5 minute read
MEDIA AGENCY: SOUTH AFRICA
Leaning into 2021 with hope and eyes wide open
KAGISO MUSI looks back on the lessons – big and small – we learned in 2020, and how they can help us navigate life and marketing this year.
Last year, 2020, was a far cry from what we hoped for and expected. It was the year we toasted to ‘20-plenty’, but little did we anticipate that the plenty we were about to have was of a different kind. It was the year that brought us
Tiger King and a US election that felt more like a farce. It was the year of accelerated poverty and increased gender-based violence, and definitely a year of many life lessons.
It also spelled the beginning of a beautiful journey of self-discovery and building foundations for some, as well as birthing many a home chef and
TikTok artist.
Over and above the negative state of our economy from previous years, the unprecedented upheaval of the
Covid-19 pandemic had serious social and economic effects for us both individually and collectively, setting us on a mental roller coaster of emotions, many of which were negative.
It became necessary to rethink our goals in order to create and maintain hope, do away with feeling rudderless and the fear of the unknown, and enter 2021 focusing only on what was within our control.
Lockdown was thrust upon us and we did not know what to expect, so we hurled ourselves into it without much of a plan. Now we have the opportunity to plan a little better. We have the advantage of experience and knowledge of what this virus means when things get bad – hopefully giving us some room to anticipate and plan scenarios around ourselves and work.
RECONNECTING
There was one very specific area the lockdown had a big impact on, and that was connections with family and friends. This has to do with how our humanity manifests in ourselves and at work. 2020 brought us back to us. We often throw around the word ‘ubuntu’, but generally don’t really live its core. Last year, however, was more ubuntu-esque – the calls to check in on people, making sure neighbours and strangers had food, drivethrough birthday celebrations, the deliberate smiles with our eyes at the shops, the virtual office awards, the funny (and embarrassing) moments during Zoom calls, virtual baby showers, the financial sacrifices many made to save many ships, and the very many intentional moments of happiness that were created.
2020 also reminded us of the value of our partnerships. We as an agency are proud that we have a literal open-door policy; every day is open day for our media owners. During lockdown, we lost good ground on the day-to-day interactions that had been built in the office where media owners could pop in without a meeting, just to have a chat.
This resulted in media owners only engaging with us when they, or we, requested a meeting. Without the daily open-door interaction, media owners lost touch with our clients’ immediate needs and we lost touch with immediate updates on their innovations, ideas and them catching briefs ‘in the air’.
This is why water cooler moments are a thing: there are worthy insights one gets from ‘random conversations’ that no brief can provide.
So, starting at the end of 2020 and going forward into 2021, one of our goals was to be proactive about continuous engagement beyond ‘the brief’ – a specifi c engagement for ourselves and our media owner partners. This represented a win for them, a win for us and, more importantly, a win for our clients.
BEYOND MARKETING METRICS
On the client side, never has there been more of a time for agencies to act as an extension of the marketing department than now (and for the client to be willing for that to happen). Being fl ung into uncertainty for the brands we represent, together, has brought us much closer. Now more so than ever before, the sales funnel holds specifi c importance for marketers and agencies alike. We have seen many good businesses close shop, go into business rescue or reduce budgets to shadows of their 2019 scales – this has become about brand survival.
The general consensus is that businesses in ICU generally do away with marketing budgets, which means reduced marketing teams, which means no requirement for agency partners (try as we might, scientifi cally proven, to convince clients that in a recession brands that spend, thrive). The level at which a brand performs has an immediate consequence for the potential to retain jobs. Never has this been more pronounced and clear than now.
As we continue to navigate 2021, the focus should be beyond marketing metrics and questions, and rather on an appreciation by marketers and agencies alike of pure business survival and understanding what it takes to ensure that survival. This is what our business goals should be built around as agencies, and specifi cally as media agencies. The triad relationship of client/agency/media owner cannot exist if one of the legs is broken.
So this year, let’s lean in to hope, but let’s do it with eyes wide open, and include scenario planning against what we now know about the effects of the virus on ourselves, our colleagues, our brands and our industry. This will allow us to react better as the effects of the virus have their way with us, and indeed also prepare us for future shocks.
Kagiso Musi
Kagiso Musi is group managing director of Meta Media South Africa, which focuses on analysing and uncovering insights from the most granular forms of data, and utilising that data to help clients win. A graduate of the AAA School of Advertising, Wits Business School and University of Roehampton, Musi is also a member of the MAC Transformation Charter Council and a trustee on the board of Young Entrepreneurs South Africa, a member of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance.
