[July 15, 2011] Direct Marketing Tips From South Africa [column] Tweet Jul 15, 2011 (Nairobi Star/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- I have spent the better part of the week with South African mobile marketers. They are a sharp bunch , keen on getting things done and very united in most of their efforts. They marvel at M-Pesa and what Kenyans are doing with mobile phones . Like us they have some solid marketing associations that deliver broad agreement on most matters relating to their industry. I happened to sit through a debate of sorts about a subject most mobile marketers and governments have been grappling with for a while -Consumer protection and direct and digital marketing. The government in South Africa has passed some of the most stringent regulation relating to direct marketing in what is referred to as the Consumer Protection Act. The laws are very strict by any global standards and what is interestingly important is that any South African marketer working in other countries will have to comply by their home rules in those countries. To simplify this, if a direct marketer from South Africa wants to run an SMS or direct marketing campaign in Somalia or Puntland , they have to comply with South African laws relating to direct t marketing . I must say I am yet to understand or read the entire law but the highlights left an impression of a regulatory environment bent on protecting the consumer in ways unprecedented. If you buy an item from a direct marketer, you are allowed a "Cooling off period" as a consumer during which your obligation to a sale remains tentative and you may change your mind. Marketers are also not allowed to bundle direct marketing offers. If I sell you a phone in a direct marketing campaign I cannot sell you airtime and adjust the offer on account of the two being used together. To some people this could sound like the marketing Gestapo has taken charge. The rules do seem designed by a consumer to protect another consumer. Here is the very good side though. If you have ever watched athletes training, many will fill a little bag with weights and then spend the day running up a hill. When they shed the weight and run on flat ground they move like the wind. If you set very high standards then your marketing practice will operate at a scale that competitors will find hard to compete with. This means that after several months it will become likely that South African direct marketers may sharpen beyond other marketers around the world. As we speak they have won 3 out of seven global mobile marketing awards in the last few months. The industry in Kenya is still working to build solid regulation around mobile marketing and direct marketing. If South Africa is to teach us anything, stricter may be better. That way we shall develop a marketing environment that makes it hard for anyone far worse than our worst to thrive. Anything less and the standards will be set from outside our market. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]