by Herman Manson (@marklives) Habari Media, one of the digital sales houses for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa*, among others, has entered the content marketing business with the recent signing of two publishing veterans, Neal Farrell and Robyn Daly, as well as its first client, Sanlam.
Farrell and Daly both left Ramsay Media, where they’d launched that publishing house’s content-marketing business, and signed clients such as Sanlam and Toyota, to found Habari Media Content Marketing.
Firmly planted in the digital age
What excites Farrell and Daly about the Habari business is, of course, its strength in digital and mobile media. Most content marketing agencies in South Africa were born of print, which remains the mainstay in the business. Habari Media Content Marketing is born with both feet firmly planted in the digital age.
Which makes it maybe just a little ironic print will be such a core focus for its first client, Sanlam (the Habari team won the business in a closed tender after they had left Ramsay, says Farrell). “We lead with content and then look at the publishing solution,” he insists, and since the Sanlam contract is for a magazine unlocking its award scheme, print was, in this instance, the most relevant medium.
Daly says the new agency aims to tell the brand story across multiple relevant channels and, since the Habari business already has strong links to the web, Facebook and LinkedIn (for which it is also a sales partner) add tremendously to the depth and scope of what they can achieve.
For the Sanlam project, they are launching multi-segmented email newsletters and will run content across the web, print and social media. Farrell promises no pdf-converted-to-digital magazines — any digital magazines will be bespoke and developed for computer screens.
Investing heavily in content
Daly, who serves as content director, is excited to be part of a business that is investing heavily in content at a time when consumer publishers especially are divesting. Daly says it’s been easy to attract top writing talent due to these changing dynamics in the media marketplace.
According to Farrell, digitally-led content marketing opens the market up to middle- and large-sized businesses, rather than being the exclusive domain of the Edgars or Vodacoms of the world. Also making it easier for these businesses to play in the content marketing space will be Habari’s expertise in monetising media real estate.
Apart from links to the sales house, the new content-marketing business also enjoys access to Answered, the Habari research division, and Machine Rewards, the rewards specialist unit in ad agency Machine which remains a sister agency while running separately from Habari.
Content is the glue between customers and rewards as it builds awareness around reward schemes, says Daly. You know how many loyalty cards sit in your wallet (probably too many!). Content and rewards work together to help drive understanding of benefits and redemption of awards.
Putting readers first
Farrell considers the Sanlam win a tip of the hat to the strategic relevance of Habari Media Content Marketing, as it won without any existing clients on its books. The agency aims to marry editorial independence and credibility with commercial thinking (quite a tricky line that!). Ultimately, any project they tackle needs to take on the marketing objectives of the client while still putting readers first, says Farrell.
If the Habari team can produce on this promise, it would potentially transform the rewards mags you flip through and then toss in the bin into something of value and worthy of our time, which is ultimately what brands are competing for. We will see, come November, when the first issue of its Sanlam magazine hits the post box.
In the meantime, the duo are eyeing various other sectors for potential clients, including retail banking, travel, leisure and lifestyle firms, retail and automotive.
* Correction: A previous version of this story might have created the impression that Habari Media is the only sales house for Facebook in sub-Saharan Africa. This used to be true but it is no longer the case. We apologise for any confusion.