No longer are radio, television, print or OOH discrete advertising opportunities \u2013 they\u2019ve become bound in a web held together by the silk thread of digital technology.<\/p>\n
Integrated 360-degree, omni-channel marketing campaigns that create touchpoints at every part of a consumer\u2019s day \u2013 by combining traditional and digital mediums \u2013 is what it\u2019s all about if brands are committed to boosting their sales.<\/p>\n
But how do advertisers, media planners and agencies get multi-channel marketing right?<\/p>\n
In the most recent Future of Media event, the focus was on how to navigate the new media environment to prioritise the right amount of attention and resources to the various platforms \u2013 whether its social media, print, online, radio, TV, or OOH. Moderated by Siya Sangweni from Cliffcentral.com, the huge panel of experts included Livia Brown, General Manager at Posterscope, Eben Gewers, Head of Advertising Sales and Trade Marketing at Arena Holdings, JD Engelbrecht, Managing Director of Everlytic, Isla Prentis, Intelligence Lead at Tirisano Consulting, within The MediaShop, Merlin Naicker, Group Executive Television at SABC, Michelle Randal, Sales Director at Christopher Africa; and Rivak Bunce, Managing Director at United Stations.<\/p>\n
Covid-19 arrived and OOH was hit quite hard with people being in lockdown. Brown started the conversation by looking at a silver lining on how OOH has relearned and transformed \u201cNone of us could\u2019ve seen the pandemic coming, but the benefits to the industry have been that the industry has stood up and reshaped itself. We\u2019ve seen lots of changes bringing online and offline together and amongst this huge disruption, there\u2019s been a lot of positive change within the industry.<\/p>\n
One could argue that many elements of human behaviour are going to change permanently. Sangweni asked Prentis if she has seen a change in people\u2019s spending and consumption patterns through Covid-19 and whether she thinks it has made it hard to determine the future of how brands should advertise and what platform to use? \u00a0She answered by saying \u201cfor me 2020 has taught us that we can\u2019t predict the future. It apparently takes 21 days to form a new habit and that will inevitably change some consumers\u2019 behaviour and buying patterns.\u201d She continued to say that she believes that it\u2019s not so much about what people are doing, it a reminder that we don\u2019t know what everyone\u2019s doing.<\/p>\n
Finding commonalities between what brands offer and what consumers want can surely be achieved with personalisation and authenticity when interacting with the customer, but is that enough? Engelbrecht explained that \u201cThe key is knowing what the relationship is between your customer wants and needs in relation to your business goals. Thereafter, it\u2019s easy, put the right message up at the right time, leverage the most engaging channels and content options and then use automation to follow it up with the next message.\u201d<\/p>\n
The digital space has been placed at the forefront of where we are now, which does give it a head start when advertising to customers, simply because the digital space provides more access to data and is more agile to react and respond quickly. \u00a0Randal added that \u201cThe challenges for media owners that are not a part of the natural three (Facebook, Twitter and Google) has been to show brands how to connect more meaningfully. Now more than ever, especially with budget constraints, there\u2019s an opportunity for brands to look into other platforms that may be able to provide a more effective reach and relevant messaging, allowing them to break through the clutter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Focusing our attention on the television space, Naicker was asked whether he has seen an effect on in-home media consumption. He shared that in his experience at the SABC he thinks in home media has been affected and that they have found that TV consumption has remained quite high. \u201cWe had some of our highest viewing audiences during lockdown, but we know that this is because consumers were forced to stay at home. Outside of this, the story that is more telling as the consumer is no longer home bound and is seeking content driven by their needs. It will start to settle at level 2 and media owners will need to pick up the pieces and attract their audiences again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bunce added that this is the most exciting time to be in radio because radio has managed to keep up with big digital changes. \u201cDigital changes conspire in radios favour, pushing radio to thrive.\u201d In his opinion, Radio is finding new ways to leverage technology to spread its influences and grow audiences in different spaces.<\/p>\n
Across the board, the pandemic has forced advertisers and brands to find new, innovative ways of reaching and building robust relationships with current and new audiences. So how has the print sector managed? With people saying \u201cprint is dying\u201d and with the industry seeing an immediate drop in advertising spending, why is it still so attractive? \u00a0Gewers commented saying that he thinks print is enduring for a variety of reasons in this \u201cpost truth\u201d world. \u00a0\u201cPrint has a lot of gravitas behind it. It\u2019s still perceived as having a lot of truth behind it. There have obviously been natural declines in print sales but I believe that in our current environment print is doing quite well simply because people want trusted information and good news with credible sources behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With all channels having positives and negatives associated to them, and some being elevated or completely flipped on its head by the latest pandemic, at the end of the day the multichannel topic is not a new conversation. Each media type has its own role. It\u2019s about understanding what you are using the media type for. Don\u2019t stick to one lane; use all channels in an innovative ways in order to bring the full brand experience to life.<\/p>\n