Author: Mark

In the Mckinsey and Company report on ’The coming era of on-demand marketing’, Peter Dahlstrom states that ‘digital marketing is about to enter more challenging territory. Building on the vast increase in consumer power brought on by the digital age, marketing is headed toward being on-demand – not just ‘always on’, but also always relevant, responsive to the consumer’s desire for marketing that cuts through the noise with pinpoint delivery.”

It’s exactly what the entrepreneurial creators of ABIE from Trial Run Media had in mind when they conceptualised the world’s first network of Automated Business Intelligence Engines (ABIEs), launching this Spring, that offers on-demand content like free samples and loyalty rewards, linked to automatic data collection. The Intellectual Property is owned by Trial Run.

While sampling isn’t new, it has never been automatically linked to data.

What Trial Run Media has created is a consumer experience radically integrated across the physical and virtual environment. With Trial Run, consumers are in charge of the marketing experience. They choose the ‘content’ – a FREE sample of the brand they want to try – by entering a campaign URL into the browser of their smart phones. They are then prompted to enter their name and cellphone number, after which, they effortlessly receive a code to enter into ABIE’s keypad to release the sample.

A live dashboard tracks each sample in real-time and connects it to the recipient’s mobile phone, creating an instant feedback loop that connects consumers to the brand world on their own terms.The holy grail of marketing is cracking the code that would see consumers choosing to interact with a brand or business. Trial Run allows consumers to choose their marketing experience and their engagement is tracked, leading them down a funnel towards purchase, loyalty and personalised engagement.

Appointment sampling is dead. Gone are the days where consumers have to purchase a magazine to try a new product or be harassed in a shopping mall to get their valuable attention. On-demand sampling is the new disruptor that puts the consumer in charge and gives brands and businesses access to instant business intelligence.

Founders Ursula McDonald and Pippa Capstick call it ‘Advertising on-demand’.

Ursula explains, “Trial Run will give brands the data they need to make informed business decisions, understand who their market is and reward their most loyal consumers.”

Pippa sees exciting engagement possibilities with consumers: “When someone has chosen to try your brand, they want to hear your brand story and with Trial Run the possibilities are endless – you can share videos, you can chat in real-time, you can invite consumers to events and even direct them to your online store in the moment when they have your brand in their hand.”

But much of their focus has been on creating value to the sales funnel. “Trial Run connects traditional advertising to the trial of a product effortlessly,” explains Ursula. “Brands can add a Trial Run short campaign URL to their TV or print adverts, social media posts and in-store collateral. Consumers will receive a code with a link that tells them which ABIE is closest to them.  Or they have the option of simply accessing the code whilst standing in front of the machine, with the added option of a QR code.  We know that trial is fundamental to getting consumers to switch brands and Trial Run makes this effortless for both brands and consumers.”

The marketing can also be time or location based. “Follow up marketing messages can easily be tailored for the time of day when consumers are receiving a sample or relevant to the location in which they are receiving them,” says Pippa. “Imagine the loyalty possibilities – who wouldn’t thank you for a FREE umbrella when it’s raining?  That’s the power Trial Run can bring to your marketing arsenal.”

It’s a new concept, never before tried anywhere in the world but these two marketing pioneers are excited about the measurable results Trial Run can deliver.  “We can offer 24/7 automatic sampling, automatic stock control, automatic POPI compliant data collection and an instant data driven marketing campaign,” explains Ursula. “There is no wastage, no pilferage and results are measured in real-time. Promotions can also be automated linked to real-time sales. It’s the switch machine marketers have been waiting for.”

At launch Trial Run’s footprint will extend across 50 malls in Gauteng, offering 1.9 million sampling opportunities monthly across multiple consumer profiles. This will soon extend to malls nationwide as well as corporate offices, gyms, airports, retail environments and schools nationwide.

The Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA) and the Marketing Research Foundation (MRF) are delighted to announce that MAPS, the long-awaited products and brands replacement survey for AMPS, will officially start collecting valuable consumer insights from July 2019.

 MAPS is a modernised, updated and enhanced survey focused on consumer insights. Built on the legacy of AMPS, it includes product and brand research designed for marketers and media planners which is independent from any commercial interests, is transparent and neutral. The MAPS survey will be available on an exclusive basis to subscribers that sign up for it. The pre-launch subscription drive to meet the funding requirements of a study of this scale has been successfully completed, with a majority of SA’s top 50 advertisers giving it their support.

The survey has been designed around the products, brands and intermedia needs of marketers and their agencies, providing single source insights on consumer, media and brand interaction.

“This is an exciting time for the marketing, media and advertising industry and has been a long time in coming, but I am pleased to announced that MAPS research will start in July this year,” says Virginia Hollis, Chair of the MRF. “We now have a sufficient number of committed subscribers which has enabled us to press the ‘GO’ button.

The survey will only be available to subscribers and their designated agencies, giving them a significant edge over competitors who don’t subscribe. The research will be released on a quarterly basis with a rolling 12-month sample.”

“Aside from giving subscribers by far the most comprehensive national product and brand data, MAPS will drive improved advertising effectiveness and ROI.  Subscribers have input into the research, including a marketer driven resolution to the segmentation model. It’s the familiarity and comfort of AMPS but modernised, updated and greatly enhanced,” says Greg Garden, the CEO of MASA and a director of the MRF.

“This research solution delivers what marketers and their agencies specified as important to them, filling the void left by the demise of AMPS” he concludes.  “It is not too late for further subscribers to sign up, and we look forward to welcoming additional brands to this ground-breaking research that will provide them with the most reliable insights into media driven consumer awareness purchasing and usage behaviour.”

For additional information, please contact MRF on 011 463 5340 or marie@mrfsa.co.za.

In a partnership that has already enjoyed an impressive 19 years together, Suzuki South Africa has once again affirmed Penquin, the full-service results-based communications agency, as its preferred supplier.

Veronica Wainstein, Managing Director at Penquin says: “We are an agency that relies heavily on tangible results and measureable outcomes. During our 19 year partnership with Suzuki Auto South Africa, we have always measured our success based on the client’s achievements.

Almost eleven years after the company’s Automotive launch into South Africa, more than 60 000 new Suzuki vehicles are on the road with the brand having won cars.co.za’s Consumer Brand of the Year two years running (2017 and 2018).

“We are absolutely thrilled to see this partnership continue.”

As lead agency, Penquin manages all campaign strategies, concepts, artwork, production and media solutions for Suzuki South Africa.

Suzuki Auto South Africa’s Megan MacDonald says: “Our relationship with the Penquin team over the past near two decades has been one that took our brand from a ‘newbie’ entering South Africa to one of the most successful car brands in the country. Not only that, we have developed a solid brand personality that permeates our cars, our dealerships and our communication that continues to drive our success.

They aren’t just any service provider; Penquin is a partner in every sense of the word. We firmly believe we’re in the right hands.”

“We are 100% into building authentic connections for our client’s customers and we’re honoured to have the opportunity to continue doing so for Suzuki Auto South Africa,” says Ryan Nofal, Penquin’s Client Service Director. “It’s our ‘Way of Life’ too!”

For more information on Penquin visit www.penquin.co.za

Constructed, layer by layer, brick by brick, the all new ROOTS 2019 will be unveiled to the marketing, advertising and media industries this coming June. In the meantime, some influential media personalities have provided their thoughts and expectations of #ROOTS2019.

“ROOTS is one of South Africa’s largest and longest running consumer behaviour surveys and in June we’re excited to be bringing the latest research to life,” says Debbie McIntyre, Marketing Services and Research Director SPARK Media. “We enjoy receiving feedback and hearing what the people that make use of the data have to say and what their expectations of ROOTS 2019 are.”

Managing Director at Vizeum (Johannesburg), Byron John, comments: “We’ve used the previous ROOTS survey extensively across the Dentsu Aegis Network for a lot of strategic input and insights and I am excited to see how the key data touchpoints have changed, grown or developed over the last few years.

The ROOTS data has given us great insight into the suburban make-up of our diverse South African consumer(s). Putting any media strategy together should start at the what, where and how consumers access brands or products and everything else should flow from there. We’ve used it often as a geo-location ‘proxy’ (at suburb level) to inform where consumers live to establish the foundation of where the consumer narrative plays out. From a category perspective there’s a lot of data available which allows us to profile each consumer category in detail which is very valuable.

I’m looking forward to unpacking this data with the new release of ROOTS.”

Wayne Bishop, Managing Director (Johannesburg) at PHD South Africa remarks, “ROOTS has always been an insightful survey that injects significant marketing, branding and retail data into the industry. Since its inception in 1980, the survey has not only proved to highlight changes in the composition of geographical micro-economies, but has also been a constant reflection in the changes to the South African market as a whole.

Anyone interested in business growth should be a constant interrogator of the facts and data points from ROOTS. If you are not, you are missing one of the most valuable vaults of information that comes from an in-depth look into 27 000 lives and what drives their purchase habits.”

Rika Nell, Group Talent Director at Joe Public says: “I’ve been using ROOTS for more than ten years and find it invaluable at understanding community groups. Adding it to my data analysis mix not only improves my strategic decisions, but makes it easy to convince clients too.

This year I’m looking forward to a deeper dive regarding the use of Social Media and digital growth areas.”

For the June launch, SPARK Media will partner with LEGO to showcase ROOTS 2019.

“Just as LEGO encourages imagination and inspiration with their building bricks, so do we encourage that same curiosity and enthusiasm in the thorough and in-depth interrogation of the ROOTS 2019 data, providing the building bricks for marketing strategies and insightful media plans,” concludes Debbie. “We can’t wait to launch!”

ROOTS launches in Durban on the 4th of June, Johannesburg on the 6th of June and Cape Town on the 11th of June.  For more information and to book space visit http://sparkmedia.co.za/about-roots/ or contact info@sparkmedia.co.za.

For more on SPARK Media, visit our website and follow us on social media @sparkmediasa.

SPARK Media

Established in 2015, SPARK Media, a division of CTP Ltd, are experts in retail and location based marketing solutions. The company owns and represents an arsenal of print products that deliver locally relevant, effective audiences for advertising clients. SPARK Media are Strategic Partners in Audience Research and Knowledge and offer ‘Insights that Ignite’.

On the back of the latest Audit Bureau of Circulation’s results, Caxton Magazines’ monthly family interest magazine, Bona is celebrating a further increase of a massive 10% on its Quarter One 2019 circulation figures.

The growth of the magazine’s sales from 68 665 to 75 219 copies is on the back of another 13% increase on the Quarter 4 October to December 2018 ABC release and 7% increase on Q3 Jul-Sep 2018 results.

“We were confident of positive results in the quarter one release of ABC data but were still blown away by the consistent upward trend of Bona’s sales figures,” says Bona’s Editor Bongiwe Tshiqi. “In fact, Bona remains one of the highest circulations in the Caxton Magazine group and some of the best statistics and circulations in the Female and Family magazine categories.”

Bona is the only magazine in the country that publishes in four different languages: English, Zulu, Sotho and Xhosa, with the 63-year-old brand maintaining impressive engagement and interaction between the product and its readers across all of its platforms.

Anton Botes, General Manager of Caxton Magazines comments, “We’re incredibly proud of Bongiwe and her team for consistently growing the Bona brand. It’s clear that the team is delivering on the most current needs of their readers and advertisers alike.”

Caxton Magazines DNA

Storytelling is our business. Content is our currency. Caxton Magazines is a division of Caxton CTP Printers & Publishers and houses 12 brands in print and digital formats, primarily aimed at the women’s lifestyle segment across life stages, lifestyles and income groups. These brands are: Vrouekeur; Woman & Home; Bona; Living & Loving; People; Food & Home Entertaining; Your Family; Garden & Home; Farmer’s Weekly; Essentials; Rooi Rose and SA Country Life. Visit www.caxtonmags.co.za