Consumer Analysis - Information is Power!
by Winnifred Knight of theMARKETINGSITE.com
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Consumer Analysis - Information is Power! by Winnifred Knight of theMARKETINGSITE.com
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We have identified them as key "trend-establishers" in these markets. They have recently completed two groundbreaking studies, ConsumerWatch and TradeWatch, which we are very excited to share with you.
Professor Philip Kotler teaches us that marketing comes first. Marketing integrates all the functions of a business and speaks directly to our customers through advertising, sales people and other integrated marketing activities. Marketing is a special blend of art and science, the 'art' is to create and implement a winning marketing plan.
Gathering
information for marketing decision-making
As we all know, marketing plans should begin with a look at the 'consumer' and their needs - consumer analysis and the market environment they operate in - in other words, market analysis.
The objective of consumer analysis is to identify segments or groups within a population, with similar needs, so that marketing efforts can be directly targeted to them.
Over the last year, via its Township House Promotions program, which sees thousands of township residents face-to-face every month and through its Cash Van distribution division, which services over 3000 township traders every month, The Alternative Consultancy (TAC), started to hear of changes in shopping and spending patterns emanating from this sector.
These
new patterns appeared to be due to a number of socio-economic factors, such
as:
| * | The growing Aids pandemic |
| * | Increasing unemployment in the formal sector |
| * | Cellphones, the lottery and gambling |
| * | Growing access to supermarket chain stores |
| * | Increasing home ownership and infrastructure development |
TAC felt that the information they were picking up was of vital importance to their clients and South African marketers in general, as these changes could have a major impact on future marketing strategies.
This resulted in the ConsumerWatch and TradeWatch studies, conducted amongst 200 LSM 5-7 households and 100 traders in Gauteng townships.
The
results were fascinating and, often, startling:
| * | 70% of the households interviewed said that they had switched from major brands to supermarket household brands, on selected products, in the last year |
| * | 47% of households have extra income from informal work or small businesses |
| * | 75% of households have members who regularly play the lottery |
| * | 83% of households eat fast food regularly |
| * | 43% of households send their children to former Model C schools in the suburbs |
The
above findings are available as a 1,5hr in-house presentation and include the
following topics:
| * | The growth of women-headed households |
| * | Facilities in the home |
| * | Income from other sources if not formally employed |
| * | Monthly household income and expenditure |
| * | Savings, stokvels, insurance and burial societies |
| * | The impact of the lottery, cellphones and gambling |
| * | Where the money comes from for these |
| * | Where children go to school |
| * | Changing shopping habits |
| * | Branding and the impact of housebrands |
| * | Adherence to African culture and traditions |
| * | Use of African languages and the growth of English |
| * | The impact of Aids |
| * | The changing role of African women |
Market research is a management tool that helps you make better strategic decisions, based not on feel and intuition, but on useful information. For more information on the above studies, contact Gill Mkhasibe at TAC on 011 402 5944/5 or 082 574 3826 or e-mail her at altcons@yebo.co.za
Marketing is really just a matter of opinion. And the opinions that count the most are the opinions of the people who read, see and hear your advertising message and the people who buy your products and services. Research is the only valid way to stay in touch with your audience. Never forget to let the people vote.
Take care and remember that your marketing plans will undergo many changes until all the parts are internally consistent and mutually supportive of your quantifiable objectives.
Winnifred Knight and Luisa Mazinter, email winn@themarketingsite.com or phone 082 575 9922
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