The power of digital marketing
The power of digital marketing
Mrs Michelle Strauss, from Amok Digital
Lungelo Magwaza
The Vaal University of Technology’s Ekurhuleni Campus held a two-day workshop from 28-29 September at Little Paradise in Springs for third-year marketing students. The theme of the workshop: “Role of Digital Marketing in building, growing, and sustaining brands” was linked to the students’ project based on digital marketing and branding. Mr Kungune, the Acting Campus Principal opened the event by welcoming guests and he emphasised the role and impact of disruptive technology, particularly digital media and how it has changed media consumption. He also pointed out that digital media is now part of our everyday life and one must learn and equip himself to take advantage of the available media in this digital age.
The workshop was meant to expose students to industry practices, add value to their marketing projects and give them a glimpse of the realities of the industry as they prepare to go into the workplace. Industry experts were invited as guest speakers to teach the students by sharing their knowledge and experiences. Among the speakers invited were Mrs Michelle Strauss, from Amok Digital, who gave the students tips about integrating offline marketing with social media, and Mrs Ruchelle Mouton, from Primedia Outdoor, who showed how digital and out-of-home marketing works together, current trends in the marketplace and how to use location and digital marketing in targeting audiences. She emphasised the advantages of digital out-of-home media over conventional marketing methods and how it enables one to efficiently target and reach audiences without any wastages.
Mrs Ruchelle Mouton, from Primedia Outdoor
On the second day, Mr Rikus Spies and Ms Marion Low from Etiket presented on “using Technology and Innovation to deliver brand promise”. They provided different examples from varied brands on how they have used technology and innovation to deliver their brand promise. They also showcased how some brands have failed to align with their brand promise in their pursuit of using technology and innovation. Mr Spies demonstrated how Gestalt theory is applicable in delivering brand promise.
The second presentation was by Mr Matthys Esterhuysen of FCB Africa whose topic was on taking advantage of millennials through their gadgets. He first provided a theoretical background on millennials as well as the different definitions and terms used in describing them. He provided statistics to show how digital media is transforming and influencing the lives of millennials. Mr Esterhuysen elaborated on how brands can use different available gadgets as well as social media platforms in connecting with millennials. He gave examples of how some brands have been successful in resonating and connecting with millennials.
Marketing student Mpinana Kekana found the workshop very informative and worthwhile as he got new insights about digital media and how it works. Mr Thebe Magapa, marketing lecturer and organiser of the workshop, was thrilled and deemed the workshop a success. He is eager to start preparations for the next workshop, as he is planning to host it annually. Furthermore, he encouraged his students to brand themselves well so as to stand out in the sea of graduates and use knowledge as power in fighting the war on unemployment, poverty and lack of entrepreneurship.
The event was graced by the Marketing and Sports Department from the Main Campus, Ekurhuleni Campus’ Marketing Department, the Ekurhuleni Campus Management as well as the Ekurhuleni Marketing Team.