarking on

new journeys is critical, yet challenging. When

all is said and done, it is the employee delivering

a delightful customer experience that makes

customers hungry for more.

On the whole, consumers are increasingly

spoilt for choice, exposed to an abundance of

marketing messages from various channels and

as a result are becoming more and more

demanding. This does enrich the relationship we

have with our customers, but it also makes it

more complex. Too often we search our data-

base for usable information based on statistical

tools, neglecting to improve our ongoing rela-

tionship with our customers. I believe our chal-

lenge is not to create messages from the data

we have available, but to identify customers’

needs and expectations first and then to collect

the data required to speak their language effec-

tively. The integration of this information will

surely lead to a real return on investment, which

will hopefully be tangible and measurable. �

CRM

Susan Moerdyk

client relationship manager,Markinor(011) 686 [email protected]


As Klippies celebrates the airing of its latestTV advert, we chuckle yet again at the quirks

and delights of the stereotypical Afrikaner. The

Afrikaans market is vibrant, enjoys a positive

mindset, and the unique cultural nuances that

set it apart. But as English increasingly becomes

the lingua franca, the question of how this mar-

ket will evolve becomes more complex.

In terms of numbers, the Afrikaans market

has remained stable. As Lucille van Niekerk, edi-

tor of Beeld, points out, according to AMPS fig-

ures, the Afrikaans population figures haven’t

changed since 2001: it constitutes 15 per cent

of the total population. “UNISA BMR predicts

that the Afrikaans market in SA will remain sta-

ble for the next five years,” says Van Niekerk.

Certainly, the growing optimism of this mar-

ket and the culture-embracing attitude of the

youth, have something to do with that. The

only threat to the language is that 43 per cent

of Afrikaans children are receiving their educa-

tion in English, says Gavin Rheeder, marketing

manager, Beeld. “I’ll be very surprised if things

don’t change, but it’s too early to tell – there’s

no trend that really points to what will happen,”

he adds.

According to Radio Sonder Grense (RSG) mar-

keting manager, Louise Jooste, the Afrikaans

market represents a substantial part of the

economy, with approximately 25 per cent of the

purchasing power; most are LSM 7-10.

According to AMPS figures for 2006 and 2007,

58 per cent of white adults in SA are Afrikaans

or bilingual. Ninety-five per cent of coloured

people read and understand Afrikaans, com-

pared with 86 per cent of whites. Afrikaans is

the third most spoken language in SA (after

Zulu and Xhosa). Thirty nine per cent of LSM 8-

10 is Afrikaans speaking.

Speaking to this market in its language, not

surprisingly, achievers get the best results.

Jacaranda FM, for example, found that it

received the highest number of responses from

listeners during its weekend of Afrikaans-

themed programming. It received around 4 000

e-mails during that week compared with an

average of between 400 and 900 e-mails during

other themes. Also not surprising, is that this

market is comfortable using new media as it is

active online and responds well to email and

SMS campaigns. Simply translating ad copy

from English into Afrikaans might work for

some, but it’s risky. “On rare occasions it works;

in many instances it doesn’t as a lot of the true

essence of the message is just lost in translation.

Badly translated ads also stick out like a sore

thumb and convey nothing but disrespect for

the Afrikaans speaking consumer,” says Michelle

Van Breda, editor, Sarie.

Generally, audiences and circulations across

the Afrikaans media remain stable. Daily news-

papers, as a group, are faring well, but as

Rheeder explains, the growth is only coming

from the black publications, such as the Daily

Sun. The Afrikaans dailies are seeing no major

changes to their advertising mix or readership

figures, but this isn’t necessarily good news.

With the economic environment shrinking the

consumer’s buying power (as well as that of the

advertiser), newspapers will need to get creative

to keep both their readers and advertisers. “We

have not seen a major change in ad spend at

Beeld and I predict that while media owners

need to be smarter with their advertising solu-

tions, the industry will not put on the brakes…

Budgets may be smaller over the next year,

which will see more innovative solutions coming

to the fore; print and online might be offered as

a package deal,” says Van Niekerk.

Beeld’s website, Beeld.com, is drawing 230

000 unique users each month, and is among

the top 20 websites in SA; according to Nielsen

NetRatings figures (October 2007), the website

has more than 6.7 million page views a month.

“We struggled to break the 200 000 barrier,

until we started actively punting the website

with advertising. But I still feel that we’re only

scratching the surface,” says Rheeder. The web-

site is treated as a product on its own, rather

than as a sub-medium of the newspaper, and

this approach seems to be doing the trick. “In

fact, we found that readers have moved from

English news sites to ours. This tells us that they

are loyal and prefer being spoken to in their

own language,” says Rheeder. He finds that

advertising on the website is increasing (a dedi-

cated sales team has been appointed). Currently,

75 per cent of Beeld.com readers are younger

than 45 years of age – the average is 29 years

of age, while that of the newspaper is between

AFRIKAANS MEDIA by fulvia becatti

Afrikaners:the other white market

According to FutureFact 2007:� 64 per cent of schools use Afrikaans as their main medium of

instruction (especially in the Limpopo and Mpumalangaprovinces)

� 71 per cent of Afrikaans households communicate to their children in Afrikaans� Over 80 per cent of Afrikaans-speaking people still prefer receiving information in their

own language (be that newspapers, magazines, radio or TV)� Only 39 per cent of Afrikaners asked, said that English should be the official language,

but 53 per cent said they find themselves speaking more and more English.


40 and 44. Rheeder believes that over time, the

average age of users will increase, in keeping

with general Internet trends.

According to Van Niekerk, 88 per cent work

full-time and 74 per cent studied after school.

“Technology provides our readers with new

ways to connect with Beeld and become a part

of the news, and alters the way in which news

is consumed and is evolving,” she says. What’s

more, the website has allowed readers to create

a community of shared interests and experi-

ences; the Bride of the Year pages and the

matric dance photo pages impact the site traffic

substantially. “Beeld readers have a very loyal

connection with the brand and view it as their

staple news and information source. They

embrace technology and are early adopters.

And they want it all – print, online, videos and

mobile – they view these as complements, not

supplements,” says Van Niekerk.

The Beeld.mobi is a news WAP site, accessed

from a cellphone. “Mobizines are subscribed to,

and the user receives content when the content

owner sends it out. With Beeld.mobi, you

request or download news when it suits you

(push vs pull),” says Rheeder.

Weekend and weekly papers are fairly stable,

showing only slight declines over 2006 circula-

tion figures.

On the magazine front, niche titles are also

stable, with only a few hiccups around the

Media24 circulation scandal. Van Breda says

that Sarie readers were informed of the

discrepancies in circulation figures in an honest

and upfront manner. “On a more positive note,

our November issue turned out to be our thickest

ever, and to date our dealings with advertisers

and clients have been positive”. Sarie recently

launched Sarie Kos, the standalone cooking

companion, in response to reader needs and

preferences. “We always knew food was one of

Sarie’s strongest content pillars. Afrikaans speakers

love food and entertaining, and Sarie readers

specifically find Barbara Joubert’s approach to

food to be honest, easy and accessible,” says

Van Breda. She adds that Sarie Kos seems to

have hit the sweet spot; Sarie is intending on

publishing three or four issues in 2008.

Insig magazine closed down, and re-launched

as Boeke Insig in September 2007. According to

contacts at New Media Publishing, the Media24

head office made the decision to fold Insig

AFRIKAANS MEDIA

Afrikaans newspapers: Dailies (AMPS 2007 and ABC, Jul-Sep 2007)

Newspaper Ave HouseholdIncome

Readers percopy

Ave IssueReadership

AIR 2007 AIR 2006 AIR 2005 CirculationAve age

Beeld R14 308 44 4.7 1.6 1.3 1.3 105 231Die Volksblad R12 070 46 4.7 0.4 0.4 0.4 28 688Die Burger R11 331 42 4.9 1.5 1.6 1.8 87 562

The Pendoring Awards“The dream of Pendoring 2007 was that the whole value chain that embracesAfrikaans – from the advertiser to the advertising agency and, eventually, the con-sumer – should once again realise the power of Afrikaans,” says Lucille van Niekerk,Pendoring chair. More than 60 agencies, advertising schools, freelance writers andsmaller creative agencies entered a record number of over 400 pieces for this year’sawards. “We believe that in light of the record number of entries received, we havecome one step closer to realising the dream this year,” says Van Niekerk.she found that the radio entries were exceptional this year (2Buffels Advertisingwith Koloni/Nine November took home the Prestige Award for the campaign theydeveloped for Son newspaper). Also noteworthy, according to Van Niekerk, werethe Genuine South African and Tuisgebak/Home Grown categories. “Many entriescould boast sharp language usage, while the concept came second. Others again,had brilliant concepts, but were unable to stand on genuine Afrikaans legs,” says Van Niekerk. Student entries are still a mixed bag, she adds. “Students would be more successful if they were guided to complete their thinking process intheir work.”The People’s Choice Award went to Vodacom for the Boesman ad. “With this,Vodacom once again showed that it not only understands the Afrikaans market,but manages to speak to the heart and mind of the South African public as awhole – in any language,” says Van Niekerk.

Afrikaans newspapers: Weeklies and weekend (AMPS 2007 and ABC, Jul-Sep 2007)

Newspaper Ave HouseholdIncome

Readers per copy

AIR 2007 AIR 2006 AIR 2005 CirculationAve age

Naweek Beeld R13 730 42 4.3 1.2 0.9 0.8 85 276Rapport R11 428 42 5.2 5.3 5 5.1 301 692Die Burger (Sat) R10 035 40 6 2.1 2 2.1 101 040Die Volksblad (Sat) R9 106 40 8 0.4 0.4 0.4 24 425Die Son - - - 0.6 0.4 0.4 66 138Sondag - - - - - - 43 390

MarketingMix I Vol 25 No.11/12 I 2007 46

because of poor circulation figures, high adver-

tising costs, etc. However, the Boeke (book

reviews section) of Insig was very popular, so the

decision was made to re-launch the title with a

focus on books.

The dual language titles are enjoying stable

circulation figures, and are attracting the right

advertising (and the right readerships) as a

result. While the circulation of Zoo Weekliks is

officially linked to that of sibling Zoo Weekly,

UCM CEO Louis Eksteen estimates the Afrikaans

title has a circulation of between 10 000 and

11 000 copies a week compared with 20 000

copies for the English title. “From the new

AMPS 2007 figures we can see that Zoo’s

Afrikaans or bilingual readership is 36 per cent,

while English or other European readership is

32 per cent,” says Eksteen.

As AMPS and other research stats improve, so

the publishers are seeing growth in ad sales.

However, UCM welcomes any advertising that

matches the high LSM demographics of its read-

ers, rather than distinguishing between English

and Afrikaans environments. “The advertising

market is very sophisticated when it comes to

targeting specific groups and this is true for

Afrikaans speakers as well,” says Eksteen.

The Afrikaans radio stations are not seeing

much change, except for Radiokansel/Radio

Pulpit, which has seen a decrease in its listener-

ship (both in terms of Past 7 Day and Average

Monday to Friday listenership). “If one looks at

the November RAMS, all listeners in all language

groups showed a decrease, but Afrikaans listeners

show a proportional increase since the begin-

ning of 2007,” says Surisa Nel, communications

manager, Radiokansel/ Radio Pulpit. “Since

Radio Pulpit’s contract with Radio 2000 expired

AFRIKAANS MEDIA

Radio: (AMPS 2007 and SAARF RAMS, Nov 2007) Station Ave HHI Ave Age Ave Mon- Fri Past 7 Day

Nov ‘06 Nov ‘07 Nov ‘06 Nov ‘07Jacaranda 94.2 FM R8 598 34 2 483 000 2 877 000 1 297 000 2549 000OFM 94.97 FM R9 032 37 578 000 524 000 377 000 524 000Radiokansel/Radio Pulpit R8 755 47 482 000 200 000 242 000 200 000RSG R9 658 48 1 880 000 1 887 000 1 235 000 1887 000

Magazines (AMPS 2007 and ABC, Jul-Sep 2007)

Magazine AveHHI

Aveage

Readers percopy

Average Issue Readership 2007 2006 2005

ABC Jul-Sep 2007

Wiel R16 658 40 5.7 0.3 0.4 0.4 Rebranded 15 454Landbouweekblad R12 974 43 5.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 42 495 43 177Loslyf R9 337 36 - 0.3 0.3 0.3 - -Stywe Lyne R15 033 41 4.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 34 919 33 626Rooi Rose R11 174 41 6.7 2.3 2.3 2.3 95 769 108 245Sarie R11 781 41 - 2.4 2.4 2.5 Suspended SuspendedInsig R13 687 45 5 0.3 0.3 0.2 11 713 DiscontinuedHuisgenoot R10 543 40 6 6.6 6.8 6.7 343 031 328 939Vrouekeur R11 571 45 5.1 1.5 1.6 1.6 88 464 83 015Skottel R17 556 41 - 2.5 1.2 1.8 1 374 746 1 634 502De Kat R15 505 43 - 0.3 0.3 0.2 - -Baba & Kleuter R11 327 34 5.7 0.5 0.4 0.4 25 033 24 305Tuin Paleis R16 847 44 4.2 0.5 0.4 0.3 36 450 30 177Idees R13 482 43 - 1.4 2 2.1 141 000 116 787Tuis R15 794 41 - 0.5 0.4 - 79 636 81 187Visi R16 403 40 - 0.2 0.2 - Discontinued DiscontinuedLeef R14 141 43 2.7 - - - Suspended SuspendedWeg R18 960 43 2.1 - - - 113 278 106 988Mense - - - - - 20 585 15 829Zoo Weekliks - - - - - - New 30 127Wegbreek - - - - - - 30 072 25 385Sondag - - - - - - New member 43 390


last year December, we have only been able to

broadcast on our AM footprint, which reaches

the greater Gauteng. We have been expecting

this drop in our listener figures for some time,”

says Nel. The station is waiting to hear the out-

come of its licence application.

The station’s website, meanwhile, appears to

be doing well, with over one million hits to the

site per month, and 13 210 unique users per

month. “Radio Pulpit is at the forefront of new

technological innovation and has recently

launched Spodtronic, software that enables the

listener to receive radio via a cellphone. We have

had good response from listeners all over the

world,” says Nel.

Meanwhile, RSG is seeing growth in listenership

(especially Past 7 Day). “As the only national

Afrikaans radio station, RSG is committed to

empowering people through programme offer-

ings that inform, educate and entertain people

who speak and understand Afrikaans,” says

Jooste. She says that part of the station’s success

is its focus on the right personalities. “Amore

Bekker, presenter of the drive-time slot, Tjailtyd, is

a good example of this,” says Jooste. She adds

that there seems to be a progressive aspect

around Afrikaans music and the political baggage

of the past is no longer an obstacle.

Jacaranda is also seeing growth in listener-

ship, which it attributes to its audience research

plans, which have enabled it to grow its audi-

ences in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the North

West. Listener events have also gone a long way

to creating positive relations with listeners.

According to Lulu Ndevu, marketing manager of

Jacaranda, Afrikaans listeners expect their radio

stations to get involved in CSI projects.

“In fact, Jacaranda’s listeners – no matter

what language they speak – are constantly

looking for ways to assist the underprivileged

and needy in their communities,” says Ndevu.

Its Winter Warmer campaign raised over

R3 million worth of new blankets this year,

for example.

Overall, the Afrikaans media landscape looks

vibrant and positive, reflecting the population

that it serves. Marketers can look forward to

more niched or targeted offerings and, in the

meantime, should brush up on their Afrikaans.

“Afrikaans speakers might use and accept English

in the workplace with ease, but Afrikaans will

remain the language of their hearts… We have

more Afrikaans magazines than ever before sim-

ply because this remains they language they are

truly inspired by. I cannot see this changing in

the future,” says Van Breda. �

AFRIKAANS MEDIA

Markinor/Sunday Times Top Brands Results 2007This survey measures brand relationship scores (that is spontaneous awareness of the brand, plus trust and confidence in it as well ascustomer commitment).In the Business-to-Consumer categories, the media scored as follows:Magazines:� Huisgenoot ranked fourth, with a score of 6.7 per cent (up from 5.9 per cent in 2006)� Sarie ranked ninth, with a score of two per cent. Daily newspapers:� Die Burger is in eighth place, with a score of 4.1 per cent (up from 3.2 per cent in 2006)� Beeld sits in 10th, with a score of three per cent.Weekly newspapers:� Rapport is in fourth position, with a score of seven per cent (up from five per cent in 2006)� Die Burger Saterdag has a score of 0.9 per cent, and is in ninth place.Radio:� RSG sits in sixth position, with a score of four per cent (up from 2.8 per cent in 2006)� Radio Jacaranda is now in eighth position, with a score of three per cent (up from tenth position, and a 2 per cent scorein 2006).Newspapers:� Beeld has dropped from third position (a score of 5.8 per cent) in 2006, to fifth position, and a score of five per cent this year;� Rapport’s score has remained stable at four per cent, although it has climbed to sixth position (from seventh in 2006);� Die Burger now finds itself in eighth position, with a score of three per cent.

According to the TNS Research Surveys Wildfire Spectrum and Wildfire Index, Afrikaans speakers are igniters. Compared with the totalpopulation in metro areas, a greater proportion of Afrikaans speakers are igniters. Comparing white Afrikaans speakers to coloured Afrikaansspeakers, the study finds that the former has a higher proportion of igniters. Meanwhile, the latter has a higher proportion of damp squibsand burnt outs.

Afrikaans igniters:

Best of point of saleBest of point of sale

MARKETING AT-RETAIL

Dick Blatt, president and CEO of POPAIWorldwide says marketing is in chaos with a

new model yet to be finalised. With respect to

point of sale, Blatt states the four Ps are no

longer relevant, in their place are the four Rs:

Relevance, Relationship, Responsiveness and

Repetition.

Blatt also points out that POS has many

names – POS, POP, in-store marketing, BTL, Out

of House, etc – and that without consistency, it

is very difficult for the industry to move forward.

Therefore, POPAI uses the term ‘Marketing-at-

Retail’ (MAR).

Why MAR?

� MAR is integrated into the marketing plan

from the beginning

� MAR creates an experience for the shopper

where the buying decision is being made

� MAR reinforces the overall marketing cam-

paign where the shopper is looking for brand

information

� MAR reinforces a brand message where 70

per cent of the purchase decisions are being

made

� As traditional media audiences fade MAR

provides better value for marketing dollars

� The industry throughout the world has

embraced the new term Marketing-at-Retail

as a result of these changes.

Blatt says that MAR helps to define the entire

retail store as an advertising medium and when

integrated into the total marketing mix, creates

a shopper experience from the outside and

POPAI SA POPAI SA may be in the developmental stages,but reports of its progress are positive.According to Yatish Mehtah, co-chairman of thePOPAI SA board, the permanent board of direc-tors will be formalized once full membership(25 members) has been achieved. “We are alsolooking for an executive director, whose jobprofile will include: furthering the membershipdrive, getting involved in various conferencesand RAD initiatives, as well as discussing issuesof communication between the various globalchapters of POPAI,” he says. Board members sofar include: Sean Leas (Smollan Group), MikeBosman (One Digital Media), Terry Murphy(Systems Publishers), Nnaniki Malesa (PrimediaInstore), Lucien d’Avice (Barrows), and RayAbraham (Massmart).

Mehtah and co-chairman Lucien d’Avice willbe traveling to Disseldorf for the Euroshop con-ference (the largest Point of Purchase show inthe world), where they will attend the POPAIGlobal Leadership conference as representativesof POPAI SA.

For more information, contact Terry Murphy(011) 234 7008, [email protected].


throughout the store. MAR advertising can also

be presented in context with other products or

services to create a retail experience.

To put MAR into context, there are a number

of trends that can be applied.

ConsolidationMany brands are starting to consolidate their

MAR function and responsibility under one

department for the first time. This is a huge

trend and change for the medium. Historically,

no matter what retail department you dealt

with, there was little consistency regarding how

the medium was put into effect or handled.

SustainabilitySustainability and environmentally sound prac-

tices are a large focus in the industry right now.

Wal-Mart has been talking about sustainability

and when it speaks most companies pay atten-

tion, and with good reason. Being green is an

important trend because it changes the busi-

ness. Where this will go, no one knows yet.

ManufacturingManufacturing in China to decrease costs is a

continuing trend. The reality is the past decade

in the corporate world has been one of cost

cutting and China offers a way to do this.

However, it doesn’t mean that all manufactur-

ing will now move to China.

Demand for mediumThere is growing demand for the medium as

money moves away from TV advertising. In the

US, the cost of TV advertisements has tripled

and dollars are moving out of the medium.

Whatever the new marketing model ends up

being, MAR should be included in the mix – it’s

where the shopper is touched. If we are going

to see money migrating to MAR, we have to

have metrics in place. The challenge for MAR to

keep increasing the dollars in the medium is to

provide metrics.

FulfilmentRetail and brands are seeking additional spe-

cialised services such as fulfilment. In the US,

many in the supply side have gotten involved in

the control of distribution, execution, etc.

Multinational companiesMultinational retailers continue to cross interna-

tional borders to expand, leading to consolida-

tion. There are four or five companies of any

consequence in terms of size.

Digital signageDigital signage is receiving a great deal of atten-

tion as a new in-store medium. The application

of technology for MAR is a continuing trend

and an opportunity to sharpen the message at

an individual or individual store level.

Technology is moving fast and there are so

many applications that digital can be applied to.

The good news is that now there are no rules in

SA. Digital will continue to have an impact if it

is measured.

Channel cannibalisationAfter Wal-Mart successfully entered the food

business, supermarkets undertook changes in

how they appealed to shoppers to protect their

channel of retail. A good example of cannibalisa-

tion in the US is the purchase of milk – tradition-

ally bought from a convenience store; milk is now

one of the top-selling products in pharmacies.

Store sizeTesco recently entered the US market with its

convenience size smaller store and most major

retailers are looking at how it’s doing. Tesco

offers a different shopper model – where Wal-

Mart has been successful in mastering inventory

and offering the lowest price to shoppers –

Tesco chose to focus on which products

shoppers are price-sensitive to, and those they

aren’t. For Tesco, it’s highly successful and is

allowing it to move across the globe. This is a

brave new world for the MAR medium. People

are starting to experiment in much larger ways

than ever before.

Various research studies are underway to fix

the issue of measurement and metrics in the

medium. There is research being conducted

through innovations such as the IC Scan in the

US. Shoppers on a main shopping trip were

recruited to wear IC Scan specs during their

store visits. The specs are equipped with a

special micro-colour camera that provides a

view of the shopper as they walk through the

store. Fifty shoppers per store were recruited

and the analyses includes where shoppers go,

what categories they visit, what in-store media

they pass and what in-store media comes into

their vision. “There is so much that needs to be

measured and we need to prioritise what needs

to be measured,” says Blatt. Other research

being carried out includes the hot and cold

zones for traffic patterns, where the store or

product layout is weak and where the MAR is

not being effective. For example, Blatt men-

tioned that there is often no MAR on the way

to the toilet at a convenience store – what a

missed opportunity!

PRISM ProjectThe Nielsen Company, In-Store MarketingInstitute and the PRISM Consortium collabo-rated on the PRISM Project: PioneeringResearch for an In-Store Metric and somepreliminary results have been released as ateaser. The trial ends at the end of the yearwith the full results available in 2008. Aninternational pilot in Europe is also expectednext year.

Some of the findings so far include: � Heavy traffic doesn’t necessarily translate

into sales� Category transactions alone are not a reli-

able indicator of traffic� Two thirds of those visiting the salty

snacks aisles make a purchase � Shoppers put more in their basket when

shopping with kids but don’t necessarilyput in more kiddie treats, although sea-sonal items are more likely to be pur-chased.

MARKETING AT-RETAIL

Cannibalisation in the US is the purchase of milk –traditionally bought from a convenience store; milk isnow one of the top-selling products in pharmacies.“

”


MARKETING AT-RETAIL

Nielsen recently undertook research into the South African shop-per and came up with some interesting facts.

Grassroots consumerShopper stats� low shopping frequency � 2.6 visits per month� 34 packs per household� 13 packs per occasionShopping venue� majority spent in independent grocers or non majors� 26 per cent spent in major retailer in last quarterBasket composition� 3 per cent spent on private label brands

Established consumerShopping stats� high shopping frequency� 6.5 visits per month� 100 packs per household� 15 packs per occasionShopping venue� majority in major retailers (77 per cent of spend)� 15 per cent in branded convenience outlets� 90 per cent shopped in a major retailer in the last quarterBasket composition� 8 per cent spent on own brands

Shopping style� 70 per cent of shoppers are rational, efficient and know what

they want to buy� 9 per cent take time to browse all parts of the store� 39 per cent know parts of the store that have the items they want� 32 per cent know what they want and ‘go and get’ it� 21 per cent go up and down aisles, picking up items when they

see them

Consumer basket profiles� LSM 1-3 over one-third of basket is staple starches and

food/LSM 9-10: 5.8 per cent� LSM 7-8 dry perishables, excluding staples: 15.2 per cent (highest)� LSM 9-10 perishables, including cheese: 18.2 per cent / LSM

1-3: 11.9 per cent� LSM 9-10 beverages: 19.9 per cent / LSM 1-3 10.5 per cent

In-store activity Average of 25-30 per cent of volume is sold on promotion.% of volume on promotion year-ended July 2007� Children: 54 per cent � Mayo: 38 per cent� Margarine: 36 per cent� Coffee: 33 per cent� Fabric conditioner: 33 per cent� Tea: 30 per cent

Do shoppers plan their shopping trip?� 41 per cent usually plan but always buy additional items� 30 per cent usually plan but sometimes buy additional items� 10 per cent usually plan and never buy additional items� 20 per cent never plan – these are the consumers that are

receptive to new messages and products

What shoppers look for in their store� Pricing and VFM: 12 per cent� Store accessibility: 12 per cent� Large storewide selection: 11 per cent� Efficiency and loyalty: 10 per cent� Quality products: 9 per cent

Drivers behind decision – shopper modes� Auto-pilot categories: shoppers in grab ’n go mode are particu-

lar about their brands and are habitual purchasers: coffee,mayo, cheese, cold-pressed meats

� Buzz-activated categories: shoppers are open to buzz andengaging activities. Categories such as beverages and confec-tionary are driven through excitement pre- and in-store

� Variety-activated categories: shoppers seek new tastes andformats. Consumers browse. Packaging is a key communicationtool at POP. Biscuits, yoghurt and ready-to-eat cereal

� Bargain-activated categories: price comparisons and promosdominate choice rules. Don’t over promote when it is notnecessary. Direct promo into the right type of promo.

Source: The Nielsen Company 2007

The South African shopper

EXPERT OPINION by craig cesman


Has traditional advertising lost the plot?Some marketers are forgetting that the way to

win consumers’ minds is to make them happy

rather than irritating them so much they’ll never

forget you.

There’s got to be something wrong with an

advertising model that is premised on interrup-

tion. You’re watching your favourite movie and

are deeply embroiled in the story, the drama

and a pivotal point is about to unfold when…

WHAM! There’s an ad for bog rolls or feminine

hygiene products or the miracle of modern hair

shampoos that promise to give you unbelievably

airbrushed hair. The interruption model is so

dysfunctional that traditional advertisers factor

reach and penetration as part of their strategies,

which means you have to see the same adver-

tisement at least 100 times before it weaves

itself into your psychological subtexts. Don’t

think I’m not a marketer, I am, and I appreciate

that the real battle in extraordinarily competitive

markets is for the hearts and minds of con-

sumers. But just how is that battle going to be

won? By irritating consumers? Repetitive

advertising is premised on enjoyment, that you

love the advert so much that you want to see it

again and again and again and again. But let’s

be frank here, while I appreciate that SA has

a vibrant and highly creative advertising

community that wins global awards, in the face

off between clients and creativity just how much

of that brilliance is converted into audience

enjoyment?

For the most part, we are talking fairly

mediocre advertising that’s repeated ad

nauseam. Quite frankly, that’s not how you’re

going to get me to love your brand. While I

appreciate that traditional advertising has its

place and purpose, what pioneering brands are

beginning to understand is the power of what I

call ‘original purpose’. Why are you in business?

If you’re dealing with customers the only

answer can be that you’re in business to make

your customers happy. The compelling truth of

any brand’s success needs to live or die in its

ability to serve its customers.

Let me give you an example. Starbucks.

Anyone who’s ever been overseas has walked

into a Starbucks because it is an experiential

brand hero. Even if you’ve never been abroad

you’ve at least heard about Howard Schultz and

the gourmet coffee experience. Now Schultz is

not just selling overpriced coffee available in

every conceivable permutation, with wings.

There’s something else that the man has

understood alongside differentiating and

marketing his brand effectively.

Schultz knows that he’s not selling coffee,

he’s selling ‘indulgence and escape’ in a cup.

This is where it becomes interesting, because

currently in the US there’s a business battle

royal between Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks.

And what makes it really interesting is that

Starbucks isn’t even fighting back. Simply

because people don’t go to Starbucks for the

coffee, they’re buying the experience. And

what this means to Starbucks is now it’s not

only selling coffee but music and movies, and

can extend that to whatever its heart desires

that fits in its brand and business strategies.

Back home, some forward thinking brand

leaders are recreating their leisure and retail

environments into havens of customer

enjoyment. Remember the old days of in-store

interruption when your shopping experience

was destroyed by irritating announcements,

humming fridges and whiny loudhailer-like price

specials? Or going to your favourite upmarket

Italian restaurant and listening to techno? What

smart marketers understand is that the right

music and an unparalleled customer experience

can influence customer behaviour for the better.

By delivering the right music backed by

experience and a research-driven methodology

marketers can now create an atmosphere where

customers want to spend more time in their

establishments and will spend more money.

Smart brands appreciate and understand the

relationship between music, marketing and

experience. This turns an ordinary customer

encounter into a memorable event that

promotes the brand while delivering consumer

delight. Leading leisure and retail marketers

know that shopping, eating in a restaurant or

booking into a hotel is a sensory experience and

that research confirms a direct link between an

atmosphere and its financial performance. Like

the recent study conducted by Leo J. Shapiro

and Associates which shows that shoppers

respond to atmospheric elements both

consciously and unconsciously. This study gives

evidence of the extent of the connection

between ‘store atmospherics’ and the store’s

performance, in other words, when the ‘right’

music is played in stores it has a positive impact

on sales.

The bottom line is that if the bottom line is

important to you then you want to preserve

customer loyalty and keep customers happy.

Simple really – stop irritating them and create

the perfect brand experience that becomes their

home away from home. �

Craig Cesman

chief executive, DMX Music(011) 780 [email protected]

Interruption versus enjoyment

The bottom line isthat if the bottom line isimportant to you then youwant to preserve customerloyalty and keep customershappy.

“

”


New players ICASA has licensed five new entrants to the

subscription broadcasting market: Walking on

Water, Telkom Media, e-SAT, On Digital Media

and MultiChoice Africa. On the eve of ICASA

making this announcement Sentech, in

association with the SABC, withdrew its

application. But this is not the last we will hear

from the SABC in the pay-TV arena as all

subscription broadcasting services are statutorily

obliged to carry the public service programming

of the SABC.

ICASA recently announced its intention to

make regulations under s60(3) of the

Electronic Communications Act (ECA) regarding

the extent to which subscription broadcasting

services must carry, subject to commercially

negotiable terms, television programming from

the SABC. All subscription broadcasting

services are obliged, under the ECA, to carry

the public service channels of the SABC. The

SABC in turn has a reciprocal obligation to

offer its public service channels to all subscription

broadcasting services.

Core objectives of must-carryrulesA key imperative of must-carry rules is universal

accessibility. These rules are designed to ensure

that public service channels are available to as

many people as possible, thereby assisting the

SABC to meet its universal coverage obligations.

Carriage of public service channels by subscription

broadcasting services also gives the SABC

100 per cent coverage of the country thus

extending its audience reach to areas of no or

poor coverage.

Obligation to payThe issue of must carry has caused disquiet

among the new pay-TV operators as the SABC

has called on ICASA to impose a general rule

requiring them to pay for the content they carry.

Pay-TV operators, including MultiChoice, which

currently carries SABC 1, 2 and 3 on its DStv

bouquet, have strongly opposed SABC’s ‘must-

pay’ proposal. They contend that in view of the

benefits that the SABC will derive from the

compulsory carriage of its content, they should

not be required to pay for content.

Pay-TV operators argue that any payment

they are required to make to the SABC for

content will adversely impact on the consumer

in terms of increased subscription fees.

Internationally, public broadcasting services

are paid by pay-TV operators for carriage.

Implicit in this approach is the twofold

recognition that the costs of carriage for the

subscription broadcasting services is consider-

able in terms of investment in transmission

equipment, uplinking facilities and ongoing

costs; and if any obligation in respect of

remuneration is to be imposed, that obligation

should be at the cost of the public broadcaster

whose public service programming is required

to be made accessible to the public.

Scope of ICASA’s powersThe ECA makes the must-pay obligation of

subscription broadcasting services subject to

negotiably agreed terms. This, notwithstanding,

ICASA has proposed the imposition of a pric-

ing framework or tariffs to level the playing

field among affected operators.

On a proper reading of the must-carry rule

in the ECA, ICASA’s powers only extend to

determining the extent of the public service

programming that would qualify as must carry

by a pay-TV operator. ICASA, correctly so, does

not have the power to determine the ’price‘as

this would be for the parties to decide. One

wonders what would happen if the SABC and

the pay-TV operator are unable to reach agree-

ment on ’price‘? What role, if any, can ICASA

play in forcing the parties to reach agreement?

These questions are among the many that

would need to be considered by ICASA when

drafting the must-carry regulations. �

Fayeeza Kathryn-Setiloane

Director, Werksmans Media andCommunications (Pty) Ltd(011) 535 [email protected]

To carry or not to carry

by fayeeza kathree-setiloane / omesha moodley LAW MIX

Omesha Moodley

Associate, Werksmans Attorneys(011) 535 [email protected]

marketing mix magazine nov dec 2007

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