Nando’s TV ban ineffective

SA consumers flock online to view the diversity ad, says marketing executive

June 11, 2012

The recent decision by MultiChoice’s DStv channels and M-Net to follow e.tv and SABC in banning the Nando’s diversity advert will have a limited impact from a viewership and awareness perspective. This ban will in fact drive more traffic to online platforms, such as YouTube and Facebook, that are actively showcasing the ad.

This is according to Dirk Dijkstra, Head of Communications of Ensight, who says that more and more South Africans are actively engaging on non-traditional platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.

“Traditional mediums such as terrestrial television are no longer the primary source of information for consumers. For example, following the announcement of the advert’s banning via traditional media, word-of-mouth and interaction on social media platforms lead to over 250,000 views of the advert on YouTube.”

Dijkstra explained that South African consumers, of which over 8.5 million and 4.5 million use the Internet and Facebook respectively, are increasingly using multiple-channels as sources of information and that going forward, the banning of material in traditional media will have less and less of an impact.

“In the mobile generation that we currently live in, more people use mobile phones than personal computers to engage online. This is especially true in Africa where there is an estimated one billion people on the continent and 600 million active mobile SIM cards,” said Dijkstra.

“With declining costs, it was recently estimated that smartphone penetration in South Africa will be as high as 80% in the next few years and will be driven by our country’s tech-savvy and aspirational youth.”

He adds that the rise in popularity and impact of online viral advertising campaigns has also had a positive effect in levelling the playing fields, from a marketing and advertising perspective.

“Smaller companies can now compete with larger and more established brands for the hearts and minds of South African consumers. All one really needs in this new social era is a very creative idea and a well-planned multi-channel strategy,” said Dijkstra.