Consumer Behaviour Topend Consumer Segment in South Africa

1.1  TopEnd consumers have massive spending power.  According to Professor Simpson, from the UCT Unilever Institute, TopEnders spend over R300 billion annually and are therefore responsible for a third of South Africa’s spend (Nevill, 2011). TopEnd consumers are growing exponentially, in number however also in value and are an essential segment for the country’s economic welfare (Simpson, 2015).  Marketers need to tap into this growing segment and gain trust within their community network as they strongly rely on other opinions and by winning over their trust from the beginning brands will have a better chance in the future.  This consumer segment is also seen to be iconic to the rest of the population and therefore by targeting the TopEnd consumer’s marketers are actually also indirectly targeting the aspiring segments.  For these reasons marketers should not underestimate the 3% population.

1.2  The first advertisement’s strategy is to bring the consumer to laugh.  Humour is a common marketing strategy in South Africa for the TopEnd segment.  TopEnd consumers are very skeptical of being marketed to and distracting the consumers by using humour will make them feel less targeted, making the advert more effective. The first advertisement tries to convey the daily life of this segment. The flower man symbolizes people constantly hustling TopEnders to buy things from them; possibly portraying people begging and selling on the streets or the usual marketers (also playing on irony).  The advertisement is trying to connect to these consumers on a personal level by showing them they understand their frustration yet turning it into humour and playing on irony is where the TopEnders will appreciate the advertisement.  The marketing strategy in the second advertisement is less subtle about targeting and more focused on illustrating their product adding value to consumer’s lives. The advert shows the new Catch-up service and offers this with a wide selection of connectivity options, from a television, to a laptop and even smartphones. TopEnders want to be connected everywhere and this advertisement shows the easy accessibility of this service. Furthermore and possibly the strongest point is that TopEnd consumers are highly concerned with time. Time is utmost value to them and with the convenient Catch-up option the advertisement will successfully reach this segment.  

1.3  DSTV Explorer offers consumers the ability to be connected whenever where ever.  This is very valuable to this segment as they are constantly online.  As mentioned above time is of the essence to this consumer segment and being connected everywhere they are able to be more ‘free’ and not stuck in front of their computers.  DSTV Catch-up will satisfy the same need as it offers remote recording making the occasion to watch TV simple, convenient and in the interest of the viewer by accommodating them to watch their shows in their own time. Online banking appeals to this market in much the same way as it is offering the value of saving time to these consumers.  Instead of the hassle having to go into a Bank and stand in a queue they are now able to go online and do the necessary banking more efficiently.  Online banking is convenient and saves time for TopEnders making it a valuable service to them.