Case study: Samsung - turning on new audiences

Samsung’s partnership with Compleat Golfer has been a highly successful one, paying increasing dividends as the brand has expanded advertising of its LCD monitors across a growing number of Compleat Golfer’s media platforms.

The Samsung ad campaign began two years ago with traditional print advertising: full-page, full-colour ads in every issue of Compleat Golfer in 2008. With the launch of RamsayMedia’s 360-degree multi-platform offering, Samsung saw the value in reaching audiences through new and exciting touchpoints and last year extended its advertising to online through monthly banner ads and added the sponsorship of two sought-after supplements, The Compleat Guide to Golf Rules and Etiquette and the Nedbank Golf Challenge pocket guide.

“At the start of 2009, when the RamsayMedia multi-platform offering was launched, I presented Samsung with a proposal covering the 360-degree elements – print, online and events and sponsorships,” explained national sales manager James Ferrans. “The client saw the potential of these and committed to sponsoring two print supplements, which they saw as a logical extension of their print involvement.

“They also became associate sponsors of the PGA’s flagship experience, the PGA National Championships, which gave them a prominent presence at and strong association with this high-profile event and allowed them to interact directly with potential customers through branding and prizes.”

This year, in addition to print advertising and sponsorship of the supplements and annual event, Samsung has committed to online advertising, both on the Compleat Golfer website, www.compleatgolfer.co.za, and in the weekly newsletter – becoming Compleat Golfer’s biggest client in the process.

Bennie Budler, brand manager for Samsung LCD monitors, is more than satisfied with the returns on the company’s association with Compleat Golfer. “We have noted a 37 per cent increase in market share in the first quarter of 2010, which reflects year-on-year growth of 12 per cent. We can safely say that advertising with Compleat Golfer, using its multi-platform opportunities, is working from a brand awareness point of view, creating increasing interest in our product.”

Global travel goes digital

The recession may have taken its toll on conventional travel businesses in 2009, but online travel proved resilient despite the decrease in traveller numbers worldwide. This year, global online travel sales are predicted to grow enormously as digital media continue to grow their share of the travel market – according to eMarketer.com, online leisure and business travel sales in the US will grow from $94,7 billion in 2008 to more than $105 billion by 2012. In South Africa, as broadband internet becomes less expensive and more accessible, we anticipate a huge rise in online travel bookings.

With the increase in potential customers, digital publishers who adopt key trends as part of their online strategy are most likely to benefit from the increase in traffic. Social media is a fast-growing trend that’s playing an increasingly important role in the online travel industry. Peer reviews and user-generated content are becoming more influential in motivating travel-buying decisions. People are now also more likely to use the mobile internet to book trips and access location-specific content. In terms of general travel trends, customised travel is becoming increasingly popular, as is green travel.

Here at Getaway we have taken the growth in social media very seriously. We have dedicated skilled resources to growing our online communities. The rapid growth of our Facebook fans and Twitter followers – and the enormous amount of interaction we have with our readers and fans on these platforms – has convinced us that social media is integral to our web strategy.

The Getaway website, relaunched as a travel portal early this year, builds on the huge content base of the magazine to bring visitors up-to-date resources for researching destinations, choosing travel packages and finding specialist tours and activities. We have added a review function to our accommodation offerings to allow for objective peer reviews. Our mobile site, mobile.getaway.co.za, offers an accommodation booking facility as well as destination guides.

Research has shown that US travellers, who make up a large chunk of the global travel market, are gravitating towards international sites for travel bookings. As South Africa takes its place on the list of most desirable global destinations, industry insiders expect to see an increase in international traffic to South African travel websites. Getaway is ready to take full advantage of the fantastic opportunities our digital platforms offer to promote southern Africa and to become a premier destination and travel service resource for travellers in southern Africa.

Jacqueline Lahoud

Getaway Publisher

Case study: Nedbank sponsorship builds highly desirable relationship

Nedbank's involvement in 'green' initiatives is well established through its conservation projects, dating back to 1990 when the bank founded The Green Trust together with the SA World Wildlife Fund. So the group's decision to sponsor WINE's new Green Wine Awards was an obvious fit and provided them with the perfect 360-degree solution!

Golf 6 case study: When using integrated media is a great success story!

When Volkswagen launched the Golf 6 to the South African market in June 2009, the company chose to promote the new car through an integrated campaign in RamsayMedia Automotive’s CAR and WIEL magazines. The results were better than anyone could have anticipated.

RamsayMedia’s flagship brand, CAR, is rapidly increasing both its presence on and its income from South African mobile Instant Messaging (IM) service MXit. While reaching an ever-growing target audience on MXit, which itself has achieved cult status within the country’s youth market, CAR has successfully produced and sold content to an audience with a large appetite for the automotive world since its launch on the instant messaging platform in October 2008.

If you really want to be heard, talk softly, says Robyn Daly, editor of RamsayMedia Custom Publishing