Shelf Life: JWT, Bomb position Kellogg’s breakfast

Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!

  • Kellogg’s new breakfast potential
  • Back to basics at BlackLabels
  • Sol Mexican Beer’s SA first

Breakfast potential

Kellogg’s South Africa’s new positioning focuses on battling the deprivation of potential in SA with a new platform developed in collaboration with JWT Johannesburg: “Nourish Your Great”.

Kellogg’s wants to celebrate the many efforts South African families make to achieve their own great. To kick this off, the brand has launched a commercial that depicts a story between a supportive mother and her ambitious daughter, showcasing Kellogg’s as the partner towards unlocking potential.

Says Vonne Lombard, Kellogg’s Masterbrand marketing manager, “Mom always wants the best for her family and we see her rooting for her daughter — from her first day of school until her graduation day. Every milestone and success in the daughter’s life is a huge triumph for her entire family. And, in some ways, Mom realises her own potential. Through ‘Nourish Your Great’ we highlight the importance of a healthy breakfast and how this can enhance your ability to achieve your potential.”

Teboho Mahlatsi, Bomb commercials director, says, “JWT Johannesburg wanted to differentiate Kellogg’s in its category, so we moved the brand into a more-resonant space, which allowed the agency to tell a story with authenticity and heart. The power of this commercial lies in the heavily charged emotion that becomes the spine of the story and the result is an inspirational commercial that values storytelling and relates to our audience on an emotive level.”

To further the Kellogg’s brand purpose of nourishing human potential, the idea also touches on its CSI partnership with the Department of Basic Education that feeds 25 000 school children a day, serving five million breakfasts a year.

kelloggs.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
jwt.com/en/southafrica • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
bombcommercials.com • Facebook • Twitter

 

Back to basics at BlackLabels

Branding is often seen as the preserve of big companies with deep pockets; BlackLabels has been started in response to this by agency, June15 Advertising, to help startups in the emerging market stand out and make an impact while working with tiny budgets.

Nicelek collageAccording to June15 founder and CEO, Mxolisi Buthelezi, BlackLabels is a low-cost marketing and branding system that is designed to provide basic branding tools to black startups and small businesses. BlackLabels also targets small-and medium-sized businesses that are experiencing a crisis of growth.

Nicelek, a precooked nutrient dense and high-energy porridge owned by Mizlek Foods, is one of the first successes: Vusi Ndala, Mizlek Foods CEO, says the June15 team devised the packaging and branding elements necessary for it to launch. Today, Nicelek is listed in selected Spar outlets In Johannesburg North and Pretoria East, as well as five Medizone stores in Garankuwa, Mabopane, Diepsloot, Tembisa and Groblersdal.

There are ambitious plans for BlackLabels for the future, focusing on assisting more emerging brands and engaging others to come on board. “While we value the work we do for more established clients, the work we do through BlackLabels is of significance, given the history of our country,” say Buthelezi.

june15.co.za • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify
mizlekfoods.co.za • Facebook • Twitter

 

Sunshine in a bottle

SOL beer’s “My sunshine in a bottle” campaign is billed as a South African first — leveraging a social media campaign across digital billboards in real time to achieve greater reach and brand awareness.

Sol Beer Your moment of sunshine

The campaign, created in partnership with ad agency The Odd Number, takes the most-popular posts from 60 social influencers and broadcasts them on digital billboards across Gauteng and the Western Cape. It has achieved a unique follower reach of 900 000 and an engagement rate of 6%, surpassing the industry standard of a 1% engagement rate.

Says Katie Lu, SOL senior brand manager, “SOL is all about offering our fans bold, fresh new experiences that are firsts for South Africa. With this campaign we’re moving beyond a purely digital campaign and we’ve found a clever way to integrate a social media campaign into an above-the-line medium.”

The campaign uses of various influencers to engage with a wide range of audiences: “By using a wide variety of influencers, we can extend the reach of the campaign through the secondary audiences of the influencers, adding real value to the campaign.”

sol.com • Facebook • Twitter
theoddnumber.co.za • Facebook • Twitter • Ramify

 

Cheryl HunterShelf Life is MarkLives.com’s weekly column covering all things new. Notify us of yours at shelflife at marklives dot com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.

Cheryl Hunter (@cherylhunter) has written for the South African media, marketing and advertising industries for more than 15 years. A former editor of M&M in Independent Newspapers and contributor to Bizcommunity, AdFocus, AdReview and the Ad Annual, she has also produced for various television networks and currently consults on communication strategy and media liaison.

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#AgencyLeaders2017 Cape Town: Agency diversity & transformation

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Over the last few weeks, we revealed the most-admired agencies and agency leaders in South Africa’s primary ad markets of Cape Town and Johannesburg, as well as nationally. Today, we announce the Cape Town winner of our new Agency Diversity & Transformation award.

During the course of 2017, this agency, in the minds of its regional peers, made the most-significant contribution to agency diversity and transformation in the city of Cape Town. While many of our voters would have focused on BBBEE as a primary criteria informing their votes, a positive contribution to gender and LGBTQI diversity would have come into play in some votes.

Instead of only naming the agency here, we invited it to share with us what agency diversity and transformation means to it — the business, its people and its clients.

Agency diversity & transformation (Cape Town)

Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town. Source: Facebook.Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town

Luca Gallarelli
Luca Gallarelli, MD of Ogilvy Cape Town.

by Luca Gallarelli (@Gallarelli) The question of diversity in our industry has always perplexed me. More specifically, I’m perplexed by why it should be a question at all. Shouldn’t diversity be something that we consider an absolute non-negotiable?

Diversity in world views, experience, race, gender, sexual orientation, place of origin and skill sets all contribute to creating an environment in which creativity and innovative thinking can thrive. A lack of diversity leads to sameness — which is the very enemy of creativity. Uniformity also leads to a lack of the kind of inherent tension which is a powerful generator of original thought.

Our very nature

So, we should never be in a position where diversity is something that is forced on agencies, because the very nature of what we do relies so fundamentally in embracing diversity. Yet that’s where we find ourselves. Somehow, too many of us have fallen into the obvious trap of surrounding ourselves with those who are similar to us — they look like us, dress like us, talk like us, laugh at our jokes and agree with everything we do and say. And, in an environment where there are so many fast-moving and pressurised parts, it’s too easy to avoid anything which takes time to develop or might, in our minds, involve changing or challenging the comfortable way we work.

I doubt there’s anyone in the South African industry who doesn’t see this problem for what it is but we all have different ways of trying to respond.

At Ogilvy, we believe we have internalised diversity as a fundamental part of who we are and what we need to do. We get that more diversity in our midst will test us, push us, broaden our world views and make us more successful. We must better reflect the astonishingly diverse country we work in, if we are to realise our fullest potential as an agency and as individuals, and to produce advertising that is world-class in its thinking and fundamentally South African in its expression.

Constantly wrestling

We are constantly wrestling with how we can achieve this desired diversity in a better and more-deliberate way. We cannot leave it as an organic process.

We started with how we recruit. We do not buy the argument that there isn’t enough diverse talent in the country. Nor do we accept that our industry holds diminishing appeal. There are plenty of gifted people out there who would love to be part of our business but, all too often, we’re looking for the same people in the same places. And we also raid each other almost as a default.

We should actively be seeking alternate sources of talent, starting with a far wider geographical net that takes in Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban, and universities in the North West, Grahamstown and Limpopo. At Ogilvy, our O25 programme actively does just that — actively seeking out young superstars from right across the country. After putting around 200 applicants through a rigorous selection process, we bring 25 into our agency every year in an organised, salaried and structured internship programme.

Its success has been staggering. More than 70% have been placed at Ogilvy, following the completion of their year, and virtually all of the rest have fulfilled careers within the industry at large.

Only one step

But recruiting is only one step. What matters just as much is affording everyone the opportunity to fully impact the culture of the agency and the environment in which we operate. To push us forward, everyone needs to be bringing their full selves to work and believing they can contribute and advance on their own terms. Achieving that is a more-complex, and constantly evolving, process which we are engaged with in many macro and micro ways.

The fact that we have three strong offices in three major centres in South Africa is another opportunity for Ogilvy. Staff mobility across the three campuses is being rolled out more aggressively this year. This provides an opportunity for our staff to experience different people, markets, clients and brands.

So, are we where we want to be on diversity? No. Are we satisfied with our progress? Moderately. Are we settling for what we have? Never.

We fundamentally believe in the power and opportunity of diversity, rather than viewing it as some kind of regulatory imperative, so we see this challenge is a key part of the DNA of good agency management in South Africa.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2017, we invited agency executives to nominate their most-admired agency, creative leader and most-admired agency both in their region (Johannesburg or Cape Town) and nationally. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and at transformation (a new question), and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Execs couldn’t nominate their own agencies or staff members. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had two votes in the final poll.

Note: Runner-up(s) will only be named if they achieved a good nomination tally relative to the winner’s position. Contenders are named if they stand out significantly above other nominees but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category are discarded.

See also

 

Herman Manson 2017Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

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SA C-suites welcome chief customer officer to the club

by Julia Ahlfeldt (@JuliaAhlfeldt) Before we consumers had so much choice, it was easier for a business to be centred on its own commercial agenda vs that of the consumer. A flourishing digital economy has changed all that, and today’s products and services need to be geared to the end-user’s needs, rather than those of the provider.

Rapid uptick in CCO recruitment

To some, customer-centricity may sound soft but it’s proven to bring in the bacon: McKinsey reports that revenues may rise by 15% on the back of increased customer focus, a figure that should catch any CFO’s attention. This is also why a new executive role is being introduced to the C-Suite: the CCO, or chief customer officer.

In the UK, talent business Talecco reports that 90 roles existed for CCOs in 2017. This is a whopping 640% growth from 2014, when there were just nine! The US has also embraced this new executive role: in 2014, 10% of Fortune500 companies welcomed a CCO and this figure was as high as 22% among Fortune100 firms. Its rapid adoption suggests that the original C-suite needs a fresh perspective on all aspects of the business — one that looks at service, product, IT and marketing through the customer lens.

Slower at home

While businesses in developed nations have been quicker to adopt the customer mandate than those locally — due in part to our slower adoption of and access to the internet — there are green shoots of change: mobile network operator, Cell C, was one of the first South African businesses to onboard a CCO. Michelle Beetar took up this pioneering post in 2016.

With a background in HR, sales and marketingm and general management as the MD of Experian South Africa, Beetar is leading the local CCO charge by inculcating customer-centricity into the business, from the top down. She works directly with the CEO to drive home what customer experience differentiation means to everyone’s role in the company, including those that are typically a few steps removed from the till point. The outcome? Since her role’s inception, Cell C’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) has steadily risen, thanks to an improved focus on customer loyalty and satisfaction.

The customer always has a choice

Businesses and brands are increasingly competing in a global marketplace where accounting or web development services may be procured abroad, sometimes more cost-effectively than in South Africa, or where retail products may be ordered online from the UK as quickly as they may be purchased in Cape Town. Coupled with the accessibility of information to research and review before buying, customers aren’t limited in their purchasing choices and may easily switch brands if they find a better deal or experience elsewhere.

This is a game-changer for the business world. The tried-and-tested model is being usurped by the customer as king, and it will affect operations, production, processes, recruitment and positioning. In fact, while the CCO may be new to the C-suite, his or her role may soon set the strategic course for the CMO, COO, CFO and even CEO. The introduction of this role also sends a clear internal message that leadership is committed to putting the customer first.

Proving their worth

A CCO’s role is unlikely to be an easy one, however. It will require a tenacity to unify its C-suite peers in striving towards common customer-centric goals. It will require data, and lots of it, with specific focus on the bottom-line. CCOs will need to bridge the void between traditional department silos without stepping on too many toes. Expert diplomacy and consensus building will be needed to ensure that action is taken and followed through on, once customer strategies are decided. And there’s likely to be little empathy for a new title that can’t demonstrate its worth.

At a pivotal time when the customer conversation is being brought into the boardroom, the CCO has a fine balancing act to manage: keep the customers and C-suite happy. They need each other, and it’s the CCO’s challenge to make this new relationship work — for the sustainability and relevance of the company’s sake.

 

Julia AhlfeldtJulia Ahlfeldt (@JuliaAhlfeldt) is a certified customer experience professional (CCXP). She consults to blue-chips and multinationals, working with Virgin Active, Momentum, Absa, and American Express, Ross Stores and JP Morgan Chase in the US, among others. By tapping into her vast local and international network, she produces a monthly podcast, Decoding the Customer, interviewing leaders on CX trends and adoption (including Michelle Beetar).

“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.

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Fair Exchange: Thinking vs doing

by Erna George (@edgeo23) My coach told me about research by the University of Chicago that shows a belief that ‘busyness’ is a sign of success and hard work. How did this happen? How could people continue to believe this, as an outcome is not enhanced or even determined by busyness? Yet I’ve also noticed how true it is.

I’ve watched people across various businesses fill their day with meetings or generating documents or reports to show purpose. I’ve noticed how little of the big stuff is hitting the road and how many average promotions and presentations are the output. Have all busy people ever stopped to think, “What if I am busy with the wrong ‘this’? That even in this busy world, where it feels like the expectation is to reflect motion and action, if I am not moving the dial that it is all for nought?”

How did the growth-hurdle drop? When did just getting things done become the benchmark? Delivering a me-too promotion or strategy, even if it’s done, is not good enough and I am dismayed by the non-thinking behaviour of ticking off lists, rather than creating work that impacts and influences — work with power and distinct presence.

Takes time

Thinking takes time! This should not be new news but the problem with thinking is that the resulting output is hard to measure at the end of the first few hours. Unlike plugging in numbers and generating a share graph or typing into a PowerPoint presentation, you cannot see the output after an hour or two. What you may have is a set of observations to add to the foundation of your strategy.

Can you feel the panic? “OMG, how will I explain what I have been doing? What will I do without the [crutch and] tangibility of a thing [presentation, brief etc]?” Thinking requires considering multiple areas, wading through context/observations/trends/market challenges, and it may feel overwhelming without any immediate reward. There is seldom instant gratification. So, guess what? It’s hard to do and hard to persist with. For many, thinking time is not a comfortable space; you struggle, need patience and often have nothing to show at the end of the day. It’s is like having children, and here I refer to gestation and not the labour. Human gestation is nine months for a reason — many cells, traits and more are ‘grown’ into the most-amazing working body that will live for years. In the same way, a strategy comes from a mass of options, opportunities and information.

It takes days and even weeks as you tread down a path, only to find it yields little and you need to find another viable route. You must focus on identifying the right sources, asking the relevant questions and collecting fresh thinking, and you must accept it will feel overwhelming. The “Aha!”s will only become apparent when you can see patterns and, to see and validate patterns, you need various sources but, at the end, is a strong, well-articulated and enduring idea.

Avoid distraction

Getting into thinking mode takes practice and time. It usually takes about 25 minutes to find flow. Take that time to get and spend time there, no matter how tough it is. This is where it’s vital to pay attention to Simon Sinek’s point of view of being ‘addicted’ to technology. Avoid the distractions of email and social media. Even multitasking, or the interruptions of a co-worker needing something quick, may be destructive to thinking flow. To focus is critical for effective thinking and, therefore, the environment and managing distractions are all components that need to be managed.

Once you find the flow, the thinking may begin. While it’s not easy, I promise that, the more you exercise the thinking “muscle”, the easier it becomes. Over time, you’ll build this to the point where, when you want to enter thinking mode, finding flow becomes second-nature. Consider finding the right space and ensure you practice often enough to make thinking more habitual.

At the end of days or weeks, the most interesting thing (yet often dissatisfying for many), if your thinking was clear, focused and to the brief, is that you can tell the story of your blood, sweat and tears on maybe 10–20 slides. Can you sense the anxiety? The sweat breaks over brows and the heart thuds that bit faster. “How can I prove my worth and show the output is great with only a few slides?”

Simple outputs

Good thinking yields simple and not complex strategic outputs. Great companies have been run on one-page strategies. Strategies that are straightforward make rolling them throughout the organisation a possibility. You need to change your frame of reference. This rhetoric that more must be more and show that you have done more means nothing in the long run. If your outputs and insights drive action that grow the category and your brand by double digit growth, will anyone question your one-pager? If everyone can understand and believe in the insights or conclusions, that’s a win. Great implementation of strategy is often what makes the difference — not that you delivered an idea over a well-formatted, 100-slide presentation.

Lastly, while I am a believer that you shouldn’t ask your teams to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself, if everyone is doing the thinking to steer brand growth, who is implementing and getting the thinking landed in market? Thinking guides the ship while many help to keep it ahead of the storms (the competition) — keeping your brand ahead of the trend wave.

Marketing managers should be spending at least 70–80% of their time to identify the insights and strategies to get ahead of the curve. Doing may feel less-demanding much of the time, especially if it’s something that you have done many times in the past. It’s easy to fall back into habitual tasks and the tangibility of the output may feel rewarding and comforting — don’t be lulled into short-term busyness; thinking on the bigger issues and resolving these will make the real difference and will lead to fewer yet bolder and bigger ideas.

Tips

Getting thinking is not easy but all good things come to those who persevere (a little twist on an age-old adage) so remember:

  • Being busy is not an indication of success and hard work rests in thinking that will create impact
  • Thinking requires time, space and practice to master
  • Good thinking speaks for itself and yields simple yet powerful insights and outputs, not reams of paper or slides with layers of justification

Here’s to fewer, bigger and bolder actions from great thinking.

 

Erna GeorgeAfter starting at Unilever in a classical marketing role, Erna George (@edgeo23) explored the agency side of life, first as a partner at Fountainhead Design, followed by the manic and inspiring world of consultancy at Added Value. She has returned to client-side, leading the marketing team in the Cereals, Accompaniments & Baking Division at Pioneer Foods. Her monthly “Fair Exchange” column on MarkLives concerns business relationships and partnerships in marketing and brandland.

— Sign up now for the MarkLives email newsletter every Monday and Thursday, now including headlines from the Ramify.biz company newsroom service!

#AgencyLeaders2017: Most digitally integrated ad agency in SA

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today, we reveal which ad agency is the most digitally integrated in South Africa! This is part of this week’s announcement of the 2017 MarkLives Agency Leaders’ Most Admired Poll results for South Africa. Over the past two weeks, we have announced the regional results from Cape Town and Joburg.

Every year since 2012, MarkLives has been polling South Africa’s top agency leaders to find out what they think of their competitors, whom they see as effective managers and great creative leaders, and where they believe their future competition is likely to come from. We ask them who’s got digital integration right and — for the first time — who’s done best on transformation.

 

The most digitally integrated ad agency in South Africa

VML South Africa logo

VML South Africa (formerly NATIVE VML)

For the second year running, albeit with a new name, this agency takes the title. NATIVE VML last week announced its rebranding to VML South Africa, following the integration of Y&R South Africa into the group. While NATIVE VML had built a reputation as a full-service digital agency locally, the market has shifted towards through-the-line agencies; the rebrand and agency integration tilts it towards a full-service agency. Even before the integration, NATIVE VML had several existing integrated agency relationships, most notably with Absolut Vodka and Chivas Regal.

“Our 2018 focus will drive integration as a core theme with our existing clients,” says Kevin Lourens, VML SA chief growth officer. “We will do this by delivering integrated services that talk to the entire customer journey. We will use our media skills to accurately address the targeted audiences across every relevant channel. We will use our strategic-creative services to develop content and campaigns to connect with those audiences. And we will connect this creative communications offering into the overall customer journey to make sure that every interaction that customers have with the brand creates more equity. Finally, we will use data to measure the entire journey, making it smarter and more effective.”

Previously

In 2016, it was VML and Y&R Africa Group. In 2015, Ogilvy & Mather South Africa took this title. In 2014, 2013 and 2012, it was Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town.

 

The runner-up

Ogilvy logo

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa

In 2017, Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town set about a major internal restructuring process that has done away with its previous siloed approach and merged creative studios and account teams across its various specialist agencies and departments, including PR and digital. “What I have personally always loved about our best campaigns was the fact that they were difficult to define by discipline or category,” says MD Luca Gallarelli of the restructuring. “We fundamentally believed that our future would lie in a structure that deployed this kind of thinking across more, more often, faster, and with greater ease for agency staff and clients alike.”

Previously

In 2016 it was Avatar. In 2014, Publicis Machine and FCB South Africa tied as runners-up. In 2012, it was Draftfcb South Africa (now FCB Africa). King James Group and Ogilvy & Mather were named contenders in 2016. In 2015, Publicis Machine, FCB Africa and King James Group were all named as contenders.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2017, we invited agency executives to nominate their most-admired agency, creative leader and most-admired agency both in their region (Johannesburg or Cape Town) and nationally. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and at transformation (a new question), and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Execs couldn’t nominate their own agencies or staff members. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had two votes in the final poll.

Note: Runner-up(s) will only be named if they achieved a good nomination tally relative to the winner’s position. Contenders are named if they stand out significantly above other nominees but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category are discarded.

Previous South African results

 

Herman Manson 2017Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

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Cover Stories: Thoughtfulness in design (23 Feb 2018)

by Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) Let’s delve into great media design from South Africa and around the world:

  • Local/print: Drum depicts the finale, the big breakup between Zuma and Ramaphosa
  • International/print: Empire offers insights into the prolific career of one of the most-influential film directors in history: Steven Spielberg
  • Local/print: IAM represents African creativity, from the continent and the diaspora, in an effort to discover authentic culture from the continent and announce that the future is African
  • Online: Pin-Up exhibits the power of internationalism and intertextuality in art, architecture and various forms of design today
  • International/print: Type Life supports various visual languages and approaches to typography, showcasing Sang Bleu’s typeface designs
  • Iconic: Adbusters challenges consumerism with anti-capitalist, agit-prop tendencies in support of culture jamming

Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us at @Marklives and @shanenilfunct.
Pinterest icon Want to view all the covers at a glance? See our Pinterest board!

Print

Drum (South Africa), 22 February 2018

Drum, 22 February 2018 - Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africans have undergone an eventful few weeks, notably with the resignation of now ex-president Jacob Zuma, accompanied by his patrons, the Guptas, fleeing for safety after being declared fugitives of the law, and culminating in our new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, being announced as South Africa’s fifth democratic president. One would, no doubt, expect a plethora of covers to be the result of such tumultuous events. In honor of legacy, what better cover to choose than that of the iconic Drum magazine? In terms of cover design, it screams as much as any other tabloid does, filling every possible piece of page real-estate with information, irrespective of hierarchy, pushing the limits of readability. But it’s the subject matter that counts here, with Zuma and Ramaphosa clearly taking center stage, announcing the ‘big breakup’ that has led to renewed hope in the minds of many South Africans.

 

Empire (US), April, 2018

Empire, April 2018 - Steven Spielberg

The upcoming April 2018 issue of Empire is an ode to a legend in the history of film, none other than Steven Spielberg. The iconic director has been awarded the opportunity to take over this edition of the magazine with a trip down memory lane, beautifully illustrating his pioneering, blockbuster-defining career while simultaneously plugging his new film, Ready Player One. This ‘takeover issue’, naturally, includes editorial input from Spielberg himself, with the cover illustrated by Paul Shipper, who also designed the film poster for Ready Player One. Recalling the work of prolific film poster designer, Drew Struzan, the cover is a painterly photomontage of Spielberg’s most-historic films, including visuals from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Indiana Jones, Jaws, and Jurassic Park, crowned by a portrait of the auteur himself, giving a brief insight into the career achievements of one of the most-influential directors in history.

 

Intense Art Magazine (IAM) (Netherlands), issue #3, 2017

Intense Art Magazine, Issue 3 Nigeria, 2017

The third issue of Intense Art Magazine is a tribute to Nigerian artists, stylists and designers, all of whom are actively contributing to the ongoing discourse surrounding contemporary African creativity. Each edition is based upon a theme that focusses on a particular African country. The previous two issues, Cameroon (#1) and Senegal (#2), set presidents for the theme of every issue by narrowing the focus of each edition to one African country. Drawing upon the immense creative energy of the continent and the diaspora, IAM presents each country to any afro-curious creative intellects out there as a platform to access African creativity and culture; this specific platform is contemporary Nigeria. IAM makes the experience of this issue even more relevant and authentic by carefully selecting an editorial team comprised of Nigerian contributors, including curators, artists and writers, all the while breaking with conventional borders, perceptions and representation of Nigeria today. Peppered with a slight edge of Afrofuturism to design of the cover, this publication announces that the future is African.

 

Type Life (Switzerland), Issue #2, December, 2017

Type Life, issue 2, December 2017

A type fundi’s delight, the second issue of Type Life — presented by type design company, Swiss Typefaces — is a wellspring of visual inspiration. Showcasing its unique visual language and approach to typography, Type Life is a mashup, a milieu where Kanye West meets Rudolf Koch, and Jana Schroder’s paintings are surrounded by Caslon engravings. Free from any layered form of writing, Type Life is not a literary publication, focusing rather on unorthodox ways to present letterforms. Printed in a small edition of 1000 copies, using a limited palette of seven Pantone spot colors, this issue throws everything at the viewer, from mirrored words to slanted letters and uber-trendy gradients.

The current issue celebrates Sang Bleu, which is the name of a typeface and of the agency that creates it. Among all the experimental layouts and executions of the typeface in this issue, bespoke typefaces originally designed for Vogue are juxtaposed with variants of Sang Bleu.

While showcasing a typeface per issue, each edition of Type Life features a guest artist. For this issue, Paris-based Studio Jimbo provides its own contribution. Many of the fonts showcased in this issue debuted in Sang Bleu’s magazine, a publication about fashion, tattoo culture and the like, and has been included into Swiss Typefaces’ catalog. A testament to contemporary typography and layout design, perhaps a suggestion of what Vogue could look like if Swiss Typefaces had anything to say about it.

 

Online

Pin-Up (US), Issue #23, February, 2018

Pin Up Online, February 2018

Pin-Up is a biannual magazine about architecture and design. Iteration and continuity being vital considerations when it comes to the use of different types of media today, Pin-Up does a great job transitioning from print to web. The magazine’s website compliments its printed iteration nicely. The cover/landing page for the current issue, themed “The Comfort Issue”, exhibits a portrait taken by American photographer, Daniel Trese, of the influential architect, co-founder of Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, Liz Diller, appropriated as a work of art by Italian conceptual artist and filmaker, Francesco Vezzoli, titled “Liz Diller with architectural rear”. The immediacy of internationalism and abrupt intertextuality between various creative disciplines in this issue speaks volumes about the integrity of this publication.

 

Iconic

Adbusters (Canada), issue #1, #127, and #135, 2018

Adbusters issues 1, 127 and 135

Adbusters is a Canadian NPO, based upon critical thinking of the status-quo, with a bi-monthly publication. Founded in 1989, Adbusters was composed as “a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age”. The publication actively challenges consumerism with its anti-capitalist agit-prop tactics based upon the notion of culture jamming. Void of any advertising, the magazine is supported by its readers, further emphasising the independent energy of the publication and its readership across the globe.

With its strong environmentalist approach, the magazine has had many influential contributors over nearly three decades of its existence, including Jonathan Barnbrook, Morris Berman, Bill McKibben, and Slavoj Žižek, to name a few. Famous for its “subvertisements”, Adbusters has launched many international campaigns, most popularly Occupy Wall Street.

Adbusters is iconic because of its advocacy of human liberty against the tyranny of corporate fraternity. Its fight against any moratorium placed upon free thought, albeit a tad too subversive for some to stomach, combats any attempts to slow or control the free-flow of information, rebelling against censorship and mediated access to information, in an age where access to information equals power.

 

 

Shane de LangeShane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) is a designer, writer, and educator currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, working in the fields of communication design and digital media. He works from Gilgamesh, a small design studio, and is a senior lecturer in graphic design at Vega School in Cape Town. Connect on Pinterest and Instagram.

Cover Stories, formerly MagLove, is a regular slot deconstructing media cover design, both past and present.

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SA TV Ratings: e.tv — primetime top 20 for Jan 2018

by MarkLives (@marklives) The hottest primetime television shows on e.tv in South Africa revealed: TV ratings for January 2018.

In 2016, the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) changed its policy about giving away TAMS and now only monthly reports, highlighting the top 20 or 30 primetime shows on several popular channels, are available.

e.tv January 2018

BRCSA TV Ratings January 2018 primetime e.tv
Click to enlarge to view clearly.

Source: BRCSA January 2018

Broadcast Research Council of South Africa

 

The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (the BRC) is a non-profit, industry body that was incorporated in 2015 to cater to the audience research needs of the radio and television industry in South Africa.

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#AgencyLeaders2017: Most admired ad agency in South Africa

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today, we reveal which ad agency is the most admired in South Africa! This is part of this week’s announcement of the 2017 MarkLives Agency Leaders’ Most Admired Poll results for South Africa. Over the past two weeks, we have announced the regional results from Cape Town and Joburg.

Every year since 2012, MarkLives has been polling South Africa’s top agency leaders to find out what they think of their competitors, whom they see as effective managers and great creative leaders, and where they believe their future competition is likely to come from. We ask them who’s got digital integration right and — for the first time — who’s done best on transformation.

 

The most-admired ad agency in South Africa

King James Group logoKing James Group

Independent agency group, King James, continues to be South Africa’s most-admired agency for the second year in a row.

Year-on-year revenue growth stood at 19% during 2017 as Allan Gray returned to the fold. After winning the retail business for the launch of Tyme Digital by Commonwealth Bank SA in South Africa, King James was awarded the full account after six months on the account; it will now be responsible for all elements of launching the brand into the local market in 2018.

“As we near our 20th birthday, our agency has continued to achieve creative success in the delivery of truly channel-neutral integrated work that draws on all of the respective specialist disciplines housed within the King James Group,” says group MD James Barty, our joint runner-up most-admired ad agency boss in South Africa for 2017 and our most-admired agency boss in Cape Town for 2017. “This success was evidenced through the recognition received for Sanlam’s One Rand Family, Sanlam’s Conspicuous Savers and New Balance’s iComrades at One Show, the Loeries and the Bookmarks.”

Previously

King James Group won in 2016 and Joe Public United took top honours in 2015. From 2012, up to and including 2014, Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town was the top-rated agency in SA for three years running.

 

The runners-up (tied)

Ogilvy logo

Joe Public United

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa

Joe Public United
2017 was an excellent year for Ogilvy & Mather South Africa on pretty much every measure, including revenue growth, agency structure, people, creative performance and industry recognition, says Luca Gallarelli, Ogilvy Cape Town MD. “On the new business front, we were able to compete for and convert both Investec [and] a portion of Tiger brands late last year. Both were awarded on the back of our revised operating model expanded up by our Next Chapter vision for how we’re configuring ourselves as both individual offices and group.

The agency was also successful at landing assignments and brands through its specialist disciplines covering both PR and influence, and digital, including some digital transformation and innovation projects.

“Creatively, we enjoyed what could only be termed stellar,” he continues. “Probably our best year ever. It started in fine style with a yet another Cannes Grand Prix Radio win. This is the third Grand Prix achieved and, interestingly, the only three ever achieved in this category by Ogilvy globally. Mariana O’Kelly was recently acknowledged by Ogilvy Worldwide as one of the leading executive creative directors in the network and appointed to the Ogilvy Creative Council, assuming one of just 12 positions. A tremendous accolade for one of our creative leaders.”

 Joe Public United regains its position as one of SA’s most-admired agencies after falling out of the top three during our 2016 poll. It is also one of our joint most-admired ad agencies in Jozi for 2017.

Last year, it won South African Breweries’ Castle Milk Stout account in addition to Redd’s and Brutal Fruit.

It also won business from Adcock Ingram, British American Tobacco and Cell-C.Staff numbers grew by 40% (December 2017 compared to December 2016) and revenue grew by 37% for the period Jan–Dec 2017 (compared to Jan–Dec 2016).

Previously

In 2016, FCB Africa was the runner-up and, in 2015, it was King James Group. In 2014, results replicated 2013 exactly — with Joe Public Group as runner-up and joint second runners-up being FoxP2 and King James. In 2012, our inaugural poll, the runner-up was King James Group.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2017, we invited agency executives to nominate their most-admired agency, creative leader and most-admired agency both in their region (Johannesburg or Cape Town) and nationally. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and at transformation (a new question), and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Execs couldn’t nominate their own agencies or staff members. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had two votes in the final poll.

Note: Runner-up(s) will only be named if they achieved a good nomination tally relative to the winner’s position. Contenders are named if they stand out significantly above other nominees but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category are discarded.

Previous South African results

 

Herman Manson 2017Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

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Headspace: Eyes wide open this year

by Tenielle Maris. It seems that brands are under the magnifying glass now, more so than ever before, but the question is why now?

We had barely made it into the new year when the H&M crisis and subsequent social outcry became a reminder of the evolving expectations from consumers across the globe. 2017 was a year awash with PR nightmares for brands that failed to show an understanding of diversity and equal rights, making it glaringly obvious that ignorance and insensitivity plague our industry.

Why now?

On stage for the world to see

For the longest time, consumerism has been viewed as an extension of one’s identity. Today, social media is inextricably linked to identity, playing a paramount role in moulding the way in which consumers perceive the world and themselves: it’s the stage for one’s choices and values to be dissected, discussed and ridiculed by others.

This is no different for brands trying to connect with audiences by portraying a certain image and standing for a particular set of values: as consumers decide whom to listen to, by evaluating what a brand stands for and the relevance in their lives, they hold the power in determining the social worthiness of your brand.

Rise of woke consumerism

Mindful consumerism is evolving at neck-breaking speed as consumers demand brands that reflect their own values. According to Peter Duran’s book, A Political Economy of Mindfulness, Attention and Consumerism, consciousness is evolving: the emphasis is no longer on collective consciousness alone but also on one’s individual consciousness.

This movement towards becoming a more-conscious human being extends beyond the ever-growing adoption of more sustainable and good-for-you products, and into a realm of always-on, hyper-awareness of social and political matters.

Recent surveys reveal that consumers actually want brands to have a say in bigger issues: two-thirds of consumers feel it’s important for brands to use their influence to help shape social and political discussions.

It’s clear that consumers want brands to have a voice but there may very well be enormous ramifications if a brand fails to demonstrate the type of values that are deemed socially awake — or woke — by its audience.

The bigger picture

Among some of the greatest advertising blunders, we have also seen some truly meaningful campaigns from brands addressing big societal issues regarding race, gender, sexuality, religion and disability.

Beyond a campaign, Nike’s BETRUE collection has made waves, with content and products that serve as tangible proof that Nike puts its money where its mouth is. L’Oreal’s True Match campaign was just the start to tackling diversity head-on, and has paved the way for long-standing partnerships to mentor young adults on building confidence in the face of diversity.

What these brands demonstrate is that it takes more than acknowledging inequality and discrimination through a campaign: rather being socially awake needs to be engrained in a brand’s DNA and authentically woven into that brand’s story for the rest of the world to see.

Getting it right

If brands want to get it right, they need to do what it takes to ensure that they are walking in the shoes of a diverse bunch of socially aware consumers and that they portray those insights in the most-authentic way possible.

If you don’t truly understand the issues you are dealing with, and if you are doing it more for the financial gain and less about really standing up for a cause, it will show — and you can bet your bottom dollar that you are going to be called to task on it.

References

Tenielle MarisTenielle Maris is strategic director at TTL agency, 34°, in Johannesburg. Beginning her career in branding and communications, she has spent the last decade in the marketing industry where she has worked upon big brands spanning the African continent. Having found her passion in understanding what drives human beings to connect with particular brands, her time is spent getting up close and personal with the people whom brands are trying to connect with. Tenielle contributes the monthly “Headspace” column, which unpacks anything and everything that helps marketers and advertisers understand why people connect with brands, to MarkLives.com.

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Lessons in business from a barber

by Ndumiso Ndlela (@ndundlela) My barber and I celebrate our fifth ‘barberversary’ this year and our relationship has never been stronger. I hate to admit it but this is probably one of the longest relationships I’ve had with anyone I’m not related to. The sign at the entrance might read “Herman’s Salon & Styling” but his business is really building and maintaining client relationships.

The first time I walked into Herman’s hair salon, situated between a print and furniture shop not too far from the local taxi rank in Randburg, Johannesburg, the anxiety of having different hands touch my head in the previous couple of weeks had reached peak levels of frustration. Herman wore blue Levi 501s, a white shirt with thin blue stripes and a royal blue bow tie. He smiled and greeted me with a “How are your brother? How are we cutting it today?”. The smile and greeting have remained consistent ever since.

Trust

What I remember most about that first day is that, even before he picked up the hair clippers, I felt comfortable and my anxiety decreased dramatically. I’m not quite sure if it were the bow tie but I somewhat felt I could trust this soft-spoken gentleman with an accent I couldn’t quite place.

Five years later, when I reflect on why I kept going back to Herman, it’s more than just his exceptional barber skills or the mini fire display he does when sanitising the hair clippers using methylated spirit. The sign at the entrance might read “Herman’s Salon & Styling” but his business is really building and maintaining client relationships: from the moment you walk into his space until you walk out, Herman is applying some of the best practices in relationship-building and giving an experience that will make you come back again and again.

1. Presentation

One of the best lessons I learnt from the Côte d’Ivoire-born, multilingual man whom I’ve seen every month for the last five years is that presentation matters and first impressions count. He’s always understood the need to dress to be memorable. In an area with so many barbers, being good at cutting hair isn’t good enough.

An advocate of ‘cleanliness is next to godliness’, after every customer he sweeps the floor, wipes the counters and constantly checked that the tools of his trade are in perfect working condition. Motown and ’90s R&B creat the ambience at any given day of the week. Then, add a smile with perfectly aligned teeth and a dimple that crinkles. You already have the ingredients for an interesting business recipe.

2. Communication

Herman and I exchanged contact details the first day we met and that afternoon he sent a message about how great it was to meet me and he was more than willing to accommodate my working hours on week days if I let him know in advance when I require his services. Before I left for the end-of-year break last year, he sent a message asking how could I go home without a fresh fade.

Communication is a contact sport for Herman and he plays it to the best of his ability without being overly intrusive. He understands the importance of following up and checking on his customers, especially if he’s not heard from you in a while. And his effort to interact with you long after you’ve left his place of business is the reason that he remains top of mind when someone asks for a good barber referral.

3. Feedback

“Never stop trying to improve” is one of his favourite lines. Whether it’s a beard trim or a ‘make me look like Will Smith in Men in Black’ request, Herman always wants feedback on his work. He’s also always wanted his customers to be involved in helping him create a better experience for everyone who walks into his place of business. And it’s through this constant feedback that he’s developed an unspoken code with many of his customers so that they can just walk in and sit on the barber’s chair and he does his magic. A built and established trust has been formed.

4. Reward

It might seem like an insignificant gesture to offer loyal customers free haircuts on their birthdays, considering how many times one goes to the barber in a year, but this small reward once a year builds loyalty. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate this gesture of appreciation from someone who needs every cent to keep his business operating. And the other barbers wonder why is tipping jar is always full? Rewarding his customers is an investment on his business.

5. Fun

Above all else, he loves what he does and has fun doing it. The energy and enthusiasm have made him excel in business and grow a loyal customer base. Maybe Mary Poppins was onto to something when she sang, “In every job that must be done/There is an element of fun/You find the fun and snap! The job’s a game.”

 

Ndumiso NdlelaNdumiso Ndlela (@ndundlela) is a storyteller at heart. As head of digital for DNA Brand Architects, his passion is to help brands navigate the digital landscape and creating ground-breaking, innovative and award-winning content.

“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.

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