ACA Opens Entries For The 2021 Effie Awards South Africa

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April 15, 2021

ACA Opens Entries For The 2021 Effie Awards South Africa

South African agencies, clients, media partners and start-ups are invited to submit their entries for the 2021 Effie Awards South Africa.

This is the first time that the globally recognised Effie Awards for effectiveness in marketing communications are being held in South Africa. The inaugural programme, initially scheduled to take place in 2020, was postponed due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

For this first edition of the Effie Awards South Africa, over 60 categories are available for entry across two category groups. Full details on how to enter, including details on the categories and entry requirements can be found here. It is recommended that entrants download and familiarise themselves with all the entry documents, categories and requirements prior to initiating the online entry process.

‘When we announced the call for entries in 2020 for what would have been the inaugural Effie Awards in South Africa, we had no idea how our world would be turned upside-down and soon we’d all be collectively holding our breath, wondering how the pandemic would impact us. We’ve weathered the storm to some extent and it is with great excitement that we formally announce the official call for entries for the very first Effie Awards programme on the continent. Winning an Effie, considered globally to be the most respected marketing effectiveness award, provides client-agency teams with global recognition for their most effective work. In trying times such as these, the value of that recognition could not be more pertinent for campaigns that delivered against a pre-defined set of marketing and business objectives,’ said Mathe Okaba, CEO Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA).

Entry Deadlines for the 2021 Effie Awards South Africa are as follows:

– Early Bird: Thursday, 10th June at 12:00.
– On-time: Thursday, 24th June at 12:00.
– Last Minute: Thursday, 15th July at 12:00.

Round one of judging will take place on Thursday, 12th August and the final round on Thursday, 2nd September 2021, with the Grand Effie judging session scheduled for Monday, 11th October.

Effie Awards South Africa winners will be announced at the inaugural Effie Awards Gala, to be held as a combined virtual and physical event, on Thursday, 14th October. The Gala event will be preceded by the Effie Summit: South Africa to be held online on Wednesday 13th October where respected industry commentators, marketers and leading agency representatives will deliver engaging and relevant presentations on marketing effectiveness.

‘These awards are about what matters most to clients – results. This global symbol of achievement will catapult our profession onto the global effectiveness stage, and we invite all marketers operating within the borders of South Africa to enter. We look forward to celebrating and honouring the results and marketing effectiveness achievements during the Gala event in October,’ concluded Okaba.

EFFIE AWARDS
www.effieawards.co.za

Kantar Reveals The Most Creative And Effective Advertising In 2020

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Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

Kantar Reveals The Most Creative And Effective Advertising In 2020

Kantar’s Creative Effectiveness Awards celebrate the best TV and digital ads from around the world – as judged by consumers. They have revealed the 20 most creative and effective ads from over 10,000 they tested in 2020. Great advertising needs to drive short term sales and build brands in the long term, so the awards celebrate winning ads that are both creative and effective.

2020 was a year like no other. Kantar’s work showed that people wanted advertising to continue, and that, largely, they were processing content in the same way during the pandemic as they did before. So, what made for effective advertising was unchanged.

They had an impressive shortlist for this year’s awards – and the winners span nine categories and 11 countries. Download our complimentary booklet ‘The 5 habits of highly effective advertisers’ to find out more about the top 20 TV and digital ads from around the world, and what makes them great. All ads were tested with Kantar’s Link pre-testing solution which is independently validated to predict how an ad will deliver ROI for brands in the short term and the long term.

Consumers rated Heineken’s ‘Cheers to all’, the world’s most creatively effective ad for 2020. In this ad, Heineken addresses gender-related drinks stereotypes in a way that is light-hearted rather than preachy or self-righteous and for that reason is loved by viewers.

See the winners in the video below:

KANTAR
kantar.com

Marketing Automation Should Be A Central Aspect Of Any Digital Transformation

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Engagement Factory

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April 15, 2021

Marketing Automation Should Be A Central Aspect Of Any Digital Transformation

Engagement Factory says digital transformation is much more than merely buying IT tools and hoping they work. It is about buying the right digital capabilities, supporting your team in learning the right skills and changing the processes along the way.

One of the most essential digital capabilities you can invest in is marketing automation, and it plays a critical role in achieving digital transformation for your company. However, simply knowing this fact is not going to change much for any company.

Why change?

The world has evolved and, with it, so have your customers. Unlike in the past, they now can select and choose which services they interact with, which to block out and give negative reviews online. It is more important now than ever to put your customers at the centre of everything your company does.

To achieve this, businesses must build up a comprehensive experience for their customers with a 360° view of their interactions. They must understand which channels, style of communication they prefer and content they like to consume. This drives customer engagement, reinforcing their investment in the experience while creating a positive feedback loop. However, the only way to do this is through an integrated experience – and this can be a challenge.

Organisations often struggle to offer an integrated experience to their customers. This could be down to many factors, but some of the most common reasons include a lack of integration between systems or inefficient processes and poor collaboration due to siloed departments. Some companies even experience an overload of data but no way to generate actionable insights from that data. Others lack a team with the right capabilities and skills.

Whatever the reason, the result is the same – the company becomes stagnant, their customers gradually lose interest, and they struggle to maintain relevance.

The truth is, it’s complicated to realise an integrated and consistent customer experience across various touchpoints for multiple clients. Integrated and personalised experiences are created from capturing interactions, analysing the content they view and then tailoring that content – for every single customer. This task is impossible to achieve for businesses with many customers, so marketing automation is critical to offering an integrated customer experience.

Optimise your customer engagement through marketing automation

Customers expect better personal engagement, and they expect it to be wherever they are in the moment. One of the best ways to ensure you reach your customers is by taking advantage of the countless digital options we have available to us today.

Shifting your customer engagement model toward more digital channels requires a holistic approach. In other words, you have to be everywhere at once. This is where marketing automation comes in. Setting up marketing automation to support this requires time, patience, commitment, training and a willingness to embrace change within your organisation.

So how do you bridge the gap from marketing as you know it to engagement with marketing automation?

Four aspects to address for marketing automation transformation

To introduce marketing automation to your company, you need to address the core capabilities of your business. These areas will be the aspects of your business that will help you implement marketing automation and digital transformation as a whole for your business. They are: people, process, tools and data.

People

‘Get teams engaged, ensure a full buy-in.’

Explaining why the organisation chose to adopt marketing automation to your team and the benefits and effects on individual roles will improve support and collaboration. Since IT plays a significant role in the product evaluation and later on during configuration and deployment, they should be involved from the very start.

– Demonstrate to your sales team how marketing automation will provide relevant data and tools to help close deals and increase revenue quickly.
– Share all definitions, processes and ways of working to optimise the use of the tool.
– Discuss the topic with IT from a technological point of view.
– Show your marketing team how to use the tool and how it will change their roles.

A note on lead management alignment

Lead management is one of the foundations of marketing automation, and you should dedicate time with sales to discuss it in detail. Unless marketing and sales align and share the same definitions, key terms and understanding of leads, the tool’s implementation may fail at some point. Create success metrics and define what a successful campaign should look like together.

Definitions that are important for both departments to agree on are:
– Lead management.
– Definitions of leads.
– Sales-ready leads.
– Lead qualification criteria.

Process

Without structure and processes in place, you will have very little to automate. At worst, you will waste valuable time and money automating flawed processes – and your investment would be for nothing. It is crucial to review processes to understand what is currently in place and redefine or build the right ones to start.

All parties involved should be included in the process review to ensure alignment handovers between teams. Prioritise the processes you want to focus on and make sure your organisation is on the same page.

Tools

Numerous vendors are offering marketing automation platforms, but their cost and functionality vary dramatically. These differences are due to their focus on specific target markets, and it is worth researching to find out which one serves your organisation the best.

Your choice will depend on the size of your company and the budget and resources you have available. Focus on more than just the tool’s features and capabilities and look at how well it will fit into your organisation and meet your business’s needs.

Data

Better automation goes hand-in-hand with real-time access to customer data and behaviours, including digital and non-digital touchpoints. It comes as no surprise that advances in technology further empower marketers to put customers at the centre of the experience, personalising messages and delivering them when customers are most receptive to their content. Combining deeper and richer data sets with learning models, marketers can create granular content and trust automation to deliver that content optimally at scale.

Stay tuned to take the next step

Simply put, the marketing tech of the future can do what humans can’t. The ability to analyse mass quantities of user data in real-time, split that data into segments and identify anomalies enables you to achieve more specific tasks. This information can lead to scoring models and predictive content recommendations and allow you to deploy marketing messages that resonate with consumers as individuals at scale. Marketing automation should be a central aspect of any digital transformation in modern times. However, there is much more to implementing and running such a complex and dynamic tool.

ENGAGEMENT FACTORY
https://www.engagementfactory.com/en/

Retailers Need To Consider The Quality Of The Entire Shopper Journey

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Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

Retailers Need To Consider The Quality Of The Entire Shopper Journey — Geoff Hardy, Head of Digital, Immersion Group.

Across the globe online sales have surged, while locally online transactions on Black Friday alone grew by more than 60%. A recent study released by Mastercard found that 68% of South Africans are shopping more online since the beginning of last year. Consumers are embracing the e-commerce experience in growing numbers and corporate South Africa is taking serious notice.

‘The Covid-19 pandemic undoubtedly accelerated prevailing trends as well as consumer behaviour and preferences by as much as a decade. This extraordinary industry-wide transformation is a forecast of the future of South African retail,’ said Geoff Hardy, Head of Digital, Immersion Group.

He said a solid digital footprint and strategy have become non-negotiable, as was made clear by the recent acquisition of Yuppiechef by the Mr Price Group. ‘The deal demonstrates a definite push towards developing a solid online presence that meets the demands of discerning consumers who expect a seamless end-to-end digital experience.’

In the drive towards implementing sustainable digital strategies, retailers need to consider the quality of the entire shopper journey from beginning to end. ‘User Experience or UX is of course most commonly associated with a final digital product, but our position is it’s actually a journey that begins well before a product, app or website reaches the consumer, and indeed before a shopper even steps foot into a physical store,’ said Hardy.

He added that digital tech will increasingly become more integrated with traditional so-called offline experiences. ‘Former IBM CEO Thomas Watson Jr. famously declared that ‘good design is good business’. This proves to be true time and time again as research shows design-driven companies routinely outperform their competitors. Consumer facing organisations should weave good design principles into everything they do – from research and strategy to products and service. This involves thinking beyond transaction and focusing on creating beautiful experiences that build lasting and meaningful relationships with customers.’

Hardy said that developing a long-term digital footprint and strategy should be informed by design-led thinking as it acts as a framework for real innovation. ‘Evaluating every aspect of the customer journey, from top to bottom, puts the customer at the front and centre of the overall experience. Just as shoppers can simply switch websites, so too might they choose a competitor should the in-store experience prove frustrating and badly designed.’

IMMERSION GROUP
https://immersion-group.com/

CMS Takes On New Brand Expression

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Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

International law and tax firm, CMS, has rebranded, taking on the brand configuration ‘CMS: Law. Tax. Future.’ which represents a new and dynamic development and positioning in the top league of global legal brands in key international markets. As part of the rebranding, the local arm of the firm, CMS South Africa – formerly CMS RM Partners – also takes on this new brand expression, which is anchored within the idea of future facing.

Riza Moosa, Senior Partner of CMS in South Africa, Johannesburg, ‘The rebranding of the firm represents a fresh perspective for our business as we rejuvenate the brand and therefore modernise and optimise our work in the region, and as we strengthen our partnership with both governments and private sector organisations in the important task of building the economies of the future.’

‘Future Facing means anticipation, acceleration, and shaping the future for, and with, our clients. It’s only possible to be Future Facing by understanding the present. Our deep sector knowledge and innovations in legal services delivery mean we can deliver on this promise.’

CMS
https://cms.law/en/zaf/

Social Places Survey Shows That Online Reviews Continue To Grow Exponentially

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Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

Social Places Survey Shows That Online Reviews Continue To Grow Exponentially

Social Places has released the statistics from the second edition of their annual online Local landscape survey, which show that online reviews continue to grow exponentially and how businesses are managing these reviews have a direct impact on a business’s bottom line.

These statistics offer insight into how South African consumers engage with businesses online, how their behaviour has changed due to Covid and if aspects such as listings, reviews or star ratings should matter if you are a business owner. The inaugural report garnered over 3500 respondents from across the South African Landscape.

‘Keeping information up to date across channels is also a key factor in converting customers – 63.8% of consumers found incorrect information on Google during lockdown. It is becoming crucial for brands to manage their local presence as customers now expect business details to be correct across multiple digital verticals. In fact, 59,6% of consumers are turning to Google and Facebook to find the most up to date information on a business.

‘Further to this, consumers are expecting a more personal interaction from brands online – over 80% of consumers enjoy interacting with local businesses rather than brand head offices and it is becoming critical for brands (especially franchises and multi-location), to refine their strategies and develop authentic interactions with their customers,’ said Social Places co-founder, Ashleigh Wainstein.

Key findings:

View the full results here.

SOCIAL PLACES
https://socialplaces.co.za

A Good Value Proposition Knows Its Target Market

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Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

A Good Value Proposition Knows Its Target Market — Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager - MEA, Zoho Corp.

Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager – MEA, Zoho Corp, says the ‘headline’ section of a website should carry your business’s value proposition. How well you communicate the core value and qualities of your product or service here will make the visitor want to keep scrolling, learn more about you and ultimately choose you over other competitors.

Your headline and sub-headline should answer these questions, as briefly as possible:

● What does your company do?
● What pain points does it address and what problems does it solve for your visitors and prospects?
● Why should prospects choose you over your competitors?

In other words, a good value proposition knows its target market and through the above, it immediately lets visitors know if they are in the right place or not.

Here are five ways to ensure you get your value proposition right:

1. Speak to your customer about your entire offering

A good value proposition invites visitors to focus on their needs as well as other aspects of their requirements that they may miss out on. Try to capture the whole essence of your offering instead of talking about one specific aspect. For instance, take a bed and breakfast (B&B) that also includes add-on services like experience packages and guide bookings. The headline and sub-headline together should succinctly inform the visitor that it is a B&B that not only offers a relaxing stay but also a range of add-ons. A benefits-focused copy always goes a long way.

2. Emphasise your difference

Showcase your product/service’s remarkable qualities that will pique your visitor’s interest. If it’s a CRM software, how is your offering different from the scores of other CRM software in the market? Is it top-rated in the market? Is it recommended by industry experts? Is it priced the best? Is it tailor-made for a certain segment like large enterprises or SMEs?

3. Show them a problem-free and delightful future

Your copy should encourage your visitor to envision a future that will be ‘all the more better’ for them because of your product/service. Say you provide a digital note-taking application. It’s a good idea to portray the pain-points solved as well as the delights offered by the application. The headline and sub-headline could jointly communicate that while the visitor finds it easy to remember things, the note-maker additionally helps them become resourceful and accomplish more by keeping track of their thoughts and ideas in the form of organised lists. Also, while visualising the relationship, it is important to use copy that is simple and jargon-free to reinforce the benefits in a more impactful way.

4. Get clever (but not too clever)

Wordplay can be a hit or a miss in copywriting – sacrificing clarity for cleverness in your copy does not often create an impression as powerful as the simple but clear copy that you discarded earlier. Whenever you are using wordplay or less common words in your copy, use a light hand. Remember, the goal is to show the customer exactly how your product or service will improve their life.

5. Use hero images and CTAs

Most headlines and subheadings on websites are placed in the hero image. What is more, each sub-headline is directly followed by a call to action (CTA). However, both of these items — the hero image and CTA — should only be the second and third elements you consider for your website’s above-the-fold space. First, try to summarise your business value proposition in a copy that’s simple, clear and brief. Additionally, go through the websites of some of your favourite businesses and see how they are using this valuable real estate. Come up with as many headlines and subheadings as possible. Mix and match them and get input from other people to make the most of this space.

ZOHO CORP
https://www.zoho.com

Six Trending Traits Of An Exceptional Communications Team

By

Eclipse Communications

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April 15, 2021

Six Trending Traits Of An Exceptional Communications Team — Jacki McEwen-Powell, founding partner at Eclipse Communications.

Jacki McEwen-Powell, founding partner at Eclipse Communications, discusses how critical the role of communications is and how it has evolved, with key values and characteristics needed to take us forward. She unpacks the values and characteristics of an effective communications team – whether it is an external PR agency or internal communications division.

In a business landscape that has undergone a major metamorphosis, the role of communications has become critical. The question is: how does your communications team measure on delivering quality content that engages your stakeholders, generates leads and enhances your social licence to operate?

Six trending traits of an exceptional communications team

Creating solutions-driven content

Demand Gen Report’s 2020 Content Preferences Study found that 67% of respondents rely on content to inform their purchase decisions. In addition, Curata reveals that 74% of companies say that content marketing increased both the quantity and quality of its marketing leads.

Apart from educating consumers to become more discerning, one of the key functions of the communications team is to craft content that solves specific problems. The demand for exceptional skill on the part of the communications practitioner to understand the purpose of content and provide a solution to a problem is more important than ever.

Being able to pivot at speed

When Covid-19 hit, the brands that survived did so because they were able to adapt their offerings to accommodate the dramatically altered business environment. They found unique ways of delivering their services despite lockdown restrictions. Key to this was communicating changes in strategy and tactics to their customers, employees and suppliers. PR and communications teams had to pivot even more quickly than their clients to provide the necessary business support. This agility has become a prerequisite for PR and communications teams that are committed to ensuring they (and the brands they serve) remain relevant.

Omni-channel thinking

Eloquently noted by industry expert and speaker, Bud Caddel, ‘Digital is a participatory layer of all media that allows users to self-select their own experiences.’ Many communications teams are attempting to use digital as the panacea for all their communications challenges. According to Sasol Group Digital Platforms Manager, MJ Khan, the best communications teams first ask: what do we want to achieve? With this in mind, communications strategies should be created around answering the question, rather than immediately exploiting digital channels.

This calls for channel-agnostic PR and communications practitioners, who understand the importance of testing the feasibility of a campaign and then seeking the most effective channel to achieve the desired outcome.

Exceptional brand knowledge

Effective communications teams immerse themselves completely in the brands they serve. They do this by gaining a deep understanding of the brand’s vision, mission and purpose, and the objectives of each division.

Good PR and communications teams also spread their tentacles far and wide to gain an understanding of the broader industry the brand operates in; the competitor landscape; and the effects of economic and market fluctuations. This depth of understanding means the difference between superficial campaigns that don’t gain traction or executions that get to the heart of the matter and generate brand love.

The discipline of listening

Management consultant and author Peter Drucker said, ‘Listening is not a skill; it is a discipline.’ According to CreditDonkey, people spend between 70% to 80% of their days engaged in some form of communication, with around 55% of their time devoted to listening. However, most only remember 17% to 25% of the things they listen to.

Top communications professionals are masters in the art of listening. Those who engage with their brands’ communities and actively listen to the conversations in their ambit will be able to deliver strategies that are sincere, relevant and that speak to real issues experienced by real people.

A proactive approach

PR and communications professionals need to push boundaries, design unique strategies, and create solutions before problems arise. There is no place in the industry or business world for tick-box approaches anymore. Being proactive means continuous active interaction with clients and their target markets, taking the initiative to identify challenges and achieve deliverables, and selecting the right platforms to achieve their communications ambitions. A strong PR or communications team will better control the content presented to consumers, reducing the need for reactive PR in response to negative feedback.

ECLIPSE COMMUNICATIONS
eclipsecomms.com

Tractor Outdoor Offering SMEs Their Share Of A Collective R8 Million In Media Exposure

By

Modern Marketing

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April 15, 2021

Tractor Outdoor Offering SMEs Their Share Of A Collective R8 Million In Media Exposure

Tractor Outdoor’s #20in21 SME initiative, which sees the media owner leverage its extensive network of nationwide outdoor media inventory to promote local businesses for free, is open to all SMEs in South Africa.

The idea, explained Remi Du Preez, Commercial Director at Tractor Outdoor, is to ‘give these businesses a much-needed marketing boost, helping them to increase sales and secure top of mind awareness’.

This year also marks Tractor’s 20th birthday, and so the media owner intends to select 20 deserving SMEs from the total pool of entries. Each of these businesses will receive a package that includes advertising across Tractor’s OOH and digital OOH networks, as well as social media and online exposure. Of the 20, five selected ‘SME Heroes’ will each get an additional boost in the form of a branded video, PR and digital promotion.

‘The qualifying criteria is simple. We’re looking for interesting companies and passionate people; businesses that demonstrate the potential – and desire – for growth, but that could do with a helping hand to get them there.’

Tractor Outdoor’s SME Initiative, which was first launched last year, was initially a response to the nationwide lockdown. He explained, ‘Businesses all around the globe bore the brunt of the worldwide lockdowns intended to slow the spread of coronavirus, but – without the buffer of significant cash reserves – SMEs took the hardest hit of all.’

The intention, explained Du Preez, was to support local businesses that were struggling. ‘We decided that we would use the resources at our disposal to provide qualifying SMEs with free advertising. And so we put out the word and our inboxes began to fill almost immediately.’

Through this initiative, Tractor Outdoor granted billboard space to a significant number of businesses, while five were featured as part of the media owner’s #SMEHeroes campaign, which shone a spotlight on their respective stories through a video series.

The campaign also became a pivotal moment for Tractor, which led to a shift in its entire approach to business. ‘As an OOH media owner – which is reliant on outdoor audiences – we took a huge knock when lockdown was first announced in 2020. However, this period of difficulty gave us a moment to pause and reflect on our purpose. We realised that we couldn’t think only of ourselves – we needed to help those around us, if we were going to get through this as a country.’

Tractor Outdoor has since applied for its B-Corp certification, which is granted to companies that meet the most stringent criteria of balancing profit with purpose. “Our responsibility to shareholders will remain, but there’s now a greater emphasis on the role we play within our community.”

The idea behind #20in21, said Du Preez, is to build on what was achieved last year. ‘As we celebrate two decades in business this year, we’ve decided not to spend money on a lavish party and rather redirect our resources to helping another 20 companies in the hope that they too will someday celebrate twenty years in business.’

To apply for the Tractor Outdoor #20in21 Advertising Fund, please click here. Entries open until 2 May 2021.

TRACTOR OUTDOOR
+27 21 426 0087
info@tractoroutdoor.com
www.tractoroutdoor.com

Grey Africa And Romance Films Launch Savanna TV Commercial

By

Modern Marketing

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April 13, 2021

Grey Africa And Romance Films Launch Savanna TV Commercial

Over the past year, Savanna has taken on many human truths with a crisp and witty perspective. The introduction of Siyavanna South Africa – ‘We get you; we are on the same page’ – has enabled Savanna to effortlessly tap into everyday situations and bring them to life.

Introducing its latest television commercial, My friend, Savanna is tackling the #MyFriendZone. Not the one you are probably thinking about – the other kind: the multiple friends South Africans tend to make going around their daily business. Each person becomes your friend, buddy, bafo, nja yam, bru or chana. This is all good and well but one crucial question never gets asked: ‘What is your name?’

‘People connect with ads that make them feel something, and subtle clever humour that makes you think is one of the surest ways to cause an emotive response. As South Africans, we don’t take ourselves too seriously, so humour is our superpower,’ explained Steph van Niekerk, Creative Director at Grey Advertising.

The ad was shot on location by legendary director, Greg Gray of Romance Films. Gray has worked with the brand since its inception in 1996, an unusual long-term relationship in a world where nothing is a constant. ‘We love South Africa and its people, but what we love even more is observing national quirks. That was our aim at Romance Films, to capture the nuances that make you giggle as the penny drops and you remember how many Savanna and Grey Africa/WPP Liquid friends you have,’ said Gray.

KANTAR kantar.com

TRACTOR OUTDOOR +27 21 426 0087 info@tractoroutdoor.com www.tractoroutdoor.com

GREY JHB +27117063060 www.grey.co.za

KANTAR
kantar.com

TRACTOR OUTDOOR
+27 21 426 0087
info@tractoroutdoor.com
www.tractoroutdoor.com

GREY JHB
+27117063060
www.grey.co.za