South Africa’s luxury consumers are bucking the global trend when it comes to the values driving their product and brand choices. Consequently, marketers responsible for guiding the fortunes of these brands should think twice before simply adopting communication strategies developed for European and American markets.

This was the message from Added Value’s cultural insight and semiotics specialist, Dr Inka Crosswaite, to delegates at the South African Luxury Association’s Wealth Conference held in Johannesburg on the 8th of March. The South African based Dr Crosswaite has a Doctorate in Social Anthropology from the University of Cape Town and was a lecturer at Stellenbosch University. She now applies her specialist skills to clients’ commercial brand challenges. Read more…

One of the biggest challenges of consumer research is that it is often focused on the present; consumers tend only to play back what they are currently experiencing and what they know is going on around them right now.

For brands this is tricky.  On the one hand, understanding ‘now’ is useful to get a sense of context and to course-correct on current strategy or to adapt to consumers needs.  But on the other, it’s hard to get a view on the future; how the bigger picture is changing and what opportunities – and threats – those changes might bring.  Read more…

Added Value South Africa’s anthropologist and cultural insight specialist, Dr Inka Crosswaite, shares the trends shaping the South African market for 2012.

‘Autonomy’, ‘recognition’, ‘freedom and discovery’, ‘belonging’, ‘more global, more local’, ‘identity blur’, ‘new consciousness’, ‘vitality’, ‘wired world’ and ‘take a stand’ – 10 phrases that South African brand owners should pay attention to as they hold the key to current shifts in consumer attitudes and behaviours. Read more…

Innovation changes the world.  Think of something as simple as the shape of Toilet Duck.  Or disposable pepper grinders.  Think of mobile phones, iTunes and iPods. These things have not only changed categories; they’ve altered the way we do things.  Brands like Apple and Virgin have built their businesses on the idea that change – often radical change – can be very, very good for business. 

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“Rather than being exclusively online or in-line, many community ties are complex dances of face-to-face encounters, scheduled meetings, two-person telephone calls, emails to one person or several, and broader online discussion among those sharing interests” (Wellman 2001: 237).

Why is social networking so popular? There is little doubt that it has something to do with how life is speeding up, and the need for instantaneous social interaction, especially in an increasingly globalised world.   Read more…

Ke Nako! It is time to celebrate Africa’s humanity.  The 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is about to begin.  And despite a global recession, pretty harsh skeptics and a some political upheaval, hordes of South Africans are gearing up to welcome the world.

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Competition and first to market advantage creates enormous pressure for businesses and brands to constantly be one step ahead of each other.  Innovation can play a starring role.  But while getting a flash of inspiration in the shower is great, most innovation involves a rigorous process of managing and harnessing creative thinking.  This process needs to allow for the fusion of logic and magic.

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Added Value South Africa’s Andrea Ellens was recently interviewed on Maggs on Media (eNews) on the topic of sustainability in relation to brand building.

Andrea discusses how important it is for brands to have a sustainable strategy, especially in world where both consumers and stakeholders increasingly vote against unethical or unsustainable brand behaviour.

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There are a couple of opinions on how to grow a business. Cost cutting, mergers and acquisitions or stock listings can all add to a company’s bottom line, but are rarely about the long term building of a brand. The only real driving force of sustainable, profit-generating, lasting growth is increasing demand for whatever you are selling.

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All around the world, consumers are increasingly looking to brands to help them make a difference across a range of social issues from animal rights to global warming to poverty and HIV/AIDs. Alison Tucker of brand development and marketing insight company, Added Value, asks if South African brands are up to the task.

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