State of marketing in SA

Conducted among 400 marketing decision makers, the survey paints a dichotomous landscape of South Africa’s marketing environment. Results suggest considerable optimism from marketers; there is a consistency of priorities between overall business and marketing priorities; in terms of involvement, the marketing department is mostly involved in customer satisfaction and building and maintaining its customer base; and 88% of the respondents are not considering moving jobs and they are satisfied with their sphere of influence in revenue generation and business strategy development.

However, Thebe Ikalafeng of The Brand Leadership Group noted that in a classic case of marketers not practicing what they preach, 47% could not name any other marketer whom they believe “contributed to the success of their organisations”.

In addition, the survey also revealed that SA marketers do not have a local role model - over half of marketers interviewed couldn’t think of one top-of-mind SA marketing thought leader.

Underscoring the important role that the CEO and the most senior managers of any organisation play in creating value and building brands, the list of marketing thought leaders is dominated by CEOs. Ikalafeng, media analyst and communication consultant (and Bizcommunity.com columnist) Chris Moerdyk and MTN’s Santi Botha are the only “practicing marketers” on the survey as marketing thought leaders.

Major frustrations faced by marketers appear to be resource driven and include the lack of time, qualified personnel and budget constraints – thus hindering the delivery of the organisation’s brand promise.

“In addition, an area of concern is the ‘disconnect of insomnias’ which describes the differences in the issues that keep marketers and consumers awake at night. Specifically, these include the differences in expectations and delivery with regards to customer focus, innovation and human servicing,” said Heidi Brauer, director at Markinor.