By Charles Lee Mathews. Sadika Fakir and Keegan Alicks talk about the big lessons learned this year, and what trends tomorrow will bring.
Integration and collaboration are high on the list of these two brand owners. Sadika Fakir, digital and media executive at Absa, calls for unified media measurement in 2025 and says integrating media and creativity is everything. Keegan Alicks, the national advertising and promotions executive at The SPAR Group says the power of storytelling will help the retailer’s new positioning, and echoes Fakir’s call for synthesis between marketing, creative and media.
Key lessons from Absa
Content becomes big media
Put your customers and customer insight at the centre of your media or channel choices, and remember creative and channel planning go hand-in-hand, says Sadika Fakir of Absa. “The creative messaging must be aligned and fit for purpose for channels,” she says. Named one of Scopen’s top ten most admired marketing professionals in 2024, Fakir adds that integration between online and offline is critical.
The big media channels for 2024, says Fakir, were digital video, digital outdoor and content creators. “Digital video like YouTube and TikTok continues to dominate and grow due to shifts and growth of digital penetration, and the growth of usage of these platforms.” She says that television stabilised off of the back of loadshedding. “Ratings have stabilised, making TV one of the most impactful and cost-effective channels.”
For Fakir, the “immense growth and usage” of digital outdoor comes with a warning. “We risk the platform becoming too cluttered because of the channel being faster, cheaper and more efficient to get to market rather than static outdoor that carries higher production costs,” she says. Thanks to TikTok the use of influencers is growing fast, Fakir adds.
Broaden the channel mix
What kept media teams up at night in 2024? “Budget is always a challenge given the objectives we seek to achieve. We had to review the optimal channel mix, and benchmarks and identify new approaches to achieve these objectives. Absa overcame this by looking at channel strategy across bought, owned and earned ecosystems instead of heavy reliance on just bought media,” she explains.
Absa transitioned to a new media agency in 2024. Starcom (Publicis) now manages the brand’s media across ten markets including South Africa. “There are always challenges onboarding, settling and still maintaining momentum,” Fakir says. The team tackled this head-on with a tailored project plan to keep each market on track during the switch.
“Driving media innovation and creativity will always be challenging in a highly competitive space. We are focusing more on the best use of channel now to ensure optimal and creative use of the medium,” Fakir says.
2025 will see greater integration between media and creative
Looking ahead to 2025, personalisation, influencers and branded content will lead the way. “We will obsess about customer journeys to ensure we drive conversions and advocacy through seamless user experience,” she says.
For brands, Fakir’s advice is this: “Ensure there is integration and alignment between all agency partners and media owners,” she says, adding that marketers should “measure everything even if a benchmark does not exist.” Accountability for every cent spent on media is everything for Absa.
“Support Black-owned and Black female-owned suppliers. This is the only way to grow our industry,” she says, adding that enterprise supplier development is critical for real growth in the media industry. She calls for marketing and agency teams to “understand the brilliant basics of the channels they recommend”. Stay sharp on changing audience consumption habits, with ongoing learning at every level.
But first, be kind
Fakir’s parting advice is to veer toward compassion. “Focusing on the softer aspects like empathy and kindness to each other is critical,” says Sadika Fakir.
But don’t mistake kindness for loose standards. “Agency teams must be accountable and apply high levels of quality control,” she adds.
Key lessons learned from Spar
For Keegan Alicks, of The SPAR Group, 2024’s biggest takeaway was the importance of “storytelling that is authentic to the brand and that truly connects with audiences.”
SPAR’s fun “ Barry the Brit” Christmas campaign is a strong example of this power of narrative, which is why the editors at MarkLives chose this commercial for November’s #AdOfTheMonth — authentic narrative makes brands memorable and approachable.
Data drives personalisation
Alicks says another key learning is “the importance of data-driven insights to enable personalisation-at-scale that ensure more relevant and noticeable or stand-out campaigns.” He
adds that “multichannel and integrated campaigns remain essential”.
“The rapid changes in the media landscape require brands to pivot constantly. The growing importance of data calls for more informed media strategies and closer alignment between creative and production teams to enhance campaign authenticity and relevance,” Alicks says. “To achieve this, teams need to work together, closer than ever.”
Fresh from posting a R152.3 billion turnover and R2.1 billion pre-tax profit in late November 2024, SPAR is setting its sights on the high-end market. The retail group plans to take on Checkers and Woolworths with a new “bespoke high-end” private label range targeting affluent local shoppers.
Staying ahead beats playing catch-up
The biggest challenge for SPAR in 2024 was competitors’ rapid acculturation to new digital media. “Richer data provides a competitive edge, and brands must stay ahead by pre-empting trends rather than reacting to them.” He says this pushes brands to create unique and authentic strategies that resonate with customers. “Clear objectives and staying attuned to market changes helped us maintain brand integrity and competitiveness in 2024,” he says.
Speaking to the issue of media measurement, Alicks says he hopes 2025 will bring “wider adoption of standardised measurement tools for digital ads. Tools like Moat and IAS are underutilised, and improvements are needed in measuring influencer and social media campaigns. This should go beyond engagement to assess sales impact, brand lift, and long-term customer loyalty.”
- Adland calls for retail media standardisation (Sept 2024)
“Cross-industry collaboration is vital. Creative and media teams must work together to deliver strong outputs driven by data insights. Collaboration ensures campaigns resonate with audiences and are seen in the right places at the right times,” Alicks says.
AI powers personal connections
But what will 2025 bring in terms of media trends? “Greater adoption of e-commerce platforms like Amazon, direct-to-consumer websites, and retail media networks. Increased emergence of connected TVs and streaming services,” he says.
His message to brands is clear: “Embrace AI. With the growing importance of data, performance measurement, and reporting across multiple platforms, AI is critical to achieving personalisation at scale. Without it, progress will be slower, and opportunities may be missed.”
Both Alicks and Fakir point to one make-or-break factor: getting creative and media teams to work as one. As brand owners push for more joined-up thinking in 2025, the old siloed approach won’t cut it. For more on this read: Adland’s broken business model.
Charles Lee Mathews is a contributing writer to MarkLives MEDIA and MarkLives.com, as well as co-founder of The Writers, a writing consultancy.
