The Power of Voice

The ask was for me to talk about The Power of Voice, with regards to brand launches. And I want to shift that brief a little bit, if you will allow me. As a marketer, being the custodian of a brand or an organization, one needs to have a voice first, before asserting the voice of their brand or organization. We can talk about the clarity of a brand’s tonality and character and chosen language, but that brand voice does not land unless it is carried by the custodians. And digital technologies have allowed us the space to express those voices beyond our close-knit communities. Therefore, I think it is befitting, on Social Media Week Nairobi, to discuss the power of voice by talking about powering your voice. What an important topic as we work together to re-imagine our world for a better tomorrow.

I was born in Africa - South Africa to be exact - and have been around the block on the continent. I had the privilege of opening myself up to a world bigger than the one I was born into, and in that process, finding my voice, and then over time, learning to power it significantly enough to make my own small difference in my chosen field as we all must do.

We cannot over score the fundamental shift that the internet/mobile phone and data costs have had in marketing, over the last three decades. Much of this, we know, exponentially grew when social media became part of human existence. As the saying goes, it has been the best of times and it has been the worst of times.

The first truth to remember is that the power does not belong to you and I – it belongs to all of us as crowd. Culture plays a big role in driving conversations that bypass our brands. The second truth is that there isn’t a formula that holds for too long – the speed of change is constant. Cookies are going to vanish soon. Algorithms have given us a run around and will continue to. Facebook is getting rid of its face recognition feature. Elon Musk will sneeze again, and crypto currencies will peak or tumble depending on how hard the sneeze is. There is always something.

The point is – change is the only constant. We are constantly re-imagining our technologies to tell better stories. So how do you power your voice in this moment that is always in flux? And what does that look like for marketers? I have some thoughts to share/tips:

1.????Clarify your purpose & the brands purpose

This is both the purpose of the brand or product or business, and your personal purpose. The meeting point of these two layers of purpose is fertile ground for defining and building a legacy. In this discipline, we reflect humanity, we progress society and we predict the future. Doing all of that without purpose rings hollow and begets communication programmes that are not enduring over time. When you have your own personal purpose (mine is leading from the heart to create the change I want to see)- the more urgent it is for you to do your part in driving change.

2.????Find your inflection point

It generally comes in when you go against the grain – therefore, do not fear to do so. For me, my inflection point was when I became the first black marketing director for the alcohol group, . This point in my career opened my eyes to the importance of context, and progression. For us in South Africa, transformation is an important conversation in marketing and when I took on that role, I sat into a role that was bigger than me. My success was the success of everyone else who had never imagined that shift in decision-making power in the business. It amplified their understanding of possibilities for people that look like me in the discipline. Your context may be a gendered discussion, or that of an immigrant’s existence, or a young person – we all have context. In yours, find your inflection point. Ensure you have a team/colleagues that can bolster your areas of growth, they need to be able to be your social multiplier of teachers so you bring you best self and they do the same.

3.????Authenticity is about being honest, not sounding honest.

It’s not about sounding real or simply using the right words or lining your work with the right music. It’s about being real, being honest. We know this very well. We have laughed out loud to Uganda’s Kansiime Anne, Kenya’s very own Elsa Majimbo, Nigeria’s Yvonne Orji, to mention a few. These African pioneer comedians are some of this moment’s most authentic, realest personalities. We at Nestle also are on a journey to really drive our purpose of unlocking the power of food to enhance the quality of life today and for generations to come through reviewing our value chain and ensuring we are driving our RE program- re thinking, reducing,?repurposing our brands to ensure we build a sustainable future for our communities and our environment. Not just talking the talk, but really driving the actions that will make a difference in future.

4.????Have a clear point of view. When you don’t, be clear that you are deliberating.

You are the only one like you; no one else has the same ideas as you. So be secure in your truth and lean into your experiences. Know that you point of view exists in a world where other points of view also live.?We can shape society through the right representation in our marketing work. I have made many mistakes in my career and depicting and/or perpetuating gender based stereotypes and so I have become much more conscious of this. Having kids has also focused my mind as you get to experience their lives through a fresh perspective and you think to yourself, this can’t be.

At Nestle, we believe our success as an organisation is interwoven with society’s success and can only thrive when it has a healthy, diverse and engaged workforce that reflects society.?For this reason, we enable action by putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business. This is our clear point of view

It is against this background that as part of driving our consumer connection journey through our brands, we launched the Maggie Open up the Kitchen campaign 1.?This campaign reflects on how we women have disproportionate load to bear in their homes through work they have to do there and how the kitchen can be burden under this point of view. And also that some men enjoy being in the kitchen and this can be frowned upon. The campaign aims to break down the stereotype/misconception that only one person in the home should be the person that’s always doing the cooking. We’re saying cooking is for everyone, cooking should be fun, cooking should be done and enjoyed by as many people as possible. Forget about recipes, perfect measurements, and knowing what to do behind the pots. Step inside, try cooking, because when there’s more hands cooking there’s more flavour to every meal. So this is our way of bringing our point of view to the table and is helping to drive growth for this wonderful brand.

5.????Listen up, and do so actively.

Listening is key to powering your voice. On one end, receive feedback from your audience. That simple. Secondly, listen actively. Recognise where societal shifts are coming from, mine insights from these cultural moments and let them influence your voice.

For instance, a new trend that is driving book sales is BookTok – a community in TikTok which does literary reviews through TikTok videos. Except their reviews are about one minute old and are more about emotional connection with the work. Your old school literary papers such as Paris Review are struggling to figure out this consumer-led shift. They have not listened to where the world is going, and they may just be getting left behind.

6.????Lead from a place of learning, not from a place of knowledge.

You learn how to ask the right questions, not how to always be having the answer. Marketing is a dialogue now. It’s not just about brands having answers, it’s about audiences giving answers for brands to implement, scale, support or acknowledge. When we approach engagement from a place of learning, we collaborate and create shared value with our communities, and as such we build strong relationships that are unshakeable. Social listening has really helped us marketers to get closer to real life. so we must ensure we get out from our offices with air conditioning to constantly learn and relearn what our consumers need and want.

7.????Be self-aware and Be prepared.

Know who you are. Lean into it, and then add fire. Like Will Smith, outwork them all. Like Brené Brown, lean into your vulnerability. Be resilient. Persist. Being resilient does come with skill development + effort +experience. Ensure you are as prepared as you can be to be able work through the fear of expressing your unique point of view in the world. Recognize your behaviour and connect it to both local culture and global shifts. This means you have to expand your world through reading, discussions, learnings to keep a broader perspective. Your world is small enough to know the specifics of your locale, and big enough to know where humanity is going next. you will make mistakes and that’s okay. Just recognize them early and apply the learnings to keep moving forward. If i had to share how many mistakes I have made we would be here all day, these don’t define where you are going next if you learn from them.

8.????Diversify your viewpoint.

Surrounding yourself with numerous points of view. Include people who are not like you, people from different backgrounds, countries, tribes, genders – you name it.