Broadcasting
Modern Customer Engagement: Keeping up with Gen Y and Z
By Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corp.
The term ‘customer engagement’ is arguably one of the biggest buzzwords in today’s business landscape. It’s so widely used that when many people hear the phrase, they interpret it as a checkbox item. It is, however, an ongoing crucial relationship between a company and its customers, which is determined by the customer’s preferences and behaviour.
Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager, Africa, Zoho Corp
Customer engagement entails actively engaging with an audience through messaging that interests, educates or helps them, as well as encouraging two-way communication with your business. In short, it’s about figuring out what the customer wants and giving it to them at the right time.
This may appear to be a simple and straightforward task. However, in today’s world, where the majority of a business’s customer base is composed of the digital-native ‘millennials and zoomers’, the consumer has little patience for complicated processes in the name of customer engagement. So what does this mean for you as a business, and how can you adapt to this new market reality and ensure that your engagement techniques are actually engaging?
Preparing for a mobile-led shift
Mobile use has surpassed laptop use, and today’s target audience is more likely to look something up on their phones or tablets than on a device.
According to the GSMA’s The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa report, the mobile market in Sub-Saharan Africa will reach several significant milestones over the next five years: including half a billion mobile subscribers in 2021, 1 billion mobile connections in 2024, and 50% subscriber penetration by 2025. Over the next five years, the number of smartphone connections in Sub-Saharan Africa will nearly double to reach 678 million by the end of 2025, representing a 65% adoption rate.
It is, therefore, no longer an option to provide a mobile-friendly website or customer support portals – it is now a requirement.
Catering to the ‘always-connected’ generation
Being accessible to current and potential customers is the most important aspect of customer interaction. This is particularly challenging in today’s setting, where time and geography are no longer important and the customer expects businesses to be reachable at all hours of the day and night.
While the advent of chatbots has eliminated the need for businesses to hire additional employees to cover multiple shifts, bringing developers onboard to build bots that can meet multiple requirements can end up being costly too. Instead, try thinking along the lines of using a sales engagement software that provides easy-to-use features like drag-and-drop chatbot builders.
Making AI chatbots more human
Though chatbots were invented to free up staff from mundane tasks so they can focus on the more complex ones, research shows that customers find it harder to get issues resolved by AI chatbots. The ideal solution is an AI-driven chatbot that can greet prospects or customers, respond to small talk, and even understand common questions, regardless of the tone or words used, and respond to them using a company’s internally available documented resources. If the customer chooses to speak with a human agent, the AI-powered chatbot will forward the conversation to the team member.
Personalising your messaging without over targeting
While personalisation is widely regarded as the pinnacle of customer engagement, it’s all too easy at the same time to cross the line between being helpful and being intrusive when dealing with a more privacy-conscious generation of customers. So make sure your conversation is relevant and provide timely information to your most valuable customers right when they need it, like an offer for help after a failed transaction, or when they’ve spent a long time trying to decide between two products.
Achieving business zen with a unified customer view
Many of us fall prey to ad fatigue and endless re-targeting. While it’s frustrating, it throws light on the fact that customer data is still jumbled, redundant, or even mismanaged chunks of information. Businesses should make sure that they use a CRM tool that gives a holistic view of customer data, and helps avoid any missteps in data management and customer communication.
A customer engagement strategy is critical to the success of any business. Customers who are actively engaged not only spend more money, but also become a company’s best brand advocate and recommend the business to their friends, colleagues, and family.
FemyWalsh Limited, media conglomerate, is set to launch its flagship FM terrestrial radio station as it receives its licence from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
This adds yet another media asset to the FemyWalsh group, which already comprises SOUQ News TV, Walsh Radio Online, Terminal Seven Audio-Visual Studio and Walsh Photography.
Victor Walsh Oluwafemi, company CEO, and Dr Idahosa Osamhanze, vice president, were presented with the operational licence by Mr Charles Ebuebu director general NBC at the commission[s office in Abuja.
This move marks a significant expansion in FemyWalsh’s media footprint and paves the way for broader audience engagement and impact. With the addition of this new licence, FemyWalsh is poised to reach even more viewers and listeners across Nigeria.
The company’s commitment to delivering high-quality content and innovative programming remains unwavering.
According to Oluwafemi, acquiring the terrestrial FM radio licence underscores the group’s ambition of being the largest and most impactful media network across Nigeria, as well as the African region.
“Getting into the terrestrial radio space and securing the operational license represents a pivotal moment for the FemyWalsh group as we continue to evolve and innovate in the media landscape. Radio has long been a powerful medium for reaching diverse audiences, and we are thrilled to leverage this platform to amplify further our mission of empowering SMEs and driving economic growth in Nigeria.”
For his part, Osamhanze, who is the Vice President of the organisation, also made it known that this was a dream come true, and a representation of the company’s dedication to the long-term development of the Nigerian media space. “With this new initiative, FemyWalsh Limited is poised to make a significant contribution to the future of Nigerian media. We are thrilled for the opportunity to foster a thriving media landscape for years to come.”
FemyWalsh Limited is the owner of SOUQ News TV, a digital satellite channel licensed for broadcast in Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates.
The radio licence acquisition comes at a time when SOUQ News TV is experiencing rapid development and expansion, building on its established reputation for excellence in journalism and commitment to serving its viewers.
Broadcasting
Climate Action Africa Calls for Broader Stakeholder Collaboration to Address Nigeria’s Climate Crisis
Climate Action Africa (CAA), a leading advocate for climate resilience and sustainable development in Nigeria, has called for a more impactful and inclusive approach to tackling the country’s pressing climate challenges. This was the focus of the climate change media briefing held in Lagos, Nigeria, today.
With Nigeria facing significant vulnerability to rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and environmental degradation, CAA emphasizes the need for a united front across all stakeholder groups. Developing countries like Nigeria, and many others across Africa, face unique sets of challenges when it comes to climate change.
“Nigeria’s unique position and vast resources necessitate a comprehensive strategy that leverages the expertise and commitment of every sector,” says Grace Oluchi Mbah, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Climate Action Africa.
“From government and industry leaders to scientists, community organizations, and individual citizens, we all have a role to play in building a more resilient and sustainable future.”
The importance of fostering collaboration in areas like policy development and implementation, innovation and technology, community mobilization and education, and investment and financing were highlighted during the media briefing. These are the challenges that the Climate Action Africa Forum 2024 (CAAF24) is set to address.
The upcoming Climate Action Africa Forum (CAAF24), scheduled for June 19-20 in Lagos, serves as a testament to CAA’s commitment to fostering collaboration. The forum will bring together key stakeholders from across Africa to discuss innovative solutions and develop concrete action plans for tackling climate change.
The forum will introduce the Deal Room, a dynamic marketplace connecting Africa’s brightest innovators with forward-thinking investors to accelerate impactful deals for climate action and sustainable development. Following the conference, CAA will partner with Silicon Valley based Founder Institute, the world’s largest startup accelerator to provide ongoing support to African innovators in a post accelerator programme.
“CAAF24 provides a valuable platform for knowledge sharing, collaborative problem-solving, and forging strategic partnerships,” says Mbah. “By working together, we can ensure that Nigeria, and Africa as a whole, emerges as a leader in building a sustainable and climate-resilient future.”
Climate Action Africa urges all stakeholders to take a proactive stance in addressing the climate crisis. Through collaborative efforts, innovation, and a shared commitment to a sustainable future, Nigeria can mitigate the impact of climate change and pave the way for a more prosperous and resilient tomorrow.
CANAL+ has made a mandatory offer to acquire all the issued shares of the MultiChoice Group it doesn’t already own for $1.9 billion.
CANAL+ was required to make the offer after acquiring 35 percent ownership of the company, now offering $6.70 per share, exceeding the regulatory minimum price of $5.63.
The two companies have entered an agreement for the mandatory offer, and MultiChoice shareholders will gain significant value for their shares, constituting a 66.66 percent premium to the closing price of $$4.02 on February 1, the last trading day prior to the delivery of CANAL+’s non-binding indicative offer.
The offer is conditional on customary regulatory conditions and will comply with all other relevant regulatory requirements.
CANAL+’s ambition is to build a global entertainment leader with Africa at its heart that will support the commercial development of Africa’s sporting and cultural industries and bring authentic African stories to global audiences.
“Following constructive engagement with MultiChoice, we are pleased to have issued a joint firm intention announcement to make an offer today, representing a significant premium for the shareholders of MultiChoice,” said Maxime Saada, chairman and CEO of CANAL+ Group.
“CANAL+ is confident in making this offer—at a level which far exceeds the minimum required by regulation—due to the incredible future we believe that CANAL+ and MultiChoice can build together.
“Through combining our companies, we will be well positioned to invest even more in local productions and sports content, supporting the world-leading and vibrant creative ecosystem on the African continent and all over the world, and producing even more high-quality and compelling local stories. The complementary geographies, considerable scale and strengthened capabilities achieved by the combination of these two great companies will ensure that Africa can tell her own stories on her own terms both locally and globally.
“We are excited about these opportunities, which will be supported by further investment in technology, including the continued offering of a leading satellite service and rolling out more innovative streaming products.”
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