eBOOK: Retailing Africa launches industry ebooks

by Louise Burgers. We have gained much as an industry with the acceleration of digital marketing, data measurement tools, and the integration of new technologies – such as AI, AR and VR – into ad campaigns and customer experiences. What the metaverse will deliver this decade for brands and consumers is on everyone’s radar. However, we have also had losses in our industry.

The death of print was always predicted, and the COVID-19 pandemic just accelerated the inevitable. Many of us in the media industry mourned the loss of so many wonderful magazine titles at the start of the pandemic lockdowns; and especially the jobs lost. But like every other industry, we have to transform; and much of the future of print will be in sought after niche publishing and beautiful publications that fulfil a specific need at a special time. Especially since advertising spend has dwindled for monthly print publications.

The loss I feel most, is that of the specialist, business-to-business industry publications which promoted the best of our industries and created opportunities for professional development in each industry – by building your career through thought leadership and columns, to contributing to industry IP. And in this industry, showcasing the best marketing and advertising campaigns; producing special features; as well as extra supplements and guides to advance industry knowledge in specific categories.

While some of us tried to preserve some of that history by archiving print publications with some industry organisations that expressed an interest in safeguarding our business sector’s past achievements; or by keeping sets of the publications we edited – much of the history of our industry has been lost by publishers which no longer exist, or which did not care to keep libraries of the magazines they published.

The future for B2B media

The future of business-to-business industry insight rests with niche media publications with experienced editors, writers and contributing thought leaders and columnists, who record industry IP; as well as adding to the wealth of knowledge that exists. Our role is to interpret current trends and insight; decoding the news and research; curating expert thought leadership; and creating a knowledge resource for our industry sector. Enabled by technology, we are the living libraries for our sectors.

“Enabled by technology, we are the living libraries for our sectors.”

B2B media can mostly only exist in the digital space, where editorial costs can be contained; and there is no print and distribution bill to destroy budgets, especially in an uncertain economy such as ours. And digital is the best option for saving our industry IP – whether it is through podcasts, online archives, or the digital media that has sprung up and helped grow our various industry sectors over the past two decades.

It is time to move beyond the press release though – as many of us in the industry have done over the past decade, curating expert opinion and thought leadership; and profiling the changemakers in our industries; and doing that deep dive into trends and topics that are changing the business sectors we operate in.

Launch an ebook with Retailing Africa

Retailing Africa has launched ebooks for our industry, which will take the form of indepth white papers on exclusive research, features on specific industry categories, new technology and financial products; as well as the brands leading change in the retailing sector, and the changemakers and thought leaders who are driving that change. Our ebooks are archived in our new LIBRARY section on Retailing Africa’s Home Page, for anyone to access, at any time. All our ebooks are free to download, as empowering our industry with knowledge is our currency.

“All our ebooks are free to download, as empowering our industry with knowledge is our currency.”

We will also promote our LIBRARY through social media and in our weekly newsletter to ensure it remains and grows as a resource for the industry; and a repository of industry IP, that cannot be pulped or discarded, as so much of our history has been in our various sectors. We look forward to working with the industry to create further resources for our industry, free to anyone to download, any time they need the information.

*RetailingAfrica.com does not have a paywall; nor does it carry bulk banner advertising; or advertorial. We rely on the support of our sponsors to bring you the latest industry trends and expertise. If you or your brand would like to collaborate with Retailing Africa on publishing an ebook for your sector in our industry, please contact me directly on: louise[at]retailingafrica.com.

Read more about our different ebook sponsorship packages by clicking the ebook download link at the top of the page.

Louise Burgers is the Publisher and Editor and Co-Founder of RetailingAfrica.com. She has spent over 20 years writing about the FMCG retailing, marketing, media and advertising industry in South Africa and on the African continent. She has specialised in local and Africa consumer trends and is a passionate Afro-optimist who believes it is Africa’s time to rise again and that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will be a global gamechanger in the next decade.

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