by MarkLives (@marklives) The marketing and advertising industries are transforming. So why are so many black professionals disgruntled with the rate of progress? And is the quality of most of the work specifically directed at a black audiences still sub-par? We emailed a panel of key industry executives for their take. This week it’s the turn of Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila of Riverbed.
Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila
Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila (@monalisa_zwam)is the founder and CEO of Riverbed, a full-service black-female-owned and -managed creative agency. She is passionate about the role the agency plays in transforming the sector and enjoys speaking on industry-related matters and leadership. Monalisa is completing her MBA through Henley Business School. Riverbed was a 2016 AdFocus Small Agency of the Year finalist, as well as joint One to Watch in 2017 in Jozi in our MarkLives Agency Leaders’ Most Admired poll for 2016
As we move into our 23rd year of independence, the realisation of the slow rate of transformation across all sectors of our economy has brought with it a need for a more-radical approach to achieve transformation targets. The truth is that little has changed since 1994, and ownership of the economy continues to remain in white hands. Sadly, the same remains true in the advertising sector, where transformation has been sluggish at best.
MAC Charter
What has jolted the industry into action has been the recent gazetting of the BBBEE sector code for the South African marketing, advertising and communications industry by trade and industry minister, Rob Davies. The new codes prioritise ownership with a target of 45% black ownership by 31 March 2018. In an industry that is not short of black talent, this, on the face of it, should be an easy goal to achieve, but the sector is dominated by multinationals and white-owned independent agencies that, to date, have continued to get the lions’ share of marketing spend despite little or no black ownership to speak of.
Despite this, albeit slowly, the complexion of the industry is beginning to change with agencies such as Avatar — winner of the 2016 AdFocus Medium-sized Agency of the Year award — which bear testament to what is possible when black agencies are given opportunities to flourish. But there are only a handful of medium-sized black agencies and, with Riverbed being one of the few, we have elected to drive transformation through a policy that seeks to find, nurture and exploit black talent, not for the BBBEE creds but for the benefit of the brands we work on.
We believe that the more opportunities given to black agencies to win big accounts, the greater the creative diversity and quality of work delivered. It is common knowledge that, at the heart of any campaign is understanding the consumer, and with the black middle-class market now at 6m people, there is a compelling reason that black agencies should be given the opportunity to deliver persuasive campaigns that influence and impact this market. If this argument holds true, it begs the question why change in this sector continues to be driven by BBBEE imperatives and not by brands insistent on using black agencies to better understand and connect with the consumer.
Broadcasters get it
Broadcasters, however, seem to get this, and have paved the way by creating local programming to meet consumer needs. The success of programmes such as Date My Family and Our Perfect Wedding are indicative of the power of communicating with consumers in a relevant and meaningful way.
So, if we are disgruntled at the rate of progress in our industry, what do we do to change it? We need to proactively begin to get corporates to understand the value of working with black agencies, not to benefit their scorecard but to benefit their brands. Without buy-in on the demand side, we will continue to perpetuate the same norms and same beliefs that have kept the industry slow to transform.
The MAC Charter acknowledges this in its commitment to inclusivity and diversity, and states that “the sector reflects and shapes the norms of our society. As such it must be committed to reflecting the values and aspirations of all South Africans”. If, as an industry, we can all commit to drive change for the sake of our customers, we will help build a transformed sector that is better-equipped to understand and serve our evolving landscape.
Launched in 2016, “The Big Q” is a regular column on MarkLives in which we ask key industry execs for their thoughts on relevant issues facing the ad industry. If you’d like to be part of our pool of potential panellists, please contact editor Herman Manson via email (2mark at marklives dot com) or Twitter (@marklives). Suggestions for questions are also welcomed.
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by Veli Ngubane (@TheNduna) With singleminded determination, Makosha Maja-Rasethaba (@luminousmk) has taken every opportunity to work her way into the job she wanted from the day she graduated from brand communications school. Young and gifted, she’s now killing it in her role as strategic planner at M&C Saatchi Abel. What she would particularly like to see is more local brands embracing campaigns that break down stereotyping of women and she gives us some stunning examples in this interview.
Makosha Maja-Rasethaba
Veli Ngubane: Where did you grow up and how did your parents react when you told them you wanted to be a creative? Makosha Maja-Rasethaba: I grew up in the former Bophuthatswana homeland and, just before ’94, we moved to Pretoria. Advertising was never on my radar growing up. When I was in high school, I realised that I had a bit of a ‘creative’ streak: I loved sketching and writing — I even wrote a bit of bad girly fiction to be passed around during lunchtime. After high school, I attempted studying law at the behest of my parents but that didn’t last longer than a year; I realised during that very long year at RAU that I needed to go in a very different direction. When I told my parents (both professionals) that I wanted to study advertising, my dad was pretty shocked, to say the least, but my mom was amazingly supportive. My dad has since come around and they’re both pretty proud of my achievements.
VN: How did you a) get interested in strategic planning and b) break into the industry and land your first job? MMR: When I studied at Vega, I had an amazing lecturer, Karen Roos, who introduced us to ‘consumer behavior’ and I fell headfirst in love with the psychology behind the choices we make. Karen really encouraged me to pursue a career in strategic planning, but what I didn’t know was how hard it would be to break into planning. I moved to Cape Town and figured I would email all the agencies and possibly land an internship but this was unfortunately not the case and I eventually worked my way through traffic (very short-lived), account management and eventually switching over to strategy while I was at The Jupiter Drawing Room Cape Town. I did this by really inserting (read pushing) myself into strategic conversations and making sure I expressed my point of view whenever I had the opportunity, nagging the strategists, offering my services to them and eventually applying for a job when there was a vacancy.
VN: How would you explain what you do to someone who has never heard of what a strategic planner is? MMR: This is always such a tough question because, as a planner, your job is so many things. I always tell people that I use lots of different inspiration (including but not exclusive to consumer insight) to find a creative action/solution for a business challenge.
VN: What do you like most about your job? What is most challenging? MMR: What I love most about my job is what I find the most challenging. In a lot of ways, as a strategist, you have to be the voice of the consumer; this means complete confidence in whatever it is you need to express about your audience and the ability to persuade clients, and even agency creatives sometimes, that your perspective on audience is relevant and will result in a creative solution that is resonant.
VN: What are the attributes of a good planning framework? MMR: Simplicity. I tend to shy away from big marketing jargon and try to keep things as simple as possible while focusing on a compelling story. This is pretty much the philosophy at M&C Saatchi Abel and, while it sounds easy, it’s actually quite challenging to organise your thoughts into a concise but clear and simple story.
VN: Your job requires you to be organised. What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organised? MMR: I wouldn’t necessarily say I have any specific techniques. I usually start my day by writing a simple to-do list, grabbing some coffee and getting on with it.
VN: You have been with M&C Saatchi Abel for some time now. Describe a typical day at work for a strategic planner in an advertising agency? MMR: There is no typical workday. Every day is very different. I spend a lot of time in meetings, be it creative reviews, creative kickstarts, client workshops or client presentations. The rest of the time is spent having conversations, doing research, [and] thinking, thinking and more thinking, as well as ensuring that I’m up to speed with current affairs, industry news, thought leadership and constantly jotting down thoughts and musings that pop into my head as the day goes.
VN: What is your view on transformation in the advertising industry? MMR: It’s actually pretty disheartening that the pace of transformation in the advertising industry has been so painfully slow. I think our industry doesn’t provide a lot of access at a school level and more work needs to be done in that regard. Most advertising schools are private and extremely expensive, so already many people are shut out at that level and, if we aren’t looking to transform at a school level, then how can we really expect our industry to be more representative? We also possibly need to not be as ‘exclusive’ and start looking to recruit young people who are slightly out the box of the traditional advertising school. Lastly, and very importantly, retention of black staff needs to be a major priority as most end up dropping out of the industry because they don’t see many avenues for growth and end up frustrated, and the lack of senior black mentors also doesn’t help.
VN: We often hear of ad agencies stereotyping or failing to connect with the black market, 22 years after achieving democracy. What do you think is the problem? MMR: I think the biggest issue to date is viewing the black market as homogenous groups based on LSMs or income. While this may be helpful for segmentation purposes, it doesn’t serve to really understand the market because the relationship between consumer behaviour and income isn’t always so linear. I think it’s a lazy way to try and connect with an audience. Without an in-depth understanding of the cultural landscape that drives their identity, motivations and attitudes, there is no way we could really say we know an audience. I guess the real question is: What are we doing as an industry to change how we approach understanding our consumers and how are we trying to evolve the narrative around the black market?
VN: You are a woman in a highly male dominated industry. How have you dealt with this and how do you think we can get more females in the ad industry? MMR: That’s a huge part of the transformation conversation, actually. A transformed industry is one that represents the country’s demographics. I think there should be massive focus on ad-agency culture as a whole. This is an industry like many others that was previously almost exclusively occupied by white males who created a space for themselves, as well as a very specific cultural environment. How does this culture then change to accommodate women? How does this culture evolve to recognise, include and embrace women? The fact that the Loeries Hall of Fame inducted its first woman (shout out to Nunu Ntshingila-Njeke!) in 2016 is pretty appalling. I think women empowerment needs to urgently form part of the transformation agenda.
VN: How has where you grew up and how you were raised shaped your view of South Africa, Africa and the world? MMR: Well, I was born in the ’80s and thus during apartheid, and grew up during a time when black people like myself were restricted in many ways. I would wake up in a homeland and travel into ‘South Africa’ for school. This duality has stayed with me since. It’s something most black South Africans can identify with — this constant movement through many different, diverse, some still-restricted and -polarized worlds. I think this gives a unique perspective of SA and of the world because you are never looking at it through one lens but always through multiple ones.
VN: What has been a highlight in your career? MMR: I don’t have a single highlight in my career, or maybe the highlight hasn’t happened yet. I mean it’s nice to win pitches and awards etc, but I haven’t had a defining career highlight yet and that’s pretty exciting for me. Who knows? Maybe next time I’m asked, my answer will be featuring in this column. LOL!
VN: Any interesting hobbies/second jobs/bits of information that make you pop as an individual? MMR: I used to DJ with a friend of mine. It was dope. We got to play lots of parties and even made it into a newspaper once. I don’t do that anymore but I am still a massive music nerd and an unlikely hip-hop and jazz head.
VN: What advice would you give to youngsters who want to be strategic planners for advertising agencies? MMR: I would advise young people interested in being planners to first ask themselves if they are problem-solvers. This is the crux of the job. Secondly, you need to want to absorb and be stimulated by the world. That means reading and engaging with a lot of ‘knowledge,’ from psychology to sociology to anthropology to behavioural economics to pop culture to current affairs and everything in between that will enable you to constantly have your ear to the ground and have your brain musing. Lastly, you need to be versatile; as a strategist, you wear many hats and you need to be comfortable with not just being a thinker but also a doer.
VN: What is your favourite ad campaign, past and present, and why? MMR: What I am loving right now are advertising campaigns that challenge constructed social norms. I think for too long the advertising industry has been a culprit in gender-stereotyping and entrenching patriarchy, so it’s refreshing to see brands confronting this archaic way of presenting women. I think it’s important as advertisers that we begin to reflect the times we are living in. These are all global examples but I would love to see more local brands join in this re-articulation of identity.
Ariel India on challenging gender normative roles
Bodyform putting blood front and centre of a sanitary pad ad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Q1GVOYIcKc
UN Women confronting a tradition that strips women of their identity
Nike Women India presenting a multidimensional view of women
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UvPZ8fD4B8
Veli Ngubane (@TheNduna) entered the world of advertising with a passion after completing his BSocSci (law, politics and economics) at the University of Cape Town and a post-graduate marketing diploma at Red & Yellow, where he also currently serves as advisory board chairman. He is the chief creative officer and founding partner of one of the fastest-growing agencies in the country, AVATAR. A full-service marketing agency with digital at the core, its clients include Brand South Africa, FOX Africa, National Geographic, SAA and Chevron. Veli hails from Kosi Bay in the rural KwaMhlaba Uyalingana area of KZN. In his monthly column “Young, Gifted & Killing It”, he profiles award-winning, kick-ass black creative talent in South Africa.
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by Nick Schilperoort (@NicSkilly)Creativity is often defined as taking an existing idea and building on it to better the original. However, creativity is not about taking an existing idea and simply recycling it for your own gain.
The internet, supercharged by social media, has given humanity a consistent flow of inspiration. It is the work of a moment to immerse oneself in any genre and gain insights into almost anything. On average, there are over 40 000 Google searches a second, 1.86bn monthly active Facebook users and around 200bn Tweets per year.
Examples abound
Never has information been so readily available or ideas so easily shared… And yet examples abound of bold thievery and complete disregard for the act of copyright and the art of ideation still exists. Although it won’t see anyone put behind bars, it does leave a rather sour taste in one’s mouth to discover an idea that is merely a replica, with zero effort expended to improve on the original concept.
A stroke of pure genius was demonstrated at this year’s Design Indaba, when the Dutch duo, Lernert & Sander, ‘forgave’ all the copycats it had encountered over the years with a heartfelt email sung by some of Cape Town’s best vocalists. Were the two a tad harsh? Not in my opinion — bearing in mind the current plethora of communication design that clearly displays a copycat approach. The term ‘typographic’ commercial immediately comes to mind…
Fast-paced, upbeat, eye-catching ‘typographic’ commercials were introduced to the world by Apple. But it was only a matter of time before the copycats pounced and brazenly attempted to replicate a visual style that was so brilliantly defined by Apple.
Is it worth it?
What is disheartening is the level of acceptance by us, the design community, when it comes to work that is clearly ‘borrowed’ and demonstrates a complete disregard for creativity. As Brian Collins said when addressing the Design Indaba audience, creatives need to bring back “Insanely Great” and “Maximum F*&king Love” in our work… not “Minimal Viable Product”.
Ultimately, we need to ask ourselves whether the shortcut is worth it in the long run. One thing is certain — the internet makes it extremely difficult for copycat culprits to hide.
Nick Schilperoort (@NicSkilly) cut his teeth as a strategic planner at TBWA\Hunt\Lascaris before joining Xfacta as client service director and strategic planning director. Today, he serves as managing director of Xfacta, managing a highly skilled team of creatives who’ve been influential players in some of the world’s foremost companies and brands. He is also a regional advisory council member for the Vega School of Brand Leadership in Johannesburg, having served as a board member of the Brand Council of South Africa in 2015.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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by MarkLives (@marklives) The hottest primetime television shows on e.tv in South Africa revealed: TV ratings for March 2017.
In 2016, the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) changed its policy about giving away TAMS and now only monthly reports, highlighting the top 20 or 30 primetime shows on several popular channels, are available.
The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (the BRC) is a non-profit, industry body that was incorporated in 2015 to cater to the audience research needs of the radio and television industry in South Africa.
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Awesome! I can almost taste the glitter and sugar, so delectable is this MyKitchen cover, which takes investigates the new marbling trend and show readers various ways with doughnuts, cookies, rye bread, spiced shortbreads bars and more. Looks and sound delicious (and beautiful!).
One of my morning guilty-pleasures includes watching highlights from the previous nights’ American talk shows on YouTube, such as The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee and, one of my favourites, Late Night with Seth Meyers (A Closer Look is just pure gold!). Through humour, they’re educating me on American politics, and exposing lies and half-truths and alternative facts in an easily digestible way. James Comey, FBI director, is one of the people these shows have turned into a kind of celebrity, as everyone now knows his name and face, and analyses every little detail about him. For good or bad. Read more here.
A an oldie (it appeared a couple of weeks ago) but a goodie worth sharing! Rolling Stone took an in-depth look at Twister (Donald) Trump, who sometimes comes across as gale-force wind and other times as a tropical cyclone causing havoc where ever it goes. And those little things in the background that are most affected by Tornado Trump? That’s the people of the United States of America… Read more here.
Another show I try to watch as often as possible — even more so recently — is the “boring and unfunny” (according to Trump) Saturday Night Live. Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of The Donald is award-winning and, along with brilliant scriptwriters, his comedy skits summarise the political events in a captivating way. If you’re a fan of Baldwin, his Trump-skit, and SNL, make sure you read The Atlantic’s great article, as it really includes some amazing behind-the-scenes information and pictures that will make any SNL fan appreciate it all even more. You won’t be disappointed! You may also watch SNL on Saturday nights at 9.05pm on Comedy Central, DStv channel 122.
Bold and bright red! Love the styling and photography of Katy Perry as she leaves her “cutesy style” behind and goes “androgynous, architectural and political” for VOGUE.
MagLove by @MediaSlut is a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week, recognising well thought-out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three-in-one) covers and celebrating the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. The anonymous (for now) blogger behind MediaSlut knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa, magazines in particular. His mission is to show when SA magazines fail but, most importantly, also when they succeed. If you’re looking for a library about SA magazines and news, this is your one-stop pitstop.
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by Warren Moss (@warrenmoss) If you’re a B2B marketer, there’s a new favourite kid on the block when it comes to marketing tactics at your disposal: account-based marketing (ABM). So why is it becoming so popular in the industry?
Essentially, ABM is a highly targeted, strategic marketing campaign where the intended target market is a very small pool of people — sometimes even just one person — from a single large organisation. This is in stark contrast to the more-conventional “spray-and-pray” approach of B2C marketing, where campaigns are targeted at thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of individuals.
Identifying your “move-the-needle” clients
So who are these individuals, and why does marketing to them need to be so specific? Identifying them means thinking about the 5-10 companies which would really “move the needle” for your business, if they were your clients. These are the ones who would have a major impact on your brand, whether it’s because of their size, reputation, or the value of the deal involved.
For example, if you’re a major South African bank, landing a small business as a customer won’t be as impactful as landing a large multinational such as SAB. Once you’ve identified these companies, they form the base of your target market.
Crafting a customised campaign
Once you’ve done the narrowing down, your ABM campaign will be customised to each company. After all, they have different needs, and so your communication of what you may offer them will differ accordingly. But the targeting doesn’t end there — personalisation in an ABM campaign also extends to specific individuals within that organisation. Just like how companies differ, so do people — and so what you say to them may well be different, too.
Using our bank/SAB example above, a well-thought-out ABM strategy may isolate the key individuals in that organisation who will play a part in deciding whether or not to use the bank’s services. This may include the CFO, the CEO and the HR director — all of whom have different needs from the bank, whether it’s strategic financial guidance, compliance assistance or implementing a payroll system. In essence, there are multiple people in any large organisation who need specific problems solved, not just the CFO. Given this, the success of an ABM campaign is about how effectively you communicate how you’ll solve these different stakeholders’ problems.
Alignment between sales and marketing teams
In a typical marketing scenario, the marketing department creates the campaign, which then results in leads that come into the sales teams. However, there is usually very little alignment between these two teams. With an ABM campaign, sales teams are brought on board together with the marketing teams. This means that the sales team is fully aware of the campaign, and is ready and prepared to continue the sales process if one of the chosen prospects responds to the campaign.
Structured and measurable
One of the biggest strengths of an ABM campaign is that it’s 100% measurable. Since you’re marketing to a very select group of clients, you can measure exactly whether your prospects are responding or not. With this data, you can draw accurate metrics such as the cost per engagement, the value of the sale, and ROI once the sale is made.
This process is therefore very structured, which means there’s less uncertainty involved. It’s also a very close collaboration between the client and the agency throughout the creative process of designing the campaign, which is a hugely positive thing.
The blueprint of a typical ABM campaign
A typical ABM campaign would follow this general process:
Pinpoint the organisations you want to target
Map out the layers of the organisation and identify the decision makers who you need to solve for
Decide how you’ll communicate with each of them, across which channels and messaging platforms
Map out how you’ll reach them — eg, putting billboards on their route into work, followed by a desk drop, followed by an email to that specific person telling them more about how your services may help them
The overall goal is to create a meaningful impact on a few key individuals within a company
The costs involved in an ABM campaign may make it seem like a huge investment for just one potential client. But landing that one client could make the ROI more than worth the time and effort involved. So, while the stakes may be higher with ABM marketing, the conversion rates are generally higher, too, making it a highly effective tactic for B2B marketers.
Warren Moss (@warrenmoss) is founder of Demographica, a full-service B2B and niche-market agency. He is also the chairman of the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA) and the Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards (Assegais).
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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by Emma King (@EmmainSA)Fake news. Until a year or so ago, we probably wouldn’t have understood the term. But now we cannot help but know, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it soon becomes added to the Oxford Dictionary or named “phrase of the year”. The concept has played a fundamental part in how we currently understand and engage with information, so much so that the president of the US is not only incredibly vocal about news he deems fake, but, if the rumours are even half to be believed, was elected on the back of it.
Nothing new
Propaganda and the use of news and information to drive beliefs and certain causes are nothing new. But what is truly alarming is the out-and-out attack on media by a leader of a democratic country, and the demeaning of anything that challenges him or that he perceives as against his agenda, as fake.
This is important.
Once a free and (somewhat) unencumbered media is deemed as “fake”, it delegitimises a number of things, not least the freedom of the public to challenge measures done by those in authority when they believe that what they are doing is wrong. When a leader starts to decide what information is “correct” and what is not, it is not a long jump to an authoritarian era where the only news and information allowed is state-owned propaganda, controlled by the “thought police” that, until recently, we believed were exclusive to Orwellian novels and tin-pot dictators.
Back here on our own shores, we are incredibly lucky (and I don’t say this lightly) to have a free and challenging press. We cannot underestimate the value of this.
Under fire
But the concept of a free and objective press (however much this is or isn’t a reality) has been under fire from many sides for a while. And we, as PR practitioners (and the wider advertising and marketing industry) need to have their back. Not adding to the chaos and the attacks.
Not too long ago it was alleged that a local PR business was involved in a fake news campaign for a political party in the lead up to our local government elections. According to the allegations, local “influencers” were paid to spread good news about said party (which is common to most, if not all, “influencer” campaigns). The worrying bit was that they were also paid to spread fake news about the other parties, sharing false documents purportedly made by these other parties, along with nasty stories about them. Around this time, too, we also saw the birth of local fake news sites and the emergence of “Paid Twitter” — an army of twitter trolls, attacking the enemies of their powerful bankrollers.
Even more recently, we’ve seen allegations that the UK-based Bell Pottinger PR agency had been dabbling in influencing South African politics and race relations on behalf of our infamous local villains, the Gupta family. If these allegations are to be believed, the business was paid handsomely to spread false news about those who stand in the way of the family’s ambitions, while flooding outlets and social media channels with propaganda-led missives that obscured the truth and drove divisions.
There’s a line that is being crossed here and we in the PR industry need to be very, very careful that we don’t cross it.
Before the widespread emergence of social media, the majority of any news and information that we received came through these traditional media channels. The restriction of who could and couldn’t distribute information, meant, largely, that a sort of gentleman’s code was followed: media outlets largely attempted to be free, fair, objective and report news that was backed up with research and solid facts (I’m discounting the tabloids and their attention-grabbing headlines about aliens and tokoloshes for argument’s sake here).
Fast disappearing
Then the explosion of the internet and social media happened and, with the blink of an eye, literally anyone could become a publisher. Which meant that any old rubbish could be shared and presented as the truth. Coupled with this is the radical shrinking of the traditional media. You only have to go into any newsroom and see that most newspaper houses are not just working on skeleton staff, they are literally, Miss Haversham-like, sitting in dusty buildings holding on to an era that is fast disappearing.
There just isn’t the time or resources available for them to research, interrogate and create the news stories that are needed to fill the endless needs of 24-hour channels and an audience demanding real-time updates. And in this rush, unsubstantiated “fake news” gets pushed out as “real news” — one only needs to see the chaos that ensued this past weekend when Huffington Post South Africa published a piece from a person, who didn’t exist, calling for sectors of the population to lose voting rights. Quite rightly, the publication was called to account, deleted the post, and issued an apology, while its local partner, Media24, announced that it would be investigating the situation.
But how much fake stuff enters the public domain, and how much of it is consumed by an audience that is not tech-savvy and cynical enough to question it? It all means that our very jobs as PRs — the creating of news and sharing of content on behalf of our clients and brands — play an ever-bigger role. But we need to be curators with integrity and be responsible in that the news that we are creating is true and grounded in reality. Media, and the public, need to know that, when we share this news, there is a fundamental basis in truth.
There is enough ‘fakeness’ and rubbish out there. We cannot and should not be adding to this.
Not just about ethics
It’s not even just about ethics. We will do ourselves out of jobs if we become the purveyors of fake news. The only reason we are able to be successful is if we have good relationships with the media and the public who receive this information, and that they trust us.
Once that trust is gone, our industry will soon follow.
Emma King (@EmmainSA) is the owner and MD of The Friday Street Club (@TheFridayStClub). She is allergic to bad grammar and ampersands, but likes working her way through piles of novels and travelling the globe. She contributes the monthly “Dissident Spin Doctor” column on PR and communication issues to MarkLives.com.
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by Tom Fels (@thomasfels) There was a time, not long ago, when digital marketing was largely thought of in agency circles as encompassing a decent website and a team of community managers interacting with consumers across one or two channels. Success was measured in likes, shares and fan growth before social media became media in a social world and access to your fans suddenly had a price tag.
Today, the term “digital” is a holdall for so many components of business that it in itself is becoming vague, while success is far more clearly measured in sales and business growth.
Closing the gap
As the gap between marketer and consumer narrows, we are understanding more than we’ve ever known about the lives and preferences of those enjoying our products, or not enjoying them, as the case may be. This places a new set of demands on brand owners as inbuilt learning dictates new product formats, routes to market and usage occasions. Harnessed correctly (and timeously), there are enormous advantages to be gained.
Corporate citizenship has also been elevated to the fore, as consumers have the mouthpiece to complain, rally support or praise the behaviour of big business. In this new era of transparency, everything from pricing to product ingredients and operational sustainability is up for debate. Consumers are no longer restricted to voting with their wallets.
The talent divide
As entire industries undergo their own inevitable digital transformation and are enabled the opportunity of unprecedented access to customers, there is exponentially growing demand for experts (both individuals and businesses) to guide the way in the local market. Yet, considering the relative infancy of digital marketing and especially in its more niche subsets, the size of the demand for talent, in particular, far outstrips supply. This has two inevitable implications:
First, the war for talent is a barrier to radical growth because the search-and-select process makes it hard to scale. There is such a wide range of ways for experts to apply themselves, from working remotely for global clients or gaining employment with top corporates taking digital in-house to joining a management consultancy, development house or an agency.
Secondly, as the go-to discipline for agencies seeking to grow their scope of work and, more holistically, champion their clients’ needs, the input costs given the lack of supply are at a premium to more-traditional disciplines, pushing output prices higher as a result — up to 20–30% at times.
Playing catch-up
As media, creativity and data collide to create our marketing future, there are many who will benefit in the short-to-mid-term before the masses catch up to a place of digital egalitarianism. In the agency world, so, too, will supply and demand balance, making talent more widely accessible.
Finally, as the understanding of digital skillsets gains traction, there is also no doubt that downward pressure will be placed on pricing and accountability. If anything, the idea of payment by results may finally be measurably achievable after years of pushing the paradigm but not having the tools to deliver on it.
Future favour
While many have said in times gone by that fortune favours the bold, in the enormous transition that we are all undergoing as a commercial imperative, I assure you that, in our digital future, the only fortunes to be gained will be through action.
With over a decade of local and international experience in leading brand consulting, design, shopper marketing and integrated advertising roles, Tom Fels (@thomasfels) has gained a deeply relevant understanding of the dynamics of agencies. His skills are put to work daily as group managing director of Publicis Machine. He contributes the monthly “Ad Exec” column to MarkLives.
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by Ivan Moroke (@ivanmoroke)Slow marketing and advertising transformation is often attributable to two factors: backsliding by some black people, copping out by some white people. Together, these dynamics create an unholy alliance that may stifle real transformation.
Backsliding
Renewed progress is impossible without acknowledgment that some black people are complicit in the foot-dragging. Rewards for not rocking the boat may be sizeable, including the trappings of wealth and the reputation as the black guru fully attuned to black experience.
Those ‘working’ the system might deem a township setting and some banter in township slang as sufficient for street cred when ads are in production. They might even criticise the industry for stalled transformation. Ritual condemnation is easy.
Real transformation means rolling up your sleeves and making a contribution.
Change-agents must champion fresh ideas and insist the authentic black experience (varied as it may be) is properly reflected, even when it means a total rethink. Change-agents must insist that black staff work from the outset on campaign ideas, not as an afterthought when a black gloss has to be applied.
Jobs are good — jobs with power are better
Standard practice must be interrogated in all areas, including procurement. Placing orders out of habit will not drive transformation; black entrepreneurs deserve an opportunity. The yardsticks are quality, deadline adherence and price. If a black supplier lets you down, it’s is not because all black people are unreliable. It’s because this particular business is unreliable.
Rigorous efforts to find the best black suppliers will speed true transformation. Excuses should not be made because a business is black-owned. However, few new businesses start out great on day one. Potential must be identified, supported and grown, without negative self-fulfilling prophesies.
Transformation efforts must be authentic, as the truth has a habit of coming out.
Copping out
For white folks, the problem is the cop-out.
Demanding the very best might mean rejecting work from black teams. This may be tough; it’s easier to simply accept the word of the resident black guru that the work will strike a chord with black consumers. In effect, you protect your own self-interest by accepting things at face value.
You’re consulting your black colleagues; some of whom hold senior positions. Surely this is evidence of transformation and nothing more needs to be done? Essentially, you’re being lazy while avoiding the philosophical leap necessary to make transformation real — the thought that black work is world-class and only the best will do.
Acceptance of mediocrity may also show cowardice
By saying ‘yes, no, well fine’, you avoid a reputation for being ‘hard’ on blacks. Someone might even think you’re racist for criticising a black team.
It’s time white professionals had the courage to challenge politically correctness at the black-white interface. Everybody’s work improves if it is subject to objective criticism. Some whites excuse their laziness and cowardice by saying they’re not sufficiently informed about the black experience to make a judgment. Nearly 25 years into post-apartheid South Africa and they’re still uninformed?!?
It’s time to wise up. Transformation must be more than a moral and legal imperative. It has to be a business imperative as well — a topic for another day.
The career of Ivan Moroke (@ivanmoroke) has shaped and has been shaped by brands, from running his family shebeen in Atteridgeville (many, many years ago) to starting a marketing consultancy, Co-Currency, 18 months ago. Consciously and unconsciously, his passion for what he does is rooted in the the power of authentic collaboration to create new possibilities.
“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.
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by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki)FCB Joburg and director Morgan Dingle of Your Girlfriend elevate the Toyota Service Centre with a metaphor that is both insightful and humorous. The bottom line? A really cool message that reminds us why we should look after our cars, and our bodies.
Old age is something one tends to think about only after one has reached a certain age. Particularly early in the morning when getting up to go to the gym is the last thing one feels like doing, and one’s knees start creaking ;). I speak as one who gyms regularly, not for the sake of bodybuilding but as an investment in getting older. Having had a brush with a ‘dread disease’ a few years ago also makes me that much more aware of the frailties of the human body and the importance of really looking after it.
Which may be why the latest ad for Toyota’s Value Service appealed to me — and that the casting and comedy of the ad are just spot on.
The 40-second TVC starts with closeups on a female runner: tight on her legs and feet as she startles a flock of pigeons, a shot from behind of her of her rear. The impression is of a young, muscular and fit woman. The athlete runs past an elderly man sitting on a park bench, who watches her with an impressed expression.
As the runner emerges from behind a bus, the fast-paced montage gears down into slow-motion, and her face is revealed for the first time. This is clearly a woman who is old enough to have had grandchildren. Her body is super-fit, yet her hair is grey and there are a few lines on her face.
Our protagonist runs up to a traffic light but has to stop for the red light. Two youngsters lounging at the nearby busstop watch her idly. Their jaws drop as she reaches back to stretch her leg — and then pulls her leg all the way up to above her head into a balletic pose.
“Is that an ouma?” asks the one.
The woman overhears him and — still holding the pose — gives him a wry look.
“Ouma… goodness!” says the other.
The light changes and the runner sprints off again, while the two youths look on in wonder. The text, “Age can be defied” is overlaid on a side shot of the runner, which wipes to a classic Toyota Tazz from the mid-2000s, traveling down the same street.
There is a quick cut to the car driving into a Toyota Service Centre, followed by a montage of it being serviced. The text that flies onto screen tells you all you need to know: this is a type of service plan for cars that are older than five years — in other words, no longer covered by standard motor or service plans. Unlike motor or service plans for new cars, there is no upfront fee. Ssimply, this plan allows one to get an online quote for your next scheduled service based on the car’s mileage, and offers discounts on parts and labour. In addition, Toyota promise that your car is being serviced by qualified technicians who will also do a full inspection of safety and critical maintenance items. You also get a 12-month warranty on parts and labour.
Getting back to the ad, its greatest strength is in its casting. The runner looks formidable, and the look she gives the two youngsters is beautifully underplayed. The two young men’s expressions are classic, and even the old guy on the park bench is perfect.
Conceptually, drawing the comparison between a fit (though old) body and a well-serviced car is both smart and insightful.
The cinematography and editing, as well as the music, make for a whole that is greater than the sum. Well done, FCB Joburg and Your Girlfriend for taking what could have been a pretty pedestrian message and elevating it to something that I could identify with, and that gave me a good chuckle.
Excuse me while I go and set my alarm for 5am tomorrow morning — the gym opens at 5.30am.
Credits
Agency: FCB Joburg
Client: Toyota Customer Services
Executive business unit director: Reagen Kok
Group account director: Wendy Lundie
Chief creative officer/group CEO: Brett Morris
Art director: Tsepho Mosoeu
Creative director: Tian van den Heever
Copywriter: Thabang Manyelo
Strategist: Chisanga Mubanga
Strategic planner: Stuart Simms
TV production: Nakita Bolus
Media planner: Gwen Bezuidenhout
Production company: Your Girlfriend
Director: Morgan Dingle
DoP: Eugenio Galli
Editor: Morgan Dingle
Post production: BladeWorks Post Production
Final mix: Theo Potgieter, Sound Patch
Ad of the Week, published on MarkLives every Wednesday, is penned by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki), the CEO of Ornico, a Brand Intelligence® firm that focuses on media, reputation and brand research. If you are involved in making advertising that is smart, funny and/or engaging, please let Oresti know about it at info@ornicogroup.co.za.
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Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila (@monalisa_zwam) is the founder and CEO of Riverbed, a full-service black-female-owned and -managed creative agency. She is passionate about the role the agency plays in transforming the sector and enjoys speaking on industry-related matters and leadership. Monalisa is completing her MBA through Henley Business School. Riverbed was a 2016 AdFocus Small Agency of the Year finalist, as well as joint One to Watch in 2017 in Jozi in our MarkLives Agency Leaders’ Most Admired poll for 2016
Launched in 2016, “The Big Q” is a regular column on MarkLives in which we ask key industry execs for their thoughts on relevant issues facing the ad industry. If you’d like to be part of our pool of potential panellists, please contact editor Herman Manson via email (2mark at marklives dot com) or Twitter (@marklives). Suggestions for questions are also welcomed.
