Future of the Digital Industry in South Africa

Introduction:

It is increasingly becoming more evident that the technological advancements of systems and devices, the optimization of social media and the broader spectrum of connectivity globally is transforming and impacting significantly on the way businesses communicate with consumers, as well as the way in which consumers communicate. Convergence is the result of the marketization of the mass media globally, the merger of traditional media and telecommunications. The fusion of information and communications of the digital revolution sparked the birth of the social media revolution whereby consumers were given platforms to produce and distribute content shifting the entire perspective of power, the rigorous development of the digital industry has galvanized the mobile revolution whereby a significant changes of use for cellular device has been effected. South Africa as a developing country has the foresight and knowhow to adapt and remain flexible in the ever-emerging strategic communication digital landscape, however in essence may lack the adequate resources. The argument will be supported by discussion of the digital industry, the current role players in the industry, the key drivers of change, key trends and a critical analysis of the direction the industry is moving in. Tying in the pertinence for the development of the telecommunications industry for the local digital industry to thrive, to sustain growth as rapidly as first world countries can due to the speed of connection, the limited access to connectivity of the population and traditional and digital marketing, targeting mobile networks as the focus to engaging the consumer.

The Digital Industry patrons

This industry is the shaped activity of online interactive communication between brand and consumer. Verwey and Muir (2014) illustrate the control patterns and new business models and the shift in communication. Social Media has created a shared social space where brands and consumers collaborate; this ecosystem requires brands to be attentive to the changes of the industry because of their volatile consumer. Online research methodologies aid brands in monitoring, listening, responding and tracking their patrons. This open and free system requires brands to personalize themselves in order to maintain the relationship with their patrons, meaning they need to act in ways that will build loyalty, maintain trust, listen to the complaints and be responsive. The digital industry is growing rapidly, introducing the mobile revolution where consumers do more than just call and message family and friends, smart devices offer the access to sharing media content on social media platforms, conduct business emails, purchase items online, capture and conduct video calls. These impressive technological features have made smart phones an essential tool for the connected consumer; brands and agencies have realized that with the continuous innovation of the devices, directing their communication to their mobiles is the one space that brands can guarantee the one space their consumers will always be because of how essential the tool is. Consequently Nielsen (2014) presents the issue of connectivity in South Africa. Mobile cellular provider Vodacom is the only provider with access to 4G mobile connection speeds, even though it has the largest stake of 40% market share in the country, the audience measurement research conducted shows a small percentage of consumers have access to smart phones let alone access to connectivity. This raises the importance of brands and agencies to use online and offline messages seamlessly as the local telecommunications industry is more underdeveloped than the growth of the digital industry in South Africa and Globally.

Current Role Players

From the article (Advertising in 2020, 2014:5) with regards to the players in the industry, there are holding companies, creative agencies, digital agencies, media agencies, and public relations agencies that all aspire to lead strategic communications with their clients. These companies each approach the strategic communication principles from the perspective of their unique strengths. They sometimes collaborate, sometimes complement, and oftentimes compete with each other. In terms of collaborations Overton-de Klerk and Verwey (2013) emphasize the organization as communication in the sense that various stakeholders may be affected by a host of interactions in the process of ‘organising’ their impressions, or may be affected by a particular interaction, at the time, which may not be confined to a particular marketing or public relations activity. These interactive networks evolve and change all the time, and create various complex structures and systems overlaying one another, defining the organization. The convergence of purposeful communication recognizes that their tactics, but they all share common purposes, and similar objectives and strategies only differentiate the various communication functions.  As a result of the digital revolution, they are increasingly building similar skill sets, smashing the barriers that kept them distinct. Traditional principles being the initial reason for the barriers set in place that had agencies working in silo departments, characterized as individual departments working separately and often competing against each other instead of using synergy to combine efforts and knowledge to produce a greater sum of the individual parts.

Joe Public is a prime example of an agency successfully incorporating a full house service agency, which entails all of the mentioned role players; cohesion of these departments gives them an advantage to attracting, maintaining and delivering for their clients. Joe Public has prided in labeling themselves as the ‘growth agency’ using strategic approaches and growth as methodology to being future fit. “The growth of our clients, the growth of our people and the growth of our partners, are all positively interlinked. At Joe Public, we strive to create the conditions for such a virtuous circle of growth to happen: a positive ecosystem of growth.“ (Growth to the power of n, para.1) thus the merger of Joe Public and connect digital agency under one umbrella and the rest of the role players integrating to collaborate under one agency eliminates the silo departments in a system which each interacts with the other improving the internal branding and communication of the agency, therefore promoting its growth.

Thomas (2014) explains the splurge of new technologies and the societal changes for consumers use of mobile smartphones has created a larger digital audience and a need for agencies to adjust the way in which they reach their audience. Integrating traditional and digital methods of communication is essential in the landscape; brand storytelling has to be fluid and captivating, generating online and offline content in which customers can see as a seamless process of communication. The multiplicity of channels interacting to engage the consumer is referred to as an Omni-channel channel, various touch points of access to the brand is crucial to the seamless customer experience, more specifically online and offline mobile communications SMS, Bluetooth and Internet services. Thus Thomas (2014) describes the promising role of a local agency body that aims to drive growth of the mobile revolution. Mobile Marketing Association of South Africa is an agency body, which has the mission to accelerate the transformation and innovation of marketing through mobile, driving business growth with closer and stronger consumer engagement. Technological improvement of mobile is there to supplement innovation, in turn giving brands the opportunity to create messaging and platforms that simplify the process of purchase of their product or service for the consumer. Nevertheless telecommunications industry needs to improve in its development, more individuals in the country need access to smart devices and affordable connection to reach larger audiences and allow the digital industry to progress at a global speed.

Technology as the Key Driver of Change

Digital is a concept that encompasses the agencies practice of disseminating the brand’s messages in a digital context. In the future of the digital industry brands and agencies alike will have to shift to a post-digital approach to engaging their consumer. This is because the social media platform that the customer is frequently active on is a personal space; competitors bombarding the consumer with content and advertising come across as intrusive. Davies (2009) mentions that the Post-digital approach is a concept which emphasizes the importance of aligning online research methodologies to define their customer, create appealing content, deliver messages through blending digital and traditional formats. Therefore synchronous implementation of mobile with online channel strategies are a game changer, online shopping is growing tremendously in South Africa. This is highlighted in (Sullivan, 2015:1) Virtual reality, the convenience of viewing shopping items online before entering the physical store or not having to enter at all, ordering and having it delivered to your door step, with just an internet connection 3 clicks into the website or application a valid MasterCard detail registered with the store completes the shopping process all with a movement of the finger. Superbalist is an online apparel distributor housing various brands, but not physically storing their stock but serving as middleman between consumer and brands, this is a unique example of online shopping, using their clients databases utilize content marketing strategies updating consumers of the new clothing items available at the stores and providing opportunity for purchase from their site as well as delivery.

Verwey and Muir (2014) further illustrate the trends currently impacting on strategic communication, to name a few shift towards mobile technology, greater personalization of content, co-creation of content and shift from paid media to earned media. These trends reaffirm the driving forces that technology has created in the way that brands communicate with their consumers and the emerging changes in use for mobile devices. McGrath (2014) furthers the discussion of the effects of the digital revolution on the post digital business, underlining there are now fewer barriers to entry due to globalization meaning its harder for businesses to enter as a competitive force. Brands need to be flexible and innovative, transient advantages whereby new temporary strategic initiatives are frequently developed can help companies stay ahead over competitors as opposed to a long-term strategy.

Consumers are constantly adopting new technologies, increasingly empowering them with the perceptions over brands. Agency and brands have taken initiative of being scientific in understanding their digital consumers to peacefully and mutually coexist in the unpredictable nature of the digital environment. Approaches to research include, Neuroscience MRI scans to measure changes in physiology helping identify the cognitive processes of how people respond to campaigns, Neurobranding techniques used to engage customer using specific colours to elicit certain emotions. EEG tests have participants patches applied to their head and body to monitor to measure emotional engagement to what they are displaying to them as a sample of content on a screen, attention levels as well as memory indicators. Behavioural economics to measure what people do when online and various tracking systems like the brandseye Application to gather insights, In to order create value in branded content and connect with consumers engagingly.

Technology as a driving force of change has encouraged consumers to be more opinionated on social media instantly online conversations of an influencer having an effect on the decision making process of the influencer’s followers. Patterns in demand have changed, consumers now have the voice to express online that they deserve the best service and an improved product ranging from requesting more chips by posting a picture of their unsatisfactory meal tagging the restaurant to complaining about the poor battery life of their cellular device and going on a rant on how it implicated their day. This doesn’t mean that primary focus should be online, using a holistic brand experience online and offline more specifically targeting mobile.

Digital Divide in South Africa

In the context of the South African Digital Landscape the rapid growth of the digital industry is hampered by the under developed bandwidth and reach of fibre optic cable communications to home. Angathevar Baskaran and Mammo Muchie (2006) state that South Africa is divided by ethnic inequality and discrepancies in the level of development between different sectors. These obstacles result in disparities in access to Information and Communication Technology thus affecting the future of the digital industry. Policies are being discussed and reassessed within the government. The telecommunications industry needs to be efficient as the demand for future development has brands and agencies under pressure to deliver on their promises to deliver world-class services for a local society that has the complex economical issues and clients with first world expectations.

Angathevar Baskaran and Mammo Muchie. (2006) Describe the potential motions that are being considered to solve the divide. “One attempt to liberalize the communications industry was to end the monopoly of Telkom and open up the sector for market competition. In addition, since the change in technology is so rapid and radical, local firms find themselves increasingly obsolescent in technology because the import and manufacture of digital equipment are expensive and its continual updating is necessary.” Monopolies as a concept is very traditional in the sense that they have total control of the system and can often fix pricing of services, in the post-modern digital space a monopoly has no place for the growth of the industry, competitive organizations will generate a much better and efficient industry as consumers will have the power to choose the service which better suits their needs and in essence the privatizing of the telecommunications industry is more likely to improve the state of the economy, which has the direct affect on the living standards of the population. The more the organisations running the telecoms the more job opportunities made available and room for growth of the digital industry which is currently not moving at the capacity that it could be.

South Africa has not adequately adopted the broadband facilities to optimize network connectivity and Internet availability. The economic parity in the country implicates the growth of the digital industry as brands and agencies are limited to their creativity and the reach they can achieve digitally hence the importance for them to engage online and offline mediums and understand that the integration of the two is essential to fueling the local digital industry as our society is complex and we simply cannot expect to maintain the same standards as first world countries. However we can strive to be the best of the developing countries for the time being. Writer (2014) explains in his article on the broadband report of the last 2 years of the decline in broadband and mobile connectivity speed as an alarming alert and just cause for action. Afrihost is a wireless and broadband services company that specializes in providing companies and homes with Internet connectivity offering with ADSL routers for Wi-Fi capability, they have done very well to spread their innovative services with FTTH (Fibre To Home) unfortunately the companies like Afrihost aren’t able to contract enough of the telecoms companies to put enough of the fibre under ground because it is expensive and the demand is not high enough because the economic conditions of the majority cannot afford the services therefore the companies are limited and aren’t able to expand as fast as they want to.

Convergence of Media

Earlier Verwey & Muir (2014) mentioned some of the important trends impacting strategic communication and one to be mentioned is greater transparency, which requires that brands be responsive to issues consumers may face in their brand experience, Online Reputation Management and Customer Relationship management w on as solutions in the event of a crisis. Open Source and collaborative models are the immediate solution to achieving platforms where consumers can create, contribute and share content to feel a part of the brand, examples are endorsed consumer fan pages on Facebook on large brands like ‘Star Wars’ where they create online brand communities. Converged Media is also solution for personalizing a brand where sponsored consumers become the ambassador/face of the brand integrating Earned and Paid Media.

However small and emerging media agency Cliff Central has grown from strength to strength as online radio station, recently introducing an app for mobile that gives consumer simple access from their mobile device of the podcasts which is example of how the simplicity of making the services easily consumable and available is how to survive in the digital industry especially when a country like South Africa is slightly hindered by internet speeds. Gareth Cliff lead anchor and owner of the online radio station had a significant following from his days as a 5FM talk show host, impressively made use of his popularity and the open market for online radio, characteristically very controversial for some of his topics of discussion shifted to online radio so that he would not be censored by the media bodies to not give certain points of view about political leaders. Bates (2015) interviews Mr. Cliff and paraphrases on his collaboration with social media and using ‘WeChat’ messaging platform to support his application, and using its broadcast features to access Cliff’s online station ”Speaking of what started out as a platform for his show, Cliff said Cliff Central has diversified to include social media, audio, video; in short, multimedia. “I think it’s going to really change the game,” says Cliff of the application in development. Though he did not commit to a release date, Cliff said the project was "about 80 percent complete" and he shared a video with his guests on the next element of the Cliff Central brand. Cliff added using smartphones was part of a strategy “to give people what they want”.” This is a key example of how Converged media is implemented to make a success from a new venture in the digital industry.

Furlonger, (2013) writes in his article about the risk of remaining purely traditional or purely digital and how both are necessary for communication in the Strategic Communication landscape. “The onset of digital - an all-encompassing term which, depending on whose definition you use, can include almost every kind of new technology - is transforming advertising and communications.” No longer are creative ideas limited to television, radio, newspapers and billboards. New avenues such as mobile telephones, websites and social media mean brands no longer have to wait for the consumer to come to them; they can pursue the consumer 24 hours a day. So rapidly has it grown that digital is losing its identity as a specialist skill.

“The technology that brings it to life may still be the preserve of techno "geeks" but the ideas are universal. As Justin Gomes, cofounder of Cape Town agency FoxP2, once pointed out, there are no TV-only agencies, so why should there be digital specialists?Mike Abel, head of the M&C Saatchi Abel agency, says: "Like radio and outdoor, digital is just another channel. It's a logical extension of the business."Agencies are finding different ways to handle the shift. Some, like Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), are training everyone to understand digital and its potential. Others are buying in specialist skills.” Draftfcb SA last year bought Hello Computer to manage its digital needs. As traditional agencies increase their digital capability and present themselves as all-round performers, so digital agencies are fighting back incorporating traditional practices making them a fuller agency which essentially is the right direction. They recognize that to remain specialist carries risk, in context of the future of the digital industry of South Africa.

Conclusion It appears that with regards to larger agencies it is more ideal in the South African context of the industry to merge and just as the way they are expected to merge their activities and purpose to create one full service agency, as this is the most effective movement available for the positive direction of the industry. This is a common trend in the digital agency space with newly merged companies like Saatchi Synergize, Joe Public connect, 25AM and many more incorporating the broad spectrum of departments and tasks, as well integrating social media, search engine optimization and overall online consumer engagement consultancy practices as combined norm to monitor the online reputation of the brand as well maintain the customer-brand relationship. The digital industry is moving in the right direction, with agencies understanding their position as well as understanding their clients and brands understanding how to manage and create value for their consumers, the insight is that the more hardware technological factors are a potential detrimental issue to sustainability and growth of the industry to a larger audience of the country. Nonetheless the solution being agencies merging to create fuller agencies to better connect with their client, brands to embrace digital and become citizens of the online community where they can interact at any time of the day with their consumers.

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