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Digital September 2015 Cover

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Marketing Articles

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Living Brands: How to avoid Marketing's 'Thud Factor'

Living Brands: How to avoid Marketing's 'Thud Factor'

Sadly, for many organisations, marketing is the job of the marketing department.... Read more

Expect bigger, angrier consumer backlash, says service fundi

Expect bigger, angrier consumer backlash, says service fundi

South Africa’s Great Consumer Backlash has only just begun and can be expected t... Read more

Integrated Communications Strategy key to reaching digital savvy…

Integrated Communications Strategy key to reaching digital savvy SA Consumers

Elian Wiener, CEO of Epic MSLGROUP, writes about the importance of SA Businesses... Read more

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Digital marketing is a key weapon in the executive business skills arsenal

There’s no denying that the world is rapidly shifting from traditional to digital and, together with other global marketing audiences, South Africans are relying progressively more on digital content on a day to day basis. Vega School of Brand Leadership’s (Vega), a division of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE),  co-founder, Dr Carla Enslin, says that with the exponential advancement of technology and the pivotal role it plays in everyday life, it is key for any organisation to have digital marketing skills well embedded in their marketing mix.

 

Digital marketing’s main objective is to promote brands through various forms of digital media and it’s embodied by an extensive selection of service, product and brand marketing tactics, which primarily use the Internet as a core promotional medium, in addition to mobile and traditional TV and radio.

 

Research published in 2014 by PriceWaterhouseCoopers predicts that digital adverts will lead the way for global media growth in the next four years, accounting for 33% of total advertising revenue. The report says this growth will not just be about the application of digital technology, but will also require companies to adopt a “digital mindset” to build the right behaviours, advancing from a digital strategy to a business strategy fit for a digital age. According to the 2014 MasterCard Digital Index, South Africa's digital economy is the most developed in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world.**  Clearly, no local company can ignore or underestimate this avenue in its marketing strategy as means to reach expanding online communities.

 

At Vega the content of our courses acknowledges that tomorrow’s brand leaders will be part of an international marketing arena and that their future endeavours will be influenced by international trends. We want to ensure that in the world of work, our students are able to compete on an equal footing with their counterparts in tech-savvy countries like the USA. Although a rapidly increasing number of companies are recognising the importance of digital marketing, many lack the latest knowledge and expertise in this arena and have not yet properly formulated a comprehensive digital marketing plan.

 

We’re also very aware that there is a significant digital skills shortage in our industry and we’re orientated to address this with various types of courses, notably a certified 13-week course entitled “Digital strategy in building brands” which has been specifically designed to teach today’s marketing leaders how to integrate digital marketing into the marketing strategy.

 

Making a success a business in today’s exacting climate is a tough challenge and having a full complement of executive business skills is practically non-negotiable.  Today audiences consume a significant amount of digital content on a daily basis through their mobile phones, tablets and computers, and companies that have not yet recognised this in their marketing mix need to adapt fast.  We believe it is very possible that digital media could completely replace more traditional forms of marketing in the not-too-distant future.

 

As part of ongoing executive education, this course is therefore a must to equip marketers with the latest knowledge and technical capabilities from the realm of digital marketing. It will ensure they understand the latest methods, techniques and tools to improve their organisation’s digital marketing and brand-building efforts.

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