When Saambou Bank collapsed on 9 February 2002, 20twenty, its newly formed online banking arm, had only been in operation for six months. During the six months it had been in operation, however, 20twenty had managed to capture the hearts of 40 000 customers with its innovative approach and fanatical service ethic: so much so, that most of its customers did not leave when Saambou collapsed, but stayed faithful to 20twenty until a rescuer came along 18 months later. The rescuer was UK bank, Standard Chartered, which wanted to open up an operation in South Africa and liked 20twenty’s business model. Standard Chartered wanted 20twenty again to differentiate itself from its competitors by providing innovative banking services and fanatical dedication to its customers. However, this strategy might have worked two years previously, but would it still hold in 2004 when 20twenty relaunched? And if so, would it be sustainable in the long run?

No. Pages: 8 

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The first thing Thandie Dhlomo, sales partner at the Rawson Property Group, did when she arrived home on a chilly Friday evening in July 2016 was pour herself a glass of red wine, kick off her shoes and curl up on her couch. She felt exhausted. Her last clients for the day had been Lunga Dlamini and his wife, Sonia. They were looking to move out of their rented house in Soweto and purchase their first home in one of the suburbs of Johannesburg. Dhlomo had helped them to narrow it down to three properties in three different suburbs: Linden, Parkhurst and Fourways. Dhlomo had just shown the couple the Linden property for the second time. Personally, she favoured the Parkhurst property as she felt that it was perfect for the family, but it was also the most expensive property of the three and she suspected that the Dlaminis had not been convinced. Dhlomo wondered what strategy she could use to persuade the Dlaminis that the Parkhurst property was the right fit for them.

No.of pages: 17
 
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In 2001, about 2 million people had access to the Internet in South Africa, and Absa, one of the major banking groups in South Africa had an Internet banking client base of 153 000. In a move aimed at doubling this client base and changing the bank’s image from one of e-laggard to e-leader, the group decided, in conjunction with UK IT company, Affinity, to offer free Internet access to anyone in South Africa. Despite widely expressed scepticism about the viability of the project, the uptake was enormous. The projected month-one target of 10 000 registrations was reached on the first day. In 2002, however, Absa was forced to withdraw the offer of free Internet access for all, because Affinity had withdrawn from the deal, which meant that Absa would now have to incur the costs of the project, and an Absa subsidiary had been liquidated, which put some financial strain on the group. Santie Botha, Absa’s group marketing director, reflected on the good, the bad and the ugly of the project.

No. Pages: 24 

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On June 23 2005, Keith Rankin, managing director of Avis Rent-A-Car Southern Africa, was preparing a proposal for the June 30 board of directors meeting. His concern was how to meet demand during the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup, given the severe space constraints at Johannesburg International Airport (JIA).

No.of pages: 8

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In December 2008, Charlene Lewison, marketing director of the Johannesburg-based family business, Birdi Golf Apparel, surveyed the company’s well-stocked shelves with pride – but also with a growing sense of unease. In the past 12 years, Birdi had become an established brand on both the professional and amateur golf circuits in South Africa.

In recent months, however, sales had started to slow as the economic crisis took effect, and Lewison knew the time had come to rethink her company’s marketing strategy and planning. Should the company look at new products, or perhaps new market segments? Should it retain its ‘niche’ status or broaden its base, or should it try to penetrate its current corporate business further? 

No.of pages: 18

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By June 2010, The Coca-Cola Company’s (Coca-Cola) micro distribution centre (MDC) network in Africa had proven to be incredibly successful. Coca-Cola had built up the network to distribute its products through small, independent local entrepreneurs to even smaller outlets, enabling the company to reach markets that traditionally had been very difficult to access. Now social marketers were approaching Coca-Cola for permission to distribute their own products using the MDC network. Paul Fourie, group strategy and business planning director of Coca-Cola Eurasia and Africa, soon had to present his recommendations to Coca-Cola and its bottlers – and wondered what he should suggest as the way forward.

No.of pages: 18

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In July 2015, Stefanie Pietzsch, guest relations and marketing manager of The Fairway Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, a Johannesburg-based luxury city resort owned by property developer Guvon Investments, considered introducing a loyalty programme to reward her loyal guests. In recent years, hotels in Johannesburg had experienced the effects of slow economic conditions with an overall drop in room occupancy, which had resulted in increased competition. Pietzsch preferred a loyalty programme to be implemented at hotel rather than group level, but how prepared were both the Guvon Group and The Fairway for such a programme, and would a loyalty programme be an appropriate customer acquisition and retention strategy for the hotel?

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South African Breweries (SAB) launched its first light beer in South Africa, Hansa Pilsener, at the end of 1975. While sales of Hansa were initially brisk, the brand’s subsequent performance was disappointing, and despite repeated changes of emphasis in the market positioning of the brand, Hansa struggled to find its appropriate target market. In the mid 1980s the situation changed, however, and sales started to increase. By the end of 1990, Hansa Pilsener had gained a sizable market share, and subsequently grew to become the second largest brand within the SAB portfolio. The challenge facing the Hansa brand team in the year 2001, was to come up with a creatively relevant campaign for the brand. In the past Hansa Pilsener had been positioned as a different choice, and as a niche brand for particular tastes and particular target markets. But as the brand had grown, so it had become increasingly difficult to maintain that position. How should the team reposition Hansa Pilsener and move it forward?

No. Pages: 18 

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In September 2012, Khensani Nobanda took over as general manager of Hansa Pilsener, South African Breweries’ (SAB) second-biggest brand. Under her predecessor, Mosidi Seretlo, SAB had developed a highly successful advertising campaign for Hansa, featuring a character named Vuyo who epitomised the positioning of the brand. Conditions in the beer market had changed since the campaign was first launched, however, and Nobanda was now considering options for the way forward. Should she move Hansa’s communications campaign away from Vuyo, she wondered? Or change advertising agency for some new ideas? Or rethink the brand’s positioning strategy and consider a line extension into the premium beer market? Were there other options? She did not want to repeat some of Hansa’s past failures, but rather to build on its success as she plotted a way forward.

Categories:  Marketing

No of pages: 12

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In September 2014, Calum McCracken, chief executive officer (CEO) of Next Generation Network Telecommunications (Pty) Ltd (NGN Telecoms), met with his partners to discuss the company’s Kenyan dilemma.

Doing business in Kenya had proved to be far more challenging than in any other country. Among other challenges, the company had to deal with fraud and negotiate from scratch with a new telecommunications operator, without success. This ended in a struggle to renew its Communications Commission of Keny (CCK) licence. No licence meant no trading and the company eventually had to withdraw from the country.

Years had passed since the company’s first entry into Kenya, but McCracken felt the time was right for another attempt. What should the partners consider to avoid the challenges of the past?

No of Pages: 18

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In February 2010, online retail company kalahari.com, launched the Marketplace, a trading platform aimed at allowing third parties to use the kalahari.com site to sell their goods. By May 2012, the success of the venture was exceeding expectations still, Bill Paladino, chief executive officer of the MIH Group, the South African multimedia company that owned kalahari.com, knew that the competitive nature of the online retail industry meant that there was no room for complacency. He wondered how to ensure the continued success of the Marketplace.

No.of pages: 18

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Kulula.com was established in 2001 as a low cost airline following the lines of the international discount airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair in Europe and Southwest Airlines in the USA. The strategy was to keep costs as low as possible, using single type aircraft, no frills such as business class or free refreshments, and keeping reservation costs low by booking directly, typically online. The objective was to target customers who would normally use other means of transport, or travellers that would fly more frequently if the price was lower, and hence to expand the market rather than tackle other airline operators head-on. The airline had been very successful in its early years of operation, avoiding the demise of other low cost SA operators such as Flightstar, Phoenix, and Intensive Air.

While its success could be attributed to adhering to its low cost strategy, much of its ability to establish a distinctive position in the marketplace had been due to the innovativeness of its promotional campaigns, cleverly devised by morrisjones&co, a small advertising agency. The agency managed to break through the advertising clutter to create a strong and irreverent brand identity, that achieved very high awareness levels relative to the marketing spend.

No.of pages: 12

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Kulula.com was South Africa's first true low-frills airline and had managed to be profitable from day one. Its somewhat unconventional, but very funky communication strategy contributed hugely towards its successful performance. Advertising agency, morrisjones&co firmly believed that although its advertising campaign was risky, it might have been more risky if people did not notice it at all. They maintained that "if it was bold and in your face, it would stand out". And bold it certainly was with its bright green corporate colour and humorous outdoor banners which attracted more than they had bargained for. But would the marketing strategy still be appropriate as kulula.com became more established and the macro and competitive environment changed?

No. Pages: 36 

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It was January 2003, 17 months since kulula.com had taken to the skies for the first time. This low-cost airline had survived almost two years in an extremely tough industry and had been very successful since its inaugural flight on 1 August 2001.

Gidon Novick, kulula.com's executive manager of marketing, was involved in its unusual, but highly successful communication strategy from day one and maintained a close relationship with the advertising agency, morrisjones&co. But despite its success, Novick did not feel comfortable.

He realised that the business might soon face a problem – the possibility that the hype in the market had declined to a certain extent or could do so in the near future. He knew that in the fiercely competitive airline industry one could never sit back and relax.

No.of pages: 12

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As he made another payment to the previous owner of LEW Auto and Electrical & Aircon Repairs in June 2017, Peter Simelane, the new owner, was worried that his business was not growing as he had anticipated that it would. He had seen great potential for the business when he bought it in 2015, but by 2017 the business was still not living up to his expectations. He wanted to identify where the problem lay and what he needed to do to grow the business.

No of pages: 6 pages

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On 17 April 2005 African cellular telecommunications company MTN finally launched its new ‘everywhere you go’ pay-off line across all of its African operations. Three months later, with the rush over, MTN’s group executive director: marketing, Santie Botha, reflected on the company’s two-year journey towards adopting a global brand identity with locally relevant communication – the so-called ‘glocal’ approach. The journey had provided interesting learning about doing business in Africa, but she wondered whether the model MTN had developed would also be suitable for MTN’s recent business expansion into the Middle East.

No. Pages: 18

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Josi McKenzie, marketing director of fast food chain, Nando’s International, considered the development of Nando’s International since its inception as a South African fast food organisation 16 years previously. By the end of 2003, there were a total of 450 stores throughout the world, 186 of them being in South Africa. McKenzie felt good about this record, but she felt that there was enough potential in the company to perform even better on a global basis in 2004. Nando’s ascribed this success, among others, to the fact that it had adopted a ‘hubbing’ growth strategy, as opposed to a ‘shotgun’ strategy. This meant that the company had concentrated on developing existing geographic regions, chiefly the Middle East and Asia, instead of taking any opportunity that presented itself. The critical issue up for debate for 2004 was 'which hub should be developed next'?

No. Pages: 23

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Since 2000, manufacturer of high-performance sports footwear and apparel, New Balance SA, had grown its market share substantially. Now, in 2006, the general manager of New Balance South Africa, Gary van Rooyen, considered the company’s future direction. In line with worldwide trends, opposition companies, such as Nike, had started to move into retail by establishing their own chain of stores. However, since the success of New Balance could partly be attributed to the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction, a decision to move aggressively in such a direction would put the company in direct competition with its retail customers and would certainly damage its current relationships with sports retail stores.

No. Pages: 21 

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By 2003, Quadrem, a global e-marketplace that facilitated electronic transactions between buyers and suppliers from the mining, metals and minerals industry, was in its third year of operation. While some of the regions such as North America, Australasia and South Africa managed to operate profitably on a regional level, Quadrem as a whole was not yet profitable mainly because of its high fixed centralised costs. The shareholders however, expected Quadrem to break even by the end of quarter two in 2004. The case study revolves around Quadrem Africa, based in South Africa, and its dilemma to increase its growth to help Quadrem break even globally.

No. Pages: 26

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When Marisa Torrani took a brief moment to relax in one of the elegant armchairs in her book emporium, Skoobs Theatre of Books, she drank in the scene with satisfaction. It was 6pm on a Friday in June 2012, 18 months since Skoobs had opened in one of South Africa’s premier entertainment and gaming complexes, Montecasino, north of Johannesburg. The store was filling up with customers, many of them straight from work and looking for a place to unwind and, as she watched, she couldn’t help wondering what it was, exactly, that drew people to Skoobs. She had often thought about opening more stores, but would a Skoobs store survive beyond the alluring walls of Montecasino?

No of pages: 21

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It was July 2008 and the Tour de France had just finished. Barloworld Ltd, an industrial brand management company, had sponsored one of the teams that took part – named Team Barloworld. It was a team that had proven extraordinarily successful in 2007, earning the Barloworld brand significant global brand awareness and publicity. However, one of the Team Barloworld cyclists in the 2008 Tour de France had tested positive for doping, potentially compromising two of the Barloworld brand values, namely honesty and integrity. Now Chris Fisher, head of corporate marketing at Barloworld, had to make an urgent decision about the future of the sponsorship. 

No of Pages: 20

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In early January 2013, Adrian Miller, principal of the Laudare School, situated close to the inner-city in the lower-income suburb of Belmont in Johannesburg, was reading through the results of a recent customer satisfaction survey. While the feedback from parents and pupils was generally positive, it also highlighted some areas that needed attention, particularly the challenges of running a private school in an inner-city environment. Furthermore, with scarce resources it was difficult to grow and develop the school into one that offered an excellent educational experience. Miller wondered how he could ensure that the school offered its pupils, teachers, and parents a service that was in line with his vision.

No of Pages: 16

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It was September 2001, and that time of year again: performance appraisal and salary review time.  Nadia Strom, the new branch manager at the Pentlands branch of Barrows Bank, had one of her most difficult appraisals coming up the next day.  Michael Nyageri, the branch accountant, was a marginal performer.  He was a valued member of staff, but among other things, he had been six months late in submitting the annual budget, he was not appraising the staff under him on a quarterly basis, and he was not controlling the amount of overtime his staff worked.  All of these were important components of his job

No of pages: 6

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After Lotto,the South African national lottery,was launched on 2 March 2000 with 6000 outlets selling lottery tickets,both the press and the public had not spared the role players their criticism.From day one,the national lottery was the target of,in some instances,an ill-informed public.One example was the general belief by the public in the early days that all the monies allocated for good causes were for charity only.In addition,nobody knew,until much later,how small the percentage earmarked for charity really was.These and other issues continually evoked emaotional response and ensured that the national lottery featured regularly in all forms of the media.One website even went so far as to call it "the national robbery".

No of pages:10

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In March 2012, Mark Taylor, managing executive for Online and Vodacom m-pesa, reflected on the 19 months since the launch of m-pesa, Vodacom’s mobile payment platform. M-pesa was a partnership between the South African mobile telecommunications company, the Vodacom Group, and the Nedbank Group Limited.

In a country with high cellphone penetration and more than 15 million unbanked South Africans’ slower than expected uptake was surprising. Taylor was nonetheless convinced that m-pesa had potential – but for it to succeed, he had to find ways to overcome the challenges of making mobile money work in a country like South Africa.

No.of pages: 20

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In May 2008, alerted by a primary dairy supplier that one of its raw material suppliers may be including gelatine in its products, Julian Novak, divisional director of food at Woolworths SA tasked his team to investigate the issue. The allegations proved to be true. There was gelatine in Woolworths’ entire yoghurt range. In 2003, the company had agreed to ensure that its yoghurts were free of gelatine (a product derived from meat sources), and had therefore advertised them as such. One of the foundations of the Woolworths brand was its reputation for being trustworthy. Novak knew that there would be an outcry if this crisis was not handled correctly. He wondered how to act to preserve the company’s reputation, and what action the company should take against the supplier.

No of pages: 7

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