Shamola Pramjeeth and Alistair G Mokoena/ Elixir Marketing Mgmt. 69 (2014) 22916-22924 22916 Introduction The South African (SA) media landscape has become a lot more competitive in recent years. This has been driven by a growth in the number of consumer products and services coupled with the growth in media platforms. According to Ces and Treglia (2009:153), “saturation, digital media, convergence and audience fragmentation are making it increasingly difficult to reach the consumer.” The implication for advertising practitioners is that they have to work harder at developing effective advertising. In the past advertisers had very few media platforms to choose from. These included television, radio, print and outdoor. Today the options have increased in number. Consumers and advertisers alike have more media platforms to choose from. According to Sousa (2013) the introduction of digital media platforms and the explosive growth of mobile channels are some of the factors driving media fragmentation. It is not uncommon to see a consumer browsing the internet on their Apple Ipad whilst watching television and listening to the radio at the same time. There is a lot of competition for the consumer’s attention. Not only do marketers have to contend with the issue of media proliferation, consumers are now able to opt out of watching advertisements on television. According to Anonymous 4 (2013) the DSTV PVR decoder allows consumers to skip watching advertisements. No longer can advertisers assume that their advertisements will be watched. The implication for advertisers is that advertisements have to be compelling and interesting for consumers to take notice of them. Research Problem The South African media landscape has seen a rise in the number of media platforms over the years. This growth has been witnessed across all media channels, namely:in TV, radio, print, outdoor and as well as digital. Advertisers have a lot more choice now and therefore consumers are exposed to a lot more advertising messages. The growth of TV has been driven by the introduction of pay channels such as DSTV and Top TV. The growth of radio has been driven primarily by privately-owned radio stations as well as community radio stations. The number of print titles (Magazines and Newspapers) has grown over the years and so has the number of outdoor sites in South Africa. The Internet has further exacerbated this media proliferation by creating countless advertising platforms. This media proliferation has made it more difficult for commercials to stand out and be remembered. Even where commercials are remembered, too much choice leads to confusion and indecision on the part of consumers. In an effort to produce break-through advertising, advertisers have employed several techniques such as humour, storytelling, shock value, amongst others. This study aims to examine the role of storytelling, as an advertising technique, in making advertising more effective. Aim of the Study The aim of this study was to investigate the role of storytelling in improving advertising effectiveness in South Africa’s media landscape. The study sought to identify commercials that used storytelling as a technique and assess whether they are more impactful as a result of this technique. An investigation into the impact of the storytelling technique on advertising effectiveness in the South African media landscape Shamola Pramjeeth 1,* and Alistair G Mokoena 2 1 Management College of Southern Africa, 26 SamoraMachel, Durban, South Africa. 2 DRAFTFCB, 164 Katherine Street, Sandton Johannesburg, South Africa. ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the storytelling technique on advertising effectiveness in the South African media landscape. The researcher adopted a qualitative research approach to establish whether the storytelling technique helps make advertising more effective in the South African media landscape. The methodology used in this research study was a case study approach which incorporated perspectives from the various marketing, advertising and media industries of South Africa, in the Gauteng region. A total of 12 in depth interviews were conducted. Respondents were recruited using the purposive sampling strategy. Two of the 12 respondents participated in the pilot study while the remaining ten participated in the actual research study. The research study found that storytelling advertising is indeed more effective than other forms of advertising due to it being more emotionally engaging therefore resulting in it being more enjoyable and memorable than functional advertising. The research study revealed that stories that are based on a universal human truth and are told in a simple and honest manner tend to resonate better with consumers. The study further revealed that advertising that is built around talking stories, which stir people’s emotions and pull their heartstrings, is more effective. It was also found that stories which are supported by a consistent use of distinctive brand assets such as characters, music and jingles, tend to be more memorable and therefore more effective. The results of the study led to the development of criteria marketers should employ when designing story telling advertisements. © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved. ARTICLE INFO Article history: Received: 23 January 2014; Received in revised form: 20 March 2014; Accepted: 2 April 2014; Keywords Attention, Break-through, Competitive, Effective, Memorable. Elixir Marketing Mgmt. 69 (2014) 22916-22924 Marketing Management Available online at www.elixirpublishers.com (Elixir International Journal) Tele: E-mail addresses: shamola.pramjeeth@mancosa.co.za © 2014 Elixir All rights reserved