Marketing industry news, opinion & analysis • Sections •

What you need to know about POPI

by Herman Manson (@marklives) The Protection of Personal Information Bill (POPI), which will probably be signed into law in the next few months, will have a significant impact on how marketers may obtain and handle customer information.

Elizabeth de Stadler, a senior associate at Esselaar Attorneys, will be speaking at Content 2013, the content marketing conference taking place on the 25th and 26th February 2013 at the Fugard Theatre in Cape Town, on the impact of POPI on especially content marketers.

Her talk will cover what the implications and legal obligations are when it comes to the data content marketers collect, what security requirements are required to protect user information, what is required for consent and how the limitations of usage have changed. MarkLives asked her for some insight into the Protection of Personal Information Bill in advance of her talk at Content 2013.

Q: When will POPI come into effect and what timeline does it give content marketers to comply with regulations?

Elizabeth de Stadler: The Protection of Personal Information Bill has not been signed into law yet. This will probably happen in the first quarter of 2013. Even then businesses will be given a year to comply. This means that there is still time to reflect on the real implications of the Bill and implement solutions. It does not mean that you must ignore the Bill – it has very real implications and it will take time to become compliant.

The Third Place: Trends in shopper marketing

by Louise Marsland (@trendlives), publishing editor, TREND. Shopper marketing is the fastest growing advertising category globally and is set to become one of the biggest growth areas in South Africa too. Yellowwood strategic marketing consultancy reports that in the past year, shopper marketing has taken an ever greater share of marketing budget, showing 21% year-on-year growth in budget allocation in 2012, globally.

The retail trading environment is tough and it is only getting tougher as recession-hit consumers shop for value and for the best deals they can get.

Retailers and brands are scrambling to keep up and the increasingly competitive trading environment in store has spawned a myriad of new media options in the last few years, aided by digital innovation and with the aim of targeting a consumer that is ever harder to please.

We spend so much time in malls that they are referred to as our ‘Third Place’ – after home and the office.

Breaking news: Ireland/Davenport wins Vodacom advertising account

Industry sources have confirmed that Ireland/Davenport has won the Vodacom advertising account. It was announced earlier this week that Draftfcb had lost the business after 19 years. A formal announcement is yet to be made by Vodacom and/or Ireland-Davenport.

Ireland/Davenport describes itself as a boutique communications agency and clients include BMW, Investec and SA Tourism. Ireland/Davenport was founded by Executive Creative Directors Philip Ireland and John Davenport. Susan Napier is the Managing Director.

M&C Saatchi launches new kind of media agency in South Africa

by Herman Manson (@marklives) UK based agency network M&C Saatchi has launched a new media agency in South Africa called M&C Saatchi Connect. The new agency will be lead by Martin MacGregor and share offices with M&C Saatchi’s South African agency M&C Saatchi Abel.

MacGregor was the MD at Nota Bene MEC Cape Town before he joined M&C Saatchi Abel as a managing partner in early 2012.

M&C Saatchi Connect is a homegrown agency – MacGregor isn’t launching an existing M&C Saatchi agency into the country. MacGregor believes the new agency will challenge the status quo in terms of the relationship between media and creative agencies.

Vodacom loss will affect 10% of Draftfcb revenue, staff

by Herman Manson. John Dixon, the CEO of Draftfcb, says the Vodacom account represented around 10% of group revenue. The agency has just learned that after nearly twenty years it had lost the Vodacom business – its biggest single client.

Breaking news: Vodacom and Draftfcb to part ways

It has been confirmed that Vodacom is moving its advertising account from Draftfcb. The agency has held the business for close to 20 years. The news broke last night and by this morning had found its way onto Twitter.

Shelf Life with Louise Marsland: selling SA wine in the States

Louise Marsland’s (@Louise_Marsland) pick of new product, packaging and design launches.

Marketing SA wines in the US is not a picnic, Top Shop provides a window on new fashions, another ‘BlackBerry’ launch, and we find out which is the most desirable tablet is in South Africa…

Marketing’s Oldest Old Wives’ Tale

by Bob Hoffman (@adcontrarian), San Francisco Bay There a few themes that keep popping up in this column. They are:

1. Misconceptions about “branding” and how brands are built
2. The folly of listening to “marketing experts”
3. The over-promise of online advertising
4. The over-promise of social media
5. The “death of advertising,” “death of TV,” and “death of marketing” nonsense
6. The chronic, silly belief in “the thing that will change everything”
7. The foolishness of marketers’ obsession with young people

The Switch: What’s inside an insight?

by Alistair Mokoena (@AlistairMokoena) In marketing and advertising circles there appears to be a great deal of confusion around the distinction between an insight and an observation. Possibly the difference between a sign and a symptom can help shed some light on understanding how an observation differs from an insight.

Africa Style: How the NFL stretched its brand, and why you should too

by Masingita Mazibuko. These are those brands that have stood the test of time but must still deliver growth in the current market. This growth should be achieved without detracting from or disparaging the personality created for the brand by great marketers through the years.