88% of the Afrikaans market, which is the second biggest market in South Africa, like to see advertising that reflects their culture.

Unfortunately, the advertising industry, peopled as it is by English culture, had great difficulty in understanding the culture and psyche of the Afrikaans speaking community. The result of this disconnect was advertising in Afrikaans media based on creative ideas which were formulated from the perspective of English culture. These translations lacked sincerity, and their impact was weak.

The reasons for the lack of support for advertising being created in Afrikaans is unclear. Perhaps it is a misconception Afrikaans speakers are conservative and white. Out of the 5.2 million people who speak Afrikaans, the majority are coloured. The majority (60%) of the white population are first language Afrikaans speakers and are certainly not all old and conservative.

“Afrikaans in popular culture can either be very traditional or extremely alternative. Either way, with a catchy approach and a bit of guts, you can easily stand out and make an impression in the broader local picture because by being Afrikaans the ’unique aspect’ is already included in the package, according to a couple of Afrikaans entertainers,” says Jaco Nel, a journalist at Rapport in Ads24’s trade newspaper, The Beat - The Afrikaans Reader Community edition.

Nel spoke to Francois van Coke of Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel fame who recently released a hit with Karen Zoid. “Afrikaans is a very abrasive language,” says Van Coke, who regards his mother tongue as an efficient marketing tool for himself. “Lots of rough sounding R’s and G’s, very unique. English bands can’t copy that. But honestly, I also cannot imagine how my language must sound to people who have never heard it before. I reckon it should be a very interesting sound if you are not used to it.”

Traditional Afrikaans does still have its place and this can also be seen in the popularity of Bobby van Jaarsveld, Kurt Darren and Patricia Lewis.  

Nel concludes in the article, “It is more about the type of communication than anything else. It doesn’t matter what you do in Afrikaans, there will always be something very unique to it.”

South Africa has 11 official languages and there are sound reasons for this, yet local marketers appear to be baffled by the complexity of the socio-demographic landscape and tend to take the safe road and cater for majority understanding, creating all campaigns in English. Mondli Nhlapo, research account manager at Yellowwood, suggests perhaps they should instead be valuing the vernacular, creating campaigns in mother-tongue and cashing in on the ensuing return-on-investment.

Nhlapo says in his blog, "Good vernacular communication taps into cultural insight, nuance and context. It can help brands show that they understand and resonate with their consumers. It can build long-lasting and profitable relationships of trust with their market. Using vernacular languages in communication has the potential to add huge value to a brand. It can help global brands successfully localise and help local brands become more relevant to their target market."

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