New #BuyAfricaBuildAfrica campaign targets consumers across the continent
Johannesburg – Four South African companies working in the public perception space, this week launched a special brand awareness campaign, #BuyAfricaBuildAfrica, to promote pride in African goods, enhance the visibility of local brands and to encourage consumers to buy African ideas, goods and services.
#BuyAfricaBuildAfrica is the collective brand promotion initiative of BCW Africa, Brand Leadership, Kantar and Geopoll. It builds on the insights gained from ten years of conducting the Brand Africa 100 survey, polling Africans on their favourite brands, either foreign or local.
This survey consistently shod that African brands lagged their non-African counterparts. For instance, in the latest survey African brands commanded only a 13% share in the top 100 bracket. Although very well known across the continent, the rest are all imported brands or brands owned by foreign companies.
At the #BuyAfricaBuildAfrica launch, the founder of Brand Leaderhip and Brand Africa 100, Thebe Ikalafeng said “African brands have an important role to play in helping to build the image and competitiveness of the continent,” adding that 63% of respondents in the latest survey indicated their preference for African brands whenever available.
“In the wake of COVID-19, there has been a shift in consumer values to community and supporting local, which is likely to continue beyond the pandemic. This provides fresh opportunities to invest in local brands, drive greater consciousness among consumers and ultimately grow the number of African brands that Africans admire and that feature in the Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands,” he said.
Campaign partner, Kantar’s Chief Executive, Karin du Chenne said “The over 80 African brands of all sizes across various industries that have been in Brand Africa 100 over the past 10 years are encouraged to register on the platform and start displaying the logo in their marketing campaigns – as the pioneers of ‘Made in Africa’ excellence.”
PR agency, BCW Africa’s Chief Executive, Robyn de Villiers said “Our teams of brand experts, research specialists and communication professionals across the continent are the catalysts for this initiative, in the hope that many others will support it. We have collaborated on the Brand Africa 100 with Brand Leadership for some years now, so this takes our joint commitment to building brands in Africa one step further.”
