Despite accounting for 9% of the population and possessing spending power of about R80bn/year, the coloured market remains misunderstood and neglected. The perception of a market group containing a large number of gangsters and alcoholics is a hard one to overcome.
That is about to change. Cape Town-based strategic planning and research company Oil has conducted what is arguably the first detailed study of the coloured market. Based on a sample of the Western Cape population, which accounts for 63% of SA's coloured population, the study looks at issues like group identity, lifestyle and aspirations, and how coloured people generally perceive themselves.
Velma Botha - Not a single market
Oil's Velma Botha says the research also looks at why marketers have been so unsuccessful when targeting this market. She says marketers generally are unaware that it has become fragmented and complex in the past 15 years.
Issues like black economic empowerment have influenced the segment which, like the black segment, has a growing middle class. Says Botha: "Marketers still talk to the coloured market using stereotypes. We've found only a small market in the Western Cape that conforms to these stereotypes."
The main finding is that since 1994, the definition of coloured is no longer based exclusively on skin colour and race.
"It's about behaviour, culture and heritage," says Botha.
The research divides the market into four groupings: escapers, in-betweeners, achievers and silver-spooners (see table below). What differentiates them is behaviour, lifestyle, aspiration, and perception of what it means to be coloured.
Escapers are a small group and the least aspirational. Social issues like illiteracy, drug abuse and a ghetto lifestyle are most prevalent in this segment.
"Education is not a priority in this group," says Botha. "Most don't have any aspiration to pull themselves out of their living conditions. They live for the moment and don't think much about tomorrow."
This group also feels most marginalised in the new SA. People feel they have not benefited much from political change.
The most effective marketing mediums for this segment are radio and shopping-mall advertising.
In-betweeners maintain an equal balance between work and play. Drug and illiteracy levels are not as severe and people in this group think about the future, but their objectives are not clear-cut. "In-betweeners are caught between being wealthy and being poor," says Botha. "They are slowly moving to success and often do this in a conspicuous way." However, they are unlikely to compromise their lifestyle for success.
The achievers and silver spooners are where marketers are missing out, particularly if they want to promote high-end brands. These groups are house-proud, image-conscious and aspirational. They enjoy holidays, jazz festivals and dinner with friends.
They are more optimistic about SA and their role in building the country.
Though they are proudly coloured, members of the achiever group also see themselves as black because of their common heritage and shared history in the struggle for human rights.
Achievers, whose spending power accounts for 70% of the coloured market, are also obsessed about a better future for their children.
"What we found is that while achiever parents would speak Afrikaans among themselves, they would speak English to their children," says Botha. "This is because they don't want their children to suffer from the stigma that is attached to their type of Afrikaans. They want a better life for them."
Silver spooners, the smallest of the four groupings, are predominantly English-speaking and have little in common with most things perceived as typically coloured. They believe their future will be comfortable no matter what happens. They are generally young. Their main connection to coloured culture is through parents and extended family. Though young and spoilt, they have a great deal of respect for their parents.
Botha says Oil is considering a similar study in the Gauteng coloured community to see if they demonstrate significant differences. Nationally, the coloured market is almost as big as the white population, which accounts for 9,1% of SA's total population.
Ranking the Analysts 2009
