Against the backdrop of tough market conditions, now more than ever, the marketing and promotional efforts of sassda have a vital role to play in growing the consumption of stainless steel in the southern African market.
In line with this, we have launched our Eiffel Tower competition where the winner will get an all-expenses paid trip to Paris worth R125 000. Several years ago, the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF) asked the question: “What if the Eiffel Tower had been made out of stainless steel? How much money would have been saved?” With this competition, we attempt to find the answer.
The newly launched life cycle costing (LCC) App (which is available from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store), or program (from the sassda website), is the linchpin of the entry process as it allows entrants to input various sets of relevant data to calculate the LCC of the Eiffel Tower and compare this to what it would have cost if it had been constructed from stainless steel.
The main target audience is design engineers and quantity surveyors but the competition is open to members of the public as well. We would encourage everyone involved in the stainless steel industry to enter the Eiffel Tower competition. Help us spread the word.
Although the concept of LCC is not new, the lack of LCC analysis is probably the biggest barrier to the greater specification and use of stainless steel.
In fact an editorial comment in the Stainless Steel magazine from July/ August 1967 was about life cycle costing: “The comparison of isolated features of a material such as …[initial] price is now an outdated and unreliable practice because … the true price or cost to the user depends upon
the service life which can be expected and the maintenance required during this period. When [LCC] is applied to the use of stainless steels a surprising number of applications which would previously have been ruled out on the basis of [initial] cost are now seen in a new perspective.”
DYNAMIC MESSAGING
Another way in which sassda has created a more interactive relationship with members and the wider public during the past year, while also promoting stainless steel, has been the establishment of a range of social media channels; namely Facebook, Twitter and most recently a YouTube channel to impart information in an easy to use and accessible manner.
We have aimed our Facebook page at the general public; in particular, the many thousands of people working in the stainless steel industry. This has resulted in excellent growth in our presence on Facebook with over 1 000 page likes and 43 665 reactions since February 2016.
Our Twitter strategy has had particular success on an international platform, in terms of interactions with affiliated associations across the globe and has resulted in a 100% growth in Twitter engagement, also since February 2016.
Our latest endeavour – a dedicated sassda YouTube Channel – has seen us recording short, sharp two to five minute videos that authentically and
authoritatively address various aspects of stainless steel and are ideal for sharing on social media. (Go to YouTube and search sassda “How Stainless Steel can Save you Money – Life Cycle Costing”.)
TOUGH TIMES
The importance of these interactive mediums and their ability to spread the stainless steel message far and wide and thereby grow the market cannot be underestimated against the backdrop of challenging market conditions for our members.
Certainly, 2016 was a very tough year for our industry with apparent consumption having dropped by about 17% for the year – a trend that must be reversed. The latest sassda Short Track report also points to the lowest order levels in nearly a year but with significantly better expectations than have been the case for the past few months.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Sassda has made significant progress over the past few years but we need to achieve more to fulfil our purpose statement “to provide a platform for
sassda members to collectively promote the sustainable growth and development of the industry with the main emphasis on stainless steel converted within the South African economy”. The Eiffel Tower LCC competition supports this effort. In addition, there has been a renewed focus on market development and, for example, a stainless steel roofing subcommittee has been formed. In May, the Sassda Main Committee will conduct a strategy review to ensure that we are delivering on our purpose statement and value proposition.
