Is traditional media dying? With increasing penetration of digital media and changing media consumption habit, marketing practitioners are divided over digital and traditional media platforms.
At a summit organised by MarketingEdge, marketing communication practitioners with the theme: Brand positioning in a digital age: challenges in a developing market, speakers noted the relevance of digital and traditional media in brand building.
The Managing Partner, Market Space, Mr. George Thorpe, said despite the positive impact of digital media on brands, larger and small businesses are worried because of the lack of barrier for entry into the digital space. This, he said, has led to proliferation.
He stated: “With a low entry barrier, there has been a proliferation of digital marketing agencies fuelling rapid growth but development, in particular agency methodology and processes and employee competencies, have yet to match the standards one has come to expect of the marketing support services industry.
“Digital marketing will not be relieved of the market research and analysis rigour, the strategy focus and the planning and execution discipline of marketing theory and practice. That, for me, is what is bringing digital to the service of marketing means,” he said.
Former CEO of Guinness Nigeria Seni Adetu said with the craze for digital application in driving brand growth, the ultimate success depends on the brand managers and marketers. He said a contemporary marketer who desires to win the minds of consumers must be willing to take calculated risk.
Also, the CEO of Nukleus, a digital marketing agency, Bukola Akingbade, said despite the cynicism about the application of digital strategy, the space has created bigger possibilities for brands by helping them to reach wider and more diverse audience in a much faster time. She said more brands through digital platforms can now access global market limiting the rigour of opening physical offices around the world.
The CEO of BrandZone, Mrs. Chizor Malize, said any brand that fails to join the digital bandwagon will be left out in the cold. She noted that the youth segment of the market in Nigeria is a great force and brands that desire to win their loyalty must discover their favourite platform of engagement.
”Brands need to know that a lot of young people are moving away from Facebook and Instagram and going over to Snapchat. If they don’t know this, they will then be concentrating their marketing effort on the wrong channels and will not get the expected outcomes,” Malize said.
Also, the Managing Partner of Red Media, Chude Jideonwo, cautioned stakeholders on the use of digital media. He said there are millions of young people, especially in the northern part of Nigeria that are not on the internet.
He said for this group of people, the traditional media remained their primary source of information. He said brands that desired to engage them could only do so through traditional media platforms such as TV, radio, and newspapers.
“For this reason, traditional media are still very key and inevitable for brands that want optimum returns on their investments. Some people do not know Hiptv or SoundCity are not the most watched television channels in Nigeria,” he said.
Publisher/Chief Executive Officer, Marketing Edge Magazine, Mr John Ajayi, commended the marketing professionals at the summit/award night, saying: “It is a night of honour and awards for those, who have made this industry what it is.’’
Source: The Nation
