SA consultancy Anthropology launches, aims to create ‘meaningful marketing’

SA’s consumer marketing space just got a little more competitive. A new consultancy with a focus on direct marketing is on the block — Anthropology — founded by Melody Maker and Katherine McChesney, who together bring to the table over 20 years of experience in the digital industry.

Based in Cape Town, Anthropology hopes to differentiate itself from the pack by creating consumer marketing initiatives that uses big data in real-time, thanks to a proprietary software that can be applied to an overarching digital strategy or a direct marketing campaign.

McChesney stresses that Anthropology will look at each client “objectively and holistically, regardless of the medium, to ensure channel appropriate marketing initiatives as opposed to the approach of forcing round pegs into square holes.”

Anthropology’s database has access to 50-million historical records, and the consultancy states that its focus is data relevance. “With over 19 million economically active South African consumers our campaigns are always highly segmented, targeted and accurate,” the company states.

Part of Anthropology’s own marketing will see the founders host a weekly vodcast where they will share industry insights, look at trends, and conduct interviews with industry players.

“The name Anthropology is no coincidence, we want to make it our mission to constantly study and evaluate consumer data, interactions and trends. Meaningful marketing has to be born out of really understanding who you are speaking to and what makes them tick. The study of humankind… this is what we are all about,” states Maker.

Together, Maker and McChesney have worked with some of the top agencies and brands in South Africa, and Maker adds that they are ready to make their mark with their own approach and style: “we have both been on the client, agency and publisher side of the industry so we feel we collectively have a good understanding of all the various sides and what is important to each, it is our mission to produce work that satisfies all parties involved.”

Anthropology’s website went live earlier this week, listing the company’s services, topped off with a behind-the-scenes video, perhaps alluding to the quality of their upcoming vodcasts.