The renowned Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once remarked that Britain and the USA are two countries separated by a common language.
One wonders what Shaw would have to say about the Twin Cities that represent the economic engine of the Eastern Cape – Gqeberha and East London – and more specifically about the role played by Algoa FM in uniting these two markets.
If not through a common language, then at least through a common communication platform.
Broadcasting in English, the Eastern Cape radio powerhouse dominates the urban airwaves from Makhanda to Aliwal North and from the Wild Coast to Mossel Bay – 800km of beach, with more sunshine hours than any other province in South Africa. Quite fittingly referred to as “The Sunshine Coast”.
The recently released BRC RAMS_Amplify[i] database reports that every week over 400,000 listeners tune into Algoa FM. And 69% of these listeners come from the Twin Cities of Gqeberha and East London in the Eastern Cape.
With an average listenership age of 34 years, Algoa FM provides the perfect lens to focus on economically active consumers in the Twin Cities.
66% of Algoa FM listeners in the Twin Cities have a motor vehicle and half of them have 2 or more vehicles in the home. Consequently, one in every three Algoa FM listeners listens to the radio from a motor vehicle.
Mobile phone penetration is at saturation and 2 out of every 3 Algoa FM listeners in the Twin Cities has a smartphone – with an average of 10 Apps per device[i]. One in every 10 (13%) listens to Algoa FM on a smartphone.
With an Average Household income of R25,499, Algoa FM is well positioned to deliver the top end of the market in the Twin Cities. That’s 3 times the Av. HHI for the Eastern Cape and more than double the average HHI for the Twin Cities.
Interestingly the Av. HHI for Algoa FM is also almost 50% higher than the Av. HHI for East Coast Radio, which poses the question – could the Twin Cities be the most under-invested market in South Africa?
So much of the marketing segmentation narrative is directed at the unequal distribution of wealth in South Africa and yet so little media strategy is directed at specific market-weighted outcomes. Regional test marketing is a global best practice but is still one of the least utilised tools for developing a media strategy.
Of course, when it comes to market segmentation, increasingly media strategists are focused on how the market spontaneously segments itself.
One of the most intriguing aspects of Algoa FM is the balance between English and Afrikaans listeners. The vast majority of Algoa FM daily listeners in Gqeberha and East London speak English (61%) or Afrikaans (29%) as their home language. More often than not in South Africa’s past this would be a point of separation for any community.
But not in the Twin Cities.
For instance, if we compare branded consumption of Energy Drinks[i] and CSDs we can see that when compared to the COJ or Tshwane markets, The Twin Cities have a very specific consumption profile – irrespective of whether they speak English of Afrikaans. And that’s a Stoney cold fact!
So, if you want to Score in the Eastern Cape remember that regional radio is a powerful tool for building communities and homogenous market segments.
Maybe George Bernard Shaw was right after all, and Britain and the USA are two countries separated by a common language. But today we can safely say that Gqeberha and East London are two cities separated by the N2 but united by a single language.
They both speak Algoa FM.
[i] BRC RAMS Amplify Feb ’22 – Jan ‘23
[ii] BRC PRC Nielsen Fusion ‘22
[iii] BRC PRC Nielsen Fusion ‘22
