Sunday Times GenNext 2021

Finding meaning behind the mask of youth

Foreword

Re(building) trust

Relevance in a time of chaos

How do brands speak to a disillusioned youth, asks Refilwe Maluleke

The GenNext 2021 research has revealed one consistent reality: the youth of SA are living in a context of what feels like unprecedented chaos.

Over the past three years, they’ve had to contend with the realisation that the very institutions and individuals they should be able to rely on have been exposed as deeply untrustworthy: whether it’s the Zondo commission findings and sheer scale of state capture, the growing awareness of genderbased violence often perpetrated by those who should love and protect them, or the numerous private sector scandals that have gripped the nation.

As if that wasn’t enough, the pandemic hit, adding even more challenges, such as the uncertainty created by living in constantly changing states of lockdown and the fear created by Covid-19 and its devastating impact on families in terms of illness, loss of life and loss of livelihoods.

All this has created a youth plagued by anxiety, so it’s no wonder that the responses to infractions big and small is visceral and increasingly hostile.

It’s a world where thoughts and ideas quickly turn to deeply held

beliefs for which they are willing to commit acts of violence and ostracise loved ones.

One of the biggestdrawbacks of this “new normal”is that it limits exploration of their world and themselves.

The spontaneity that should characterise youth is no longer an option because they can’t trust that things will work out.

Many of the experiences considered to be a rite of passage such as sports tournaments, school plays, matric dances, graduation, your first job, your first car and moving out of your parents’home have been denied to our youth.

The 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer shows us that trust is at an all-time low, and yet brand trust matters more than brand love when deciding which brands to buy or use.

The findings from the behavioural section of the 2021 GenNext research highlight three levers that brands can use to (re)build trust with young people, and ultimately drive consideration and preference.

1. Accessibility defined as:

● Are you affordable?

● Are you available?

● Do you show up in my world?

2. Community defined as:

● How are you serving my community? This could include family, friends, neighbours, interests, colleagues, charities I support or clubs I belong to.

3. Authenticity defined as:

● Do you have a brand promise that is relevant, credible and distinct? In the current context of chaos, true relevance comes from defining a brand promise that serves young people in some way including:

—Helping them better understand the world;

—Helping them navigate chaos;

—Helping them safely explore their world and themselves with minimal physical, professional, social, reputational or financial risk;

—Helping them find respite (peace or enjoyment); and

—Helping them progress or demonstrate how far they’ve come.

● Do you consistently deliver on this promise across every part of your business by using it as a key decision-making filter in your business? This includes advertising, products and services, corporate social investment, retail, customer service, sponsorships and influencers.

● Do you demonstrate vulnerability by acknowledging when you get it wrong and take appropriate measures to get back on track?

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of this year’s Coolest Brands Awards. It is my hope that this research helps more brands find ways to better connect with young people and ultimately create sustainable, demand-led growth.

Foreword

Keep it moving

Captivating SA’s youth

Look forward to some exciting new categories, writes Eben Gewers

It was not easy in November 2019 to predict what lay ahead in 2020. And all those who had ventured a prediction could hardly have foreseen a world in the grip of a deadly pandemic. So how were we to predict what this year had in store?

2021 ... the year of hope and new possibilities, and the year of some sort of return to “normalcy”. But no, wait, not just yet. Instead we have endured another three waves of Covid-19, driving children out of school, disrupting industries and tipping this year on its head …again.

However, with crisis comes opportunity, and we are seeing how the communitarian bonds we share as South Africans strengthen and unite us in the face of adversity.

The Sunday Times GenNext campaign has reflected on its strategic priorities and is embracing resilience strategies to protect itself against marketing disruption and to retain and captivate the youth by keeping things moving forward in a digitalised format.

Now in its 17th year, the GenNext awards is the country’s leading annual youth brand preference and consumer behaviour event. This year we hosted our second online Sunday Times GenNext awards ceremony.

We introduced a few new, exciting categories as well as a brand-new “young professional” age group (25 —30), making the 2021 results of the survey conducted by our research partner, Yellowwood, particularly relevant to brands and advertisers.

We would like to extend our appreciation to all this year’s partners. We value your support for this initiative.

A special thank you goes out to our headline partner, Gautrain, for making this all possible. I’d also like to thank our loyal clients and our new clients for their support, especially in today’s ever-changing, dynamic marketing environment.

We take great pleasure in congratulating all the winners and shortlisted brands. Well done!

Technology Connections count Double victory for Samsung

‘Youth are active, spontaneous content creators’

Samsung was this year’s big winner in the technology space in the GenNext Awards, snapping up the Coolest Cellphone as well as the Coolest Technology Brand categories. The top three brands in both categories are exactly the same: Apple iPhone and Apple came in second and, lagging somewhat, in third place, Huawei.

The Coolest Telco Provider is Telkom, with MTN in second position and Vodacom in third. A recently released report by Africa Analysis shows the biggest threat

for mobile telecoms operators is losing relevance to fast-growing tech companies. Mobile operators are increasingly looking at ways to diversify their revenue beyond voice and data, while maintaining their relationships with consumers.

For Telkom, this has included turning its Yellow Pages product into an e-commerce platform called YEP! Available on Google Play and the Apple App store, YEP! provides a platform for small businesses to buy and sell products and services online, as well as bid for new opportunities to grow.

youth needs to be a core element of their strategy. This is something Samsung understands well.

MTN and Vodacomare offering financial services with mobile payments and insurance, with MTN also launching a music service and messaging app.

Both have indicated their intention to shift towards being

It’s about connecting with them in every part of their lives and thinking outside the box, says Dudu Mokholo, chief marketing officer at Samsung Africa. A TV, for example, should be more than just a TV: it should provide an opportunity to express yourself, in your space, in your own way.

“An aspirational brand, Samsung

is consistently evolving on-trend technology which connects with young people and empowers people to ‘do what you can’t’.”

Samsung, she says, understands that young people are not passive consumers of existing content, but are active, spontaneous creators of the next generation.

“The recent lockdowns have been a revelation to learners who could effortlessly learn remotely with connected devices which are packed with enhanced productivity tools, helping to bridge the gap between potential and

achievement,”she says.

“It’s about offering innovation for all, including cutting-edge technology designed for a new world. Ultimately, the pricing is accessible and the technology and social access is ground-breaking.”

The brand supported learners during lockdown, with tablets, laptops and access to data to overcome the challenges of disruptions and enable remote learning. At the same time, its “door-to-door”service has offered consumers a safe and convenient smartphone repair service.

The company also donated 10,000 rapid testing kits to assist frontline workers and provided 20,000 smartphones to help the government’s pandemic response. In partnership with Telkom, it also donated and distributed 1,500 handsets in the provinces hardest hit by Covid-19.

Samsung has introduced a trade-in programme which allows consumers to trade in any of their used Samsung and even non-Samsung devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, watches and wearables, and get cash back to put towards new Galaxy purchases.

“There are more than 6,000 devices that can be traded in as a way to get a new Galaxy for less,” says Mokholo.

Shopping

Online & in-store Retail’s revolution

Mall of Africa creates a lifestyle experience

The Covid-19 pandemic has irrevocably changed the retail landscape, revolutionising the way consumers shop and pay, and accelerating the introduction of online shopping platforms.

However, while customer shopping behaviour has changed, certain retail categories have performed surprisingly well, including sportswear, leisurewear and home wear, and even some luxury categories.

Mall of Africa, this year’s winner of the Coolest Shopping Mall category, has needed to support and promote its tenant categories, local fashion and lifestyle brands over the past 18 months.

“Through our marketing efforts, we have created more than just a shopping experience for the youth market,”says Mall of Africa GM Johann Fourie. “Our strategic marketing

more valuable one for all retailers, but particularly clothing and apparel brands, who take the youth market for granted at their peril. One clothing retailer who understands this is Mr Price, this year’s winner of the Coolest Clothes Store category.

includes events and lifestyle initiatives to attract and engage with innovative local entrepreneurs to support and provide a platform for retail opportunities.”

Younger consumers aspire to the cultural lifestyle experiences and brand affiliation provided by Mall of Africa, which has become “a place to see and be seen”, says Fourie.

‘On-trend, highly desirable and great value’: what the youth want The youth market has become an increasingly

KEEPING IT COOL IS OUR THING…

Like most retailers, it has seen a big shift to online shopping, with its online sales now double what they were atpre-pandemic levels. But customers continue to look to the retailer for unbeatable value, something that has become even more relevant in tough economic times such as these, says Mr Price MD Donovan Baney.

Mr Price’s offering has undergone major changes in response to where and how customers are working and shopping, he says. The main themes the retailer is catering for include comfort, with looser fits and quality fabrics, “smasual”—a hybrid of smart and casual —and more neutral colours.

“It goes without saying that the fashion we give our youth market has to be on-trend, highly desirable and at unbelievable value,”says Baney. “This is the epicentre of the connection between Mr Price and our customers and allows our brand to stand out from the noise.”

He says the brand’s most valuable marketing assets are its customers. Its marketing efforts, therefore, focus on facilitating platforms where its customers can join and even drive conversations.

Launching innovations in response to Covid-19 keeps Woolies top of mind Woolworths, this year’s winner of both the Coolest Grocery Store and the Coolest Tinned Food category, has spent a great deal of time understanding how its customers like to shop.

“We’ve had to adapt both our in-store and online offering at speed, while at the same time ensuring a commitment to freshness and quality, which has driven some exciting innovations,”says Liz Hillock, Woolworths head of online and mobile.

Loyalty Programmes

The growth of online, she says, has been unprecedented. Triple-digit growth has meant increasing capacity has been a priority.

“We launched a number of new fulfilment options to cater to the increasing demand, including click and collect, and our ondemand service Woolies Dash,”says Hillock.

“As the first and only retailer to offer a cold-chain for an on-demand service, we scoured the globe and pioneered an extremely lightweight and flexible cooler, with technology within its materials that maintains stringent temperature control.”

Covid-19 regulations have not allowed customers to try on make-up in store. In response, Woolworths launched a virtual try-on tool on its website that allows customers to upload a photo or use a live camera to applycolour beauty brands in real-time online.

To expand this into an omnichannel experience, the retailer has introduced NFC tappable technology as a pilot in its V&A and Table Bay stores, which allows customers to simply tap the NFC tag, which instantly links them to a product which they can try on virtually online. These initiatives, a first for an SA retailer, are fun and easy to use, and are eliciting good results, she says.

“We’ve also recently launched artificial intelligence-driven recommendations as well as ratings and reviews, which allow Woolies shoppers to share product reviews with other shoppers, helping to create trust online.”

In the Coolest Grocery Store category, Pick n Pay came second and Checkers third. The latter is making a move for a slice of the highend food market, a space which Woolworths has traditionally dominated. The Checkers Sixty60 delivery app has seen impressive growth in the past 18 months.

Checkers recently announced that it was piloting SA’s first cashierless grocery store, where customers won’t have to queue. That’s an innovation that’s likely to have huge appeal forthe youth market.

Pick n Pay voted best value

In tough times, consumers rely on loyalty programmes to deliver value.

Loyalty programmes have become increasingly popular in the retail space. Consumers are always looking to save money and stretch the value of their rands, says Andrew Mills, marketing retail executive at Pick n Pay.

“Everybody, young and old, loves a good deal.”

A good loyalty programme, such as Pick n Pay Smart Shopper —this year’s Coolest Loyalty Programme —is in tune with customer needs and adds value to their lives, presenting them with good deals on essentials and the ability to save in many other ways, says Mills.

“Knowing your customer better is key. We’ve put a lot of effort into being relevant by making sure our customers are given

personalised offers, rewards and communication.”

Smart Shopper, which has 8.5-million active members, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Everyday low “Smart Prices”, along with bi-weekly personalised discounts, have driven loyalty participation to 75% of sales, which is up from 65% last year. Over the last decade, says Mills, Pick n Pay has learnt a lot about what customers really want from the programme. Its recent “Smart Price”deals have been a significant driver of growth. “These amazing savings, combined with our cashback benefit, have really set our programme apart,”says Mills.

The youth market, he says, is looking for the same things in loyalty programmes that other consumers are looking for: loyalty programmes that are geared to their needs.

Banking

Simplicity keeps Capitec cool

Its affordable fees and digital offering appeal to the new generation

Last year, Capitec took pole position as the Coolest Bank by the slimmest of margins, just 0.01 points ahead of FNB. This year, FNB will be disappointed to see that the gap has widened considerably. Capitec scored 27.14 compared with FNB’s 21.75. Standard Bank lagged in third place with 12.95, a drop from 2020’s score of 15.62.

There appears to be a fine line between legacy brand value being a good thing in some areas and yet, in other areas such as banking, legacy almost seems to be a limiting factor, says BrandMapp’s Brandon de Kock.

“The youth’s support of Capitec shows just how powerful a new

brand can be if it understands how to be transparent, speak to young people, and simplify the banking system for a new generation,”says De Kock.

The youth market makes up a significant proportion of Capitec’s client base. The appeal of the brand for the youth market is a simplified approach, affordable banking fees and a digital offering. Immediate payments can be made on the bank’s app for just R7.50, which compares favourably with the R45 fee charged by traditional banks.

“The digital acceleration brought about by the adaptation to a new multichannel, connected normal, combined with consumer financial distress, have further increased customers’expectations —off an already high base —while reducing their tolerance for a bad customer experience,”said the report.

Capitec’s value proposition is clearly resonating with the youth market. De Kock agrees that all indications are that the youth of today are primarily driven by price.

The 2020 SA Customer Satisfaction Index for banking, conducted by research firm Consulta, said loyalty in the retail banking space is largely dependent on customer satisfaction.

It found that Capitec leads as far as overall customer satisfaction is concerned, as well as on perceived value. It also had the lowest complaint incidence of all the six largest retail banks and scored the highest on customer loyalty.

Ineke Prinsloo, the head of customer insights at Consulta, says the pandemic has fundamentally upended every aspect of the

customer journey. She says that while self-service channels were necessary measures to deal with the unprecedented circumstances and high levels of services enquiries at the onset of the pandemic, they have also had consequences for customer experience, expectations and satisfaction —right now and into the future.

“Getting every aspect of the customer experience right, no matter which service platform is being used, is a perpetual task of refinement to deliver consistency in a world where customers no longer differentiate between their online and offline experiences,”says Prinsloo.

“Banks are under pressure to

ensure that every banking functionality is value-adding, seamless and simple, and provides the first-time resolution for every customer inquiry.”

She says that the pandemic experience also proves that digital and online banking channels are no longer the key differentiator that they were a few years ago, but are expected as standard by customers.

“In a tough economic climate, where household income and expenses are under enormous pressure, customers place far more emphasis on perceived value for money, quality of service, and emotional brand connections, and whether these correlate with each other,”says Prinsloo.

Insurance

OUTsurance wins in tight race

A new category introduced this year for the first time is insurance companies.

OUTsurance narrowly pipped Discovery onto the winner’s podium, garnering a score of 13.33 compared with Discovery’s 13.31.

Because insurance becomes relevant only to those with insurable assets, most insurance companies don’t specifically target the youth market. OUTsurance, however, is aware that while the need for insurance among the youth market may not be immediate, there will come a day when they do require it.

The appeal of the brand to the youth market, says Carl Louw, chief marketing officer at OUTsurance, is its vibrancy and energy, remembering that it started life as a challenger brand.

“The brand exudes energy and appeals to a particular mindset. Similarly, the simplicity of our offerings and the various digital channels we use to connect with consumers speak to the needs of a younger market.”

Brand purpose, he says, is an essential

component of a valuable brand and is what distinguishes it and allows it to add meaning to its consumer engagement.

OUTsurance was one of the first insurers to pay out business interruption claims in 2020, where the policy had an extension for pandemic cover.

According to OUTsurance CEO Danie Matthee: “From the onset of the pandemic, our view on the business interruption policies with the cover extension for pandemics is first, that they are covered, and second, that we needed to get cash to the businesses with the right cover in place as soon as possible.”

It will be interesting to see the results of this category in 2022, particularly after Discovery Life announced that being vaccinated against Covid-19 is now an additional consideration in determining life insurance premiums for new clients. In other words, clients who indicate that they are unwilling to be vaccinated may be subject to higher premiums.

Specialist Health Store

Value & vaccines

Pharmacies join Covid-19 fight

Its expanding footprint and robust sales growth keeps Clicks in top spot

The health category is a hotly contested one. Clicks will be relieved that it has retained its title of Coolest Specialist Health Store over competitor Dis-Chem, which placed second.

Clicks is SA’s largest retail pharmacy chain. A large national footprint of 777 stores situated throughout the country is one of its biggest advantages. Long-term, it plans to expand this footprint even further, with a pharmacy operating in every store.

Managing executive Vikash

Singh says the group’s focus is on ensuring convenient customer access to affordable health care through an ever-expanding network of pharmacies.

“Clicks’expanding national footprint is evidenced by the fact that 51% of South Africans live within 5km of a Clicks store, and within 6km of a Clicks pharmacy,” says Singh.

Robust sales growth, coupled with the expansion of its store and pharmacy footprint, has allowed the retailer to grow its market share across all merchandising categories.

Singh attributes the brand’s strong growth to its customercentric approach and continued focus on convenience, its “three for two”promotions, and its “you pay less”promise.

Its ’three for two’promotions are part of Clicks’winning formula.

With more than 300 registered vaccination sites throughout the country and the ability to administer more than 600,000 vaccines a month, Clicks will be the largest private Covid-19 vaccination provider in SA when thebalance of its pharmacies are registered as approved vaccination sites.

Clicks recently introduced a new online portal allowing customers to conveniently book for their vaccines. The portal will also help reduce queues and waiting times. It has also introduced a number

of innovations in recent years, including an app which allows customers to submit scripts and have them delivered, as well as affordable doctor consultations at Clicks clinics, which are offered via video link.

“As a value retailer, we’ve stayed true to our heritage and continue to adapt our business to provide great value to the cash-strapped consumer,” says Singh. “Clicks ClubCard, with 9-million active members, remains a big driver of growth, along with competitive pricing, differentiated products and strong online sales.”

Dis-Chem, which is opening its 200th store this month, has been similarly involved in administering vaccines, with a growing number of mass vaccination sites and selected in-store clinics across the country.

Like Clicks, Dis-Chem also offers an online booking platform to allow all those registered to booka slot through its website.

In July, Dis-Chem announced the launch of a same-day, on-demand delivery service, offering delivery within 60 minutes. Dis-Chem’s Deliver D service is being trialled in selected stores before being rolled out to other regions.

The Dis-Chem Foundation, a beneficiary of Dis-Chem’s Benefit Programmes, celebrates its 15th birthday this year. The foundation focuses on four main areas: impoverished families with no basic food and shelter; abused women and children and abandoned babies; young girls in need of sanitary pads to ensure that they don’t have to miss school; and people who need access to primary health-care services.

For the past five years, the foundation has also donated blankets to various charities and non-profit organisations ahead of the winter months. This year, 5,200 blankets were distributed to old-age homes, children’s homes and animal shelters.

Online Shopping

New playing field

Where only the fastest win

Retailers that were quick to invest online are reaping the rewards

The uptake of e-commerce in SA has traditionally lagged global trends. But in the past 18 months, there has been exponential growth in ecommerce platforms and delivery, driven by both Covid-19 restrictions and increasingly digitally savvy consumers. According to data and measurement company Nielsen, online shopping in SA grew 9% in 2020.

In response to the growing demand for the convenience of online shopping in the past year, many businesses have quickly ramped up their e-commerce platforms. At the same time, there’s been a flurry of new acquisitions: Imperial acquired Parcelninja, Makro acquired WumDrop, Mr Price acquired Yuppiechef, new e-commerce player Everyshop launched and Ackermans introduced a new online store.

However, it is home-grown brand Takealot which wins the accolade of Coolest Online Store in this year’s GenNext Awards, boasting a lead of more than 10% to the brand in second position, Mr Price, and a 15% lead over Amazon, in third position.

Social media platforms had a strong showing in this year’s GenNext awards —and not only in the categories they would be expected to do well in.

In the Coolest Advertising Medium category, the top four places are all social media platforms, with TikTok in first position, followed by Instagram, YouTube and Facebook. In fact, out of the top nine in this category, the only “traditional” mediums are TV, radio and billboards.

“It’s no surprise that social media platforms have overtaken traditional advertising media in this space,”says Ryan McManus, chief creative officer at VMLY&R.

“They provide engagement, personalisation and are based on interests. It’s the place where you can really feel part of the brand experience and sometimes even co-create it. Social media platforms feel like they are there to serve or support you, rather than just shout at you or force-feed you their message or agenda.”

TikTok, which recently opened up advertising sales in SA, is the hottest and fastest-growing

Takealot sales in the past year have surged. The online retailer is the largest e-commerce operator in SA, employing more than 2,500 people across its three brands: Takealot and its subsidiaries, fashion retailer Superbalist and food delivery service Mr D. It’s estimated to account for as much as half of SA’s online retail business.

When it comes to food delivery apps, Uber Eats and Mr D enjoy significantly more support from the youth market than any of their competitors. Uber Eats is this year’s Coolest Food Delivery App, with Mr D hot on its heels, in the opinion of this year’s GenNext youth respondents.

During the pandemic, Uber Eats has expanded its delivery services to include groceries and over-thecounter medications.

The grocery delivery wars Same-day delivery of groceries ordered online has become the norm in the past year.

Pick n Pay partnered with Bottles during the country’s hard lockdown in April 2020 and has since acquired the business to offer a same-day delivery service in five provinces. The Bottles app has been rebranded as Pick n Pay asap! and added Pick n Pay Smart Shopper rewards to the offering.

A game-changer in the same-day grocery retail arena is the Checkers Sixty60 app, which delivers

Social Media

Launched in late 2019 to

Sandton, Joburg and Cape Town, the service was expanded throughout SA when the pandemic struck. Growing demand has meant Sixty60 has had to extend its delivery hours. So popular has the app become that the retailer recently announced that deliveries might take a little longer than 60 minutes.

To date, the Checkers Sixty60 has been downloaded more than a million times and it’s walked off with a number of awards, including MTN’s People’s Choice Award for App of the Year in 2020, Memeburn’s Best App of 2020, and Food24’s Top Food Delivery App Award.

Woolworths was a relative latecomer to same-day grocery delivery services, launching Woolies Dash in December 2020. Compared to the success of Sixty60, users were initially underwhelmed with Woolies Dash, which is still operating on a trial basis with limited stores participating. The biggest problem with it, say consumers, is getting a slot to shop.

Shaune Jordaan, chief commercial officer of Hoorah Digital, says retailers need to sweat

the details in their online offering and provide an exceptional customer experience when it comes to e-commerce.

“Delivery means nothing if customers can’t find the product in the first place, or if they have to deal with endless fiddly check boxes when shopping on a mobile.”

The problem, says Jenni-Ruth Coggin, the recently appointed CEO at BMi Research, is that not all businesses have made sufficient investment in their e-commerce platforms. Those that haven’t are leaving their online shoppers frustrated and disappointed.

Last year, BMi Research conducted a study surveying online e-commerce stores, with each store evaluated by 10 experienced online mystery shoppers. The study was part of the launch of BMi Research’s CX Online solution, which measures and helps companies improve customers’online shopping experience.

The most frustrating elements of e-commerce platforms revealed by the study include poorly executed search and navigation engines, promotional items that are out of stock, and inadequate distribution

Starring in their own show

platform right now, especially from the perspective of influencers and content creators, says Grant Lapping, digital executive at +OneX.

“Not only does it already have about 9-million users — primarily youth —but content generated on TikTok spreads like wildfire across Twitter, Facebook and other platforms. It’s quite exciting to see young South Africans express their creativity, make their voices heard and even monetise their content using TikTok as a platform,”says Lapping.

The platform has exploded because it makes you the star of your own show like never before, says McManus. “You literally can inhabit any persona, dance move, act out scenes or create hilarious content with an intuitive and easy-to-use —but incredibly smart —interface, editing and camera work.”

Instagram appeals because it is such a rich visual medium, with

endless inspiration from all types of content creators, he says. “It’s ironic to see the see full circle that influencers have gone through in this space —and the visual stereotypes, clichés or personas that have arisen from here.”

Strong visuals dominate in transporting the viewer to wherever they want to be and linking deeper content, stories and shopping directly to the posts makes it even stronger, says McManus.

In the youth market, Instagram is growing faster than Facebook and it also seems to have slowed the momentum of Snapchat by introducing its Instastories feature as a response to Snaps, Snapchat’s ephemeral, time-limited photo and video stories, says Lapping.

The Coolest Social Media Platform is WhatsApp, followed by TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Despite the privacy concerns

that surfaced earlier this year, WhatsApp still boasts the highest absolute user numbers, says Lapping. “Though some users signed up for Signal and Telegram, this has not ended WhatsApp’s dominance. Essentially, we all need to be on it because it’s where friends and family are.”

McManus says WhatsApp feels as though it is where everything is happening: your plans, work, meetups and break-ups.

“In fact, it seems hard to imagine life without it. WhatsApp groups have become microcosms of society. The closed circles are what drives this, and changing privacy here would probably kill the platform.”

A new category added this year is the Coolest Digital Learning Platform. Here YouTube takes the top spot by a clear margin, followed by Zoom and Google Classroom

mechanisms. When products — particularly promotional items — are consistently out of stock it erodes brand loyalty, dilutes trust and reduces customer loyalty, says Coggin.

“Most stores don’t realise how bad their e-commerce sites are or the fact that their search engines are woefully inadequate,”she says.

“This is because, in many instances, they have made a one-off investment and believe that is sufficient. However, their sites fail to take the entire online customer experience into account. If a shopper can’t find the item they are looking for quickly and easily, they will soon try a different store.”

Though e-commerce has made great stridesin the past decade, Jordaan says we still have a long way to go to be on a par globally.

“Businesses need to go out of their way to understand, interpret and assess the user experience of their e-commerce offering. It’s about how the offering looks, how it feels, how it works —the overall experience,”says Coggin.

“The customer needs to be acknowledged not as a data set but as a human being interacting with the product or service.”

As the number of consumers embracing the convenience of online shopping grows, retailers need to ensure the user experience is an optimal one —or risk losing customers to those e-commerce sites that offer a more satisfying experience.

which is in third place.

“Digital learning platforms are potentially revolutionary and have advanced dramatically due to school closures during the course of the pandemic,”says Lapping.

“Particularly compelling is the potential they have to offer learners access to materials and subjects beyond the curriculum, as well as to enable schools to expand the subjects they offer.”

The Coolest Music Store is music streaming giant Spotify, which has rapidly become a core platform for engaging with customers through paid advertising.

The largest music streaming service provider globally, Spotify has re-imagined the music industry and transformed the way people access and enjoy music. It has developed a young, vibrant and culturally relevant brand that is centred on providing an immersive, rich audio experience.

Phiona Okumu, Spotify head of music in Sub-Saharan Africa, says the success of the streaming service is its ability to provide its audience with a personalised, tailored experience to soundtrack their life.

“Spotify provides easy access to over 70-million songs, 4-billion playlists and 2.9-million podcasts,” says Okumu.

Fast Food Feed & foster McDonald’s on a mission

Restaurant chain caters for digitalsavvy generation

While restaurant chain

McDonald’s regards all its customers as important, it understands that the youth of today are the adults and parents of the future. As such, it focuses on remaining relevant to customers throughout their lives.

This year’s Coolest Fast Food brand and Coolest Restaurant brand regards the youth as digital natives who want to feel connected and have personalised experiences they can share on social media.

As a result, it has included more digital touch points, including selfordering kiosks, delivery apps and even a loyalty app which allows customers to benefit from daily deals and special deals customised exclusively for them. It also provides customers with that evervaluable commodity —free Wi-Fi.

“A visit to McDonald’s should provide a happy, light-hearted respite from the intensity and complexity of 21st-century life,” says Telma Tsironis, director of marketing for McDonald’s SA. “We believe if we can deliver on these expectations, then we have fulfilled our brand mission of making delicious feel-good moments easy for everyone to enjoy.”

communities, employees, local farmers, franchisees and suppliers. We know that there’s a difference between being in a community and being part of one.”

Consumer habits have changed as a result of the pandemic, says Tsironis. They are more concerned about safety, hygiene, value and wanting greater convenience.

The brand’s purpose, she says, is to feed and foster communities.

Brand love, she says, is built over time through harnessing the power of nurturing meaningful brand

trust to dotheir part in making a positive impact on the planet and their communities.”

As a result, McDonald’s SA has prioritised its commitments and role in the communities in which it operates by focusing on four main areas it believes matter most to its communities: sustainable food sourcing and quality; building and supporting communities in times of need; ensuring its waste is recycled; and upskilling communities and

accelerating equity and inclusion

“This is how we plan to feed and foster the future of those communities we continue to serve into the future,”says Tsironis. The brand to watch in the Fast Food category is Debonairs, which this year came in second place after coming fifth in 2020. One brand that appears to have lost some of its appeal with the youth market is Burger King.

In 2020, Burger King came in third position but dropped to seventh place this year.

Influencers

It’s all about...

Authenticity

Youth want creatives, experts and people they can trust and look up to

When it comes to influencers, the youth are looking for appeal and relevance to the brand or category, says Jason Stewart, co-founder of HaveYouHeard, amarketing agency with a special affinity for culture and how it affects consumer behaviour.

Covid-19, says Stewart, created and amplified pods or communities when it comes to influencers.

“Long gone are the days when influencers could be ‘gauged’or ‘measured’by their number of followers. Influencers now have names for their communities similar to the Beyhive and

Rihanna’s Navy. The youth are looking for that Cinderella story when it comes to influencers: ‘She was just like me and she blew up’.”

Authenticity is important for influencer marketing in general, says Stewart, but it’s even more important for the youth as they’ve grown up in a world of fake news, fake celebrities and corruption.

their appeal, he says, unlike celebrities, who can become too powerful for overexposure to matter.

partnership, and other brands they have worked with in the category.

brand personally,”he says.

The problem with celebrity influencers, he says, is that they often don’t feel they have to put in the effort of crafting an effective content piece as they can rely on their reach. “Unfortunately, brands and brand managers are often happy with these vanity metrics rather than tangible results.”

Rapper Cassper Nyovest is this year’sCoolest Local Celebrity and Coolest Social Media Influencer. While Stewart does not believe he has a “cool youth market”appeal, Nyovest does have an “aspirational youth market”appeal, and is the epitome of what can be achieved.

“Rather than seeking a social media influencer, they are looking for creatives, experts and people who are challenging the norms.”

For a brand to stake their reputation on an influencer has some inherent risks. Stewart says his agency has checks in place to protect the brands it represents.

“We scrutinise past behaviour or commentary to ensure we protect the brand from any possible scandals. We ensure there hasn’t been endorsement with competing brands that would make the relationship inauthentic.”

“Critical mass of appeal brings powerful influence. But you have to pay more for celebrities than influencers because of that, and not every brand has that kind of budget.”

A brand’s choice of influencer also depends on its goals: is it to use their influence to credibly convince consumers to switch brands, or to utilise their cool factor? Is the brand supporting their needs or helping their community? Ultimately, says Stewart, the choice of influencer depends on credibility, the partnership, the duration of that

There’s been much debate in recent years about the tendency of celebrity influencers such as Taylor Swift and the Kardashians to have fake followers.

According to Stewart, nano influencers —those with less than 10,000 followers — can deliver a better return on investment and engagement because they are more connected to their community and often have a niche following or trusted expertise.

“It becomes a problem when influencers are posting about different brands too frequently, particularly if it’s within the same category and they don’t use the

“His impact is considerable, especially with sound moving to amapiano vibe. His latest song Siyathandana is on the top of the charts. He has leveraged younger influencers such as Uncle Vinny and Mihlali Ndamase. In fact, Cassper and Mihlali’s YouTube collaboration has hit over 450,000 followers in just two months.”

Bonang Matheba was voted the second Coolest Social Media Influencer. “Bonang’s appeal and level of influence is similar to that of Rihanna and Beyoncé,”says Stewart. “She’s the benchmark when it comes to SA celebrities. The youth love her as she represents that Cinderella story and captures all the different subcultures.”

Fuel Stations

Be there when ... It matters most

Convenience is the X factor for service stations

Fuel is a commodity with little to no cost differences between different fuel retailers, so what makes consumers prefer one fuel station over another? Ultimately, it’s all down to service and what’s on offer as far as the convenience amenities are concerned.

In recent years, most fuel retailers have hooked up with existing loyalty programmes in an effort to offer customers points and rewards for their fuel purchases.

However, as far as SA’s youth are concerned, there is one fuel station that is far cooler than all the others.

Engen scored more than 9% higher compared with its closest

competitor, Shell, with Caltex in third place, closely followed by Sasol, in fourth.

Engen is the largest fuel brand in the country, operating more than 1,000 service stations. It has a strong focus on convenience retail and servicing the real needs of customers, says Seelan Naidoo, Engen GM for retail.

“To remain relevant in an everevolving market, we consistently assess our product offerings, including our accessories, food range and digital solutions to align with what our customers want.”

In response to the pandemic, shopping trends have shifted to smaller and more convenient environments for necessities.

In response, Engen revised its Quickshop product mix to cater for this change, which increased its convenience store transactions. It also expedited the rollout of the Engen 1app, which offers motorists

a safe and contactless way to pay.

The youth, as the motorists of tomorrow, are most certainly a focus of the company’s marketing activities, says Naidoo. Engen recently added a range of electronic mobile accessories and sunglasses, while its partnership with confectioner Krispy Kreme and leading fast-food brands resonate with the youth market.

Advances in technology and social media are exposing younger people to more branded messaging than ever before, making it harder for brands to connect with their audiences, he says.

“Purpose is extremely important in connecting with younger consumers,”says Naidoo.

He says research has shown that they are more likely to buy from

trusted companies, and defend brands which embody a strong sense of purpose over profit.

“Our brand philosophy, ‘What matters to you, matters to us’ underpins why we do what we do in consistently seeking meaningful collaborations to provide solutions that enrich lives,”he says.

Engen is using data insights to determine effective channels to communicate its strong sense of purpose, digital offerings and convenience solutions, that all speak to the real needs and wants of today’s youth.

The company puts great emphasis on innovation, he says.

“We will continue to focus on the rollout of signature convenience offerings, including fast-food and restaurant partnerships, bespoke

barista and bean-to-cup coffee, Wi-Fi, click and collect, and alternative payment partnerships, among other offerings.”

Third-placed Caltex’sname will soon disappear from 850 fuel stations around the country as its new owner rebrands to Astron Energy, which will take place over the next few years.

Astron wants to bring innovation to the fuel retail industry as it strives to become the largest player in the market.

While fuel retailers took a knock with selling less fuel during the hard lockdown, their convenience stores benefited from increased customers. As a result, many increased their ranges on offer.

However, it will be innovation that will be play the biggest role in terms of differentiating fuel retail brands. In 2020, FreshStop at Caltex teamed up with Mr D Food. This partnership allows customers to order food, snacks and cool drinks for delivery to their door.

BP, which has about 500 fuel stations around the country, recently announced that it has started to sell wine after becoming the first fuel company to be granted a liquor licence.

Its wine offering is part of the company’s strategy to adapt and grow its convenience and mobility business.

Education Learning curve(ball)

Online move fast-tracked

Covid ushers in a digitally mediated world of teaching

Like all education providers, tertiary institutions have needed to adapt to remote teaching in the past 18 months.

The introduction of emergency remote teaching and learning at the University of Cape Town —this year’s Coolest University —amid the Covid-19 pandemic, has been a multi-pronged, cross-disciplinary process that has required agility and collective buy-in from role players across the university, says UCT vice-chancellor, Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.

“Long before Covid-19, UCT recognised the to need to prepare students for a digitally mediated world,”says Phakeng. “At the beginning of 2020, about 60% of UCT lecturers had chosen to record their lectures.”

Covid-19, she says, fast-tracked this process. The university improved Vula, its online learning and collaboration system, with a new tool, similar to Facebook, for posts and updates; a redesigned text editor content templates; a simple assignment grading tool, which includes a student progress bar; a rubric grading tool to integrate assignments, tests and quizzes in a single gradebook; and a template that enables easy course set-up and design.

Despite these enhancements, Phakeng concedes that students have faced challenges, including feeling disconnected from their peers and experiencing network

connectivity problems. Students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds experienced material and psychosocial obstacles to learning. The university has needed to be especially supportive of their needs and monitor participation.

Students who are struggling have been encouraged to reach out to UCT’s Student Wellness Service for counselling and support.

Academics, too, have needed to be at the coalface of student support, she says.

“While challenging in many respects, emergency remote teaching has catalysed creative and innovative thinking,”says Phakeng.

“It’s also provided a vantage point from which to review this new learning methodology compared with traditional learning.”

She predicts there will be a greater level of digitally mediated learning because academics have now experimented with different tools and experienced a range of learning strategies made possible through the online environment. This may well lead to new forms of blended learning in the future.

University of Joburg came second in the Coolest University category, followed by Wits University.

Boston City Campus, this year’s Coolest College, was fortunate to already have a mixed-mode education platform when the pandemic struck.

“What this means is that we favour the tech-based approach, so our higher education was delivered seamlessly online into the preferred learning spaces of our students from day one of the lockdown,” says Natalie Rabson, Boston City Campus social media manager.

Training advisers, branch

managers and lecturers reached out to students through a variety of forums to help them stay motivated and focused, and ensure they handed in their assessments and assignments on time.

The college originally created technology-based learning systems and processes because it believed that a tech-based delivery platform was what resonated best with students, allowing them to learn at their own pace.

“We believe this is the future of education, even in a post-Covid world,”says Rabson.

The advantages of online-based learning have been proven, she says. Benefits include less time lost through travel; less travel costs; lower living costs because students can live at home while studying; improved knowledge retention through self-paced studies and the option to repeat classes; and the ability to work and earn while they complete their education.

The biggest stumbling block, however, is the cost of data and suitable technology. “While Boston organised superb data deals, free of a contract for students, this should

be more widely spread to all institutions because not all students have access to

Boston’s Graduate Services Support Programme mentors students and helps them develop their CVs and interview techniques, as well as access workplace opportunities. “We believe that every education institution should put resources into similar projects,” says Rabson.

Writer: Lynette Dicey

Pictures: 123rf, Supplied

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