by Faheem Chaudhry (@FaheemChaudhry) Growing up, the ‘brain drain’ was a phenomenon often talked about and highlighted in conversations around struggling emerging markets, particularly in South Africa. But the tides have indeed turned, and as the next generation of marketers in Africa, we find ourselves in a rather exciting place.
Category archives: Adland
The Ad Contrarian: Agencies are selling clients the wrong kind of miracles
by Bob Hoffman (@adcontrarian) With the exceptions of pop music and fashion, there is probably no more trendy business than advertising. Every few years we invent a trendy new miracle and everyone immediately jumps on it. But selling the wrong kind of miracles is a very dangerous and short-sighted habit to adopt.
Do social media conversations about your brand convert to sales?
by Mike Abel & Sean Bonthuys. Wat many plans still fail to distinguish is the difference between social media as a network, a channel or a tool. Or any combination thereof.
AdForum Worldwide Summit: A surprise visit from John Wren, Omnicom CEO
by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) NEW YORK CITY: Day 5 was quite spectacular as our first meeting was a surprise — John Wren, CEO of Omnicom. The AdForum Worldwide Summit Forum has not seen him for a few years but he accepted the invitation to join and give us an update on the Publicis Omnicom merger.
Launching an ad agency with 2000 bucks
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Zibusiso Mkhwanazi and Veli Ngubane decided to launch an integrated ad agency. With R2000 as start-up money. True story, says Ngubane (29), who was a Non Executive Director at Ireland-Davenport before he joined forces with Mkhwanazi (30), a serial entrepreneur best known in the agency world for being Executive Chairman at KRAZYBOYZ digital and later as Chairman of The Redquarter Brand Design.
Launched in January 2012, Avatar is positioned as a full-service marketing agency “with digital at the core,” and today counts 20th Century Fox, National Geographic, Fox International Channels and Dinners Club International amongst its clients. The agency also employs 28 people in Johannesburg and 4 in Durban.
AdForum Worldwide Summit: IPG agencies in Africa doing great — Michael Roth
by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) NEW YORK CITY: Well, by now, the consultants are all becoming slightly weary — after three days of non-stop agency visits and 15 hours of working including late-evening presentations. But we were all up and ready once again early on Thursday morning, 10 October 2013, for another full day of AdForum Worldwide Summit.
AdForum Worldwide Summit: Lots planned for Africa
by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) NEW YORK CITY: So by Day 3 of the AdForum Worldwide Summit, normally there have been one or two agency presentations that have not lived up to our expectations as consultants but, this year, the standard has been extremely high and very competitive.
The Switch: Off to see the Little Five
by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) For bush lovers like myself, nothing beats escaping the city madness and spending a weekend surrounded by nature’s very best. I love that the air is fresher and the sky clearer. The eclectic mix of sounds, smell and colour constantly remind you that God was smiling when He created the earth.
A lesson never to forget
I’ll never forget a lesson I learnt from one Elvis, a game ranger in the Waterberg region of Limpopo.
The setting was one of those red-eye game drives that are a pain if you love sleep like I do, but are a real gem when it comes to sightings. On the Landcruiser was myself, my wife, a South African couple from Durban and two American families.
Off we went in Elvis’s Jeep. Armed with my trusted Nikon D5000 and a newly acquired 400mm telescopic lens, I could not wait to spot the first of the Big Five. My assumption was that we were all there to see the Big Five. Boy, was I wrong.
AdForum Worldwide Summit: Publicis Omnicom merger “fatally flawed” — Sorrel
by Johanna McDowell. NEW YORK CITY: Day 2 of the 2013 AdForum Worldwide Summit started off with a taped message from Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP in response to key questions we were asking regarding the WPP group, as well as the potential impact of the Publicis Omnicom Group merger.
AdForum Worldwide Summit: Grey back in SA soon, Maxus could follow
by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) NEW YORK CITY: Day 1 of the AdForum Worldwide Summit is always a big day, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is often the only time the consultants have seen each other in a 12-month period and there is always a lot to catch up on. Secondly, on Day 1, we have a lot of energy and spirits are high.