
Kick off 2025 by working towards Chartered Marketer (Africa) status
CM(A) is a high-level pan-African professional designation awarded to senior marketers in recognition of their experiences and skills.
HYBRID WORKING
By our News Team | 2022
The world of work has changed dramatically and rapidly since the onset of Covid. Marketers and employers must come to terms with the reboot.
With workplaces slowly reopening, marketing leaders are establishing their long-term approach to build and scale effective teams in a hybrid environment.
Partnering with a research consultancy, global online design and publishing company, Canva, asked over 1 200 marketers across the US, UK and Australia about their experiences, and discovered that at least some level of work flexibility is expected over the long term — with over 6 in 10 respondents saying they would refuse to take a job that was fully confined to an office.
But despite the popularity of hybrid workplaces, 44% are considering leaving their jobs, a figure that rises to 52% for fully remote marketers. Using the research, Canva uncovered some of the reasons behind this and the core ingredients for successful hybrid marketing teams.
Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels
Asynchronous and visual communication essential for engagement
It comes as no surprise that it’s challenging to keep teams engaged when most interactions are taking place through a screen. Video calls are useful, but when left unchecked ‘meeting creep’ can quickly take over full days.
But effective asynchronous (communication that doesn’t happen in real-time) visual communication requires more than simply recording and sharing a meeting. To keep people engaged, it’s important to keep communications succinct and consider things like images, animations and data visualisations – all of which help to engage more visual learners.
While online meetings are important, they are best reserved for times when dialogue and interaction are required. For example: brainstorming, team building and personal development.
New marketing processes to battle burnout
While some facets of hybrid and remote work can help to improve work-life balance, the research shows this isn’t always the case for marketing teams. Seven in 10 struggle to balance work and home life and 88% say their excessive workload is a challenge. So how can marketing teams mitigate this without rejecting hybrid work completely?
Approval processes have never been perfect, but it seems that hybrid work is making things worse. As the research shows, 69 percent say that processes for approving assets are too time-consuming and 87 percent say this is a major blocker. If marketers operate in silos, this harms productivity, leads to longer hours, as well as perhaps creating miscommunication and duplication of work.
Mayur Gupta, the Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at publishing company Gannett, predicts that “the future will be based on trust, tremendous flexibility, clear accountability and transparency. It also requires relying on tools that will inspire collaboration and creative thinking”.
Given the reduction in face time, it’s important that marketers have a way to keep everyone’s work visible, without feeling micromanaged or under pressure to overcommunicate.
Connection and happiness in a hybrid setting
In hybrid workplaces, it’s equally important that no one feels left out, particularly for teams working across different time zones, or those individuals who are juggling additional responsibilities at home.
A total of 83% of marketing leaders say flexible work makes it easier to hire better overseas talent, so we can expect marketing teams to be increasingly international in the composition.
But without regular facetime in the office, it’s vital that everyone has equal opportunities to collaborate. In all, 68% of marketers say that hybrid work limits social opportunities and 63% indicate that it’s more difficult to maintain a hybrid work culture.
Marketing leaders are looking at several areas to facilitate this, with increased investment in personal development and teambuilding (86%). Yet surprisingly, only 42% of companies have implemented virtual team-bonding exercises, and just 36% have implemented a regular employee pulse survey.
CM(A) is a high-level pan-African professional designation awarded to senior marketers in recognition of their experiences and skills.
Experienced auto industry marketer joins after almost two decades with the Volkswagen and Audi brands in SA.
New CSA offering focuses on marketing-related data analysis, implementation and optimisation for African customers.
Abebe becomes the first Ethiopian to take up the MD position. He moves from the Coca-Cola operation in Uganda, where he was GM.
French-based Géant retail brand now has two stores in the previously troubled North African country, with more planned.
Aim is to quickly spot potential issues and identify gaps, tension points, blind spots and opportunities to course-correct after launches.
Using the right language to inform consumers of the sustainability credentials of a product is vital to ensuring its appeal – research.
Destination ads that emphasise an idealised future are more effective at enticing travellers than campaigns based on nostalgia.
He brings with him industry experience spanning financial services, professional services, IT and telecoms, and FMCG.
OK Zimbabwe, a household name in local retail, closes branches as Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers calls for urgent interventions.
The rapid spread of online misinformation has become a significant risk for businesses, brands and wider society. Why do people fall for it?
Dr. Kin Kariisa is an extraordinary force at the helm of Next Media Services, a conglomerate encompassing NBS TV, Nile Post, Sanyuka TV, Next Radio, Salam TV, Next Communication, Next Productions, and an array of other influential enterprises. His dynamic role as Chief Executive Officer exemplifies his unwavering commitment to shaping media, business, and community landscapes.
With an esteemed academic journey, Dr. Kariisa’s accolades include an Honorary PhD in exemplary community service from the United Graduate College inTexas, an MBA from United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya, a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering from Huazong University in China, and a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics from Makerere University.
Dr. Kariisa pursued PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands. As a dynamic educator, he has shared his expertise as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at both Makerere University and Radboud University.
Dr Kin did his PhD research in Computer Security and Identity Management at Security of Systems Group, Radbond University in Nigmegen, Netherlands. He previously served as a lecturer of e-Government and Information Security at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda and Radbond University in Netherlands.
Dr Kin did his postgraduate courses in Strategic Business Management, Strategic Leadership Communication and Strategies for Leading Successful Change Initiatives at Harvard University, Boston USA.