Ten media innovations in Africa in 2017
New technologies create new markets and require new research methods
The African media landscape is changing fast. According to Peter Searll, managing partner at Dashboard Marketing Intelligence, there is a proliferation of online streaming services, most notably Showmax and Netflix, and the huge growth in smartphone penetration means that more people have access to media content than ever before.
He says while TV, radio and outdoor remain the primary media, their audiences are faced with a plethora of new choices and formats. Many attempts at consolidated research have not been successful in this highly competitive space — for cost and political reasons.
Searll, an award-winning pioneer of mobile-based market research in Southern Africa with over 20 years of marketing research experience, highlights 10 media innovations that are expected to impact the industry on the continent in 2017.
1. Major global players gathering momentum: Major players like Facebook and YouTube are now firmly in the media space, with Facebook Live levelling the playing fields to some degree among media generators. Anyone can now be a broadcaster and YouTube continues to accumulate content at an exponential rate.
2. Opportunities and fragmentation: Rapid fragmentation poses serious challenges to all those involved in the media space, from media owners to buyers, advertisers and researchers. The multitude of opportunities is quite breathtaking, so it’s necessary to stay wide awake and keep abreast of these fast-paced changes.
3. A new wave of electronic installations in OOH: Out of Home (OOH) advertising media has always played a strong role in the African media landscape.
In addition to static billboards, there is a new wave of electronic installations that show multiple adverts and can be customised for different audiences, at different times of the day, or day of the week. This ultimately lowers production costs and enables more rapid deployment of advertising messages. This gives OOH the ability to become more interactive with quick-response codes and the like. Google has patented a system to show advertising in the virtual world: imagine searching in maps and seeing adverts in that space? Augmented reality opens up a whole new world.
4. Influx of streaming and satellite entrants in TV: Television has become the main competitive media space. Satellite entrants and offers are coming thick and fast. Streaming services provide even more choice. Consumers can choose what they want to watch, when it suits them and where they want to — anytime, anywhere and on any device. These disruptors will affect rural areas less, but urbanites, especially the youth, are embracing this freedom. Africa is still mobile first, but it is not far behind these well-developed trends in Europe and the US.
5. Streaming is becoming the radio star: Radio streaming options are playing an increasingly important role, especially as data costs come down and Wi-fi access increases. Radio via the web offers more engaged and new audiences.
6. Print is going online: Print is probably the hardest