Debate on 'Tackling Africa, Challenges vs Opportunities'

As with any topic that relates to undertaking business in Africa and best practise, there were varying opinions from the panellists, which provided an interesting debate.

Thebe Ikalafeng from Brand Africa, the facilitator for the discussion, opened the panel by posing the question, "What are the key challenges that media face on the continent and what does it take for South Africa to interact with Africa?"

Image via 123RF

Jones responded that Africa is leapfrogging the world when it comes to mobility and that brands that are attuned with this are more in touch with the consumer. Angus-Hammond agreed, stating that 75% of the continent's population has access to a phone and reaching out via this channel is crucial to success of any brand. "We all get caught up in mobile because it lives in our pockets; it is our personal item that is always there when we need it."

Cassim-Surtee also added that reality based content that drives users to smartphones gets good responses from consumers.

Validity of OOH

Ikalafeng then raised the question, "Then is Out of Home (OOH) media still valid in Africa?"

While Muller agreed implicitly that while mobile is a powerful tool to reach the mass African consumer, OOH is still viable, especially if one considers the amount of time that consumers spend commuting each day.

Jones stressed that delivering the correct and relevant message to the right audience, regardless of the channel, was key to the success for any brand in Africa. Brands need to invest time and money into understanding a countries culture, as what works in one region may not work in another.

Further to that, PAMRO has just released its updated Harmonised Questionnaire, as well as PAMRO SES that will, if adopted by all researchers in Africa, provide a standardised and consistent platform for marketers to use as a reliable base to begin their media strategies.

Understanding target markets

From a TV perspective, Cassim-Surtee reiterated the importance of targeted programming, where segmentation according to the market is key to succeed. "What is well received in West Africa may not reap the same success in East Africa. This is when customising territory becomes vital to success."

The other panellists were all in agreement with the sentiment that on-the-ground local support and offices are the keys to successfully entering into African markets. Where campaigns have failed in the past, often it was because businesses failed to understand their target audience, where if they had on the ground support, they would have been less likely to offend or confuse that target audience.

Corruption

The audience then questioned the panellists on the elephant in the room; dealing with bribery. The panellists agreed that fraud must stop with the media owner and it takes two to be corrupt. Alasdair stated quite simply that it is not about who is going to take you for lunch, but more about where the best media platform would be for a client's brand.