by Herman Manson. Draftfcb has acquired independent digital agency Hellocomputer. The move follows widespread industry speculation that the two parties were about to announce a deal.
Category archives: Featured
Drop the banner ad niched local online media brands told
by Herman Manson (@marklives) The great global online media brands like MSN, Yahoo!, Google and Facebook are well represented in the South African market, either through locally owned sales partners, through JVs with local media companies or through a local subsidiary.
Their big numbers mean they get a lot of attention, as does a series of established home grown online brands, like iafrica.com, ITWeb, and Moneyweb. But what of the young guns, the content start-ups, the independents making do without well resourced sales teams?
Sites like Mahala, the pre-eminent online youth mag in South Africa, 10and5.com, SA’s leading creative portfolio site, or ZA News, which hosts the show Zapiro created show no local TV station would touch?
The Gate Keeper (Chapter 5: In which love is engineered)
The intern recognises a trap when she sees it, and someone’s already jealous about someone’s else’s career progression…
International Council of Communication Design has designs on Africa
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Gaby de Abreu is the executive creative director of the Switch Brand Agency, believes the graphic design industry around Africa has much to benefit from associating with international industry organisations, and a lot to offer.
De Abreu was recently voted onto the board and became vice-president of the International Council of Communication Design (Icograda) as the representative from the Brand Council of South Africa. Icograda, a world body for professional communication design, represents 224 member organisations across 129 cities and 67 countries.
With his election de Abreu hopes to introduce South African designers, and their counterparts in key and growing African design markets, to Icograda, and use its established credentials to help enhance the standards of design, professional practice and ethics in the industry. He wants to regulate the pitching process for greater benefit to designers, for example.
Yuppiechef and the secret recipe to ecommerce success
by Herman Manson. In the entrance hall to the offices of Yuppiechef, the online retailer of high-end kitchen goods, are emblazoned the names of its first two hundred customers.
Magazine covers we love (Bollie is back!)
MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them.
Why iMaverick is changing frequency
iMaverick, the ambitious daily tablet newspaper from the publishers of the popular website The Daily Maverick, is scaling back its frequency from daily to weekly. The news was announced to subscribers in an email earlier today.
Creating clever commercials for people who hate ads
By Mandy de Waal (@mandyldewaal) I resent advertising. Like a reformed smoker I used to work in the industry and consult to technology and other brands about how to get more people to buy their stuff. I watched loads of television in those days but nowadays the pathetic appeal of DStv programming and the fact that Ira Glass lives on iTunes has changed things. Advertising’s a grudge experience for me, and on the days I do watch Gordon Ramsay, Californication or Dexter, it is great to be surprised by supremo advertising that’s better than the boring norm. For the most part local commercials are wall paper, but it’s a knock-out when someone comes along who just gets what advertising should be about.
Amy Allais of Ola Films is one of those people. She makes advertising that doesn’t make me want to jab a thumb in my eye. More than that – she makes advertising I actually enjoy. That I’ll watch again on YouTube, because it’s funny, smart, a visual feast, tells a story, captures the cultural zeitgeist or all of the above. Yes, I’ll come out and admit it. I’m an Allais fan girl. She had me at Vodacom’s “All The Single Ladies” and by the time “Daddy Cool” came around I was a convert.
John Brown
Hello. We are John Brown Media, one of the world’s leading content agencies, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Our passion is helping brands engage with customers across a multitude of platforms.
South African studio helped design Newsweek Jubilee edition
South African design, illustration and animation studio amicollective raised their international profile once again when they were commissioned by Newsweek, through their New York based representatives, Bernstein & Andriulli, to work on their special Queen’s Diamond Jubilee edition which went on sale worldwide last week.
“We were asked to develop four crests that depicted elements from each chapter on a “then and now” basis,” says amicollective MD Mark van Niekerk. These were applied to print and digital media.
amicollective designed the World Cup special edition Coke can in 2010 which was rolled out globally and is busy with five illustrated billboards (20 x 60m) for Nippon Paints in China that will be hand applied commissioned through their Shanghai agent.