Three engagement tiers

A starting framework — actual pricing is built in the SOW after a scoping conversation.

Tier — Focus

Single-brand monitoring

For organisations watching their own brand and a small competitor set across South African media.

  • ·Up to 50 keyword permutations per month
  • ·Online + print + broadcast across South Africa
  • ·Daily newsletter delivery
  • ·Web platform with up to 5 named users
  • ·Monthly executive briefing
  • ·Named account analyst
From mid-five-figures ZAR per month
Typical: Mid-cap corporates, regional public-sector entities, single-brand FMCG
Tier — Group

Multi-brand or multi-market

For organisations operating across multiple brands, business units, or African markets — with one consolidated reporting view.

  • ·Up to 200 keyword permutations
  • ·Pan-African coverage across selected markets
  • ·White-labelled web platform with unlimited users
  • ·Bi-weekly executive briefing + quarterly board pack
  • ·Multi-language sentiment validation
  • ·Group-level + per-unit dashboard rollups
  • ·Senior account analyst + back-up coverage
From low-six-figures ZAR per month
Typical: JSE-listed corporates, group communications functions, multi-brand FMCG, pan-African telco
Tier — Strategic

Complex, board-led mandates

For mandates that require methodology calibration, dedicated analyst time, regular board-level briefings, or high-stakes regulatory and reputational tracking.

  • ·Unlimited keyword permutations
  • ·Dedicated analyst pod (2-4 people)
  • ·Custom methodology calibration to your industry
  • ·Weekly executive briefing + quarterly board pack
  • ·Crisis-monitoring readiness (24/7 priority alerting)
  • ·Bespoke deliverable formats (briefings, presentations, board packs)
  • ·Quarterly methodology review with your team
From mid-six-figures ZAR per month
Typical: Pan-African banking groups, listed mining majors, government departments under sustained press scrutiny

What drives the number up or down

The scoping conversation interrogates these variables. Be ready for them.

Coverage breadth

  • Number of monitored entities (your brands + competitors)
  • Number of markets (single-country to pan-African)
  • Number of languages requiring native validation
  • Channels (online-only vs full four-format)

Deliverable depth

  • Newsletter cadence (daily, weekly, on-demand)
  • Briefing frequency (monthly, weekly, board-level)
  • Custom-report volume per year
  • Crisis-monitoring readiness (priority queue)

Analyst commitment

  • Named analyst time (hours per month)
  • Senior-analyst escalation paths
  • Whether you require dedicated pod vs shared coverage
  • On-site analyst presence (rare; available)

Methodology customisation

  • Custom taxonomy build vs standard industry templates
  • Bespoke score variables added to the impact score
  • Industry-specific competitor baselines
  • Quarterly methodology review depth

Six pricing principles

Not negotiation tactics. The actual frame we apply when building a quote.

Fixed monthly fee.

No per-clip surprises. The monthly fee covers an agreed scope, billed in arrears. If your coverage volume goes up because you had a great quarter, the fee does not.

No per-seat licensing.

Add as many users to your dashboard and newsletter list as you need. Per-seat pricing on media-intelligence platforms creates a perverse incentive to under-invite the people who would benefit.

Goods-and-services billing transparent.

You see the methodology, the analyst time, and the platform infrastructure broken out in your SOW. No hidden technology surcharge.

Annual review built in.

Every contract has an annual review point. If your scope has expanded, we adjust transparently. If it has narrowed, you can downsize without penalty.

No long-term lock-in.

Default contract is month-to-month with a 60-day notice period. We earn the renewal every quarter. If we are not the right fit, you should not be stuck.

No platform-fee anchoring.

We do not bill a "platform fee" before any coverage is delivered. The price is the price; what you pay buys what you receive.

What you are paying for

Where the rand goes

Approximate cost split across the average MarketIQ engagement. Your specific allocation will vary by tier — the principle does not.

Software and infrastructure

Hosting, classification engines, broadcast voice-to-text, content licensing.

~22%

Human analyst time

Validation, review, custom analysis, executive briefings, account management.

~58%

Methodology and R&D

Quarterly methodology review, taxonomy maintenance, classifier retraining, academic review.

~10%

Operations and overhead

Office, finance, legal, HR — the cost of being a credible counterparty.

~10%

Approximations across the engagement portfolio. Specific projects vary; the analyst-heavy bias is consistent.

If you have a budget already

Tell us the budget and the scope. We will design a tier that fits — or tell you honestly that the budget will not cover the scope, and what we recommend instead.

If you do not

A 30-minute scoping conversation usually produces a quote within five business days. The conversation costs nothing and is not a soft-sell — Tania du Plessis runs them.

Get a quote shaped around your scope.

Send the brief, the markets, the competitor set. We return a structured quote, not a vendor brochure.