Industry needs to understand their target market to engage them in a dialogue that will lead to a long term relationship with the product or brand. This cannot be achieved without knowing what to say or how to address them in a language and context relevant to them.
Phumza Manqindi, the Ulimi Lwami developer at Vega, comments, “Vega wants to address this concern before our students actually enter the marketplace. We addressed this issue two years ago with the launch of Ulimi Lwami into the Vega curricula. It was launched in conjunction with the SABC, and is a subject offered to all students where they can learn about different cultures and the various cultural sensitivities. To extend upon this, Vega has now launched a monthly forum open to industry to discuss such issues.
The first Ulimi Lwami forum took place on 8 August 2007 just before Woman's Day and adopted the theme of inspirational African woman. The event saw various students performing poetry and motivational speeches while saluting African mothers. African cuisine was served and various industry representatives attended the event. Tumi Rabanye, brand manager for SABC1, shared some insights behind the “Mzansi fo sho” concept. She went on to say that it is a phrase that is recognised by all South Africans, regardless of race; SABC1 deliberately used the colloquial version of “for sure” to cut across language and cultural barriers and represent an authentic South African signature.
Manqindi adds, “The industry isn't reflective enough of South Africa's cultural landscape. We can't expect the industry to appeal to all markets when those markets aren't represented in the workforce. Who will know how to tailor a campaign appealing to ‘abothekeni basekasi' other than bona abothekeni?”
“Industry needs to evolve to marketing and brand communications conceptualised in African languages that rings true with the target audience and is not simply a direct translation from English.”
Manqindi concludes, “We challenge industry to get involved in the forums in the spirit of making the industry more relevant, effective and appealing to ALL South Africans. We are also collecting relevant books for the Ulimi Lwami library at Vega and greatly appreciate any contributions; we also welcome any attendees for the next event in September.
