Welcome to the DMASA Integrated Marketing Awards 2011
It gives us great pleasure to extend a warm welcome to all participants in this
year's Assegai Awards. We are more inspired than ever to take this accolade to the
next level of distinction in the awards arena. As the Assegai Awards grow in prominence,
so does the prestige of taking an Assegai home.
We are looking forward to a thoroughly exciting and highly competitive 2011 rendition
of the awards. Since the re-inception of the Assegais in 2007, the case studies
entered into the Assegai Awards prove beyond any reasonable doubt that direct works
harder and better than any other tool available to marketers. The growth in direct
marketing over the last 24 months has not been small, incremental spikes, but rather
huge leaps and bounds. Clearly there is a revolution afoot as more and more marketers
get to grips and fall in love with the real value and science that is great direct
marketing. You will also notice a subtle change this year with the inclusion of
the words “Integrated Marketing”, clear indication of the fact that marketing is
becoming more and more integrated across channels as a means to generate maximum
response and measurable ROI.
More companies, including some of the largest global blue chips are shifting their
ad spend to include more direct marketing along with other diverse marketing services
such as public relations, activations, sales promotions and interactive, all of
which involve some form of direct or response mechanism. This is all in bid to reach
their increasingly sophisticated target audiences and break through the clutter
that to a great extent has created an advertising-averse consumer who is tired of
being spoken to and now demands dialogue rather than dictation. The time for conversations
is long overdue!
The days of commoditised, mass marketing are fast coming to an end to deliver a
healthy, active industry that conforms to the highest standards and ethics, but
most importantly will deliver a marketing practice that is explicitly designed to
talk with consumers in dialogue that is tailored to their needs, requirements and
personal existence. “Goodbye Mr Mass Marketing, hello Mr. Direct, yes thank you
the wife and kids are doing beautifully, Johnny started school this year. How are
things with you?”
In an entirely unexpected way, the economic slump and toughest global recession
seen in 30 years has been the catalyst that forced complacent brand fat cats to
sit up and take notice, it put pay to market share arrogance and it beat the living
daylights out of slackers, the unfocussed and the uninventive. Many marketers realised
that the so called bandied cliché that ‘consumers want to be treated as individuals'
was not a cliché at all, but in fact, a universal truth! Many found that persisting
in mass advertising in a bid to get a consumer to open their wallet in this economic
climate, was tantamount to prising open a barnacle at low tide with your bare hands.
It was just about the damn hardest lesson they were taught. Speak to any of the
top marketing gurus and they will tell you that everything about advertising and
marketing is now encapsulated in the phrase "response-driven advertising" – the
days of pure above the line brand parading are fast coming to an end – every Rand
invested needs to have a measurable response.
Going forward, I see a well regulated, coordinated and orchestrated industry that
is in harmony. We have thrown down the gauntlet to all DM players to raise the bar
and there is only one way that standards can go, and that's up. The proverbial wheat
will be separated from the chaff and to this end we are going to see the Assegai
Awards as we have never seen them before. Not only is it challenging, it's thoroughly
exciting. Make sure you are part of the journey!
Kind regards,
Brian Mdluli
DMA CEO