We list the 10 most-trafficked marketing-related stories on MarkLives in 2014.
1. Shelf Life: New skincare range Lipidol launched in SA
by Louise Marsland. Union Swiss, the makers of Bio Oil which was originally founded and launched in South Africa, has launched a new skin care oil-based range globally, called Lipidol.
2. Brand Politics: Seeing red — what EFF teaches us about brand-building
by Alistair Mackay. It was impossible to watch the swearing in of our newly elected Parliamentarians last week without having your senses affronted by a bright red block of people. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MPs stood out like an axe wound in the decorum of the National Assembly, their symbolic domestic worker and labourer uniforms catching attention and capturing imaginations.
3. Feed a Child and the cost of getting cultural language wrong
by DK Badenhorst. There is no way to tell the story of starving children in a lovely way. There is just no nice way of saying ‘millions of children eat less than a domestic dog’. But a cultural understanding of your market will make you aware of any minefield you’re heading into. And don’t assume that, because you are from the place, you’ll know.
4. Sanlam announces brand refresh, updates positioning
by Herman Manson. Sanlam, the listed South African financial services group, has announced a brand refresh and updated positioning. The group will sport a refreshed logo and a new payoff line, as well as a new brand architecture and communication aimed at a younger audience, according to Yegs Ramiah, chief executive of Sanlam Brand.
5. WeChat South Africa wants your brand
by Herman Manson. WeChat, a social media and messaging app backed locally by media giant Naspers, entered the South African market in 2013. WeChat South Africa MD Brett Loubser says the local business spent its first year focused on brand building and gaining traction with new users.
Unfortunately, WeChat does not break down its global user base, so we have to take it at its word that its reception in the SA market has been particularly warm. But research conducted by third parties, such as researcher World Wide Worx, seems to support Loubser’s enthusiasm.
6. Capitec’s 6 P’s of marketing
by Herman Manson. Today’s consumer is bad news for the banking industry. They are an unhappy bunch, as the Global banking survey 2011 by Ernst & Young revealed, when it found that nearly half of SA’s banking consumers felt unsatisfied with the service they experience from their bank.
7. Tuned: L’Oreal, in touch and in tune with African hair
by Thabang Leshilo. As a woman who’s been braiding her hair since six, I can tell you that ethnic hair care is not something L’Oreal is famous for among African consumers. So where and how would it go about building a credible relationship with consumers? Enter the new L’Oréal Professional African Salon Institute in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
8. EXCLUSIVE GALLERY: Mockup of Total SA Thrupps forecourt store
by Simone Puterman. The news broke on Wednesday, 17 September 2014, that Famous Brands and Total South Africa are to trial a new service-station forecourt store, using family-run Johannesburg-based premium grocer Thrupps as retail partner and co-branded with Mugg & Bean On The Move. MarkLives was on site at the mockup shop at Illovo Muse, Illovo, Sandton, to snap a few pics before it was dismantled.
9. Brand Politics: The rules of branding ayisafani
by Alistair Mackay. One good thing to have come out of this #ayisafani debacle, I hope, is that it has taught white South Africans a bit about conjugation in isiZulu! The phrase, which translates as “it is no longer the same”, has been expertly used by the Democratic Alliance in a recent campaign across TV and social media.
10. ASA judgement against FNB’s Un-Steve campaign
Consumer complaints were lodged against FNB’s campaign around “Steve” that was flighted on radio and television as well as published on billboards.
The theme for the campaign focuses on how people should “Un-Steve” themselves by moving to FNB rather than suffering the frustrations they currently endure.
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