Sudan Digital

Marketing in Sudan Podcast

Where can I listen to Jabana with Sudan Digital?

• Listen on Anghami
• Listen on Sound Cloud
• Listen on Apple Podcasts
• Listen on Google Podcasts
• Listen on Spotify
• Listen on Amazon Music

Marketing in Sudan can often be a challenge, however, help has arrived. On March 10th we launched our long-awaited podcast “Jabana with Sudan Digital”, hosted by the one and only Abdelaziz Musa aka Aziz founder and CEO of Sudan Digital. In each episode, we pick a topic and invite a guest, have a panter over authentic Sudanese Jabana until we run out of Jabanah and bid our guest and beloved listener a warm adieu.

Jabana with Sudan Digital speaks to the digital savviness of the Sudanese people hence our slogan “Proudly Sudanese, Obsessively Digital”. 

We kicked off the first episode with our Arabic copywriter and Social butterfly Aseel, on “How to Set Foot in Marketing without Prior Formal Education”. Like most of our dynamic team here at Sudan Digital Aseel came from a background far distant from marketing. Graduated from the college of Radiology at Sudan University Aseel has a knack for writing and found her voice in content writing during last year’s lockdown. She took a leap of faith and applied for Sudan Digital as an Arabic copywriter and instantly won our hearts with her words. Our CEO, Aziz, himself started off his early career years with product management and over the course of nearly 10 years found his niche in digital marketing.

What is marketing in Sudan

The conversation started with what is actually meant by marketing. Here in Sudan, the hardest professions to practice are either medicine or marketing. You wonder why? Because everyone is ultracrepidarian when it comes to medicine or marketing.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating, and satisfying customer requirements”.  But the definition of marketing is amorphous to some extent. Think of marketing as a kaleidoscope, depending on how you turn the tube you end up with different colours and patterns, i.e you end up with different definitions.

According to Peter Druker; “the aim of marketing is to make sales superfluous”. This is evidently noticeable with world-class brands like Coca-Cola and Apple. These bands incredible marketing prompts buyers to rush for products headlong.

But Druker’s definition can lead to negative management consequences as it creates barriers between marketing and sales. Most often in real-world organizations, these two departments are continuous to each other.  

A simpler and more accurate definition of marketing goes along the lines of “generating a change in the customer’s behaviour”. Think of the most popular tea brand here in Sudan. 99% of Sudanese people will answer “Cofftea” whenever prompted with the question. It is as if Cofftea reserved part of everyone’s brain for its brand without even knocking on their doors. In this light, the aim of marketing is to attain customer loyalty where loyal customers will not only buy the product but will market the brand themselves. 

Are courses and certificates enough to master marketing?

In the second part of the podcast, Aziz and Aseel discussed why relying merely on courses won’t enable one to acquire a working knowledge of marketing. Mastery of marketing, like any other practical field, requires the full application of theoretical knowledge. Unfortunately, in Sudan, there is a wide gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application traceable to the educational system. 

Aziz spoke about how, in one occasion, young Sudanese marketing professionals were surprised by the effectiveness of applying the scientific method in conducting experiments to determine the right product price. Knowledge learned at university will always have practical real-life applications. That’s why here at Sudan Digital our training program for new staff members is application-intensive. 

This is not to neglect the importance of good quality education in marketing. For example, the Chartered Institute of Marketing offers courses that are a great introduction to marketing. Obtaining an MBA is another valuable starting point for fresh graduates as they provide comprehensive marketing knowledge  and business problem-solving skills. 

The last advice offered by Aziz was to not rush things. Becoming a marketing expert takes time and commitment. And having the opportunity to work at small corporations or startups have the benefits of learning discipline and productive effortfulness. So even if you work for large cooperation, having the option to work on your personal project always pays off. 

So don’t worry much about the size of the company you are working for, as long as the opportunities for learning and growth are available this is what matters.

On that positive note, we ran out of Jabana and concluded our first episode of “Japana with Sudan Digital ”. So until we meet again, stay Sudanese and stay digital.