business

Where to go and what to see

Charles Hale unravels the mysteries of the media with Lois KuhleCharles Hale, Managing Director of The Media Shop (Durban) led us through the maze of media choice.

Thanks to intensive research undertaken by the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) advertisers can pin point their target market and identify the most cost effective medium with which to reach them.

Generations, Intsika, Masterchef, Survivor and the Big C – are attracting Durban audiences to watch television. We’re reading the Sunday Times, The Tribune, Ilanga, You and listening to Ukhozi FM and East Coast Radio.

“The latest AMPS (All Media and Product Survey) was released in March 2011. By using software from Telmar and Arianna we can cross tabulate product and even brand consumption against all media types.”

Using desk top research enables marketers to further identify the primary target market which is then cross tabulated against media choice. This melting pot of data allows them to ‘interrogate’ the information producing a credible and scientific approach to media investment.

The population of the greater Durban area is 2,063,000 people (15 years and over). This is just under 30% of the total KZN population. The racial split is 57% Black, 23.7% Indian, 16.4% White and 2.8% Coloureds.

AMPS categorises people into Living Standard Measures (LSM) with 10 being the most affluent and 1 representing people with basic living conditions. It is not necessarily income driven.

Durban is home to 37% LSM 6 and 7’s indicating a dynamic middle class, and 36% are sitting in LSM 9 and 10.

It is no great surprise then to find that Durbanites are great TV viewers, with 75% claiming to have watched yesterday. The figure is skewed slightly higher with the LSM 9 and 10’s, but not significantly so. 67% have listened to radio (yesterday), 9/10’s boost the figure to 77%, with East Coast Radio leading the way. Newspaper readership (past 6 months) sits at 65% against the total population, and again the 9/10’s push this figure up to 73%. Magazine readership is on a par with newspapers.

“Using the internet for purchasing is a growing phenomenon even though it’s sitting at 6.1%,” explained Charles. “25% of Durbanites accessed the internet ‘yesterday’, but against 9/10’s this jumps to 42.6%.”

There are obvious disparities in media consumption when aiming at LSM 6/7’s or 9/10’s.

“On television you will find 9/10’s watching DSTV (57.7%) against 15.2% of 6/7’s” continued Charles. “Whereas 67.6% of 6/7’s can be targeted on SABC 1 opposed to 39% of 9/10’s”

Ukhozi FM, Gagasi and ECR rank as favourites for the 6/7’s whereas ECR dominates the 9/10 listeners.

South Africa has a plethora of magazines but in Durban You rules supreme against the middle and upper LSMs. True Love and Drum appeals to the 6/7s and – surprise, surprise – People and True Love can be found hiding in the cupboards of 9/10’s!

Newspaper readership appears to be determined by language choice with the 9/10’s preferring English publications like the Sunday Tribune, Sunday Times and Daily News. The 6/7s have a high preference for Ilanga (weekday and weekend) and Isolezwe (weekend).

The research and software available is so sophisticated that clients can determine the reach and frequency of their TV advertising campaigns with data as recent as two weeks old.

Charles Hale brings 23 years of media experience to the business and with his staff of 10 manages a client base of blue chip corporates, advertising agencies and gives the same dedication to ‘the little guys’.

So, if you have a tight media budget that needs to be cost effective with maximum impact, stop thumb sucking and stick to the facts!

The Media Shop

5 Sinembe Crescent

La Lucia Ridge Office Park

Tel: 031 584 5250