Tell us the story of how mapIT started out.

MapStudio has been mapping Africa for 56 years and 10 years back mapIT was created to take the analogue maps digital. Originally we focused on the fleet and vehicle tracking market space, as there were no accurate digital maps available to support these businesses. All the big players like Mix Telematics, Tracker, Altech Netstar, Digicore, CarTrack and SmartSurv became early adopters of our maps and are still our clients today.

Explain the relationship between mapIT and TomTom.

In 2008 the second largest digital mapping company in the world, Tele Atlas, acquired the mapping database from mapIT and became 49% shareholders with the responsibility to maintain and enhance the data. In 2008 TomTom bought Tele Atlas and became shareholders of mapIT.

mapIT is the exclusive go-to market partner for TomTom in Sub Saharan Africa. We provide worldwide data to our African based clients operating all over the world.

What are the benefits of layering when it comes to digital mapping?

Various applications that make use of digital mapping need to be able to overlay additional custom data such as vehicle positions, own and competitor stores, sales territories, LSM data, census data, and pipeline infrastructures. This is on top of the base data that we provide. Our base data includes all the layers you would expect in a high quality navigation ready database – roads, points of interest, land use and much more. Furthermore, these apps often need to get access to the layer attributes that we carry, such as posted speed limits to enable fleet companies to generate route compliance reports for every truck they manage or insurance companies monitoring driving habits; on a driver behavior incentive package.

Does mapIT have plans to expand beyond Africa?

We are already active worldwide through our SSA clients that are operating all over the world. Right now we are working on a big deal in Latin America together with one of our clients, Cellfind, to offer VAS services to large mobile network operators in that region. We also recently delivered a large solution to the Automobile Association of the Netherlands with more than 4M clients. This solution will allow people to plan their trips taking into account the live HD Traffic from TomTom. The development work was done through another mapIT client – Aspire Solutions.

What are some benefits to digital mapping that most people are unaware of?

The earliest known examples of maps date back several thousand years. Yet in this age of convenience, maps have become so ubiquitous that they appear simple. This short-sells one of civilisation’s finest inventions. In a world obsessed with metrics of all kinds, maps are a potent business tool. mapIT has been illuminating the potential of maps for enterprises and combatting a perception created by free mapping services.

The unfortunate thing is that the true value of maps as a rich platform has been forgotten. People only think about it as a simple display layer. Location data represents far more than the ability to draw pins or lines on a map. And even that is often scuppered by inferior data, so people are getting instructed to drive through a field when you were expecting a road.

Map data reveals the architecture of society – from the shape of the land to the way we live. Accuracy is not negotiable. While the layman can function with a free service, those who rely on maps – such as all the leading fleet/tracking companies and clients of mapIT – to hone their competitiveness or efficiency need data that leaves no doubt.

How can businesses get the most out of digital mapping and what is gained?

The importance of this is already clear in the number of local companies which rely on good mapping data. According to a recent joint study between mapIT and World Wide Worx, nearly half of SMEs and three quarters of enterprises spend at least two percent of their IT budget on mapping services. Many use it for security or logistical purposes, allowing them to track fleets, plan deliveries or to monitor their mobile workforce.

“The perception is that mapping is free,” said Arthur Goldstuck from World Wide Worx. “So the moment someone spends anything on a mapping budget, it means maps are being taken seriously from a strategic point of view.” And maps are actually not free. Though you can access online maps without charge, functions such as tracking require licensing fees. And there is more functionality. When high-accuracy data from TomTom is combined with partner data feeds, one can – for example – pinpoint client details along LSM lines. Businesses and advertisers can then avoid using a shotgun approach to entice an area’s consumers and instead see actual results when launching a campaign. This can be seen in action here –  mapIT’s portal to location based analysis.

mapIT data also includes business and residential details, aspects that have brought clients such as the Yellow Pages in SA and the Governments of Uganda and Kenya to use our services. The presence of the latter is testament to one of mapIT’s advantages – it has a solid network of map data gatherers across Africa and the rest of the world.

But the most exciting development in recent years is how affordable and accessible mapping technology has become. Utilising cloud services, map data can be made available on demand and on a pay-per-use basis. mapIT’s geospatial platform, deCarta, offers mapIT’s quality global maps, routing and local search all through a suite of API’s. This can be accessed at here. This makes quality affordable and non-negotiable. Dedicated mapping servers can also be installed for clients hamstrung by unreliable broadband.

Maps create the tapestry of our world, where data is becoming a vital tool in creating advantages and building leaner, more effective businesses. Flying blind is not an option when you can rely on the largest and most accurate mapping data available.

Thank you for sharing your story with us, Etienne. Find out more about mapIT here and follow them on Twitter.

You refer to yourself as an accidental entrepreneur. So how was the idea for Go Metro born?

I am actually a civil engineer by training and education, so I am maybe the most unlikely mobile app entrepreneur in South Africa. GoMetro started out through my experiences as a Capetonian commuter using Metrorail to get to work. I found the experience was enjoyable, but the service unreliable. The more I spoke to other commuters about this, the more I realized that this is a serious problem. I heard really sad stories of people who had lost their jobs because their Train Service was always delayed, and they had received many written warnings for late-coming. I had studied engineering to make a positive impact on people’s lives, and here was a situation that I felt I had to rectify.

So I lobbied Metrorail for access to their data, designed the first versions while my request worked through their bureaucracy, and then finally built and launched the mobile service. And the response has been phenomenal – from the public who are showing their bosses on their phones why they are late, to mothers who are getting home sooner to spend time with their children. It’s inspiring to think that this mobile service is having even a small positive impact on so many people.

Does Go Metro update in real time if trains are running late?

Yeah – the most direct metric for the success of our solution is the relevance of the information it delivers. So we have invested heavily into tapping into the Control Centres of each region. In the Western Cape, we tap into a real-time measurement system which provides real-time times and announcements. However, in Gauteng, we have had to intervene with Metrorail Control Centre staff updating train times and line announcements directly into the backend, as large parts of the Gauteng network is not adequately signalized for real-time measurements. The line announcements serve to give a user an indication of average delays or key issues that a commuter has to be aware of.

As all the founders had no coding background, you all taught yourselves HTML and CSS in 18 months. If you had to summarize, what would you say are the top points that you learned about HTML and CSS?

That there is nothing to be scared of – if you are a non-techie, just get stuck in and it will come. Interestingly enough, the real lessons have come after launching and being in the hands of users. For instance, we have learnt in South Africa’s mobile landscape, you need to ignore JavaScript and any fancy plans for your UI – as there are still so many feature phones out there that you need to cater for. So we are building a website for feature phones, then for JavaScript smartphones, and then native apps. From Nokia, to Blackberry, then Android, and then iPhone.

How have you managed and monitored user behaviour for the Go Metro App?

We use Google Analytics, but not the traditional JavaScript tags, because then you disregard all non-Javascript devices. We have found that the Google Analytics PHP tags actually measure our traffic much more accurately and efficiently. We also have a consistent feedback button on every page, so users can always leave a comment for us on the service. We have collected more than 10,000 responses in this fashion. The development team all uses public transport, so we also have a chance to chat to users on the platform-side to understand all the potential use-cases for our solution. And finally, we monitor and keep an active social media presence through @Go_Metro and @GoMetro_Girl to pick up on any unreported issues with the service.

Which devices can use the go Metro App?

As this application has a direct positive social impact on commuters from all backgrounds, we needed to build a solution that everyone could access. Therefore GoMetro runs a robust mobile web-app that runs on all WAP-enabled mobile phones – from the lowly Samsung E250 to the mighty Nokia Lumia 920. And everything in between. We fulfill our social mandate through the mobile web app, but we are building feature-rich versions on native platforms. We have just launched a native Nokia S40 app and are releasing a native Blackberry 7 app this month. We will follow it up with a pretty cool ’self-aware’ Android app in May.

How do you see South African transport and digital working together more efficiently in 2013?

Jack van der Merwe, CEO of the Gautrain, summed it up well when he said that when they designed the Gauteng Transport Masterplan in the 1970s, they never realized that every citizen would be carrying a processing platform with them wherever they moved. I think transport and mobile/digital are going to merge into ‘Mobi-lity’. We are going to be able to extract efficiencies and flexibility from our urban transport systems based on the data from our mobile phones. This is going to aid planners, operators, control centres, drivers, commuters, and pedestrians in a myriad of ways. We are only scratching the surface of possibilities for smarter cities.

What can the public health and educations systems learn from Go Metro?

The public health and education systems will never transform from the inside. That is just not the nature of any large institution. But I like to think that GoMetro has blazed a trail for startups to engage with Government entities and improve our communities in scalable ways. We have more cellphones than flush toilets in South Africa, and so the potential to positively impact other people’s lives through mobile development is simply enormous. There is some great work happening in South Africa in the field of Information and Communication Technologies for Development, such as the work of Marlon Parker and RLabs.

But the digital community as a whole should be doing so much more for education, health and basic services enablement in South Africa. We have the skills and tools to educate and empower communities through disruptive means, and I believe anyone with technical skills and talents has the responsibility to use them for public good, and not just profit. Looking at the startup scene in Cape Town and Johannesburg, I see too many first world problems being solved through first world technologies, and not enough third world problems being solved using third world technology.

What was the most surprising lesson you have learned since launching the Go Metro App?

This comes from my experience with first world technology and our launch of GoMetro. We launched last year, bearing in mind that we had to teach ourselves HTML and CSS in the process, with a very basic mobile service – to ‘industry’ standards. Because of that, we took a lot of very harsh and quite sanctimonious comments on social networks from the digital community for the shortcomings of our design and service. It was difficult to not get despondent from the harsh ‘first world problem’ reactions that came our way from the Digerati.

What kept us going and encouraged us was what our users were saying. The comments we were collecting from the feedback button from actual users on the ground were overwhelmingly positive and appreciative for the solution. There is a major difference between critics and users. If your users are critical of your service, obsess over your product until they are fans. But if your critics are not users of your service, don’t obsess at all. The users have stuck by us, and as we have improved our product – I feel that we have rewarded their trust in us. But identifying your users versus your critics is a key skill for any entrepreneur.

Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Justin. We look forward to your story inspiring others to use their skills to improve public services. Find out more about GoMetro here. Follow them on Twitter.

Thank you for giving up some of your time for us, Richard. When it comes to startups and business, what similarities do you see in the UK and SA? Are there any lessons the one can learn from the other?

There are lots of similarities. Both countries need start-up businesses to help rejuvenate their economies. South African entrepreneurs can learn from the UK’s ability to turn businesses into international successes. British companies can take tips from their South African counterparts who often build their businesses up from incredibly tough circumstances through sheer hard work.

So how can an entrepreneur recognise the difference between courage and stupidity when taking risks?

If you don’t give it a go, you will never know if a business decision was smart or stupid. Simply being an entrepreneur takes enormous courage, and as you gain more experience you will hopefully make more right calls. Screw it, just do it!

Would you advise that from the start – companies build products for consumers and not for profit? Or can that business model only work later on in the process?

Absolutely. If you are only in business to make money, you may as well not bother. Companies need to focus upon purpose as well as profit, and being a force for good can actually help your business to thrive.

If you could attribute one thing to the success of having one of the most diverse brands in the world, what would it be?

People. We have wonderful people who understand what Virgin is all about working for us around the world. They are what knits together such a wide range of companies, and the reason our unique business model works so well.

In all your experience working with start-ups, what is the single biggest mistake you see entrepreneurs make?

In the early days of any business you need to focus upon survival above all else. If you aren’t around in two years time, your intricate business plan is never going to see the light of day. So entrepreneurs need to focus upon the here and now. Pay the bills, then build from there.

Are there any digital startups you currently see as inspirational?

I love to see businesses spot a gap in the market and there are lots within the digital economy. One that stands out is Codecademy. Coding is going to become increasingly important in the coming years and they are providing a great way for people to learn new skills in a simple way.

How do you feel technology has changed the opportunities now available for entrepreneurs?

Technology has given entrepreneurs a new lease of life. It provides the opportunity to market businesses to people all over the world and helps entrepreneurs get their message out there in a fast and fun fashion.

Thank you so much for sharing your pearls of wisdom with us, Sir Rich. We look forward to welcoming you back to South Africa soon!

The online conversations trended on Twitter. This BrandsEye infographic details the 1316 online conversations that took place over the two days – resulting in over 2 million opportunities to see.

Nikki started the evening off with her energetic  presentation about how E-commerce is not just a store. It’s about strategies and budget. She compared it to being a start-up in structured environment. The E-commerce resources for Woolworths SA are all from international countries – but that does not make it any easier. Their E-commerce divisions are so streamlined – from brand alignment to operational – that checkout is an entire process in itself. Nikki reminds us that once a customer has purchased a product online, that is not the end of the job.

Woolworths will soon have 60 campaigns running on their online platforms at the same time. They will also be launching a new website in June which promises to impress. The Woolworths homepage banners drive 60% of their conversions. “The opportunity to promote is massive. You just need to make sure that the adverts on your own site are just as amazing as the ones you put onto publishing sites” Nikki explains.

Nikki says “Online doesn’t have a start date and an end date. First build the strategy and then adapt the technology around it. It’s not brands that are changing, it’s the consumers in their response to technology.” She encourages us not to be ‘Sheeple’ (You can figure that out on your own). Ask yourselves, “Are we doing it because everyone else is, or because it’s right for our business?”

Woolworths is using the omni-channel approach – it follows the customer on their unique journey. She describes this as the evolution of multi-channel. With 16.5 million people online at any given time, it is important to realise that a customer-centric approach is essential. Nikki explains that changing consumer behaviour is secondary to changing internal behaviour in digital. Personally, she spends more time educating internally about Woolworths than externally.

Remember that you know your business best. It does not always make sense to employ outside consultants to tell you what you already know. In order to achieve success, Nikki says you need a vision that you can define in one sentence.

The best way to ensure that your E-Commerce business is successful, is by knowing your vision, and knowing your customers. Measure and report everything. It is crucial to remember that your complexity in the back-end needs to display as simplicity in the front-end for the customer.

Co-founder of Yuppiechef, Andrew, then told us the inspirational story of how Yuppiechef was born in 2006. It started with no brand and no commercial backing. In their first year, Yuppiechef made 8 sales – 7 of which were purchases by their family and friends. The first ‘real’ customer that bought something, received a hand-written card to express their gratitude – a tradition that still continues today.

Andrew stresses that even if you don’t have money for marketing, word of mouth is king. Live to delight your customer. “You have all the systems, until you sell a product and realise how unprepared you were. A forklift and a conveyor belt are two things that will make you feel like a real man.”

Yuppiechef founders learnt that going from selling your time by the hour to building an Ecommerce site takes determination. Wrapping boxes in between his baby’s sleep times proved this. Caring for customers makes a big difference. There is no substitute for that. It has certainly paid off as Yuppiechef is now one of the most favoured brands for purchasing kitchen tools, selling hundreds a day.

Thank you to both of our speakers for providing such inspirational and insightful stories of E-commerce success. Pictures from this event can be viewed here. A huge thanks to our phenomenal sponsors who made this evening possible; Nokia, Deloitte, Backsberg, and Channel Mobile.

Follow Andrew on Twitter here, and Yuppiechef here.
Connect with Nikki here, and Woolworths here.

What inspired you to start Sparring Mind?

Starting Sparring Mind was a necessity for me because I have a deep interest in behavioral psychology, which started during my undergrad days. Since I later got into the software startup space, I ended up writing less about the research I still loved reading.

Thus, Sparring Mind was born, and although the updates aren’t very frequent, it’s still a great place for me to pour out 2000+ words an article on a topic I love.

Sparring Mind focuses around the psychological behavior around businesses and brands. What is the most interesting piece of research you have learned through it?

My favorite bit of research in that area has to be studies surrounding the psychology of storytelling.

As a content strategist, I’m obviously all about ‘magnetic marketing’ over interruptions, and when I discovered that stories could have such a persuasive impact on copy and content, it changed my writing forever.

You specialize in content strategy for software startups. Can you unpack this for us?

Content marketing is all about creating content that people find useful and want to check out.

Especially on a crowded place like the web, attention and audience are incredibly valuable. Building a ‘minimum viable audience’ before trying to sell a piece of software is a way to increase your chances of success, rather than taking a gamble on something people won’t buy.

Using a blog that people love learning from and sharing can help you build a business that people know, like, and trust, allowing you to sell your software without resorting to aggressive interruption marketing tactics.

What do you think is the biggest difference between content strategy for startups and content strategy for a big brand with a new product?

For startups it is important because of the bootstrapped aspect, as it is the best way for under-funded or entirely self-funded businesses to gain an audience without spending a ton of dough.

Advertising still works, but only if you have years to do it and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Good customer service is subjective and influenced by things like culture and language. What kind of challenges does this create for online customer service that spreads across the world?

While the world is going global, the most essential customer service skills are universal in that they are more about human behavior than they are about cultural distinctions.

That being said, it is important to understand who buys your product, and what cultural factors may cause friction between your staff and the average person who contacts your support.

Things like social taboos and conversational conduct are all very important when interacting with people of another culture.

Tell us about Help Scout and how the system succeeds in personalizing the customer experience.

The team at Help Scout is dedicated to building the best email support software out there for small businesses.

Instead of forcing your customers to open up support tickets, Help Scout is invisible to anyone contacting you. Your team can access a dashboard for incoming messages, but when they reply, all your customers see is a plain email.

Once you add in our features built around personalization, such as customer profiles, you get a system that is built around customer needs but that is easy for companies to use.

What are your predictions about the way content will be structured/changed by brands in 2013?

I’ve addressed this somewhat in a post on SEOmoz. I believe content will become more creative and interactive in 2013 and beyond.

Written content, like blog posts and PDFs, will still be the bread and butter in any good content strategy, but in order to stand out online in the future, utilizing things like videos and podcasting will become ever more important.

We are visual creatures, and the web is beginning to reflect this.

Thank you for your thoughts, Greg. Find out more about Greg here. Learn more on Help Scout here. Follow Greg on Twitter.

Tell us about Groupon and how you think it differs from other crowd-purchasing deal sites?

Groupon is a Nasdaq listed global company with a presence in 48 countries around the world. This means a lot of access to shared knowledge and experience from a variety of markets. We can identify trends and consumer preferences. We also benefit from the most advanced technology and trends so can expose our partners to a wealth of metrics that they would never have the opportunity to use without huge investment.

How do local and international competitors differ? And does this change the strategy of Groupon from country to country?

The competitor landscape in established markets is obviously a lot more closely fought, whereas in South Africa as an emerging market we haven’t yet had a competitor come close to rivaling us with size, choice of partner and back office support.

What really distinguishes us from our competitors here in South Africa is the fact that we can respond incredibly quickly to an opportunity. We have detailed plans for cities and have set very defined targets for our sales guys. It has been an incredibly steep learning curve for us; purely because of the enthusiasm that the South African market has embraced the group-buying concept with.

There have been growth problems, especially with some delivery and supply challenges that are obviously pretty unique to our emerging markets. The good part is that because of the international co-operation, we can anticipate where the opportunities will lie in the future as the market and infrastructure develop and mature here, which is great for our partners and our consumers.

How does Groupon sustain a South African flavour when it is a global brand?

Groupon needs to localise all their initiatives as this is what is at the heart of our mission. We want people to experience their own cities in new ways and try out things that they typically wouldn’t even consider or be aware of. The way Groupon differs to traditional marketing platforms is that we encourage consumers to experience our partners products instead of traditional media advertising that simply informs the consumer of the partner. It’s a new way of thinking about things and that’s really exciting, but obviously we need to couple that with some stronger educational initiatives for consumers this year too.

Did the acquisition of Twangoo affect the brand identity of Groupon?

No, it allowed Groupon to gain a larger foot print and enter Africa.

Since the acquisition, you are contracted to three years as CEO of Groupon SA. What are your plans after that?

I will be wherever Groupon is. I am passionate about the brand, the concept and the opportunity for South Africa.

How do you see group-buying changing in 2013?

Obviously I am expected to say that I imagine it growing, but I really do believe it will. With the increase in broadband and better access to e-commerce platforms, consumers will become more confident and comfortable online. Their expectations will rise and therefore the standard expected of the big players will need to rise accordingly too. It’s exciting times ahead.

Thanks Daniel. To find out more about the E-commerce site, click here. Follow Daniel on Twitter here.

How did 2go originate?

2go was founded in March 2007 by Alan Wolff and Ashley Peter while studying computer science at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg. They wanted to build something practical that could also have an impact and make a difference.

SMS costs were high and instant messaging on mobile was emerging as a technology that offered users a cheaper option. They decided to build a technically superior product but focused on addressing the needs of consumers in emerging markets in way that was far more social, fun and with a distinctly local flavour. 2go has evolved into a service where users both chat with friends and meet new people.

How does 2go plan on competing with mobile messenger giants such as Mxit?

We actually don’t see Mxit as a competitor currently in Nigeria. Although we have 1.5 million active users in South Africa, Nigeria is where we are the dominant player with 9 million active users. We will continue to focus on our core messaging and social offering; and continuously improve the user experience and add more social features. With support from Nokia, we are now in their app store for the first time and a new version 3.6 will be released in March.

Can you share some statistics with us on the success of 2go?

Over 90% of Africa’s mobile phone owners do not own a smartphone. This is the target segment that 2go understands and this is currently our primary target segment. Our service skews slightly male in SA and 65% male in Nigeria. Users are aged mostly in their early to mid 20s. In Nigeria we have a large segment of university users. Here are some stats.

- 2go has over 10 Million active users in Africa, of which 9 million are active in Nigeria and 1.5 million in South Africa. Our user base is pretty active with around 70 logins per user per month.

- 2go version 3.5 was released in mid December 2012 and achieved over 1 million downloads in its first month.

- There are over 6 billion messages sent over our network every month.

Although 2go is most popular in Africa, is it used in any other parts of the world yet?

We are focusing on Africa for the moment. Africa is a growth market. With over 100 million mobile connections just in Nigeria, the opportunity is on our doorstep. We do see growth spurts from the Middle East, but right now are trying to remain focused on our core markets.

2go has done mobile marketing for chat services. In your opinion, what is the most effective way of getting a call to action on this platform?

2go adverts see incredible levels of engagement.

Our full screen splash ad unit – where users see a full-screen clickable image for 5 seconds when they login to 2go – can achieve up to 25% engagement rates.

Mobile advertising requires a different approach to online. 2go users are glued to the screen, and caught in a very immediate experience. The full screen splash is successful because it is premium. It is more akin to watching a high quality advert in a cinema. This is very different to a small banner ad, which is often perceived as a cheap stab at an audience or missed by the user.

What advice would you give to advertisers and brands wanting to target people on mobile messenger services?

Mobile is a critically important platform for brands. We poll our users often and over 30% of them don’t even watch TV. 50% of them read their daily news on their phones.

But – target your customer on the right platform. If you intend to reach the majority of your market in Africa, don’t waste time on a smartphone (yet). Ask yourself, “Is your customer a feature phone user?”

In terms of practical advice ; keep the messaging simple. Have a bold, brief call to action. 7 words and less if possible. Ask a question. We have done A/B testing and asking a brief question generally yields around 10% better response rates than a statement.

Do you have the right mobi-site landing page? Make sure your mobi-site is lightweight, purpose-built and optimised for feature phones.

Our full screen ads are clickable outside of the application to the brand’s own mobi-site. It is often very frustrating to see a very big brand have a mobi-site that we know will just not work on most phones. The rule of thumb is that if your site is pretty it will probably look awful on a feature phone, and take too long to load on most phones. People just won’t convert.

Are there any new features that 2go will be launching in 2013?

We are very careful not to clutter the app with additional features that might interfere with the core social experience of chatting with friends and meeting new people. So our features will continue to enhance the fun, social experience of 2go.

We will continue to innovate for our core feature phone user base. But we are of course also seeing a shift in demand for smart phone versions of 2go and are therefore evolving with our users as they shift from feature to smartphones. We are currently focused on releasing a native Android app.

That is exciting news! Thank you for sharing your insight with us, Marc. Find out more about 2g0 here. Follow them on Twitter here.

Telkom Business also hopes that this initiative will help to improve their relationships with small and medium organisations that rely on their services.

The prizes will include plenty of technical gadgets such as phones, laptops and tablets, as well as office furniture and website design software. Telkom believes that a well-equipped business leads to confidence which in turn contributes to their overall success.

The winning enterprises will also be offered guidance on their spending of the prize money in order to get the most out of it.

To enter this competition, businesses need to sign up for a calling plan (BizTalk) or an internet package (TBiz). This guarantees an automatic entry. SMEs can also call 10217, or complete the order form on their site. The Telkom Direct Stores can also be visited to take advantage of this competition.