1st Edition
Digital Public Relations and Marketing Communication Trends in Africa
The uptake of digital media platforms necessitates the need to understand how digital cultures of consumers and brands are unfolding. Despite the increase in usage and adoption of the internet in Africa, there is limited information about digital marketing trends on the continent. This book is among the first to present an edited collection of chapters on digital and influencer marketing authored by many who are either from or have close ties to Africa.
This book showcases digital marketing trends in Africa that are burgeoning at the same speed as the uptake of technology in the continent. With this in mind, the contributors seek to interrogate digital marketing trends in two stages: the status of digital marketing on the African continent, including cases from Nigeria, Egypt, Uganda and Kenya, and an analysis of the rise of influencer marketing, including cases from Nigeria and Uganda. This book will explore factors driving the increase in digital media platforms in Africa as well as an analysis of the implications of the growth in digital marketing, using various theoretical and methodological underpinnings to probe trends.
Digital Public Relations and Marketing Communication Trends in Africa provides significant implications for marketing scholars and researchers and will be relevant to those looking to understand the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Chapter 1 Africa: An Introduction to a Growing Digital Market
Anne W. Njathi
Brandi Watkins
Chapter 2 The State of Public Relations Research in Africa
Brandi Watkins
Chapter 3 Corporate Reputation Management Opportunities and Challenges in the Social Media Age: Experiences of Public Relations Practitioners in Zimbabwe
Tendai Chari
Chapter 4 Effect of Social Media Usage in Zimbabwe's Telecommunications Industry and Its Impact on Corporate Reputation Management
Tabani Moyo
Cecile Proches Gerwel
Emmanuel Mutumbara
Upsana Gitanjali Singh
Chapter 5 Twitter (X) Activism and Crisis Management: A Case Study of KFC Kenya Franchise
Anne W. Njathi
Eric Wamanji
Chapter 6 Digital Beef or Digital Bluff? An SMCC-based Analysis of General Muhoozi’s Provocative Tweets and Contentious Kenya-Uganda Twitter (X) Discourse
Teresia Nzau
Luke Capizzo
Chapter 7 Digital Marketing and Public Relations in Egypt
Amany Bassyouny
Chapter 8 Social Media Marketing of Public Universities in Ghana: The Use of Facebook
Akwasi Bosompem Boateng
Chapter 9 Africa Rising: Assessing How African Online Influencers are Influencing Consumer Buying Decisions - A Study of the Nigerian Telecommunications Industry Using Lagos State as a Case Study
Adeola Kayode
Christiana Alex-Ojei
Chapter 10 Digital Ecosystem in Africa: Unfolding Regulatory Practices, Gaps, and Trends
Anne W. Njathi
Grace Mutung’u
Yinka Ajibola
Chapter 11 Trends in Public Relations and Marketing Research in Africa
Brandi Watkins
Anne W. Njathi
Biography
Anne W. Njathi (Ph.D. North Carolina State University) is a data-driven digital marketer and chartered marketer (ACIM) with over 10 years of industry experience in building sustainable brands in Africa. As an assistant professor at Pepperdine University, her research focuses on digital technologies, the creator economy, internet governance and FinTech, from an emerging market perspective.
Brandi Watkins (Ph.D., APR, The University of Alabama) is an associate professor in the School of Communication at Virginia Tech. Her research examines the role of digital and social media in facilitating organization-public relationships, brand communication and social change.
