Township retail integration: 4 steps to win in the township retail market

The Township space has often been referred to as an untapped, underutilised and under estimated retail market. Various pieces of research estimate the value between R40 billion and R240 billion, however there is no definitive number. This is a significant market, but how do brands ingrain into the hearts and hands of these communities?

Here’s how:

Mamela have identified several township touch points that not only give your brand presence in the mass retail market, but brand saliency, local distributer buy-in and conversions. In addition to all this we will gather and feedback consumer insights as well as detailed post campaign analysis to assist your ROI assessment.

The important thing to note here is that there is no singular medium that does it all, but rather a symphony of multiple platforms working towards one goal. Let’s take a look at the key ingredients to successfully position your brand within this market...

Build Trust and Awareness

Billboards are one of the most trusted platforms in the informal market as it builds credibility since it is a premium platform. Trust is the foundation to consumer buy-in and loyalty. Billboards also offer high reach and frequency. Mamela boards are all positioned at highly pedestrianised locations near major ranks and malls or at the main entrance/exit road into the township.

Uplift Community to Build Brand Saliency

To build saliency within a community you need to become a part of that community. Wall murals and Spaza branding place your brand literally on the streets and outside the homes of the community. Strategically positioned murals at high convergence nodes keep your brand top of mind and drive the path to purchase. Not only does this uplift and support local businesses and community members, but brands can also give back data (a necessity many struggle to afford) and glean key consumer insights through our Free-to-Consumer Wi-Fi hot spots.

Put Your Product in Hand

Accessibility is the key to successfully integrating into the Township Market. Our Spaza Seeding Campaigns form part of a distribution network that gets buy-in from the Spaza owner and puts your brand on their shelves. Our Activation teams put samples into the consumers hands for consideration. Sampling is an incredibly powerful conversion tool.

Drive the Conversion

Stay top-of-mind and constantly drive the intent to purchase through mobile retargeting. We have mapped hundreds of formal township shopping nodes and collected a “Township Retail Audience” of over 350 000 consumers that you can now engage with on their mobile devices. In addition, we have an incredibly accurate location mobile offering which allows us to target consumers, through Device ID’s, when in close proximity to your retailer. Our mobile retargeting allows you to speak to the RIGHT AUDIENCE, at the RIGHT TIME in the RIGHT PLACE.

Our seamless journey of Township touch points are further enhanced by our campaign analysis and consumer insights. We are proud members of OMC Road which allows us to report back reach, frequency and GRP’s for our billboards. Our Free-to-Consumer Wi-Fi hot spots allow for market research through a sign-in form, as well as database collection for further retargeting, and a Post Campaign Analysis (PCA) of the consumers login behaviour. Our Mobile offering has a robust PCA which includes demographic insights, online behaviour, footfall into store and uplift in footfall driven by the mobile campaign. By overlaying these stats with your sales over the campaign period, we start to see a holistic view of the campaign’s attribution and ROI.

If you are ready to grow your Township market share, then get in touch and we will work alongside you to develop a fully customised Township strategy.