Author: Mark

Chris Botha, Group Managing Director of Park Advertising

Carl Sagan once said: “One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

I am sure like everybody else, you have been reading about the massive corruption being unearthed by the various investigative bodies and journalists in our country. Just this past week the Zondo Commission was in full cry, and Pieter Louis Myburgh released his book on Ace Magashule. The numbers are astronomical. Depending on who you believe – South Africa has lost R30-R300 billion per year because of corrupt practises. Horrifying.

But for me the bigger loss is the loss of opportunity.

The past eight years have been described as the “forgotten years” or the “lost years”. This phrase really hurts my heart because it is so true. R30 billion across eight years is R240 billion that could have solved so many of our country’s ills. Imagine that sort of investment in youth education, housing or the medical field.

But Chris, you are a media guy, what’s this got to do with anything. Well, everything I would postulate.

The impact on advertising investment: firstly, while the world markets are all ticking up, our markets continue to tick down. Business confidence and performance has a direct link on ad spend. Net effect is a direct impact on advertising investment. I have had numerous discussions with South Africa’s biggest media owners, all of whom without exception stating that this is the hardest economic climate they have ever traded in. In years gone by the adage “flat is the new up” was jokingly bandied about. Now it is cried out in desperation and frustration.

Lost revenue means less investment in content, less investment in production, less investment in acquisition, and less investment in developing the new, smart, and amazing.

Only the strong, nimble, agile and intelligent will survive. The end is nowhere in sight. Buckle up boys and girls, this ain’t getting better any time soon.

Electricity supply and your TV ratings: Britta Reid recently wrote an excellent article on the impact of load shedding on TV ratings. The numbers are scary. In heavy load shedding weeks, up to 35% of audiences are lost. As with the overall corruption problem, that is also a lost opportunity. An opportunity that businesses would have had to sell more products, make more money, and invest in our country. TV stations have for the most part dug in their heels when it comes to compensation (rightly or wrongly). But lower ratings will no doubt impact them down the line as rate setting and projecting will become even more of a gamble.

Are your magazines reaching their readers? Many magazines use the South African Post Office to deliver to their most loyal readers, their subscribers. Advertisers gladly pay for their ads assuming that it lands in every hand promised at the right time. Well, considering the challenges at SAPO that is no longer a straight guarantee. Some magazines probably arrive months later due to the inefficiencies. Opportunity lost once again…

The challenge with corruption is that it permeates and impacts every fibre of our business. Whether it’s ratings on TV, magazines (or lack thereof) in the hands of consumers, illegal billboards, fake news stories being broadcast, or real news stories not being broadcast – there is no getting around it. Corruption has a deep impact on what we do every day.

President Ramaphosa has a massive task ahead of him. He will need time, backing, investment, and a brave soul to turn this country around. Most importantly, this is not a problem solely solved by government. Government simply can’t. Private enterprise and big business needs to jump in. It affects all of us.

One has to believe that it is not all doom and gloom going forward. As an industry we are a collective of creative genius! We are diverse, and inspired. 2019 should be the year where we launch new agencies (like Meta Media), where we inspire our staff, where we lift up the youth in our industry. Where media owners need to help build our nation through education and inspiration. We have access to the whole country through our platforms. So let’s get our hands dirty. Bring on the 8^th of May.

Thuma Mina.

Celebrating its 30^th year in existence, Caxton’s annual Excellence Awards has acknowledged the contributions of its sales and editorial staff and management of its local free and sold newspapers. At this year’s awards, R275 000 was distributed in prize money with George Herald being named the Best Sold Newspaper; The Randburg Sun as Best Free Newspaper and the Polokwane Review Bonus as the Best Emerging Market paper.

 Karen Geurtse, General Manager for Caxton Local Media Regionals said: “Even though the awards are in their 30^th year, we are constantly overwhelmed with the hundreds of entries we receive each year from our teams. The Caxton Excellence Awards celebrate and acknowledge those individuals and local printed products that excel in their market.”

Other winners this year included Lizette da Silva (George Herald) for Best Front Page; Leah Shone editor of Get It Balito/Umhlanga was named the Best Get It magazine while Tereasa Dias (Lowvelder) was acknowledged as the Group’s Best Multimedia Journalist.

The Most Promising Newspaper Journalist of the year was awarded to Arisa Janse van Rensburg (Lowvelder), with the Best Headline Writing accolade going to Kristy Kolberg   (George Herald).

On the photography front, Ettienne van Rensburg from Vaal Weekblad was named overall Photographer of the Year. He also claimed the Best Human Interest Photograph category.  Hugo Redelinghuys (George Herald) won Best Sports Photograph while Wayne van der Walt (Standerton Advertiser) won Best Hard News Photograph.

Ad Designer of the Year went to Geraldine Reyneke (Lowvelder). Field Sales Consultant of the Year went to Tamsin McMaster (Joburg South) and the Best Community Involvement went to Norman Dawe, Daniella Potter Geshika Vorster and Aiden Eksteen from Fourways Review for their feature on the Ark Animal Centre.

“These awards shouldn’t be underestimated as they hold our teams accountable every day to ensure that the best local print products are consistently delivered to our readers and advertisers,” says CEO of SPARK Media, Gill Randall. “Our editorial and sales people live and breathe their community every day, which is why they have such an exceptional understanding of their areas. These awards demonstrate this, and the value that each and every one of these ‘Caxtonites’ bring, not only to the local community, but to the advertisers looking to reach our valuable consumers.

We congratulate all the winners and applaud the quality of entries from each individual and all our teams.”

To contact SPARK Media: call +27 10 492 8391 or email info@sparkmedia.co.za.

SPARK Media DNA

Established in 2015, SPARK Media, a division of CTP Ltd, are experts in retail and location based marketing solutions. The company owns and represents a myriad of print and digital 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’.

Each month the Nfinity Group, through its #PowerHour initiative, hosts entrepreneurs that have excelled in their specific fields of industry. They are invited to share their business and life lessons with Nfinity’s clients, media and creative agencies and partners in the advertising industry. This month on the 10^th April, the Group is excited to host Pepe Marais, founding partner and Group Chief Creative Officer of Joe Public United, currently ranked as the number one creative agency on the African continent.

 Pepe has been the recipient of numerous local and international industry awards and was ranked as the number one creative leader by the Loerie Awards in 2018. He was also voted by marketers as the ‘Most Admired Industry Professional’ in South Africa.

The Nfinity Group has grown exponentially in the last couple of years and the entrepreneurs that run their individual businesses under the Nfinity banner are always keen to learn and improve their skills, and to share these powerful knowledge sessions with their clients. It’s for these reasons that the Group hosts successful entrepreneurs like Pepe at its #PowerHour get-togethers, and this edition is sure to be another highlight for guests.

For information on the 10^th April #PowerHour session please contact linda@nfinity.co.za

 Nfinity DNA

Headed by entrepreneur Ken Varejes as CEO, Nfinity is the latest innovation hub to land in the media, marketing and eventing fields. Nfinity is poised as a space for entrepreneurs to grow and better their businesses under the guidance of Ken and his growing management team, each a specialist in their own field. Nfinity currently has established shareholding and presence including in the following companies: AdColony, theSALT, Reveel, Whisky Live, Whizzky App, Orange Block, , theIntern-Ship, Brand a Tuk Tuk, Nfinity Digital and Brand Game Shows.

The concepts of Behavioural Economics, Observed Consumer Behaviour and Neuro-marketing are enough to make any marketer head for the hills out of the sheer fear of not knowing where to begin. Kirsty Dugmore of SugaSpice puts it simply.

The truth of the matter is that evidence-based marketing needn’t be intimidating. Plainly put, this ground breaking interdisciplinary field is the integration of several scientific disciplines into the field of marketing. It’s evolving the marketing industry and offering marketers the tools and insights, based on empirical evidence, on how to achieve brand growth.

SugaSpice was created two years ago with a vision to upskill South Africa’s marketers with increased knowledge of evidence based-marketing and how to apply it.  Marketing and media industries are being offered the opportunity to learn more about the exciting discoveries made by some of the world’s leading and most respected academics in their fields.

Chief Growth Officer for SugaSpice, Kirsty Dugmore, explains that: “Evidence-based marketing uses the disciplines of Behavioural Economics, Observed Consumer Behaviour and Neuro-marketing to better understand how consumers are making the purchasing and brand decisions that they do.”

She further notes: “This promising discipline offers insights into predictable patterns and behaviours, and offers practical advice that marketers can implement in their marketing and media strategies.”

Behavioural Economics, to cite just one example, conducts analyses into consumer decision making based on empirically studied psychological traits.

“Typically, Behavioural Economics says that, as human beings, we are predictably irrational with constant flaws in our decision making processes. Consumers make snap decisions using ‘mental shortcuts’ that are available to them – but memories are stored in a way that aren’t easily accessible. The challenge for brands is to create ways to create mental availability when a consumer is in the market for their specific product or service,” Kirsty says.

“The lesson here is that brands need to realise that their customers are not constantly thinking about them, and that to stay one step ahead of competitors they have to focus on making it easy to be thought of.

With the assistance of evidence-based marketing, brands can make sure that they’re part of the consideration set when consumers consider buying specific products or services.”

Kirsty has spent the last 13 years employed in large corporate media companies and has spent thousands of hours researching the relevant literature now at the forefront of modern marketing. She has taken these learnings and developed accessible and practical course material.

SugaSpice’s Evidence-Based marketing courses offer clients the very latest in evidence-based marketing techniques, assisting them in their efforts to get up to speed with global advancements in the field.

“Evidence-based marketing has the very real ability, through easy to implement strategies, to turn a brand’s growth trajectory around, and I really enjoy sharing with marketers how to do just that.”

For more on SugaSpice and its offerings visit www.sugaspice.co.za

Everyone knows the brand, everyone has seen or read or perused the magazine! CAR magazine, a South African heritage brand, established over 60 years ago, has now evolved its online platform, CARmag.co.za even further to suit prevailing South African market conditions.CAR is Southern Africa’s leading multimedia automotive consumer brand and it’s growing even further by partnering with the industry to meet South Africa’s motoring demands. In the latest development, media groups like Caxton are coming together to exponentially expand the reach of the platform and make the new CARmag platform the largest and most trusted motoring product of its kind.

South Africa has one of the most competitive automotive trading environments in the world with 53 passenger car brands and 3,236 model derivatives, representing the widest choice to market-size ratio anywhere in the world. As the largest manufacturing sector in South Africa’s economy, vehicle and component production accounted for 30.1% of the country’s manufacturing output in 2017. Together Caxton, CAR magazine and other key players have come together, shared resources and knowledge to offer dealers affordable solutions and offers consumers informative options while accepting the responsibility to mend the disruption that has been caused in the market.

By adding the resources of Caxton Automotive to the strong CAR magazine brand, the new CARmag.co.za website will consist of a unique array of offerings to its users. This includes professional editorial content produced by the CAR magazine expert journalists and vehicle specialists, generic new car module offerings, special deals on new and used vehicles and dealership demo modules.

Advertising is available through highly targeted DMX Banners located on specific high traffic pages while the CAR Dealer Directory will become the most comprehensive and user-friendly automotive directory in South Africa covering all types of dealerships offering personalised profiles populated with inventory and navigation to service centres, spare parts centres and workshops.

Marc Scott, CEO at Vehicle Traders comments, “It’s been inspiring to develop this platform with our exceptional CAR magazine team. The new platform is the innovative and evolutionary product of this collaboration between forward thinking media groups and key industry role-players offering an intrinsic understanding of motoring South Africa. We have met the dealer network requirements and given the public world class content from their most loved motoring brand … CAR.”

“We believe that this platform will be the leading multimedia automotive marketplace for enthusiasts, buyers and sellers of vehicles and related products and services in South Africa, and be recognised as South Africa’s leading multimedia automotive consumer brand,” says Caxton Digital’s Group Marketing Manager, Sharlee Moriarty. “A larger audience and a holistic marketing and advertising solution can be reached by combining newspaper, magazine and online platforms under the CAR brand.”

Terence Steenkamp, Editor of CAR, further adds, “CAR has defined automotive media for more than six decades and, with this partnership, we’re excited that even more consumers will be exposed to this experienced magazine team’s insights and knowledge. That, in turn, will allow them to make informed purchasing decisions while browsing through the extensive vehicle listings under the CARmag umbrella. It’ll be a one-stop shop for all things automotive!”

This full multi-function automotive platform will highlight new cars, test them and rate them while offering the public a conduit to find great deals. It’s one website that houses only the best in quality content, vehicle listings, dealer directory and related products and services and as always – the authoritative voice in South African motoring.

 

The largest, most robust, quantitative community survey of urban South Africa, providing insights for marketers about people, their behaviours, activities, shopping, reading and path to purchase habits, ROOTS, launches its latest set of results in June.

The ROOTS survey provides single source information from over 27 000 randomly selected face-to-face interviews across many South African urban communities, using a proven, credible methodology while being more detailed than any other such survey in South Africa.

“Along with the inclusion of new industry metrics like SEM’s plus LSM’s, we’ve added new areas across the country, included more categories and even added questions on game- changers like Uber and Gautrain,” says Debbie McIntyre, Marketing Services and Research Director SPARK Media.

“ROOTS 2019 insights, will enable marketers and advertisers to understand who their market is, how they’ve changed, where they live and shop, how they behave and how to reach them.”

 As well as the traditional categories like Food and Groceries, Auto, Appliances, Home Accessories, Clothing, Shopping Centres, DIY, Travel, Finance and Insurance, more detail has been added on Health and Wellbeing, Buying/Renting a Home, Loyalty Cards, Mobility including ‘how’ and ‘how far’ consumers are willing to travel to shop. Other additions include connectivity, entertainment (yes, even Streaming) and even data on some life milestones too.

The real win for users is that this trendable big data set can be analysed at a combined big, broad picture level or distilled down to community by community detail providing opportunities for marketers looking for changes, differences and gaps.

“As digital technology integrates itself in all parts of life, we have included these options as they relate to peoples search, shopping, entertainment and reading behaviour too,” concludes Debbie.

“Since its inception in the 1980’s, the ROOTS research methodology provides a national snapshot that is designed to enable detailed analysis and decision making at a local level, and we are excited to continue to build on this proven data set that is so critical for marketers.

Watch this space, #ROOTS2019 is coming!”

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’.