Author: Mark

Gill Randall, Joint CEO of SPARK Media says that markets don’t stop in a recession. According to Randall, people don’t stop shopping it’s just the consumer’s behaviour that changes.

Through our membership of the Ehrenburg Bass Institute (EBI) for marketing science, we have access to consumer behaviour tracked from way before, during and post the previous recession, and that data has revealed very clear shopper insights. One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is just how habitual consumers are.

Consumers find it difficult to modify their regular behaviour. So in belt tightening time, they find it much easier to change non-regular behaviours. Regular behaviour would be defined as going out for lunch or coffee or shopping at their favourite stores, they’ll continue to do this, but just at a reduced frequency or expenditure level. Non-regular behaviours, however, like buying big appliances or re-decorating will be postponed or discarded.

The 2008 – 2009 recession resulted in purchase declines across all categories, with the after effects felt and seen in continued declines up until 2013. As the economy recovered, purchasing again picked up between 2013 and 2016 showing increased purchases across most categories.

But even during a recession, life continues to happen: appliances and cars that break down still need to be repaired or replaced, people still get married, move houses, start families and change jobs etc, money will still be spent, again, just at a reduced level and frequency.

Thinner markets mean that less people are actively buying at any given time. They’re spending less and buying less frequently which generally means that smaller marketing budgets have to work harder. And along with tightening budgets, consumers are also extensively searching for bargains, therefore an increased mental availability for brands in tough times do go a long way in getting those much needed sales.

This is where the now generally accepted ‘reach’ and ‘continuity’ strategy becomes ever more critical. Less active shoppers, shopping less frequently must equate to advertisers adopting a wider reach of the whole category more often (continuously) to maintain conversion rates of available share of wallet.

Additionally, in good times and in bad, the principle of Share of Voice (SOV) applies – so marketers whose ad spend is above (or below) their relative market share tend to improve (or decline) in overall market share during these times. That’s why holding or, (yes please), raising your ad spend in a recession generally leaves your brand’s market share better off at the end of a recession than at the start. It’s simply a matter of SOV. But, if budgets are to be cut, don’t stress too much – competitors are more than likely in the same boat, but do try to ensure the retention of relative SOV.

Extensive EBI analysis shows that at best 50% of a brand’s business comes from regular shoppers and that better than 50% comes from the balance of buyers in the category. The bottom line is that target markets are not just regular shoppers, it’s all buyers in the category. Aim too narrow and ads won’t be seen by the big groups of flirtatious customers!

Local papers remain the only real mass reach print media available. ROOTS 2016 shows that 63% of urban decision makers read their local paper versus 25% of any other daily newspaper or 22% of any other weekly paper.

To sum up, in a recession purchases are fewer and further between than normal and the ratio of ‘need’ purchases to ‘pleasure’ purchases is far higher. Shopping is also less planned and more random. Random shopping can happen anytime, so brands need to be in the market continuously to attract the buyers as they consider their choices amongst a myriad of brand offerings.

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

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’.

Local community newspapers, Die Pos and The Beat have joined the SPARK Media stable of local community newspapers, bolstering the media owner’s already 3.4 million strong weekly circulation in urban homes.

Die Pos, a sold paper, delivers 6,000 copies weekly into Bela Bela (Warmbaths), Modimolle (Nylstroom), Naboomspruit, Vaalwater, Settlers, Pienaarsrivier, Leeupoort, and Radium areas. The Beat, a freely distributed paper which has a circulation of 6,000 copies weekly, covers the township areas of Bela Bela, Modimolle, Mookgophong and Vaalwater.

“Die Pos has been in existence since 1982 and has a unique interaction with its readers and advertisers. In fact, there have been several weeks where up to five pages have been needed for its letters section – definite proof that the community is heavily engaged in the paper,” says Graham Sinclair, Channel Manager at SPARK Media.

The winning formula for both papers is hyper local content, creative advertising and upliftment among the less-privileged communities in the form of various charity initiatives.

Die Pos boasts a wonderful heritage since 1982. The Beat is a newer publication, starting in 2006, but both have incredibly passionate readers that care about what happens in their suburbs and think carefully about which of their local retailers and businesses they’ll be spending their hard earned money with.”

“We’re pleased to add these products to our stable and we’re confident that we’ll provide both papers with fantastic advertisers who recognise the buying power of these communities,” he concludes.

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

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’.

Headed by entrepreneur Ken Varejes, Nfinity is an established innovation hub constantly on the lookout for hot pioneering businesses in the media space. The company’s latest partnership includes mobile advertising innovator, AdColony.

 Headed in the South African market by Andrew Kramer, AdColony is the global leader in innovative in-app mobile video advertising, offering consumers access to HD ad experiences across the top listed 1000 mobile apps. Reaching TV sized audiences of 1,6 billion unique consumers month to month, AdColony has a significant number of unique users across all major African markets.

“We are focused on delivering the highest quality mobile advertising experiences for our partners, and our business has gained significant traction locally over the past 24 months. We’re thrilled to be working with Nfinity which will give us access to their local expertise and infrastructure, and allow us to further grow in the region,” says AdColony South Africa Managing Director, Andrew Kramer.

“It’s the addition of pioneering platforms like AdColony to the Nfinity group of companies that make us the ‘Big Thinking – Big Ideas’ company,” concludes Varejes. “With AdColony, each ad served is a great visual and fully immersive journey for the user. It’s a great fit for our business.”

The AdColony platform allows advertisers to run campaigns with 100 percent full screen viewability, no buffering, HD-quality video, unparalleled engagement rates and extremely high reach in brand safe environments.

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 in the following companies: AdColony, theSALT, Whisky Live, Whizzky App, Orange Block, Infinity Digital, Oomph and Brand a Tuk Tuk.

AdColony

AdColony is one of the largest mobile advertising platforms in the world with a reach of more than 1.4 billion users globally. With a mission to elevate the state of mobile advertising by focusing on the highest quality consumer experiences that deliver outcomes for brands and publishers on today’s primetime apps and sites, AdColony is trusted by Fortune 500 brands and more than 85% of the world’s top grossing mobile publishers. Known for our exclusive Instant-Play™ HD video technology, proprietary rich media formats, our global performance advertising business and programmatic marketplace, and our extensive ad SDK footprint in the Top 1000 apps worldwide, we are passionate about helping brands connect with consumers at scale on the most important screen in their lives. A fully-owned subsidiary of Opera ASA, AdColony is a global organization with over 20 offices worldwide.

It’s the man in a kilt! Owlhurst Communications has launched its media and strategy division – Kilted Media. The division is headed by Mark Campbell – aka, the Kilted Man.

“An opportunity existed to provide smaller brands and SMMEs with access to media tools, strategy, implementation and negotiation that is normally only available to larger entities,” says Mark Campbell, The Kilted Man at Kilted Media. “It’s a great way to offer our clients access to 360° communication that includes PR and advertising across the spectrum of media platforms.”

The division will offer the full range of media services that includes strategy, implementation, buying and negotiation across traditional, social and digital platforms.

“We’re targeting brands that want to advertise their businesses but aren’t sure how, and that don’t have the large budgets that other brands may have. We may just be getting off the starting blocks but we’re looking forward to guiding brands through the advertising experience in our own and unique kilted way,” concludes Campbell.

Kilted Media DNA

Kilted Media was established in 2017 as the media planning and strategy division of Owlhurst Communications, offering SMME clients, often considered too small to be serviced by large media agencies, the opportunity to advertise in traditional and digital media with many of the benefits offered by large media agencies.

Besides its extensive digital brand extensions for Caxton’s Local Newspapers, innovative technology platforms and strategic digital acquisitions, Caxton Digital has been growing their digital footprint through data collection, data management and programmatic advertising.

“We have been attracting more and more online users in the digital space steadily for the last three years,” says Nicole Rimbault, General Manager of Caxton Digital. “In fact, according to Effective Measure May 2017 statistics, Caxton Digital is the third largest South African digital publisher.”

Adding to the 78 local newspaper websites drawing north of 3.1 million users across all the sites, Caxton have provided innovation through their classifieds technology business, Hozi a division of Caxton Digital which has a unique offering.  The technology allows a publisher website to seamlessly integrate classifieds portals as a sub-domain into their environment with very little effort.

All Caxton newspaper sites now have integrated platforms that allow our users to search for property and business listings in their town, catalogues and much more to come. Further strategic acquisitions and partnerships include the likes of one of SA’s biggest female interest websites www.all4women.co.za and Guzzle Media & Technology, a business offering online catalogue aggregation and technology for retailers.

A major piece of the digital puzzle for Caxton has been large investment into data collection and data management. Caxton has chosen to invest in the Oracle Bluekai Data Management Platform in order to collect high quality audiences across the entire group, including The Citizen, Local News Network, All4women, Ramsay Media, Caxton Magazines, Guzzle and Autodealer.  This data collection gives advertisers the opportunity to talk to people who have shown an interest in their product/service category. It provides a much more relevant and brand safe digital advertising opportunity.

Clients have access to the Caxton group’s entire network of sites through SPARK Media and via programmatic buying desks. The combination of a large interest based audience with rich data overlays becomes a powerful offering for advertisers and gives advertisers a brand safe environment, coupled with world class data collection technology.

“Not only have we been making huge strides into the digital space, it has been strategically correct moves that have benefitted our readers and advertisers,” concludes Rimbault. “Being the third largest publisher in South Africa with 5.2 million unique browsers clearly proves the point!”