So the other day my old mate Otis and I were just sitting on the dock of the bay watching the ships roll in and that got me thinking. Apart from Russian superyachts what other ships are sailing into Table Bay these days?
In the past 24 hours, 19 vessels have arrived in port and a further 41 ships are expected to arrive in Cape Town in the next 30 days. And that’s not even counting the fleet of Karpowerships from #HeWhoMustNotBeNamed.
But it’s when you see the massive cruise liners in Table Bay that you can’t help wondering why it is that everyone in the world wants to be in Cape Town. – with the possible exception of media strategists in South Africa.
If we look at the recently released BRC_RAM_Amplify data for Jan-Dec 2022 it’s interesting to note that the City of Cape Town (COCT) has the highest Av. Household Income (HHI) of all the reported District or Metropolitan Municipalities in RAM_Amplify – including the City of Johannesburg and Tshwane.
The average per capita Household Income for COCT is 39% higher than Gauteng and Cape Town is increasingly the most attractive market segment in the country for high-end purchases.
Part of the challenge faced by regional media in Cape Town, and community media generally, is the tendency to view Mzansi as an aggregation of 9 provinces, rather than to segment the market based on actual geo-purchasing potential.
The Western Cape is a province. The City of Cape Town is a market.
The other interesting point to ponder is the typical age of the passengers aboard the proverbial love boats. Now I know we all think that cruise liners are probably a good setting for another episode of The Kaminsky Method but multiple cruise websites pitch their target age offering squarely in the Generation X frame of reference.
That’s a median age of 50.
We all know that when Frank Sinatra was 35 it was a very good year for blue-blooded girls of independent means. And they’d ride in limousines and all that. But I can’t help thinking that the Chairman of the Board did us all a disfavour when he segued from 35 to being vintage wine in the autumn of his years.
I’ve long since sailed past that unthinkable age the Beatles sang about on the Sgt. Pepper’s album in 1967, and I concede that I am indeed in my autumn years. But I do seem to recall that there was a whole lot of commercially attractive shakin’ going on in the 4 decades since I was 35. Not to mention a fair bit of conspicuous consumption.
Cars. Clothing. Houses. Mobile phones & computers. Investments. Schools and University. Travel. And yes. A lot of wine.
For illustrative purposes, if one looks at a well-defined radio station like Smile FM, with a very strong Gen X offering in the City of Cape Town, we can see that 100% of their Gen X listeners have a smartphone (Source: Fusion22). With an average of 9 apps. 57% use a credit card. That’s more than 3 times the average for metropolitan areas.
And like the Beach Boys, they’re still cruisin’ after all of these years. 50% have 2 or more cars in the household. Twice the national average for metros.
So if a glass of vintage wine in the hand is worth two in the barrel, why do so many marketers keep trying to sell stuff to the young folks who crew the yacht in the harbour, and not the guy who owns it? Why is it that a GenX Rand seems to be worth less to marketers than a GenZ Rand?
Of course, this is not a uniquely South African challenge. The preoccupation with targeting young consumers is very prevalent in the USA and a recent blog from Jacobs Media Strategies highlights the issue.
The article makes several really challenging points which derive from the observation that we often ignore the data we don’t like, agree with, or which run against our strategy. As I wrote in my textbook a long time ago we tend to use research the way a drunk uses a light pole – for support rather than illumination.
A good place to start the review would be the WFA white paper on outcomes-based marketing and media procurement – Project Spring Report. We need to shift the focus in media procurement from the cost of the buy to the value of the outcome.
As Jacobs points out …
If broadcast radio is an ageing medium struggling with attracting young people, while the spending power by generation leans older, why not lean into it? The radio industry is in need of strong support materials that paint the picture of financial opportunity, higher sales, and meaningful results by targeting a decade older.
As media strategists, it would be an interesting exercise to re-model our existing radio station selection and our projected campaign outcomes through the target market +10 lens. Maybe even engage in one of Mzansi’s most effective, and least utilised marketing tools – a test market?
Like the Beach Boys said. When it comes to local radio in Cape Town. C’mon, let’s cruise you got nothing to lose!
