Waiting for the click

Johannesburg - "It's going to be big," says Walter Pike. "But how quickly are we going to embrace it?"

Pike was talking about marketing on the Internet, which has enjoyed relatively slow take-up in SA so far. "We are behind the growth curve, but we always catch up, and I think we will do that again."

Pike intends to help the process along with the Digital Marketing Academy, which he recently launched for the AAA School of Advertising.

The key issue, he believes, is to recognise that the Internet is more than just another medium. "The way people do things on the Internet is different. It becomes part of an integrated communications platform which includes TV and print.

"We intend to develop a corps of digital-savvy strategists and marketers who understand the technology and how to deploy it. It's the fastest growing medium in the country. We have 5m experienced users of the Internet - a significant part of the population.

"But it's only a small part of digital marketing. Cellphone use is ubiquitous. Already we are second or third in the world in advertising click-throughs from mobile sites. There are 8m people on Mxit. Usage of Twitter and Facebook is growing fastest among people in their 40s.

"I have 2000 people who follow my entries on Twitter. If I get bad service in a restaurant I can tell 2000 people immediately. It is word of mouth on steroids."

Initially two courses are available. The core course, on digital strategy, comprises a series of modules over 24 months and costs R9 500. It's designed for ad industry executives, marketing managers and brand managers.

- Fin24.com