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Johannesburg - South Africa may be slow in building computer access to the internet, but it's perfectly positioned to head the cellphone revolution, according to Fernanda Romano, global creative director of Euro RSCG.
The high penetration and its ability to connect people who would otherwise be excluded from the discourse provide the local industry with an opportunity to make the space its own.
Speaking at Tony Koenderman's Brainstorm conference Catch a Wake-Up, Romano and Rick Joubert of Yonder Media agreed it is a true digital mass medium and can act as proxy for online.
Joubert, who led Vodacom's establishment of a mobile media business, states that perceptions of what constitutes online have to change. Voice, SMS, USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data - a standard for transmitting information over GSM signaling channels) all fall within the spectrum because they can direct consumers and prompt them to other campaign elements.
The problem he sees is that the focus is on creating applications and other exciting gadgets that only apply to a small percentage at the top end. Those who ignore the lower LSM because they are not viewed as savvy enough, do so at their peril as it means losing out on future customers, whose numbers are rapidly growing.
Take a township youth or young adult with limited education. This person may have a highly sophisticated phone or one with just the basics, but how they engage with the medium and consume messaging is comparable to someone of a higher LSM.
To speak to this consumer as you would to their parent or rural peer will only leave marketers with egg on their face. It's not easy to use the mobile medium creatively, and this may be a deterrent to its effective use, Joubert concedes.
Romano declares that marketers have to reshape their thinking because geography, production and distribution have all changed. People from all over the world have become citizens of Facebook, Twitter or other services.
The way in which the different markets are segmented is fast losing its relevance. Brands that understand this - Amazon, Google, eBay, for example - grow in leaps and bounds, Romano enthuses. Google is all about being where people are and connecting to them in a way that is most relevant to them.
There are no clear-cut rules for developing a mobile strategy, says Joubert, but he emphasises the need to "load mobile on the front end. Brands also need to decide whether it will be their hero or provide support before embarking on a mobile strategy."
Fin24.com
