Aegis Digibate at the Taxi

By Romany Thresher on September 8, 2011 with No Comments

The Taxi terminus becomes a mini conference centre as we host Africa’s very first digital debate (that’s ‘digibate’ to the cogniscenti). Since you’re reading this, we can safely assume that you are one of the growing number of people worldwide who already live in the digiworld, the world of social media. In this podcast, panellists Nic Van der Bergh (Head of Digital Media, Trigger/Isobar), Arjan Pomper (CEO, Aegis Media Middle East & Africa and Chairman of The Netherlands) and Peadar Hegarty (Marketing Innovation Director, Diageo) address the core marketing challenges affecting digital strategies on the continent faced not only by the marketing business but, as critically, the all-important consumer.

Digibate Part 1: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download) | Digibate Part 2: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download)

So if not, what?

The panelists respond to questions and talk of how research can be ‘mapped’ among consumers, the critical role of effective PR in dealing with feedback from consumers, why numbers are pretty much meaningless in the absence of ‘connections’, the difference between bought, owned and earned media and other related issues which will get you thinking and leave you that much more enlightened about our fast-expanding digital world.

If not, why not?

Nic Van Den Bergh talks about the particular challenges faced in Africa, citing as examples the strategies adopted in Nigeria and Kenya in taking product to market given the current limits of technological devices. How do the challenges weigh up against the opportunities?

Podcast: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download)

Why not… and how?

Arjan Pomper, CEO Aegis Media Middle East & Africa and Chairman of The Netherlands, gives insight gained from experiences in Korea where digital media enables a whole new generation to use technology, for example, to watch TV on their mobile phones. He argues that Africa has the potential to leapfrog the digital divide and emulate what is happening in the East.

Podcast: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download)

Get (un)set for change….

Peadar Hegarty, Marketing Innovation Director, Diageo, reflects on how businesses stuck in traditional ways of working are falling behind. Digital capability means acquiring not only a whole new skills set but an entirely different mindset. In fact, the less set it all is, the better positioned you are. It’s all about collaboration. How and why, you ask? Then listen here.

Podcast: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download)

Anyone listening?

Soli Philander asks the panel whether business has fully grasped that consumers are no longer satisfied with simply ‘consuming’ but expect, even demand, meaningful participation and engagement in the development of the services and products being brought to the market place. Arjan Pomper and Peader Hegarty respond with some surprising insights with regard to the changing relationship between ‘producers’ and ‘consumers’.

Podcast: Click HERE to listen (Right-click to Download)