#BrandManagerMonth: The Bizcommunity brand story

What brands are you personally responsible for?

Levin: I have the privilege of managing Bizcommunity’s brand image and communications as well consulting to some other retail brands in sub-Saharan Africa.

Does the Bizcommunity brand support any sub-brands?

Levin: Bizcommunity Publishing South Africa is the mother brand, which has given birth to sub-brands such as BizTrend Reports, BizTakeouts Radioshow and BizPressOffices, each of which have their own unique character, but need to fit into the overall Bizcommunity brand hierarchy.

What’s on your wish list for brand objectives for 2016

Levin: Branding is the glue that allows a company to hold fast to its mission and vision, to ensure all touchpoints and communications reinforce the perceptions of the brand name and what it stands for in the minds of stakeholders and the team. This year, Bizcommunity’s platforms, which have been in consolidation phase for a while, will provide a springboard from which to expand our scope. The team also recently moved into new premises in trendy Woodstock and we are hoping to use the newly renovated space as a flagship brand showcase.

What activations do you have planned for your brand stable for the year?

Levin: We will definitely be looking at innovation in our media partnerships and product offerings. Also improved means to deliver on our responsibility and brand promise to showcase and promote stakeholders within the broad-based B2B niche we have carved for ourselves in South Africa and Africa.

Is your brand using content as part of your marketing strategy?

Levin: B2B content is the heart and soul of Bizcommunity’s brand offering. We are continually working on new sticky content strategies, as well as nurturing and distributing the content from our stakeholder networks.

What do you see currently as the main challenges and opportunities for your brand sector?

Levin: Differentiation is key. Branding adds unique flavour and emotion to a parity category such as online digital media. Part of our challenge is to maintain Bizcommunity’s reputation as a premier Afrocentric media brand and to monitor consistency of brand tone and relevance across all touchpoints. The digital milieu is ever-changing. Its like the sport of surfing, continually evaluating which wave to catch and the need for tactics to allow you to stay on top and look stylish.

Have you hired any new team members this year, if so what sort of job descriptions have you filled?

Levin: In line with our brand promise of growing business communities, we have our hearts set on an expanded internship programme and will be rolling this out to find raw talent to support our community-building objectives.

What do you love most about your brand?

Levin: Bizcommunity positions itself somewhere between two other brands with red corporate identities – Swissair and Virgin – where the first is known for precision, excellence and stripped-down design, and the second for a maverick image, with licence to entertain, surprise and amuse. Biz is an ethical brand, with the responsibility of promoting sustainable initiatives in our region. I love that the Biz site has always been a democratic meeting place and the amazing knowledge sharing that goes on daily within our channels between professionally minded readers from jobseeking millennials to senior management. I also love that we are in the proud position to be able to showcase our amazing South African and African companies and individuals to a growing international readership, which now makes up 20% of our audience, proving the relevance of our content and region in a global context.

What do you love most about the South African consumer?

Levin: Being South African feels like being part of an elite club. I love the way South Africans continually defy stereotypes and the infinite potential for new cross-cultural typologies to be tapped.

What are your own favourite brands?

Levin: Personally, I like brands that celebrate their national or regional origins. The Italians really get this right – brand names such Ferrari, Gucci, Prada, Martini, Bulgari, Barilla, etc., have global relevance without sacrificing any national mystique. For me, the Indian identity of the Cobra Beer brand, breathes life into increasingly homogenous global brands. Brands are obliged to anticipate user experience and touchpoints. An example is Ferrero Rocher choccie balls, which differentiate the on-shelf and unwrapping interfaces from parity products. FR have also taken a transparent stance on only using sustainably sourced palm oil in their products. For me brands that cover these three bases – transparency of source, sustainability and user interface are favourites. It is no accident that some of my favourites – Apple, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are also some of the world’s biggest brand names, because they have anticipated interfaces to give consumers a seamless UX. Closer to home, we have to take hats off to Nando’s for their consistently fearless use of humour and passion for their South African/Portuguese origins, as well as to feisty local media brands such as The Mail&Guardian, The Daily Maverick, eNCA and of course Bizcommunity.

What inspires you, personally?

Levin: I am a Pan-Africanist who believes that Africa still has lessons to teach the world, am inspired by the creativity, ingenuity and resourcefulness of Africa and the fact that despite many adverse factors we still manage to excel in so many sectors. Perhaps there is a little bit of Mandela in all of us – we use adversity as a ladder to higher goals. I like to read real books, especially biographies. A Man of Good Hope, in which local author Jonny Steinberg so compassionately transcribes the story of Somalian refugee Asad Abdullahi’s flight across Africa to Cape Town, is a must read. After seeing the movie The True Cost, about the scale of the human and environmental costs in the “fast clothing” industry, I am inspired by local manufacturers and mindfulness in consumption. I think SA’s fashion and décor magazines, interior designers, coffee shops, yoga studios, organic farmers, NGO communities and much of the hospitality industry are getting it right in terms of global excellence.