by Jerry Mpufane (@JerryMpufane) Much has been said about the national broadcaster’s sudden announcement to hike local content requirements for music to 90% across all its radio stations. Many of us fear that the real story behind the huge benefits of local content is, unfortunately, hidden behind the many negative headlines attributed to the SABC. There’s a heated debate around the percentage quotas and whether these are practical for implementation at short notice, but that is a debate for another occasion.
What should not be frowned upon is the bonanza that is presented by local content quotas for broadcast entities as regulated by an act of law in South Africa, as is the case in many successful nations.
South African identity
The broadcasting policy of the Republic of South Africa governs the public, commercial and community entities. The policy punts all the important ingredients required to building a successful nation for all its citizens. These include, but are not limited to, creating a SA identity, allowing universal access to media platforms and their content, and ensuring equality, as well as entrenching unity amongst its people. In addition, and a point that is very relevant in a multi-ultural society that is SA, the policy prescribes the element of diversity as an important pillar.
The policy also aims to make sure the ownership and control of broadcast platforms is in the hands of SA citizens, being a group of persons coming from a diverse range of communities. Its ultimate aim is to create an environment where ideas, values and the artistic creativity for South Africans, by South Africans, can prevail.
Many a hard-nosed critic may not be seduced by the higher-purpose ideals contained in the broadcasting policy, choosing to view these as soft targets in a business context. I do not need to remind those people that good business cannot be seen in isolation from nation-building. Commercial success is achieved on a sustainable basis when nations prosper.
Artistic creativity
There exists tons of evidence, however, which point to artistic creativity as a direct contributor to economic success. Broadcasting is a known and significant conduit for artistic creativity.
The UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has defined cultural industries as an “economic phenomenon.” According to UNESCO, cultural industries generate a high level of growth to national gross domestic product (GDP) for many nations. These industries spur creativity and innovation, attract a high quality workforce, and ultimately boost business and investment.
Cultural industries contribute more than just social cohesion, but also serve to open up nations as markets for foreign trade and competitiveness when countries are seen more and more as nation brands. Many nations have adopted the “creative economy” terminology as they implemented many formalised approaches to measuring the economic impact brought about by active cultural industries.
Economic contribution
In SA, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) publishes data that measures the economic contribution of what it calls the “copyright-based” industries. These industries include music, craft, publishing, film and television, among others.
Dti figures show that the copyright-based industries account for 4% of GDP, equating to another approximately 4% of the total labour force. These numbers are significant for an economy waiting to leverage the demographic dividend — 70% of the total population is under the age of 35.
When one considers that other nations achieve more than 10% of GDP from the creative industries, the opportunity becomes even more significant for SA. Simply put, local content quotas make sense.
What does all of this have to do with brands?
Fabric of society
Many company vision and mission statements proclaim a “harmonious coexistence with the communities where we do business”. Many CEOs and CMOs pursue a world where brands may form a part of the fabric of society, where ideas are co-created with their customers to achieve commercial success. Successful brands see their interests as being intertwined with the success of the community.
Significant changes to local content quotas have created a huge opportunity for the smart brand CMOs. We can now in real terms:
- Grow talent for the creative industries
- Create ownership opportunities for the talent base in their own industries
- Create valuable home-grown ideas that can be leveraged for commercial gain
- Private-public partnerships are now possible between brands and artists; and
- Brands may choose to create brand assets for exclusive use.
Blowing a meter-long kudu antelope horn has been a rite of passage for company CEOs listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. I’m looking forward to hearing many a variety of African musical instruments on SA airwaves.
Jerry Mpufane has executive experience in both ad agency and client organisations. He’s only got one goal in life, which is to be an inspiring leader. Jerry is currently group MD, Gauteng, of M&C Saatchi Abel. His monthly column on MarkLives, “On My Mind”, focuses upon what it takes to run a great AND sustainable ad agency.
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