Africa inbound summit: personalized marketing, serving customers and citizens

On October 1, the Africa inbound summit was held in Rabat. This high-level seminar provided an overview of new commercial approaches, but not only that.

Inbound marketing consists of attracting new customers to your business by meeting consumer needs through personalized marketing experiences, using relevant content. The primary condition is the authorization of prospects, the aim being their loyalty. Among the digital tools implemented, the possibilities offered by AI were among the questions raised by the speakers.

An ethical and omnichannel approach
It is not, however, a question of doing everything by electronic means alone, warns Jihane Roudias, founder and general director of Studio Butterfly Casablanca, who co-organized the event with the Économie Media Group, pillar of the Cameroonian media landscape. . J. Roudias recommends “phygital” actions which she defines as follows: “It is a mix between the physical and the digital. Today, a customer journey can begin digitally and end at a physical point of sale.

To optimize the customer experience, companies, brands, etc. must really approach this omnichannel journey in a coherent and complete manner. They must know which customers they are going to seek out digitally,” explained J. Roudias for Les Inspirations ÉCO. By videoconference, Gabriel Szapiro, president and CEO of Studio butterfly Paris, highlighted how the inbound approach is based on permission marketing: “A message should only be sent to those who have given permission.” The visitor can become a customer, and this customer, a brand ambassador, if he is satisfied.

This methodology does not only apply to sales, which was underlined by the presence and opening speech of Ahmed Reda Chami, president of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) and president of the Union of economic, social and environmental advice in Africa. During the panels that followed, Council executives spoke about their practical experiences in the service of citizenship.

Moroccan finance on the front line
Badr Benyoussef, chief strategy & transformation officer of the Casablanca Stock Exchange, recalled the recommendations of the Commission for the New Development Model (CNMD). Thus, Morocco has set itself, among its objectives, to move from a debt economy – companies borrow from banks to finance themselves – to a financing economy, whose major lever will be investment, in order to reduce debt. We must therefore offer companies the means to find investors.

Those who are going to go public, the Casablanca market having significant ambitions in this area, will have to make themselves known to investors. This will require them to market to a particularly targeted audience, for which inbound marketing is a suitable tool. J. Roudias explained that there are ways to keep the attention of your prospects and customers. She emphasizes that for building brand equity, inbound (targeted digital) can be done, depending on needs, at the same time as an outbound approach, that is to say more traditional marketing. , with poster campaign and in major mass media. However, you must know your customers well and offer them hyper-personalized content. This is where artificial intelligence comes into play, for the selection of messages, through the use of chatbots…

An example of a strategy on a continental scale
Africa is too vast to be considered as a single market, recalled Houda Sebti, senior marketing manager Middle East, North, West & central Africa, for the Bic brand. The company deployed its strategy through a different approach in each country (Ivory Coast, Nigeria, DRC, Angola, Morocco, etc.). Operating in the consumer goods sector, Bic has built its difference on three main axes: simplicity, proximity (which establishes a sincere link with the customer) and availability of its products. “We grew up with your pens,” prospects often said.

The manufacturer’s marketing relied heavily on its CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) approach. It is particularly involved in the free distribution of products via NGOs, but also in the long-term training of teachers and the development of school libraries. Although driven by a culture of discretion, Bic can thus communicate punctually on the results of its commitments, organize an artistic expression competition or broadcast a campaign against harassment – for which pupils and students have been widely consulted. In a phygital approach, on and off-line, the brand integrates all stakeholders into its approach.

Vers des inbound citizens ?
Mounia Marzak, director of citizen participation at the EESC, spoke about her experience of deploying the institution’s digital platform. The tool makes it possible to involve Moroccans in the preparation of Council reports, for whom citizen contribution matters enormously.

This integration also involved the physical opening of the institution’s premises to the public and a partnership with the country’s twelve universities, under the theme “The CESE at home”. Amine Mounir Alaoui, member and rapporteur of the CESE opinion on artificial intelligence, completed the remarks by recalling the report on what AI can bring to the Kingdom. Three axes emerged.

First, that of governance: this technology is still not regulated, but it will nevertheless be necessary to determine the legal responsibilities induced by its use. The report also underlines that Moroccan data is “closed”, as opposed to the open source approach. Administrations or companies jealously guard their data, which slows down the formation of AI “fed” with specifically Moroccan information.

Second axis, the CESE recommends using AI whenever it allows a better service and encourages administrations to take ownership of the tool. Finally, third axis, Morocco, like all of Africa, can benefit from the fact that the technology is only in its infancy.

The countries of the continent have the opportunity to position themselves as leaders in particular sectors or niches. AM Alaoui gives the example of Moroccan startups in agricultural AI, emphasizing that the country has all the necessary talents.

Murtada Calamy / ECO Inspirations