“Build it and they will come” — one of the most persistent, and flawed, beliefs in e-commerce. It’s a tempting narrative: launch a website, run a few ads, and watch the orders roll in.
But in today’s ultra-competitive marketing landscape — where the stakes are high, attention is scarce, and technology is rewriting the rules — that strategy falls short. Critically short.
Especially now, as the goalposts shift again. Brand is back, and authority, trust and reputation are once again front and centre. Even Google says so.
The first wave of digital
Let’s rewind for a moment. Digital marketing rose to fame in the 2010s and matured in the early 2020s. We all remember that race to rank #1 on Google — first came keywords, then performance spend. SEO became the go-to tactic and digital was synonymous with growth.
The faster the click, the better the win.
But ironically, in a world now dominated by AI, deepfakes and content at scale, we find ourselves returning to something far older: the power of authenticity, humanity and brand connection.
Today, AI can write the copy, generate the visuals, even design the campaign — but only humans build brand trust. Only humans connect emotionally.
And in a marketplace where AI-generated noise is growing louder by the day, that trust becomes your ultimate differentiator.
E-commerce is booming, but is your brand ready?
South Africa’s e-commerce industry continues to grow, currently sitting at around 6% of total retail – approximately R400 billion in Rand terms. And there’s more growth to come as more consumers come online via mobile.
But as more brands (both local and global) chase the digital consumer, there’s a growing gap between online effort and online effectiveness. Pumping media spend into conversion funnels doesn’t work if the consumer doesn’t already trust you.
- Reputation is the new landing page.
- Brand love is the new conversion hack.
Consumers today don’t just want convenience — they want confidence. They want to know who you are, what you stand for, and why they should believe you. And with AI making it harder and harder to tell real from fake, that brand equity becomes your anchor.
Case in point: MMA SMARTIES 2024
A shining example of this balance between brand and performance came through at the inaugural MMA SMARTIES Sub-Saharan Africa 2024 Awards, where The Foschini Group (TFG) was named Brand of the Year. Their ‘precision marketing’ approach reached over 30 million customers, combining AI-driven personalisation with real, human-centred brand experiences.
TFG didn’t just push messages — they connected. They built brand equity upstream, and performance success followed. That’s what modern e-commerce needs: not either/or, but both.
The data backs it up
The MMA’s Brand as Performance (BaP) research reinforces this shift. It proves what many marketers have intuitively felt for years — that brand marketing isn’t some fuzzy, long-game “nice to have.” It’s a critical performance driver.
- Campaigns rooted in brand equity deliver 25–100% higher ROI across performance channels.
- Consumers are far more likely to convert when they already feel emotionally or cognitively connected to a brand.
- Over-investment in performance marketing (without brand support) can result in ROI erosion of 20–50%.
The recommendation? A 40/60 brand-to-performance spend ratio, depending on category and maturity. In other words: performance thrives when brand has paved the way.
What this means for marketing today
There was a time when brand was considered intangible, immeasurable, even fluffy. That’s over. In today’s marketing reality — where AI can imitate everything but authenticity — brand is the differentiator.
What we’re seeing is a much-needed rebalancing. Marketers are beginning to realise that you can’t scale performance without trust, and you can’t convert customers who don’t know who you are.
Yes, e-commerce is growing. Yes, performance media is powerful.
But brand trust is what makes all of that work.
Sagren Pather is executive head: marketing, platforms and channel management at Standard Bank.
The MMA’s flagship awards event – The SMARTIES – recognises and honours brands, businesses and tech enablers that are implementing AI and other tech innovations that measurably drive tangible business impact. This year, the MMA’s SMARTIES SA & SSA Gala will be held on 8 May 2025 at The Galleria in Eastgate, Sandton, starting at 5:30 PM. Guests can look forward to a spectacular evening where the industry unites to pay tribute to the most innovative and impactful marketing campaigns across the continent. To book tickets please contact the Smarties SA Team on: smartiessa@mmaglobal.com
