For decades, traditional means of advertising such as electronic media, OOH and print have been seen as the most impactful forms of advertising and till this day, account for over 70% of advertisers media investments. However, with the emergence of more discerning and evasive consumers the need has arisen to diversify our approach to reach our target audience more effectively.
The world has gradually become one big global village and Nigeria is definitely not left out. The average Nigerian consumer has become increasingly aware of his surrounding and many traditional approaches to reaching him no longer suffice.
In order to fully optimize media investment, the advertiser must go beyond the old advertising media approach which basically “tells” the consumer what he should like. The advertiser must migrate to the new brand experience approach which “shows and shares” what to like with the consumer.
In order words, regular spot placements on radio and TV are no longer sufficient to fully persuade the consumer. The consumer must see a version of that product or service offer they can believe in – they need an experience of that product strong enough to persuade.
Nowadays, with the proliferation of television and radio stations across the country and as the consumer becomes more and more evasive, brands are finding innovative ways to interact with consumers. Advertisers are beginning to infuse the brand with popular programming via “product-in-use” and product demonstrations. This should in no way be confused with “product placement” where the product is simply placed on a shelf or table for all to see. This involves embedding your brand message within the programme itself. Case in point; if Nokia intends to sell Ovi store applications to consumers, this can be “scripted” into various programmes which are popular with their target audience where we can clearly see how the Ovi store application is used, its benefits and how it clearly enhanced the lives of the consumer. This cannot be done in one episode but should be spread over various episodes with various applications and usage scenarios being depicted in each episode. It should be subtle enough to be believable, yet strong enough to be persuasive. There must also be some feedback mechanism in place where the brand can get an immediate feel of the consumer’s perception. This can be in the form of an SMS short code where consumers may actually get to win the actual Nokia phone used in the programme or a simple fan page on facebook where comments can be posted.
Innovations have also been seen on radio, where interactivity has taken the place of one-way communication. Now listeners are encouraged to call in and share brand experiences; comments and opinions shared via facebook and twitter and read out live on air. The consumer becomes part of the communication process and no longer a dormant recipient of your communication.
It therefore goes without saying that sponsorship will pay a major role in media investments in the years to come. However, the following guiding principles should be followed. These principles can be referred to as the “5Rs” 1 namely;
1. Relevance: Our brand experience must create relevance in terms of the match of “offer”, audience and media. E.g. plugging in the new Blackberry torch within a popular female oriented reality TV show where the benefits can be extensively portrayed to your target audience.
2. Response: Our experiences must anticipate and facilitate consumer response. We must provide an immediate feedback mechanism which can range from a simple fan page on facebook to a trivia on TV where consumers stand a chance to win product packs or other gift items.
3. Review all routes to the consumer: We must not default to any standard or normal mix of media.
4. Revenue: Our experience should consider the commercial return (actual and future potential)
5. Results: Brand experiences are about results against set KPIs.
Furthermore, as the media specialist strives to optimize his media investments, increased focus on new media cannot be over emphasized. As the internet evolves, it has become the primary source of information for many consumers. Digital media changes and challenges everything! Digital media is the future – whoever refuses to believe this is quite simply, delusional.
Based on reports from Internet World stats in June 2010; Nigeria has approximately 43.9million internet users and is ranked 10th in the world with the highest number of internet users2. With an internet penetration of 29% and one of the highest growth rates in the world, media specialist and advertisers alike must agree that these numbers are becoming increasingly interesting and cannot go unnoticed. Social media has also played a significant role in this. With approximately 3 million facebook users in Nigeria alone3, many consumers need to interact and share brand experiences rather than remain dormant – one-way communication can no longer suffice.
Moreover, after the global economic meltdown, it has become increasingly important that ROIs on media investments be quantifiable and measurable against set KPIs. Besides providing an interactive interface between brand and consumer, digital media provides a unique avenue to measure media deliveries in real-time! The media specialist can readily provide reports on impressions delivered on demand and in some cases, show a direct impact on ROI. A simple example of this would be a search engine campaign for an airline via Google Adwords. Any consumer searching for “cheap tickets” or “lowest fares” would immediately be shown an ad which links him directly to the airline website. As most airline bookings and payment are done online, a direct impact on sales can be shown in just a few days! A special low fare campaign for an airline can actually be run solely on a search engine marketing campaign.
It can therefore be concluded that a digital leg is key to the success of every modern media campaign.
References:
(1) Checkmate Connect Workshop ( 2) Internet world stats copyright ©2000 – 2010 ( 3) www.checkfacebook.com
