Category: The MediaShop

Herman Degener, The MediaShop

If your daily grind is remotely related to the marketing segment, you’ll probably agree that there is more ‘how to market in a recession’ research around than you can shake a stick at! Who does one turn to in times like these for advice, especially when there’s a cacophony of opinions? The short answer is a trusted advisor, and WARC is one such advisor.

Recent research from WARC forms the basis of this blog post which aims to provide a sense of comfort (in that we’re all in this together) and advice that is sound and practical. As Isla Prentis from our Tirisano Consulting division pointed out in her sobering post ‘ A lesson in humanity ’, we are all in the same storm, but in different boats.

There’s no one-size fits all solution here, no panacea. However, by weathering the same storm there are some useful nuggets of advice from the intellectuals over at WARC which I feel will provide a slightly elevated sense of ‘we’ve got this’ after reading them. So without further ado, here are five actions to take now as an advertiser: 

1. Review your lockdown playbook.

The burning question in South Africa, and globally for that matter, is will lockdowns intensify again to combat future outbreaks of COVID-19? Using lessons learnt from the past can help a brand prepare for further recurrences. One of the big themes of the current lockdown has been acts over ads, but can brands sustain an altruistic approach?

Dale Partridge’s book ‘People Over Profits’ suggests this is a sustainable business strategy in a world of collaborative consumption, and perhaps one way to try and balance the two is for brands to invest in real actions, which consumers might applaud on social media (offline actions drive online conversations). 

2. Keep advertising, if you can.

There is plenty of evidence from almost a century’s worthy of research to validate the notion that brands who maintain ad spend in recession, will prosper post-recession. Cutting too hard has long-term impact on sales, market share, growth and ROI. Those who maintain their spend not only proposer post-recession but also recover quicker as a result.

The advice to keep advertising won’t apply to all brands, however as the hardest hit companies will be focusing on saving jobs and business continuity. Here are a few tips for those brands that are fortunate enough to keep advertising:

• Don’t panic and stop brand advertising unless you absolutely must. Media costs are lower and there’s less noise from competitive brands in your sector.
• Maintain brand campaigns unless it jars with public mood. Use emotional, warm advertising that fits (and lifts) the public mood.
• Look for tactical opportunities to create goodwill with customers: tap into first party data and seek to enhance the customer experience. Remember it costs 5 times more to gain a customer than to retain one. Random acts of kindness in times like this are certain to drive immense positive sentiment and earned media for your brand.

3. If you have to reduce adspend, use other levers to remain visible:

Even outside of recessions, there are always levers to pull that are low cost, high reward opportunities for brands. One is the use of first party data (as alluded to above) to keep customers informed, remind them of seasonal events, and even to drive referrals and good old positive WOM (word of mouth). In addition, brands can also:

• Use owned assets to communicate: it’s often less expensive to target your social media page’s followers than compete for new audiences. Noting the reality of low organic reach when a brand posts an update on social media, invest in ensuring your messaging is seen by more of your opted-in audience before investing in acquiring new audiences.
• Consider PR and partnerships to generate earned media: consider partnering with other brands or influencers who have a mutual interest in solving a particular problem, with each bringing their own expertise or capital to the collaboration.

Leverage your brand’s equity to collaborate with your own audiences and relevant influencers to help solve an original content challenge. This is particularly useful when focusing your limited resources in the build-up to key selling seasons. 

4. Look for signs of new habit formation:

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have given rise to all manner of new consumer behaviours, chief among them being online. This is especially prevalent amongst older consumers who are adopting online shopping. The time it takes to form a new habit and the time we’ve been in lockdown are not mutually exclusive, so there are definitely opportunities for consumers to try new brands and/or products. This is because the pandemic mirrors the psychological traits where people are more likely to try new brands when they go through a life changing event, such as marriage, a new job or the birth of a child.

A strong initial experience can help cement these new habits. This could range from free delivery of goods bought online, unexpected bonuses for new customers (akin to my point above about making your existing customers feel extra special is always a winning strategy), or information about how your brand is helping frontline workers during the crisis.

All these actions can create a positive memory for new and existing customers alike which they will recall as and when we enter recovery. 

5. Innovate, or die (and no, discounting is not innovation).

As the saying goes ‘necessity is the mother of invention’, and never before in the modern era has innovation, or ‘out of the box’ thinking, been so needed both on the supply and demand side (no I’m not talking about the programmatic media buying ecosystem). WARC cautions that discounting is not innovation and it can lead to long term damage to your brand plus it creates downward pressure on margins. Rather rethink what value your brand creates for consumers; here are some key questions to ask when revising price in a recession:

In closing

Given the current, or at least inevitable recession, being driven by a pandemic and not an economic event, the impact is being felt across the entire value chain, from supply through to demand. Even where there has been demand, many brands have simply not been permitted to service it.

As the cliché goes ‘this too shall pass’ and The MediaShop and our sister companies throughout the Nahana Group are here to help you navigate your way through and out of this crisis. From content and creative solutions to brand PR and our very own relationships with South Africa’s media owners, we can help you say… “We’ve got this!”

 *For a copy of the WARC document “The WARC guide: Marketing in the COVID-19 Recession”, which informed this Blog post, please free to drop me an email at herman.degener@mediashop.co.za

Victor Koaho, Business Unit Manager, The MediaShop

The world is currently experiencing the worst pandemic and economic downturn seen in the past 75 years. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused serious economic ramifications not only for South Africa but for the world at large. This has been exacerbated by the fact that governments around the world have encouraged their citizens to socially distance themselves in order to ensure that the rate of infections is reduced, and to avoid more people contracting it.

This measure however has led to most non-essential businesses and products from not being available in the community, causing most of their suppliers to also close for a long period of time. This means some of the employees of these institutions are now unable to draw salaries and thus unable to participate and contribute toward our ailing economy.

All industries have been dealt a blow and have had to re-look their business models for new ways of doing things. The media industry has been dealt a blow as well, with some epic media institutions having to close down. One of the largest publishers of magazines, some as old as 100 years, are shutting down, and will not be able to print going forward. This means that advertisers will no longer use these platforms to connect with ardent and loyal readers. The Outdoor or Out of Home industry has experienced the same with clients questioning whether or not to continue advertising on billboards, because the audiences they were trying to reach are no longer moving around outside their homes.

On the flip side, some mediums have seen an upsurge and an influx of audiences. These have largely been digital and social media platforms. This influx has been attributed to crowd-sourcing engagement in the form of DJ’s hosting social distancing live parties where audiences can party without leaving the comfort of their own homes. Similarly, a lot of consumers who like to keep fit, have gone as far as sharing their exercise routines on social media and encouraging those in their circles to participate online. This phenomenon also has people sharing new ways of preparing food and recipes with online audiences and the social media community at large.

However in every good situation there will also be some bad apples. There are those who have shared recipes of making their own home brewed alcohol as is it no longer available for sale during this social distancing period. The number of unqualified journalists and political commentators have also been on the rise, with some of them sharing fake news largely based on unverified information.

So how do clients look at these phenomena and still connect with their consumers? They need to understand what makes their audiences tick and try and connect with them on the social platforms they’re most likely to be. But brands also need to be careful to not only try and make a sale but to be comforting and giving back to consumer in one way or another. Whether its brands giving advice or sharing recipes and even sometimes just talking about mental health to try and empower the consumers they serve. But staying dark and invisible in these trying times is not an option, because this tactic allows competitors to occupy the headspace of consumers and make them the preferred brand or product once their categories are once more made available. The old adage, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ rings true – so stay visible.

Andrew Dabbs, Digital Media Strategist at The MediaShop

They said, “there is time”, “the investment in technology could be made next year” and that “things were not going to change overnight”, “consumer habits will remain the same”, “don’t change something that not broken” and then came COVID19.

The world has spun into absolute shock with global economies taking the brunt of the devastation. South Africa is providing relief to the tune of at least R500bn, while other countries like the UK announced an unprecedented package of government-backed and guaranteed loans to support businesses, making an initial £330 billion of guarantees available (R23 to £1 = R7,590,000,000,000Tn).

Business has been caught out more than ever before and the companies that held back on their digital transformation may not make it through 2020. But what is digital transformation?

According to Technopedia: “Digital transformation is the changes associated with digital technology application and integration into all aspects of human life and society. It is the move from the physical to digital”.

According to Mckinsey, “16% of respondents say that their organisations’ digital transformations have successfully improved performance and also equipped them to sustain changes in the long term. An additional 7% say that performance improved but that those improvements were not sustained. In traditional industries like oil and gas, automotive, infrastructure and pharmaceuticals, digital transformation is even more challenging: success rates fall between 4% and 11%. Success rates also vary by company size. Organisations with fewer than 100 employees, say that their respondents are 2.7 times more likely to report a successful digital transformation than those from organisations with more than 50,000 employees.

It’s not a promising picture and this has been substantiated by the budget speech, UIF temporary relief, the Solidarity Fund, etc… so on a positive note, let’s consider which industries have successfully embraced digital transformation. In my opinion, the fitness/health and wellness industry is a leader in adopting technology. The myriad of online content covers anything from dieting to high intensity exercise, which can all link back to a virtual leader board if you require it for your medical aid. Virtual games can be created between you and your colleagues, friends, family or even people who have the same interest and live in an area around you. The applications and associated brands are endless who have connected individuals, built communities and collated databases based on goals, body weights and heart rates.

If we consider the pure shortage of live sport and the inability for people to connect at races and events right now, it’s been wonderful to see people running a virtual two oceans marathon and multiple other races around their houses or on treadmills. We’ve also been lucky enough to see with the world’s top cyclist competing on SS1 in a virtual tour https://www.tourdesuisse.ch/en/ .

Ultimately, technology is there for us to embrace and to make life easier, its time consuming and costly, but in the long run it might help you keep your doors open and keep customers engaged. Hopefully we didn’t hedge all our bets on their being another day to look at digital transformation.

Isla Prentis, The MediaShop

We keep hearing that everyone is in the same boat. But it’s really not like that. We are in the same storm yes, but we are not in the same boat. Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine may not. Or vice versa.

The text above was the beginning of a social media post about COVID-19 but when I read it, it reminded me of life in 2020 – even prior to the global pandemic we find ourselves in at the moment. Not being in the same boat remains a universal truth – and COVID-19 is probably the most far reaching storm the world has seen in recent history. The storm and boat analogy has so many different layers but for the purpose of keeping this to the length of a blog, and not a book, I’m going to focus on the reality we face in South Africa – both in and out of lockdown.

So often during lockdown it has been those in metaphorical luxury yachts that have found loopholes or excuses to not comply while those in basic canoes sacrifice their livelihood to comply. So many complained about the crowding in Alexandra in the first week of lockdown (to use just one example) but did those people complaining and judging stop to think about the crowds’ circumstances? The complainants might have been part of the crowds that emptied Woolworths’ shelves just a few days earlier (panic pantry loading – with not a care for anyone else they are impacting) – but have they even known what it is like to have an empty fridge, and an empty wallet? Have many of our citizens even imagined what they would do if they had nothing left and only got paid as lockdown was setting in? Have they ever known what it’s like to be truly hungry, truly desperate?

The below image was the front page of Time magazine about a year ago. It was described as a visualisation of the unequal scenes we see in South Africa. While the specific image is of Primrose alongside Makause, it’s an image that is all too true throughout our country. Our Gini coefficient is one of the highest in the world – in other words, we are a dual economy – our inequality is described as persistent. In marketing (not just media), it is our job to walk in someone else’s shoes to understand what their life is like. Remember it is not a target audience – it is a group of human beings each in their own unique boat. And actually this is something that every single South African should do. Take the time to walk in someone else’s shoes to understand the life they live, the challenges they face – not because of COVID-19 but every single day.

We all have a choice no matter the situation. We can choose to give in, or we can choose to keep fighting and find an opportunity. We can choose to support and help, or we can choose to take advantage. We can choose to judge others, or we can choose to understand. I love hearing the many stories of people supporting feeding schemes, local businesses, and the all-round Ubuntu spirit! But it saddens me that there are just as many stories of judgement and negativity.

After all, humanity should be something we focus on from the day we are born until the day we die – it should certainly not be something newly discovered because of COVID-19. Humanity is what will differentiate us in the 4^th industrial revolution – it should be seen as a strength, something we actively grow within ourselves. But let COVID-19 do this for us – let it act as a reminder that in the rat race that we live in, we neglect basic humanity and become self-absorbed. Let it remind us to stop and think of someone else. Next time you are going to judge someone else’s behaviour – stop and think about what boat they might be in. And next time you choose your own rules, think about the impact it has on the storm (and the impact on less luxurious boats weathering the storm). We say that in the upcoming decade brands are going to have be more human to connect so now is the time to for an evolution if you’re not yet thinking about the humanity of your brand.

I leave you with a final thought. Rather than using the time to complain about how tough life is in lockdown, use the time to learn about someone else’s hardships (either on a personal level or of the human audience you are trying to reach), to understand, to help where you can and to grow your humanity. And one day when life returns to “normal”, or at least a new normal – don’t forget the humanity that lockdown taught you. We’re all in the same storm.

Sinenhlanhla Jalibane, Digital Campaign Manager at The MediaShop

Load Shedding has once again become one of the most used buzzwords in South Africa. We’re all wishing that Eskom had a competitor or that they worked there themselves to better the crisis being faced.

But while we wait for government to attain a better solution to their “technical problems” and revert with plans to overcome this crisis, load shedding continues to have dire implications on everyone, particularly for television advertisers and broadcasters alike.

Source: pexels.com

Advertising budgets have already been reduced but now with the power out, what does this mean for advertisers, and the media industry in general?

     1.Viewership decreases

Television indisputably remains the largest media consumption channel in South Africa. It is still the most effective way of reaching a higher number of audiences at a high frequency. However, it is no secret that such media platforms are highly affected by load shedding.

Viewership is a client’s first concern when there is a blackout. It means that millions of South African TV households are off, reducing the potential TV audience of a particular channel or programme which has a huge effect for advertisers.

We have been experiencing stage 2 and 4 of load shedding recently. With that said, it is imperative to remember that having these power cuts means not reaching a household for at least two or more hours during each blackout. This is of serious concern especially when power is cut during prime time, which decreases viewership even more significantly. It results in adverts only being seen by a handful of people, who might not even be the target audience for the brand being advertised, which is then seen as wastage by many.

Britta Reid commented on a research article in 2019 published on The MediaOnline from The Broadcast Research Council, on how adult ARs for the 18h00 and 20h00 dayparts were affected. She commented that about 2% of adults on the BRC TAMS panel were flagged as having experienced power cuts during stage two, compared with 15% of adults during stage four . This equates to a huge number of audiences being lost due to load shedding and it doesn’t seem like it will get any better. 

2. Concern over reach

Secondly, clients have become sceptical about whether their brand will be seen by the right audiences as load shedding makes it difficult to plan schedules. I remember once when Eskom had promised two hours of load shedding but it went off for 3h30mins. This left me wondering how many TV adverts were being aired during this time that I would have missed.

Clients will (if they haven’t already) start questioning the value they are getting from advertising if they lose audiences during load shedding.

Yes brands are aware that performance will be affected (not that they’re happy about it) but there is unfortunately nothing that marketers and broadcasters can do at this point, as it is beyond their control. 

3. Even Digital is affected

Lastly, cell phone network coverage has also been getting disrupted and it seems this will continue to be the case during our electricity crisis. It’s making our jobs as marketers even more difficult. Just as we were trying to chase audiences in the digital space, it is now going to be harder to reach them whenever we’d like to.

We all love our smartphones, but their battery life is not as great as we’d like it to be. Power banks and portal chargers can help sustain battery life, but with port connectivity it seems like it would be a struggle to get advertising messages across audiences.

People would also rather save their battery to ensure for instance that their alarm wakes them up in the morning, rather than to scroll through their phones only to come across adverts that will deplete their battery even further. 

So what do we do?

While the country has enjoyed a few days of no load shedding now, there is still an unnerving sense of uncertainty around Eskom’s sustainability. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his SONA 2020 address that the Eskom issue was unavoidable. This shows that we’ve got a long way to go and for brands, we need to think of alternative ways to reach our audiences.

It seems like the old school “wireless” radios would be of good use at this point for people to still consume news during load shedding and this, without a doubt will cause an increase in listenership on the radio.

Maybe it’s also time to put more faith into apps such as EskomSePush to plan around most areas that are experiencing load shedding to ensure audiences are not lost. Imagine scheduling adverts to be aired on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at the same peak time as load shedding is scheduled? Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

 Sources:

1. https://www.nichemarket.co.za/blog/geek-chic/keep-track-of-loadshedding
2. http://loadshedding.eskom.co.za
3. https://themediaonline.co.za/2014/12/the-eskom-effect-on-tv-advertising/

Yvette Gengan, Digital Media Manager at The MediaShop

If you had to think back to when AI first became a buzzword across the globe, how many years would you say that was? Three, five, maybe ten years ago?

If you thought of any of the above, you’ve not gone back far enough!

I recently came across an article about a chess game between one of the world’s best chess players and a super computer called Deep Blue, owned by IBM. That was in 1997, 23 years ago!

Garry Kasparov lost his game to the supercomputer. Kasparov had never previously lost a game to a human opponent so his loss to the supercomputer was his only one at 34 years old. The loss came in under 20 moves. (Wired, 2020)

Fast forward 23 years and we live in a world filled with chatbots, smart cars, IoT devices and voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Simply put, AI or Artificial Intelligence “refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions.”

But what’s the general sentiment around AI? Well if we look to Hollywood, we see AI depicted as robots taking over the world resulting in apocalyptic ends or hard at work parents losing their jobs to machines. This is not accurate.

I think that as the dominant species, it is normal to want to retain all control and be the smartest but if we never push boundaries, how do we develop as a species? To share Garry Kasparov’s point of view, “We are comfortable with machines making us faster and stronger, but smarter? It’s some sort of human fear.”

A lack of understanding about technology advances such as AI has created a cult of fear mongers who are conflicted by the speed of AI development and who’d prefer for us to slow it down. But doesn’t this not hold us back as a generation?

No one really knows what the future of AI even looks like and where it fits into our world. It has taken decades to get to where we are now and it is still not good enough, so if we slow down now then aren’t we just delaying the inevitable?

Artificial intelligence is a simulation of human intelligence and therefore it cannot exist without a human.

We cannot press pause on where AI advances are going but maybe we can advance with it. We can create a balanced narrative on the topic so that more and more people move away from the fear and wrong use of AI and focus on how to equip ourselves to utilise it in a positive way. Yes, technology has been the cause of many job losses for those that are being left behind. However, it has also created new jobs and industries.

One of the industries that are benefitting greatly from AI is healthcare. Having a person’s full health history is proving to be vital in research and diagnosis, engineering and patient care. “This field of artificial intelligence is dedicated to representing information about the world in a form that a computer system can utilise to solve complex tasks such as diagnosing a medical condition or having a dialogue in a natural language.” (Prof. Dame Wendy Hall, PhD)

Paint got an upgrade:

The app Deepfake uses face mapping to bring the Mona Lisa to life. There’s a video online – check it out! There has been lots of conversation around the privacy and use of this app, including how everything related to advanced technology should be used with proper controls that protect those that use it.

If we look at AI as a tool then we know that what matters is how we use it just like everything that has some power. There are ethical considerations with AI, as with most tech advances, which should be controlled by human intelligence. AI in the wrong hands and used for the wrong thing is obviously a concern, especially with the mounting issues of irresponsible use of data and lack of privacy. However, this is a human problem not an AI problem. The key focus in this case, should then be forcing firm regulations and controls over the use of AI and actually having people stick to it.

“AI is like a mirror, it amplifies both good and bad. We have to actually look and just understand how we can fix it, not say ‘Oh, we can create AI that will be better than us’.” (Garry Kasparov, 2020).

Garry Kasparov’s loss became an iconic moment in the history of AI and machine learning. What is his message now on the impact of AI, 23 years later? “We have to look for opportunities to create jobs that will emphasize our strengths. Technology is the main reason why so many of us are still alive to complain about technology. It’s a coin with two sides. I think it’s important that, instead of complaining, we look at how we can move forward faster.” (Garry Kasparov for Wired)

1997 also saw Microsoft becoming the world’s most valuable company valued at $261 billion dollars and Steve Job’s return to Apple. The top valued companies currently are Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung respectively. Most of which are significant players in the field of AI.

For me, the lesson is that we should work with AI, not against it.

Thuso Mmotlana, Buyer at The MediaShop

With all the noise and clutter in the market, how can a brand illuminate itself to have a long productive life and make a mark in cultural and artistic history?

On Tuesday the 11^th February I heard the sad news of Professor Bhekizizwe Joseph Shabalala’s passing. He was the founding member of the Is’cathamiya group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Taken aback by the news I listened further as the ENCA reporter gave a short eulogy. Talking about his early life and origin, she went on to say that Bab’ Shabalala founded the band in 1960 – I paused for a moment and thought “1960? That means this year the group will be celebrating 60 years of existence”, which is an incredible feat for a group of roughly ten band members, touring the world and winning prestigious awards without scandalous reports and ego clashes.

My mind started racing as I asked myself what it takes to build that kind of a brand that is consistent, beyond reproach and stands the test of time such as this amazing group. So out of interest I googled ‘what keeps a brand alive over an extended period of time?’ These were the top tips I found on this matter, aka Marketing 101.

Have a distinct brand identity – this includes the visible elements of a brand like its name, colours, design and logo that distinguish it in consumers’ minds. It’s important for a brand to be bold from the onset about who they are and what they do, this sets them apart from their competitors and carves out a unique journey for the product/service. For Ladysmith Black Mambazo part of their ID is in their name and in the visual presentation of their unique Dashiki shirts, formal pants and bright white shoes, which are/ very visible when dancing and lifting their legs in the air.

Relevance and Resonance – another way to keep a brand alive is by identifying a need in the market and continuing to meet it. A sure fire way of remaining relevant is also by constantly being truthful and authentic in all endeavours taken by the brand. LSBM achieved that in its formative years.

Performing during a difficult time in South Africa and with racial tensions quickly escalating, the groups’ purpose was to bring a message of peace, kindness and hope amongst the people of the world, which is still a relevant message today. They also remained authentic to themselves while using their voices acapella style. 

Have a growth strategy or succession plan – if any brand is to live long after its founders have gone its growth strategy should be to groom young talent for key leadership positions and to impart skills to the younger generation. For Bab’ Shabalala and his team the solution was easy – he and his band members taught and trained their children to sing, so now the younger band members are sons of the original band members with one grandson even joining. Thamsanqa is now the lead singer of the band since his father’s retirement in 2014.

The last but not least important tip to keeping a brand alive is Courage and Self-Belief. The courage to stick to your guns and be consistent in who and what this brand is. In an environment where there are many different influences that could’ve enticed LSBM to change their indigenous sound, they were courageous and took a chance on what was true to them. They believed in themselves and over 60 years later, with more than 50 albums released and five Grammy awards won, the Group has toured worldwide with the likes of Paul Simon and Nelson Mandela. They even sang for Queen Elizabeth III and they’re still going strong.

The brand journey is far from over for this band but I’ll park my thoughts about what makes a brand have longevity and stand the test of time right here. There are a lot more aspects of what makes a brand great but I found these to be the most influential in pushing a brand forward, just as it did for the Legendary Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Rest in Peace Professor Bhekizizwe Joeseph Mshengu Mxoveni BigBoy Shabalala,

Award winning media agency, The MediaShop began its evolution into an integrated marketing and communications (IMC) agency in 2019, and is now ready to make the transition final. The move allows the agency to offer business solutions beyond media that will be informed by data and behavioural economics, says Kgaugelo Maphai, The MediaShop’s Johannesburg MD.

Led by Victor Koaho as the agency’s IMC Head, the company’s new direction is promising great insight driven strategies. “We’re massively excited about our new direction which is already yielding positive results,” he says. “As an IMC agency we’re able to truly look at a business from all angles and address any shortcomings that may exist, beyond the realm of media planning. We’ll be taking a bird’s eye view of each client’s business in its entirety and offering workable solutions.”

Kgaugelo adds: “This is the foundation and investment we have made as a business to ensure that we differentiate ourselves, and that we are able to deliver even better results together with our clients in 2020 and beyond. Our vision is to be pioneers in revolutionary communication solutions for brands to connect with consumers — we can only achieve this by truly being in touch with consumers in this diverse society of ours.”

“With budgets being constrained, some brands are sticking to tried-and-tested methods, and therefore limiting the amount of innovation required to break through the clutter,” he says. “We are not seeing as much creativity as a result, which is unfortunate, because this is when we need it most.”

Backing the agency’s new direction is Tirisano Consulting, the agency’s human intelligence business headed by Isla Prentis that underpins all strategic work on intelligence led consumer insights.

The MediaShop:

The MediaShop is South Africa’s most established, most awarded, most transformed media agency, and member of the Nahana Communications Group of specialist agencies, each with their own independent structures, cultures and management teams, and a desire to work together where synergy exists.

Moti Grauman, Digital Media Strategist at The MediaShop

Perhaps it’s time to stop being so sensitive! Then again, perhaps we are not sensitive enough. It’s a tough nut to crack.

Towards the end of 2019, 702 Afternoon Drive Host, Joanne Joseph, featured two local ads on her show. It was only a five minute segment, but during that time she interviewed the CEO of the ASA to discuss the future of two different ads.

The first was the ‘more than a mouthful’ billboard by Kota Joe (pictured below) and the second was the radio ad for VW Amorak: Shoe Sale Country.

The radio ad depicts a man in a mall who is accompanying his shoe-shopping female partner. The voiceover reports from the scene:

“It’s dusk and you’re in unfamiliar territory, surrounded by predators hunting for fresh prey. And they found it. 50% off all shoes. They attack, lunging mercilessly. As you guard the 12 shopping bags, seated on a bench alongside the other men, you watch the feeding frenzy take place. This is Shoe Sale Country and you don’t belong here, man. This is not your habitat, so go where you belong in the V6 Amarok… Visit your Volkswagen dealership for great Amarok V6 offers today, man.”

Ultimately the podcast of that 702 discussion was entitled: “Gender Stereotyping in advertising”.

To be fair, that’s exactly what Joseph was discussing, and it was certainly claimed that Gender Stereotyping was evident in both pieces of creative.

During the show, the ASA CEO agreed that the Kota Joe ad was sexist, and that it objectified women as nothing more than sexual objects for the gratification of men. But that may be a bit of a stretch.

No doubt, many would agree it’s not a fantastic ad, but extrapolating the entire meaning of women in the minds of all men from one photograph in bad taste, is a bit ambitious.

As it turns out, the VW Amarok Radio ad which ran on 702, was actually banned by the Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) on the grounds that it was Gender Stereotyping.

This was widely reported at the time, and recently Professor Goldstein, the original complainant against VW for the Shoe Sale Country Ad, wrote an article defending her position. I recommend reading it in order to understand her motivation and to be able to reach your own conclusions. In her article, Professor Goldstein raises some pretty scary issues prevalent in SA society. There are indeed problems, and we need to be aware of them.

I just struggle with the assertion that a Radio ad causes or perpetuates these problems.

So….

How do we differentiate between communication or products that are truly offensive, or dangerous, and communication or products that are simply lacking in sensitivity toward consumers outside of their intended audience? Right at this moment consumers can buy Auschwitz-Birkenau themed beach towels online, but not a Country Road bag in colours reminiscent of the old SA apartheid flag. The latter having been removed from stores due to pressure by consumers. By that standard, shouldn’t we all be boycotting Visa based on their old logo?

Perhaps we are taking it all just a tad too far?

Additionally…

Where do we draw the line between stereotyping and the holy grail of advertising, the elusive “Human Truth”? That is the insight into our consumers, that’s true while simultaneously being humorous, frightening or exciting, that causes an emotional reaction that makes advertising resonate with us.

Something that isn’t stereotypical would be irrelevant to most consumers.

Is it true, as the VW complaint contends, that the advert demeans women? That it says that “they are like predators, in a feeding frenzy – building into the stereotype that women are superficial and consumerist, relying on men to provide”?

To be honest, I don’t see it? The ad implies that some women like shoe sales. Well, that’s true.

Is pointing that out and exaggerating the enthusiasm a good strategy for selling cars? Perhaps not, but is it really,…..really dangerous?

To quote from Professor Goldstein’s article: “According to the UN Human Rights Office harmful gender stereotypes are one of the “root causes for discrimination, abuse and violence…”

I don’t doubt that for a moment. But is this ad a Harmful Gender Stereotype? Some people think so. Others disagree.

As a society, are we too easily offended by ads that don’t strike the exact right chord in their consumers and begin a witch hunt ultimately causing a storm in a tea cup?

In both cases, the ads got a lot of more coverage from the reaction to them. The VW ad banning was covered by a few media platforms including Business Insider, Car magazine, 2Oceans Vibe and Bizcommunity. These articles were later referenced on chat groups and shared to social media. Had the ads just run, they would both be long gone, but both the Professor and I are still writing about them.

Brands don’t seem to be able to win because you can’t please everyone all the time. In March last year, “@TheMedicalShots” tweeted the following image, with the caption: “This is cute isn’t it”?

I thought so, but the backlash was intense!

One user responded: “How did you tweet this from the year 1950?” Another replied: “Nope. It’s tacky and misogynistic. Delete your account.”

A user demanded that they delete their account because she didn’t like what they said? How self-entitled and sanctimonious is that? Why didn’t she just unfollow?

The problem, of course, is that the girl isn’t the doctor. But had she been, men might have been offended. Why didn’t they make them both doctors? That would have offended Nurses. It’s clear to me that this isn’t a statement of how the world works, or the unlimited capabilities of the female gender. It’s just a cute picture of some toddlers holding hands.

Why can’t it just be that?

A few years ago, I saw an ad that literally knocked the wind out of me. The ad was entitled: “Dad is Leaving”. It shows a teary man hugging his little girl goodbye, with bags packed by the open front door. The catch phrase is: “If there’s no Jacobs, it’s not worth stickin’ around”.

I hated the ad, it truly offended me. How can the brand possibly prioritise coffee over family? But that ridiculous comparison was exactly what made it so funny to the many other consumers who saw it.

In truth, I don’t buy Jacobs Coffee, but I do think of that ad every time I see the brand. Does that make it a good ad or a great ad?

Advertising is an art form.

Can we condemn and punish brands every time they misjudge their audience? Or should we quietly protest bad ads in the most effective way possible: By not buying their products……..

I would never buy an Auschwitz-Birkenau themed beach towel, and I don’t want to associate with anyone who would. In fact I personally think that no one should be able to buy them. As it turns out I have a long list of products that I think no one should be able to buy. So thankfully it’s not up to me.

We really don’t have any standard measure for defining what is truly offensive and harmful. My reaction to the Jacobs Coffee, VW and Kota Joe Ads was personal. Society isn’t bound by my reactions and I shouldn’t be bound by anyone else’s. Unless someone is being physically harmed or denigrated, I feel that ads should be free to run and to face whatever reaction individual consumers have.

Arisha Saroop, Business Unit Manager at The MediaShop Durban

School fees, extravagant Christmas presents, the family getaway and home maintenance – all this coupled with the usual cellphone, bond and car repayment bills means that after the festive fun and cheer from December, the majority of South Africans are left counting their Rands and cents into the now coined (mind the pun) month of Januworry!

With many still reeling from the unnecessary splurges on Black Friday, we jumped straight into further irrational spending over the festive period – with an estimated R250 million pumped into the economy; leaving many in debt as reported in an article on News24.

The World Bank’s Global Findex Database showed that South Africans are among the top borrowers in the world – with consumer debt totalling nearly R1.7 trillion according to the latest Consumer Default Index. That’s nearly as much as our government’s debt of more than R2 trillion!

The negative effect of consumer debt has carved a gap in the market for Debt Counselling/ Relief as a genre. With marketers capitalizing on the month of “Januworry” to reinforce a positive affinity, competitions to have your unpaid bills settled is a convivial campaign to listen out for within the Debt counselling/Credit Bureaus genre. The advertising spend in this category has reflected an increase of 173% from R54m in 2016 to R148m in 2019; with a 15.5% increase from 2018 to 2019.

In a perfect world, everyone would be debt free but in order to attain a small portion of this aspiration we should start by reducing unnecessary expenses (say no to those “Up to 70% off Sales”) and adopt an attitude of saving.

As 2020 is still new; it’s a great time for a fresh beginning and to attain a positive monetary standing by espousing simple, user friendly resolutions to gain financial freedom from your debt.

Here are five easy steps to being more financial savvy:

1. Long term goals – as timeworn as it may sound, it is worth it. Start the year with the end in mind. Set goals, prioritize them and save either daily, weekly or monthly. Your goal may be saving towards the vacation of your dreams or a new set of wheels. Whatever it is, work towards it from day one and budget, budget, budget!
2. Cancel what’s not needed. In 2019 I personally saved R3708 by cancelling a rewards programme on my medical aid. Why? I made no effort to increase my standing within the tiers 10 years after joining, so all I was gaining from the rewards programme was the base peaks. I continued to ‘pay’ for the programme in my savings account – can you say easy money!
3. Reduced Interest rate – with the recent drop in the interest rate, it’s important to not reduce your monthly repayments because you’ll reap the rewards of paying off your debts sooner than your mortgaged term. As an example, and based on a R1m mortgage over 20 years you could potentially save R165 per month. By maintaining your usual repayment, you could save R76k and knock off a whole year from your total repayment according to finance journalist Maya Fischer-French.
4. Garage Sale – aside from the positive upliftment and reduction of spousal nag, decluttering your home space saves you money. You can either donate (positive upliftment), recycle (reduce your carbon footprint) or first prize – sell your preloved items either online or through the old school garage sale method. The trick here is to make sure the money earned is put straight into savings.
5. Make informed choices – especially when you’re looking to purchase big ticket items like household appliances. Search for the best deals, research products online and check the consumer reviews or enquire about after sales service and warranties. These practices will all give you piece of mind that every cent you spend towards your purchase was based on a well informed decision. Do due diligence to your purchases!

After all is said and done, I do hope the tips above will succour to offer the best solutions and encourage those who are keen to save.

There is no better time to save than now – make your #20plenty Plenty.