Johannesburg, 18 Apr 2008
Delegates at the first The Marketing Show, which took place in Johannesburg this week, were told that e-marketing is fast becoming the norm as consumers increasingly flock online.
According to Tom Garrahan, CEO of AlphaQuadrant: "Today's landscape offers us so many tools, all of which are coming into their own now. Integrating them in innovative ways is what makes marketing so exciting today."
Garrahan explained that not only are Internet user numbers and broadband speed increasing, but there has been an upsurge of mobile and Internet searches being done.
"Researchers are predicting that by 2009, Internet advertising would have superseded other forms of advertising in the UK," he said.
According to David Ives, developer and platform strategy group for Microsoft SA, we are already seeing the Internet boom locally.
"Four telecoms companies (Telkom, Neotel, Vodacom and MTN) are putting in fibre optic backbones to allow for faster Internet," he said. "As soon as broadband penetration increases, more interactive media platforms will take hold. The online marketing industry in SA is already worth $25 million."
Daniela Krautsack, an international media strategist, explained how the use of RFID chips and bar codes is becoming popular in some countries.
"Bar codes are currently very trendy. This technology was initially developed in China, but the use of two-dimensional bar codes using QR code is now being used extensively for marketing purposes in many countries."
Krautsack believes this type of technology is superior in reducing information down to the core of what outdoor advertising is. "As only Web links or short information snippets are transferred to mobile phones via these bar codes, a user is not bombarded with lengthy text."
RFID technology is also used in marketing. "Although this technology is still a very expensive way of advertising, it could be the future of the advertising industry."
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