Convened by Always Active Mobile (a division of Always Active Technologies) on 18 June 2014, the Durban Digital, Mobile and Social Media Workshop (#DMDSW) gave a platform to some of the city’s brightest voices in on-line and mobile realms.
Held at the Durban Chamber of Commerce’s new premises, the old Lion Match Factory building, over one hundred interested representatives from digital agencies, consumer retail brands and other businesses gathered to enjoy fascinating insights from the speakers.
Alan Haarhoff, Business Development Manager at Always Active Technologies, gave an interesting presentation that picked up the illusion of statistics, ably identifying that, in the South African context, mobile campaigns must be made to cater for more than just the smartphone user, otherwise the majority of the country’s population – an important target market – will be missed entirely. Alan also highlighted his company’s success in implementing SMS, USSD and other mobile campaigns, bringing to the fore that a wide range of brands are taking notice of lower level target markets through unique advertising and engagement initiatives.
Durban-proud copywriter and columnist, Cath Jenkin presented thereafter, bringing her unique view on using storytelling as a mechanism for the creation of on-line and social media content. Through strategic planning and with a focus on showcasing brand stories, Cath highlighted the importance of committing to telling your story on-line, rather than using digital media as a billboard.
Barry Tuck, of Paton Tupper Digital highlighted interesting ways for companies to create brand engagement in a jaded world, with the general public and specific target audiences being bombarded with advertising messages at every turn. By throwing the spotlight on a number of brands that have created exciting content and diversified their approach to on-line engagement, Barry showed how thinking beyond their products helped those companies expand their on-line reach.
Barry’s presentation was followed by Jonathan Darker of J Darker Consultancy, who spoke on the importance of creating and nurturing innovation in the African context. By examining the well-known “innovation cycle” and actively applying it to real-world case scenarios, Jonathan showed how innovation, especially in the digital space, needed to not sell to the highest foreign bidder, but to keep the talent and products in South Africa, in an effort to further boost economic development within the country.
With Always Active Technologies’ firm commitment to partnering with Durban-homed companies, this workshop served as a great networking and information sharing session for all who attended.
