The changing nature of consumers?
October 30, 2009 at 8:48 am | Posted in Advertising News | Leave a commentTags: changing nature of consumers, Draftfcb, future of communication, Michael Fassnacht, personality, TV advertising
On 28 October, I had the opportunity to join Draftfcb Worldwide’s Global Chief Strategy Officer, Michael Fassnacht, for lunch and a brief presentation on the Future of Communications, and how agencies need to adapt and learn from the changing nature of the media. Fassnacht was in South Africa to update the local Draftfcb team on global initiatives.
Beginning the talk, Fassnacht mentioned that he feels a strong need to move from transactional to relational advertising. He went on to discuss what he sees as seven key views for advertising communication of the future. These include the fact that while TV remains a strong advertising force, the means of advertising on TV are changing – now TV advertising is littered with website addresses and short codes to be SMSed for more information.
Another key point is that marketers need to react to the fact that each person is comprised of multiple individual personality types and roles – be it father; worker; dad; athlete – and each micro-segment can be individually targeted in advertising. This is increasingly becoming the case.
What’s your opinion on the changing nature of consumers, and advertising as a result? Post your comments below.
Black diamonds and the long tail
October 23, 2009 at 9:27 am | Posted in Advertising News | Leave a commentTags: black diamonds, long-tail marketing
Black diamonds are classified as the emerging, wealthy black middle-class South Africans. Long tail marketing is targeting groups with marketing or advertising campaigns ‘on the outside of the mainstream’. If black diamonds are the emerging South African mainstream, what about the rest? Those unemployed or struggling financially? Long-tail marketing says that this market is very lucrative and the way to approach it is through a trickle down effect. Instead of offering products in bulk to this segment, offer individual products, as the market is more likely to be able to afford it. Additionally, commuter transportation such as trains, buses and taxis are an important way to reach this segment and should be utilized, but currently isn’t. Isn’t it time to take a real look at South Africa and use the opportunities available, rather than simply praising ourselves for being a country that has them.
Making space for the ‘black diamonds’ to shine through
October 22, 2009 at 10:10 am | Posted in Marketing News | Leave a commentThe term ‘black diamond’ has emerged fairly recently and refers to the new, emerging black middle class, full of confidence; well educated; perceived as relatively affluent individuals who are driven to succeed and achieve their goals.
Commentary around this term however, has tended to be negative, with a number of social commentators indicating that further labeling is simply not going to help anything. What these commentators forget is that segmenting is a typical practice followed by all marketers, and the emergence of the term was not intended as ‘another label’ or to be perceived in a derogatory manner.
Despite misconceptions, it cannot be denied that this market segment is on the rise. What is challenging, though, is that little research exists about what the market wants. A number of studies are increasingly focusing on this market, and have segmented it into further parts, by age group, value, key drivers, and employment status, besides others. This is important as television advertisers will soon need to start broadcasting adverts to this growing market; suppliers may need to re-evaluate strategies and offerings; and there is a real need to find out what actually appeals to the market.
Various studies have been done and while there are some overlaps of research findings, one controversial aspect which I came across, was where some research pointed to individuals enjoying the label ‘black diamond’ while others did not.
How important is such a label to a marketing strategy? What has your approach been? Let us know by posting your comments below.
Marketing through music
October 15, 2009 at 9:24 am | Posted in Marketing News | Leave a commentTags: iTunes, music, Zune
In last week’s Editorial Desk, I focused on the Nokia Music Store, MTN Xploaded and the Google Library Project – which are all online platforms that offer music; TV shows; and books. This week, I’d like to take the discussion further and focus on what these platforms themselves offer advertisers and marketers.
In August, I attended the second McCann Insight Exchange, which identified in-game advertising as one of the fastest growing, although unorthodox, methods of advertising. But what online music stores?
Both iTunes and Zune are competing against one another in the field of providing music. What they also do, is offer space for advertisers to increase the visibility of their products. After doing a quick search, what I found was that although many articles on Google indicate a variety of ‘Zune and marketing’ options, when clicking through, these appear to be comments from users talking about what Zune will be doing.
When doing a search on ‘iTunes and marketing’ the first site that appeared was the iTunes site for marketing, listing a variety of tools already offered to marketers to use on iTunes – which reaches millions of users.
There is a difference in strategy it appears, and it may be good to take note of the following: perhaps it’s not a bad idea to start looking into the more unconventional advertising methods; and, that it is a good idea to be very clear on what you do offer, and not make it a search for a needle in a haystack procedure for possible clients, who would like to see how your platform could help them.
What do you think about unorthodox advertising? What are some of the more unconventional tools that you can think of? And how much do you value the importance of a clear message? Leave your opinions on these and other questions below. We enjoy receiving your comments!
A glimpse at the success of South African advertising
October 2, 2009 at 8:36 am | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: Festus Masekwameng, Loerie Awards, Mike Barnwell, Pendoring Advertising Awards, South African advertising industry
The South African advertising industry has been in the spotlight in the past few weeks with both the Pendoring Advertising Awards and the Loeries Awards taking place. We have an extremely high standard of creative work in the country, as is evident from the winners of these awards and from the type of ads we see on our TV screens; hear on the radio; and see in print. Our creative work is also often compared to an international standard, winning international awards, and with many commentators saying that our advertising is far superior to its international counterpart.
So what are some of the reasons for this impressive creative standard? Festus Masekwameng, Chairman of the Loerie Awards, feels that there is a commitment in the industry to maintain high standards, while South African advertising awards also reward outstanding work from student level, meaning that students are encouraged to produce their best work from early in their careers, and it will only get better with the type of prizes they receive – for example, bursaries and overseas study trips handed out at thePendorings for their Student Awards.
South African creatives also understand what appeals to their audiences, and what they need to do to be successful in their campaigns. As a result, they create impressive adverts that capture the spirit of South African citizens and portray aspects of life that they can relate to and which are topical.
Mike Barnwell, Executive Creative Director of Grey South Africa, who has been chosen as a judge at several international advertising awards, feels that South African ads can stand up to any of their international counterparts, and the South African creative industry has earned its place at any international awards show.
What is your opinion of South African advertising, and how does it compare to its international counterpart? We would love to hear your comments!
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You’ve got the attention-grabbing ad – but will people contact you?
October 12, 2009 at 10:45 am | Posted in Ad commentary | Leave a commentTags: ad, attention-grabbing, cell phone number, email address, outdoor advertising, website address
To my surprise, the sign gave an email address – something simple, like ben@company.co.za. This is definitely easier for me to remember than a complicated cell phone number. I can’t tell you how many times I have tried to recall a number from ‘property for sale’ signs, only to forget part (if not all) of the number before I have a chance to jot it down.
Short, snappy email addresses are definitely easier to remember – maybe it’s time to rethink the details left on outdoor advertising? Perhaps the answer is to give your company’s web address, as people can then visit the ‘contact us’ page to send an email or make the call!
What do you think?