Tuesday, 24 May 2016, was an exciting day for the Department of Marketing Management’s BEM 356 Practical Project students. The extraordinary Ms Mbali Zondo stood before the class, not only as an account manager at Cerebra (a social media agency), but also as a proud alumnus, having completed her BCom (Hons) Marketing Management degree at UP.

After hearing her impressive CV, and with the knowledge that she is currently busy with her second honours degree (in strategic brand communication at Vega), the marketing students were very keen to hear her presentation on digital marketing.

‘A new era of marketing’ is what comes to mind when one hears the words ‘digital marketing’. Ms Zondo explained digital marketing as “the use of online channels/platforms with the purpose of connecting marketers and consumers”. She pointed out that brands should first be successful offline before they can be successful online, and stressed the importance of influence in digital marketing.

“Most organisations measure their digital presence by considering reach. But how useful is reach if it doesn’t result in influence? I mean, that is the whole point of any campaign, right?”, she said.

When asked what the key to a successful digital marketing campaign is, Ms Zondo responded: “Relationship is important; the way an organisation interacts with and takes their audience into consideration will either make or break them.”

Before this lecture, many students thought of social media, and not of digital marketing, as an entire world. We now realise that digital marketing has evolved from being ‘the new kid on the block’ to a whole branch of marketing in a relatively short time. That’s the beauty and the daunting nature of technology.

Ms Zondo gave an insightful lecture and, for some students, a peek into their futures as marketers, making their futures seem more realistic. The students are now looking forward to the next phase of the Bridgestone project: digital marketing!

Third-year marketing student Ms Ramohoebo (left) with guest speaker Ms Zondo (right)