MarketingMix Contents

I 0 2 I Ed’s note I 3 0 I Mobile measurement

Raymond Buckle, CEO, SilverstoneCIS,
I 0 4 I Global mobile trends discusses what (and how) to track, in a mobile
Mike Wehrs, president and CEO, Mobile Marketing marketing campaign
Association (MMA) shares some insights into the
growth of mobile marketing and media worldwide
I 3 2 I Channel selection
Chris Rolfe, CEO, Mobilitrix, shares some tips
I 0 5 I Local mobile trends on how to select the right mobile media for
Rick Joubert, executive chairman, Yonder Mobile your campaign
Media, looks at the development of mobile media
in SA
I 3 3 I How to: mobile video
Get to grips with mobile video
I 0 6 I How to: mobile database
Understand how to get your database ready for
mobile marketing I 3 4 I How to: social networking
Learn more about mobile social networking

I 1 7 I Mobile summit
A reportback from the 2009 Mobile Marketing I 3 6 I Research 10
Summit Market research gurus explore the hot new
technologies and methodologies that are shaping
market research
I 1 8 I How to: SMS
Get to grips with SMS marketing
I 4 4 I 7 Day [B]itch
Cheryl Cooke, group marketing executive: Corporate
I 2 0 I How to: MMS Marketing Services, Ellerine Holdings Limited (EHL)
Learn more about MMS, and its marketing capabilities explains why she cannot do without her Blackberry

I 4 5 I Expert opinion: Nici Stathacopoulos 1

I 2 4 I How to: mobisites
Pick up top tips on the creation of winning mobisites Nici talks 1-2-1 marketing

I 2 5 I Partner selection I 4 6 I Expert opinion: Neil Jankelowitz

Cliff Court, chief technology officer, Grapevine Neil looks at who scored, and who missed, at the
Confeds Cup
Interactive Marketing, explains what to look for in a
mobisite developer
I 4 8 I Expert opinion: Danie Petzer
I 2 8 I How to: mobile apps and Adele Berndt
Learn about mobile apps, and how to get them going Danie and Adele find out about technology readiness

04 30 32 42
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Hall, Mellis Road, Rivonia, Johannesburg PUBLISHER: Terry Murphy MANAGING EDITOR: Michelle Sturman List Perfect
michelles@systems.co.za EDITOR: Fulvia Becatti fulviab@systems.co.za ADVERTISING MANAGER: Hellen Murahwa
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www.marketingmix.co.za 3 292
(Jan-June 09)

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 Ed’s note

Ta-dah!
It’s the 2009 Mobile Marketing Guide, packed with all the
info, insights and tips you need to get your mobile campaigns
going. This is truly a must-read for anyone who wants to
understand not only how all the elements fit together, but also
what it all means for marketing and media. What’s fascinating
is that there is so much that brands can do with mobile media
– the sky’s the limit, really. And what is becoming clear is that
content is key, but actually, it’s relevance that’s the biggest
driver. That’s why the mobile database is the Holy Grail; if
you know what your customers like, don’t like, where they
shop, when and how, what movies they like to watch and
whether they have a large dog or a lapdog that wears a bling
collar, you’re able to really engage them.
This is followed up by Research10, an annual guide to
market research in South Africa. We get the low-down from
industry gurus about how new technology (online, social
networks and mobile, among others) is taking market research to the next level. It’s interesting to see how eye
tracking, behavioural observations, neuroscience and cellphone surveys are increasingly finding a credible (and
very meaningful) place in the world of market research, and are helping researchers to get a better understanding
of WHY a consumer behaves the way they do. I’ll certainly be more careful of what I am subconsciously doing
while pushing my trolley around the local supermarket – who knows if a researcher is watching!
And with that, I bid you a fond farewell – this is my last issue as the editor of Marketing Mix. It’s been a
pleasure getting to know you all, and learning about the fabulous and dynamic industry that is marketing. On the
up side, I now know a great deal about marketing and communications. On the down side, I can’t watch TV ads
without pondering what the brief was about, and who the target consumer is, and whether the ad reaches the
consumer in the right frame of mind… oh well, at least I’m not a passive consumer!
2
Adieu!

Marketing Mix wishes to thank Vodacom for its sponsorship

of the Mobile Marketing Guide.

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 7/8 / 2009

 Global trends

Mobile marketing: The global picture

By Mike Wehrs, president and CEO, Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)

t’s widely accepted that the communications landscape is

I giving consumers and brands more choices than ever

before. Today’s consumers no longer solely rely on the
broadcast and publishing industries to keep them informed and
entertained. Instead, they demand instant access to news and
information when and where they want it. This change in
consumer behaviour is driving brands to change their
marketing strategies. As new communication mediums and
tools become available and marketing budgets worldwide
come under pressure, brands are looking beyond ‘traditional’
channels and are actively using a variety of channels to have the
best ways of engaging with the consumer.
When looking at a variety of communications channels –
print, radio, television, online or outdoor – it becomes
immediately clear that mobile, like no other channel, has the
ability to make these traditional communications channels
truly interactive and dramatically improves their effectiveness.
Mobile is a unique marketing tool, allowing brands to target
communications to the consumer, tailoring and personalising
4 offers as well as achieve a higher rate of conversion. It
represents the one communication channel that lets the
consumer control, encourage and define the interactions
with their chosen brand – anytime, anyplace.
The competitive nature of the mobile industry means that it
is continuously developing and improving. Ever-improving
handsets, smartphones, larger screen size, better Web browsing
capabilities, longer battery life and ‘all you can eat’ data
packages are leading to the explosion of consumer mobile use
for more than just voice and text. In turn, this presents brands mobile users are both familiar with and reliant upon. It remains
and advertisers with a wealth of opportunities to establish an one of the most simple, direct and measurable mediums of
emotional and interactive engagement using rich, immersive brand-to-consumer marketing.
content platforms. When coupled with tools such as vouchers or coupons,
Mobile’s targetability, reach, location awareness and direct, brands are able to provide a value-add for the consumer, creating
interactive link with the consumer makes it the only real way a dialogue and offering a tangible product that enriches the
for marketers to deliver on the promise of effective one-to-one overall brand experience. The rise of App Stores is an extension
marketing. The delivery of relevant, tailored and timely of this brand-to-consumer dialogue and has already been used
messages offers high conversion rates and attractive returns on by a host of brands as part of their marketing strategies. Mobile
investment. Thus mobile is an effective method for the applications downloaded directly to the handset provide the user
achievement of campaign objectives from customer acquisition with an enhanced product experience, offering additional
to retention, brand awareness and engagement. It’s far benefits in the form of unique content, for example, free
more personal than television, print, radio or Internet and, music to download, exclusive product demos, games to keep or
importantly, is always on and always available. mobile accessories.
Mobile is rapidly gaining ground in the marketing industry In short, this combination of SMS coupled with emerging
across the world with a multitude of tools on hand for mobile technologies such as location-based services or presence
advertisers to strike the right note with the consumer. There will really see mobile come into its own and position it as a core
are a number of key mobile technologies that are driving tool for brands to further develop direct conversation with
mobile marketing forward – and pointing to its increasing consumers and offer a more immersive interactive experience.
success. The mobile Internet, downloadable applications and For mobile marketing to succeed on a global level, marketers,
customer service-based features have all come into play and advertisers, brands and everyone else in the ecosystem need to
remain areas to watch. Within these technologies are a number recognise the unique opportunities and advantages of mobile
of core tools that brands can harness. SMS, for example, the and make their marketing messages personal, targeted and
‘traditional’ medium for mobile marketing in its earliest stages, relevant to the consumer. Whatever the message, whatever the
remains strong and is a now a well-established channel which brand, ultimately it’s all about the consumer. 

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009

 Local trends

Mobile marketing in South Africa –

a high level overview
By Rick Joubert, executive chairman, Yonder Media
n June 2009 Arthur Goldstuck (World Wide Worx) in

I an update to an earlier report, noted that there were

approximately 37 million human cellphone users in SA –
representing a population penetration of 77 per cent.
South Africa continues to be a mobile marketing pioneer:
consistently in the top six markets (by volume of mobile
advertising impressions) of the major global mobile advertising
networks like AdMob, Buzz City and Mkhoj (who between
them serve close to 500 million monthly advertising impressions
to SA) as well as the dominant independent mobile web browser,
Opera MINI.
Further, home-grown mobile social media services like MXit
and Vodacom’s The Grid never fail to draw admiration from
international peers and also continue to grow beyond the South
African market.
It is a little disappointing that with the exception of Vodacom,
other mobile operators in SA have not yet invested in any
meaningful way in the development of the mobile marketing 5
industry; they occupy such an important place in the mobile
media value chain and have control over a range of high-quality
advertising inventory.
It is, however, great to see the large media companies and
publishers visibly working toward integrating mobile into their
offerings and in some cases looking to actually publish their
content to mobile. We are not only seeing the print media
players entering this space but increasingly also the broadcasters
– look out for permanent mobile integration into many TV and
radio executions in the near future. The recent establishment of a South African council of the
This activity is not surprising: although developing markets global Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has, as at end
like SA lag behind the industrialised world in terms of the share August 2009, attracted close to 30 member companies most
of advertising spend going to new media at the expense of the of which have become actively involved in supporting the
traditional media, the actual trend is no different – while development of four key priorities: mobile marketing standards
advertising budgets are flat or shrinking, new media channels and formats; measurement; and training and networking/PR. So
like Web and mobile are growing at rates north of 30-40 per far, only three large mainstream agencies have committed to the
cent per annum. local MMA so the advertising industry is under-represented and
Today, in SA there are well over 10 million unique monthly is at risk of missing a great opportunity to help shape the
users of the mobile Internet (broadly defined) compared to just development of the mobile medium.
over half that amount for the PC Web. More important is the At Vodacom, close to 70 per cent of mobile media revenues
fact that the overlap between these two access channels is quite originate from agencies as opposed to brands direct – a sign
small – less than 30 per cent of regular mobile Web users have of a medium fast gaining acceptance. The 2009 Loeries
easy access to the PC Web. advertising awards has for the first time also included a mobile
In addition, MXit (July 2009) reports over 14 million advertising award.
registered users (MXit does not report unique monthly users) In addition to driving innovation, and enhanced user
and Vodacom’s Please Call Me ad tags reach on average about experiences in publishing and advertising, mobile is also having a
23 million unique SA users across all cellular networks, significant impact on processes related to customer service as
every month. well as commerce (mobile wallets), both of which are key in the
I estimate that approximately one third of SA advertising and overall marketing value chain.
media agencies have a dedicated mobile resource, normally as We will look back at 2009 as the year that the chasm between
part of a ‘digital’ or ‘new media’ team; agency attitudes to the early adopters of mobile media and the early majority
mobile are shifting, with the understanding of its massive (mainstream agencies and brands) was crossed: the year that the
potential in this market. 7th mass medium reached a tipping point. 

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 How to: mobile database

Setting up a mobile database

o start ‘doing’ mobile marketing right, the first step is to

T find a service provider that has the actual technology and

systems needed to create, send, receive and process
mobile marketing messages (SMS, MMS, and so on). They
should also be able to collect and store as well as relay back
information about the target market as generated by campaigns.
This information needs to then be added to an existing database.
The next major priority is developing a database that is
mobile marketing-ready. Initially, the information in this
database must at a minimum include the full name and
cellphone number of each target market consumer.
If cellphone numbers are missing, run an SMS-to-win competition,
for example, (see page 18 for more info), or send a link to an
interactive voice recording (IVR) that prompts customers to
update or confirm their details in exchange for an airtime
top-up, perhaps.
There are a few simple ways to establish a mobile database
from scratch. Run a competition, for example, using mobile
entry mechanisms (SMS short codes or USSD) to capture the
 How to: mobile database
full names and cellphone numbers of a consumer group. Partner
with a company or brand that already speaks to those target
consumers and share its database; just be sure to follow the rules
set out by legislation and codes of conduct governing a consumer’s
right to privacy and protection of personal information.
A database should not be just a list of
cellphone numbers and it should become the
backbone for a potentially rich database – one
that yields a profile for each contact: where
they live, where they shop, their favourite ice
cream, whether they are married or single,
and so on.
8 database on a continuous basis,” says Candice Goodman,
A mobile media company can also be approached for its
database; simply define the target market (demographics,
location etc), and what is to be sent, and the mobile media
company should do the rest.
There is also the option of going to a reputable list agent to
get a database of consumers. “You can pre-populate a profiled,
opted-in database and then ask questions relevant to your brand
or product,” says Fiona Smit, managing director, Yonder Mobile
Media. For example, if you know the name, age, gender and
location of those listed on a database, you don’t need to ask
these questions again. Instead, simply ask brand-related
questions such as where is your nearest Pick n Pay outlet?
“This way you can keep the profiling process short, simple and
relevant to the consumer, and gain valuable information for the
client,” says Smit.
First prize in the database-building stakes is getting
consumers to opt in for mobile communications from the start
and to build this info into a database. This one’s tough – few
brands have that kind of appeal. But for a live sports results
service, for example, it is a viable approach as consumers want
to receive this sort of info on the go.
Rich database = successful campaigns
A database should not be just a list of cellphone numbers and it
should become the backbone for a potentially rich database –
one that yields a profile for each contact: where they live, where
they shop, their favourite ice cream, whether they are married or
single, and so on. It almost goes without saying that having data
this rich, makes segmentation and the creation of highly targeted
and relevant communications a walk in the park. To reiterate the
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
Warning: Always remember the consumer’s million-dollar question:
what’s in it for me? Whatever it is that the consumer is being
offered has got to be really exciting, or else it’s just not worth
their effort (or the R3 it will cost them).
For this reason, the Wireless Application Service Providers
Association (WASPA) Code of Conduct encourages members to
state clearly, upfront, what the cost of the interaction will be for
the consumer (cost of entry, cost of subscription or service, and
cost of competition prize delivery, for example). Also, if they do
interact, remember cellphone marketing etiquette: the consumer
should get an automatic reply SMS, to thank them for the interaction.
point, it becomes possible for a chocolate brand that wants to
target women living in Morningside, Sandton, with a special
two-for-one chocolate bar offer at their local Pick n Pay on a
particular day of the week, for example, through a simple SMS.
Building this sort of database isn’t rocket science; it’s simply
the understanding that customers need to answer questions
about themselves to fill out the database, and layering this with
other available data (such as retail till data, for example, or
information from the cellphone networks about the consumer’s
cellphone) can paint a three-dimensional picture of each contact.
“One way is to add intelligence to your database over time by
asking questions at every touch point with your database (what
I call drip-irrigation interrogation), thereby learning about your
managing director, mo-B.
A database should also provide more information about
consumers’ cellphones so campaigns can be planned ahead –
knowing whether each consumer’s handset is MMS enabled
(and whether this functionality is switched on), and whether
it is WAP enabled (this impacts on ability to browse the
mobile Web).
Other factors to think about: ensure that whatever is sent to
the database will display correctly on consumers’ phones (screen
sizes and resolution as well as software need to be verified). The
networks have this information, so check the database against
their records. 
Jargon got you?
You might hear mobile marketing geeks refer to mobile messaging
as A2P or P2P.
Just so you know, A2P is the acronym for ‘Application to Person,
and refers to messaging that is sent by a business or company to
the consumer’s phone by means of an automated application. This
allows for the distribution of content and information or for search
and inquiry services (such as an SMS that invites the recipient to
‘click to call’ or ‘click to book’) as well as for interactive services
(such as ‘click to vote for your favourite Idol’).
P2P (person to person) refers to those messages that one consumer
sends to another, which may carry advertising messages. For
example, a brand can purchase advertising space in Vodacom’s
Please Call Me messages, which users send to one another.

Mobile marketing summit:
showing mobile success
he Marketing Mix Mobile Marketing Summit and Mobile
T Solutions Showcase shed light on the mobile market in SA.
Rick Joubert, co-chairman of the Mobile Marketing
Association (MMA SA) reports that there are over 50 million
cellphone connections in SA of which 37 million are individual
users. That’s about 77 per cent population penetration. It’s not
surprising then, that Raymond Buckle, CEO, SilverstoneCIS,
says that in SA, mobile is the first response channel, allowing for
both reach and richness.
According to Brett StClair, country manager: South Africa,
AdMob, SA is in the top five highest impressions in the world.
The AdMob network, which, simply put, is a mobile advertising
network, allowing brands to advertise to consumers on the
mobile Web, served 140 million impressions in SA in June 2009.
The local mobile market is estimated to be worth around
R200 million, says Joubert, and agencies are slowly starting to
understand the mobile space, with the big spenders being
financial services, mobile entertainment, handset brands and
FMCG brands.
Who’s on mobile?
The prime age for mobile is 13-33 years, says Tanya Howard,
product manager: Mobile Advertising, Vodacom. Teens and
youths are big business for mobile brands, given that they are a
large market and early adopters of new media. But they don’t
spend a lot on their phones, so they may not grow profits.
The majority of SA’s population still uses text services. In fact,
SMS and conversational marketing is on the rise, says Dr Piet
Streicher, managing director, Bulk SMS.
That said, the evolution of the mobile Web is one to watch.
There are over 10 million mobile Web users across the networks
in SA, which is far greater than the number accessing the fixed
Internet. As Gustav Praekelt, CEO, Praekelt Consulting,
explains, 1.7 per cent of the SA population uses broadband
Internet, while 3.9 per cent use WAP (Wireles application
protocol, Internet access via a cellphone).
Lower LSM
Craig Irving, founder, Consumer Insight agency (CIA), conducted
research on behalf of Soccer Laduma, on cellphone use by LSM
4-8 black men. This market is not thrilled with mobile services,
since they are not giving them the best user experiences. For
example, mobisites with large banners, which take a while to
load, and then force the user to scroll down. These are very
costly for this consumer segment (which knows exactly how
much – to the cent – it costs them to send an SMS or surf the
mobile Web). Jargon, such as the terms ‘WAP’, ‘hyperlink’, and
so on, is another issue, and one that makes mobile surfing more
complex for this market. This sort of insight is key in planning
and managing a mobile campaign.
Campaign management
When it comes to planning and managing campaigns, the experts
agree that SA mobile campaigns need to be more carefully
Mobile summit
considered. Tyler Reed, founder and director, TinyImpact, says
that user information can be mined to deliver campaigns that are
more relevant.
Device targeting is a great starting point as it defines the call
to action that the user can receive. The make and model, the
operating system, its messaging capabilities and browser
capabilities as well as multimedia capabilities are all factors to
be considered.
Ahmed Kajee, managing director, Cellsmart, says when
measuring mobisites, it’s about measuring click throughs or
impressions, while MMS and real-time voice messaging are
much like TV advertising: you can be pretty sure that if your
database is accurate, most of the target would have received
your ad.
All measurements should include the basics: reach, frequency,
penetration and so on, as well as cost per lead, conversions and
ROI, and also brand measures (brand equity, awareness and
loyalty), says Kajee. Remember to track beyond the clicks and
focus on conversions too.
Says Kali Ilunga, founder of Spoken Ink, campaigns must
deliver something that has value in the real world. So while a
mobile game is cool, a mobile shopping voucher is even better. 17
Speaking of shopping, mobile banking and commerce are also
being boosted by the rise of mobile technology and its adoption.
Mobile commerce and banking
Mobile applications are increasingly being used in the world of
retail and banking. As Derek van Wyk, manager: Marketing and
Product, TransUnion Credit Bureau, points out, cellphones are
allowing for fast and accurate credit scoring, and mobile
authentication that prevents fraud.
As Praekelt says, mobile is allowing even unbanked
communities to make payments.
Mapping
Location-based services and mapping technology are enjoying
massive growth. Lorraine Deane, new media development
manager, MapIT, refers to increasing demand from consumers
for maps available via mobile. But these have potential for
brands too. Brand icons in maps, for example, or MapAds
(dynamic ads in the map) will put a brand into a map easily.
Geo-targeted ads, such as those by Nandos on Vodacom’s The
Grid (a location-based mobile social network) offer opportunities
for brands to reach consumers. “Users are not bound by their
physical geographic boundaries, and top users are in around 230
locations each month, says Vincent Maher, portfolio manager,
Social Networking at Vodacom.
Trends to watch:
 The emergence of the mobile application Internet
 Location
 The mobile wallet and mobile payment solutions.
Look out too, for major growth from the lower end of
the market. 
vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za
 How to: SMS
SMS hort message service (SMS) is – aside from voice calls – the
S most ubiquitous mobile format, since all handsets are
capable of sending and receiving text.
SMS is a dynamic tool, given that it includes simple text, short
codes, premium rated SMS and USSD.
SMS text notifications
These are the simple text messages that stores such as Edgars,
for example, use to remind their club members of a sale. Small
businesses use these to remind customers to make account payments,
for example, or to remind clients of their appointment.
To set this up, the marketer will simply take their database of
customer or target cellphone numbers to a mobile media service
provider, who can then create and send the SMSes. By segmenting
the database, the marketer can also target the SMS notifications.
These SMS notifications generally should not cost the
consumer (unless the notification is part of the service offering
of a company and is built into the service and admin fees
charged to the customer).
In sending SMSes, the major cost consideration is around the
volume to be sent, and thus the cost per SMS. Generally, the
more SMSes sent, the cheaper the cost per SMS, with rates per
SMS anywhere around the 30c-R2 mark. Some service providers
have an SMS credit system (the marketer sends as many SMSes
18 as they would like until they’ve spent all their credits).
The consumer must know what the costs are
upfront, and the WASPA code of conduct
dictates that if the total cost of a service
exceeds R200 in one calendar month, then
the consumer must be contacted so they can
confirm that they will accept the billing costs.
SMS short codes
A short code is the unique number that a consumer will send an
SMS or MMS to in an SMS/MMS-to-win competition, for
example, or to access information or content (such as a ringtone
or a cellphone screensaver).
To set up a short-code campaign, find a WASP (wireless
application service provider) that is able to offer the renting or
purchasing of a short code, as well as the use of keywords
necessary for this sort of campaign.
Short codes are currently in high demand, so users are
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
encouraged to rent a shared short code (ie a short code that is
being used by more than one brand or company) for the
duration of their campaign, rather than using a dedicated short
code. Each campaign on a specific short-code channel is
differentiated by the keyword used to activate it (the keyword is
typed into the SMS by the consumer in the entry process).
Depending on the particular short-code number, the
consumer pays anywhere between standard SMS rates 80 cents)
to R20 per short-code SMS. These costs are pre-set, and are
allocated to specific short codes; what’s more, clients can expect
to take up to 50 per cent of all revenues made, while the WASPs
and the cellphone networks pocket the rest.
Be aware that the costs associated with short codes could be a
barrier to entry for some consumers. Be aware too, that the
Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association (WASPA)
code of conduct (available on its website –
www.waspa.org.za/code/codeconduct.shtml) dictates that these
costs need to be stated clearly in promotional material.
Be aware that aside from the regular short-code rental fee
there may also be a once-off activation fee. “Furthermore,
consider the service costs for account and campaign management
and any specific technical or other requirements that you may
have,” says Ahmed Kajee, managing director, Cellsmart. The
more complex your data management needs, the more costly it is.
Premium-rated SMS
A premium-rated SMS costs the consumer more to send than a
regular SMS. These are used in competition entries or to facilitate
participation in particular events (such as the Idols voting), to
subscribe to a service (such as weekly ringtones or mobile
games) or to make donations to charities or causes. The
consumer will send an SMS to a particular short-code number to
initiate any of the above at a premium cost that ranges anywhere
up to R150.
Again, consider the higher cost of the premium -rated SMS as
a potential barrier to entry, and know that the networks and
WASPs will pocket a proportion of the profits. The consumer
must know what the costs are upfront, and the WASPA code of
conduct dictates that if the total cost of a service exceeds R200
in one calendar month, then the consumer must be contacted so
they can confirm that they will accept the billing costs.

UUSD
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) is a text-
based interactive tool, which captures the user’s responses and then
reacts. It can thus be used for competition entry, for surveys and
to elicit customer feedback as well as to subscribe to a service.
For the consumer, USSD is cheaper than short-codes (as low
as 20 cents for 20 seconds of usage, in some cases). Plus, it
works across all phones and networks and doesn’t require
special phone software to operate. Most of the lower LSM
market is familiar with the workings of USSD, since it is the
platform by which airtime is loaded or topped-up, which means
that this is a great tool for reaching a mass market or the
bottom of the pyramid.
How does it work? The consumer sends a keyword to a
particular short code to initiate the USSD service and then
interacts with it. For example, the consumer SMSes the brand’s
name to a particular short code, and then the USSD service
starts up and asks the consumer to enter their name and
surname, and answer a question to enter a competition.
Find a WASP that can set up the USSD channel, and will
manage the campaign. The cost of setting up a USSD campaign
ranges but expect to pay around R2 000 to set up the USSD
channel, and a further 50 cents per response. Again, the cost of
the USSD service must be made clear to the consumer upfront.
Getting SMS right
Clear objectives: be clear about what you want the SMS tool to
How to: SMS
achieve and what role it plays within the overall campaign or
strategy. Is the SMS playing a supporting or leading role, or is it
the hero of the campaign?
The message: with only 160 characters in which to wow and
persuade the recipient it had better be good. Make sure that the
message is clear, targeted and absolutely relevant (how about
using the recipient’s first name). Don’t forget to include crucial
info like your company name or the price of each SMS
competition entry.
Value: does your SMS give the recipient value of some sort? Is
there something in it for the consumer? If not, why are you
sending it to them?
Reply path: the reply path (feedback or response from the customer)
must be monitored and you must react (make sure that every
competition entry or click gets a relevant and speedy reply –
even if it is a quick thanks for their participation).
Always have an opt-out. Even if the consumer originally
opted to receive your SMSes.
Make it all measurable: keep track of exactly who received your
SMSes and what they did with them
Tie-in: if your SMS activation is part of a larger campaign, make
sure it looks and feels like the rest of that campaign.
Measurement
To measure an SMS campaign track:
 The number of recipients of the message
 The cost per lead and per conversion
SMS > p21
 How to: MMS
MMS
ultimedia messaging service (MMS) is one up on basic
M SMS. With MMS, video, audio, images and rich text
(text with different colours, fonts, etc) can be sent.
Messages can also be longer than those sent in an SMS, which
limited to 160 characters. All of which means that the MMS
recipient enjoys a potentially more colourful, interesting
message experience. “MMS is as diverse as e-mail. There are
thousands of designs, creatives, attachments and formats that
one can use,” says Eddie Groenewald, CEO, Multimedia
Solutions.
For brands and companies, MMS holds a lot of potential as a
mobile marketing tool. MMS can direct the customer to a
mobisite or invite them to enter a competition; it can send
the customer a personalised birthday message, or remind them
that they need to pay their account soon or even send them some-
thing entertaining that they’ll want to pass on to their friends.
This can be followed with an MMS business card, and an invite
them to call and say, book a test drive or a free business
consultation.
20 The cost of MMS as a marketing tool is high
compared with SMS, so there is a lot of
debate around the effectiveness of the tool
relative to its cost.
“The most well-known advertising opportunity on MMS
would be on Vodacom’s permission-based AdMe platform,” says
Candice Goodman, managing director, mo-B. AdMe is an opt-in
service; the consumer signs up to the service and offers some
personal info. The platform then segments its database, and
delivers ads that are relevant – women will receive an ad for a
new hair care product, while men will receive a special offer on
beer, for example.
Who can I reach with it?
While the penetration of MMS-enabled handsets in SA is
growing, it is important to keep in mind that not all South
Africans own one yet or know how to use the MMS functionality.
“Fifty five per cent of our population sends MMSes,” says
Ahmed Kajee, managing director, Cellsmart, indicating that the
majority of the population is empowered to use this platform.
But it’s tough to nail down exact figures – the jury is out on
exactly how many local handsets are MMS enabled, with the figure
ranging from around 50 per cent to 85 per cent. Goodman finds
that the higher LSMs tend to have a higher enablement rate.
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
How to do it?
Once the database is set up, and has been screened for MMS
enablement and configuration (see page 6), find a service
provider that has MMS capabilities.
If the MMS is in response to a short code (ie the consumer
sends a keyword to a short code and receives an MMS in
return), arrange for short code and keyword rental (see page 18
for more info).
To send an MMS that contains links to a mobisite, use an
MMS that supports auto-multichannel function.
There is a multitude of variances to be considered (screen
sizes, cellphone operating systems, handset types, and
so on), which means that the MMS must be optimised to
each handset.
If the database has been pre-screened, then the handsets the
database contacts are using will be known and this may help to
narrow things down a bit. As the network operators improve
their standards, so the need to use special settings (that tailor
the MMS message for individual handsets) gradually falls away.
However, there are sometimes problems with this, as
Grapevine Interactive Marketing’s chief technology officer,
Cliff Court, explains: yes, the networks will automatically
re-format images in the MMS message, so that these fit the
screen size of the recipient’s phone. However, he says, the
network databases are not always up to date and the re-formatting
makes the images display incorrectly. Marketers are thus
encouraged to use a standard image size of 128 x 128 pixels and
to manage their campaigns directly rather than handing them to
the networks.
Some campaigns will still need special software or settings,
especially if these are targeting the lower end of the market,
says Groenewald, where older handsets still depend on
specialised software.
Brands are encouraged to educate their customers about MMS
to lower the barrier to adoption and use.
The cost of MMS as a marketing tool is high compared with
SMS, so there is a lot of debate around the effectiveness of the
tool relative to its cost. “Although we have sent out lots of
MMSes for and on behalf of various brands the response is
never what we anticipate, it is expensive and in almost all cases
the MMS is followed up by an SMS anyway,” says Hans Mol,
director of Mobile Media, Be-Mobile. “I think that more
effective utilisation can be delivered by sending the link to
your mobisite where the user has the choice of engaging and the
ability to access far more than what an MMS can deliver at a
fraction of the cost.”
Court goes on to say that, based on this, the only campaigns
that are really suitable for MMS are those that must have audio
and possibly those with slides/changing images.
That said, in viral campaigns that drive brand engagement or
create buzz around a brand’s event, for example, MMS can
prove pretty exciting. As Mol explains, MMS is a user-generated
tool too, “so providing branded MMS- type postcards that could
be personalised by users would be a relevant way of using MMS
in the mobile space.”
Cost
The cost of an MMS campaign varies, with the price per unit
marked anywhere from 80 cents to R20. However, the exact

cost per MMS will depend on the size of the message sent; this
will depend on the use of audio, the number of ‘slides’ in the
MMS and the resolution of the graphics. “You need to budget
for a creative set-up cost,” says Goodman.
If a campaign uses short codes, there is also the cost of the
short-code rental. Consider that MMS replies are costly for the
consumer, so beware of using this method.
Be wary of the ‘cheap and nasty’ warn experts; an MMS that
displays poorly and has poor functionality equates to a poor
user experience. “Anything under R1 is not well aggregated,
R1.95 is standard retail for quality MMS,” says Groenewald. He
goes on to say that a voice over for MMS will cost in the region
of R1 500.
Measurement
The good news is that MMS is highly trackable and can be
measured from ‘send’ to ‘opened’, particularly if the call to
action is very measurable.
Measures of an MMS campaign can include reach (how many
consumers received the MMS), penetration and frequency as
well as conversions (how many recipients clicked through to a
mobisite, for example, or clicked to call a business). “Stats are
debatable; we’ve seen anywhere from 0.02 per cent to 35 per
cent responses which demonstrates how important the relevance
of what you are doing is to the user,” says Mol.
Selecting a partner
In selecting an MMS partner, find a service provider that will
support auto multichannel functionality, which means that they
can create MMSes that are capable of carrying links(such as the
click to call or click to mobi. Partners should assist with
pre-checking the recipient cellphone list with the networks to
SMS continued > p19
 The total responses received – either the number of SMSes
sent to a short code or the clickthroughs to a mobisite; also,
the number of keywords sent
 Number of invalid numbers (those that bounce back or are
incorrect).
There is no benchmark for an SMS campaign. However, as
Hans Mol, director of Mobile Media, Be-Mobile says, SMS as an
advertising medium generally attracts a 0.01 per cent response
rate on its own. When it is used as part of a greater campaign to
drive engagement, response rates are far higher.
Selecting the right partner
In selecting a mobile marketing partner for an SMS campaign,
there are a few questions that one should ask:
 The right credentials: are they accredited by WASPA
Transactions Act or the Consumer Protection Bill, etc)?
 Proven successes: can they prove their track record with case
studies of their previous work?
 Skills: do they have the skills, resources and capacity to
develop, deploy and host not just an SMS campaign, but also
How to: MMS
ensure that the target phones are MMS capable and enabled,
says Court.
“Ask to see samples of their work. As for a track record, if
they are not doing 500 000 MMSes a month they are not
serious MMS providers and don’t understand the complexities
of how to manage volume,” says Groenewald.
Questions to ask:
 What are the creative limitations with regards to MMS?
 Are there any limitations to sending out a larger quantity of
MMS?
 How do I know if my database can receive MMS messages? 
 Do you pre-check cellphone numbers to understand which
are MMS enabled?
 What type of reporting can you offer? And what can you
measure?
 Do you optimise the MMS depending on the phone’s screen
size?
 How good are your creative services?
 How well do you optimise the size of the MMS (audio and
graphics)?
 Do you provide and manage an opt-out service?
 Can you provide a pop-up to a mobile website at the end of
an MMS?
 Can you set the MMS so that it cannot be forwarded? Useful 21
for controlling campaigns and preventing passing on of limited
special offers, for example.
 Can you personalise and customise the MMS? That is include
a name, account number or value etc?
 Is the MMS optimised across all handsets?
 Timing – when will the messages be sent? 
MMS, mobisites and more? They should preferably have
these capabilities in-house.
 Responsible: are they familiar with best practice, which will
address such issues as the time of day that SMSes are sent as
well as opt-out ethics?
 Analytics: what kind of reporting and analytics do they offer,
and how will they help with tracking and measurement of a
campaign?
 Capacity: can they send SMSes in bulk? Can they send
SMSes that are longer than 160 characters, should this be
required? Can they tailor and personalise messages to match
the client’s needs?
 Costs: can they provide clients with a transparent cost
structure? Do they charge for any extras such as management
fees?
 Is there a reply path and is it monitored for unsubscribe
requests?
 Where do they get their database if they’re not using yours,
and how else do they use this database? 
vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za
 How to: mobisites
Mobisites
mobisite is a website specially designed for viewing on a
A cellphone. “Almost 90 per cent of our population has a
WAP-enabled mobile phone,” says Ahmed Kajee,
managing director, Cellsmart. World Wide Worx’s 2009 Mobility
study has found that there are four million mobile Internet
users in SA, and growing.
Brands should be developing their own mobisites in order to
be available to consumers on the go, with info and content that
engage the consumer.
“We believe that this element of mobile media is one of the
first that any business should start with. From here one can use
the various elements such as SMS and MMS to engage with
users and in this way build their user base and understanding of
the customers,” says Hans Mol, director of Mobile Media,
Be-Mobile.
Experts say that in SA, the majority of the mass market will
access the Internet for the first time via their cellphone, so
mobisites are becoming increasingly important. “Mobisites
allow brands to have access to the ‘unmarketable youth’ who do
not access traditional media such as newspapers, explains Liron
Segev, CEO, Swift Telecoms. “For example, adidas has managed
24 to target the youth market by offering a Mobile ‘Urban Art
Guide’, which allows users to pinpoint urban art/graffiti within
the city and take a walking tour of these locations, led by the
application.”
In SA consumers and brands are still getting to grips with
how to use mobile browsers and mobisites, but this will change
as data rates come down. Currently, rates are not low enough to
encourage the mass market to make use of mobisites.
Aside from developing a mobisite, there is also the option of
purchasing advertising on another mobisite (buying a banner ad
on their homepage and allowing for click-through to your own
mobisite, for example). The publisher (owner of the mobisite)
will charge the advertiser on a cost per click (CPC), cost per
impression) (CPI) or cost per thousand impression (CPM)
basis. “Generally, most are in CPM ranging from R300-R60
depending on the volume booked,” says Garth Rhoda, national
mobile account manager for Habari Media.
Once the user is in a brand’s environment, viral marketing
approaches can be applied by providing access to update social
networks such as Facebook and a refer-a-friend link. “We’ve
seen almost 50 per cent referrals sent out by the unique users
that come in from banner adverts,” says Mol.
Currently, marketers can purchase banner advertising on the
Soccer Laduma mobisite as well as on Vodacom’s Internet
portal, VLive, and on MXit, in the form of static images
(called splash screens) that pop up when pages load. “AdMob
and Buzzcity are examples of publisher networks that offer a
large range of mobile media opportunities under one umbrella,”
says Kajee.
Creative tips
Find a specialist developer (see page 25 for advice), that will
ensure the site displays properly across all handsets, and
consider the following:
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
Check these out: a few local mobisites
Open your cellphone’s Web browser and enter the address as it
appears below to visit the mobisite:
www.makrosa.mobi
www.toyotasa.mobi
www.player23.mobi
www.saskoflour.mobi
www.morkels.mobi
www.homeground.mobi
www.vcupgrade.mobi
Role of mobisite: Understand the role a mobisite will play in
the user’s life, as this dictates what features and functionality it
will require (ie store locator, versus enquiry form).
Simplicity: Users turn to mobisites to find info quickly, on the
go. The mobisite URL should be short and intuitive; limit the
use of usernames and passwords as far as possible, says Candice
Goodman, managing director, mo-B.
Avoid large company logos and banners (take too long to
load; force the user to scroll down), lengthy texts, flash or
video. Make telephone numbers and e-mail addresses linked, so
the user can click to call/e-mail automatically.
Small screen experience: Many users will be accessing
mobisites having never accessed the Internet via the desktop
PC. Teach them how to use links, feedback forms, etc. Ensure
content is easy to view on a small screen.
Embrace the tech to embrace the user: Engage all the other
functions of a cellphone (SMS, MMS, etc). Send the user a viral
MMS after they have visited your mobisite or an SMS to
confirm their interaction, for example.
Cost
The cost of setting up a mobisite is entirely dependent on the
functionality and interactivity of the mobisite itself, with the
cost of a site ranging from under R10 000, to R50 000. Expect
to be charged hourly rates for mobisite development.
Be wary of companies offering a basic WAP site (with low
functionality) in exchange for a commitment to advertise
through their ad network, as then the WAP site pretty much
belongs to them, explains Mol.
Additional costs include maintenance and hosting fees.
“Maintenance refers to any additional work and updating of the
mobisite that might be needed and hosting depends on whether
the mobile supplier will be hosting the mobisite on their side”
says Kajee.
Measurement
As with a regular website, the traffic to the mobisite is a key
measure of specifically unique visitors. Also, track number of
repeat visits, pages viewed, interactions etc. Also useful to track
is which country the visitor is from, and what network they are
on as well as which handset they are using. (Read pages 30-31
for more info). 
 Partner selection

The dangers of getting a web

company to do your mobisite
By Cliff Court, chief technology officer, Grapevine Interactive Marketing
o many it seems obvious. You already have a Web

T company who is responsible for creating and maintaining

your Internet presence, so it makes sense (and it’s
more convenient) to let it do your mobisite as well. Well, I’m
here to argue that, not only does it not make sense, but you
risk damaging your brand in the process.
Let’s be clear about something, any company with a
public-facing brand can no longer get away with not having a
mobile Internet presence. Forrester Research has recently
stated that the next one billion online users will be on mobile
devices. In SA, Internet-capable cellphones outnumber PCs.
All this means that marketing teams have to start staking out
a presence on mobile devices.
Every year, the world’s largest mobile expo is held in
Barcelona. In speaking to major vendors during my last visit,
the message was overwhelming. Don’t try to simply use (or
repurpose) your existing website for your mobile presence. 25
If you do, your user experience will almost certainly be poor,
resulting in brand erosion.
There are excellent Web designers out there and one would
think that a few simple adjustments to the mobile world
mind-set would suffice. Unfortunately, it’s not that straight
forward. Websites aimed at PCs can make use of a very
advanced set of functionality, such as AJAX and Flash; these
are (mostly) not supported on cellphones. Plus, PC websites
take advantage of the larger screen area. cellphone can and can’t do. Be careful of those who tell you
Cellphones are very different. Not only are the screen that they have it covered because they use the so-called
sizes smaller and form factors varied, but so are phones’ WURFL database. This is a freely available data source with
browser capabilities, the content types supported and even many of the world’s phone specifications within it. The
the parameters set by individual mobile operators. Those problem is that the WURFL data can be (and is) updated by
accustomed to PC-centric Web development have limited anyone, which results in a number of erroneous entries and
experience with these issues and they often devolve down to often, no data at all for many cellphones. The better mobile
best-efforts and hope for the best. However, when it’s your development companies will combine such free mobile
brand involved, that isn’t good enough. A poorly designed phone data sources with commercial ones to ensure the
mobile site that does not render correctly on the majority of most accurate data is used, and your customer gets the
phones will simply frustrate and annoy your customers. best experience.
Mobile Internet sites should ideally be developed by The good news is that once you’re on the phone, you can
mobile specialists, who besides being comfortable with the make use of additional mobile channels to interact with your
smaller screen sizes and mobile requirements, already have customer. For example, while the user is interacting with
strategies and mechanisms for handling different phone your mobisite, their choices and actions can be confirmed
screens, content types and understand the vagaries of the with a follow-up SMS or MMS. Or ‘Click-to-call’ links can
mobile operators. They know what works on mobile and be placed on the site, making it easy for the user to get in
what doesn’t. touch with you immediately. The result is a far richer
Of course there are ordinary mobile Internet developers, interaction with your customer – but it takes a competent
and there are better ones. The best know what will frustrate mobile developer to make it all happen seamlessly.
your customers and how to avoid it in most cases. A My intention in writing this article is not to cast aspersions
developer worth their salt understands that it’s no use offering on PC Web designers, but rather, to highlight that as a
your user an MP3 ring-tone if their phone won’t play it. result of their specialisation in the PC-based space, they
Most professional mobile Internet developers make use of typically don’t have the kind of expertise the mobile world
multiple sources of information to determine what a particular demands. 

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 How to: mobile apps
Applications
obile applications (or apps, as they are called) are
M specialised tools, downloaded to a cellphone to allow
the user to perform a particular task. MXit, for
example, is an instant-messaging application, which the user
downloads to their phone in order to send and receive instant
messages from their contacts.
The smartphone (BlackBerry or the iPhone, for example) is
best equipped to handle apps so it is this market in particular
that is driving the growth of apps worldwide. However, this is
not to say that apps are limited to smartphones. “Every
Symbian-based, Multimedia-enabled handset is a viable
contender for application utilisation,” explains Hans Mol,
director of mobile media, Be-Mobile. Currently, Symbian
phones are still high-end handsets and are not in the hands of
the lower LSMs.
In SA, say experts, the mobile app market is big, and apps are
growing fast. “MXit is very popular among the 19 – 25 age
group. Users are also checking and updating their Facebook
status as well as ‘tweeting’ from their mobile phones,” says
Ahmed Kajee, managing director, Cellsmart. He finds that
social media apps are very popular as are news, gaming and
entertainment apps. “There are a lot of free applications, and
then there are those that need to be purchased – like games –
28 and are found on content portals created by the network
operators and content providers like Exactmobile or the iPhone
app store,” says Kajee.
The local market is ready for mobile CRM
based applications that cover various service-
intensive organisations under one application.
What’s in it for brands? Anything from brand engagement
to retail solutions. “It all depends on the purpose of the
application. In essence, the application will drive brand and
messaging and, wrapped up with a good service/product it will
bolster mindshare,” says Mol. A businessman might want to
download an app that lets him book plane tickets on the go
(and also lets him pre-book seats), while a coffee drinker would
like to pre-order coffees from the local coffee bar. “The local
market is ready for mobile CRM based applications that cover
various service-intensive organisations under one application.
Log a query with your bank, insurance company, mobile service
provider, gym or whatever else and interact with them using
your cellphone!” says Kajee.
How to make an app? Download or purchase software (such
as Cascada Mobile’s Cascada Breeze, which allows someone
with basic Web programming skills to create an app for mobile
in minutes – www.cascadamobile.com) which will simplify the
programming. Or recruit a programmer who can create the app.
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
Apps for you to try
Facebook for mobile
Fring- peer-to-peer mobile VoIP (voice over IP).
MXit- instant messaging and chat
Twitter- micro-blogging site
The Grid - mobile social networking app.
Yeigo - mobile VoIP app
Cnectd- free SMS service
AdMe- Vodacom’s opt in ad-serving network.
Opera- a Web browser for mobile
Remo- an app that brings the office onto your cellphone (allows the
user to send and receive e-mails, set up a calendar and schedule, etc).
Nimbuzz- lets the user call, chat, message and send files on the go,
for free. It also combines the user’s contact lists (across e-mail, chat
etc) into one list.
WiWallet- South African mobile wallet, which allows the user to
make mobile payments.
Gmail- Google mail
Gravity – twitter app
Pocit- mobile payments
Challenges:
 Handset variability: cater for different handset types, and
different audiences.
 Resource heavy: apps tax the phone’s battery and resources.
The recent launch of mibli may see a solution to this. This is
a new software ecosystem, which enables any Java-enabled
handsets to run mobile apps that are traditionally only
accessible to smartphones. Mibli is available for free and
requires a single download to operate. The software will
allow the user to download apps that will enable them to pay
bills, transfer airtime, play games or make use of social
networks. Brands are now able to target young South
Africans through this software by offering them cool apps.
Mibli also offers banner advertising, full-screen mobisites and
interactive messaging. Mibli will be launched to consumers in
October 2009, but, according to JJ Botha, CEO of the
Mobile Services Company, the company
has access to more than a million active social networking
users, and has already got banking and FMCG brands signed
up for campaigns.
 Relevance: Once the SA market matures, more relevant apps
will make their way into the market.
 Pricing: key in a developing market.
 Treatment: Apps need to be marketed and treated like
products in their own right. An app is a long-term
investment, not a once-off project.
Look out for widgets, which are like micro apps or
bookmarks equipped with RSS feeds that deliver content as
required. These are, like apps, downloaded to the phone to carry
out specific functions. 
 Mobile measurement
Mobile performance measurement
and insight
By Raymond Buckle, CEO, SilverstoneCIS
logical place to start of what is by unpacking the different aspects
A of your campaign, looking at the different measurement
opportunities and how they align to your objectives.
Awareness and activation
You need a solid activation strategy which may include push or
pull exposure through messaging, application-based or display
advertising.
Messaging: A push strategy through messaging that uses SMS
or MMS implies access to a profiled database with consumers
who have provided their permission to receive advertising –
you’re targeting consumers based on the assumption that they
will find your message relevant.
30 Measurement (messaging)
 Unique messages sent by creative and audience segment if
possible
 Delivery receipts, message failures and expiries. Remember to
clean out your database after multiple errors to the same
users/numbers
 Encode mobi links or use specific keywords as part of the call to
action to measure performance of specific messages
 A new service called LNQ.in provides URL shortening and even
allows you to track the virality of messages back to individual
users – saves precious characters in SMSes and allows an
enhanced level of control as well as insight into the results of your
campaigns.
Display advertising
With display advertising, you’re employing a pull strategy across
a larger audience with wider exposure, but on the assumption
that a certain percentage of the audience will find your
proposition relevant. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM )
based media placement is a good strategy for exposure, and can
drive actionstoo, while a cost per click (CPC ) based campaign is
inherently focused on results and you’re only paying for the
clicks on your banners.
Measurement
 Ad impressions by creative, media property/channel and content
type
 Ad click-throughs. If you use encoded links per creative and media
property you can independently verify click through reporting by
the media owner
 Time of day, week and month is fundamental, specifically when
measuring responses or click through actions
 Cost per impression, message and/or click through should be factored in.
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
Engagement and interaction
Engagement and interaction is what happens on one of the
mobile touchpoints you’ve driven traffic to, and own or control.
You’ll need to have at least one or more of the three mainstream
channels in place where consumers can engage your brand on mobile:
Short codes: A five-digit number to which users can SMS
replies with keywords and content.
Measurement (short code)
 Track unique messages received by keyword, which should imply
creative too
 Short-code replies against encoded keywords is a phenomenal
way of gauging the relative performance of your traditional media
placements; allows a view of what medium and messaging works
best for a mobile call to action
 If you have a marketing database with cellphone numbers and
profiling data per customer/lead, you’ll be able to report on which
audience groups or segments responded to your call to action,
allowing you to tweak your targeting and increase performance in
follow-up campaigns
 If part of your campaign mechanics include a reply message with
a secondary call to action, you should be able to track by
individual user who actioned the second message.
USSD applications: It’s a great alternative for real-time input
and response for the mass market phones if you want to get
option, number or basic text-based input.
Mobile Internet website (mobisite): By far the most flexible
and best rich-media engagement option accessible to a very
broad market.
Measurement (USSD and mobisites)
 The number of unique visits. With USSD, you’ll automatically get
the cellphone number and can determine the number of unique
visitors as well. With a mobisite you can do the same if your
hosting provider has access to MSISDN headers (the unique
number that identifies a particular SIM card) – this is not available
by default)
 If your message banners or links were encoded, you’ll be able to
measure and cross-check traffic by unique campaign/creative
against the stats reported by the media owners or ad networks.
Expect a reasonable discrepancy but keep an eye on this
 Mobile and PC browsers pass through what’s called ‘header’
information when they access your site, and if your provider is set
up to capture this, it will yield info about what phones, browsers
and capability the user has. Also, the type of phone used is a good
indicator of who’s using it.
 Mobile measurement

Measurement (USSD and mobisites)

 The final aspect of measuring interaction is tracking the actual
page impressions. By linking unique visits to each page
impression, you’ll know how many people viewed a particular
page and for how long, to effectively gauge the level and quality of
interactions. Things like bounce rates (number of visitors who
landed on the site and left without any interaction) or exit pages
are dependent on tracking-page level interaction.

Actions and sales (post click)

A cellphone is in the hands of more than 90 per cent of the
economically active market. If you think of your objectives in
terms of a hierarchy or funnel, the first consideration may be to
simply drive traffic, and then brand engagement in terms of
content viewed or downloaded, but regardless of what else you
may want to achieve, the next consideration for any mobile
campaign should be to solicit an opt-in – it allows future
communication and also anchors all your other tracking and
measurement efforts to unique consumers.
Now you can worry about lead generation and sales –
depending on the type of campaign, product or service, the
actual sales transaction can possibly be concluded on the phone,
but at the very least you should be routing enquiries to a call
centre, rep or store for follow up. 31

Measurement of actions (short code replies, USSD and mobisites)

 Tracking actions and sales is very specific to the objectives of each
campaign, but all things being equal, if you’ve already addressed Marketers and advertisers should actively work
the basics of good exposure, activation and interaction, you’ll be
able to track and report on the whole journey from awareness to
action or sale, per user, per creative, per media channel, by
with and put pressure on IT to get those
audience segment on a timeline. If you have the right permissions
in place, even according to user location using the networks’ feedback loops going and measure actual
Location-Based Services (LBS)
 Typical examples of actions include opt-ins, registrations or profile
updates, content accessed and downloads, competition entries,
return on investment.
referrals, enquiries or leads generated and ultimately sales
 Negative actions like opt-outs or complaints should also be
tracked.

Return on (marketing) investment

After sales and influence
This is the part where most marketers seem to lose the plot.
After the action or sale, the customer is dropped into one of a
few black holes called ‘point of sale, accounting, ERP, call centre
or CRM systems’, never to be seen or heard from again.
Really valuable and actionable insight is lost if there is no
feedback or integration between your marketing database and
your business systems.
Marketers and advertisers should actively work with and put
pressure on IT to get those feedback loops going and measure
actual return on investment.
A last note on campaign measurement is to track actions on
the back of referrals, actively measuring the influence and
networks of your audience. This can be achieved using encoding
and link tracking techniques provided by a platform like
LNQ.in.
Everyone talks about ROI, and although the definition is clear
and the basic formula is relatively simple, there is no consensus
or standard on how to practically measure the actual return,
especially across the different media types. Everyone’s got a
projection for the expected ROI of their media based on
assumptions about the number of impressions, responses and
response conversion to sales rates; but how do you actually
know whether a specific lead and sale was generated by a specific
creative and media placement?
Enter mobile media, marketing and advertising: If you follow
the guidelines above and get your people to capture a cellphone
number at the point of sale (if it’s not concluded on the mobile
or Web platform), and if you can get IT to pass the information
to you, you’ll not only be able to track and measure your mobile
marketing investment, but also get a view of the actual relative
performance of your traditional media placements. 

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 Channel selection

Selecting the best mobile

channel for your brand activity
By Chris Rolfe, CEO, Mobilitrix

s the worlds of technology, media and telecommunications

A collide at a faster rate and with more energy, it is

comforting to see that the mobile phone has now come
of age as a tool that marketers can use, and it is now taking its
place around the Table of Spend.
Which is the right mobile channel to efficiently and cost-
effectively reach the consumer who is carrying a mobile phone
of some sort?
Let’s understand and focus on what is available now rather
than say what might be available in two years’ time.
Areas such as location-based information, either at the
Bluetooth or network level, are not going to be included as that
is a distinct (and very exciting) segment of the mobile market
which has been covered elsewhere.

32

WAP ultimately will be the channel of choice

for many marketers and its uptake is growing,
albeit slowly.
Let’s start with the easiest segmentation that exists between
the various channels on a mobile phone: that which can be used
on standard versus multimedia handsets. Think back to the first
Nokia phone; it didn’t have Bluetooth or MMS capabilities. It
simply offered text and USSD.
USS- what? This is a distinctive type of messaging that is
different to SMS, but works on all types of mobile phones –
from the simple version 1 Nokia to the latest Blackberry or
iPhone. Technically, it stands for Unstructured Supplementary
Service Data or as it is known colloquially in the township
market – ‘i-topup’. USSD is what the networks use for airtime
top-ups, balance enquiries and to perform a please-call-me
request. USSD is great in that it works on all handsets, but the
big setback is that, from a brand perspective, the delivery is
monochrome, rendering an almost DOS-like experience to the
user. So, essentially, the trade off is between reach/speed of the
service versus multimedia capabilities. A tough choice, but such
is the world of technology.
From a cost-to-consumer perspective, USSD sessions typically
cost 20c for 20 seconds, although networks do offer premium
rated strings or numbers. Text SMS charges are better
understood, with the consumer either paying nothing (if free
SMSes apply) or a premium rate (up to R30, but typically in the
R1 to R1.50 range)
So to summarise: with older cellphone models, you can
consider using text and USSD channels for now. The tough
question is then, which of my customers is using a simple
version 1 phone, and which are using multimedia phones? By
finding out and storing this data in different databases you can
make your customer engagements more cost-effective and
useful (you are saving money by not sending multimedia
messages to customers who cannot view the content).
If it’s multimedia capabilities and richness of experience that
you’re after, then it requires that your customer has a multimedia
phone that offers: html, MMS, Java and QR codes.
These are attractive as they give full-colour, multimedia
possibilities. Once you are assured that the target audience has
this type of phone (and assuming they know how to use it) then
from a brand engagement and marketing perspective, what is
capable on the Internet is now possible from the mobile world.
This is the world of html, rich media and true brand-consumer
engagement. As bandwidth speeds increase and data charges
decrease, the collision of technology, media and advertising will
truly take off. The capabilities of the phone, the intelligence of
data gathering and the personalisation of the medium results in
a world of perfect information flow between brand and
consumer.
Currently, the reach of WAP in SA is not 100 per cent
understood, and that coupled with unknown costs (from the
consumer side) as well as slow speeds, is leading to low
conversion rates for brand owners. WAP ultimately will be the
channel of choice for many marketers and its uptake is growing,
albeit slowly. 

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009


Mobile video:
obile video is video content that has been produced
M specifically for viewing on a cellphone. It also refers to
videos recorded by the user on a cellphone. “Mobile
video appeals to all target markets from young to old and from
higher to lower LSMs. The most active users, however, are the
tech-savvy ones, irrespective of age or income,” says Ahmed
Kajee, managing director, Cellsmart.
Mobile video is powerful when it is used as part of a viral
marketing campaign (eg, sending humorous, branded viral videos
to friends) and it is also useful for content producers (radio
stations and TV broadcasters) who might offer short snippets of
video to consumers for download.
What else can be offered to the consumer in mobile video
format? Television commercials (formatted for viewing on a
cellphone, of course), infomercials, product demos and even
face-to-face video calling as well as video streaming (steady and
continuous video content, rather than a video that is sent as a file).
“Video streaming is not big yet due to handset capability,
broadband availability and mobile network operator backend
supply; plus, video streaming servers are costly. But the potential
is huge,” says Eddie Groenewald, CEO, Multimedia Solutions.
In SA, mobile video download is still in its infancy, primarily
because of the cost of data. It is expected that once the networks
have realised ROI from the cost of setting up data networks, we
will see a decline in data rates. “Brands will also be able to deliver
mobile video to consumers at no cost to the consumer through
platforms such as accessible and secure Bluetooth, mobile TV,
MMS and reverse billed (toll free) video calling. All this is still
some way into the future, but it will invariably happen,” says
How to: mobile video
Kajee. To help lower the cost barrier, experts suggest that
mobile video download or distribution costs are subsidised
through sponsorships, for example.
“Another major barrier to the uptake of mobile video is that
not all handsets are equipped to play videos. Digital licensing
rights are prohibitive, too,” says Hans Mol, director of Mobile
Media, Be-Mobile.
However, there are mobile video portals up and running in
SA, including Zoopy and Vodacom’s Player 23 portal (where
fans of Player 23 can download videos). Mo-B is getting ready
to launch videos of the best soccer moments in the English
Premier League, with rights for distribution in Africa.
For the brand that’s looking to make a mobile video, it’s
about finding a partner who can create video content, specifically
for phones, and then load it to their mobisite or make it available
for distribution to the brand’s customers via MMS, for example.
The major consideration for the video creator is the size of the
video (bigger means more expensive for the user to download or
to watch on their phone) and also, the variety of handsets that
the video needs to adapt to for correct display.
Make sure that the user can access the video via MMS or
Bluetooth as well as watch it on the mobisite. Can they send it
to their friends or refer friends to the video on the brand’s website?
Cost
The cost of producing a mobile video will vary, depending on
the length of the video, whether it requires much post-production
work to ready it for viewing, etc. “Relatively speaking, it isn’t
any more or less expensive than traditional video production
costs,” says Kajee.
The returns on mobile video are not going to justify marketing
spend, says Cliff Court, chief technology officer, Grapevine
Interactive Marketing, at least not for the time being. 
 How to: social networks

Mobile social networking

n increasing number of consumers are

A accessing social networks, such as

Facebook, via their cellphones. They
are also using apps to access instant messaging
site MXit, and micro-blogging site Twitter.
Itsmy.com recently surveyed users and
found that the cellphone is the primary means
of communication for 95 per cent of people in
Europe and the US. Forty-two per cent of
them have not accessed social networks via a
desktop PC – they access these platforms via
their phones.
In September, Facebook announced that
more than 65 million people actively use
Facebook on their cellphones (increasing from
20 million in January).
Clearly, the future of social networking is
mobile, and brands that use or plan to use
social networks to get ahead will need to
think mobile.
Experts stress that social networks are about
building communities and sharing similar
34 interests, and brands that approach them with
the goal of blatant marketing will lose out.

The Grid
Locally, Vodacom is driving the development of The Grid, a mobile
social network that combines social networking with micro-blogging,
media sharing and location-based services in real-time. “It’s about
who owns a latitude or longitude, and what is said about that
entity,” says Vincent Maher, portfolio manager, Social Networking at
Vodacom. “It’s about leaving text, videos, pics, blog posts, reviews
etc at a physical location on a map, and leaving it there for other
people to discover.” This interaction is at low cost to the user, since
access to The Grid is free (they only pay for the data usage to
access it from their cellphone).
Eighty per cent of users access The Grid via Java (available on most
cellphones, and a further 10 per cent access it via the mobisite,
says Maher. The remaining 10 per cent is made up of desktop
users. This is primarily a youth platform, but not strictly so. Users
are not bound by their physical geographic boundaries, and top
users are in about 230 locations each month.
For brands, stores, restaurants etc, The Grid holds great potential as
an advertising platform that uses location and proximity to target
users. For example, the Rivonia branch of a store chain might post
a message on The Grid, offering users that live in the area a
discount voucher. Or perhaps a brand will use The Grid to launch a
competition, which requires users to participate in a ‘treasure hunt’,
visiting specific locations to interact with the brand and to gather
more clues in an effort to win the prize.
Says Doug Bewsher, chief marketing officer of mig33, a global
mobile social network, adopting strident marketing goes against
the very ethos of social networking, and can turn members
off. Whatever the brand offers the target consumer by way of
social networking and interaction should be at little or no cost
to the consumer. At the same time, there has to be value in it
for the user.
How to get onto the mobile social network? It’s about
partnering with one of the social networks, or with a specialist
in the field, to get the right guidance and advice as well as the
right creative and messaging. This is assuming, however, that
the brand is targeting consumers who are heavy users of
social networks.
The cost of running a social networking campaign will vary,
depending on the objectives of the campaign, and whether it
involves a banner ad on the social network (which will thus
entail CPC, CPI or CPM costs), or an integrated campaign that
involves the creation of an online fan page or profile for the
brand, linked to events, promos, and so on. 
Resources
Visit www.marketingmix.co.za, to find the mobile
marketing resource guide.

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009

 Research 10

Market research trends: A comment from the

Southern African Marketing Research Association (SAMRA)

he market research industry is continually evolving, created a shift in the industry towards niche or specialist

T changing and being re-evaluated based on advances in

technology and changes in people’s attitudes and beliefs
as well as perceptions. In addition, 2009 is proving to be a
taxing year for many industries (including research) as the
economic climate continues to have an effect on clients’
budgets. To deal with such issues it is vital for market research
houses to reassess their approach and use the changing
landscape to their advantage by adapting to and benefiting
from new trends in the market place.
What do some of these trends involve?
According to Leonie Vorster, outgoing chair of SAMRA, there
is a new focus on professionalism within the industry. “As
clients’ budgets shrink it is becoming increasingly vital for
market researchers to offer a personalised and professional
service in order to gain and maintain a positive relationship with
the client which helps to ensure repeat business.” In addition to
this increased focus on professionalism, Vorster points out that
new international ethical and professional standards have also
recently been finalised for out-of-home market research.
Niel Victor, outgoing SAMRA chairman, says,
“Internationally, we have seen continued market consolidation.
36 Increased pressure on fixed costs and overheads has resulted in
many companies outsourcing certain work. This in turn has
research consultancies in an attempt to fill this need.”
“An obvious trend, and one we are seeing more and more
often, is the increased emphasis on return on investment.
Companies want to be able to see where every cent is going and
whether that spend is translating into sales for the company.
As such, you will see procurement departments increase in
importance, along with spend on cost analysts. Locally, we will
continue to see the increased pressure on top companies to
transform in terms of BBBEE as well as increased pressure to
become more socially responsible.”
According to Salomé Barnard, SAMRA incoming chair,
“Although there will be continuous pressure on research
companies to provide research results faster and cheaper, users
will still insist on superior quality expecting more value for
their rand. Researchers will have to be more creative in order to
develop new innovative ways of providing clients with market
intelligence.”
A final word from Victor is that “Innovative thinking, clever
strategy and the need to identify key opportunities are essential for
any company wanting to survive the economic downturn. Trends
need to be identified and analysed constantly in order to stay at the
forefront of what is happening and what we can expect to happen
in the near future. Research in this instance is vital, informing
companies about trends both locally and internationally.” 

The future for neuroscience

in consumer research
euroscience is a topic of huge importance and interest to

N marketers and researchers. Partly because it’s just

interesting, partly because it’s sexy, but mainly because
it’s by understanding consumers better that we can create more
attractive brands and stronger ads, especially in these difficult
times. Given the hype and how easy it is to be swayed by the
aura of science and lab-coats, neuroscience, like any new technique,
needs to be held up to scrutiny – we have to look past the lab
coats and fancy equipment and ask some hard questions or we
risk getting carried away. I have identified three methodologies
from the myriad which have real application for marketers.
To really be useful for marketers it’s clear that neuroscience
needs to be combined with existing explicit tools such as
qualitative or survey-based research to deliver real insights.
Given this, the techniques which may find the widest market in
the near term would include:

EEG (brainwave measurement)

By understanding the moment-by-moment response to brand Implicit association measurement
communications and experiences, EEGs can offer powerful Implicit Association Measurement offers a deeper understanding
insight into transient or unspoken responses to ideas or of the ideas conveyed by marketing campaigns or the network
elements of advertising creative. of associations that make up a brand’s equity. In other words,

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009


understanding the clouds of associations and ‘gut-level’
emotional responses generated by brands and ads. This method
is derived from cognitive psychology used in conjunction with
explicit survey-based methods.
The science doesn’t point to our unconscious dominating us
– but it does say that there are processes that affect our reaction
to brands and ads which people may find hard to articulate or
be introspect about.
Eye-tracking
Eye-tracking offers a powerful diagnostic insight on the focus
of visual attention during interaction with an advertisement. It
is a measure of this attention at any given moment, which is
helpful in understanding why people have responded in a
particular way to an ad, enabling us to understand where the
focus of attention lies.
In eye-tracking studies, the data is analysed to show the order
in which readers generally view different elements of the
creative. This approach is not just useful for print, but also for
dynamic stimuli such as video, helping to understand if the
viewer’s focus is on key creative elements crucial for
communication, comprehension or branding. It then gives us a
diagnosis pinpointing visual attention, and so helps us to
understand how people flow through an ad, and why they
respond as they do. As such it illustrates creative issues which
may be driving or hampering success.
Eye-tracking results thus deliver deeper insights into brands
and their emotional power, giving more detail on what really
catches the eye in ads, and so a better understanding of why
Research 10
people respond in the way they do to marketing campaigns.
We have found that the eye tracking studies have already
given additional insights into marketing decisions, ultimately
influencing the creative outcome with regard to advertisement
layout and copy. However, the results reaffirm that only when
combined with validated, explicit measures, can these techniques
provide a holistic view of both brand and advertising potential.
Biometrics and neuroscience are powerful additions to the
researcher’s toolkit – it is clear that there are real additional
insights that can be provided by these techniques. These
methods offer new and deeper understanding over the traditional
methods and herald a new era for market research. I see the
techniques becoming more mainstream in SA in the future as
the new technology has reduced the costs for some of these
methods, making them more feasible.
We expect that by integrating these methods, we will be able
to deliver deeper insights into brands and their emotional power,
and more understanding into the unconscious drivers of good
advertising and what really catches people’s eye in ads.
Ultimately, this will help marketers to gain a better understanding
of why people respond the way they do to marketing
campaigns. Collectively, we hope this will allow our clients to
build stronger brands and campaigns. 
Charles Foster
managing director, Millward Brown
(011) 202 7000
charles.foster@millwardbrown.co.za
 Research 10
Mobile research
here are several compelling reasons to engage in mobile
T research, be it for fieldworker or respondent-administered
surveys.
Cellphones are ubiquitous
The potential benefits of this simple fact manifest in a number
of ways, depending on the scenario:
 It allows organisations to equip fieldworkers and/or respondents
with low-cost handsets leveraging the ‘cellphone literacy’
most people have acquired rather than expensive units which
require extensive training and support
 It allows the possibility of respondents and fieldworkers to
make use of their own handsets, thereby removing capital
costs almost completely. Some caution should be exercised
here: depending on the technology used, some configuration
and support may still be necessary and standardising handsets
may be a valid expense
 It provides access to notoriously inaccessible groups such as
low income or younger populations either directly via their
mobile phones, via someone in their peer group with a
compatible phone or via a fieldworker.
Cellphones are personal
Mobile research for respondent-administered surveys facilitates
38 highly targeted campaigns because respondents can be identified
and accessed by their mobile number. They can also be reached
far more easily and quickly than via e-mail and post. This
enables a respondent’s perceptions to be captured much closer
to the point of engagement (a store purchase, for example).
Furthermore, because people carry their phones with them,
they can provide feedback from wherever they are. In addition
to standard survey responses, using the multimedia capabilities
of the phone, they can also provide images, audio, video and
location information.
Cellphones are dominant
Cellphones are becoming increasingly powerful with rich media
and impressive processing capabilities. Phone features, such as
cameras, voice recorders and GPS, open up opportunities which
aren’t possible with traditional media.
In most cases, mobile research is best suited to quantitative
methods due to the limited screen size and input mode. If there
is value in receiving responses rapidly, reaching respondents
during specific interactions or at specific locations, mobile
research can provide tremendous benefit. The mobile research
mode is particularly applicable in engaging with the youth.
Some good examples of usage scenarios include:
 Replacing paper-based surveys conducted by mobile
fieldworkers
 Mystery guest/shopping
 Opinion surveys during or immediately after live events
 Customer-initiated surveys (for example, airports,
restaurants, waiting rooms). These are often initiated via
short codes or QR codes
 Mobile panels (self-administered or peer-administered)
particularly where the target demographic has good mobile
penetration rates but poor Internet access
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
 Ethnographic studies where a respondent maintains a diary of
activity, thoughts, etc. Using the multimedia capabilities
commonplace on many phones, qualitative research can be
conducted as well (audio, video, images that can provide
context not available during focus groups or face-to-face
interviews).
There are several technologies which can be considered:
 Voice: a viable data collection method, particularly when
making use of automated tools such as Interactive Voice
Response (IVR ) and Computer Assisted Telephone
interviews (CATI)
 SMS: suitable in studies where the amount of data to be
collected is limited (no more than five or 10 fields in general)
 USSD: By dialling a pre-defined USSD string or code, the
respondent accesses text-based menus and engages in a
conversational exchange
 MMS: rich media such as images and audio can be
attached to normal text messages
 WAP (wireless application protocol, mobile Web): Web-
based forms designed specifically for access via a mobile
browser. Invitations to participate are generally sent via
SMS or a WAP push which contains a link to the survey
 Mobile application: Download purpose-built data
collection application or use appropriate existing client,
such as instant messaging.
It is important to consider several key characteristics in order to
understand the advantages and challenges of each technology:
 Unstructured vs. structured formats – affects usability and
accuracy
 Internet vs. point-to-point transmission – affects how easily
a campaign can be rolled out internationally
 Time-based versus content-based billing – affects usage
costs
 Rich media vs. plain text, for both the user interface and the
type of data to be collected
 Offline vs. online collection – the latter requires a stable
connection to the mobile network for the duration of the
data collection process
 Universal vs. non-universal handset support – what
percentage of handsets are compatible. 
Andi Friedman
managing director, Clyral Digital Solutions
0861 259725
andi@clyral.com
 Research 10

Eye tracking – what does it all mean?

here is no doubt that the eye-tracking revolution has

T begun. Recent advances in hardware have improved the

flexibility of eye-tracking systems and new software has
eased the process of data collection.
Eye tracking can be used to determine if consumers pay
attention to a particular marketing message, and can separate
out the effect that memory plays on such things as brand
awareness, knowledge and image. But perhaps most importantly,
eye tracking not only tells us if consumers look at a particular
advertisement, but how they look at it.
Eye tracking has a myriad of potential applications from the
TV screen to the grocery shelf. However, for many, initial
attempts to put eye tracking into practice have been less than
satisfactory; data can be confusing and findings can seem
inconclusive.
Standard eye-tracking analysis software, which generates little
more than a heat map of visual attention and some simple
viewing percentages, demonstrates a problem of style over
substance. Sure, the heat map possesses a great deal of ‘wow!’
value, but what can it really tell us about specific research
questions? How does this tool get us any closer to understanding
our potential customers? These are reasonable concerns. But
before researchers transform their eye trackers into high-tech
paperweights, it’s worth taking a step back and considering the
methods. A meaningful interpretation of eye-tracking data Through quantitative analysis of eye data, researchers can
requires a specialised course of analysis. add an objective component to a traditionally subjective field 39
of study.
There is no simple answer
A heat map is one of many useful ways to illustrate trends, but it Qualify the eye
should only be used to complement more descriptive assessments. There is a great deal that the human eye can show us. One
The movements of the eyes are part of an intricate system that important thing that it cannot do, however, is speak. Eye tracking
cannot be fully explained through simple analyses. This does is by no means a substitute for a good qualitative interview.
not mean that the conclusions will be complicated. In order to When eye tracking and interviews are incorporated into a hybrid
draw insightful conclusions, our methods of analysis must delve research design, the quality of both components is improved.
deeper into the user experience. Quantitative and qualitative One approach is to allow the participants to interact with the
resources must be used together to establish a closer connection testing material without interruption. Once the interaction is
to the consciousness of the consumer. complete, a video of their eye movements during testing is
shown. As the participant watches their own visual behaviour
Quantify the consumer from the testing session, they can recall first impressions, points of
A quantitative interpretation of eye-tracking data requires a confusion, positive features and other details that may otherwise
working knowledge of statistical analysis and a full understanding have been absorbed into more generalised recollections.
of the many ways that eye data can be scrutinised. After
designing a sound research study and running participants, the Quantify the behaviour
real fun starts. Most of the basic analysis software provides the Researchers must quantify the behaviour of participants and
option of examining the percentage of visual attention allocated must incorporate qualitative feedback into the analysis. It is
to specific areas of interest. When used correctly, this is a recommended that the researcher incorporate other data such as
powerful tool for demonstrating which features are seen and Web usability measures and questionnaire responses. There are
which ones are not. different types of hardware to choose from, including remote
However, marketing research questions are rarely limited to a and headset models. There are multitudes of stimulus presentation
simple query about percentages. Marketers want to know why methods, performance metrics, graphic rendering tools and
the consumer looked at an ad, and how, etc. You cannot under- analysis plans that must all be carefully scrutinised to determine
estimate the value of thin slices in building accurate interpretations the correct path for your study.
of eye data. By dissecting the testing sessions into second-by- The key to applying it practically lies in the training and tools
second behaviours, a variety of new questions can be answered: of the researcher. 
What is the first thing that draws attention? How carefully is
text considered? Which features are seen last? Which features Lindiwe Matlali
are revisited? A quantitative analysis of eye tracking should managing director, Prompt Research Insights
aggregate these microfindings to clarify the more global (011) 575 6853
conclusions demonstrated by overall percentages of attention. lindiwe@promptresearchinsights.com

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 Research 10

Online research
nline marketing research has traditionally been

O conducted by means of online and e-mail surveys, but

there are other forms, including focus groups, bulletin
boards, chat and discussion rooms, and online research
communities. Plus, new online research methods are being
fashioned from Web 2.0 developments that see researchers
using blog research, online research communities and other
interactive methods. These are making research more engaging
and collaborative than anything that came before.
Online research has been the fastest growing sector of
research the world over for the past decade, but it’s still in its
infancy in South Africa. Estimates from Inside Research reveal
that one third of all data collection in the US was conducted
online in 2006, with online research spend growing from
US$253 million in 2000 to over $1 400 million in 2006.
The good news is that online research can address a wide
variety of topics. According to Inside Research, in 2006 the
most common applications for online research in Europe were
in the arenas of concept/product testing and customer
satisfaction followed by advertising/brand tracking and usage
and attitude studies. To this partial list could be added the
numerous other applications for which online research works
particularly well, including employee studies, website and (http://www.esomar.org/uploads/pdf/ESOMAR_Codes&Guide
online marketing evaluation, copy testing, visual design testing, line-Conducting_research_using_Internet.pdf)
40 business-to-business studies and numerous bespoke studies. Secondly, at the respondent level ensuring data quality and
respondent honesty is another concern. Measures like ‘data
The benefits of online research include: traps’, control questions and ‘digital fingerprinting’ are among
 Cost – estimates show that online research can be four times the ways in which this has been dealt with. This is something
cheaper than face-to-face or telephonic research modes research buyers need to discuss with their suppliers.
 Speed – shorter turnaround time on data collection Thirdly, surveys have become more engaging and adapted to
 Quality – online research removes the ‘social desirability the online medium, thus preventing high dropout rates.
bias’ due to the presence of an interviewer, which means The main concern among prospective online research buyers
more candid and honest responses in SA is sample representativeness. In cases where a significant
 Accuracy in presenting complex materials – video, sound proportion of the target market does not have Internet access,
and images are easily presented for evaluation in online online research is unlikely to deliver an acceptable sample. This
research is less problematic when researching affluent consumer groups.
 Ease of gathering data across vast geographic areas – Other concerns include not knowing the true identity of
participants can contribute at any time, anywhere as long as respondents, security concerns in presenting confidential
they have Internet access materials online and a general concern that lower cost means
 Collection of paradata – data can be collected on issues such lower quality. Advances made internationally see these concerns
as the length of time people take to complete a question or being addressed effectively.
the survey as a whole, for example Online research can be successfully integrated with other
 Adaptive surveys – the survey ‘logic’ is built in when the forms of research: a quick online survey or online focus group
survey is programmed ensuring that the right people answer could guide the design of a bigger face-to-face or telephonic
the right questions at the right time project. Online research can also augment traditional research
 ‘Green research’/environmental sustainability – online by providing access to hard-to-reach segments that prefer
participating in research on their own terms.
research does not require printing of paper questionnaires or
The rise of broadband Internet access, the increase in
extensive travelling
 Richer open-ended responses.
reputable companies offering online research and online
samples, the recent diversity in online methods and applications,
The quality and integrity of online research has received a lot and the more welcoming attitude of the research industry
of deserved attention. Firstly, the availability of diverse and should see online research in SA grow. 
high-quality sample sources. In response to the international
adoption of online methods, ESOMAR (the world organisation
for enabling better research into markets, consumers and Henk Pretorius
societies) released a checklist of 25 questions it suggests research director, Columninate
buyers should ask of any online panel sample source they plan 082 417 3207
to use henk@coliminate.com

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009

 Research 10

LSM extensions give industry better

market insight
ver the years, as SA society has developed, so too has What’s in a name?

O the SAARF Living Standards Measure (LSM). This

much-used segmentation tool has changed several times
since its inception in the late ‘80s to ensure it accurately reflects
It is important to note the LSM Extensions are not, in fact, ‘new
LSMs’. SAARF has split the groups, not changed their cut-offs;
if they had introduced new cut-offs, we’d be back to the situa-
local markets. The latest change sees the upper LSMs being split tion experienced in 2001, when the introduction of the
into sub-groups for finer target marketing. Universal LSM scale created a new starting point for trending.
Ever-increasing interest in the upper end of the SA market, Since LSM 7 Low and 7 High combined is identical to LSM 7,
coupled with strong competition, has made it increasingly and so forth, one can still trend LSM data over previous years.
important for marketers to be able to look at the upper This is why SAARF has not renamed the eight extensions
segments of society in more detail. LSM 7 through 14. We do not want a situation where the
SAARF has therefore introduced the LSM Extensions from industry talks at cross-purposes: where, for example, a
AMPS 2008A onwards. Each of the top four LSM groups has mass-market marketer calls the top end ‘LSM 10’, while the
been split into two roughly equal groups, creating a ‘Low’ and a marketer who routinely uses the LSM Extensions would think
‘High’ measure: LSM 7 Low and High, LSM 8 Low and High, ‘LSM 10’ referred to LSM 8 High.
and so on. And when trending, how much simpler is it to add together LSM
Using the LSM Extensions, the industry can more finely 8 Low and High to get the ‘old’ LSM 8, than to remember that the
define its target markets for products aimed at those with a ‘old’ LSM 8 is the combination of LSM 9 and 10 in a 1-14 scale?
high living standard. Suitable media can then be selected to The codes for the LSM splits can be found on software
reach these Low and High LSM categories. providing AMPS data as ‘LSM Extensions’. To find the LSM
Extensions on the database/software, look under Demographics,
Markets in greater detail Living Standard Measure and then click on LSM Extensions. 
By analysing a market using the High and Low LSMs, many
finer differences will emerge, particularly in LSM 10. Paul Haupt
According to AMPS 2008B, in LSM 10, just over 63 per cent CEO, SAARF 41
of people own a tumble dryer. If you’re selling tumble dryers, (011) 463 5340
you’d be better equipped knowing that in LSM 10 Low, 50 per paul@saarf.co.za
cent of people have dryers, compared to just
under 80 per cent of LSM 10 Highs. When
it comes to dishwashers, 20 per cent of
LSM 10 Lows have one, substantially fewer
Top tips: youth marketing and research (The Insight Team, HDI Youth
than in LSM 10 High where 50 per cent of
Marketeers)
people have one. Age-appropriateness: Understand that kids operate very differently from teens who are distinctly
There are many other examples of different from 20-somethings – design your research process to pitch at the specific age group
how the LSM Extensions give a clearer Environment: Conduct research in an environment where children feel at ease, so they’ll be
understanding of the top end of the more likely to open up and be insightful
market. Meet children at their level: It is important to see things from their perspective but do not
In LSM 9 Low, just over 23 per cent of patronise them. Be upfront about what the research objective is and explain their role in it
households have a monthly income of over Honest: Emphasise that the ‘research process’ is not a test where answers are either right or
R20 000 per month, compared to 37 per wrong. Encourage them to be honest and communicate their ideas
cent of LSM 9 High households. Validity: Reassure them that their opinions are valid and encourage them to volunteer
Two out of 10 LSM 10 Lows travelled
information even if it is different from that of their friends
locally by air in the past 12 months. In
Don’t put words in their mouth: Give them a platform to express themselves and listen to
LSM 10 High, three out of 10 flew.
The LSM Extensions are also invaluable what they have to say. After all, your ‘expert brand opinion’ is not necessarily in line with their
for media planning, highlighting intra-group opinion
differences in media consumption. While Structure: Make sure that you have a clear grasp of the research objective so that you are in
44 per cent of people in LSM 10 Low use a position to steer the research process effectively. Involving youth in research can invoke high
the Internet on a weekly basis, about 54 per levels of excitement on their part and you need to make sure that their excitement levels don’t
cent of LSM 10 High are online each week. compromise the process
In LSM 7 Low, 44 per cent of people read Participant fatigue: Young people (particularly kids) have short attention spans and the
an AMPS-measured daily newspaper. In research process must accommodate this in order to maintain interest
LSM 7 High, you’ll find over half of this Engage them: Kids respond well to visual stimuli; images and props can enhance the quality
group reads a daily.
of their responses
The LSM Extensions allow for finer
Astute consumers: Young urbanites have grown up in a brand-saturated environment so
target marketing in the upper LSMs, as this
graph for weekly consumption of wine they’ve developed sophisticated consumer expectations. The challenge is to meet their
shows (Source: SAARF AMPS 2008B) demands and excite and entertain them.

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 Research 10

Understanding the shopper as

well as the consumer
cross the world, some nine out of 10 new products fail

A within their first year. This startling statistic clearly

demonstrates that the traditional method of bringing
products to market is woefully inadequate. So what is going wrong?
Brand managers have always aimed to understand and influence
their consumers, seeking strong brand equity and belief in their
products. However, power in the marketplace ultimately comes
from the shopper – and synergy between consumer strategy and
shopper strategy is the key to greater success.
This is because there are three main touch points for brands.
The first touch point is the experience – the point of consumption
– and the second is the consumer’s mental image of the
product. Both of these usually involve consumers away
from the store. The third touch point, which until recently has
often been neglected yet is absolutely critical, is with the shopper
in the store.
The needs of shoppers and consumers are fundamentally
different. Moreover, the influence of mass advertising is
dwindling in the face of increasing media fragmentation and
shoppers constitute an important audience.
42 In-store activity is crucial for success in the quest to build
brands through the line. To compete successfully, we need to
understand how shoppers use the store.
Don’t just listen to your customers – watch them too!
The mistake many brands make is to use traditional research to
ask shoppers what they think, and to stop at that. But customers
are unreliable witnesses who may post-rationalise –
or provide the answer that they believe is expected of them.
Even if they don’t, they will not be able to describe their in-store
behaviour because 80 per cent of in-store decision-making is
subconscious.
To understand shoppers, it is necessary to observe them
shopping, using objective methodologies such as filming and
eye-tracking. Traditional research methodologies need to be
coupled with a measure of actual in-store behaviour.
True eye-tracking – as opposed to field of vision recording –
enables every single eye fixation of every individual shopper to
be recorded and analysed. A fixation is the point at which the
brain registers a piece of visual information. So in contrast to
merely recording what was in front of shoppers, it measures
precisely what attracts each one and which elements are being
used at what stage in the decision-making process.
One of the very latest shopper research methodologies
combines eye-tracking and electroencephalography (EEG ),
which measures the brain’s electrical activity via electrodes
placed on the scalp. Combined with respiration, heart rate,
temperature and head motion measurements, this captures
shoppers’ emotional and cognitive responses. Another area
which has enjoyed a lot of focus by shopper researchers recently
has been virtual reality research, which offers researchers the
opportunity to conduct shopper research without having to do
so in the actual store environment (the virtual store environments
created nowadays are as realistic as ever!)
Choose the right partner
Many blue-chip companies are planning to increase their
investment in shopper marketing and shopper research
companies are springing up in response to the hunger for this
data. There are many reliable and effective shopper research
methodologies available to the researcher that in the right hands
can yield hugely valuable information. The good news is that the
price barrier to the use of many of these methodologies is not as
high as one would think. The other good news is that the
investment invariably pays for itself through the increased sales
that are realised from practical learnings.
But data in itself is not enough. If shopper insight is to
drive new product development, packaging, marketing and
merchandising – as it must – it’s necessary to demand not tables
of data but practical, actionable insights.
The rewards for those businesses that can rise to these
challenges are significant. For retailers, shopper strategy ensures
improved use of the estate through better flow control, store
layout and adjacencies, merchandising that influences shopper
choice, more effective range planning and persuasive in-store
marketing.
For brands, shopper strategy revolutionises new product
development, marketing and pack design as products are
created with the decision-makers in mind. Shopper
understanding results in in-store activation that works, with
price points and promotions aligned with the shopper’s needs
and wants. It enables a genuinely innovative approach to
business management. 
Peter Wilson
Business manager: Retail and Shopper Research, TNS Research
Surveys
(021) 657 9500
peter.wilson@tns-global.co.za

marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009

 Research 10

The skill of research in

the townships
irst, marketers have to accept that Soweto is not the only A typical weekend in the townships basically includes

F township. As versatile as the demographic make-up of

Soweto is, it does not speak for all black consumers in SA.
The mere fact that Black Label beer is called ‘Zamalek’ in
Jo’burg and ‘10111’ in the Eastern Cape is an example that the
townships are not the same. So we should stop fooling clients
that the research that was conducted in Gauteng is supposedly a
reflection of Mzansi.
That brings me to my next point: townships are not the same.
There are struggling townships, emerging townships and
emerged townships. Therefore, townships as a market have
different social classes and consumer market segments, each
with distinct traits and characteristics. If one intends making a
business investment in this area, they must be aware of this.
This changes perspectives in terms of how one prioritises
business and approaches these markets.
In all these townships, you will find people – not respondents.
If we are going to change this country, marketers and
researchers cannot base their opinions about this market on a
two-day immersion.
drinking, getting arrested and doing laundry. Is that all that
black people do? Is that why we see more alcohol and laundry
powder ads in the townships?
Unbeknown to marketers, that is not all that happens in the
townships. For example, soccer is no longer the only entertainment.
Freestyle street dancing has made major inroads among girls and
boys aged 11to 18 years old in LSM 4-7. Others kids are
involved in choirs, violin groups and hip-hop street battles. Yet,
most of the ads targeted at township kids are about soccer.
In the streets, the credentials of marketing and research companies
don’t matter. So they can’t approach the likes of taxi drivers
with the attitude that they are respectable companies. It is about
relationships and being present even when there is no brief.
Lebo Motshegoa
managing director, Foshizi
(011) 463 7792
lebo@foshizi.co.za
43

Top tips: Online research

Adam Rosenberg, head of Technology & Development, KLA Research

You cannot access everyone using online research: The typical online user is LSM
7-10; living in one of the major metropolitan areas; between the ages of 20 and 60.
According to AMPS 2008, 49.7 per cent of all people who have accessed the
Internet in the past seven days falls into this category.
Internet users are not the same as non-users: Research conducted in 2009 by KLA
shows that Internet users are typically more open-minded, experimental and engaged
in the wider world. They are exposed to more varied sources of information and
media and are better informed and more discerning.
Online research is more suited to quantitative studies than to qualitative studies: The nature of the
online interface and typical online interactions means that it’s often more practical to get snapshot
measurements from respondents rather than insightful comments.
Online research is quicker than traditional market research methodologies: The target sample can be
achieved in a shorter time simply because there is no ‘field work’ limitation to accessing respondents
concurrently.
Online research can be cheaper than traditional market research methodologies: There may be some
restrictions in terms of minimum sample size but generally speaking, online research
should be cheaper than other methodologies, allowing access to larger more robust
samples.
The Internet is ‘on’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week: Online surveys are
accessible at any time of the day or night and can be completed at the convenience
of the respondent.
Online surveys are only a part of the research process: surveys need to be
constructed according to objectives and data requires analysis and insight in order to
turn it into something actionable.

vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za

 7 day [B]itch
Cheryl Cooke
group executive: Corporate Marketing Services,
Ellerine Holdings Limited (EHL)
24/08/2009
Out of the office last week negotiating
with suppliers and visiting stores.
Important face-to-face – after taking
over the reins from the previous GME
(here for 17 years). Desk from H$££ but
never mind I’ll get through it… always
do! Weekly muffin meeting with key
personnel helps keep in touch with our
vastly different retail furniture brands.
End of F2009 so it’s BSM (brand strategy
meeting) time, with emphasis on bigger
and better deals for all our customers.
BSM on Ellerines, Town Talk, FurnCity,
Savells Fairdeal: great to work with
enthusiastic new people at the head of
these brands. Visit new-look store and
44 I’m impressed – the extra effort has been
worth it. Exco budget review: sterling
job in containing costs but CEO reminds
us that we need optimum value for every
rand spent. Still find it hard to believe that
I’m the first woman on exco in nearly 60
years of trading. Fortunately, the guys
haven’t asked me to make their coffee!
25/08/2009
BSM on Wetherlys: premier brand but
more affordable than people think. Visit the
old Ellerines head office in Germiston,
now transformed into a centre of
learning and excellence. I admire the
selfless women who started the project.
Took time out with my 13-year-old son,
Connor, to register for high-school next
year. I’m grateful that I can afford the
fees. Had to smile – even a private
school runs late with appointments.
Thank heavens for Blackberry!
26/08/2009
African Bank: presentation for the head
honchos. It’s interesting to see how
EHL has evolved since becoming a sub-
sidiary of African Bank Investments
Limited last year. BSM Beares & Lubners:
miniature versions of the popular Beares
mascot handed out by staff at hospitals
and homes lend support to sick or
abused children. BSM Furniture City:
Urban Living celebrity endorsement.
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
27/08/ 2009
Visit new Woodhill Wetherlys store in
Pretoria. Customers had fun shopping
and we were pleased to learn that sales
wise it was the best store opening ever.
Wow! View year-end campaigns: This is
the busiest quarter by far for all 1 100 stores
in SA and neighbouring countries. Make
or break time for the brands. Meetings
with printers: emphasis on reduce, reuse,
recycle, reinvent. We have some interesting
ideas for protecting the environment.
28/08/ 2009
Breakfast at Tasha’s in Sandton, home of
the best Belgian chocolate cake in Jozi.
Then interview an extremely talented
individual – amazing how few and far
between true retail marketers are. EHL
and brands are in an exciting new phase
of stabilisation, growth and building. Good
enough reason to celebrate the opening
of the new corporate HQ in Marlboro.
First achievement award, Wings of
Hope, presented to our inspirational
CEO. Employees almost stopped the
traffic on the M1 North as they Thank heavens for
bopped on the roof garden in their pink
feathered wings to the sounds of rock
band Prime Circle. Event organised
Blackberry!
in-house and I say quietly, “I knew my
staff would rise to the occasion … even
without wings.” And, now I’m only 5km
from home – much less traffic to deal
with. Yippee!
30/08/2009
29/08/2009 Connor visits his grandfather so it’s time
Invited to Coca-Cola Park to watch to watch a DVD. Fascinated by the
rugby – Lions vs Blue Bulls. (First time in Vietnam era; I’m in awe at how many
a box – rather than out). Disappointing lives were lost and how much money
score-board – playing for SA appears was spent on a war that couldn’t be won.
costly to some of the provincial sides. I wonder if the world will ever embrace
Mom’s taxi for Connor, who is attending diversity and spare us the vain attempts
a Bar Mitzvah, and fill in time with my at preserving society as only one or
friends at a delightful Thai restaurant in another culture knows it. I have to admit
Craighall. Seemed like we had only just to being an ardent visitor to the malls
sat down when pumpkin time arrived. (Sandton City, Bluebird and
Found a few minutes to put my nose in Morningside are favourites) but I don’t
Meatball Sundae (Seth Godin) and Funky mind telling you that many friends have
Business Revisited (Kjell Nordström) dropped long before I have shopped…
before going to sleep. and shopped… and shopped! 

Customer-centricity:
the new buzz-word
recently read an article that debated
I whether organisations should adopt a
customer-centric model, and I must
admit to sitting back in shock. I’m
amazed that companies continue to
debate this issue. It seems direct
marketing is the new pink, with more
and more ad agencies embracing this
‘new’ thinking of 1-2-1 marketing.
A customer-centric business tries to
find as many products and services as
possible for the customer. It creates
solutions and experiences for its
customers. As the market continues to
become more fragmented and businesses
develop deeper relationships with their
customers (using, among other tools,
social media) – it can only be about
people and understanding what drives
their purchasing behaviour. Technical
expertise needs to be in the mix for
survival when all others are getting on
board with this.
CRM starts in the CEO’s office and
once it is adopted as a board strategy, the
rest of the business will embrace it. Until
such time, the customer and their needs
are often treated in an off-hand annoying
manner. A customer–centric approach
and customer service are inter-linked and
while the one should not be mixed with
the other, organisations that are leaders
in both are the most successful.
I’m known for my acerbic brand
commentary, and I’ve decided to incorporate
these commentaries – based on my
recent encounters with brands – into my
column. You’ll notice a trend emerging:
it’s my experience with these brands that
makes or breaks my affinity to them.
I travel locally – far too much for my
own sanity – to visit family and friends.
My search begins almost every two
weeks for the cheapest flight at the most
suitable time. I can’t be brand loyal in
this case; these brands are all customer
centric! These brands are all great examples
of how they differentiate themselves
beyond a simple points programme.
1time always flies on time, and you can
now go to the self-service kiosk to book.
Their Cape Town to Durban flight is
speedier than that of the other airlines –
Expert opinion
what a winner. Usually, cost is low, and I
really cannot complain about the service
either.
Kulula is cool. My Vitality discount of
20 per cent helps to reduce costs further.
Plus, I usually manage to fly on their
British Airways planes, which means the
in-flight food includes Woolies snacks.
With British Airways I am able to use
my precious Investec card (I am so
brand loyal to this bank I think it should
give me free banking for a year) to gain
access to the BA lounges – a real bonus
if I’m early for my flight. Plus, some-
times the cost is lower than that of the
above two airlines.
I recently had to fly Mango as my
ticket was paid for by a third party. I
arrived at Cape Town International
Airport to discover my ticket hadn’t 45
actually been paid for. Within seconds, a
supervisor appeared out of nowhere and
with a quick phone call to my colleague,
resolved the issue. And guess what – I
had more than enough legroom on the
plane and the staff were really pleasant!
Talking about air miles programmes, I
once again cite Investec’s incredible
Dividends programme; I don’t fly
enough internationally to amass miles,
but by cashing in my points I have
enough miles to qualify for first-class
tickets on BA flights. And now they
have a website that will exchange my
points for any airline miles.
Needing to go to the UK in
September, I tried to book my trip
online but got horribly stuck. I called
BA Executive Club, and the Patient
Saint of Call Centres made sure that half
an hour later (poor guy), I had what I
needed. Of course a week later I needed
to change the trip slightly, and a different
Patient Saint answered my call and
proved equally helpful.
Marketers need to evolve once and for
all and get into segmentation and deeper
customer understanding in order to turn
their offerings around and compete in the Nici Stathacopoulos
real world. More and more the customer
head of Retail/WFS Integration and
has the last say and engages as they want
Rewards Project, Woolworths
to with your brand and no longer how
nicistathacopoulos@woolworths.co.za
you think they wants to. 
vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009 marketingmix.co.za
 Expert opinion
FIFA Confederations Cup 2009:
who scored and who missed?
he first half of our match has come
T and gone and by all accounts SA
staged a unique, thrilling and
professional tournament. Entertaining
football introduced the world to the sights
and sounds of our Rainbow Nation, leaving
a great sense of pride among our people.
The cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria,
Bloemfontein and Rustenburg were taken
by storm as the world’s top teams fought
for the coveted Trophy.
On the sports marketing front the
question remains: who belted the ball into
the back of the net and who missed the
target completely? In my opinion, the first
goal comes from Sony with its aggressive
above-the-line campaign using Brazil and
now Real Madrid maestro, ‘Kaka’, as its
king pin. The comparison between player
and product with regards to its product’s
clarity and precision was apt, and no doubt
achieved the goal of securing top of mind
46 awareness for the Bravia.
The second brand to score was
powerhouse McDonalds. The fast-food
brand made superb use of Bafana Bafana
star Teko Modise as ambassador for its
player escort programme. The execution of
the through-the-line campaign secured
brand awareness as well as engagement with
the brand’s direct target market, which is
always the most valuable tool in marketing
and one few brands manage to achieve
effectively. These examples highlight the
power of using a suitable brand ambassador
to capture the consumer’s mindshare and
engage with the relevant market in an
exceptionally competitive and cluttered space.
Taking us 3 – 0 up, was brand favourite
Coca-Cola. An innovative trade and
consumer campaign was promoted
aggressively throughout the Confederations
Cup. This campaign was one in which the
consumer was encouraged to purchase a six
pack of Coke and SMS the relevant number
on the pack to stand a chance of winning a
limited edition, personally autographed
number 10 jersey. Each jersey was signed by
the world’s great number 10s, including
Pele, Maradona, Zidane and the like. This is
another excellent example of how to leverage
Neil Jankelowitz one’s rights in an innovative and effective
MD, MSC Sports manner to drive consumer behaviour and
(011) 646 7340 maximise return on investment.
neil@mscsports.co.za As with all matches, there were
opportunities that went begging, and some
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
that were missed completely. One such miss
came from The ‘McDonalds’ fan dancers –
a half-time campaign which was poorly
executed. The dancers were uninspiringly
dressed; they failed to engage with the
crowd; and danced in a small corner of the
field. Absolutely no excitement was created
around this unimaginative activation.
The second missed opportunity was the
FIFA sponsor/associate fan zones at the
stadiums, which proved to be little different,
creative or memorable. I sincerely hope
that sponsors will go back to the drawing
board and rethink their approach to these
elements and look to engage with the fans
more aggressively.
“The post-match sentiment is
one of pride and joy as a
fantastically successful
tournament was hosted in our
magnificent country.”
One such way to engage with potential
and current consumers is by addressing and
catering to a need. For example, the need
that was exposed during the competition
was the ‘park & ride’ initiative. To win the
Man of the Match award, perhaps one of
the FIFA partners could have run a
campaign similar to the Outsurance
pointsmen programme, to smooth out
transportation systems. Another need was
warmth, as the South African fans braved
the freezing winter weather. What a
fantastic opportunity to engage with fans
by serving free coffee or handing out
branded beanies and scarves.
Overall, however, the post-match
sentiment is one of pride and joy as a
fantastically successful tournament was
hosted in our magnificent country. With
the 2010 FIFA World Cup less than 300 days
away, it will be fascinating to see which brands
will create a successful formation, move the
ball around effectively and ultimately Make
Sport Count! Bring on 2010! 
 Expert opinion
Measuring the technology
readiness of consumers
There are very few activities today that
consumers engage in that do not involve
some level of interaction with technology
or technological devices. Much has also
been said about the role technology plays
in augmenting marketing strategy (making it
an intrinsic part of marketing communication
through SMS and MMS use and areas such
as database management, for example) but
marketers know from experience that some
technologies work better than others in
adding value to their offerings. It’s also true
that some technologies introduced to the
market are adopted in the mainstream
while others never take off.
In a developing economy such as SA,
cellphone technology has brought about
exciting opportunities for growth; the
cellphone banking solutions that are
introducing the formerly unbanked to
financial services, for example. Making
48 technology-based products and services
available could typically create advantages
for consumers and banks or retail stores.
Yet consumers are becoming more
frustrated in dealing with technology-based
products and services; in fact, many exhibit
technophobia or technology pessimism.
Research out of the UK indicates that 85
per cent of cellphone users reported they
were frustrated by the difficulty of getting
a new phone to work. Further, 95 per cent
said they would try more services if these
were easier to use. It seems that consumers
are not equally ‘ready’ to adopt technology-
based products.
To measure consumers’ technology
readiness, Parasuraman (2000) developed a
measure known as the Technology
Readiness Index (TRI) – the likelihood of
people to embrace new technologies for
accomplishing their home and work goals.
It has been found that technological readiness
is a good predictor of technology-related
behaviour. If a marketer knows the
technology readiness of its consumers, then
Danie Petzer
it becomes easier to develop a technology
(011) 559 4054
strategy as well as assist in managing the
dpetzer@uj.ac.za
link between consumer and technology to
Adele Berndt
the benefit of both parties.
(011) 559 5404 Technology readiness of consumers is
aberndt@uj.ac.za measured over four dimensions, which
Department of Marketing Management, indicate how consumers view technology
University of Johannesburg (optimism); their tendency to be a front
runner when it comes to new technology
marketingmix.co.za / vol 27 / issue 9/10 / 2009
(innovativeness); their perception of the
extent of the control they have to give up when
confronted with technology (discomfort);
and, finally, their level of trust in the
technology working as it should (insecurity).
The higher the TRI score realised by
consumers out of a possible five, the more
technology ready they are.
In research conducted by the University of
Johannesburg’s Department of Marketing
Management, the technology readiness of
urban consumers in Gauteng was measured.
Specifically, the research was focused on the
adoption of banking-related technology
products, and a TRI score of 2.53 was
obtained. In comparison, a similar study
conducted in 2000 in the US realised a TRI score
of 2.88. The result was expected, indicating
that consumers in a developed country are
more ready to embrace new technologies
than those in a developing country.
The following interesting findings were made
with regards to urban consumers in Gauteng:
 Ninety six per cent of respondents indicat-
ed that they do have products such as a
bank accounts, credit cards (55 per cent),
cellphones (97 per cent) as well as landline
telephone access (74 per cent) and
Internet access
 There is limited use of cellphone banking
(25 per cent), landline telephone banking
(14 per cent), SARS eFiling and online
shopping via banking reward schemes.
Consumers, however, do make use of
ATM banking (87 per cent), Internet
banking (45 per cent) as well as SMS or
e-mail banking notification (49 per cent)
 Younger consumers, who have a greater
ability to use and master technology
compared with their older counterparts,
realised a significantly higher TRI score.
Banks need to target these consumers in
order to generate more users of their
innovative technologies. Older consumers
are effectively limited through a lower
level of access and adoption of technology
 Male consumers also realised a higher TRI
score than females
 More formally educated respondents also
had a significantly higher TRI score than
those who were less formally educated,
indicating that the former will adopt innovative
technologies which in turn can be passed
on to less educated respondents.