CYBERTORIAL: Kaya FM’s ground-breaking Afropolitan research delivered major insights to the Gauteng station whose name ‘Kaya’ means ‘home’ in Swahili.
One of the findings was that the Kaya FM listener responds better to events that are bespoke and offer a quality experience. As a result, the station created a strategy that embraces this idea, and which has been applied to every event the Kaya FM brand designs or partners with.
And what is more bespoke than polo, the sport of kings and princes? This month, Kaya FM (@kayafm) hosted some of its clients at the Mother City’s annual Veuve Clicquot Masters Polo, an event synonymous with flutes of champagne, gourmet canapés, exquisite couture fashion and, of course, magnificent polo ponies and players. The Veuve Clicquot Masters Polo has become South Africa’s most exclusive luxury polo event. And Kaya FM was there!
Check out our Pinterest socials at this seriously glamorous, seriously stylish event.
Sanctuary, family, home
The station has for the past five years made its status known to all key industry players and to its listeners: Kaya FM is the ‘Home of The Afropolitan’. This clear positioning of the Afropolitan has led to the instrumental research of an audience that was previously overlooked by marketers and advertisers. Afropolitans are predominantly discerning black middle class listeners.
As the authority of the Afropolitan target market, the station prides itself on understanding their heritage, as this has a strong influence on how events are thought about at Kaya FM. All station events are based on the Kaya FM brand values that include the key pillars of the Afropolitan – a discerning individual who has a fair understanding of their roots and therefore a balanced perspective of their future.
‘Sanctuary’ defines the station’s purpose to provide and be the needed alternative on choice of content and interaction. ‘Family’ represents the understanding that family is important to most and Kaya as a brand needs to understand the modern day family and speak to its needs from a communication and content perspective. ‘Home’ represents being warm and welcoming and is also about a sense of belonging for its listeners with the station.
Immersing the Afropolitan
The Afropolitan Immersion Conference, which took place at the Crystal Towers Hotel on the 4 March in Cape Town and the second event at The Gordon Institute of Business Science in Gauteng on 11 March.
The station was determined to ensure everyone had a clear understanding of who the Afropolitan is and through these workshops attendees were immersed in a thorough exploration of the Afropolitan Market.
The experience was designed to demystify an exciting yet hard to navigate market. The conference will aid marketing answers from industry leaders such as Peter Langschmidt, who has spent over 30 years in research and advertising. He now consults to blue chip companies on changes in the South African landscape, research, brand strategy and positioning as well as advertising ROI.
Understanding customers is his business. An accomplished and experienced presenter, his presentation showcased what is happening, and what is going to happen, in South Africa, but even more importantly, how your brand can adapt to take full advantage of the rise of the Afropolitan consumer.
Xolisa Dyeshana (@XolisaDyeshana), chairperson of the Loeries and executive creative director at Joe Public, is a creative at heart. He has been invited to judge the John Caples Awards in New York and has been on the judging panel at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in France. In addition, Dyeshana sits on the Creative Circle exco and is a past judge of the Apex, Assegais and Financial Mail Adfocus awards.
Dyeshana says Afropolitans have a hunger for consumption, but until marketers understand the behaviours that drive Afropolitans to connect emotionally with their brands, they will continue to leave revenue and market growth opportunities on the table. He discussed how brands can establish a meaningful connection with the Afropolitan market and helped attendees home in on some unique and powerful cultural insights and triggers.
In Cape Town, the speakers Sizakele Marutlulle, Greg Maloka (@GregMaloka), Thabang Ramogase (@Thabangrmg) and Dr Thomas Oosthuizen (@drthomasbrand ) presented an audio visual journey through the past, present and future of the Afropolitan in ‘Conversations with Ourselves’, an insightful and provocative production designed to inspire and question traditional marketing beliefs and precepts.
And in Gauteng, John Perlman, a Kaya FM stalwart, facilitated a live panel discussion titled ‘Meet the Afropolitan’ in which Claire Mawisa (@clairemawisa), Lindo Xulu (@LindoXulu), Sizakele Marutlulle (@ZDivah) and Raleshaba Moeng (@shabzito) addressed the market fears, hopes for and connects with. It was was an ideal opportunity for marketers to pose their burning questions to the four well known thought leaders and receive an immediate, well-informed response in return.
Check out our Pinterest board of pics of our Afropolitan Immersion Conference.
About the station
KAYA FM reflects the lives of the predominantly black, urban listener living in Gauteng. The station broadcasts both music and talk. KAYA FM 95.9 broadcasts in English on the FM frequency signal 95 (Dot) 9, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The current listenership stands at 561,000 per average day. The music format offers a diverse and soulful mix of adult contemporary music to smoother sounds like R&B, World Music and Soul and Jazz. The Station is a rich mix of music, news, sport and topic driven features.
Kaya FM’s footprint reaches the Greater Johannesburg Metropolitan area, whilst its core listener is Afropolitan: a mature, sophisticated, socially conscious individual rooted in heritage. The Afropolitan is a progressive thought-leader who is self-determining, discerning, well informed and a player in the global environment.
*Cybertorial is paid-for content
