Reaching every home in a province isn’t simple. Media strategist Cheryl Dube tackles such a campaign.
The Western Cape is South Africa’s fourth largest province – home to one of the most beautiful cities in the world and the legislative capital of our country, Cape Town. With a population of well over 5.8 million people, this province – the city of Cape Town in particular – is a gold mine for brands and marketers alike, but how does one launch a brand in a place so diverse in culture and heritage?
Let us pretend client ‘XYZ’ came to us and wanted to launch a new brand to the province’s total market. The product is called ‘H2O’ from a newly discovered spring up in the Cape mountains – appealing to all and affordable enough for everyone to purchase. This means that there is no defined target market but rather a blanket approach across the entire region. How could one utilise the media in the region to launch the brand successfully?
According to the 2011 Census, the Western Cape has a population of 5 822 734 living in 1 634 000 households broken down in the diagrams at the bottom of this page.
So how does one reach 1.6 million households? The best way to ensure optimal reach is through a strong localised media strategy that speaks to the entire Western Cape population and minimises wastage, utilising multiple channel platforms such as radio, print and minimal TV.
Several of South Africa’s major newspaper, magazine and printing facilities have their offices based in the province so there’s no shortage of adequate titles. Independent News and Media SA (INMSA) publishes two of the main English language papers in the province, the Cape Argus and the Cape Times with a combined readership of approximately 554 000 targeting the LSM 7-10 readers of the province. The combination of these two daily titles would then give you a reach of approximately 11%, talking to the majority of the upper LSM English-speaking market averaging an age of 44. This could be further ramped up by the Weekend Argus, published on Saturday and Sunday, with a combined readership of 236 000.
Naspers, the largest media company in South Africa publishes Die Burger, which is the major Afrikaans language title with a readership of 332 000. As the plurality language in the province, this is a very crucial market to reach. With the average Die Burger reader aged 46 and having an average household income of R17 560 this title would deliver approximately 8% reach into the province.
The province also has an array of community titles from which to choose in order to reach the right people within specific communities. Research studies such as Compass24 done by Ads24 and the Roots Survey done by the National Advertising Bureau (NAB) allow planners and strategists to make informed choices when choosing appropriate community titles. According to Compass24 research done for the Western Cape, the community newspaper reading community is 1.8 million people, which represents 52% of the province’s population. Research also suggests that 91% are LSM 6 and above with the majority aged between 20 and 49.
The Roots Survey, which provides insights into consumer shopping habits at local community level across the country, suggests that respondents from most areas surveyed were interested in reading about their community, illustrating that community press is an important part of any media campaign as it speaks to consumers in their own language.
Some of the biggest English community newspapers include Athlone News, Constantiaberg Bulletin and Table Talk. Afrikaans titles include Landbou-Burger and the Tygerburger. There are also vernacular titles like Vukani, published in Xhosa and English. With so many different communities to address, community press is definitely a consideration for any new entrants into the market, particularly looking at sampling opportunities and inserts for education and brand awareness.
For many years radio has been a trusted source of news and information and, because of its quick turnaround times and easy access for consumers, it is a definite must in any media mix. Cape Town is a major hub for broadcast media with a number of radio stations that only broadcast within the province and are based within the city of Cape Town. KFM is the major player in the region with a listenership of over 1.4 million people, predominantly aged 24-49, in the upper-income earning brackets. Heart FM, which is similar in profile to KFM, and Good Hope FM, which caters to a younger audience (22-32) also play a crucial role in the broadcast world of the Western Cape with listenership figures of 843 000 and 844 000 respectively, according to the latest All Media and Products Survey (Amps). The combination of these three stations caters to a large range of musical tastes broadcasting in English as the primary language and Afrikaans as the secondary language, with an estimated combined reach of over 1.9 million or 45% of the province’s population. CapeTalk also broadcasts in the province but tends towards an older market in the upper-income groups with a listenership of 105 000.
Voice of the Cape and CapeTalk are the major talk radio stations in Cape Town catering to a more mature audience in the upper-income brackets with a combined listenership of 354 000 and average age of 47.
Much like community press, community radio still plays a major role in South African media today and, in a province where English, Afrikaans and Xhosa are widely spoken, community radio may help to amplify a campaign and reach more niche targets or people in remote and rural areas. Community stations like Fine Music Radio cater to niche markets who enjoy a specific type of music, while stations like CCFM and Radio Tygerburger speak to a Christian audience. The SABC’s African language stations play a major role, particularly Umhlobo Wenene. Although it has a presence in several provinces the station has a listenership of 948 000 in the Western Cape alone.
Major TV broadcasters SABC and e.tv have offices in Cape Town and, although television is always a great high reach and high impact medium, for a local campaign focused on the Western Cape national players, it could prove quite costly. Cape Town TV (CTV) is the only local TV station in the province focusing mostly on documentaries and local content. The station is just six years old with a viewership of roughly
138 000, an average age of 48 and a household income of R11 737. As such, the station is definitely one to consider.
How fortunate we are to live in a country so culturally diverse. The Western Cape is certainly no exception and this is reflected in its media: a mix of press titles – community, daily and weekly newspapers – that speak to each demographic in their own language; regional radio stations with high reach and affinity; and community radio stations that speak to smaller, niche audiences. With only one local TV station in the Western Cape, CTV could be one to include to further amplify any localised media strategy. With a diverse array of media from which to choose, localised media campaigns can and have proven to work in the past and, with the help of local research, making informed choices as strategist has become a whole lot easier.
Cheryl Dube is a media strategist from Carat Cape Town. Follow her on Twitter @CherylDube
This post was first published in The Media magazine September 2014.
IMAGE: Wikimedia