Corporate SA to explore learnings from Big Brother

Love it or hate it, Big Brother has become an insidious part of SA reality. And although you may refuse to succumb to the satellite channel 24 hour schlock-a-thon, you still cannot escape its clutches. It’s everywhere – in the papers, on the radio, on the internet and now even on your cell phones, with SMS and WAP messages relayed on a need-to-know basis.

And just when you think you have settled in for a nights viewing with Ruda and Derek on a Sunday night – there it is again. In your face, maximum awareness.

Yes, it’s irritating. But it’s also one of the most successful marketing stories to hit the country since the introduction of national lottery. Because not only has Big Brother captured the imagination of the general public – it has grabbed the attention of some of our biggest marketing and advertising giants. Why? Simply because it works. Whether you loathed or applauded Janine with the cucumber stunt, celebrated Bad Brad’s brattish behaviour, or egged Leigh on to keep the cutlery hidden, the reality is that we have all become voyeurs into 12 other people’s lives.

But Big Brother is not just about (seemingly) mindless entertainment; advertising agencies across the country have encouraged their employees to catch the Big Brother show, because of the learnings that have emerged over the past 12 weeks.

Learning, I hear you mutter into your cornflakes? How can a bunch of dysfunctional misfits influence advertising and marketing behaviour? And the answer is that it is their very differences that create the platform for key learnings, - not just from a demographic and psychographic perspective, but also in terms of assimilating interactions and behaviour in a high-stress, high-pressure environment. The disparity of their backgrounds and experiences create the perfect foil to demonstrate how confined spaces force people into making decisions in confronting situations that they could otherwise avoid in the real world. And it is the exaggerated nature of their responses that creates the behavioural caricature that corporates can assess and incorporate into marketing strategies.

The Direct Marketing Association, together with Oracle On-Line Sales will be holding a Big Brother Marketing Seminar, to explore the learnings to come out of the Big Brother experience.

Speakers include:

• Richard Fyffe, General Manager for Oracle On-Line Sales, will be discussing the thinking and technology behind the Big Brother success. Concentrating on the digital marketing aspect, Richard, will explore how the various marketing platforms (including TV, email, sms, telephone, wap, and live web streams) were integrated to build and create SA’s biggest interactive multi-media event.

• Lara Plumstead, Big Brother’s third evictee has a strong background in strategic marketing (you know, she really doesn’t sniff – it was the aircon that triggered it). Prior to going into the house, Lara was the Marketing Manager for Tarsus Technologies. Her presentation will focus on developing strategies for high pressure situations, and the importance of a fallback strategy. Lara will present the inside-out view, and how it works – and what to do when it doesn’t!

• Brian Richardson, Managing Director of The People Strategist was involved in the initial selection process of the housemates, and plays a vital role in the personal and corporate role once they’ve been evicted. Taking a marketing behavioural approach, Brian will explain how the corporate environment can successfully apply the thought processes demonstrated by the housemates, when dealing with specific issues and interacting with each other.

The seminar costs R395-00, and will be held at the Theatre on the Track in Midrand, on the 26 November, from 13h00 – 17h00.

For more information, or to make your bookings, contact Mandy on (011) 482-6440, or email your details to .