CAPE TOWN – As the reach and versatility of social and digital media have expanded, they have achieved more than simply adding another useful channel to the marketing toolkit, according to Richard Mukheibir, the chief executive of Cash Converters.
Mukheibir said on Wednesday: “These new channels allow us to drill down into market sectors and localities, interpreting our brand message to appeal at local level encouraging existing and potential customers to step into the store and explore our offerings.
“For franchises particularly, these channels have transformed the way we conduct our marketing activities and liberated franchisees to talk more directly to their customer base.”
He said for some time, retail chains had tailored stock levels and ranges to each store’s local market and demographic. Franchises, on the other hand, tended to operate over a spectrum of centralisation. Some insist on tight control of menus or skincare treatments offered and the products used to deliver these, while others give franchisees more room to manoeuvre to suit their market.
One of the foundations of Cash Converters’ business is buying and selling second-hand goods, putting it into the second hand category as availability of and demand for these products varies markedly according to an area’s demographic. This variety might seem like a marketing nightmare for any brand wanting to create a national footprint but, in fact, it offers a two-fold opportunity to maximise brand impact, said Mukheibir.
“Our advertising agency does fewer national campaigns for us, instead developing a creative approach that defines the ‘mother brand’,” he said. “This can be carried through to local area marketing by our franchisees.”
Templates for more traditional media channels from radio slots to lamp-post posters can then be applied by each franchisee to their store-specific brief, assisted and authorised by the company’s marketing team before broadcasting or publication. The team can also help familiarise franchisees with associated processes from booking advertising space to awareness of local bylaws regarding posting advertising material.
Like many other South African brands, Cash Converters includes newer advertising channels such as SMS, WhatsApp, Google and Facebook in its marketing mix. The company drives this centrally to ensure that content is in line with brand standards.