by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) For an industry that jealously protects self-regulation like the advertising industry does, the role of ethics is paramount. Not only is it critical to shaping the image of our industry in the eyes of our stakeholders, it is simply the right thing to do.
Author archives: Simone Puterman
Indy Ad Exec: A message from Seth Godin
by Tom Fels (@thomasfels) You’re on a journey, not the fast track, to a destination and, no matter where you find yourself, chances are you’ll do just fine — relatively, of course. This is what I learnt recently from meeting Seth Godin.
Shelf Life: Transforming the Oreo brand in graphic 3D
Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches: Oreo is set to transform its brand this weekend; Cluck, Cluck… a new chicken franchise launches; Tsogo Sun does it with Vigour & Verve; and an eco-storage solution in Cape Town sets a benchmark.
The Sell: Buyers, browsers and brand new content…
by Mimi Nicklin (@MimiNicklin) I recently had a debate with a colleague of mine who works in the global ad world. Her opinion was that content marketing — social, online, blogs etc — were firmly in the ‘consumer’ camp when it comes to the ‘consumer vs shopper’ debate. Strictly the business of “the content agencies and digital shops…” As you might guess, I disagreed.
Ad of the Week: Sanlam’s super-duper boy
by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki) It has been a trend lately for ads to look back at ‘the old days’ with a strong sense of nostalgia. This week we go ‘retro’ again, with an ad from King James Group that harks back to the ’60s: Sanlam’s ode to youth and the patience that’s required to build wealth in the long term.
Letter from NY: The truth about Cannes
by Matthew Bull (@StixBull) I have just completed my 13th Cannes Lions in 15 years and the change from my first one in 1999 has been remarkable. The truth is that it’s now a media event, where the powerful new media and digital companies of our era jostle for the front page — and the downside of all this is the relegation in standing of the creative awards.
Thinking TV: The politics of TV and voting
by Inge Hansen (@mecnotabene) With 20 years of democracy behind us, in May 2014, the South African public prepared once again to go to the polls and cast their vote in the national elections. However, things were beginning to change for the parties wooing for votes, in that it’s more difficult now to hold people’s attention than it has ever been and their sources of information are now constantly evolving.
Motive: Mike Abel — How to train your awards judge
by Mike Abel. So much time is spent in our industry developing brilliant work, yet how much time is spent on training creatives (and strategists and suits) on how best to evaluate it?
Dissident Spin Doctor: Navigating the industry as a woman
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Personally, I have never felt as if I’ve have been held back in my career because of being a woman. But, bar PR agencies (which have a higher than average women/men ratio, for reasons we won’t go into here), we would be hard-pressed to name more than a handful of MDs, CEOs or ECDs of major local creative companies who are women. Why is that?
Beyond Borders: The media prize north of our borders
by Craig Page-Lee (@cpl_ignite) As the South African economy experiences further contraction and Nigeria continues to grow as the leading economy on the continent, it is obvious that global brands and investment portfolios will look outside of the borders of South Africa in the quest to find new markets to sustain shareholder growth expectations.