Kantar’s Mzansi Consumer Barometer had a look at how South Africans are accessing the internet, and two-thirds (60%) access the internet from home networks – with the inverse use of the internet during loadshedding (56% use data during loadshedding). Evidently, despite the high cost of data and the trade-offs we are making on household products and groceries, South Africans jump to their socials when loadshedding hits. (And while it has been 100+ days since the last bout of loadshedding, like Arnie, it may be back!?)
Most South Africans jump to their socials when loadshedding hits, with 48% using mobile data to access social media while 37% watch pre-downloaded shows. An astonishing 36% take a nap and engage in other activities like offline hobbies, reading books, streaming shows and movies, and visiting friends and family.
More than half the people in the country recharge their data at least once a week, creating opportunities for brands when it comes to data availability. The question is: what are people doing online? Kantar’s research suggests that consumers are doing Google searches, sending emails, engaging on their social networks, sending instant messages, viewing online videos, listening to podcasts/streaming music and watching TV on demand or streaming shows.
The trend towards high usage of online platforms and social networks continues. Watching traditional TV, while still showing a nett positive increase of 15% vs 2023, is slowing down over time, and is being accelerated by loadshedding. TV on demand is also showing stable year-on-year growth of around 40%, while traditional radio is performing much the same as TV, and podcasts/streaming are showing strong growth.
Nett online video and social media are both increasing across all groups of people, with WhatsApp at the top of the list, followed by YouTube and TikTok. There has also been a nett increase in the use of social media brands like YouTube (increased by 61%), TikTok (increase of 53%) and Facebook (up by 35%).
Overall, there is high penetration and high growth in frequency of online platforms, yet consumers still prefer to be spoken to by brands in offline spaces. The top five advertising spaces (all offline) that consumers are most receptive to are, in order:
1. OOH (68%)
2. Sponsored events (65%)
3. POS (63%)
4. Digital OOH (63%)
5. Radio (56%)
While the bottom five, which are all online, are:
1. Music streaming (29%)
2. TV streaming (28%)
3. Online video (27%)
4. Video streaming (22%)
5. Online/mobile games (13%)
Kantar’s findings suggest that the time is right for a shift in entertainment, with social media slipping, streaming stalling and TV trailing. TikTok, on the other hand, has changed and redefined entertainment altogether – there is nothing like it in the world, as it sits snuggly at the intersection of traditional entertainment and social media, with everything centred around community. The platform has a billion users per day and offers endless and relatable discoveries of new voices and ideas, with a diverse and genuine community that embraces vulnerability – providing a place to be real and a highly inclusive culture of influence (i.e. the TikTok made me buy it trend).
South Africans are also starting to lean into localised hashtags, e.g. #TikTokSouthAfrica, #Kasi, #FoodiesofTikTok, #StudentLife and #Safari, with the consumption of these hashtags experiencing 100-200% increase year-on-year. Furthermore, TikTok communities are coining a new language based on self-expression, vulnerability, and affirmation, connecting to the values that define how people make content and how they interact with brands on TikTok; this can be seen in that:
- 83% of users say they trust the messages in TikTok creator videos
- 76% say the TikTok creators feel ‘approachable’
- 63% say they have created their own content after seeing a creator’s video on TikTok
When advertising becomes entertaining, it creates impact for brands, because consumers don’t have an ad problem, they have a disruption problem. This is one of the reasons TikTok has been ranked #1 in attention and ad equity in the 2023 Kantar Media Reactions report, as it drives intentional audience engagement like no other platform. The unique attention captured on TikTok converts to impact for advertisers in the following ways:
1. Helping brands get discovered: 95% of TikTok users are inspired to purchase something via the platform
2. Boosting consideration: 66% of users influence their communities to make purchases after seeing TikTok content
3. Driving tangible actions: 60% of TikTok users discover something on the platform and immediately buy it
TikTok is proving to be the ultimate destination for entertainment – it is built on discovery, powered by community, and driving culture.
One of the key takeaways from the 2024 Kantar Mzansi Consumer Barometer is that brands need to create emotional connections with consumers by being meaningfully different. There is a need to balance the price of a brand with the value that it offers; and by value, we mean the feeling of “worth” attached to the laying out of cash required to access that brand. Of course, the brand must have the best possible opportunity to land through good creative on the right platforms.
At the end of the day, brands need to be present and win in the last yard – be present and ready to fend off the competition on-shelf and online.
The 2024 Mzansi Consumer Barometer is Kantar’s fourth annual check in with South African consumers and tracks key consumer behaviours, from the evolving financial and social wellbeing of households, changes to income and the leisure and work-based activities of South Africans. We spoke to 415 South Africans, representative of the connected population. Catch our launch webinar on demand here. Connect with our team from Kantar: Stacy Jayne Saggers, Barometer lead and commercial growth partner, and Saiesh Ajudhiya, head of media and creative, and Nazreen Nabbie, associate account director, media and creative, Kantar.
Join the conversation, follow us on LinkedIn and X for our latest insights and tune into FutureProof Mzansi, our marketing podcast with hosts Stacy Jayne Saggers and Senamile Zungu to help you grow the brands of tomorrow.
