Anyone living in or having recently visited South Africa for the World Cup will be familiar with the terms “now now” and “just now”. “Now now” translates into “shortly”, it means give me 5 – 15 minutes and it will be done. “Just now” translates into “sometime in the future”, it means give me half a day and more likely that it will never get done.

Everything we see is about real-time: The power of now.

We’ve seen it in the execution of the Old Spice campaign, and in South Africa, last week you may have noticed the pro-activeness of Williams Hunt responding to @Brodiegal’s tweet, sending someone out to help her start her car.

Mike Walsh, Futuretainment has this to say about Lifecasting:

In social media, it’s becoming a more competitive tactic. The guys from Wheat Thins are running around delivering surprises, “Air Guitars”, Headphones, and Tabatha received a truckload of Wheat Thins delivered to her door.

Why is it so surprising to us that a brand should and can respond in real-time, particularly if they know your address (scary stuff.) When will it become the norm and non-newsworthy for a brand to respond “OMG”, in the now?

Cool is only cool until the next cool thing comes along, so the question is, where is the sustainability in this?

Old Spice, along with many other successful viral efforts, has received a lot of deserved attention. What I look forward to, is what they (not their audience) do with the great community they have created, which includes me. Personally I’m more partial to CH MEN on a man and wonder how long it will take before Old Spice reverts to its staid positioning, in my mind. Now that they have become entertainers, it begs the question, (ahem) how long can Isaiah last?

Ignite’s review of the Top 50 Branded Fan Pages (June 2010) points out the reason for the Biggest Fallers, “Fans will leave if you don’t keep them involved.”

We are raising consumer expectation, and best be prepared to continuously deliver. Because whether it’s service or marketing campaigns, when you don’t deliver, particularly if you have before, you’re really screwed. You’ll be accused in the public domain of being unresponsive, unoriginal or simply be surpassed by the next engaging content or brand.

Be able to keep it up, because if you’re not paying attention, not listening, you may also become the victim of BrandJacking or Sabotage.  And here I’m specifically addressing those oblivious South African brands (like AA in @Brodiegal’s tweet.) What ORM are you running? Are you listening? If you aren’t, don’t be surprised if your competitor picks up on a lead where you have under-delivered and offer the person concerned a better deal. It happens globally, often. The only difference in S.A. is because the social media and marketing community is small, we are all too polite to start a war with each other. Wait though because as more brands climb on board, and we are already seeing the question “Who is running this Facebook account?”, we will see more aggressive tactics in the market. (It’s not a threat, it’s just an insight!)

Check boxes for South African brands in the early phases of social media, to ensure you are relevant in the now:

1. Are you using tools to track your brand? There are a myriad. Choose the best for your budget and for the outcomes that you want.
2. What resources do you have to interpret the reports that the tools deliver? This is typically the role of the community moderator. Um, do you have a community moderator? (In your agency or internally.)
3. How enabled is your agency and community moderator to timeously respond? Enablement is in my perception South African brands’ biggest stumbling block. Wrapped up in red tape, procedure and systems, the community moderator is ill equipped to swiftly react, because he or she has to get “sign-off”, by which time the opportunity is lost. Enablement begins with trust.
4. But it goes further than authorisation, it’s about process. The client may see the light and be willing but they are stuck in bureaucracy with no resources (money or manpower) to be able to deliver. Ask your agency to help you pitch a concept and secure budget for just one project
5. If you’re going to start something, be planned and prepared with a strategy that is sustainable.  Consider resources, time,the impact on your business, and potentially that it could change.

Iain Tait, Global Creative Interactive Director from Wieden & Kennedy (the agency behind Old Spice), was asked by Fast Company:

Brian Solis proposes that Context is King (We’ve gone from Content to Community to Collaboration to Context – I Can’t Ceep up). Your agency, your community moderator knows and understands your community.  They are at the coalface of interpreting context into opportunity. That opportunity converts to the power of now. To capitalise (while we can) on the power of now, and to avoid the now now or the maybe never, just now, for heaven’s sake get your head out of the sand.

It’s Mini Coopers 50th birthday, and I’ve been watching their promotional campaign unfold with interest. Why? Because I love brands and campaigns and because personally I perceive the brand as one which would or should be in my space, naturally, right? I feel that I’m in their target market. Why then are they not (yet) in my space, um or face, so to speak?

So, fun and games in the world of South African marketing. Over the past week we’ve watched the unfolding of the buzz marketing campaign familiarly known as The National Skirt Extension Project, and yesterday I believe all was revealed in a TV ad, where we were told by Mrs Balls Chutney, why as consumers “If something doesn’t need changing, why change it?”