Print isn’t dead – it’s just a redundant format

by | Mar 23, 2016 | digital, featured, magazines, media, newspapers, south africa

When cassette tapes or Walkmans made way to portable CD players in the 90s, nobody cried “music is dead.”

The content remained.  Major music artists did exactly what they were accustomed to doing, except no longer supplied their music in the now-redundant cassette format, but the new, improved CD format.

With the greatest amount of respect to my many colleagues in the field, I really do feel that repeatedly attempting to answer the question “is print dead?” is a purposeless discussion around the format (printed on a paper derived from a tree) as opposed to the content (the quality of which remains whether printed or delivered electronically).

attempting to answer the question “is print dead?” is a purposeless discussion around the format as opposed to the content

In my home market, South Africa, almost every single major newspaper and news broadcaster has already successfully provided their entire service to consumers in a digital format.  Frankly, at first, some of them were a bit lacking in layout and design but, after presumably downloading a good WordPress template or two, they all stand up to global standards.

Many magazines have struggled with the transition.  A struggle, I believe, which is due not to the lack of a shiny cover but an inherent and long-standing problem with the content.  Those who have been able to make the transition (and there are good examples particularly those who have found their bite-sized content is actually better-suited to social media posts as opposed to blog entries) have succeeded with not only a better, newer format, but also attracted new consumers and new territories.

It is reported by the various paper pulp industry associations in South Africa that we produce 316,000 tonnes of newsprint each year (and that’s just for newspapers).  At an industry estimate of 12 trees per tonne of newsprint, that means we are cutting down almost 4 million trees a year.  Surely in our twenty-first century understanding of our fragile and precious environment, this cannot continue for much longer.

we cut down 4 million trees a year in South Africa just to provide the paper for newsprint

Records were replaced by cassettes, then CDs, then MP3s, and now streaming services.  Printed newspapers and magazines are being replaced by online news and online magazine services.  Books by tablets.  Houses lost the TV aerials and replaced them with satellite dishes – these too will be taken down as everyone finds it easier just to stream the same content from the same provider through the internet.  Telephone wires above-ground have disappeared as fibre has burrowed under our streets.

Just as the photographic-film makers who thought they were providing film, rather than helping people store memories, ceased to be, media businesses who think the purpose of media is to sell ads, will crumble too.

media businesses who think the purpose of media is to sell ads, will crumble

Successful content providers will easily transition to new formats and consumers who love that content will pay for that content, whether through superbly-targeted and relevant advertising, offering up their data, or paying good-old subscription fees.

Infographic: Debunking marketer’s misconceptions about race profiles of media consumption in South Africa

by | Feb 17, 2016 | infographic, magazines, media, newspapers, radio, south africa

It’s quite common that many of us (myself included) have certain perceptions of ‘white’ magazines and ‘black’ radio stations. It’s quite natural for us to have certain misconceptions about race profiles of media as, when many marketers started out in the game, the world was a very different place to today.

It also doesn’t help that many magazines, which are read by a full spectrum of society, still feature mostly white faces on the cover each month.

These stats show a big difference between the perception of most marketers and the reality. There is still much work to go, but it’s in the right direction. This data really does go to show that the filter of ‘race’ in media is close to becoming irrelevant.

Some key stats:

  • You: 55% Black, 20% White
  • Men’s Health: 64% Black, 17% White
  • Car Magazine: 50% Black, 25% White
  • Cosmo: 57% Black, 19% White

 

  • 5FM: 57% Black, 27% White
  • CapeTalk: 50% Black, 26% Coloured, 21% White
  • Jacaranda: 44% Black, 50% White
  • Highveld 94.7: 40% Black, 42% White

 

  • Cinema: 57% Black, 20% White

 

  • DSTV Premium: 35% Black, 43% White
  • DSTV Compact: 85% Black, 5% White
  • SABC3 (Includes Espresso): 79% Black, 8% White

 

  • The Argus/Cape Times: 40% Black, 37% Coloured ,20% White
  • Sunday Times: 74% Black, 12% White
  • Business Day: 61% Black, 27% White

All stats are from completely independent sources – AMPS 2015, Roots 2013, and TGI (they all tell the same story).

Infographic: Marketer’s Guide to SA Rugby Supporters

by | Oct 12, 2015 | infographic, magazines, media, newspapers, radio, south africa

For any South African marketer, it’s important to understand the relevance of major sports rugby, cricket, and soccer, to consumers. What is really interesting from a media approach is that fans of each sport are different and a one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it with campaigns around sport.

We take an objective look at South Africa’s second most popular spectator sport – rugby.

Firstly, it’s interesting that 45% of urban adults support the Springboks and 16% have actually attended a decent amount of the games.
There is a 60/40 split between men and woman supporters and, within the group, 60% also support Currie Cup teams and 52% support South African Super Rugby teams.

There is a large group of active rugby players too. 600,000 urban adults (excludes school children) have played a game in the last 12 months and the average age of participation is fairly high at 36 years old.

There is a huge crossover between rugby and cricket (90% of cricket supporters and rugby supporters) but there is less of a cross over from soccer where only 48% of soccer supporters support the rugby.

Their media habits are different too. Mobile phones are 21% more likley to be considered an important medium for communication amongst rugby supporters – and this figure rises higher even for western province supporters to 48%.
29% of adults, all over South Africa, have watched a special rugby broadcast on TV. Rugby supporters are 3% more interested in reading about rugby in newspapers (45%) versus magazines (42%).

Rugby supporters are 19% more likely than most to research topics using the internet.

And, by far, the most listened to radio station by Springbok supporters is Metro FM.

why we love media

what clients see mostly are awesome presentations, hard-working campaigns, ah-ha moment insights, and clever ideas. what they don’t see are the hours and hours of analysis, meticulous planning, ideas sessions with media owners, tense negotiations, last-minute client bookings, and that moment when you figure out how to make a campaign work with champagne tastes on a beer budget. we love all this. it’s why we get up early in the morning and find it hard to switch off at night.

 

Infographic: Cape Town versus Joburg (media habits)

by | Oct 7, 2015 | digital, infographic, magazines, media, newspapers, radio, south africa

With so many creative agencies and publishers in Cape Town creating brand content (mostly advertising and magazine publishing) for a nation with a business and commerce hub in Greater Johannesburg, there is always a chance that marketing is viewed through a city-centric lens.

We have a look at what, objectively, makes the two cities so very different.

The data is sourced from 2,215 urban respondents living in Greater Johannesburg or Cape Town as well as all TomTom users compared to 200 cities around the world. Only data points with sufficiently stable sample sizes have been used.

Newspapers in South Africa

by | Aug 17, 2015 | infographic, newspapers

Much has been said about newspapers of late: they are in decline (which they are), digital is taking over (which it is) but the reality of the South African media context is that it is still an important communication channel.

As with most communication channels, however, the role of newspapers and what consumers think of newspapers changes rather dramatically depending on the market segment we are investigating.

Newspaper publishers might not like what they see in the numbers as often newspapers compete on total circulation numbers which is irrelevant information if you are targeting anything more specific than the entire market.  It’s important to note that the figures comparing segments use index (versus total market) rather than reach – using indexes, rather than simple reach, is a great tool in identifying what makes the segment different from the whole.

At Limelight, we have a long-standing close relationship with TGI.  It is undoubtedly our preference for broad marketing and media research.  From the complex statistical analysis that we can perform to the in-depth psychographic questions in the survey, it provides a deeper analysis that any other broad-based survey in this country.

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