www.
nexmedia
.co.za
Nex Media • 10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW WHEN MARKETING YOUR BRAND IN AFRICA
10 things you should know
when marketing your brand in Africa
The biggest trend we see in the marketing business today is demand for penetrating the African market. We have
seen it from organisations all over the globe, including from within Africa itself, chasing after the ‘African Giant’ for
exponential market growth to increase their revenue. Now let me tell you, it’s not all ‘Picture Perfect’ as it looks, and
there is no way of ‘Photo Shopping’ your way out of the realities of doing business in Africa.
I’m sure you are ready to do big things and eager to start the journey, but here are
10 things you need to know:
1)
Africa is not a country:
Many organisations think a ‘copy-paste’ approach
in Africa is going to make the impact they are looking for. ‘What we do in
Kenya has to work in SA?’ I’m afraid it is not the case. We have seen
numerous solutions that were developed specifically to address a unique
challenge in a particular African country, but the moment you extend that
into another African market, you may be faced with a much slower uptake
or even rejection. Why would this be? There are many external factors that
influence the consumer journey, for example, culture, religion, economies,
technical infrastructure, legislation etc. Treat each country and honour what
is important to the people of the country you are focusing on.
2)
Africa is the most multi-lingual continent in the world:
Over 1000
languages. So many beliefs. So many cultures it is simply impossible to try
to understand each one – but the one thing you can do, is break the barrier
between the language and the brand. It is a lot more work, but far more
impactful. Start asking consumers their language of choice, and start
communicating to them in their language of choice. You will be surprised
how amazing this is, and really builds a deeper connection with the consumer.
3)
Understand the technology capabilities:
Many technologies are
pre-selected for a campaign, which is not the right way to go about it. All
countries have different technologies available and the red tape to implement
them in each country is different. You may set yourself up for failure if you
have your mind and budget set on using a specific technological solution or
Call-To-Action to drive your campaign and assume it will be available, because
it is available in South Africa. This is one of the biggest mistakes we see in
marketing campaigns.
By Carmen Murray
34
