Research taking root

In a presentation that she says only scratched the surface, SPARK Media CEO Gill Randall told a packed auditorium at the Bryanston Country Club in Bryanston, that the tools needed include being distinct, having mass reach and doing this on a continuous basis.

“The tools will help you to navigate the headwinds and help you make better choices and is reinforced by the rich data we find in ROOTS 2016.”

Distinctiveness or being distinct, the first tool, is about how your brand can be unique. The way forward is owning your own distinctive assets. In the time-scarce world we are living in, branding is a mental shortcut so always look like ‘you’. Don't make consumers have to figure out the brand.

Brands that prove it is important to always get it right and get recognised include All Gold (the distinctiveness of its bottle shape), Game (and its distinct colour), FNB’s Steve and Toyota’s dog.

Make your brand famous through effective mass reach. “Do this by making your brand as salient as possible in as many people's minds as possible. Talk to as many people as possible.” Randall adds not to profile your audience too tightly. “Target your category instead of boxing your brand. Coke targets the person that drinks one Coke a year. It is the light users of your brand that make up 50% of the profit.”

The last tool is continuity of message. “Advertising is a weak force, but when it talks to someone who has a need in the market, then it is strong. Many weeks in market is better than a huge launch with nothing afterwards.”

Why it is important to by consistent is because we are dealing with very thin markets, she adds. For example, there are 1.1 million buying furniture annually, which equals 3,200 a day. This is not enough to sustain all the brands in that category.

Conducted since 2001, ROOTS is one of the biggest, most detailed urban surveys of actionable consumer behaviour. Commissioned by Caxton CTP and conducted by TNS, the research is available to the industry free of charge. It is sampled from over 120 towns and suburbs, with an overall sample covering all the major urban areas in South Africa. It will be available to the public from 18 April.