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December 12, 2011 By

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One of the plusses of living in a multi-cultural country like South Africa is the diversity in language and customs. Admittedly, few media channels can compete with radio’s unsurpassed ability to connect with all listeners in all languages from Pedi to patois.

Sadly, advertisers and marketers who fail to take advantage of this or who fail to understand the segmented nuances of the black consumer sector are speaking to a homogenous nobody. They are likely wasting their money too by creating mismatched messaging and buying ill-placed advertising space by targeting what they assume to be ‘the black market’.

A flip of the coin and our research indicates that black consumers have a message of their own for marketers and their agencies – copywriters, take note;

What they’re saying is; “Look elsewhere for stories. We’ve moved on.”

Don’t do ads that reflect how things used to be. Have your finger on the pulse. Better yet – spend a week in the townships to really get a sense for how things change daily. Learn the language, or at least familiarise yourself with the lingo they’re speaking.

What they’re saying is; “Look elsewhere for stories. We’ve moved on.”

You can’t view the world from the boardrooms; “I’ve done my ads, I’ve won my awards” – is not going to work. Radio is alive. It allows you to adapt and evolve as quickly as these young people are.

The black consumer market is South Africa’s past, present and future. For this market, radio has always featured as the most trusted and accessible media after friends and ‘word of mouth’.It therefore makes sense for brands to be in there. With radio and a deeper understanding of the market, you can be that brand.

Lebo Motshegoa

Managing Director, Foshizi

Filed Under: creative Mind, insights Tagged With: ,

Making the right listening connections

September 30, 2011 By

by Yazeed Kamaldien
7 September 2011

Advertisers and marketers who fail to understand the segmented nuances of the black consumer sector are speaking to a homogenous nobody. They are likely wasting their money too by creating mismatched messaging and buying ill-placed advertising space. They are targeting what they assume to be ‘the black market’.

This much and more was evident when Lebo Motshegoa, managing director of black consumer insight agency Foshizi, presented his company’s research on the black consumer audience. Motshegoa was among a range of media sector specialists at the second annual RadioWorks 2011 conference held in Cape Town on September 1.

Motshegoa has previously worked as a copywriter for a radio station. Among his conference audience were radio industry professionals working in advertising, marketing and programming.

“Black people drive big cars because they want to feel empowered,” was one of his quips that drove home tips on prevalent consumer thinking.

Motshegoa then unpacked the diversity within the black consumer market. Foshizi’s researchers worked with “insight generators” to compile their data. Interesting findings in the youth market revealed a lingo that incorporates a range of brands.

This presented a quick marketing opportunity particularly on radio as street lingo evolved rapidly, urged Motshegoa.

“Radio allows you to use your brands when it is part of popular lingo in the township. Your brand is relevant. It shows that you know things,” said Motshegoa.

Foshizi also found that radio stations are the most trusted media among black consumers. The information they trusted the most though was from their friends via text messages and social networking websites.

“They are connected with their friends and those are the people that they believe first. Then comes the radio,” said Motshegoa.

Music was a platform for telling particularly the black youth market about brands.

“They are listening to the music for brands before they listen to adverts. We spoke to an agency in Los Angeles to do research on this. We then spoke directly to guys over here and they told us the brands that they recognised immediately. These brands were all associated to the music they listen to,” said Motshegoa.

“In the United States, this has created business. Media companies pay musicians to mention something positive about the brand. Nobody is doing this in South Africa. Our musicians mention brands but because it’s not a business they can do so negatively as well.”

Companies who wanted to choose celebrities to sell their brands also needed to consider the story associated with a well-known face because that would affect their campaign effectiveness.

“Young black consumers are saying that fame alone is no longer enough. Don’t simply attach your brand to a celebrity. These consumers want rags to riches inspiration,” said Motshegoa.

Technology has also affected the manner in which radio is consumed. Motshegoa explained that taxi drivers used to have ownership of what messages reached consumers who took this public transport. Everyone in the same taxi would listen to the same radio station.

“Having radio on your cell phone means that you don’t have to listen to what the taxi driver is playing. You can put on your head phones and listen to the radio,” said Motshegoa.

RadioWorks 2011 was organised in Cape Town and Johannesburg by the Radio Advertising Bureau

Filed Under: press, press 2011 Tagged With: , ,

RadioWorks Conference 2011 – turning everything you know about radio on its head!

August 2, 2011 By

Just because radio’s been around a while doesn’t mean it’s the same as it was five or even two years ago or that you know everything you need to know about this vibrant medium that often blazes a trail in media circles as opposed to following meekly behind.

This is the premise behind the second annual RadioWorks 2011 Conference: TILT – Radio from a different angle. RAB GM Gilda De Araujo says; “Radio being the well established medium that it is, means we tend to take its vast reach and innate ability to connect with target audiences for granted. The big idea behind this year’s RAB conference is to turn everything you think you know about radio on its head and investigate the medium from a number of new angles – hence the theme TILT- Radio from a different angle.”

De Araujo says key areas of delegate interest and need have been identified and will be tackled at RadioWorks 2011 including: How marketers can make their brands stand out on radio more than ever before, global creative insights and ideas, strategic media planning insights leading to a better understanding of the radio consumer and Case Studies providing real results and a clear idea of what works and what doesn’t.

In keeping with these real world needs, the line up of speakers is not the ‘usual suspects’ but rather a multi cultural group, drawn from a wide array of backgrounds and disciplines. They do, however, have one thing in common; namely that their doing things differently doesn’t mean they don’t also achieve excellent results. The line-up of speakers includes:

  • Mark Gillman, former 5FM BROADCASTER and founder of TMGS Creative in the UK, who will look way beyond the recorded generic campaign, taking delegates into the cutting edge future of radio advertising – Branded Programming TECHNOLOGY like you’ve never seen it before.
  • Tony Hertz, the only person in the world with both a black & yellow D&AD pencil for Radio under his belt, shares insights into art of radio creative
  • Barrett Whiteford, FNB Head of Marketing: Credit Card Division shares the thinking behind the ubiquitous and hugely successful (40% lift in sales and counting!) ‘Steve’ radio campaign!
  • Award Winning duo Jenny Glover and Brent Singer of Net#work BBDO who have two Cannes Lion Radio Grand Prix awards between them, share incredible insights into the Cannes judging process and what it takes to put together a winning radio campaign!
  • Andy Rice chats to Luci Hirsch of the ‘Hi, I’m Luci Hirsch’ fame, and unpacks the winning formula for family retail store success.
  • GREY SA CEO, Idea Catalyst and Social Scientist Sizakele Marutlulle; township research specialist Lebo Motshegoa, from Foshizi and Dollywagon Media Sciences’ (UK) Jason Brownlee set the record straight when it comes to consumers, ‘darkies’ and radio effectiveness.

The RAB has also listened to the industry and this year six short, sharp morning sessions will see presentations of a maximum of 30 minutes each including a Q&A component, while the afternoon will feature three streams, targeted at specific groups.

Cementing this ‘spot on’ approach De Araujo says; “RadioWorks 2011 is one conference that’s not about posturing or smug, self pontificating but hard core market intelligence that delegates will be unable to garner anywhere else. For that reason, we can’t wait to turn radio upside down, inside out and prove that we know how to make a day out of the office really count!”

*****The Johannesburg leg of the conference will take place at the Forum, The Campus Office Park, Bryanston on Wednesday 31st August, while the Cape Town leg is on the 1st September at the Crystal Towers, opposite Century City Shopping Centre. E-mail prudence@rab.co.za or call Prudence on (011) 325-4935 to book.

Time: 08:00 for 08:30am – 17h00 plus cocktails

 

Investment:

R800 plus VAT per person

R740 plus VAT per person for early-bird bookings done by 5th August 2011.

R740 plus VAT per person for groups of 5 or more

Filed Under: press, press 2011 Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,