Author: Mark

Not even one week after the agency opened the doors to its brand new offices in Johannesburg, Group MD Chris Botha has announced the appointment of Kgaugelo Maphai as The MediaShop’s new Managing Director of the Sandton office, effective 1^st April.

 “It’s been a whirlwind few weeks, that’s for sure,” says Chris. “We’ve been looking for the right candidate for quite some time now to head our Johannesburg office and to take on additional management responsibilities. We all agree that Kgaugelo is the right man for the job.

His passion has always been about understanding our diverse South African consumers, their behaviour, what influences them and how to effectively communicate with them within their own environments. We’re confident Kgaugelo will bring a lot of dynamic, innovative and different thinking into the agency and we’ll support him 100% of the way.”

Kgaugelo is a marketer and entrepreneur who has experienced all aspects of marketing, media and communications within the client, media owner and agency working environments.

His marketing pedigree is huge, having held the following management and leadership positions: Group Marketing Services Manager at Peermont Global (Pty) Ltd, National Trade Marketing Manager at SABC Radio, National Sales Manager at East Coast Radio (Pty) Ltd, Key Account Manager at Etv and Acting Portfolio Sales Manager at Metro Fm in 2002. In addition he has also consulted agencies including Draft FCB on the topic of consumer insights.

Kgaugelo adds: “I am thrilled to be entrusted with the position of MD at such a progressive agency. I believe that The MediaShop’s purpose aligns perfectly with my own and that is to connect brands with consumers through pioneering and innovative communication solutions. I’m looking forward to the challenge and to working with a fantastic group of people.”

For more on The MediaShop visit www.mediashop.co.za, like them on Facebook: The MediaShop or follow them on Twitter @MediaShopZA

The MediaShop’s Johannesburg office will be moving to brand new premises on the 22^nd March. The agency’s new home will be Block B, The Main Straight Office Park, corner Main and Portman Roads in Bryanston. Telephone numbers will remain unchanged.

“Great Minds Think Different – we’ve put a lot of thought into what we’re looking for in terms of office space for the team, and for our clients and media owners – this building has it all. Great modern spaces, it’s more social than our current environment, it has a canteen and a lot of space for creativity to thrive,” says Group MD Chris Botha.

“Other positives include loads more parking and it’s a better commute for many of our team which will make life easier for a lot of people. We’re excited to get into the new space and look forward to welcoming our clients and media owners soon.”

The agency will be shutting down at 5pm on Thursday the 16^th March ahead of the move. “We expect minimal downtime and disruptions to services while we make the transition and we can’t wait to welcome our staff into this new modern space.”

Follow the hashtag #TMSNewOffice on Facebook and Twitter before and after the move!

For more on The MediaShop visit www.mediashop.co.za, like them on Facebook: The MediaShop or follow them on Twitter @MediaShopZA

Maggie Pronto, Media Strategist at The MediaShop says it’s the eternal agency debate, whether you’re full serviced or specialised – to integrate or not?

 I was lucky enough to start off my advertising career in a full service agency. It was the days where everyone sat in the same room from brief right through to third review to ensure that everything tied in, from the research and communication strategy through to consumer exposure.

 The end result was what everyone worked towards! Everyone contributed and everyone had a combined input – no idea was bad and it didn’t matter where the idea came from.

 Then digital happened, and because at the time it was a ‘niched’ environment, it stood alone. Everyone thought that it would be wise to break away from one another so that clients could have experts within each field – enter the field experts and the birth of the lead agency.

 Can I be bold enough to say, that it’s potentially not the best idea – even though I say this within the walls of a standalone media agency?

 

Let me justify why I say this – and to start off it isn’t the same for every client because everyone’s requirements are different. But I have sat around enough boardroom tables where clients have requested integration across at least seven agencies – each with their own strengths with a lead agency to pull everything together.

 By default since we all work from an idea birthed from one of the seven starting points – reviews start off with a bit of tension – sometimes you have to bring along your own metaphorical knife! Take into account that potentially none of the other experts have been asked to participate in a brainstorm or review or anything really until the big idea is revealed a day or so before the client presentation. And we wonder why a specific party is being asked to buy into something that has been developed without everyone’s participation.

 Now I might be looking at this through a different set of glasses – but to me this is not integrated – there should be no lead agency – client should take the lead and everyone else should be working towards a common goal – and it shouldn’t matter where the idea comes from.

 But that’s in an ideal world right?

 Well – I can proudly say that I do work with such a team – an integrated one – across a few more than seven “individual” agencies. We work towards a common goal where everyone is consulted and their opinion is valued and at the end the results and relationships reflect this.

 We understand that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I so wish this for every team so that they avoid the knife cutting experience and rather focus on what is important. Ultimately, it is not about an individual agency being recognised but rather about working together to reach a common goal and obtain the best result for our clients.

 To integrate or not to integrate shouldn’t really be the question – which team is ultimately the more important question?

 

The new consumer currency is here, says Katharine Liese, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop

Consumer behaviour is changing – and fast! Gone are the days of consumers spending hours and weeks researching options. Decisions are being made in moments – micro-moments in fact.

These micro-moments are intent-driven moments of decision making that shape preferences. They occur throughout the entire consumer journey and are impacting the way in which we as marketers need to speak to the consumer.

As mobile phones become a totally immersive part of everyday life, we as an agency are seeing a fundamental shift in the way that people consume their media and process information they use for purchase decision making.

In the past, media consumption was actually quite predictable. There was a peak in radio listenership in the early mornings and late afternoons with drive time audiences captive in their cars. There was a distinctive push to Sunday night TV where the 8pm movie was not only hallowed ground, but sold out and over-subscribed. We knew that we could reach the world through a 30 second ad in Generations. Newspapers were jam-packed with pages of advertising at month end, because that was when people bought stuff right? Everyone went to the movies on the opening weekend and a billboard on a highway was a sure winner in driving noting.

Those were the simple days, but those days are gone. Now we have a consumer that is so time poor and thinly spread that they capitalise on any moment to make a consideration or decision regarding a purchase. These moments occur in a micro second when there is time – usually around a couple of need states that surface and need to be satisfied immediately:

• ‘I want to know’ moment
• ‘I want to go’ moment
• ‘I want to do’ moment
• ‘I want to buy’ moment

Micro-moments occur when people instinctively turn to a device for an answer. How often are you sitting in a conversation and someone asks a question you don’t know the answer to and your automatic response is to pick up your smartphone and announce that you will “Google it”? That’s a micro-moment right there.

These moments are considered intent rich – you want to know something right now, buy something right now, learn something right now, discover something right now, and answer something right now – and they are the moments in which the consumer is most susceptible to influence – because they are already committed to finding out the answer to their query. And this is the environment where brands must operate – you have to be seen here, to be considered, to be explored, to be acted on.

So how do brands ensure that they are present in these micro-moments?

Understanding behavioural and contextual targeting of a digital marketing definitely assists in getting the brand in front of the consumer when they are in the moment of influence. This is key to enabling a person to capitalise on a micro-moment of engagement. A brand’s digital display, programmatic, social and search strategy need to work hand in hand to ensure that no matter which gateway a consumer comes through – search, display or social – brands should be front and centre with a compelling message.

It’s in that moment that targeted and focused creative messaging, that is engaging, should be the hook to start the consumer journey in the preferred direction and to capitalise on the immediate need to know consumers are exhibiting millions of times a day.

A recent study in the UK shows that the average person checks their phone 110 times a day and up to once every 6 seconds in the evening. I don’t think that our stats are much different here in SA. It’s time we truly begin to understand the power of the small 6 inch device in the hand of 89% of adults in South Africa and how we can capitalise on their need states every time they engage on their mobile – to ensure our brand is first in line for consideration.