5 minute read
OUR COLLECTIVE GRIEF
Moving through our collective grief
LEBO MADIBA reflects on how South Africans can deal with the crises facing us and come out stronger.
We’ve been living with the Covid-19 pandemic for well over 18 months. And now we’ve had to deal with a new crisis: widespread civil unrest. Collective grief for friends, family and colleagues lost to the pandemic now extends to include grief for the many people whose lives and livelihoods have been lost to rioting and looting.
We watched in disbelief as the infrastructure that supports our daily lives was destroyed and mass looting laid the foundation not only for economic hardship in the months to come but also for the very real possibility of widespread food and medicine shortages.
Losing Leaders
These events have exposed deep cracks in our socioeconomic construct. While we commend short-term gains as the authorities manage to restore order street by street, we also understand that there is so much more to be done.
At times like these, we look for guidance to business and community leaders, which is why the loss of those who have had such a significant role to play in our communities comes with such a profound sense of weight.
Lebo Madiba
One of those we’ve lost is elder and businessman Jabu Mabuza, who died from complications arising from Covid-19. His loss is made all the more poignant by the fact that taxi drivers turned out to be such unexpected heroes during this traumatic time.
Ta’Jabu was a very special South African whose career took him from the taxi ranks to some of the most eminent boardrooms in South Africa. On a personal level, my admiration for him was only heightened by the leadership he showed in the fight against state capture.
I had the privilege of working with him in his capacity as president of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) at a time when we were only just starting to connect the dots on the issue of state capture. He was the one who took up the baton and led business’s response, working tirelessly to help stop the rot. So it was an honour when my public relations agency was appointed to handle BUSA’s messaging, communications and reputation management under his leadership at such a critical time in our history.
no more normaL
Reflecting on the events of the past weeks it’s easy for me – as it is for many of us – to long for a sense of normalcy. Sadly, we have to confront the fact that life as we knew it is gone forever, and we need to grieve for that as much as for the people we’ve lost. We’ve been exposed to the uneasy reality of how quickly death and destruction can happen.
But South Africans are made of stern stuff. We have to take the time we need to grieve and, just as importantly, to think about the kind of society we want to live in and leave to generations to come. Then, as we have done so many times before, we need to draw on the example that people like Jabu Mabuza have set for us and do better. One step at a time, one brick at a time, one relationship at a time, we need to build a South Africa that is a safe and nurturing place for all who live here.
In this moment of darkness, we can choose to move through our loss and grief with bravery and conviction, and create something better for all of us.
Lebo Madiba is managing director of PR Powerhouse. She is a communication expert and brand builder with 20 years’ experience using communications and branding to solve a range of complex business challenges.
Sound data, sound insights
Kagiso Media’s radio stations, Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio, have industry-leading digital platforms that engage and entertain over 1.5 million consumers monthly, writes NICK GRUBB
In a highly competitive media landscape where consumers have endless choices, one of the key methods we have used to get and stay ahead has been through a deep understanding of our audiences. We figured that if these insights are useful to us, they will be just as valuable to our clients. That’s how SoundInsights was born.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit South Africa last year, forcing consumers to stay at home and increase their media engagement, we partnered with Pinpoll, a data management platform, to ensure that every contact we had with a consumer yielded a greater understanding of who they were and what they were interested in.
Now less than 18 months later, we can access more than two million first-party data profiles. Earlier this year, we provided our clients with the opportunity to harness this capacity to build their understanding of their target market.
This is done by composing surveys or quick polls and targeting the consumers most relevant to that customer or campaign. Our audience members in the database are categorised according to their demographics, locations and lifestyle interests.
Our opted-in consumers love the opportunity to be heard and shape the offerings they get from our clients and partners. Furthermore, the size of our platform means we never survey the same consumer twice, ensuring the solid credibility and integrity of our data.
TOWARDS DEEPER UNDERSTANDINGS
When we first started using our first-party data to improve our ability to connect with our audiences, we saw declines in the bounce rates on our website of up to 8% and solicited more than 17 000 detailed responses from listeners on how the Covid-19 lockdown was impacting their lives and livelihoods. We were then better able to tailor our products to their tastes and further strengthen relationships.
Client use of SoundInsights has enabled us to produce industry guides covering retail shopping behaviour and the eventing industry and its ability to recover post-pandemic, as well as guides around consumer attitudes to finance, insurance brands and products.
Clients that have run these surveys report that they have been able to tailor their radio and digital campaigns to deliver better responses and higher return on their investments.
For the past 10 years, I have wanted to match the acquisition of every listener with a deeper understanding of each listener, and am proud of the teams at Kagiso Media Radio and its brands, who work with tireless curiosity to realise this, as they have done with SoundInsights.
In the coming months, we are looking to reinforce this product substantially with even more resources and partnerships. Get in touch so we can understand your objectives and explain how our engaged audiences can help you get closer to achieving them.
Email soundinsights@ kagisomedia.co.za or me directly at nickg@ kagisomedia.co.za
