Why social brands are winning in the overtraded attention economy
People are swimming in content. The question is, if your brand stopped marketing, would people miss you?
We trade our attention for value. If you’re offering meaningless fodder that any brand could produce, and that doesn’t spark conversation, you won’t be seen and remembered. Whether you have paid to be in front of people or not.
by Dave Duarte and Bridget McNulty
People are swimming in content. The question is: if your brand stopped marketing, would people miss you?
We trade our attention for value. If you’re offering meaningless fodder that any brand could produce, and that doesn’t spark conversation, you won’t be seen and remembered. Whether you pay to be in front of people or not.
Attention is now more valuable than ever before. With so much competition for it, it’s also becoming more difficult to acquire. Brands today compete on emotional value with the kind of content people love on social media - music, memes, news, celebrity. Some marketers are opting out of organic social media, opting to do only paid social. But this isn’t ultimately a sustainable approach. You need to combine Paid, Owned , and Earned Media. But that is just the start.
Successful Social Brands are going beyond getting attention. They’re aiming for a transformative impact on people’s lives that makes their content unmissable.
Many of these brands are built on a strong social vision that keeps their audience coming back for more. For example, outdoor brand Patagonia is on “a mission to save our home planet”. Their digital campaigns don’t centre around product, but rather around the issues that unite their most loyal customers. Their latest campaign, for example, is around saving Wild Salmon, and is racking up millions of views while continuing to drive sales.
At heart, people are meaning makers. We have a deep sense of needing to make meaning in our lives. But the world we’re living in is so fragmented and busy that it can be difficult to find that meaning.
One of the consequences of having so much choice available to us, ironically, is that choosing becomes more difficult. Strong brands reduce the cognitive strain of choosing by helping us form preferences. Once we know and like a brand, it’s easy to spot them in a cluttered context. And as long as the brand delivers the expected emotional rewards, we’ll keep coming back.
What’s essential to understand is that people want to be loyal. Brand managers make it easier for people to be loyal by producing themed content, in an immediately recognisable way, that delivers on the brand vision.
For example, Nike has established a strong social justice voice around their sponsored athletes.
Nike sided with football player Colin Kaepernick, who knelt during the US national anthem to protest systemic racism in the NFL and was suspended for it. The payoff was simple: “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything”. Two weeks after the campaign debuted, the company's online sales had risen a whopping 31% and its stock had climbed more than 6% to an all-time high.
Having established the pattern, when the IAAF announced that Caster Semenya wouldn’t be allowed to compete, people expected Nike to respond with an ad. And they delivered on time, and in a way that only Nike could. Their voice is well established, and they show up consistently while still managing to be surprising and original.
This approach would not have worked for another brand. It was a reflection of the ethos Nike has represented for decades.
Social brands deepen their loyalty and connection by letting people own the message. They use campaigns not just to push messages, but to ignite conversations. AirBnB is excellent at this. When they were blocked from sponsoring the Oscars, they decided to run a campaign based around the question: “What movie would you live in?” They seeded the question to key movie industry influencers, and fuelled the conversation with witty responses and paid promotion on Twitter. And of course, sourced places from movies around the world that you could actually book on AirBnB. The result was that they were the most talked about brand at the Oscars.
There is an idea in economics that we need to move up the value chain from selling commodities to offering experiences and driving transformations. Yoco is a South African tech company that epitomises this approach in marketing. If the commodity in marketing is attention, they are using the attention they get to drive transformation for their fans. Their campaigns are driven around the ideal of encouraging entrepreneurship.
Their latest campaign #JustStart goes beyond flogging product. At the top of the funnel is an inspiring video featuring three entrepreneurs who have used the Yoco payment platform to start and grow their businesses. But the campaign goes further than that, offering free resources and training to aspiring entrepreneurs to take that first step.
Brands that provide a big, clear purpose that people can understand and make their own are winning. Brands like Patagonia, Yoco, Nike, and AirBnB are investing their marketing money in creating not just adverts but movements. They aren’t just telling stories, they’re co-creating impact with their consumers. Yoco is igniting Africa’s entrepreneurial uprising. Nike is making everyone an athlete. AirBnB is making everyone feel welcome. They aren’t just producing random content: every post, app, conference takes us towards their bigger social vision.
Your brand can set itself apart by making a simple promise: when you invest your attention with us, your life gets better, the world gets better. We won’t waste your attention, we know how valuable it is.
Need help figuring out how to move your brand beyond the attention economy? We can help you do just that.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is busy loading, please upgrade your infrastructure ████░░░░░░░░░ 33%
We are realising the limits of virtualisation. We still need to grow real food, wear real clothes, move real things around in the real world. And the way we do that hasn't changed fundamentally in the past 50 years. The internet has given us a new operating system, but it’s time to upgrade our hardware.
by Dave Duarte
Apple, Google, Tencent, Microsoft, Samsung. The leaders of the digital revolution. They've displaced the bastions of the pre-digital economy for the top spots in the most valuable companies list, and virtualised the way we shop, play, bank, and more.
All this, and yet we are realising the limits of virtualisation. We still need to grow real food, wear real clothes, move real things around in the real world. And the way we do that hasn't changed fundamentally in the past 50 years. We're still dependent on the oil-powered logistics network of the 20th century. In other words, we have a new operating system running on old hardware.
The industries that can be easily virtualised have streaked ahead, leaving the old economy flailing. Youth unemployment is on the rise, GDP around the world is slowing, and tensions are escalating as demand for scarce resources increases faster than our current production capacity. This is why we are seeing the rise of populism again, as people become desperate to vote for leaders who promise them radical economic transformation.
According the renowned economist Jeremy Rifkin, we will only experience radical economic transformation when we have a convergence of next-generation infrastructure in three fields: 1. Communications, 2. Energy, and 3. Transport.
In other words, now is not the time to get complacent about change. It is upgrade or die.
The Three Industrial Revolutions to Date
Let's go back in history for a moment to illustrate.
In the First Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century you have the printing press in Communications (it's been around for a couple of centuries already); but then in Energy, you have steam power so you can power this printing press to produce greater volumes of literature cheaper and faster; and then in Transportation you have locomotion, which helps transport that literature globally.
Innovation booms. And a sustainable shift happens as print technology is introduced into public schools, allowing for a workforce that was more literate than ever before, and ultimately equipped to manage the ever-growing coal and rail infrastructure.
“We couldn’t have done it with an illiterate workforce,” Rifkin states, highlighting just how important this convergence was for the success of the First industrial Revolution.
Moving to the Second Industrial Revolution, things speed up even more. This is all about bringing the advanced technologies of the day to more people.
In Communications we see the telephone network - people can coordinate production and trade across vast distances in real time. A game changer!
In Energy we witness the centralisation of electricity, thanks to the creation of an energy distribution grid. Startup costs plummet, factories pop up everywhere.
And of course, in Transport, the factory-made automobile changes everything.
Combine these major breakthroughs with radio and television and we see suburban society mass consumer culture, and an unprecedented rise in living standards. Major level up.
The third industrial revolution has transformed communications, media, and finance. This thanks largely to the upgrade in Communications infrastructure. And yet we haven't seen the same step change in the other two major infrastructures: transport and energy.
The auto-oil industrial complex of the 20th century is on its last legs. Fossil fuels are increasingly expensive and environmentally unsustainable. Expensive Infrastructure investments in coal, oil and gas are looking less like sure bets, and so the old infrastructure is crumbling.
You can have market reforms, labour reforms, fiscal reforms, new kinds of incentives for entrepreneurs, but as long as you are building on this old system, aggregate efficiency is going to remain stuck.
Time for a Systems Upgrade
Using Rifkin's model, it's plain that the key to unlocking the Fourth Industrial Revolution is in not just Renewable Energy, and Electric Vehicles, but in the infrastructure that enables those networks to function in a decentralised way.
Let's paint the picture: You have renewable energy that is already cheaper per MW than fossil fuels. You have electric vehicles that can be powered by this essentially limitless energy source; and you can connect these systems to the internet, which allows for remote coordination, automation, and machine learning to make the whole system much more efficient.
That efficiency will be translated in terms of much lower cost prices for everything - from food staples to clothing and more. This means things are more affordable for more people, and the world becomes more inclusive (again - just like previous industrial revolutions).
What about the Jobs?
This global network of internet connected cities, vehicles, buildings, and objects is going to require a LOT of human work to be built. We are talking new factories, new service businesses, plumbers installing sensors, electricians upgrading homes and offices.
"We are in a position fundamentally shift and revitalise the global economy," says Rifkin.
The current system cannot sustain growing demand for resources. Instability, youth unemployment, environmental change, and inequality demand a systems scale shift. This shift won't happen by itself, it requires bold, determined investment in the new infrastructure.
This is not just an opportunity for growth, it is a necessity for social inclusion, environmental sustainability and global peace.
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Future Skills for Inclusion
The technological world is growing faster than ever, bringing the Fourth Industrial Revolution even closer to being our reality. The First Industrial Revolution brought us mechanisation, the Second brought mass production and the Third introduced computers and automation. But what about the Fourth Industrial Revolution? What does it entail and what does it mean for us?
On Wednesday, 9 May 2018, the World Economic Forum led the Shaping Inclusive Growth in The Fourth Industrial Revolution workshop. Key thinkers explored and discussed what facets of The Fourth Industrial Revolution can harness and promote inclusive growth in Africa. Below is an overview of the central ideas surrounding the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its numerous implications:
The technological world is growing faster than ever, bringing the Fourth Industrial Revolution even closer to being our reality. The First Industrial Revolution brought us mechanisation, the Second brought mass production and the Third introduced computers and automation. But what about the Fourth Industrial Revolution? What does it entail and what does it mean for us?
The World Economic Forum (WEF), in the 2018 Readiness for the Future of Production Report, described the core features of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as follows:
“Technologies are transcending the computing capabilities associated with the digital revolution, transforming the physical world through robotics and new methods of production; enhancing human beings physically, mentally, and experientially; and permeating the environment to facilitate greater interconnectivity, monitoring, and efficiency of resource use”
Put simply, the world’s technologies are developing incredibly quickly, in a variety of ways, and it is largely positive - there are innumerable benefits that this sort of technological transformation can bring, but the way we live and work will have to change in the process. One of the biggest fears regarding the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its implications, is that people will lose their jobs, en masse. And it is a scary thought to imagine a bunch of really advanced machines and AI systems developing to the point where they replace you. WEF noted that these technological developments “...are spurring the development of new production techniques, business models, and value chains that will fundamentally transform global production” (Readiness for the Future of Production Report, 2018). In other words, the Fourth Industrial Revolution does mean massive change in terms of jobs and, more generally, the way global production is conducted.
But that is not the end of the story - thankfully, the Fourth Industrial Revolution doesn’t have to mean that a machine comes along, steals your job and leaves you in the dust. It does, however, mean that we need to shift the way we look at jobs, education and skills in order to be equipped to both differentiate ourselves from machines, as well as complement their abilities. Of course this requires individuals to be proactive in their own skill development, but WEF also notes that:
“...countries need to build awareness of the changing nature of production, determine how to best prepare to benefit from this transformation and collaborate across the public and private sector to enhance readiness”
Seems obvious, right? Prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution as we see it on the horizon, and make sure your country and citizens are skilled enough to benefit from it instead of suffer. Unfortunately, no one is there yet and “no country has reached the frontier of readiness, let alone harnessed the full potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in production” (WEF, 2018). With technological development moving as quickly as it is, it’s imperative for countries to adapt and change in ways that not only welcomes this progress, but take full advantage of the opportunities that will come with it. This means investing time, money and significant energy in reskilling people to leave replaceable jobs behind, and become invaluable in their differentiation from machines.
“Moving forward, people, employers and policy makers alike need to realise that success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution lies in the individual’s ability to both differentiate from and complement machines”
So, we know what the Fourth Industrial Revolution is, what it’s implications are and what we should be doing, but what is really happening around the world? People are scared. Scared about the fact that “disruptive technological and socio-economic forces threaten to swiftly outdate the shelf life of people’s skillsets and the relevance of what they thought they knew about the path to social mobility and rewarding employment,” and this is in part because of a lack of “willingness to make a reasonable investment in reskilling that will bridge workers onto new jobs” (WEF, 2018). This needs to change because employers simply cannot maintain hiring an entirely new workforce each time a new skill set is required. Rather, there needs to be an increased focus on “reskilling and human capital development.” Workers should also be actively engaged in developing their skill-set, as it removes job insecurity to a large degree, and opens the door to a range of job and career opportunities that are likely more meaningful, stable and fulfilling. Who wants to do a job that a machine can do, anyway?
The world is changing, and The Fourth Industrial Revolution is bringing of the most transformational developments to our lives. Moving forward, people, employers and policy-makers alike need to realise that success in the Fourth Industrial Revolution lies in the individual’s ability to both differentiate from and complement machines, working with them rather than in opposition to them. WEF notes that a key facet of The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the uncertainty of it, specifically because we are not even aware of what skills will be essential in the future.
Preparation is necessary, as WEF notes in their 2018 Towards a Reskilling Revolution Insight report:
“To make reskilling real, and prepare for accelerated structural change of the labour market, a wide range of stakeholders — governments, employers, individuals, educational institutions and labour unions, among others — will need to learn to come together, collaborate and pool their resources more than ever before.”
South African Free-Wifi Hero Calls for #Internet4all
“I believe that internet access should be a basic right, it should be viewed as another utility, much the same as water, or electricity.” - Alan Knott-Craig
Alan Knott-Craig Jnr, Founder of Hero Telecoms
“Should internet access be a basic right?” Alan Knott-Craig Jnr asks in response to whether or not he believes in the notion of #internet4all in Africa. The serial telecomms entrepreneur laughs out loud, and then asks: “What do you think?”
For the past four years, Knott-Craig Jnr’s key purpose has been all about trying to realise the dream that everyone in this country has a basic right to access an internet connection that is affordable, reliable and of good quality.
It started in 2012 when he was the CEO of Mxit, and made a deal with the Stellenbosch municipality to enable free WiFi access in public spaces. The effort was organised under the moniker ‘Project Isizwe’, and its biggest installation today, has been in Tshwane, although Knott-Craig reveals that Johannesburg is next.
“In the last two years, Tshwane has become the continent’s biggest free public WiFi network,” Knott-Craig Jnr says. “I believe that internet access should be a basic right, it should be viewed as another utility, much the same as water, or electricity.”
“There are so very many reasons internet access should be a basic right, but aside from education, healthcare or finding out what the Guptas are up to, for me the most compelling motivation for #internet4all in South Africa is economic development,” he says.
“We see it in all the roll-outs we’ve done. Free or affordable access to the internet sparks economic development. Whether it’s as simple as someone going online to look for a job to start earning money, or listing their newly opened hair salon on Gumtree, people use the internet to access the economy. There’s a WiFi spot in Pretoria that now has a guy selling hot dogs alongside it, the free internet access brings loads of footfall, and the guy sells his buns with viennas in,” Knott-Craig Jnr says with a laugh.
“There’s a much cited statistic that was put out by the World Bank about the growth effect of broadband, and I’ve seen it in Tshwane. Enable the access and everything flows from there,” he says. That frequently referenced World Bank study found that for each 10% increase in broadband penetration in low and middle-income countries, there was a GDP rise of 1.38%.
Knott-Craig Jnr’s call, for internet access to be considered a basic right in South Africa, follows the advocacy by Elsie Kanza, Head of Africa and Member of the Executive Committee for the World Economic Forum who is championing internet for all on the continent.
“Technology has already helped to bring about vast improvements in the way the region governs, feeds, lives, educates, trades and interacts with itself,” said Kanza.
Over 1,000 Global Shapers in 94 cities across Africa have joined the an #internet4all in Africa campaign to advocate for internet access as a basic right at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2016, taking place in Kigali, Rwanda, from May 11 to 13. “We believe that, in the 21st century, this essential infrastructure should be available to everybody,” Kanza says, adding: “All Africans want is the chance to create for themselves the future that they deserve.”
“The reason I approached the government and asked them to start rolling out free WiFi in public spaces and poor communities, is because the telcos are never going to make internet access free. It is not their game, and they’ll never make it cheap enough for someone to not worry about how much they’re spending on data. It’s just not going to happen,” Knott-Craig Jnr says.
In Tshwane the Free Public WiFi project, Knott-Craig Jnr says, was driven by the metro’s mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa. “He pushed for the idea that the internet should be a basic service like water and electricity. Ramokgopa and his team are the people who made it happen.” The statistics of the Tshwane network point to its pervasive popularity.
The Jacaranda city’s free public WiFi network has had 1.4 million unique devices connected to it, with average speeds of some 15Mb per second. “It’s not like crappy dial-up -- it sometimes bursts to 30 Mbps,” Knott-Craig Jnr says. The network has 776 sites in public spaces and is available 24/7.
“If you drive to some of the installations in Tshwane, you’ll see people randomly standing in parking lots staring at their smartphone, or sitting in a park, eyes fixed on their laptop screen. The city people who use it call it Sputla WiFi after the mayor, his name is Kgosientso ‘Sputla’ Ramokgopa, Sputla is his nickname,” Knott-Craig Jnr explains, and adds: “The youth love it. It’s a major political win, particularly in a local government election year.”
The feedback from ‘Sputla’ WiFi users is that they now refuse to go to town hall meetings to see how city administration is going down. The Mayor has obliged with an offering called WiFi TV, where once a week a young journalist in Mamelodi interviews His Worship with questions the mod squad have submitted during the week.
And then there’s the narrative of the people who use the service. Mrs Mabhena, a librarian at Eldoraigne Community Library in Pretoria, says people sit outside the library premises for hours. “There is this particular old lady who comes to use the Free WiFi to call her
daughter in Australia,” Mabhena says, adding: “With access to information, anybody can become anything.”
This is true for 21-year-old Mukundwa Ratshikhopa from Rooihuiskraal, Centurion who started his own business on the back of the free WiFi. Mukundwa has an emerging branding company and uses the access for downloading and uploading images, and to update software programs.
Then there’s Ikageng Mashaba from Itsoseng who is starting out in the music industry as a composer and producer. “I’m always uploading my tracks on iTunes, YouTube and other platforms. I have my own record label so I use WiFi for admin and I communicate with artists and co-workers. Tshwane Free WiFi has been very helpful.”
Jerry Matabula promotes his beauty business, the New Deal JR Salon, while 20-something Nosi Nukwa uses the service to supplement her learning. A poignant story comes from Molebogeng, who is unemployed and used to have to save R100 to go to an internet cafe to browse online and try to find a job. Now he’s at the public WiFi daily to look for opportunities.
For Knott-Craig Jnr the big dream is to put internet access within walking distance of everyone who needs it. In Tshwane that dream is becoming real. “The idea is this -- if you can’t afford to get on the internet, we’re not going to put fibre or copper into your house, but we’ll make sure you can walk from your house to the nearest WiFi zone. By 2018 our promise is that every citizen in Tshwane will be in walking distance of free WiFi. Today we already have 23.4% of the buildings within walking distance of free wifi. Pretty cool, eh?”
Pretty cool indeed. Pervasive, free WiFi in public areas for people who need it the most is a no brainer, particularly when one looks at SA’s economic outlook and unemployment figures.
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Sign the Project Isizwe petition to call on government to provide free WiFi access in public spaces: http://petition.isizwe.com/
Do you think #internet4all would change your life, your work, or the lives of the people on this continent? Support the idea of #internet4all in Africa by taking to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube and motivating why #internet4all needs to be on the development agenda. Follow @Internet_4All
