General

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…

While Facebook continues to dominate the social media scene for South African brands, many companies get more bang for their buck on Instagram, which also has more influencers than expected for its size. By contrast, Twitter, which has a similar audience size, has negligible engagement compared to Instagram. However, many brands have an audience on Twitter that they do not appear to be leveraging at the moment. These are among the findings of a study released this week by technology companies World Wide Worx and Continuon. The study analysed the social communities of 50 of South Africa’s most recognised…

Like every other traditional media platform in South Africa, radio is evolving and facing a host of new challenges in an effort to remain relevant and continue to be a viable consumer channel for marketers and their agencies, says the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’, the official publication of the IMM Graduate School. In its latest issue, the magazine reports that music downloads, Internet radio, podcasts, younger consumers without a natural affinity for radio, and listeners who are moving away from traditional racial and language groupings are all challenging the status quo of radio as we know it. Yet…

Selling inventory online, whether it’s hotel room nights or electronic gadgets, is a complex process – even more so when you’re doing it via a third party, reports the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ in its latest issue. In an article written for the magazine, Noëleen Bruton, Director of Marketing for the Tsogo Sun Group, says that it’s crucial for businesses to be extremely savvy when contracting with third parties or affiliates to sell your inventory online. “The modern online market is a hotbed of competition, with traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers facing both opportunity and threat from various meta-data or…

Rather than focusing only on Africa’s middle class when considering the potential of the continent, marketers may be well advised to look at the grouping known as the consuming class – those who spend more than US$10 per day.In an article written for the latest issue of the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’, senior Nielsen Research executive Ailsa Wingfield says that, worldwide, the consuming class represents a massive emerging market opportunity and by 2025 this segment will swell to 4,2-billion people (53% of the world’s population) and account for 50% of all global consumption spend.“Today, Africa’s consuming class is…

Having long held sway in the top end of South Africa’s food retail market, Woolworths is finally facing a serious challenge to its dominance. It comes from none other than Shoprite’s Checkers retail brand, which has traditionally targeted sales at a lower end of the customer scale, the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ reports in its latest issue. It is shaping up to be an absorbing battle in a market that Woolworths has dominated for many years. “We want more of their customers and to dismantle their monopoly in the premium food sector,” says a determined Shoprite CEO, Pieter…

When targeting the middle class consumer in sub-Saharan Africa, marketers need to be aware of a number of key strategies, the ‘IMM Journal of Strategic Marketing’ reports in its latest issue. Quoting the results of the African Lions study conducted by research company Ipsos and the Unilever Institute of the University of Cape Town, the magazine says the following are some of the approaches that marketers should follow: Speak the Language: African Lions believe that brands have to adapt to the local environment, and speaking the language of consumers is the first step. It is also intrinsically…