by Sean McCoy (@TheRealMcCoyTRM) No, this is not a dyslexic distortion of words but a deliberate play on the blurring of the boundaries between products and services and the increasing commoditisation of both.
Author archives: Simone Puterman
The Word: The dark art of brand bullying
by Mongezi Mtati (@Mongezi) Brands often find themselves at the mercy of individuals who wield more influence, far greater popularity and trust in their social circles than some of the most celebrated brands.
Brand Culture: Brands should remember like people do
by DK Badenhorst (@BrandCultureSA) Brands have the benefit of not being asked to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. A brand can tell a story, but it doesn’t have to tell the whole story and sometimes it can tell a little more than just the story.
Shelf Life: The best of Design Indaba Expo 2015 #designindaba #makechange
by Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland) This year it was Design Indaba’s own projects that attracted much of the attention: Take 2 — giving life to used objects; the Most Beautiful Object in SA (MBOISA); how Artymiss won creativity; and Woolies takeout a win at DI 2015.
Motive: “If you’re not in fashion, you’re nobody”
by Robert Grace & Diana Springer. Lord Chesterfield’s statement so clearly defines the ultimate aim of marketing and advertising: constantly keeping the brands we work on current, in-favour, preferred, and hopefully even loved — essentially, in fashion. We’re not sure that Chesterfield could’ve foreseen just how hard that task would be in today’s world, where just about everything is available everywhere, all the time.
Bad ADvice: The skill of scam
by Every Ad Agency (@EveryAdAgency) Scam is an unnecessary harsh word in our industry and, at Every Ad Agency, we prefer not to use this term (we’d much rather refer to it as “out-of-scope opportunities”). Here’s our guide to winning big with scam.
Ad of the Week: What makes South Africa unique
by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki) This week, we have selected the Santam TV commercial, “One of a kind”, created by King James Group that celebrates our specialness, and offers South Africans a mirror of some of those things we find normal every day, but are totally weird and inexplicable to a foreigner.
Fair Exchange: Are reward programmes for loyal consumers or new signups?
by Erna George. Professor Byron Sharp, in his book “How brands grow”, asserts that loyalty is not a sustainable driver of brand volume growth, calling into question the longevity of loyalty programmes and stating that these may “work a little but have limited impact on overall loyalty”.
Dissident Spin Doctor: A strong reputation isn’t built through PR
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Those brands that are loved and revered are not those which have sent out a million statements about how great they are or what they have achieved.
Media Redefined: The AR is dead, long live media planning
by Martin MacGregor (@MartMacG) Media investment is the largest line item in a marketing budget. Finance and procurement know this, and are putting marketing under increasing pressure to justify investment on audience reach, without demonstrating tangible impact on the business bottom line.