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Insight into trends
Thu, 04 Mar 2010
Ad agencies and marketers need to question everything they see as they are communicators who communicate in a number of ways. Therefore, they need to see how others communicate.
So said McCann Erickson’s Executive Strategic Planning Director Rob van Rooyen at the company’s Fourth Insight Exchange held on 4 March at its Johannesburg offices in Sunninghill. Van Rooyen described the Insight Exchange as a way of bringing the outside world in.
“This McCann Erickson initiative is a platform for agencies to connect with clients, for clients to connect with each other, and for the media to connect with clients. That is why they encourage staff from other agencies to also attend these sessions. We have no sacred cows, no borders – we are one,” he said.
Van Rooyen gave a presentation on the latest trends affecting consumers and brand communications such as Learned Happiness (Changing people’s emotions is easy); Slow Down (People are slowing down in what they are doing and thinking); Fake Loyalty/Disloyalty (How loyal are your customers really?); Tracking and Alerting (Always in the know); and Local is getting bigger. For more on these trends see the April issue of Screen Africa.
In the “Creative Fitness” section of the Insight Exchange, specially selected local and international television ads were shown and discussed. The ads were not necessarily selected for reasons of creativity but for the fact that they have been making waves in the market place. Brands such as Coca-Cola, Enterprise, KFC, FNB, LG, Orange, Meadow Fresh, Le Monde, Liberty Mutual and the Vancouver International Film Festival were featured.
The Insight Exchange also included a “Book Club” where Richard Hewitt summarised the best books on theoretical thinking. Books featured were: 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis (which shows that if you act boldly, a crisis can be your finest hour); Emotionomics (which shows that emotions, not intellect drive decision); Free - The Future of a Radical Price (which shows that giving things away for free is the newest successful sales strategy – in fact this very book can be downloaded from the Internet for free); and The Spider’s Strategy (which shows how many businesses closely network in a spiderweb of numerous corporate partners).
Rolien Gouws gave a “Facts & Figures” presentation on cinema advertising in South Africa. She noted that 2010 has so far been a good year for South African cinema, with six Oscar nominations for South African-linked films.
“Local is still lekker in South African cinemas – Leon Schuster has made four of the 10 top performing films in South Africa (ie. Mr Bones, Mr Bones 2, Mama Jack and Panic Mechanic). This country has become the Hollywood of Africa – it’s cheaper by 40% to make films here than in the US or the UK. And we’re still 20% cheaper than Australia.
“3D has become a phenomenon, with several major 3D releases, most notably Avatar which is by far the world’s highest grossing movie. Seventy-two percent of its global revenue [as at 4 March approximately $2.5bn according to Box Office Mojo] has come from 3D venues. In South Africa our 3D ticket prices are 40% more expensive than for 2D films. This year we can expect another four 3D releases from Hollywood at our local cinemas. Industry experts are predicting that in the not too distant future, big films will only release in 3D.”
In terms of cinema advertising in 2009, there was 23.1% cinema penetration amongst all adults aged 16+ in LSM7-10. However, cinema advertising has consistently represented only 1% of total ad spend since 2007, despite the fact that the LSM 7-10 cinema attendance increased to 25,896,000 in 2009. This begs the question of whether marketers and ad agencies are using cinema as an advertising medium properly.
The Insight Exchange was attended by brand managers, marketing managers and managing directors.
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