For a number of months here is in South Africa we have seen
Social Media light up with rage over racial campaigns run by well-known
institutions. We have seen Dove International headquarters deliver on the most
distasteful adverts regarding skin tone and early in 2018 we woke up to an
advert by H&M International that had people rioting and looting stores
across our beloved country. We also still have adverts where black women are
dancing as if that’s all we do all day.
But let’s take a step back a little bit. What is advertising?
The way I see it, it’s a tool to reach far and wide and sell the product or
services you have to offer. So from really dry and dead advertising that looks
like it was done by a 5-year-old on a word document to aesthetically pleasing
adverts with all the correct language and well-researched adverts. Advertising
had been a form of reaching us anytime as long as the setting or platform is
right ie: TV and radio.
On the brink of political turmoil, disappointment and recent
events and what Social Media is calling being ‘Woke’ (a reference to how people should be aware in current affairs according the urban dictionary). We have people sitting in
brainstorm and strategy sessions forgetting that the research, stats and
figures are there to assist them to come up with the best campaign possible and
executing that campaign the best way possible. Can the gatekeepers of
advertising get together in a bar and chat about how they can speak to the
buzzword ‘black’? How do you talk to that buzzword? Who do you get in a room and
research? Where do you find black people? (we are everywhere really) And start
to formulate a new way to speak to us that is not just about our curves, or
hair, or skin tone or how much we love dancing. Speak to us like you speak to
your mother. Speak to us like you speak to your lover. You will respect those
people in your world, why can’t you respect us?
Wait for ‘us’ to give you a round of applause. There are these
amazing awards ceremonies that applaud how agencies executed the campaign and
from there, agencies get to stroke their egos and get big headed and start
colouring outside the lines and get surprised when people don’t buy into what
they are selling. We are no longer bubbleheads in the room nodding to
everything marketing and advertising campaigns have to offer. We want to know
that the places and spaces that we spend our hard earned cash understand and
respect us. I’d love to name and shame some brands however that would make
other brands feel that they are exempt from doing their homework. However, a
good example of good advertising is the latest Jet adverts. They speak to black
people on all levels. Also, speak to the everyday dynamics of the young working
class.
As I always say in most of my overly opinionated blogs, if you
have read so far well done. I appreciate you hearing me out and I appreciate
you taking me in. We can always continue this conversation and start to do the
hard work of finding the solutions; after all, we all want the same things
really. I hope all that I have written
strikes a chord with the gatekeepers of marketing and advertising and we can
begin the process of understanding who really lives in South Africa and how do
we speak to them, because everyone wants to be heard.
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