Author: Mark

Tsholofelo Mmusi, Junior Media Planner at The MediaShop

We often think of self-care as that well-deserved two-week holiday once a year or perhaps twice a year if you’re lucky. We often live for the ‘next holiday’ or ‘hold on for leave’ without realising that we need to rest regularly, because our minds and bodies do not postpone stress that is built up from our daily lives. The mind cannot wait for a two-week holiday that is six months away! And with the new setup of working from home (which has blurred the lines between work and home time), self-care is an essential – now more than ever!

Over the past few months, self-care or self-love Sundays (#SelfcareSunday) has been trending on social media, with different personal care brands leveraging on the hashtag by having social media influencers use their products to pamper themselves and show the brand as purposeful, in aid of personal wellbeing.

One particular partnership that worked well is @artofsuperwoman and MSLONDON Cosmetics, where different products were featured on Instagram with a short write up of each and an option to purchase the product right from the post. While there is great potential for various brands to use #SelfcareSundays to drive awareness and trial use by audiences, #SelfcareSundays has proven that it’s not just what a product can do, but rather what emotional experience it brings to an individual.

There are many other brands that can leverage from the hashtag, as people do different things to unwind and feel good about themselves. Other brands or products that could showcase under the hashtag are:

Musicians – Artists can push their music as a tool for relaxation and dancing which is a great form of self-care.

Hiking trails – Some people prefer to being outdoors in order to feel calm and peaceful, so this is a great opportunity for the likes of Hennops Hiking Trail and others to be showcased as self-care tools, of course within compliance of the current COVID-19 restrictions.

Authors- “Reading gives us some place to go, when we have to stay where we are” according to Mason Coley. A good book is sometimes all that one needs to escape in a healthy way.

The lockdown has exposed us to a new normal, and with the number of COVID-19 positive cases increasing on a daily basis, we are certainly all affected even if we’re not infected. We need to take care of our minds and our bodies right now. The lockdown has also given us new roles – I personally have become a trusted cook and a baker, (please don’t ask me what I ate before this lol). Others have become cleaners, teachers, and even principals in their own right.

In an industry that is nothing short of pressurised, I realised the importance of being intentional about taking time to care for myself and do what I love; giving my mind and body the rest it needs. We all know that you cannot give from an empty vessel. We need to refill and refuel in order to be able to give ourselves and our creativity to the world again.

With more people realising the importance of being intentional about taking time to take care of themselves and do what they love, more brands are finding ways to sell not just the product, but their brand’s emotional attachment and experience too.

Sundays are the perfect days to self-care as it allows us to wrap up a week and start the new week on a fresh clean slate.

 Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you: Anne Lamott

Jedd Cokayne, Business Unit Director at The MediaShop

Jedd Cokayne says not all brands are created equal and that a distinctive brand will be the most successful during 2020.

As we move into the latter part of the year, we reflect more and more on the events that have taken place that determine how we live our lives, do business, how we conduct ourselves when leaving the house and consider safety procedures we have to follow in order to stay safe and healthy. The virtual watercooler chat is all about social distancing, sanitising, modulated education and the main topic of course is what the remainder of 2020 will look like. For me, the biggest changes are around the inability to interact with my friends and family, work colleagues and clients and not having the opportunity to go to the bush. Cabin Fever is truly setting in.

While I ponder over when I will ever get to the bush again and the fond memories I have of my travels, I think of one of the most iconic silhouettes on the African landscape – the Baobab tree, also known as the Tabaldi, Bottle tree, Upside Down Tree or the Monkey Bread Tree. The Baobab can grow up to heights of 20m and carbon dating indicates that it may live to be a staggering 3000 years old.

With an entire ecosystem within it from birds nesting in the branches to baboons devouring the fruits, Bush Babies drinking the nectar from the flowers and elephants eating the bark, this is one of the most distinctive trees in Africa easily recognisable by travellers around the world.

This distinctiveness leads me to the content of this article and the upward battle all brands are facing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. We have read so much about marketing in a recession, how brands are reacting to new consumer behaviours and potentially what the new norm is, but what many brands are forgetting is the one thing that makes them stand head and shoulders above their competitors – that which creates their distinctiveness and potentially further develops brand loyalty.

All brands like to think they are unlike any other, but that’s usually not the case. What does make a brand unique are its distinctive brand assets. These act as an invaluable shorthand for a brand, it’s a cue for consumers to bring all their previous experiences and associated meaning of a brand to the fore and influence that purchase decision.

Now more than ever, distinctiveness is key to helping a brand stay afloat in very tough economic conditions. We forget how important various brand assets are in keeping the brand alive in the eyes of the consumer whether it is a name, a slogan, unique value proposition, visual characteristic or a logo, all of these things make a brand unique.

But how do we determine what a brand asset actually is from the various brand elements within a company? Each brand element needs to be unique, authentically associated and well known to consumers while representing the brand. Assets seek to reinforce the brand’s core values and convey the benefits it promises to deliver.

While brands are trying to develop new ways of working because of the pandemic, this is an ideal time for them to consolidate and identify those distinctive assets that will not only help them survive the current situation but also reinforce it and become competitive again in the future.

1. Ruthlessly audit your existing brand elements or what you perceive to be distinctive. Remember to include historical icons etc that may still ring true for the brand.
2. Your consumers are a great gauge of what is distinct about your brand, get feedback from them and collect data that can help in the future.
3. The faster people make the association between individual brand assets and a brand, the more likely your market share will grow and not just your category awareness.

The below table is from the Ehrenberg Bass Institute (EBI) for Marketing Science and a great way of assessing brand assets and determining if they are worthy of highlighting or casting aside.

Once those brand assets have been identified and developed, leverage them and reap the rewards.

1. Use them consistently across all marketing campaigns, channels and touchpoints available.
2. Evaluate them often and rely on real feedback from your target market.
3. Keep an eye on competitors and ensure you are agile. They are happy to hijack your ideas especially if they aren’t protected.
4. Be smart when you introduce a new brand asset and ensure you run it with the brand name until you can measure the brand association.
5. Take ownership of the brand.

Within a short space of time the marketing rule book has changed and what worked yesterday may not necessarily work today or tomorrow. The key to success is adaptability and the reliance on your brand’s distinctiveness to influence the buyer’s journey.

We previously mentioned that consumer behaviour has dramatically changed over the past four months but by utilising brand assets correctly with nurtured messaging at a decision-making juncture, will help consumer’s link the benefits and value propositions of your brand at the point of purchase and help protect your brand through the turbulent waters of 2020.

So, as we face this one day at a time spare a thought for the Monkey Bread Tree and all the changes they have had to endure and adapted accordingly over the thousands of years they have been around.

Moti Grauman, Digital Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Moti Grauman from The MediaShop says advertisers that have halted their spend on Facebook to ‘Stop Hate for Profit’ is ambiguous.

While the intent is clear, i.e. corporates need to stop supporting an organisation that is alleged to allow hateful content on their site for the sake of profit – it may also imply that stopping hate is in itself profitable.

Actually, it’s a bit of both, and savvy advertisers will know exactly where they stand.

The Stop Hate for Profit campaign has for all intents and purposes built up significant steam. There are according to the Movement’s website almost 400 companies participating in the initiative, who are pulling their ad spend during July or, and in some cases, beyond. This supposedly accounts for an estimated 98% of Facebook’s $70 Billion annual ad revenue.

The obvious question is will it make a difference and force Facebook to take more responsibility for the content that it allows to be published?

It would seem, according to a recent article on Gizmodo, that participation means different things to different companies and that the impact of the initiative is likely to fall short as a result. The article reports that a number of companies will pause their ad spend on Facebook while still advertising on Instagram (which is owned by Facebook). Other brands will exclude Instagram but continue to make use of Facebook’s Audience Network – you see the conundrum. For some global companies their stand may mean pausing US Facebook ad spend while continuing their advertising in other countries.

The result is that any impact will be severely mitigated as a result of ad revenue simply being redirected rather than stopped altogether. And this makes perfect sense. Why would any brand with responsibilities to their stakeholders stop advertising on a platform for an entire month or more if the results of that ad spend were significantly positive? Of course, positive results could be “undone” if the mere association with a platform made their brand look bad. To some, it’s not a question of believing inherently in the Stop Hate for Profit movement, but one of saving face. Effective advertising through the platform can continue while distancing itself from the Facebook brand.

No matter which side of the fence you sit, there is a question that needs answering: “Can (big) brands afford not to have Facebook in their media plans? And therefore: “What are the costs of taking a stand?”

Grace Kite writes on Marketing Week that: “for some companies social media is critical while for others it makes very little difference.” That’s obvious, but the key is knowing where “you” are.

The product type, and the target market are predictably the strongest determinants of the importance of social media.

For some brands, social media is really very effective at driving sales, but for others it isn’t effective at all. Econometric studies show that ROI is much more variable for social media than it is for almost all other channels.

That isn’t a bad thing in itself. It just means that advertisers need to ensure they can reach the right end of the ROI range or else reallocate spend to other channels where returns are more reliable.

Facebook’s own research doesn’t address when it’s best to use the channel versus not, so evidence from econometrics projects is helpful. This uniquely allows a comparison of effectiveness across media channels and untangles indirect effects like a TV ad driving people to click on a Facebook ad. With a more accurate view of ROI in hand, it’s clear there are some types of advertisers that should consider avoiding social media even in normal times.

It is low interest categories like insurance, politics, banking and toilet paper that see small effects of social advertising and therefore investment that sometimes doesn’t pay back. On the other hand, high interest categories like beer, TV, and video games see much bigger effects.

As Matthew Chappell from Gain Theory put it: “There does appear to be some statistically significant skew towards higher interest goods like cars and high interest FMCG plus, as you’d expect, companies who sell more online do better on social.”

The demographic of the target audience matters too. Younger people are more likely to be persuaded by advertising on Facebook versus other channels. In our experience, the converse is also true. Older people are much less likely to be convinced on this channel.

And then there are some social media campaigns that get an ROI boost because they have a long-lasting effect on sales. We’ve seen video rich social campaigns work like TV in some cases, with effects lingering for more than six months.

This is a feature of social video that we as an industry need to understand better. As linear TV audiences decline and ad-free subscription TV grows, the role of social video in brand building will become more important.

In the examples we’ve seen, YouTube has been a key platform in driving long term effects rather than Facebook. If this is a wider pattern, it could be driven by view-through rates being higher on YouTube and sound being switched on by default, but there is much still to learn.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see whether any of the brands that boycott Facebook this month report declining sales as a result. This could well be the case for Coca-Cola, North Face and Adidas, which have relatively young audiences that play in relatively high interest categories.

Other brands might not notice the difference, especially with the effect of Covid-19 and associated lockdowns still reverberating through the economy.

Either way, all brands considering investment into Facebook need to experiment and evaluate, and not only using the platform’s own tools. Dispassionate analysis that can compare social against other media channels which will help marketers navigate these turbulent times.

Being recognised as the best media agency in your country is a fantastic achievement. Being recognised as a top contender on a global scale is even better. Being the only South African media agency on that global list is the best!

 Global research company RECMA, which evaluates the performance of media agencies around the world, has identified The MediaShop as number nine on its Top 16 Standalone agencies that are part of groups. This is a phenomenal achievement considering the calibre of independent media agencies in South Africa.

The study also confirmed The MediaShop’s market share at 14.6% of the South African market, a higher share than any other international agency listed in this Top 16.

The Debrief, released on the 16^th July is a specific analysis separate to its annual performance ranking of 900 media agencies around 50 countries. The MediaShop, while partly owned by the IPG Group, is a mostly locally owned and a standalone agency.

“As a majority locally owned media agency, The MediaShop is a proudly South African business that is well known for pioneering and innovating thinking,” says shareholder and board chairman Bonang Mohale. “In a market as unique as South Africa it’s imperative that any media agency is able to make autonomous, quick and decisive decisions for clients based on its local current climate at any given point. This is just one factor that sets The MediaShop apart. As a collective we’d like to congratulate The MediaShop team for once again placing the agency firmly on the world map of media agency excellence.”

The MediaShop:

The MediaShop is South Africa’s most established, most awarded, most transformed media agency, and member of the Nahana Communications Group of specialist agencies, each with their own independent structures, cultures and management teams, and a desire to work together where synergy exists.

Arisha Saroop, Managing Director of The MediaShop Durban

Kantar’s Covid Barometer research shows that South Africans want brands to be purpose-led and practical, using their resources to help and inform during the global pandemic we find ourselves in.

Arisha Saroop, Managing Director of The MediaShop Durban shares a few examples of global and South African brands that have reinvented to be more purpose led.

The Covid-19 crisis has left its mark on virtually every single industry around the world and on all levels from a social, health and economic perspective. As some economies ground to a halt and others are still recovering from imposed lockdowns, there is no doubt that this pandemic challenges our ordinary and brands, like individuals, are being forced to re-examine every aspect of their daily operations, find new ways to survive, adapt, offer purposeful existence and maintain relevance within our new reality.

The majority of clothing and accessories stores were initially considered non-essential, and employment in this already struggling sector fell by 58.9% from February to April this year as per Business Insider research – it’s no wonder then that this sector had to take the leap of adaptability during these unprecedented times.

With no social gatherings fighting for RSVP’s – couture wardrobe and designer accessories have taken space at the back of the cupboard. Given the increased need for personal protective items; international and local design houses have evolved their offerings to stay relevant, purposeful and to deliver a supportable service.

Internationally, Tommy Hilfiger has donated 10 000 T-shirts to Covid-19 front line healthcare workers – in an effort to provide a change of clothes for those between shifts or just to freshen up from their daily PPE wear. In addition to this, they’ve launched a special capsule collection with 100% of sale proceeds going towards pandemic relief efforts.

Renowned French luxury conglomerate LVMH, known for their handbags and champers – swopped their leather and bubbles by converting three of their perfume manufacturing facilities, usually reserved for Christian Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain fragrances, into hand sanitizer production factories. These were given at no charge to the largest hospital system in Europe and to French authorities. Keeping staff employed and responding to public interest is what has kept this luxury brand purposeful and relevant.

It didn’t just stop at production though as one might have assumed; British brand Burberry has vouched to use its global supply chain network to deliver over 100,000 surgical masks to the NHS, and additionally, Burberry is also funding research into a single-dose vaccine developed by the University of Oxford.

Closer to home, Polo South Africa’s shirt factory in Atlantis Cape Town, recently pledged to provide 250 000 reusable and washable cotton face masks to essential service providers and at-risk commuters. Even though the masks are not medical grade, these indispensable items provide safety in reducing the virus spread. L’Oréal SA recently introduced a new range of hand sanitizers under its natural brand Garnier that will be donated to the South African Covid-19 Solidarity Fund to assist frontline workers. Iconic couture designer Gavin Rajah under his NPO White Light Movement trains victims of gender-based violence to make fabric face masks – the profits from the sales of these items assist them economically and the families they support.

Kantar’s Covid Barometer research provides insight into consumer behaviour that South Africans want brands to be purpose-led and practical, using their resources to help and inform.

Each of these brands have shown purpose in their adaption; either by utilizing their resources for alternate production or supporting a just cause towards the fight against the invisible pandemic – this has no doubt been for the greater good of the consumers and the brand.

This proactive reaction has kept the lights on for businesses in many aspects – by keeping their staff employed, supporting the local economy, producing essential items, staying relevant and most importantly, adding to their existence and purpose!

For consumers, such adaptions and purpose driven production translates to brands that care. A renewed brand purpose is reassuring during times of crisis, as consumers may not be buying today – however when we do return to “business as usual” we will remember and reward brands that offered meaningful sustainable support.