Five imperatives for effective marketing

Spirited learnings:

The 2010 FIFA World Cup taught South Africans how much can be achieved if everybody pulls together with a united vision. Unity and collaboration are very important in any business and I foresee this as a key focus for 2011. People are an organisation's biggest asset and investment in empowering these people with the right skills and knowledge is imperative in building a good organisation.

Specialisation:

More than ever before, the focus is on specialised skills. Over the past decade, consumer markets have become more fragmented - moving away from the broad-based, cultural approach - and calling marketers to implement more niche and target-specific marketing methods. The days of a generalised mass approach to marketing communication are over!

Optimisation:

Focusing on core segments within consumer groups will allow marketers to refine their strategies and target specific consumers accordingly. It also allows for effective media selection that results in the optimisation of the campaign and, more importantly, avoiding wastage.

Research:

In an era of fast-paced corporate development, it is crucial to stay ahead of the constantly changing consumer needs and spending patterns; this makes continual market research compulsory. Frequent market research has played, and will continue to play, a pivotal role in understanding the media-consumption habits of specific segments of the markets. It is important to delve a little deeper into the daily lives of these consumers.