Weak rand provides international opportunities

While the dire state of the economy should be cause for concern for most people, the weak rand is providing opportunities for some sectors. According to Charlie Stewart, CEO of digital marketing agency Rogerwilco, digital agencies are in a prime position to take advantage of the weaker rand and attract international clients.

South Africa’s complementary time zones and cultural affinity with Europe and the United States, as well as world-class digital skills, combine to place South African businesses well to meet the needs of international clients. They need to be showcasing the quality of their work.

Possessing skills in open-source Web development platform Drupal is a competitive advantage. This is a platform favoured by the US government and publishing houses such as The Economist for its security, ability to handle higher traffic volumes and ability to be customised to each brand.“If South African agencies can illustrate they are digitally maturing and able to quantify and measure the impact of work, offshore clients will be more willing to make use of them,” says Stewart.

Another area where South Africa has considerable potential for growth is as an outsource provider, an area that India currently leads on because of its affordability and profusion of digital skills. However, argues Stewart, there are areas where South African agencies have the advantage. “The majority of South Africans in digital understand what it takes to delight their client and they’re prepared to work hard to do so. This gives us a real edge over other outsourced locations such as India and China, where there’s good technical capability but communication is often weak.”

He says it will become increasingly important for South African digital agencies to improve their commercial acumen to prove that they are competitive on a global level. He advises agencies not to get greedy after getting international exposure, though. “If the agency’s cost base is in rand, keep the pricing in rand and don’t load it. Rather be grateful that the country’s economic woes have given the agency the opportunity to pick up work with some amazing international businesses. Let them see our can-do attitude, let them savour our creativity and our ability to execute – and we’ll be building a relationship with them for life,” he concludes.

The big take-out: The weaker rand is affording South African businesses, particularly in the digital sphere, opportunities with international clients as a result of increased affordability, useful skills and the ability to provide quality work