Taxi advertising awareness high in urban townships

The Consumer Watch 2004 survey is intent on establishing brand loyalty and attitudes towards advertising in townships by surveying 200 LSM 4-6 households in the Soweto, Vosloorus and Soshanguwe areas.

Big brand names are favoured by 62% of households surveyed, believing that they offer quality, last longer and go further. When asked if they pay attention to various forms of advertising, taxis ranked high with 62%, whilst trains and buses scored 60% and 50% respectively.

Furthermore, 44% of respondents indicated that they are aware of and watch Rank TV. This figure is especially prominent in the Soweto area with 98% awareness among the community being recorded.

Pieter Groenewald, Managing Director of ComutaNet is pleased with the results, "It is great to see the positive impact ComutaNet's various media platforms have on brand awareness. We have always known that samplings at taxi ranks are a big draw card and extremely effective but to have those results reinforced by an independent research company is very rewarding."

Product samples at taxi ranks are another of ComutaNet's specialities and it is clear that these promotions are highly successful. Of those surveyed, 19% had received product samples at a taxi rank and were able to recall the following brands: Colgate Herbal, Lipton's Tea, Sunlight soap powder, Lemon Lite, Carlton toilet paper, Dove, Omo, Surf, Protex, Schweden Bitter and Dawn body lotion.

According to the survey, free samples handed out at taxi ranks encouraged 72% of respondents to purchase the product. One particular person surveyed said, 'I might not have splashed out on the product otherwise, but once I saw how good it was, I tried it'.

Responses regarding advertising in their communities included, 'it is a very professional way of reaching people', 'entertains, educates and gives information', 'through advertising we often see new products or improvements that we want to try' and 'there are many people around informal settlements who don't have TV, so without community advertising they wouldn't see these ads'. 40% of respondents said that they were influenced to purchase the advertised products.