by Alistair Mackay (@almackay) It can be difficult to believe how sticky the ANC’s voter loyalty seems to be. Despite the fury surrounding e-tolls and Nkandla leading up to last year’s polls, support dropped a barely perceptible 3.75% nationally. Protests are more common and angrier than ever before, and yet Zuma can laugh smugly in parliament, and ignore the mechanisms and questions that are meant to keep him accountable.
It says a lot about South African society that we put up with a ruling party that behaves like this. It proves how reluctant we are to give up the devil we know, to switch allegiances or gamble with our choices. It proves how untrusting we are and how difficult it is to earn trust, which makes sense considering our history.
Important things to know
Those are important things to know for a marketer, as well as a political strategist — how do you encourage trial, for example? Can you use repeat purchase as an indicator of satisfaction and loyalty, or is it just an indication of repeat grudge-purchasing?
One thing it does not prove, however, is the level of voters’ intelligence. Frustrated commentators love to imply that voters are stupid, that most South Africans continue to vote for the ANC because they can’t understand politics, don’t know what’s in their own interests or are “uneducated”. David Ogilvy famously had to correct that line of thinking in marketing as well: “The consumer is not a moron, she is your wife.”
If voters continue to vote for a party that frustrates them, it doesn’t mean they’re stupid: it may mean the other choices that are available to them are untenable or unsatisfactory. It is a failing of the opposition parties, not the voters.
Leap of faith
Getting people to switch their brand of choice requires them to take a leap of faith. And, to do this, they need assurance to make the switch feel less risky. Three ways in which I believe our political parties, and some brands, are failing to offer that assurance are:
- Messaging that resonates with their needs and context
- Visible proof of the benefit of switching
- Consistency and trust
1. Resonance
Messaging can be as loud as you like; yet, if it doesn’t answer a functional or emotional consumer need, you may as well not bother.
The DA’s ambivalent attitude to BEE, for example, is a position that makes it profoundly unattractive to South Africa’s mostly-black population and no amount of sugar-coating it will change that.
You’re not going to sell a McDonald’s burger to a health nut by telling him his health-consciousness is unimportant, or that you know what will make her happy better than she does.
2, Proof
There is a reason consumers want to test-drive cars: the ad may have piqued their interest but they want proof of the benefit of the new car before making such a big purchase decision.
ANC rule has had many visible, tangible benefits. For opposition parties to be a real option, they need to demonstrate — not say — that they offer even greater benefits.
The DA is getting better at communicating its service delivery record but is still a little too reliant on dry audit reports. The man on the street would be more swayed by bustling business hubs and middle-class growth in Khayelitsha, for example, or seeing large-scale social housing programmes going up around the Western Cape.
A consumer isn’t going to leave a car show-room feeling certain about anything if, instead of a test drive, you offer her facts about how much you spent developing the model.
3. Trust
The EFF’s antics in Parliament have earned it headlines and made it famous, but there is a fine balance to strike when disrupting the president at every turn and demanding money.
While its message resonates with many people, live analysis of the State of the Nation address showed that its disruption triggered a negative reaction amongst many citizens — showing that people want to see more than only disruption, which can come off as a little childish.
Instead, trust is built over time. It’s important but not enough to take up the issues that resonate with potential voters — it also needs to be done in a way that demonstrates competence, consistency and integrity.
Unilever, for example, launched an emotionally powerful and beautiful campaign for Dove, “Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does”, but ended up with egg on its face when a consumer spliced that footage together with the sexist, objectifying campaigns of another of Unilever’s brands, Axe.
No brand ever won over a new consumer by patronising them.
When politicians from opposition parties start seeing voters as equals and treating them with respect, perhaps fewer of the voters will continue to make the ‘grudge purchase’ of supporting the complacent industry leader.
Alistair Mackay (@almackay) is marketing manager and head of content at Yellowwood, (@askYellowwood) a leading marketing strategy and brand development consultancy. He has experience both as a brand strategist and as the digital media manager for the Democratic Alliance, and believes that innovative, insightful and generous marketing is both good for business and social change in South Africa. He contributes the monthly “Brand Politics” column, exploring lessons brands can learn and apply from politics, to MarkLives.
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every Monday and Friday. Sign up here!