The e-marketing and e-strategy services arm of electronic messaging specialist Striata SA has applied an integrated e-mail and Web site pull marketing strategy for the Canderel sweetener and sugar-free low-calorie chocolate brands in South Africa.
Striata e-marketing manager Mia Papanicolaou said the strategy was developed in full consultation with Jason Frichol, group brand strategist at Canderel's distributor in South Africa, MeriBrands, for an e-marketing campaign designed and structured to complement and reinforce the conventional offline marketing programmes and competitions.
"The Web site encourages interaction and participation by consumers. It is lifestyle-oriented and achieves a high degree of interactivity that is building up a significant e-mail database for Canderel," said Papanicolaou. "Within two weeks of opening the interactive Web site, the e-mail database grew from zero to 4 500 and a consistent growth has been maintained since then."
She added that many of Striata's e-marketing solutions are amalgamated on the Canderel Web site as part of its goal to maximise return on investment for clients throughout the electronic communication lifecycle.
Visitors to the Canderel Web site are able to register to receive e-mails, enter competitions carrying attractive prizes and forward health/lifestyle questions (the best, with the answers, end up being posted on the site for the benefit of other visitors). It encourages participation and response.
"The South African site is unique as it is the first of Canderel's global Web sites to embrace and raise the interactive functionality of its Web site so that it is constantly changing and never boring, encouraging consumers to return. This is a reflection of our commitment and strong belief in digital and online marketing."
Movement on the Web site is tracked and analysed, providing strategic information of benefit to the company. When e-mails are sent to the database, hits on the Web site increase almost immediately by as much as 40%. Papanicolaou said MeriBrands can then make an accurate judgement on the success of each marketing promotion.
Frichol commented that South Africa is a unique market in the context of Canderel internationally. "Canderel in South Africa holds the biggest market share of any single country worldwide and is considered a shining light within this global enterprise."
He added that market research had established that the bulk of Canderel users in South Africa are connected to the Internet and cellular networks for SMS and MMS.
"We are dealing with a digitally literate market and that has opened up opportunities for us to very effectively connect with and communicate to our consumers because we have available such immediate and direct channels in the form of telephony, e-mail, Internet and mobile technology."
He said Striata's eMarketing and strategy services division had provided resources and know-how using its own specific technology modules that considerably reduced costs for MeriBrands.
"This synergy between good technology and good resources has delivered cost-efficiency and Striata's marketing expertise has been a great help as it also freed up resources for us.
"A full solution to our needs was delivered in record time. Within a month we had a Web site in place, an electronic newsletter, e-mail campaign management, a subscription module, a profile management system, a polling module for spot polls and mobile marketing platforms. A second phase brought in online event management and 'viral' marketing in which e-mails are passed on to other consumers."
The Canderel Web site has been converted into a dynamic entity. Frichol said it now develops and evolves through consumer response and can quickly be adjusted.
"We have our own online nutritionist, there are competitions and a questions and answers facility - visitors get real value from the site. It is clean, clear, simple and highly interactive and it is making a difference for us."
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