Consumer Connection System (CCS) at the Forefront of Consumer Research in Kenya

The economy’s instability due to recessions, budget cuts and dollar fluctuations have hit marketing budgets hard. One, therefore, needs to start thinking about consumers, bearing in mind that they have less to spend.

Brands need to ensure that they are using the right approach to target consumers. With smaller budgets, measurement and targeting the correct audience has become even more vital in today’s economy.

Businesses need to see the value in researching consumer behaviour and attitudes, in order to make informed decisions for campaigns. This will result in saving cost and increasing ROI.

As the Insights and Innovations Director at Dentsu Aegis Network SSA, working closely with Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya, we saw the need in bringing the trademarked Dentsu Aegis Network consumer, lifestyle and product survey, Consumer Connection System (CCS) to Kenya.

CCS enables brands to not only deliver more precise targeting by better understanding of the core consumers’ relationship with a category, but also identifying the relevance of 80+ Paid, Owned and Earned touch points to the specific group.

With Kenya’s population set to rise to 52 million by 2020, the market is becoming saturated, thus, making brands visible has become more challenging.

On the contrary, such a large market size holds endless opportunity to drive reach and recruitment for brands. This emerging lifestyle of the consumer is reassuring for businesses if you actively take the time to understand their (consumer) behaviour.

“The challenge facing advertisers and marketing professionals in Kenya is remaining relevant in the face of a fundamental change in consumer preferences and behaviour. This has led to more and more industries waking up to the need for data and analytics to gain new insights, increase revenues and drive efficiencies. But few businesses are yet to really unlock the full potential in Kenya. We are finding tremendous power in CCS data; it enables better decision making, debunks unsubstantiated assumptions and creates wiser media budget allocations,” said Christopher Madison, CEO Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya.

Within such a large market, CCS is able to integrate consumer insight, activate planning and buying so as to accurately feed communication strategy and tactical media planning. This bespoke, consumer centric, insight and planning system is specifically designed to help Dentsu Aegis Network, its Network Brands (Carat, Isobar, iPropsect, Vizeum and Posterscope) and clients, target their communication messages and optimise their media investments more effectively across Kenya and the rest of the globe.

Understanding how consumers behave and feel when accessing multiple media channels, gives the power back to your brand. This ensures budgets and resources are distributed correctly to guarantee the most effective engagement.

It is the only consumer study of its kind tangibly linked to the off and online planning and buying process. The output of our nationally representative urban sample, feeds into other tools in the ‘system’ and allows us to overlay various data sources over the ‘benchmark’ study. This agility gives Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya an accurate understanding of the dynamic consumer ecosystems accustomed to each market.

Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya will administer the localised CCS Benchmark questionnaire to a representative urban sample of over 3300 Kenyan consumers spanning eight key consumer regions. Whilst global by design, the questionnaire is localised to cater for the media and consumer nuances that characterise the Kenyan marketing and media landscape.

Respondents across SEC segments will be completing answers to questions which cover: demographics, psychographics and attitudinal statements, brands, views on advertising, technology access and ownership, media reach and reaction variables across TV, Radio, magazines and newspapers, OOH, internet/digital, cinema and mobile.

Dentsu Aegis Network will gain good insight into consumer OOH behaviours including shopping, modes of travel and time spent travelling, event attendance and visits to various consumer destinations.

The CCS Benchmark Survey is unique in that it not only addresses the media reach dimension of consumer behaviour, but also covers the reaction to this reach through an investigation into their notice and engagement experiences with different types of ads, ad formats and categories. It further measures the usage, influence and effect of numerous channels.

Unlike other syndicated research studies, the key output of the CCS Benchmark data is the foundation into Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya’s advanced communications planning tool called CCS Planner.

Dawn Rowlands, CEO of Dentsu Aegis Network Sub Saharan Africa stated: “With a powerful data source like CCS, a convergence planning discipline powered by an experienced and passionate team, this launch will certainly give Dentsu Aegis Network Kenya the birds-eye view of the consumer landscape in Kenya, allowing us to navigate the media landscape using the best research tool available to help our clients and their brands increase their bottom line.”

This article was wrriten by Byron John. Byron is the Insight & Innovation Director of Dentsu Aegis Network, Sub Saharan Africa. He will be speaking at the Launch of Consumer Connection System (CCS) in Kenya. Date to be confirmed.