By Santher Mbacham (Cameroon)
Founder & Managing Director, Image Nation
“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. It has the power to make the innocent look guilty and the guilty look innocent, and that is power because it controls the minds of the masses.” – Malcolm X.
‘Africa in miniature’, as Cameroon is called, is home to over 27 million people, is one of the greatest football nations on the continent, home to 250+ tribes speaking almost as many languages, boasts some of the world’s best gastronomy, home to a large variety of flora and fauna, many of which can be found in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, harbours the second wettest places in the world, Debundscha, and is the homeland to some of the world’s most brilliant scientists.
More than ever, these messages have been made available and spread worldwide with the help of the fourth estate, the media. Listing these things is exciting. However, the question of whether we have leveraged these facts and narratives for our economic and social prosperity is a loud one.
The nature of the media landscape can determine how we consume or receive our news and entertainment. Going by this, we can’t help but smile at Cameroon’s media landscape evolution, from the talking drums to the town hall village meetings to print, TV, Radio, and now, digital media.
Public Relations is a “strategic communication tool used to build mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their public,” as defined by the Public Relations Society of America. In other words, it is a strategic communication tool to build credibility, gain and enhance visibility, show authority, and protect a brand’s image and reputation.
This field has been a misunderstood one, and through the years, it has been a challenge to get business owners and individuals in Cameroon to understand its importance and the key role it plays in the success of their brands. The media landscape, evolving with the advent of technology and digital media, is beginning to create those opportunities for this strategic communication tool to be best understood and maximised to its full potential in the Cameroon business ecosystem.
The media landscape’s growth has mostly been in favour of the PR industry in Cameroon.
With 9.15 million internet users and 4.30 million social media users in Cameroon (as of January 2021), digital media has been of utmost importance to advertisers, with almost every company – big or small – making it a part of their market spend. What does this do for the PR industry, then?
Accurate Data and Insights
The advent of digital media has given PR professionals the tools to accurately measure their campaigns, as opposed to the huge difficulty in tracking data in traditional media. For example, private newspapers have never operated on a subscription model, and the data that could have been gathered from that alone is lost to both these media houses and advertisers alike. Hence, the accuracy and the quality of the data and insights derived from digital media can help in knowing exactly how, where, why and what you need to strategically communicate to gain a return on objectives.
Value for money can be shown
With the aid of this data, PR professionals can now show value for money spent on different campaigns.
Larger and Diverse Audience reach
Because social media is a global village, PR professionals leverage this to tell stories that can cut across borders and are not merely exclusive to the Cameroon public.
Media Accountability
PR professionals use this medium to correct information – put out by news outlets – that can damage a nation’s branding. This is key to owning and telling stories that positively impact our nation’s branding.
Improvement in the Quality of Content
According to statista.com, we have up to 5 billion internet users in the world. Hence, whatever is put there, especially for companies, has to be of a global standard. This has helped to improve the quality of content produced, which adversely has a positive impact on our nation’s branding.
Feedback, Conversations in real time and Active Contribution
Digital media have provided active contributors, contributing directly to the discussion as opposed to passive contributors, and no sure way of including audience voices in real time for traditional media. This helps to course-correct in real-time, which is key to the campaign’s success.
Access to thought leaders
The presence of thought leaders on social media and the access it brings cannot be overstated.
Leaders who are accessible have a key role in building knowledge, career advancement, and positively influencing their network on diverse, relevant topics.
This is how thought leaders create value for themselves and attract the right businesses.
Multimedia content
The most exciting thing about the growing media landscape – digital media – is that content isn’t restricted to one format. You can consume the same information in different formats; this helps to maintain and keep the attention of diverse audiences.
Rise and growth of influencer marketing and talent
The majority of brands in Cameroon seldom carry out campaigns without involving influencers. These influencers have diverse audiences and different styles of influence, and brands leverage their passion points to achieve their marketing communications objectives.
Rise of PR agencies
Brands have realised the importance of creating value for customer loyalty, having a great image and reputation to attracting international investment, and having longevity in the market, all of which significantly reduce market spend. Who better to do this for them than PR agencies? Because of this, there has been a significant rise in PR in Cameroon in the past three years.
The list of the PR opportunities that come with the growing media landscape is inexhaustive. But then again, it is of utmost importance that for this to continue growing and permanently seal its place, there needs to be available and accurate data for traditional media, as is the case with digital media.