Looking For A Movie And A Massage!

South Africa's largest movie chain, Ster Kinekor, has made a large error of judgement in its efforts to cut back on advertising costs - an error that may prove more costly than the money saved on it advertising spend.

They recently decided not to have the movie listings in the entertainment section of the Star newspaper but rather to have them printed in the classifieds section. So far, so good although I do question whether people would think about going to the classifieds when looking for the movie listings - there seems to be a disconnect in that logic.

However the problem is that the movie listings now find themselves opposite the adult services! Can you imagine a parent asking his 9-year old to see what movie is showing and then having his child exposed to massage services, escort agencies and the like and then having to deal with the resultant questions. It is tantamount to having adult sites advertising on the Ster Kinekor website. Clearly this is inappropriate advertising placement and Ster Kinekor and the Star are going to have to deal with this issue immediately to avoid fall-out. 702 Talk Radio was already receiving calls this morning about this issue.

I expect a company such as Ster Kinekor to take immediate action to rectify this situation. What are you doing in your business to ensure your advertising placement aligns with your business values and ethics?

Business Card Design

Many times I have seen a notice-board in a busy shopping centre covered in business cards. It is almost impossible to be drawn to any of them as they cover each other and seem to jostle for the viewers' attention. Every now and again one card stands out from the crowd. This is normally the one that is different in some way - bright colour, unusual shape, stand-out printing or in 3-D.

What about the business card that is stuffed into a prospective client's pocket or wallet? How can your business card stand out from the crowd?

Your business card is your silent salesman. In a world where information is readily available on a computer or cell-phone, what is going to make a person remember your business card so that they refer to it when they need information for a product or service your business offers?

Take a look at this collection of 574 interesting business cards for some inspiration.

Let me know through the comments if you have come across any unusual business cards from South African companies.

Pamphlet Hand-outs - Does This Advertising Work?

I wonder how many of us take the time to read the myriad of pamphlets foisted upon us by distributors at traffic intersections? I, for one, will take the pamphlet to assist the chap who is earning his living from doing this thankless task, but I very seldom read it and even less often will I act on it.

This morning I was handed a large A4 booklet containing a number of advertisements and a glossy 23 page magazine on collecting antiques. I took this booklet because it looked different to anything I had seen before. On closer inspection I could see that this booklet was nothing more than a large collection of advertisements.

I do wonder at the efficacy of this advertising medium. It seems to me like fishing for one sardine in the Atlantic Ocean. The reward vs. effort / expense does not seem worth it for a small or home-based business. Now this is purely a subjective opinion. I do not have stats to back this up so I would welcome any comments from those who have utilised this methodology.

The company putting out this booklet of ads is Rainbow Pamphlets - I will let them know of this post and give them right of reply. I would be interested to see if they have statistics to back up their particular advertising medium. If so, I will publish them on this blog.

My intuition tells me that if the company distributes 45 000 pamphlets a month they must have sufficient satisfied customers who keep paying fees to them! I am still a little sceptical though!

Online Video Advertising Works!

The Online Publishers Association recently released a report which showed that 80% of all video viewers online have watched a video ad online and 52% have taken some sort of action, whether it's checking out a website (31%), searching for more info (22%), going into a store (15%), or making a purchase (16%).

It is clear that video advertising works! Home business owners however may feel that they do not have the resources to put together fancy video advertising and they are probably correct! Television advertising is prohibitively expensive. Is there an alternative?

Most people today have some form of video camera. Heck, even cell-phones take video these days! Some creativity, hard work and out-of-the-box thinking could result in a very effective video advert. Published to YouTube, Zoopy and others, together with some creative marketing (think viral marketing through an email campaign) this could become an extremely effective advertising medium.

One caveat : if the ad looks amateurish it can also do damage to your brand so be careful. Some online ads are designed to look like home videos and are effective as such. The copy for such ads is well written so that the viewer understands the context.

Consumer Trends

This is worth a look for those who have a product or service to offer to the under-35's. Take a look at this and then decide if your marketing, or indeed product, is suitable for your targeted demographic.

Advertising Opportunity On New Site

At the Joburg 27Dinner I had the privilege of meeting up with Merle who is the creator and visionary behind Jozikids. This is a new site packed to the brim with ideas and opportunities for parents and their children (from birth to 14).

What differentiates this site is that it is based solely on Johannesburg and surrounds. This makes it a niche site and one which I believe could become the number one site for parents, teachers and care-givers. As a parent of two small boys I will certainly be visiting it often!

A knock-on effect of a site such as this is that service providers will be checking to see what their competitors are advertising and what prices are being offered. There is also opportunity for each service provider to be indepedently reviewed so that users will be able to gauge opportunities and services ahead of time.This will definitely help to keep the market competitive and attractive to parents already burdened with household expenses, school fees and so on (could there be a lesson here for Telkom I wonder?!).

Businesses can either list their services for a minimal fee and manage their own content via password access or advertise in the special column reserved for adverts on the site.

As the site is still very new the advertising rate card has not yet been published but Merle did assure me it was coming in the next two weeks. Why not make contact with her and ask her for her rates (let her know I sent you!).

Registration on the site is free - always a great way to attract new business!

I have no doubt this site will be a success - those who are able to get in early to advertise will no doubt reap the benefit. The only question now is who is going to get in to begin the same style of site for other cities in South Africa!

Local ad network spices up marketing

Advertising for small- to medium-sized companies is often prohibitive due to the extremely high costs involved and poor results. With Peppor.com you can now advertise to a huge number of potential customers at a tiny fraction of the normal cost while setting your own daily budget. Your adverts will be placed on a wide range of participating and screened websites, guaranteeing your product or service a far wider audience than you could normally reach while restricting them to the South African market, for relevance and convenience.

Decide whether you want to pay for your advertising per clicks received per ad, or the number of leads or sales generated per ad. You can also decide how much you want to pay per ad!

If yours is an electronic product (e-books, audio, software, etc.) you can now rely on Peppor.com to take care of the advertising, electronic payment and delivery. All you need is a website.

I have been using this network for some time now and have already received income from advertising on this site. This is a legitimate South African opportunity and I applaud its creators for making this opportunity available in a local format. It makes a change from the US-based ad networks we are so accustomed to seeing.

Affordable media space

One of the greatest challenges for new and upcoming businesses is the high-cost of advertising through various media channels. Getting your product or service into the public eye can be a huge hurdle as you begin your business venture.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to bid in an auction for affordable media space? Enter Mediaspace.co.za . Outdoor advertising in various formats, online advertising and print are available to be bid on. Many a bargain can be picked up on this site.

Not only can you bid for advertising space, you can also sell advertising space as a registered user - registration is free.

When you sign up, you have the opportunity to receive the E-book "How to Spread Your Business like a Virus with Empty Pockets" for free.

You can be as creative as you like - today there is someone selling advertising space on his car with the current bid standing at R2500!