Global Courant 2023-04-17 11:03:28
By Warren Brett – Cluster Executive, SEA Region, Smollan Tanzania (https://smollan.com)
The digital age is upon us with the pandemic sealing the deal as technology and e-commerce took off. Tempting us with seamless, effortless shopping, even at 3am when sleep just isn’t playing along – basically reprogramming our DNA.
In the bigger picture, looking far beyond the horizon (or is it just around the corner?), eventually gearing up to become humanoids where our bodies are wired for technology. Very handy, but not yet. It turns out we love the human-to-human experience too – to network as a crew, be part of a crowd and share experiences.
Warren Brett Cluster Executive, SEA Region, Smollan Tanzania, takes a closer look at activations in Africa. Where personal and immersive experiences spark interest and set the tone for a good engaging story and where the customer feels good about their decision to buy product X or Y. Therein lies the beauty, which (for now) cannot be experienced from a couch.
Activations are key to unlocking the connection between brands and consumers while driving testing and conversion, selling benefits over features and influencing behavior change.
As the market becomes increasingly flooded with a wide variety of products and services, a highly competitive environment is created to win the customer’s wallet share. Consumers are also becoming increasingly critical and with the aforementioned technical developments and internet penetration, they are not only clearly visible, but also well informed. In turn, retailers and brands have had to shift their focus from awareness to connections, which have proven to deliver longer customer lifespans.
In Africa, companies are now offering more interactive BTL activities, including activations as a must in their marketing plans, from sampling activities, experiential activities and in-store activations to boost brand and increase product adoption. An opportunity to build, target and engage.
“Activations in Africa are on the rise – an opportunity to reposition brands based on who your target market is, where they shop and what they like to be associated with. As well as addressing specific needs, both functional and emotional. With the economic problems in the region, we have seen consumers shift their shopping behavior towards buying more local products that are cheaper. This has forced multinationals to focus on the benefits of sales promotions and association marketing, which is primarily driven by consumer-facing activations,” said Brett.
For niche brands, events, high net worth activities i.e. golf activations and tastings, as well as experiential activations in malls, are starting to influence consumer decision making. At the other end of the scale of mass brands, the initiating activations with high traffic, such as roadshows, market storms and home-to-home, reach B-C2 consumers.
“We can then measure activation effectiveness with the ability to track reach, conversion and consumer insights, which helps tailor activation strategy to a specific consumer segment,” added Brett.
That said, there are challenges as reported by www.ecommerce.co.za. Customers in Africa are generally happy to experience brands for free during trials and shows, but do not necessarily patronize the brand in the future.
Valuable strategies for shifting this narrative include:
Using activations to increase brand equity, as findings show that customers in Africa view value not as making extraordinary promises, but rather consistently delivering on simple promises. Thoughtful planning and execution of activations that deliver the right messages at the right frequency to the right audience through the right channels. Determining the exact role of the activation at each step of the buying journey. Offline and online activations must also be synchronized. Prioritizing intimate customer engagement over mass events can open up new opportunities for understanding customer behaviors, consumption patterns, values and lifestyles.
“Supporting value chains and creating a buzz with consumers who haven’t necessarily experienced events like this before is incredibly fulfilling. We saw firsthand in Kenya how we were able to reach 56,000 consumers in a week with a 91% conversion rate for a single customer; 30,000 in-store customer interactions with approximately 7,500 sales recorded for another, and in a roadshow and caravan format, on board 19,569 merchants. It is what makes the activation potential in Africa, despite the challenges, so exciting,” said Brett.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Smollan.
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