5 minute read
Achieving a common goal by Koo Govender
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the process of gathering data, align it to your customer profile and create context for your customer. You can implement your communication programmes on automation platforms to ensure that you are always on when it comes to conversations with each customer. These platforms allow you to create triggers, cues and sequences that apply a predefined treatment the moment each customer chooses to engage with you or when your systems and models indicate the customer is most likely to be receptive to your messaging. This combination of customer data, personalised content and automation ensures you’re always communicating with your customer in the right context. Consistent management in this way will raise their awareness and appreciation of you and increase the likelihood that they’ll engage with you in the future.
Final words
Data and research are important when it comes to understanding how to connect with your customers. Without it, we couldn’t have a quality, human relationship with our customers at scale. With platforms such as Everlytic, you can have contextual, autonomous, machine and data-driven relationships with millions of individuals at the same time. But first, you need to plug in the reliable, accurate data sets that describe your customer, their needs and preferences. When properly integrated and automated, this becomes an extremely powerful marketing asset that helps you deliver the most relevant message to your customer, at precisely the right time. This can be done across multiple channels to help guide your customer through various actions that align with their needs. It is the perfect formula for customer satisfaction, which in turn results in customer growth, engagement and retention. Everlytic is a proud partner of the Future of Media 2020, brought to you by Arena Events.
ACHIEVING A COMMON GOAL
BY KOO GOVENDER
Since March 2020, Covid-19 has had an instrumental impact on the SA as well as global economy with the media and advertising industry being some of the hardest hit.
Brands are pausing, stopping or reducing spend, which has created a knock-on effect for the independent contractors and media owners that the industry supports. As an ever-changing industry, and especially in the Covid-19 circumstances, we are having to constantly find better and different ways to communicate, engage, captivate and convert consumers. The right guidance for our clients is imperative as consumer behaviour is always changing. How consumers reacted to a brand pre-Covid is very different to how they would react now. Our lives are disrupted; media and advertising agencies, media owners, clients and consumers have all had to adapt at speed, leading to new consumer habits, which in turn creates opportunities.
Brand awareness and communication is important as we need to re-ignite growth and constantly stay relevant to consumers. We, as the advertising and media industry, need to understand how to add more value in the ecosystem for our consumers and clients, providing them with innovation because no one knows what is next. As an industry we are in a unique position as we are privy to insights, shifts, consumer habits and behaviours, which gives us an opportunity to identify the optimal approach. Data and insights are at the heart of creativity: we need to work much harder by working with our clients, media owners and industry in finding more innovative and effective solutions for our client’s return on investment (ROI). Covid-19 has forced us to alter our thinking on how we operate as an industry, and how we come out on the other side more sustainable and effective for business continuity. Collaboration, recognition and appreciation of our talented people is more important than ever as it is these things that will allow the industry to thrive and encourage sustainability. We are best when we come together authentically, reduce egos and collaborate. But what is collaboration really about?
Driving business success with great ROI Demonstrating unity within our industry and achieving a common goal
Showing their true purpose by offering tips on personal hygiene during the pandemic. Image: Supplied
Calling out and recognising great work Celebrating achievements with our competitive media agencies and competitive brands
Collaborating in the interest of what’s best for the public. Image: Supplied
Two examples immediately come to mind from the start of Covid-19:
1. One is Woolworths, Spar, Pick n Pay and Shoprite collaborating to create the campaign “together we serve” – it is not very often you see one campaign or one message driven from some of SA’s biggest retail competitors. 2. Lifebuoy included its competitors (Lux, Dettol, Santoor and Godrej
No.1) in a public service message.
Not only does the campaign list their direct competitors, the ad focuses on the best interest of the public and stays true to its purpose by offering tips on personal hygiene during the pandemic. What about business recovery within our industry? Firstly, there is no textbook or playbook. The prognosis from majority of economists is that life as we used to know it may only return to “normal” by Competitors collaborating to create campaigns. Image: Supplied
end of 2021, which means a very slow rate of recovery that should be treated as a marathon and not a sprint. The industry needs to re-evaluate our audience and how to engage with them: we need to be ready to respond to opportunities and have the resilience and agility to thrive. I strongly believe this is the time for opportunity and to find our purpose. This is the time for us to stop, reset, reflect, re-evaluate, rejuvenate and refocus on what is important. The pandemic has forced us to create new beginnings and demonstrate that we are all in this together and united in the battle of Covid-19 as we charter through unnavigated waters. Koo Govender is the CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network SA.
