Labelling itself as a digital transformation consultancy, Enlight Strategic aims to help corporates navigate the changing business landscape, with a particular focus on marketing technologies and tools.
“There is a clear appetite for digital transformation services in South Africa,” says Lategan. “Digital transformation is no longer a choice; it simply has to be done if an organisation wants to remain competitive.”
Until now, however, most digital transformation efforts have been led by the IT department, and tend to focus only on back-end systems, IT infrastructure and processes.
“As a result,” Lategan points out, “most companies end up only partially transformed. In order for full transformation to take place, every part of the business has to be involved.” That includes marketing, an area of the business that is often allowed to operate in a silo, with many competencies outsourced to digital agencies and media buyers.
Enter Enlight Strategic. An agency Lategan believes understands that for holistic digital transformation to take place, marketing services have to transform as well.
Here, she elaborates on what sets this agency apart from the rest and how they plan to become the go-to consultancy for any company looking to embrace holistic digital transformation.
We launched Enlight Strategic because we realised that South African companies are eager to embrace digital transformation, and can benefit from specialist support as they embark on these complex journeys. Currently, most digital transformation programs are focused on the IT infrastructure space only and, therefore, only transform an area of the business.
We intend to help companies by providing the knowledge, tools and internal structures they require to transform their entire business from the inside out with lasting success. In order for full transformation to take place, every part of the business has to be involved.
Most digital agencies work on a retainer basis – which means that they act as gatekeepers for any techniques and tools required, and, therefore, retain this knowledge and expertise within their own business.
The moment the engagement ends, the external support is removed and companies battle to maintain the new course. That is why we’ve positioned ourselves as a consultancy, with the aim of empowering our clients to become completely digitally self-sufficient.
Another thing that sets Enlight Strategic apart is that it provides clients with access to platforms and tools that are otherwise unavailable in South Africa. Enlight Strategic works with many technology suppliers to ensure that the best solutions are selected to meet the needs of a specific project or program.
Our first step in dealing with any new client is to undertake a digital maturity audit. This allows us to see what internal capacity needs to be built up and what tools and solutions are needed for their digital marketing needs.
We then work with our clients to implement the solutions and empower them to manage the new tools and platforms themselves. We feel that companies should have far more autonomy when it comes to digital marketing so that they do not have to rely on external agencies indefinitely.
For corporates with large quantities of data collected from many different sources, our tools will also help to solve data fragmentation by creating a single 360° view of a customer profile. This enables very accurate targeting with a high success rate and also ensures that efforts aren’t duplicated resulting in an increased ROI.
In South Africa, especially, a lot of the initial work in digital marketing was about ensuring that companies had some form of digital presence. More recently, people who built careers in digital marketing have found their way into corporate boardrooms – with the result being that executives are less afraid to embrace new channels and to use data to inform decision-making.
Looking forward, I expect we’ll see data shaping creativity far more than it currently does. At present, most advertisers put out a piece of creative work and put it in front of who they think their customers are. In reality, it should be the other way around.
Data should be used to identify the right customers for the right products, as well as predict their behaviours – allowing the creative output to adapt and be targeted to the right person and the right time.
We will, therefore, see relevant marketing targeted at people as individuals become the norm, rather than the exception. Enlight Strategic provides tools that can be used to collect, store, analyse and predict customer behaviour to ensure that marketing budgets are spent more strategically.
In the short term, we’re building a strong, inclusive team of specialists who will help guide our clients through their digital transformation journeys.
In the long term, we want to be the go-to consultancy for any company looking to embrace holistic digital transformation. At the same time, want to be an employer of choice that offers the kind of flexible working environment technology allows for.
For now, the biggest barrier is helping companies understand why holistic digital transformation is different from just updating your IT infrastructure. It’s also important for us to underline the impact marketing-led digital transformation can have on a company’s bottom line.
Being appointed as the exclusive South African partner for Oribi has been one of our proudest moments. We are thrilled to be the custodians to bring this new technology to South Africa and very excited about what it will do for South African business. Companies can sign up for free here.
I’m also incredibly proud of the team I’ve built, which includes some very senior players in the South African marketing tech space. We’re also fully representative and diverse, which we believe will only make us stronger going forward.
For more information, visit the Enlight Strategic website or give them a call on: +27 (0)21 013 3032.
