General

Mothers are a powerful and discerning group of consumers, whose diversity demands nuanced consideration by marketers. But, asks the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ in its latest issue (Issue 1 2018) are brands listening to moms? While statistics are hard to come by and consumers are still regularly presented with clichéd images of smiling, supportive moms, Dr Sarah Britten, of marketing agency Labstore South Africa, says that change is afoot in this sector. “Behind the scenes there’s a lot of research into how mothers see the world and what matters to them,” she observes. An example is research undertaken…

Companies looking to choose a distribution partner in countries on the African continent face a number of notable challenges – but none of them are insurmountable, the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ reports in its latest issue (Issue 1 2018). Quoting from a Boston Consulting Group study entitled ‘Drawing a Route to Market for Multinationals in Africa’, the magazine says that companies need to be clear on what they expect and must determine the type of partner and type of arrangement they want to pursue. Options that suppliers should consider include the following: Do you opt for end-to-end distribution…

Creating relevant content that assists and entertains your target audience has become increasingly important for marketers, the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ reports in its latest issue (Issue 1 2018). “Content strategy isn’t Facebook,” writes content marketing expert Pabi Rampa. “Facebook is just one of the many channels of content strategy. The others are blogs, white papers, case studies, PR, social media marketing, inbound marketing, PPC, SEO, websites, content strategically placed on third-party websites, and more.” According to research company Sirius Decisions, 67% of global customers will go through the following five stages during the decision-making journey: awareness, consideration,…

The key role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is to look beyond mere marketing and rather focus on the wider growth of the business, the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ reports in its latest edition (Issue 1 2018). Writing in his regular column, US-based academic, Professor Michael Goldman says that ‘Forbes’ business magazine’s second most influential CMO of 2017, Antonio Lucio, has challenged marketers to be business people first and marketing artisans second. Lucio warned marketers not to be too internally driven by the function of marketing, but to balance this with the role of marketing. He described…

Is it credible that there’s a form of entertainment destined to be bigger than the global movie industry – yet South African consumers and marketers remain largely unaware of it? This is a question the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ seeks to answer in its latest issue (Issue 1 2018).There is, says local marketing executive and gaming enthusiast Gareth Woods. It’s called e-sports. Competitive video gaming – the ‘sports’ name is largely a misnomer as few of the top games have anything to do with traditional sport – is destined to be more valuable than Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood…