09 Oct 2018

Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz 2018 – through the lens of a marketing intern

By Sekelwa Mpambo

Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz 2018 – through the lens of a marketing intern

 

For a marketing novice who also happens to be a lover of jazz, working for the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz has been an experience of a lifetime, both personally and professionally. Even more rewarding was being a part of Ganizani Consulting, the team tasked with making a success of the marketing of an event as big and as prestigious as the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz which greatly changed my outlook on integrated marketing. The amount of work and sacrifice that goes into marketing an internationally acclaimed jazz festival is a lot. And to witness the sheer dedication and diligence from the Ganizani team has given me a new understanding of what it takes to be a successful marketer who understands their client and audience and immersing yourself in a brand.

Aside from the myriad of emotion and the plethora of emails, what does nine days till The Standard Bank Joy Of Jazz look like behind the marketing scenes? For Catherine Kapanga, accounts manager for Ganizani, “it constantly keeps me on my toes! Every day is something new! My problem and project management skills are being developed daily”.

Other than the opportunity to diversify my skill set, my biggest lesson has been witnessing that the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz is more than a festival and what it takes to encapsulate that sentiment when marketing it. As Nina Simone said, Jazz itself is not just music, it is a way of life and of thinking. It is our past and its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen to, feel, and understand it. Jazz can connect us to our earlier selves and to our better selves-to-come. It can remind us of where we fit on the time line of human achievement, an ultimate value of art”.

An integral part of the campaign was to making people “feel the music and live the jazz”, Joy of Jazz launched the following compaigns, some of which where my highlights:

  • Road to Standard Bank Joy of Jazz with Oletta Adams and Wanda Baloyi
  • GelezaKleva and Learn
  • Colloquium – In Conversation With
  • Jazz Cares
  • Celebrating Women’s HeART

 

My Personal Highlights

Standard Bank Joy of Jazz: Gelezakleva workshops:

Youth in underserved communities who are interested in the various niches of the music industry, were afforded the opportunity to learn from renowned people in the industry through these workshops. I particularly enjoyed the Geleza Kleva and Learn workshops because I am passionate about youth development and the Geleza Kleva and Learn workshops are part of a development program that is aimed at empowering the youth with knowledge from music fundis. Topics ranged from, copywriting and composing to events management and performance – and the youth enjoyed the presence of artists such as Ntsika from The Soil who spoke passionately about the art of performing and Mantwa Chinoamadi, executive producer for the Joy of Jazz, who spoke about events planning.

Celebrating Women’s heART

Women celebrating women – those present and those who’ve passed, in an event that was aimed at commemorating and fellowshipping what it means to be a woman in art and to appreciate the role that each woman, young and old, play in making women in society free in not only their art but also in their respective lives – be it music or otherwise. Powerful women in music such as Letta Mbuli, Sibongile Khumalo, Nothemba descended on Constitutional Hill to celebrate womanhood and to pay homage to women who’ve paved the way for other women.

Jazzy Fridays

As part of the final build up to the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz, the Jazzy Fridays, in partnership with Tsogo Sun, were a chance to get a sneak peak into what the festival holds for audiences. For us, it was a chance to experience the fun part of working. This is where I came to learn why wine was dubbed “the elixir of the gods”. Gugu Shezi, Femi Koya, and Dudu Makhoba wowed audiences in an intimate affair for three nights only.

 

14 Sep 2018

Ganizani Consulting – The Standard Bank Joy of Jazz Tech Partner

It is 2 weeks to go till the the premier jazz festival – The 21st Standard Bank Joy of Jazz!

We have been honoured to have experienced this festival first hand – from behind the scenes. Ganizani Consulting is the appointed Tech partner for the festival – looking after the festival website and the mobile App. We are in our 3rd year developing the mobile app, the task of looking after the website was an added win!

Our task is not to just build another site but rather to use the latest technology to sustain this brand and keep up with its needs as the festival grows further. We will be able to give the user an experience not only of this year’s festival but allow the user to go back in time to the previous editions.

“Building a technology based company is not a once off thing, it isn’t built overnight, it is a process, the impact of all the work done behind the scenes will be seen in the long term. ” said Jordy Mugeni, Managing Partner.

From an organisational perspective, this has been a learning process for a small business. We have had to really put the word “agile” into practice. “In the world of marketing, things change very quickly, what is needed is a company that is agile enough to keep up with the pace, the team and the technology needs to deliver. Our customers are fickle, they will go straight to social media when their experience is somehow frustrating them,” said Judith Mugeni heading the Integrated Marketing Communications of the Standard Bank Joy of Jazz and Managing Partner to Ganizani Consulting.

We adopt the view shared by Alice Bonasio that “such a large proportion of any company’s value nowadays resides in intellectual property, that it is safe to say that keeping your workforce’s skills up to date has to be the cornerstone of any successful business strategy – especially for technology companies.”

We continue to invest in our employees, ensuring that they are ahead of the game and can deliver solutions to our clients par excellence.

 

02 Feb 2016

Strategy Simplified:Competitive advantage in the 2015 Races

Marketing Strategy

Judith Mugeni

Strategy Simplified: How to gain a competitive advantage in the ParkRun and Walking/Running races in 2015…

Let us begin 2015 with creating strategies using an analogy close to my heart: running to keep healthy. Many people ask what a strategy is (a plan of action not just a plan) or feel that only certain people are equipped to write strategies, while in some cases it might be true that expertise is required, in other cases any one can think in a strategic manner. Let me illustrate using a running analogy and strategic thinking using a situation analysis, objective setting and a strategic table (taking into consideration the Ws1H, why, what, how, and measurement and of course this is assuming you know who your target audience is and where you expect to find them):
Situation analysis:This section should define your potential customers, what your projected growth is, competitors for bench marking purposes and a realistic assessment of the current situation your business is in. Let us begin with the analogy:
There is a growing trend to get fit and healthy, I just have to look around me people are either walking for exercise or running formally in races or informally with their friends. I also believe that the number of young people that are dying of coronary diseases is on the rise (that should wake me up or in business sense its either an opportunity or a threat). My family, colleagues and friends have been running or walking for exercise in the past year and I have either been cheering them on or watching them with a glass of wine in hand. As I take a critical look at myself, the thought of exercise downright tires me, however I recognise a trend and I want to be part of it simply because being fit has positive benefits.
In January 2015, I entered the market and participated in my first 5kms Park run and that gave me a benchmark of my competitive position (brand position) after being ranked no 371 and finishing it in 56 minutes (don’t judge me), the stats of the Park Run I participated in (or my brand category) are as follows: Average number of runners per week: 363; Number of runners: 4,801; Biggest Attendance: 688; Average run time: 00:36:25). It is very important to understand the category you are playing in so that you can plan effectively and defend your position.
I understand that walking for exercise is the easiest space to play in, as I am currently unfit (I am choosing a category playing on my strengths), however I am also aware of the fun run space -5Kms, 10Kms etc.- as well as the serious running space-half marathons and marathons. It is imperative that you define your category correctly as per Levitt 1960, don’t suffer from marketing myopia, otherwise you will be blindsided and benchmark incorrectly.

This incorrect definition of category will lead to narrow thinking for example data could show that you are number one in your narrowly defined category when in fact you are competing with a larger competitive set (is ice tea in its own category or in the drinks category) or see Nokia case study are you in the Smart Phone vs. Feature phone category or in the phone category. Its important to identify your direct as well as indirect competitors as we are operating in blurred boundaries, (Africa’s prevalence of mobile money means banks compete with telcos is a cell phone a competitor to a watch? Etc.)

Okay I digressed.

So What!

Thus as a brand I have done a trend analysis and found a lucrative opportunity that I must capitalise on, but I also understand that compared to others I have a few weaknesses that I need to address in order to compete (competitor benchmarking in the RIGHT category is NB, am I competing with runners of parkrun or runners in general?)
Objective Setting: This is probably the most important step in strategy that if done incorrectly, I will be running in the wrong direction. From my Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT), my Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely (SMART) objectives are derived:
• Medium Term: To create prompted awareness of Judith as a runner (50%) amongst my peers and race events by the end of 2015 (only because I get bragging points)
• Short term: To set a new 5K/10K/marathon personal record against my current 56 minutes for a 5Kms by the end of 2015
• Long Term: To finish in the top 20 of all races I participate in by end of 2018 (my market share, with the right strategy it can be done)

Strategy (Why, What, How and measurement)

Now that I know what my goals are, WHAT in the world am I going to do to reach them (need to be careful here not to mix the strategy which is the WHAT and the how which is the tactics I will use and most importantly bench marking and measurement controls.
The easiest thing is to create a table from here onwards as crosschecking keeps you honest: