Consumer brands and customer-centric companies are being progressively encouraged to embrace the “digital revolution” of marketing and brand communication, shifting marketing and advertising focus from traditional forms of media towards social media, mobile telephony and other progressive technology-focused customer platforms, the seventh Digital Edge Conference, in Johannesburg, heard on Wednesday.

The event, which saw presentations centered on digital “storytelling” from filmmakers, commercial directors, producers, digital strategists and advertising agency heads, looked at how best consumers could be influenced in a digital age saturated with multimodal media platforms and messaging.

Emerging most significantly from the day’s events was the appeal for companies to migrate from consumer messaging that was based on a linear communication path from company to customer towards one that viewed the customer as a collaborator or co-creator in the identity of the company or standalone brand itself.

Companies could no longer rely on the in-house design of brands and brand messaging in silos, but were encouraged to appeal to their customer base to participate in the crafting of the brand identity, establishing a two-way flow of communication that allowed customers to remain active participants.

Social experience management software provider Lithium Technologies chief scientist Dr Michael Wu described modern marketing as “conversations” that required companies to engage, enlist and monetise consumers.

Enlistment involved leveraging the options and feedback of customers and required a strong online presence and understanding of the importance of constant communication.

“Business [traditionally] hasn’t had much experience in terms of engagement with the customer, but most companies know now they need to engage. . . and enlistment is like another gear.

“If you engage with your customer, you are already on the road to getting there. . . but engagement is not one activity; its many things and actions online. If you can get the customer to co-create, then you have enlisted them. . . the most compelling stories are brand narratives that are co-created with customers,” Wu reasoned.

Advertising agency Aqua head Brent Shahim reminded the audience that brands now needed to remain hyper-socially aware, particularly in light of an ever-growing youth market that was becoming increasingly more sophisticated and technologically savvy.

This was of particular importance in the African context – a continent where, according to the African Union (AU), 65% of the population was under the age of 35 years and over 35% were between the ages of 15 and 35 years.

The AU further projected that, by 2020, 75% of the population would, on average, be 20 years old.

Also central to accessing the continent’s emerging middle-class consumer base were marketing and communication strategies that looked to tap into the growing number of mobile telephony users on the continent.

According to a recent Frost & Sullivan study, Africa currently boasted some 400-million unique mobile subscribers, providing multiple opportunities for digitally-focused brand strategies.

“Most people in Africa don’t have WiFi, fixed line telephony or computers, so they connect with their mobile first or exclusively. So when we, as advertisers, assume that [our customer base] has access to the Internet through the use of computers, it’s a form of Internet narcissism,” explained University of the Witwatersrand visiting researcher Indra de Lanerolle.

He added that the bulk of African mobile users were on limited data plans, which meant that they were averse to using a portion of their data on a link that would provide access to an advertisement.

“They will consume digital ads only after really thinking about it, because they are essentially paying to view it. Data is expensive, which is one of the biggest blockages of digital storytelling,” De Lanerolle remarked during a discussion panel.

He further coined the catchphrase “pavement readers” in reference to mobile Internet users that were unwilling to using the “share” button on most websites, as this meant that they were placing the receiver of the link in a position in which they were also compelled to access the content and, therefore, use a portion of their data.

“We have found in this instance that users would rather download the advertisement and share it using bluetooth when in the vicinity of the person they want to share it with,” De Lanerolle explained.

Digital Edge 2015 was organised by banking group Nedbank and advertising agency Native VML.