Wake-up call to marketers

We’ve hit the re-set button! This is the cry around the world, as societies adjust to a new way of thinking, behaving and communicating made possible by the Internet. Except in South Africa.

“When it was launched in this country 15 years ago, people predicted a total market for about 250 000 cellphones. They said they were too expensive for anybody, but the rich. They said only a few people would have a need for them. We’re now at 35 million and counting. And they’re saying the same things about the Internet,” says Koenderman.
On the ground, among ordinary people, digital media are having a major impact, says Koenderman. “This is a gadget-crazy country of early adopters. It’s among marketers that the doubters lurk.”

As in so much else, this is a country of paradox, says Koenderman. On the one hand, we already have a sizeable population of Internet users: 7 million have regular access. That’s already a viable market which it is foolish to ignore. On the other hand, we still suffer the handicap of broadband that is too slow and too costly.

Media owners face another very real problem: how to monetise the digital media. The old business model, in which the medium attracted an audience, which in turn attracted paying advertisers, no longer works.

Koenderman’s fifth annual Brainstorm conference in November has been shaped to address this need. “It’s not about digital marketing, but about marketing in the digital era,” he says. “What we’re saying is ‘Catch a Wake-up!’

“The central driver of most advertising campaigns is no longer the big TV commercial, but an Internet presence, through which the campaign is directed.

“This is not about online marketing, but about the new integrated environment, where old media and new media combine to deliver a seamless message at every possible touch-point with the consumer. It will emphasise that old-fashioned silo thinking has been replaced by a vision of complete integration.

“With full broadband now available to everyone, we’ve got a chance to close the two-year gap between us and the advanced nations.”

Two of the world’s leading experts in online marketing will speak at the conference, and also judge the Bookmark Awards for online marketing. They are Fernanda Romano, global creative director at Euro RSCG and multiple award-winner; and Chris Colborn, chief experience officer at R/GA of New York. Delegates at the 2007 Brainstorm will remember Romano’s outstanding contribution.

The conference will be held in Cape Town on 9 November, and Johannesburg on 11 November 2009. For details, and booking forms, email Terry Barker at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Koenderman chairman, Tony Koenderman’s Brainstorm Conference.

Contact: Tony Koenderman,  083 268 7386; or  HYPERLINK "mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "