Yow Moovers ,I’m glad to announce we have some major changes to the brand as a movement, we will share more with time. It’s always good to engage with young people who believe in the growth of SMEs ekasi.
Andile briefly explained on how this can be done effectively presenting the following topic which is just an introduction to more of what he has to share with us and this will be followed by a series of our live interviews on Instagram.
The Present Effects of Corporate Communications on Small to Medium Enterprises
By Andile Mbethe
Corporate communications also known as public relations remains one of the key pillars responsible for driving brand awareness for any organization and thus with the rise of small to medium enterprises, whether established or recently launched taking also into account the economic landscape facing South Africa at the moment and the role SMMEs play in creating employment opportunities and shaping their messaging both for inspirational as well as educational purposes.
Corporate communications continues to ensure the immediate need for entrepreneurs alike to move beyond being profiled during media interviews but instead how their products and services within the market are unique in contributing towards the growth of the South African economy.
Moreover, corporate communications has an effective way of influencing business sustainability, however for that to be seen it requires an enormous amount of work from a corporate communications practitioner in ensuring the brand or business they represent is credible within the market or at least on the road to building credibility which has proven to be a real asset towards not only sustaining brand and business image but being a key outlet when it comes to a brand key being communicated within its intended publics.
With the market being saturated with a variety of SMMEs a corporate communications practitioner needs to take into consideration cultural and social context when undertaking a communications exercise.
Corporate communications essentially forms part of brand storytelling with an added element of constantly being in the motion of educating target publics and the public at large on issues pertaining to a specific issue within a certain industry.
For instance, one of the clients at strategic communications agency Ongeza Blueprint, Snooks Estates who are in the real estate and property space have been on a series of interviews in order to drive media relations for the business and as such during the interviews they have been educating the public on a number of topics within real estate which include late estates, which affect the majority of South Africans and often causes conflict amongst family members, with another one being what to lookout for when purchasing a residential stand in property.
When undertaking a corporate communications exercise it then becomes inherent for a practitioner or consultant to take into consideration a clients’ brand when articulating its message and one such example is that of Snooks Estates once more as an established SMME operating within Johannesburg as well as greater Soweto being a business build on firm foundations which include education, community outreach, youth empowerment (the harnessing and hiring of youth talent), innovation, product strategy, consumer and client trust as well as service achievement are some of the pillars which are constantly being used by agency Ongeza Blueprint in articulating Snooks Estates’ messages as well as providing key motivations for media coverage which over time has created good relations between media houses and Snooks Estates, which has also seen it being called on a regular basis to provide property related insights on various platforms.
Matseleng Mogodi the founder and Senior Property Practitioner at Snooks Estates says corporate communications agency Ongeza Blueprint has contributed immensely towards the brand and the business credibility of Snooks Estates “What we have seen since embarking on our corporate communications journey with Ongeza Blueprint is that their level of work has resulted in us receiving an immense boost both from our existing clients as well as other key stakeholders within the property sector, with the most evident one being the interview I did with The Property Pod with Suren Naidoo on Moneyweb”. This then in itself indicates that an indeed public relation has evolved into corporate communications within the current strategic communications context.
KASI YOUTH MOVEMENT MAGAZINE 