Thanks to the industry I find myself in Mxit has become sort of a buzz word here in South Africa. Many of my older readers might only have heard of it before and have not had first hand experience in it.

I have though. Last night. And it was a catastrophe. I was having coffee with two girl friends last night when Mxit came up in a conversation. It’s either that, or Facebook, or both. I promise you, within 5 minutes both of them were logged into Mxit and checking out the territory.

I didn’t have my phone there, because quite frankly, I don’t like carrying one around so I was left out of this seemingly mesmerizing digital world.

But they were giggling and comparing and daring and seemed to generally be having a great time. I left soon after, because…who wouldn’t, right?

And I thought I’d give this beast a go. I logged in and was looking for this special place called Jazz Café. Couldn’t find it. Keep in mind people, I am a web strategist and these things are pretty arbitrary for our minds.

Right, so I consult with the one girl friend on what to do, on Mxit of course. Dynamic Zone is where I needed to go. 20 minutes later I realized my phone can’t perform two Mxit commands after another. 10pm.

I had to log out and then log back in to further my venture.

Still doesn’t work. So I consult with her again. Ahhh, moola. As in Mxit money. I buy 200 credits and it cost me R 2. Fantastic.

Log out. Log in.

Great, have my moola and my mojo still in tact. Off to that dynamic zone again. I’m excited. Fingers itchy. Got into the zone pretty effortlessly, but absolutely no Jazz Café. Consult with friend again and was told to go through the Grown Up section.

Log out. Log in.

Right, straight to dynamic zone. Salivating stuff, I tell you. Enter the grown up section and voila!!!!! Jazz Café. Tried to pop into one of the chat rooms but nooooooooo!!! Register my friend. 200 moola. Fair enough, it’s only R 2. I register. I accept the Terms and Conditions. I’m older than 18. I try to get in. Damnit.

Log out. Log in.

Dynamic Zone, Grown Up, Jazz Café. I’m turning 28 and my thumb feels like I’m 80 years old with arthritis at this stage. Accept Terms & Conditions, yes I’m 18. Sorry, your moola is finished sir. Of course! I used it to register. Back to buying moola. Doesn’t work.

Log out. Log in.

Buy moola. 500 credits this time, just to be safe. Dynamic Zone, Grown Up, Jazz Café. Accept Terms and Conditions, yes I’m still 18, yes I’ll be safe and never reveal my pin. Yes, plllleeeeaaase just let me in!!!! 10:50pm.

10 rooms to choose from. I choose one. Room full, wait in the queue? Hell no!

Next room. Room full. Wait? Hell no!

Next room. Yes. Welcome CaptainDanger. Have a nice time.

Untimely beep indicates my battery is flat. 11:25pm

Log out. Charger left at the office. Overslept. Late for work.

“The elite performers in life spend their time centered on creating and building value rather than on making money. They seek out ways to enrich others, and they live to improve the lot of those who have the privilege of doing business with them. They take themselves out of the equation and exist, in many ways, for others. The irony is that they’re the ones who become the most successful and wealthy.”

Trust, compassion and understanding are among others, three fundamental principles in life. If “happiness and success are the unintended yet inevitable byproducts of a life spent creating value for other human beings”, then surely that should manifest onto business as well.

Marketers sometimes forget that the road to riches lies not in the chasing of money, but in the delivery of a product or service that fulfills the need of the consumer. Instead of feeding the supply and demand chain, we often tend to maneuver our product into the fast lane to expedite turnaround time and secure greater returns.

In life though, every single relationship is based on trust and mutual respect. I don’t believe there has ever been a case of brand loyalty that was based around anything else besides that.

“Good companies focus purely on profits, great companies focus on their higher purpose – to create results for their customers and make a difference in their lives”.

These all seem like sugar coated motivational catch phrases, mainly because the simplicity if it all is so profound that our cluttered minds simply cannot comprehend it.

Marketing has become such a competitive industry that even the most sincere attempts at honesty are greeted with skepticism. Consumers have long since been baffled into a conundrum of deceit and lies, that for any marketer the challenge of making and honest dime probably doesn’t seem worth it.

So we don’t. We wake up in the morning, put on our suit of armor and leave our conscience at home as we head off to work. And many of us succeed in reaping financial awards far greater than our wildest expectations, and yet, these pieces of paper buy us everything besides happiness, contentment and purpose.

“There is no place for weakness in the business world” is commonly thrown in the faces of individuals who dare show signs of humanity and compassion. “It’s a fast paced world out there, and if you don’t keep up, you’ll be left for dead” is another.

But I believe we as marketers have a primary duty toward our clients and customers to carry their interests at heart and deliver a service that adds value to their lives, rather than the profit margins of our own firms.

The irony of course, as mentioned in the quotes from “The Saint, the surfer and the CEO”, is that serving the need of your customers will ultimately enrich your life and your bank balance.

In a recent article in the popular Afrikaans Sunday paper, Rapport, Marlene Malan covered the effect advertising has on children.

This topic has been referenced ad nauseum, but I couldn’t help but question the essence of the article and the featured guests’ interpretation of advertising aimed at the youth. I’d like to highlight a couple of statements and give my personal opinion on this.

Marlene initiates the article by recalling some popular television commercials, among others a carbonated drink promoting and encouraging youngsters to participate in a singing competition.

Another features a very popular sunglass commercial with a sexy blond presenting the youth with the image of being cool and sexy.

Go like there’s no tomorrow, Get in on credit and a host of other catch phrases infiltrate the minds of the youth and persuade them that inner happiness is borne from outer appearances. I have no objections with the crux of this matter, because advertising is meant to influence.

However, advertising is here to stay. And children will be confronted with more direct advertising, greater influencing messages and stronger reference to celebrities as the industry becomes more competitive and product suppliers increase.

Dr. ST Potgieter, a Cape Town guidance counselor believes it will benefit parents to realize that the advertising industry has now become a science. Extreme research is conducted to increase the effect and influential values of advertising.

Ezelle du Plessis, the coordinator: internal communications at the Northlink College in the Western Cape reckons parents are faced with a daily battle against powerful media exposure to the youth.

Mobile marketing, print media with strong reference to idols and celebrities diminishes the importance of basing decisions on social relationships and moral values.

These are valid points, but it’s the undercurrent of the article that annoys me and places a very competitive advertising industry in a bad light.

“Before children can even speak, they start mimicking television commercials. Parents brag about how well their little ones handle a computer long before they can even read.”

It’s odd, but something in this message indicates that it might not be the advertising industry that allows these children to “pollute” their minds with this supposed nonsense.

“Our children’s social manners are also skewed, because they’re constantly occupied by Facebook and Mxit. Where it was previously bad manners to sms in company, it is now acceptable.”

I don’t recall when it was ever acceptable to sms during conversation or when in company of others. The reason kids do this, is simply because they weren’t disciplined. It’s a bad habit and again I fail to see how Facebook or Mxit made these manners acceptable or even constitutes such behaviour.

“Condom advertising carries the message that it’s ok to have sex when you’re young, as long as you do it safely.”

I simply do not recall a single condom commercial (at least on SA television) promoting teenage sex. Most of them are geared toward the prevention of AIDS. If you’re going to engage in sex though, be sure to have protection.

“It might contradict family values, but (advertising) conditions a child to believe that these actions are actually OK.”

“Parents don’t know their children well enough. In addition to that it is the messages that movies and television portray that violence is a problem solver and that material belongings bring happiness.”

We live in a world where advertising, the media and even people from the street have the ability to negatively influence a child. It is up to the parents to educate them in a manner that instills family and moral values.

The real problem here is parents who switch on the television for their children, or buy them expensive mobile phones to keep them busy, while they rush off to their Pilates classes.

“It is easier these days to satisfy a child’s demands borne from advertising, than it is to teach them moral and social values.”

Now that I can believe…

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration of consumer freedom in the history of our nation.

I have a dream that one day…

- The mobile phone will serve as universal remote control to all transactions, banking, personal and internet communications and combine all feature sets of modern day technology to replace or complement computer desktops and laptops.

- All television commercials will have sms call to action. I believe this will once again place relevance to television advertising where consumer convenience is placed as top priority.

- That mobile networks, banking institutions and courier services could work together to enable smoother transactions where consumers would once again have time to spend on more important things in life.

The idea is for a (television) commercial to drive a call to action via sms to place an order. The order will be processed via the mobile network where the user could be identified, bank account looked up and the amount debited from the account automatically. The sms will determine whether the consumer requires delivery and a phone call would confirm delivery of the product.

- The television would be connected to an online profile where keywords or tags would determine the display of relevant commercials on television. This will be aid toward the death of mass marketing and a giant leap toward relevance marketing.

Relevant advertising would improve sales for the product suppliers and the mobile phone purchase mechanism would increase instant gratification purchasing.

- The weekly subscription plague of ringtones, love messages, naked women, cheap talk and tarot readings would find a better business model where the fine print wouldn’t be invisible to even someone with 20/20 vision. I believe there is a market for it, but due to their underhand tactics their approach borders on fraudulent.

- Our mobile phones would serve as debit / credit card, driver’s license and ID. I was told that this would be problematic due to security reasons, but you have to protect your wallet anyway, don’t you?

- It will become law for vehicle registrations to be connected to the mobile phone and bank accounts in order for traffic violations to be registered automatically and fines deducted from the owners bank account immediately.

This would ensure a more loyal and safe approach to driving, decrease road accidents and would relieve our taxes because of the government’s inability to retrieve its outstanding debt.

I have a dream that one day my children will live in a nation where they will not be preoccupied by the questions posed to us as consumers, but that they will live by the answers that technology provides.

I have a dream today!

Do you?