Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches: A new Krone sparkling wine released; an innovative app for mobile brand research launches and Mantis Collection updates its destination.
Category archives: Marketing
The Word: The customer is the story
by Mongezi Mtati (@Mongezi) Increasingly, smart brands are encouraging their followers, fans and evangelists to share their own stories. More brands are setting up themselves up as platforms for customer stories that are worth sharing, rather than placing themselves as the headline act, ahead of the customer.
Brand Politics: Fighting to get noticed
In a hyper-sensitive market such as ours, the consequences of offending people are enormous. But the consequences of being bland are just as damaging for long-term brand growth. How can marketers get their brands noticed without getting them hated?
Interview: Batstone — the agency for tech start-ups
by Herman Manson (@marklives) Batstone is a specialist agency that helps start-ups in tech and financial services sector tell their stories. We interview Sarah Rice and Brendan Wade, who head up the agency.
SA retail heads north
a The Africa Annual feature. Both Woolworths and Shoprite have announced plans this year for expanding into Africa. Jon Pienaar looks at where they’re going.
Shelf Life: Bolt-on app for Instagram for SA
Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches: Two Oceans wine rebrands; the Nespresso ‘boutique’ retail concept expands; and a new phone app enables instant pix and video.
Africa Style: Colouring outside the lines
by Masingita Mazibuko. Just like my soon-to-be six-year-old and her artwork, several brands have reaped the rewards of their custodians deliberately ‘colouring outside the lines’.
Shelf Life: Hashtag a Polo and win
Louise Marsland (@Louise_Marsland)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging and design launches: when art and brands collaborate by Hennessy; Dermalogica is the next brand to launch its own retail footprint; and VW launches its new Polo via social media this week.
Influencers: Liquor advertisers running out of time
by Jason Stewart (@HaveYouHeard_SA) A ban on liquor advertising in South Africa (which has, for the past five years, been mooted as two years around the corner) will herald an era of dark marketing for the industry. Some brands will clear the hurdle without breaking their stride; others will falter predominantly because of what they are not doing now. Time is not on their side.
Green Sky Thinking: How green is your internet?
by Colwyn Elder (@colwynelder) If you’ve never stopped to think about how green is your internet, you’re not alone. Besides, there’s an unwritten rule that says on-screen must be green, right? Not necessarily.