Internet usage is higher in Lagos Nigeria than across metropolitan Ghana, but soccer is more widely watched in the latter, and people in both countries are just crazy for Facebook and WhatsApp.
In Lagos, 60% of the population regularly accesses the internet compared to only 41% in Ghana. However, it is fascinating that internet access is via different channels. While mobile phones top the list in both markets (Nigeria 42%, Ghana 35%), internet cafés and at home usage are substantially higher in Ghana as the table below illustrates.
| Internet Access | Nigeria (Lagos) | Ghana (major metros) |
| Mobile | 42% | 35% |
| Internet cafés | 13% | 24% |
| Home | 8% | 17% |
In terms of sites accessed, both populations rank Facebook and WhatsApp among the sites most often visited but Ghanaians also make use of Twitter whereas Nigerians in Lagos are much less likely to. They visit sites to download music or apps and search for information more often than the Ghanaians, whereas Ghanaians are fonder of Skype and blogs.
These are some of the findings coming out of Dashboard Marketing Intelligence’s Pinpoint, a current and accurate media consumption and audience tracking tool for the African continent. Pinpoint was developed to examine public usage of TV, radio, newspapers and digital thereby supporting more effective media buying in Africa.
Dashboard joined forces with advertising and media expert, Dave Kelly, to launch the tool last year. A successful pilot was conducted in the major metropolitan areas in Ghana; roll-out is now complete in Lagos, Nigeria, and planned for Kenya, Tanzania, Angola and Uganda and Zambia.
The findings are available as a syndicated study, and users are able to profile and size TV and radio station audiences, review ongoing insight into social media and internet usage. Marketers and planners are able to filter the data by users of any specific product category. In addition, there are psychographic and attitudinal consumer mindsets to guide strategists and creatives.
Because soccer is such a popular sport on the continent, Pinpoint also tracks who watches what tournaments so brand sponsors can access insight around where and how these tournaments are viewed and by whom.
The data from Nigeria shows that soccer is almost exclusively watched by men; only 4% of women claimed to have watched a game in the past seven days compared to 51% of men. This is substantially more skewed than Ghana, which had much higher female viewership.
In Nigeria, the most popular tournaments after the World Cup are the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, which gets a quarter of the city watching them. Similarly in Ghana, the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League are the most popular tournaments after the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations but the split is slightly different; 43% watch the English Premier League and 41% the UEFA Champions League.
For those wishing to buy advertising during these broadcasts, Pinpoint also identifies where these tournaments are watched, but this information is available to subscribers only.
“Media investment in African countries is substantial. But there is little, if any, accurate or stable media consumption data. As more businesses develop their African footprint, this data is necessary to make the right media investment and sponsorship decisions,” explained Peter Searll, Dashboard’s managing partner.
“This type of information is long overdue and typically difficult to find. Technology has allowed us to overcome the traditional barriers to collecting this type data. We have a lot of experience in research methodology and we understand of the depth of insight needed to design the right media placement strategy. We are well placed to tackle and solve this issue. And we’re eager to expand. With Ghana and Nigeria in the bag, we’ll be starting in Kenya next, and future reach will be led predominantly by market demand.”
Dashboard collates and reports the Pinpoint data via an interactive web interface which allows users to personalise their view of the information, as well as simply export it for sharing and planning purposes.
One of the biggest benefits of Pinpoint is that the data is available within two weeks after field, enabling media decisions to be made within a relevant time frame. Typically much media data is only available months after the research, making it more of a rear view mirror than a current dashboard. Media planners need timely, accurate, rich data to make truly useful decisions.
