What's saving the planet got to do with retaining your talent base? PLUS Save your media strategy by transforming CX

#TransformingAdland: The power of B Corp status for agencies

What's saving the planet got to do with retaining your talent base?

By Herman Manson. Following covid-19 and a surge in acceptance of remote working, US and European agencies have been pouncing on South Africa’s talent base. Agencies that have long prided themselves on limited staff churn — but unable to counter US$- and €-backed salaries — have seen a surge in people leaving. As this has happened, cultures have shifted, and clients have become?unsettled.

At Rogerwilco , the agency found its culture had fragmented, says CEO Charlie Stewart , and it was losing people at a rate of 30% a year, leading to a steep loss of institutional knowledge. Forced to rethink its positioning and purpose, the agency decided to apply for B Corp status, which meant it had to walk its talk if it were going to receive unimpeachable third-party ratification from B?Lab .

The B Corp movement was launched by B Lab in 2006 to certify companies that meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and?transparency.

As a result, Rogerwilco has made small but steady improvements on a host of issues, knowing that the aggregated result makes a difference to the business — treating each other better, improving training, enhancing client results and better engaging with its community and the?environment.

Stewart says the agency has seen a massive transformation in its business, with hardly any staff losses since the end of 2023, and it’s on track for a record year in both revenue and?profit.

B Corp standards

The B Global Network aims to drive the adoption of a set of standards to manage the impact of business on society and the environment, focusing on the triple bottom?line.

To achieve certification, a company must demonstrate high social and environmental performance; make a legal commitment by changing its corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders; and exhibit transparency by allowing information about its performance, measured against B Lab’s standards , to be publicly available on its B Corp profile on B Lab’s website. To maintain certification, certified B Corps must update their B Impact Assessment (BIA) and verify their updated B Impact score every three years, or after a change of company ownership or?IPO.

The BIA (which might lead to certification) examines a company’s impact on its workers, community, environment and customers. It also asks questions about a company’s governance structure and accountability. Questions are split into two categories: operations, which covers a company’s day-to-day activities, and impact business models, which awards additional points for business models designed to create positive?impact.

Stewart says his management team already felt aligned with B Corp values — which emphasise governance, social and environmental criteria while also being profitable. The agency found that being South African offered certain built-in advantages during the verification process. BBBEE policies, covering everything from ownership to training, mean many SA firms are geared to meet some of B Corp’s social criteria, while Eskom has encouraged a move towards solar panels, diminishing a company’s carbon?footprint.

“As a South African business, a number of the assessment criteria were familiar to us as they’re similar — albeit far more robust — than those used in the BBBEE scorecard,” says Stewart. “Being a Level 1 BBBEE contributor, we found much of the groundwork was already in place, so we scored well on the governance, staff and community pillars, although we did have to review and make updates to a number of policies. While the idea of changing the company’s MOI [memorandum of incorporation] seemed daunting, the tweaks were straightforward and did not fundamentally impact the business’s mission; they were largely to acknowledge that the company aims to have a positive impact on society and that the directors agree to act in good faith as responsible corporate?citizens.

“The fact that we’re a service-based business, rather than a manufacturer, coupled to efforts to combat loadshedding (solar on the office roof), helped with our environment scorecard, while the nature of our client base — many of whom are involved in impact work — saw us post a preliminary score of 104 points after completing the initial assessment. While most companies find points are deducted as they go through the formal verification, we managed to gain a couple, bringing our aggregate to 106.8, placing Rogerwilco in the top 10% of B Corps?globally.

“One observation is that, although we were incredibly well-prepared, thanks in large part to the support we received from Animarem , the process was lengthy (just under 12 months) and entailed lots of waiting for feedback from the B Lab?assessors.”

Rogerwilco is the second SA creative agency and the 10th SA company to achieve B Corp status; The Niche Guys achieved it in 2020 . Well-known B Corps include Ben & Jerry’s and Patagonia, as well as agencies such as Wieden+Kennedy, MSQ Partners and?Amplify.

Be better

Ultimately, B Corp status means a company and its leadership aim to take care of people, the planet and profits. Rogerwilco has distilled its new purpose into two simple words: Be?Better.

“To better ourselves, we made a commitment to always try, always develop, always explore,” Stewart wrote to staff in a memo announcing certification. “And, ultimately, to allow self-improvement to be the defining personality of the agency by rewarding a way of thinking, rather than a final thought, and by encouraging an always-on approach to problem-solving. It’s a journey that should result in ideas that are better, decisions that are better, systems that are better, interactions that are?better.

“The purpose of business is to solve human problems by being conscious, creative, committed and true. While there’s no silver bullet, there is a playbook and, in Rogerwilco’s experience, B Corp has the potential to become a transformational component of?it.”

• Herman Manson is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com and MarkLives MEDIA , as well as the founder of Ramify.biz , which connects agencies, brands, suppliers and industry associations to one another (get your profile?today ).

Save your media strategy by transforming CX

Poor user experience costs brands billions: Learn how to improve your digital ROI.

by Charles Lee Mathews. Poor online customer experiences cost South African brands between R1.2 billion and R3.6 billion annually. Beyond the financial loss, bad customer experience (CX) and user experience (UX) disrupt the entire marketing value chain.

“It directly impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty, conversion rates, and brand reputation,” explains René Fowler , head of ad operations at Juno Media . She stresses that successful marketing depends on “first impressions and the understanding that customers are at the centre of your business, and their perception matters”. Quoting Steve Jobs, she adds, “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” This philosophy shows why UX matters in marketing.

Neil Pursey , CEO of Measurebyte, notes that poor UX wastes media budgets. “When UX fails to meet user expectations, users abandon the platform, resulting in wasted advertising spend,” he explains. This abandonment lowers conversion rates and hurts brand image, increasing customer acquisition costs. As users leave, brands spend more on media to attract new customers, which raises overall costs. What’s more, ineffective UX can affect data collection, complicate retargeting efforts and shorten customer lifetime value.

Estimating wastage

Wayne Wilson ?? , COO of tech and media at RAPT , says that while it’s challenging to quantify wastage precisely, industry benchmarks can provide helpful insights. South Africa’s total digital advertising spend around R12 billion in 2022, and global estimates suggest 10% to 30% media waste due to bad UX. This could mean R1.2 billion to R3.6 billion lost annually. Wilson thinks South African figures may be higher due to poor connectivity and low smartphone use.

So why do these UX issues persist, despite the staggering financial implications of bad CX on media strategies? Tim Bishop , managing partner at Carbon1 explains, “Many mistakenly believe that merely investing in media and focusing on vanity metrics equates to success.” Media agencies frequently aren’t included in UX talks, leaving them out of the solution.

“Marketing often operates in isolation from UX, merchandising, and other crucial channels,” Bishop adds. “Metrics for media seldom account for drop-off rates and cart abandonment, making it vital to trace the entire customer journey to enhance UX.”

The financial toll of bad CX

Discussing the ramifications for media strategy, Charlie Stewart , CEO of Rogerwilco , puts it succinctly: “It just leads to wasted money — it’s as simple as that.” He highlights a prevalent issue: many organisations mistakenly allocate 80% of their budgets to media and only 20% to production. “This principle feels outdated and fails to resonate in today’s market,” he argues.

Stewart critiques the common one-size-fits-all approach to marketing, asserting that too much focus is placed on reaching broad audiences. “The emphasis is on the 80%, with the 20% treated as the poor cousin,” he remarks.

Stewart is the author of The 2024 South African Customer Experience Report [pdf file], which benchmarks CX across the country in collaboration with the research firm ovatoyou , Rogerwilco, and Julia Ahlfeldt of CX Consulting .

The report reveals a significant gap between businesses and consumers, costing brands a R12.148-billion opportunity. While businesses believe trust drives repeat purchases, consumers emphasise reliability and dependability. “Brands must get their house in order and improve CX across all touchpoints to encourage consumers to spend their hard-earned money,” says Stewart.

The 2024 report identifies the insurance sector as one of the poorest performers in terms of CX. “The insurance industry complicates its offerings,” Stewart notes, explaining that the purchasing process is often overwhelming. He says ads focus too much on price, creating unrealistic expectations. “This leads to customer disappointment, as getting to a price point requires users to share extensive information,” he adds. Stewart urges insurers to prioritise easy sign-ups and good claim handling.

The importance of good UX

Bishop stresses the challenge of crafting effective media strategies. “If you succeed in attracting users, ensure their landing is soft, pleasant, and rewarding,” he advises. A smooth user experience helps achieve campaign goals quickly.

When brands excel at UX, the transition from media engagement to conversion becomes effortless, leading to increased engagement, trust, and loyalty. Fowler notes that great UX, especially in e-commerce, enhances conversion rates and boosts SEO performance. “A negative user experience can prevent you from ranking well,” she adds, reinforcing the importance of good UX for brand reputation and search engine optimisation.

Pursey points out that effective UX yields valuable insights, reinforces brand assets, and generates cost savings. A smooth consumer experience reduces the need for customer support due to intuitive interfaces. Other savings come from fewer development revisions and decreased customer acquisition costs as conversion rates improve, creating a positive feedback loop of effectiveness.

Sandra McDiarmid , head of CX at VML , highlights the significant media wastage in South Africa due to poor UX. “A basic SEO audit will reveal high bounce rates and short time on site,” she notes. “If your bounce rate exceeds 70%, the ad’s call to action likely didn’t align with the landing page, resulting in wasted ad spend.”

The need for regular updates

McDiarmid says many brand managers lack the training needed to manage digital platforms effectively. Often, offshore teams control global websites, limiting local input. “Digital advertising isn’t delivering results, but we can’t pinpoint why,” she says. With the rapid pace of digital marketing, many reports are retrospective, and websites require regular updates. “Websites should be refreshed quarterly, not every two years,” she argues, urging a shift to customer-centric design.

“A frictionless engagement leading to conversion is our ultimate goal. However, even the best creative media campaigns can falter if the user experience is cumbersome,” Bishop concludes.

Neil Pursey on why bad UX is so prevalent when brands know there’s wastage:

• Lack of time and focus:Pressure to launch quickly often compromises UX qualityShort-term goals are frequently prioritised over long-term UX improvementsUX is often viewed as a “nice to have” rather than a core business functionLimited resources allocated to UX research and testing
• Siloed teams and misaligned KPIs:Different departments work towards different objectivesSome marketing teams focus on acquisition, disregarding retention metricsDevelopment teams prioritise feature delivery over usabilityDesign teams isolated from business objectives and user dataLack of shared KPIs across teams leads to fragmented user experiences
• Insufficient user research:Assumptions about user needs to replace actual user testingLimited budget for ongoing user research and feedback collection
• Technical debt:Legacy systems and codebases restrict UX improvementsShort-term fixes accumulate, making comprehensive UX overhauls difficult
• Lack of UX expertise:Shortage of skilled UX professionals in many organisationsUX decisions made by non-experts
• Resistance to change:Established processes and systems difficult to modifyFear of disrupting the existing user base with significant changes
• Inconsistent leadership support:UX initiatives lack sustained backing from senior managementInsufficient understanding of UX value at a? leadership level
• Difficulty measuring UX ROI:Challenges in quantifying long-term benefits of good UXFocus on easily measurable metrics over user satisfaction

Charles Lee Mathews (they/them) is a contributing writer to MarkLives MEDIA and MarkLives as well as co-founder of The Writers , a writing consultancy.?

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MarkLives & MarkLives MEDIA editor & publisher: Herman?Manson MarkLives chief production editor & ed-at-large: Simone?Puterman MarkLives MEDIA production editor: Jessica Ross MarkLives & MarkLives MEDIA contributing writers: Carey?Finn, Charles?Mathews Contributing designer: Jay Alan MarkLives columnists: Andrew?Miller, Anne?van?Rensburg, Charlie?Stewart, Dean?Oelschig, Gugu?Shabalala, Jarred?Cinman, Johanna?McDowell, Melusi?Tshabalala, Taazima?Kala?Essack, Tiffany?Markman, Veli?Ngubane Partners: Ramify.biz Ramify production: Lunga?Biyela Images: We thank Pixabay , Pexels and Unsplash for the use of their pictures for the majority of our featured?images.

MarkLives MEDIA editorial advisory board: Ana Carrapichano , Celia Collins , Gareth Cliff , Graham Deneys , Kagiso Musi , Jane Ashforth , Marvin Kgasoane , Merissa Himraj j, Wayne Wilson ??

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