In a South African first in early 2016, Spanish-based independent research company SCOPEN and the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company (IAS) partnered in a study that culminated in highlighting 15 key trends in the South African communication, marketing, procurement and advertising industries.
Decision makers and business leaders across these industries have commented on the value that the insights that Agency Scope South Africa 2016 has provided to all areas of their business.
“As a new CEO taking over from the founding partner, the SCOPEN bench-marking study was one of the most important initiatives undertaken by BBDO South Africa in 2016,” says Boniswa Pezisa, CEO of BBDO South Africa. “Because of our lengthy succession planning process, the SCOPEN Survey became my new pair of glasses that assisted me in evaluating our business critically.”
“In creating new business strategies, it gave us valuable insights on how to evolve our business and restructure it for the next two to three years,” she adds. “This means we were able to retain the essential aspects of what makes us tick, and ditch what was no longer relevant to our particular strategies. Key to this was enabling us to adopt and develop both long- and short-term tactics.”
Johanna McDowell, CEO of the IAS, says: “Both the IAS and SCOPEN Africa have been working with marketers and agencies globally 20-plus years, with the very first study launched in Spain 35 years ago.” The study and has been conducted in various countries over the past decade, boasting a record 11 markets that have been analysed,” she says, noting the inclusion of the UK, Brazil, China, India, Singapore, Portugal, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Spain.
For Pezisa, SCOPEN’s Global Competitive Index enabled BBDO South Africa to bench-mark themselves against the local players, using global filters for future perspectives. “It provided us with the information we needed to redefine the competitive set,” she says. “It reframed the competitive landscape while highlighting new and different opportunities that we could engage.”
In reviewing the trends that emanated from the South African study, Pezisa says the improvement in their area of focus that the study provided will change the way the agency negotiates with clients. “A specific area that we were excited about was the improvement for BBDO South Africa on how we leverage our global network and its assets,” she asserts.
McDowell says that the 2 500 Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) interviewed globally and 206 interviews with marketers, agency professionals and procurement directors locally gives agencies a robust understanding of market trends and enables them to gather data on how they are perceived by clients.
Importantly, says Pezisa, “because of global connectivity in our industry, this is a brilliant tool to access global industry trends”, placing their business in a position to implement strategies that influence growth and performance.
“As a new CEO and as a business manager taking over from an incredible and entrepreneurial founding partner, this was an exceptional gift for me and the new team to help us refocus ourselves,” Pezisa concludes.
SCOPEN Africa was launched in South Africa in 2016 in partnership with the Independent Agency Search & Selection Company.
The partnership between IAS and SCOPEN Africa is structured as follows:
Mazole Holdings – which owns 100% of IAS now owns 26% of SCOPEN Africa ( Grupo Consultores Africa). Mazole is a 40% black owned with a level 4 BEE rating. For information on SCOPEN Africa please visit scopen.com
