media update’s Adam Wakefield spoke to Ogilvy & Mather Namibia managing director Rozanne van der Merwe, Weathermen & Co managing director Leon Crous, and Dynamic Mobile Solutions account executive Tuli Shivute about advertising in Namibia and how it is evolving.

A sparse population but a competitive industry

A facet of Namibian life that both Van der Merwe and Crous highlighted is the country’s low population density. Namibia is comfortably among the top five nation states with the fewest people per square kilometre. There are also 13 recognised national languages, with English the country’s only official language.   

So how do demographics affect the creative industry?

“We live in a country where the population density is extremely low overall, averaging about three people per square kilometre, but trust me this has no effect on business or competition whatsoever,” says Van Der Merwe.

“Competition is good and we are always up for it. It keeps us going.”

According to Van Der Merwe, competition among agencies with 15 or more staff, such as Ogilvy & Mather Namibia, Advantage Y&R, Weatherman & Co, TBWA Paragon, and Adforce Namibia, is “fierce”.

Crous says that competition is driven by a number of competitors working in a small market under financial pressure, given the current poor economic climate in Namibia and clients looking to cut costs.

“There are a large number of competitors, both local and from South Africa, in the form of freelancers; small to large traditional advertising agencies; media owners; and publishers integrating backwards,” Crous adds.

Among the established agencies, the key differentiator lies in the level of value being added by the agency to the client’s business, through strategic ability, creativity, market insight, and how well the client is being serviced.

“These differentiating factors are enabled by talented and experienced staff that are, in general, in low supply in the Namibian advertising industry,” he says.

Due to Namibia currently experiencing negative economic growth, Crous suggests the industry’s growth outlook in the medium term appears “negative”.

Conversely, perhaps as a result, Van Der Merwe believes the creative freelancing industry in Namibia is booming.

Traditional media remains king, but digital is growing

According to Crous, traditional media is still relied upon in Namibia but the status quo is changing.

“The Namibian media landscape is quite conservative in comparison to South Africa, amongst others, and overwhelmingly relies on traditional media such as TV, radio, print, and outdoor as communication mediums,” Crous says.

“A notable difference in the marketing industry value chain in Namibia is that media owners drive sales directly to clients and do not follow the traditional value chain of working through advertising agencies to sell media space.”

Crous is seeing the use of digital media growing but, even though this growth is slow, it holds great opportunities for marketers to build their brands.

“This has created a need for guidance and support from agencies with regards to digital capacity,” Crous explains.

Van Der Merwe suggests the current recession in Namibia is causing a spike in rural migration to Windhoek, impacting the shape of the market.

“Urban influx definitely has an effect on the services and resources that are available in cities, but this could also create opportunities for brands within cities.”

Mobile helps join the dots, but infrastructure is a challenge

Namibia, unique in its own right, does share one similarity that advertisers and marketers are taking note of: the power of mobile.

According to Shivute, with mobile the “most widely used communications tool and standing to gain even further reach, advertising should be far more mobile centric and mobile engaging”.

“This would include QR codes, mobile coupons, and using mobile centric adverts to drive traffic to mobile websites for education marketing extensions or for lead generation,” Shivute explains.

“SMSing keywords are commonly used in insurance billboards – eg: sms QUOTE – and is a great example of mobile creeping into and embedding into traditional advertising mediums as a response and lead generation mechanism.”

Aiding mobile’s rise is Nambia’s lower mobile costs, including data, compared to its neighbour, South Africa. For Namibian $32 (R32), you are able to buy 100 minutes of airtime, 700 SMSes, 1GB of data, and 500 MB of social media data from mobile operator MTC.

Van Der Merwe says research remains a key factor in developing local campaigns. Campaigns should be conceptualised so they can adapt to changing consumer buying behaviour.

“Consumers are holding on to their money and clients are cutting budgets,” Van Der Merwe says.

“As for brands, try to maintain your marketing spend, because once the economy improves, your brand will be top of mind.”

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Namibia’s advertising industry is undergoing change, as is neighbour’s Zambia. Read more in our article, Mojo New Media: Transforming Zambia’s creative industry  

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