Thanks to the internet, the world is getting smaller every day. Our thoughts and views are no longer restricted by geography or the size of our immediate community of family and friends, and our voices are being heard further afield than ever before. As a result, advertisers and marketers are facing some new challenges, not just to be heard above the competition, but to win the public support and approval of an increasingly outspoken consumer.
“At no point in history has the consumer held as much power as they do today,” says Debbie Reabow, Brand and Communications Manager for the Rawson Property Group. “They have a world of information at their fingertips and they’re making good use of it, doing their own research and comparisons rather than taking brand messages at face value – I’m excited to see the power moving back into the hands of consumers.”
While this access to information certainly impacts the power balance between brands and consumers, it is the speed and vivacity with which opinion now spreads that is affecting the marketing landscape the most.
“One voice, one complaint, one bad experience,” Reabow says, “used to mean nothing in the days when a consumer’s only recourse was to send a letter and complain to their family and friends. These days blogs, social media, and websites like hellopeter are giving the consumer’s voice the ability to reach an unimaginably larger audience – an audience who gives public opinion much more credence than the practiced sales pitch of a faceless brand.”
While South Africa may, admittedly be some way behind some nations in terms of internet accessibility, statistics suggest that web access is more pervasive in our country than we might think. Nearly 50% of our citizens have access to an internet-enabled computer, and 39.8% of us have smartphones with built-in internet capabilities. Clearly, a large proportion of South Africans are active online.
So how do you market effectively to these empowered consumers? According to Reabow the key, ironically, lies in getting back to good, old-fashioned values.
“It’s about providing more than just a product,” Reabow explains. “There has to be a focus on service, on adding more to your interactions than just a sales pitch. You need to build relationships rather than broker deals, and add value regardless of reward. It’s one of the founding principles of the Rawson Property Group, and it’s literally how we grew from one man in his garage to the property group that we are today.”
Ensuring a consistently high level of service across a franchise can be difficult, of course, but the Rawson Property Group is well-known for the in-depth and ongoing training and support that they provide to their franchisees.
“We try to make it as easy for our franchises to add value to their customers’ lives,” Reabow explains. “One of the main ways we do this is by cultivating not just knowledge, but passion – our franchises aren’t simply real-estate agents, they’re neighbourhood experts with advice, insights and stories to share. People see our yellow cars driving around and they stop us to ask for directions – we’re real people offering a real service… and we sell houses too.”
Offering an approachable brand personality extends to more than just face-to-face interactions, and the Rawson Property Group’s website has been specifically designed with customer service and education in mind. From their “Great Neighbourhoods Project” where users are encouraged to upload images of the things they love about their neighbourhood, to the bond calculators and advice articles that make buying and selling property a little less daunting, the aim is to provide value every step of the way.
When it comes to a successful digital presence, Reabow also stresses the importance of responding to online complaints. “Complaints are an opportunity to change a bad experience into a good one,” she says, “and to let people know that you do care when things go wrong. Ignore them, however, and you just reinforce the negative opinion they contain. Next thing you know, you’ll have a billboard in Sandton - like Cell C did - publicly proclaiming how bad your service is,” she jokes. “It’s difficult to come back from that, no matter how brilliant your marketing may be.”
While Reabow acknowledges that consumer expectations are constantly changing, she firmly believes that a service-driven focus is the future of successful marketing. It certainly appears to be working for the Rawson Property Group, who scooped up six International Property Awards late last year, including Best Real Estate Agency Marketing Africa, and Best Real Estate Agency Website.
As consumers, we can hopefully look forward to more companies adopting this service-driven approach in an effort to earn the support of the most powerful players in the marketing game – us.
For further information visit www.rawson.co.za
