Marketing in Africa CIMA Zone in general and in Cameroon in particular must be horizontal: from consumer to consumer. Because consumers look to each other for credible information when choosing products or services.

Consumers in Africa CIMA zone have more power than before, primarily through the effect of technology and the massive development of social media. However, they are also ready to switch brands at the slightest disappointment or if the treatment they receive, does not suit them. The dissemination of information and increased mobility allow them to make decisions that are more informed and share their experiences and opinions with an infinite number of people:

• They use the Internet for information and to buy: At home, in the office, on mobile, they can compare prices and products, consult user reviews, order online at any time of the day or night, bypass local offers and save money substantial. They can also view products in-store and then buy online. Because everyone now has access to all information, companies should realize the importance of transparency and consistency between words and reality.
• They get information and communicate using their smartphones and tablets: We already have about 183 million active mobile phones and more than 57 million active Internet users in the CIMA zone, including more than 10 million in Cameroon alone and more than 25 million are active on social networks.
• They use social media to give their opinion and express their loyalty to certain brands: On Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn, we are more than 30 million in Africa CIMA zone. Customers are increasingly voicing their opinions on products, services and brands, exchanging information and hosting impromptu events on social media. They gather more and more on forums related to common interests. Brands are increasingly losing control of the information that concerns them and must constantly analyze what is said about them.
• They refuse certain types of marketing: Criticism of marketing is not new. However, new movements have emerged in recent months. They are amplified by the web, which allows them to be widely and quickly disseminated: whether they are petitions, virtual sit-ins, or protest blogs, and cyber-resistance.

2022 STATISTICS

According to the latest statistics from Data Reportal, in the CIMA zone, we are more than 57 million people, regularly connected to the internet in 2022.

In terms of mobile telephony, we have:

• More than 182,946,000 active Smartphones
• More than 146,000,000 active android smartphones
• More than 27,600,000 active IOS smartphones

The android system remains the most used. In terms of mobile development, the priority should therefore be the android platform.

In terms of social networks:

• More than 25,249,000 people in the CIMA zone connect to social networks
• Facebook remains the leading social network with more than 21,700,000 subscribers, followed by LinkedIn, which is coming in force and has already overtaken Instagram with 4,138,000 subscribers.

CIMA social media data 2022.

CIMA Internet data 2022.

In terms of financial transactions, considering only the population over the age of 15, we are more than 9,600,000 Internet users making online financial transactions in Africa CIMA zone. 

Marketing must reinvent itself in this context of disintermediation that we are experiencing in Africa, the CIMA zone, where it is losing its role as an exclusive interface. Everyone in the company can now have access to customers, without going through the marketing department. Thus, market data will partly come from big data, to which all the company's departments will have access. It will be the statisticians rather than the simple marketers who will carry out their analysis. Innovation processes must increasingly be based on co-creation and crowdsourcing rather than the concept and product testing traditionally entrusted to marketing.

In order not to be left behind by pure players, traditional companies must stay in the innovation race. Major players must now learn to see startups as partners of choice to accelerate innovation, and in particular innovation that breaks with their traditional businesses. Changing fast enough is not easy in an international group.