Author: Mark

In today’s fast-paced, time-poor world, it’s heartening to know that a magazine’s coverlines trump the cover image when it comes to purchasing choice. Research recently conducted by Caxton Magazines shows that more than half of magazine buyers cite coverlines as their top criteria in choosing which magazine to buy, followed by cover image, then price and free samples.The research was done through Caxton Magazines’ audience panel, PULSE, powered by the Opinion Solutions mobile app technology, which allows Caxton Magazines to be at the forefront of exploratory research approaches and tools in order to get closer to their readers’ thoughts and views.

The app, through real-time data, is used to better understand aspects and the role that magazines play in readers’ lives. The predominantly female reader panel of about 2 000 members are primarily in the 25–49 age group. Caxton Magazines has used the PULSE tool to determine what the important factors are in getting noticed on shelf and what readers look for – with some surprising results!

The objectives of the research were to determine the overall ‘interest value’ of the magazine brands; test the attractiveness of the cover based on identified key components; discover motivations for reading a specific magazine and examine both location and time spent reading.

The study was designed and overseen by Professor Therese Roux, HOD of the Marketing faculty at Tshwane University of Technology, in partnership with Opinion Solutions

“It was clear that consumers don’t think they judge a magazine purely by its cover, but rather consider a range of factors before making a purchase,” says Caxton Magazines’ General Manager Anton Botes. “The resulting information has affirmed that our editorial content is very much in line with what our readers enjoy and expect from us.

“We did however make a few tweaks around positioning of key cover lines.”

The highlights of the research indicated that 44% to 69% of readers rated editorial features as the main reason they buy magazines. Between 11% and 22% of respondents said that the cover was most important to them while 10-19% said price was the overriding factor. Another 12-15% said that free samples and products would sway them to buy.

“While this shows that the cover page – in the minds of readers – contributes less than other variables across all titles, it’s by no means any less important because the cover is, of course, the first visual contact to cue the brand for the consumer,” adds Botes. “Using this knowledge ensures that we’re always refining our offering to keep pace with changing reader needs.

“It’s heartening to see that Caxton Magazines’ main coverlines and other sub headings featured on the cover are rated highly amongst our readers. In fact, across all categories explored, our magazines are considered easily recognisable on shelf and highly appealing.”

There are many tools in the market that both media agencies and brand teams use to determine reach, frequencies and impact, however, this qualitative, real-time data from the panel goes beyond the metrics and can assist with getting to the nub of consumers’ reasoning at the time.

“Our PULSE reader panel allows us to communicate directly with a large sample quickly, efficiently and in real time to determine how they feel about certain aspects of their lives and our magazines.”

Botes concludes, “Whether it’s a larger project like our cover research or a quick and immediate call to action, like ‘take a picture of the jewellery that you are wearing right now’, or ‘how does Valentine’s Day make you feel?’ it’s the ideal research platform, and it’s also available to our advertising partners to make use of.”

Feel free to make contact with Caxton Magazines for further insights or discussions regarding the use of the application as a qualitative research tool that brands and advertisers can use to gain real-time data into the lives and headspace of consumers.

Caxton Magazines DNA

Storytelling is our business. Content is our currency. Caxton Magazines is a subsidiary 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

 

theSALT literally drives influencer marketing! This includes word of mouth conversations, social media engagements, networking outreach, creating real brand engagement and increasing bottom line results.

What started out as a humble vehicle branding business has become one of the top go-to media owners specialising in 360° influencer marketing. theSALT is just one of the many innovative companies that fall under the umbrella of Nfinity, an established innovation hub headed by entrepreneur, Ken Varejes.

Brands are no longer about what marketers tell consumers they are. A brand’s value is simply what consumers tell each other in terms of their personal experiences and how they influence each other through word of mouth and word of mouse conversations. In fact, 92% of consumers say that they trust earned media. Influencer marketing uses individuals who can persuade potential customers or groups of customers. Social media has amplified the reach of influencers and shifted the balance of power from brands to the customer.Pieter Groenewald, CEO of theSALT, says that he has come a long way and learnt a lot about advertising since 2000. “Over the past five years or so we’ve grown this company from vehicle branding as brandyourcar.com to theSALT, and with it, our business focus towards influencer marketing.

Talking about the change of names, Pieter says: “We came to the realisation, after a few years of growth that brand messages to influencers and marketers differ greatly.  theSALT was born and today this is where we market our offering to corporate South Africa and soon in a few new territories.

“We’ve achieved amazing results for brands through our brand ambassadors spreading the brand’s good news story!” confirms Pieter. “Successful engagement is no longer about talking TO your customers, but rather it’s all about talking WITH them.”“Through theSALT we’ve learnt a lot by doing amazing campaigns for our clients,” says Nfinity’s CEO, Ken Varejes. “What we’ve come up with, using everyday brand fans, is the resulting advertising platform and how we do it is unique in the world. Our intention and next step forward will be international expansion! The process has already begun in two new territories.”

“theSALT is about everyday consumers – ordinary people who command a platform and have a voice that holds sway over an audience,” concludes Pieter. “You don’t always have to have salt in your food, but you definitely know when it’s missing”

To find out more about Influencer Marketing or how to become an influencer, have a look at theSALT’s website: http://www.thesalt.co.za/

 

 

The digital era, while providing an exciting and innovative means of communicating and engaging with targeted audiences, has also brought with it a new wave of fear for brands and brand safety.

To mitigate these risks SPARK Media suggests that advertisers work with companies that deal directly with reputable publishers.

“Brands and advertisers are beginning to place more emphasis on the authenticity of the environment where their brands are displayed, the quality of the click, not just the click itself,” says Marc du Plessis, Joint CEO of SPARK Media and Head of the Publisher Council for Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) South Africa. “Brand safety is becoming increasingly important.”

“We have a direct relationship with all publishers of the more than 100 websites that we represent, serving almost 15 million page views and 7 million unique visitors each month. SPARK Media’s Local News Network’s (LNN) websites offer brands a safe environment.  These secured sites are trusted sources of news for local communities and have an established journalistic network of more than 400 people on the ground that are often first to break local news,” he says.

Brands that advertise on LNN through premium inventory are able to talk to a niche audience via location-specific advertising that is highly relevant to them. In addition, SPARK Media is a member of the Press Council and wholeheartedly subscribes to and endorses its code of ethics and conduct.

SPARK Ignition, our programmatic solution, offers hyper-targeting by age, gender, geographic location, language and lifestyle categories. For example, if marketers are looking to engage with golfers that earn in excess of R50 000 per month and live in Pretoria, our publisher’s demographic and interest based data can determine the correct online sites to reach those golfers.”

“We offer a brand safe environment with private, protected, owned inventory. Our technology can turn off adverts that feature next to breaking news that could impact on advertisers brand identity/safety,” says Marc. “As an industry, we need to develop firm criteria for evaluating trusted publishers and educate and drive awareness through members of the IAB, publishing partners and the media.”

In a highly-competitive automotive industry, Autodealer is your one-stop-shop for ‘all things cars’. It offers an all-encompassing, motoring product offering that covers print, online and social media channels. It’s extensive reach through Caxton’s local newspapers means that there isn’t another motoring supplement that comes close to its localised print footprint.

 Established over a decade ago, the Autodealer print supplement is a weekly staple within the popular and highly influential local Caxton newspapers across the country. With a phenomenal distribution strategy, Autodealer advertisers reach the local papers’ massive readership which make up a large and geographically relevant segment of the population, reaching over 1.4 million homes. Over 700 000 copies of Autodealer are distributed weekly throughout Gauteng alone.

Autodealer clients can rest assured of a totally brand safe environment. Its absolute editorial independence and integrity gives readers content that is authoritative, objective and has their best interests at heart. This well-respected and widely read publication ensures that the right people are exposed to your brand.Autodealer’s offering goes beyond print, providing online and social media services as well. Despite their website being new, Autodealer is placed in the top largest online automotive websites in South Africa. Boasting nearly 400 000 unique browsers and over two-million monthly page views, Autodealer.co.za is positioned to increase its market share in the new and used car listing segment locally.

The Autodealer.co.za platform offers 25 000 new and used vehicles for sale on a platform that facilitates ease of both selling and buying. With over 96 000 Facebook followers, Autodealer also offers effective social media marketing for dealerships as part of a package. Autodealer’s print, online and social media offering gives clients an inclusive motoring solution that provides unrivalled, highly relevant reach.

Creating a respected supplement and a highly anticipated weekly read for the hundreds of thousands of local newspaper readers throughout the Caxton local distribution network, form the basis of what has made Autodealer a success.

 

 Movember is so much more than just ‘the only time it’s socially acceptable for men to sport sleazy upper-lip hair’. It’s about raising awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s suicide. Interestingly enough, SPARK Media’s research has found that South African men are indeed becoming increasingly focused on their health and, more so, their appearance.

 Gone are the days when the ‘macho man’ merely swished some mouthwash, splashed his face with water and ran a hand through his hair before barrelling out the door. Women are going to find themselves fighting for mirror space and hiding their eye creams because according to Euromonitor, men’s grooming recorded a 13% growth in value sales in 2016. South Africa’s men have become increasingly interested in products specially developed for their needs, and are increasingly likely to shop for their own personal care products.

In fact, SPARK’s 2016 ROOTS research found that 98% of men bought personal hygiene products in the past month. The proportion of men using hand and body cream has increased from 77.2% in 2010 to 82.5% in 2015, more so with black males, of whom 85.9% used hand or body cream in the past 7 days (AMPS 2010 vs 2015).Smelling good is clearly as important to men as looking good. Premium men’s fragrances grew by 16% in 2016 (Euromonitor). AMPS research has shown that perfume and cologne use has increased among men long-term, with 53.3% of men being regular users. A high-quality fragrance is associated with career and social success, and has become an increasingly popular gift for men.

According to Euromonitor, South African brands, such as Sorbet, have jumped onto this trend. Sorbet Man offers exclusive men’s grooming treatments, and the chain has a Sorbet-branded men’s grooming range of skin and hair care products.

Although men are health conscious when it comes to their physique (54% of frequent gymmers, going at least once a week, being men), an extremely concerning statistic to come out of our ROOTS 2016 research, is that 92% of urban males in LSM 4-7 are currently not on a medical aid scheme, and surprisingly almost half (47%) of LSM 8-10 aren’t either. This opens a huge opportunity for healthcare providers to educate and build product awareness in this market.The metro male isn’t going anywhere. Men’s grooming is forecast to maintain strong sales growth. A ramp of new male grooming product development is expected in 2018 and 2019. With a strong opportunity to tap into this male market, SPARK Media’s print and digital platforms offer direct audience solutions, delivering relevant, customised, interest-based audiences.

To find out more on how to effectively connect with this target group, contact SPARK Media on 010 492 8390, visit www.sparkmedia.co.za, follow us on Twitter – www.twitter.com/SparkMediaSA or connect with ‘SPARK Media’ (sparkmediasa) on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.

Ever wonder how your local paper ends up in your hands every week? It takes much more than the misperception of a paperboy haphazardly tossing papers on pavements. We spoke to Jaco Koekemoer, Managing Director of Caxton Local Media and Coldset Printing at Caxton Group, about the complex distribution process that gets local papers from printer to every household, business and institution’s postbox, each and every week.

“With a local mail system that’s not trusted and expensive courier services, some retailers may make use of knock and drop companies to deliver leaflets to households. But with the cost of printing, it makes better sense to trust a quality, audited distribution method, like Caxton’s, where consumers expect to find your leaflet inside their local newspaper,” says Koekemoer.

Caxton’s 144 local newspapers are printed at 10 printing plants located country wide. Our Johannesburg printing facility prints over 1.5 million copies for distribution weekly and handles between 50- and 80-million inserts monthly. The Johannesburg local papers include an average of 35 vehicles, each distributing between four and seven tonnes of papers over three delivery days in the week, with each driver making approximately 9 000 drops. In big insert weeks, where loads could easily double, they make use of feeder trucks to continuously feed their main distribution vehicles. A considerable load like this calls for a highly specialised distribution method, particularly to ensure that each reader gets their local paper and each advertiser gets their reach, without any wastage.

With a team of nearly 400 personnel, Caxton Distribution has invested over 2.5 million Rand in the workforce and technology behind its distribution process. A state of the art AfriGIS Mapping Solution was specially developed to accurately determine the number of houses, gated communities, institutions and businesses that exist in a specified region. These figures are used to determine Caxton’s footprint boundaries and driver areas for a highly efficient and controlled paper distribution.

Peter Scully, the GM of Caxton JHB Distribution, says, “In my 29 years’ experience in retail distribution, the Caxton distribution systems and process are the best I’ve ever worked with in the industry. Our distribution process has many measures in place to ensure efficient delivery. Drivers receive a drop sheet of all bulk delivery points and signatures are required as proof of delivery. We’ve developed strong relationships with the gatekeepers in gated communities and complexes to gain seamless access.”

“Our telephonic team randomly calls clients and readers within the footprint to ensure receival of the paper. To avoid any wastage, we have a supervisor at every branch, our distribution footprints are constantly updated and every copy of the paper is geocoded. We also have a highly proficient complaints system that promptly investigates and rectifies any distribution issues,” he adds.

“Unlike most knock and drop companies, Caxton Distribution strictly abides by the rules of the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC/VFD), with audits done every six months. This means that we are able to distribute to businesses, institutions and complexes, where knock and drops can’t. It’s what makes advertisers trust Caxton as a quality distributer,” he adds.

As an all-in-one printer and publisher, Caxton offers more affordable, discounted insert rates when a customer prints with one of their plants, as they are able to optimise logistics to ensure lower transport costs. This has placed them as a top print, publishing and distribution solution.

For more information on Caxton Local Media and what it offers visit www.caxtonlocalmedia.co.za.

Retailers are gearing up for what is arguably the biggest retail sales day of the year, Black Friday, on the 24^th November. What can brands do to win their share of mind amongst consumers? Marc du Plessis, Joint CEO of SPARK Media advises.

 Traditionally an American shopping holiday, Black Friday has grown in popularity amongst South African shoppers over the past few years. 2017 is forecast to be as frenzied as ever, with retailers slashing prices by 50% to 80% off usual prices. With the current state of our economy, we’re anticipating that this year participation in Black Friday shopping will be even bigger than 2016 as shoppers gear up to buy as many products as possible at the lowest prices.

Consumers will be on the look-out for the best deals ahead of Black Friday, scouring the internet and media in the weeks preceding this massive sales day. It’s imperative that your brand is front and centre amongst the consideration set. Last year, SPARK Media’s Retail Advertising Network (which comprises a variety of high traffic websites used to showcase catalogues online, including Guzzle and over 70 Caxton-Owned Local News Websites) achieved 580 000 page views two days before Black Friday, 870 000 the day before and over 1.3 million page views on the day.

Evidence-based marketing principles from EBI (Ehrenberg Bass Institute) state that as consumers, we buy brands that we ‘know of’ and ‘think well of’. Brands that occupy a large ‘share’ of our minds are easily thought of in buying situations, and are the most likely to be bought. Marketing efforts need to build this ‘mental availability’ through mass reach advertising and communication.

EBI also supports the principle that mass reach is far better than niched reach, a principle that we wholeheartedly agree with. Through our local community newspapers, reaching 3.4 million households per week, coupled with our collection of digital platforms visited by millions more, we’re in a fortunate position to offer advertisers mass reach into hyper local markets,  delivering advertising and lifestyle communication that is highly relevant to our readers.

So, how can retailers effectively tap into the Black Friday buying frenzy and get the edge against competing brands? Quite simply, by adopting a marketing strategy that makes them the most visible to the most people.