With the increasing growth of technology worldwide, brands have the option of making use of any media monitoring service regardless of where it is located. But, with Newsclip’s 37 years of experience in the business, we can confidently say that local is
always lekker!
Here are three reasons why brands need to make use of local services in SA:
1. Local media monitoring services have a better understanding of local clients
SA media monitoring companies such as Newsclip have a better understanding of what their local clients want, need and look for in their media coverage. This is because they have years of experience with the SA media and audiences, equipping them to better help your brand track the correct keywords, trends and content in this country’s media than other international services.
For example, certain content in SA will be less visible to citizens due to filter bubbles. Local media monitoring services will pay close attention to keywords that tend to be hidden behind these filter bubbles in order to find your brand’s mentions.
This is opposed to international brands, who are more focused on their own regions. A UK-based media monitoring service isn’t nearly as clued up about happenings in the South African media. Additionally, the language and jargon used in SA is
entirely different from that of the UK.
For example, an online publication might mention your brand with slang that is relevant to SA (
hayibo!) and a local service will immediately pick up on that. The meaning of the word will not be as well known outside of the country and international services might struggle when they look into how that slang word was meant, as well as if the sentiment is positive, negative or neutral.
A local SA service, however, will catch on more quickly and notify the brand to respond as soon as possible in the right way.
2. South Africa is a niche market, meaning that brands need understand it well
Being a brand in a country like SA is truly amazing; you get to work with many different cultures and are constantly learning new things from all different kinds of people. However, this also makes it easier for brands to make mistakes — especially when it comes to race, ethnicity and culture. Take, for example,
the recent racists advert that was published on the Clicks website.
Here’s a quick recap in case you haven’t heard: TRESemmé posted an image on the Clicks website where it compared black women’s hair to white women’s hair, saying that the black women’s hair is dry, dull and frizzy. This is opposed to white women’s hair, which was described as ‘normal’ and ‘straight’.
The reason why this was such a big story is because local people know that there is a lot of
stigma surrounding black African women’s hair. Thus, commenting that these women have frizzy hair, while white women have smooth hair, is a
big no-no as it has certain racial connotations that refer back to SA’s racially discriminative past.
Local media monitoring services are much more likely to be wary of these specific keywords, as well as mentions that they know will cause a big backlash on a brand. Meanwhile, services in other countries might not be as clued up on the seriousness that comes with these specific mentions in the media. This means that you are more at an advantage when avoiding discrepancies, like the one mentioned above, with a local service provider.
3. Local companies care about their consumers
Local media monitoring services are more likely to
actually care about their consumers because, by keeping it local, they know that they are reinvesting into their home country's economy.
Local agencies and brands will also benefit more from making use of a local media monitoring service. There are several reasons as to why this is, including, as mentioned before, the understanding that comes from living in the same country as one another as well as the awareness of being exposed to different people and cultures.
For example, if a client is late to one of your face-to-face meetings due to a taxi strike, you’ll be familiar with what that situation is and will be completely accepting and more willing to reschedule.
Also, let’s not forget that geographical time differences
are a thing! It is a lot more convenient for both parties to work together at the same time than it is to make use of a company that is in America, where you may have to conduct meetings or phone calls at odd hours of the day.
*Image courtesy Pexels