The cover might be phallic but it gets the coverline message across. You probably can’t look at the cover the same way now, right? Here’s the full article on how Coca-Cola and Pepsi “are under siege as consumer preference shifts to low-sugar, low-calorie soft drinks”.
Look at the picture on the left. Now on the right. And to the left again. Yes, it’s the same guy, even with 17 years in between!!! Gregg Avendon is the 52-year-old man who seems to have defeated age and gravity, and editor, Arthur Jones, writes in his letter than Avendon has appeared on 17 Men’s Health international covers so far! In the article MH also published a cover from 1999, and asked him to replicate the cover to show “as it would appear today”. Inspiration…
Sex sells. Animals also grab attention and sell, especially if they’re unique and cute! For its Health Issue, The New York Times Magazine has gone double-cute with a split run of covers featuring Doctor Dog and Doctor Cat. Jake Silverstein, editor-in-chief, writes that the publication was “lacking data on which of our readers are cat or dog people, [so] we distributed them at random. If you are displeased with the animal you received, perhaps you can swap with your neighbour.” If this tickles your fancy, head over the to amazing coverage on this topic.
This TIME cover made a всплеск (splash) when it was released last week Friday, especially as more and more Trump/Russia-related info comes out into the public domain! People have been loving it, and still do, as it really does capture the sentiment of a nation. Here’s the full article. MAD magazine then stuck a sharp and clever knife into TIME’s side, accusing TIME of copying MAD’s cover of 12 December 2016, and it did it in true MAD-style and humour!
I’m not a Star Wars fan myself (I’m usually stoned by fans when I say that I’ve actually never watched anything related to Star Wars or Star Trek …), but I do appreciate that massive Star Wars devotees will be extremely excited about Vanity Fair’s massive exclusive with the latest issue! And, as an added bonus, they’ll have a four-way-split-cover to choose from! It’s a little present for fans who can’t wait for December 2017, as they get exclusive access and interviews, and “ultimate sneak peeks at The Last Jedi”. If you’re even just the slightest fan, read the article and savour the magical pictures captured by the legend Annie Leibovitz!
MagLove by @MediaSlut is a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week, recognising well thought-out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three-in-one) covers and celebrating the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. The anonymous (for now) blogger behind MediaSlut knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa, magazines in particular. His mission is to show when SA magazines fail but, most importantly, also when they succeed. If you’re looking for a library about SA magazines and news, this is your one-stop pitstop.
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by Bogosi Motshegwa (@Thinkerneur) Advertising is a funny game. The ad industry’s appetite for new clients is insatiable, and every pitch process begets another. With every client or pitch win, the hunger for more intensifies —more clients, more wins, and more of everything — the cycle just never ends.
But what’s the opportunity cost of constantly looking for new clients? Client/agency relationships are no different to those of humans. If you’re in a committed relationship and you continue to pursue other people, you’ll inevitably end up faltering in your commitment. You start paying more attention and putting more resources behind the new pursuit, neglecting what you already have.
This is neither to suggest nor recommend that an ad agency needs to have a single client but rather that there’s a unique threshold for each agency. This threshold is a point where having more clients actually does more harm or damage than having fewer clients.
You’ll know
Sometimes, this is easy to spot and sometimes it isn’t. I can’t say when is it reached but, when you’ve reached it, you’ll know.
In order to identify when an agency has reached its threshold, it needs to be self-aware. Self-awareness allows you to identify characteristics that may indicate that you’ve probably bitten off more than you can chew. In no particular order, here are the signs:
It may be when clients’ frustrations become evident and consistent
When the agency culture deteriorates (if you have a culture to begin with)
The happiness barometer is down
The quality of work is weak (sometimes the quality of work is impeccable but employee satisfaction and happiness levels are low)
Less time and resources are being allocated to existing clients (and clients do feel when they are starting to be neglected
Senior employees are being redeployed to new clients, and old clients are left to deal with the junior staff (this happens)
In the pursuit of new clients, prospective clients take priority and existing clients get neglected. Yes, briefs will be taken into the system and work will be executed, but the intimacy depreciates.
Quality audit
As an agency, you need to check yourself. You need to constantly audit the quality of the relationships you have with your current clients.
Talent and creativity are ubiquitous and highly accessible but genuine and authentic feelings of connection aren’t
These days, the market place for talent is extremely competitive. An ad agency may no longer claim creativity to be the single most-important variable that makes it different. Talent is easily accessible; clients are experimenting with consulting agencies and outsourced specialised creative talent; and this means that clients now have options. So what is the single most-important thing that agencies have control over? It’s how clients feel about them.
How to ensure that staid agency/client relationships always feel brand-new
Maintaining existing relationships is critical for ensuring intimate, fun and long-term partnerships. Here are six actionable steps that an ad agency may implement in order to keep the fire burning between itself, client and a matured relationship:
Don’t let your relationships be run via Outlook and Chase — meet clients not just for scheduled meetings and briefings but also for friendships (the best romantic relationships are predicated on great friendships — the same is true for professional relationships). Just because there’s no scheduled meeting, it doesn’t mean that you can’t see your client
Introduce all your staff members to all clients. (Make sure every person in your agency knows who the client is exactly — it sometimes amazes me that people in an agency may do work for a client for years on end, and still not know who exactly they do work for — it’s ludicrous)
Be concerned about your client’s entire value chain, not just the aspect that’s relevant to you (sales, customer service, production, manufacturing, etc — all of these have an impact on your communications efforts, so show interest and the client will be interested in you)
Encourage client to visit your agency premises often, and reciprocate by visiting its offices often
Don’t just be quick to bill client for mediocre work but be quick to offer practical solutions that work and be helpful
Constantly ask client: “How are we doing so far and where can we improve?” This will let the client know that the relationship is not just transactional but there’s genuine concern and authentic interest
If there’s a team dedicated to a particular brand, there’s absolutely no reason why team members shouldn’t be able to work from client’s premises from time to time
Retainers aren’t enough
‘Retainers’ aren’t enough to secure relationships. Most agencies think that having one with a client is in itself is a signifier of a strong relationship, but it isn’t. Retainers just mean secured income for a specific period; they don’t mean that clients are tied down to your agency.
Remember, you are not the only pursuer; clients are constantly and consistently being approach by other suppliers. If you and your client aren’t intimate, just transactional, you’ll inevitably lose. Whether your client is retainer or project-based, you have to keep pursuing your client by showing interest at all times.
In today’s commoditised world of creativity, your biggest asset, value proposition or differentiator is not the latest technology, but affection — how intimate are you with your client?
Bogosi Motshegwa (@Thinkerneur) truly believes that advertising can really change the world. Every single day he tries to prove this. He shares his thoughts on the industry and sometimes has unconventional views. Bogosi is a committee member of AMASA, an Advisory Council member and guest speaker at Vega, and also does speaker management at TEDxJohannesburg. He is currently a strategic planner at The Creative Counsel. He contributes the new monthly column, “Adnalysis”, which analyses adland from a strategist’s viewpoint, to MarkLives.com.
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by DK Badenhorst (@BrandCultureSA) Brand character and culture have moved from being high-end brand deliverables to becoming the bread and butter of branding. We live in a world where people who are serious about brands ask, “What is our character and what tools will we use to define it?”, as well as the trickier one, “What are we going to do about this culture thing?”
Struggle to articulate
But what makes brand character so difficult and why do we struggle to articulate it well? This first, I believe, is simply a matter of taxonomy or even just template. What boxes do you need to tick? What do you mean when you say character? Your response could simply be: “I mean that you define who the brand is; describe the brand like a movie character.” The template becomes one of simply describing your brand as if it acts in a movie. The problem we end up with is then formalising this, not in order to replicate (although it would also be that) but also to make sure we hit all the marks.
The description of “a strong-willed woman willing to disregard the done thing” may either describe Marine Le Pen, as she moved towards championing the right (from the point of view of the liberal left), or Taylor Swift, when she protested the new trend of platforms such as Spotify. You need to add more to make it accurate.
One tool that does stand us in good stead is to leverage the insight of Carl Jung in order to get a framework. What might pull Swift and Le Pen apart is that the former is a creator who champions old values of creativity and the latter a conqueror according to the even older rules of older societies. Therein lies the secret: being able to describe the why but also the cultural context within which that matters.
It’s tempting to believe that it’s always a disaster when you get it wrong. Or to say that, when someone gets it wrong, you’ll spot it from a mile away. It’s unfortunately not the case. I’ve over the years taken a line from a philosophy lecturer to describe our industry: “It’s a discipline, not a science.” As in philosophy, a horrible idea comes across as a good one when delivered with charm and style. It is why, early on in philosophy, we get taught the fallacies of argument. The argument that leads us to believe something is true because everyone believes it. Or something most of us has experienced, the argument through violence — agree or else.
Shortcomings
The argument, however, seems plausible when we’re not aware of the shortcomings. Or the weaknesses. It becomes easy to take a lie for truth in the face of popular consensus or become more-agreeable in the face of violence. Similarly, a poorly constructed character seems like the real thing when there’s no alternative or we don’t really know what we’re looking for.
Consider the following two commercials for a brand I often use as a reference. Not too long ago, the internet was ablaze with a student film. It was a project or a mock ad for adidas, featuring an aged man attempting to escape from an old age home. It was a good film — well-executed. It captured a spirit of rebellion and defiance that the brand (especially originals) has come to be known for. In addition to that, it allows for the opportunity to showcase a product and it demonstrates the history of that product.
The narrative rings true and, on further investigation, the story revolves around a real human story that resonates with the creator of the commercial — someone who is potentially in the target audience. So, in many ways, it ticks all the boxes: it’s true to a consumer’s life, it’s rebellious, it showcases the heritage of the brand and it seamlessly allows for a product to be inserted into the story. But, somehow, it comes up short. It misses a few tricks. Not that one would say that with Mashable featuring it and the world coming to life with a student film that one critic noted “this is what adidas ads should be”.
In this particular case, adidas happened to have been working on the next big thing that better brings the brand to life. Early this year, adidas released its commercial, “Original is never finished” which, according to rumour, crashed its website. It is, as it says, a tour de force of what it means to be original. It pursues not the idea of happiness but rather the idea of originality, going down routes of deviance and non-conformity. In other iconic pieces such as “House Party” or “Your future is not mine”, the protagonists are within the realm of deviance but either shrug it off or stand to the side. In the latest iteration, the brand itself seems somewhat deviant — our protagonists seem involved in that grey area between what ought and what ought not.
The sincerity or the true pursuit of the archetype seems to once again pull the two brands apart. The former, the brand with the elderly gentleman, seems far closer to that of an ordinary man. His dreams are accessible and we mayall sympathise with his cause. Who wants to grow old and cast your trainers aside? All of us want to, as the ad goes, break free. It’s in essence the pursuit of happiness. Or, closer to the truth, the pursuit of everyday happiness.
A different pursuit
“Original is Never Finished” is a different pursuit that sort of puts happiness aside. Here I like to look to my favourite cultural critic and philosopher, Slavoj Zizek, who argued that creativity and happiness very seldom live together. He notes how, when we’re in that creative space, when we’re in the process of discovering and creating, we’re not considering happiness. Instead, we’re willing to suffer. Early scientists accepted the possibility of dying when in the verge of a new discovery. Orwell himself lived as a homeless man for a good while in order to really step outside the stratified society he despised.
It is an odd thought but if adidas, in the late 1930s or early 1940’ needed a writer as an ambassador, Orwell might have been its man. Speculation aside, the brand does go a long way in recognising the somewhat arduous, treacherous and lonely journey in self-expression that doesn’t guarantee happiness or ease. In fact, it guarantees very little other than simply moving ahead and staying busy with what it is that you do.
This is not to put a student’s work down. What I love about the Escape piece is that it speaks not to what consumers want. This was not his job and adidas does a fantastic job of mining trends. What the student did really well was to apply the brand to his own experience and his own life. The brand helped him tell his story. This is what we want people to do. The difference between his work and the brand’s work is the difference between the journey and the destination. It’s important to acknowledge that our consumers are individuals, made up of many thoughts, opinions and experiences. They’re all on their way somewhere for a variety of reasons. In these journeys, our brands are able to provide waypoints or beacons according to which they can coordinate life. The adidas brand provides us with an interesting point of view, that of fulfillment without pursuing rules or happiness. In a time where rules are disappointing and the authorities are letting us down, we might need a cultural waypoint that sits outside the realm of acceptable norms. What is wrong with unacceptable norms? Are the norms of today not by definition unacceptable? These are difficult thoughts to have in a silo. But when big cultural icons bring these conversations to the table, it provides a fort for those who want to think it, too.
Mine culture further
Putting intellectual items on the menu of public conversation might be one of the many functions of brands in a modern era. It might also be the job of anyone who holds a big enough loudhailer. But, before we jump the gun to throw ideas out there, we might want to mine culture further to find out what’s there, what’s needed and who has to say it. And, in order to answer these questions, we’re going to have to get thoroughly well-acquainted with the tools and methodologies that allow us to build culturally relevant, accurate and complete brand characters that people may fall in love with.
DK Badenhorst (@BrandCultureSA) is head of strategy at Cape Town ad agency, 140BBDO, and brings cultural context and long-term trend insights to brand communication through cultural insight and semiotics. He contributes the monthly “Brand Culture” column, exploring the value and meaning interaction between brands and society, to MarkLives.com.
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by Arthur Goldstuck (@art2gee) Despite the challenge of video-on-demand services on mobile devices, the ever-evolving formats of TV ensures it maintains a hold on viewers.
A snapshot of global TV sales suggests that the format has stagnated. In the first half of last year, according to retail research organisation GfK, 104.7m TVs were sold globally, down 3.7% on the same period a year before. However, a very different picture emerges when one drills down into regions, formats and demographics. While some formats and traditional ways of watching are dying, others are rising rapidly.
Startling examples
A few startling examples were presented in Lisbon at the IFA Global Press Conference 2017 in April, an event that previews Europe’s largest consumer electronics show, IFA, taking place in Berlin in December. “In Italy, 25% of TV sets are located in the kitchen,” said Jürgen Boyny, global director consumer electronics at GfK. “This means there is a market for small-screen sizes and for lots of different viewing behaviours.”
The statistic may well be indicative of social activity revolving around the kitchen, but it also suggests growth in new locations as new formats of device and new forms of content make it appropriate for other spaces. “This creates potential for multi-ownership, people buying another TV for children’s bedrooms, holiday apartments or even the kitchen.”
The numbers show that the trend is already taking off in some European countries. In 171m households with TV on the continent, 321m TV sets are installed. The dubious honour of the biggest appetite for multiple screens goes to Norway, with an average of 3.1 TV sets per viewing household. However, the assumption that this is a factor of the many months of darkness in Scandinavia doesn’t apply: Norway’s neighbours don’t feature on the list. Next comes the UK with 2.7 sets per household, and France with 1.8. Both Germany and Italy boast 1.5 sets per household, and Poland features with 1.2.
Extensive market potential
This is all good news for the industry, says Boyny, as it means there is extensive market potential for selling multiple TVs. The real opportunity, however, lies in the growth of specific formats of TV, and this applies in South Africa, too. “We are seeing sustainable growth into bigger screen sizes, 55-inch and above, but 32-inch still has the biggest share and is still growing in units.”
It is these smaller TVs that are invading new spaces, as they are idea for kitchens, children’s bedrooms and other smaller areas of the home beyond the living room. Smaller screen sizes, below 32-inch, have become a must-have for the many holiday apartments in southern Europe, meaning that these formats are seeing substantial demand in Mediterranean countries.
However, there are three specific trends driving growth within specific segments in Europe: large-format TV sets above 60-inches, which have grown from 1% of TV sales in 2014 to a projected 4% this year; 4K or Ultra High Definition (UHD) TVs, which have grown dramatically from a mere 2% to 30%; and the jewel in the crown, Smart TV, which has grown more slowly but off a much-higher base, from 43% to 53%.
Impact in SA
The latter is beginning to make an impact in SA as well, and is allowing for video-on-demand, such as Netflix and ShowMax, to migrate from mobile devices to TV sets. The challenge, says Boyny, is to “bring the younger generation into the world of the big screen” by showing them that platforms such as YouTube offer a better experience in this format.
“What is next in TV is continuous development, driven by new content and easier access to content. At present, for example, it is not easy to type in a website address on the remote control, and we need easier access. Consumers want more than traditional content, and they will get apps for different and new kinds of content on Smart TV. A connected TV should be more than only entertainment; it should support people in their daily lives. If a child is sick, why is it not possible to follow a class on a big screen at home? For older people, why is there no fitness or health app on the TV? This is also the future of TV.”
As if in response to Boyny’s call, Michael Zöller, Samsung vice president and head of visual display for Europe, asked the audience at the IFA press conference: “How can the TV integrate seamlessly into modern homes and lifestyle?”
“Piece of art”
He had an answer, too: “For example, making a TV that is not only a TV anymore, but a piece of art.”
With that, Samsung unveiled the latest version of its upcoming Frame, which has been shown in prototype since early this year. It is an ultra-thin large-screen TV that looks like a picture frame hanging on a wall. When not being viewed, its display transforms into a work of art — more than a hundred have been curated by Samsung — so that it blends almost seamlessly into walls already decorated with paintings.
The frame itself may be customised to fit in with a colour scheme, and the display will be matte rather than glossy, so that it looks more like a painting or photo than a screen image. It is due to be launched in Europe by the end of May, and will roll out across the rest of the world in the following weeks.
It won’t be cheap, but it will be yet another format that will ensure the ongoing health of the market for TV sets.
Arthur Goldstuck heads up World Wide Worx (www.worldwideworx.com) and is editor-in-chief of Gadget. He is a consulting editor to MarkLives and our media tech columnist. Follow him on Twitter on @art2gee. This article has been republished from Gadget.
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by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki)Heaven knows, these days we need something to laugh at. Thankfully, cider brand Savanna knows just how to do that and the latest ad, from Mirum South Africa and director Daniel Albertse of Bird On A Wire, has just landed. It is funny. Dry. And wonderful.
Comedy sells. Because everyone loves to laugh. And, with the onslaught of bad news rushing in thick and fast from all corners of the globe, what we need now, more than anything else, is mirth. Modern comedy is also about more than just making people laugh; it’s often a powerful force in examining society — be it politics, attitudes, fashion, religion or whatever — holding up our culture for criticism and introspection. And it can actually make a difference, because it’s done in the ‘safe space’ created by laughter.
Distell brand, Savanna Cider, has made comedy an intrinsic part of its brand identity, capitalising on its association by not just being funny but by supporting local standup comedians. In 2013, Savanna not only started sponsoring the Annual Comics’ Choice Awards but became the headline sponsor of this respected initiative. Now in its seventh year, the Savanna Comics’ Choice Awards are opening up to the rest of Africa for the first time, and the inaugural Savanna Pan African Comic of the Year award will be presented at the final ceremony this year in August 2017.
Comedy is seldom thought of as a cultural event in this country, and South African comedians don’t have it quite as good as some US comedians — unless you’re Trevor Noah and you get poached by The Daily Show. That’s why it’s so great that Savanna has committed to backing comedy in SA: we need insightful people to say what needs to be said without letting us fall into a spiral of depression and despair.
The web commercial that we’ve selected this time as Ad of the Week, “Savanna Newcomer Showcase — Hostage Negotiator”, is being used to publicised one of the events that are part of the run-up to the main awards — the Savanna Newcomer Showcase, which will decide on who gets the Newcomer of the Year award in August. Twenty-four new comics have been invited to do their schtick in front of an audience at the Soweto Theatre on Sunday 28 May.
The ad features last year’s newcomer winner, Ebenhaezer Dibakwane, who plays the part of a hostage negotiator. With him are two hard-boiled cops, one in plainclothes and the other in a SWAT uniform. The filming is done very much in the style of cop dramas of recent years, with hand-held camera and narrow depth of field
The phone rings: it’s the kidnapper, and the negotiator answers. The plainclothes detective puts on headphones to listen in. “Here are the rules. I want five million dollars. And don’t ever disrespect me,” the voice says, heavily distorted by a pitch-shifting device.
“I would never disrespect you,” says the negotiator, while the other two look on. Then he adds: “Lord Vader.”
The other two look on horrified as the negotiator carries on with a series of Star Wars jokes, ending with: “What do you need the five million dollars for — a new lightsaber?” At which point the kidnapper hangs up. “I think he might have needed the toilet,” says the negotiator, awkwardly. Dibakwane’s performance is intentionally over-the-top and silly, which makes the cops’ reactions all the more amusing.
The two cops are dumbstruck, and the title appears on the screen: “If comedians had different jobs, you wouldn’t like them.” This is followed by an end-board featuring Dibakwane holding his award, with the title, “Thank goodness comedy is a full-time job.” The details for the event are also on the end-board.
It’s a great little set-piece, with the casting of the deadpan cops a perfect foil for Dibakwane’s cringe-inducing antics.
Here’s hoping I can still get a couple of seats at this year’s Newcomers Showcase — it looks like it’s going to be a blast. And cheers to Savanna for the laughs and everything it continues to do to promote local comedy.
Credits
Agency: Mirum South Africa
Chief creative office: Andrew Bloom
Creative director: Rod McCall
Copywriter: Rod McCall
Art director: Rod McCall
Strategist: Liam Gibbs
Account director: Jared Epstein
Senior digital project manager: Sonja ter Horst, Julie Gardiner
Production company: Bird On A Wire
Director: Daniel Albertse
DOP: Daniel Albertse
Post-production company: POST
Editor: Dan Stevenson
Sound mix: Oliver Stutz
Grade: Regardt Voges
Ad of the Week, published on MarkLives every Wednesday, is penned by Oresti Patricios (@orestaki), the CEO of Ornico, a Brand Intelligence® firm that focuses on media, reputation and brand research. If you are involved in making advertising that is smart, funny and/or engaging, please let Oresti know about it at info@ornicogroup.co.za.
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by Kate Snyder. How may brands avoid the trappings of cultural appropriation in South Africa’s youth market?
We know that, since the dawn of advertising, brands have been both representing and shaping the spirit, beliefs, and ideas of generations. Like it or not, the commercials we watch on television, the images we see on billboards, are all woven into the fabric of our societies and unavoidably linked to our cultural narratives about who we are, what we’re told we should look like, or how people behave.
In short, they reflect who we are and what we are interested in — be it trends, movements, values, the fashion of the day or songs of an era. One big global brand just got this catastrophically wrong <cough>.
Brands expected to be more human
We also know that consumers now, particularly younger ones, are expecting brands to be more human. They should be more empathetic and less corporate. They should be less formal and more approachable. They should talk and act more like everyday people, not mega-capitalists. And now, more than ever, they should have a conscience, be it socially or environmentally.
But at the end of the day, we all know that brands are out to sell things, so how do we walk the line between appropriating (in other words, exploiting) the culture and values of our times versus appreciating and celebrating them? How do we avoid the ‘Pepsi pitfalls’ and the irrevocable damage that it may cause to not only our brands but the perception of advertising?
We spoke to a few of the most clued-up South African youth and youth culture analysts to find out what the secret is to staying in touch and on-trend without alienating or embarrassing yourself.
1. Authenticity
In one word, it’s all about authenticity. Brands, they told us, should never, ever try to be something that they’re not. If consumers perceive and describe your brand as mature and wise, your communications shouldn’t depict it as youthful and frivolous. If your brand isn’t entrenched on a holistic level within the youth market, don’t force it. If you, brand managers or creatives, don’t understand the subtle nuances of a culture or trend you’re trying to portray, avoid it altogether. It seems obvious, but it’s a blunder too frequently seen in our multi-cultural South Africa.
2. Alignment
The key to achieving authentic communications is in alignment. How well does your message or what you’re trying to represent align with your brand’s values? How well does your message represent and align with real South African people, trends, values and voices (especially people of colour)? And, perhaps most importantly, whose voices are you representing, that of your brand or that of your consumer?
Common refrains
Common refrains heard in the criticism of Pepsi’s famous mistake were, ‘How did this even get approved? How many people did this have to pass through in order to be produced? Did nobody see how problematic this is?’ Perhaps if it had collaborated more with its market, listened to and understood the complexities of our time (and particularly the sensitivities of the Black Lives Movement it was depicting), this could have been a compelling message.
Consumers, people, hold the power to authenticating your brand from the conception stage through to production. Engage with them, hear their voices, and appreciate the power they can offer your brand.
Originally from the US, Kate Snyder is head of anthropology at Instant Grass International (IGI). As a researcher and strategist, she helps brands and organisations to better understand cultural and human behaviour throughout the African continent. Kate is s especially interested in how individuals and cultures shape one another — how cultural pretexts often dictate individual beliefs and behaviours but, equally, how we all individually play a role in shaping and changing cultural constructs.
“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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Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of all things new — product, packaging, design, insight, food, décor and more!
Great golf gear from Nike
Local gins win on global stage
Win a herd with MiWayLife and CHOC
No more knickerbockers
Finally, there’s golf apparel with a sense of style as Nike launches its chic, new, performance golf clothing range in the Mother City.
Created in collaboration with the UK’s Dare and Highsnobiety, the launch campaign focuses on the Cape Town-based urban golf collective. No bland polo shirts or beige chinos are anywhere to be found in this collection; instead, the sport is reimagined with attitude and flare as the viewer follows youths who’re transforming the city’s landscape into their playground and reclaiming the space.
Tasked with imbuing the campaign film with the same quality and depth as the original photography, ENVY Advertising’s Danny Wood (UK) delivered: “Matt Bolton [creative director] of Dare approached us with a visually stunning look-book, so we had rich reference material to draw on. My main focus was to achieve consistency in the look and to celebrate the incredible environment that defines the film. It was important to allow each of the distinct identities — the products, the individuals, and their craft — to shine through, whilst uniting them visually.”
Says Bolton, “The ENVY guys are mind-readers and magicians. They knew what we wanted from the off and delivered the film with a Houdini-like finish. I try not to have favourites in the industry, but Danny’s one of them.”
Creative entrepreneur, Jacqueline Grobler, just landed four international awards for her locally inspired gin brands – Ginifer and Westcliff – at the American Distilling Institute’s craft spirits competition, the largest judging devoted to craft spirits globally. She took time out this week to share her recipe for success with Shelf Life.
Grobler launched her own alcoholic beverage company just five years ago from a business that started in her garage with her husband, using an old copper kettle he handcrafted. “Our brands have been built on integrity, passion and love. I am completely hands-on, and still serve clients myself. I make time to explain the distilling process and share the details and unique story behind every brand.”
It’s this personal touch that goes a long way in a world that is highly detached and Grobler’s level of engagement has built loyalty in customers, who have gone on to become strong ambassadors for the brand.
“We still manage our social media pages ourselves and interact with every consumer who connects with us on our platforms. We make a point of answering every question. If someone has taken the time to engage with us, we owe it to them to keep that conversation alive. Not to do so is opportunity lost and by answering it ourselves, we maintain our unique voice in all our communication.”
Grobler’s approach is above and beyond simply manufacturing alcohol: “We distil artisanal spirits and serve them in a sensory way that imprints on our client’s memory and, in so doing, ensures positive recall which becomes an experience worth repeating.”
Grobler also believes in the power of in-store promotions to reach audiences, allowing them the opportunity to develop a meaningful connection through demonstrations and sampling. But she says their extensive use of social media has been invaluable: “It’s not our style to bother clients with insignificant posts. We only post when we have a story to share and we always marry it with a give-away.”
MiWayLife is offering South Africans the chance to win a herd of 25 Nguni cows in collaboration between MiWayLife, CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation SA and the fundraising team The Cows.
The Nguni cow is an icon of the South African countryside, providing wealth and status for their owners.
Says MiWayLife’s CEO, Craig Baker, “We believe that life insurance shouldn’t be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ kind of deal. We would like our interventions to leave people better off and hopefully self-sufficient and, in this case, the winners of the competition will have a substantial store of value that will grow and create further wealth for them and their families.”
To enter, customers need to request an obligation-free quote. A donation of R50 towards CHOC will get the hopeful a second entry into the draw.
Shelf 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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by Herman Manson (@marklives) Telkom has issued a request for proposals (RFP) or tender for a number of elements within its marketing environment, Telkom’s spokesperson Jacqui O’Sullivan has confirmed. The Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) is concerned over various contraventions of the ACA Code of Conduct — eg, as many as 12–15 agencies are believed to have been approached, including major networks and some independents.
The RFP covers three businesses within the Telkom Group — Consumer Business, BCX and Openserve — and includes covers ATL creative, direct marketing, digital, activations and sponsorships. According to O’Sullivan, there is no expectation that one single agency will be required to fulfil all these services.
“Limiting and potentially exclusionary”
The RFP was issued on 3 May 2017 and submissions were due on 19 May. Following internal consideration and discussions with the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), the decision was taken to extend the closing date to Thursday 25 May in line with the ACA’s requirement of 15 working days, says O’Sullivan.
“Telkom has opted for a closed tender and has purposefully invited a large number of agencies to pitch, specifically to allow to smaller, black-owned and more niched [sic] agencies to bid for specific bodies of work. We are looking for great ideas and we want to hear from the large and established agencies, as well as the smaller and more-specialist agencies that are often overlooked in large corporate pitches.
“We believe these lesser-known agencies should be offered an equal opportunity to pitch for the section of work they believe they are most-geared to serve. While the ACA Code of Conduct requires the list of agencies shortlisted to not exceed five, in a pitch like this, where there are multiple bodies of work, that requirement is limiting and potentially exclusionary,” she ends.
“Free of charge”
In response, Odette van der Haar, ACA CEO, has told MarkLives that it’s the ACA’s understanding that Telkom requires the participating agencies to submit full strategy and creative work specific to the Telkom brands free of charge: “From the information provided to the ACA when the pitch was logged, Telkom invited a mix of large agencies, medium-sized agencies and small agencies to participate,” she says. “When the ACA asked Telkom how many agencies they invited, they did not confirm and cited this information as confidential. By our count (and if one counts agency group consortiums as one), there are approximately a dozen to 15 agencies involved.”
She continues: “Initially, an unreasonable turnaround was given to the agencies; however, Telkom indicated last week that they will extend the deadline to 25 May 2017 in line with the 15-working day requirement of the industry’s Code of Conduct that governs tenders and pitches.
According to Van der Haar, the situation is disappointing as “the code was put in place for good reason and Telkom were informed of the benefits of adherence to the code, ie that the code promotes fair, equal and healthy competition, transformation, a level playing-field, good ethics and conduct during new business acquisition, and it protects the intellectual property of agencies. The code also mitigates risk and wasteful expenditure on the part of agencies and clients. There is therefore no reason not to adhere to the code which does not contravene any legislation or regulation — it, in fact, enhances pitch processes.
“Clients behave unfairly towards agencies”
“The biggest threat to our industry is that more and more clients behave unfairly towards agencies during pitches or, when contracted, agencies are given unreasonable turnaround times or margins are driven down to limit agencies’ revenue, etc. It is paramount to the sustainability of the profession that agencies stand united against these unscrupulous practices in order to maintain the value and currency of the profession,” she states.
The ACA’s concerns with the Telkom pitch are as follows, according to Van der Haar:
There are too many agencies being asked for strategic and creative work, which is costly to the agencies and, given the number of agencies involved, each agency stands 8.33% chance of winning the business; it is a large investment with a small prospect of success.
The ask is onerous and expensive, and it prejudices the smaller agencies as they don’t have the same available resource to invest in this pitch as the larger agencies. Without payment of pitch fees, the unsuccessful agencies can’t recoup some of the cost incurred by answering Telkom’s brief.
Most worrying is that the contribution and currency of the participating agencies are devalued when agencies are asked to provide clients with free intellectual property. An option for Telkom to accept case studies of recently, successfully produced work is in line with their scope of work and services has been proposed because case studies will accurately demonstrate agencies’ ability to meet Telkom’s requirements and deliver ROI — evaluation of case studies is more accurate during pitches than evaluation of ideas, and submission of case studies won’t incur pitch fees. Telkom hasn’t accepted this proposal to submit case studies, which means that the pitch is still in abeyance until the issue of pitch fees is resolved.
Given the number of agencies involved and the brief issued to the agencies, the collective cost of this pitch will run into millions of rands. The unsuccessful agencies should be paid the required pitch fees in order for some of their hard costs, incurred as a result of this pitch, to be recouped.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.
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by Herman Manson (@marklives) Over the course of two months, we asked a panel of black agency leaders to discuss progress in how the marketing and advertising industries are transforming. The individual opinions flowing back to us made clear several factors highlighting the limits of the transformation project to date.
With the issues spelled out, it’s time for the industry to collectively find the creative solutions to these problems — surely it can’t sell this service when failing to apply it to itself?
Range of issues
Let’s highlight the range of issues identified by our panellists first. Why do so many black professionals feel concern with the rate of progress; what is it about the status-quo that leaves them frustrated; and why have several generations of black agency startups failed to find scale, a situation that only finally seems to be reversing in the course of the last two-to-three years, with the rise of black-founded and managed-agencies such as AVATAR and Riverbed?
Grant SitholeMonalisa Sibongile ZwambilaMxolisi Goodman Buthelezi
1. Europe still has a tight grip on us
The advertising industry is going through massive disruption. Consultancies have started eating the industry’s lunch and it’s becoming clear that its systems and procedures are increasingly out of date and removed from client needs. Instead of reformatting itself and its legacy systems, the industry has simply changed its sell. And so we’ve been given the creatively driven Big Idea as the saviour of adland as we know it.
This is what gets pushed to clients by execs, what you read about in the trade press and what gets awarded at creative award shows. But the standard and language of the creatively driven Big Idea are still set by Europe’s agencies and by Europe’s creative award shows.
Chasing awards
While we keep chasing awards set in a first-world narrative, we’ll continue to speak, think and produce work in that narrative. In our bid to win statues, we task the Big Idea to people fluent in a narrative that will increase the chances of (award) success.
In Ivan Moroke’s piece, Transformation apartheid plagues SA ad agencies, he talks of an apart-ness — where white teams are assumed to be more-attuned to international norms while black teams are tasked with achieving ‘black insights’ only. “…[T]he use of local and global pigeonholes entrenches a de facto system of separate development,” he writes. “These divisive trends have to be urgently addressed.”
“Quality of work”
Masego Motsogi touches on a similar point in her piece, What we need to achieve true transformation. “[H]ow we as an industry perceive people of colour and reinforce stereotypes through the work we produce,” she writes. “Often the quality of work specifically directed at a black audience is not only subpar but misguided and misinformed.”
Black advertising professionals “…don’t want to only be given the ‘black’ briefs; they want to be amazing creative people across segments,” argues Sibusiso “Sbu” Sitole in Concept of transformation not embraced by our industry. “They don’t want to sit in a pitch so that their agency looks more transformed; they want to be a valuable team player. Much like white advertising professionals, they want to be the best at what they do!”
Zibusiso MkhwanaziMasego MotsogiSbu Sitole
2. We’ve not gone beyond the scorecard
A lot of transformation effort has been expended on achieving BBBEE scorecard objectives (the new codes prioritise ownership with a target of 45% black ownership by 31 March 2018). This is a one-dimensional approach to transformation.
In “Some” transformation is simply not good enough, Ahmed Tilly notes that power and wealth haven’t been successfully transferred to black agency personnel. “Black advertising professionals have seen the limitations for growth to the very top. It is demoralising,” he writes. “Opportunities to the corner office are limited and a history that spans 22 years has proven this. And I haven’t even started to talk about the very necessary equity discussion. Why would they stay in an industry that refuses to transform?”
“I believe that a transformed industry will be a more-robust industry with more work for everyone,” he continues. “White and black. I believe that diversity is a beautiful thing. A place for all. But, if there is resistance to change, a stubbornness to hand over, a reluctance to share the wealth and the power, spaces in the industry will be limited.”
Transferable skills
Mentorship and on-the-job training that helps develop transferable skills are key to agency transformation strategies, says Motsogi. “Business leaders need to examine their subconscious, and sometimes conscious, bias, and ensure that they are promoting genuine equal opportunity through real, tangible action — not just words. They need to reinforce these positive, fair behaviours through their team, so that the example is set from the top down.”
On an ownership level, the industry seem to have shied away from negotiating a transfer of ownership with black execs already active in the industry in favour of a range of non-profits, educational institutions or well-connected business people.
Black creatives have been going freelance or starting their own shops, writes Grant Sithole in Transformation — the proverbial workhorses have bolted. “We are out creating the kind of work and working environments that we have been asking the industry to do for some time now. And I’m very pleased to see that some historically rigid players are slowly seeing the… uhm.. .light.”
Ivan MorokeAhmed Tilly
3. Little client buy-in remains an obstacle for black entrepreneurs
“After 23 years of our freedom, there are hardly any black-owned agencies handling blue-chip accounts, competing and matching others pound for pound. This isn’t because black-owned agencies aren’t up for a challenge. You’re lucky to even get on the pitch list,” notes Mxolisi Goodman Buthelezi in Transformation isn’t dancing for chicken, airtime or policies.
“We believe that the more opportunities given to black agencies to win big accounts, the greater the creative diversity and quality of work delivered,” writes Monalisa Sibongile Zwambila in Transformation needs buy-in on the demand side. “It is common knowledge that, at the heart of any campaign is understanding the consumer, and with the black middle-class market now at 6m people, there is a compelling reason that black agencies should be given the opportunity to deliver persuasive campaigns that influence and impact this market. If this argument holds true, it begs the question why change in this sector continues to be driven by BBBEE imperatives and not by brands insistent on using black agencies to better understand and connect with the consumer.”
“Demand side”
“So, if we are disgruntled at the rate of progress in our industry, what do we do to change it?” she asks. “We need to proactively begin to get corporates to understand the value of working with black agencies, not to benefit their scorecard but to benefit their brands. Without buy-in on the demand side, we will continue to perpetuate the same norms and same beliefs that have kept the industry slow to transform.”
“The only way to know if an agency is capable is for the client to give it a chance to prove itself. Clients have to be willing to take the road less travelled if they truly believe in transformation,” writes Zibusiso “Zi” Mkhwanazi in Transformation — clients must take road less travelled. If we are to build a sustainable marketing industry, if transformation is to be more than talk, it cannot be business as usual.
“Taking a risk”
“If a brand is going to pit upcoming agencies that are black-owned against the more-established large agencies — those with international backing — the results are fairly obvious,” he continues. “Frustration will continue to grow because the pace of transformation will continue to be staggeringly slow. Transformation means taking a risk where there are more comfortable options available.
“This doesn’t equal entitlement. It is doing what we all know is right. If we are not willing to make brave decisions as an industry to help solve the social ills of our country, we will continue to live with two economies. We will never enjoy the fruits of our labor without constantly living in fear that it will be taken away.”
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.
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by Erna George (@edgeo23) Deliverables sound like an obvious and well-understood business term but some recent interactions have taught me otherwise.
First, in a team meeting on asking the team to share their output and deliverables, it took over 40 minutes to go around a circle of less than 10 people. A lot of words were squeezed in, with a strong focus on who they were in contact with and the steps they were taking, yet little emphasis on business impact. Secondly, a new junior member in the business was struggling to keep afloat and make progress, yet was working long hours. Lastly, a colleague’s agency had used 90% of its retainer hours within the first six months of the year and had only delivered four of the year’s 10 planned deliverables scoped out in the annual contract.
Everyone in these examples had put in many hours and done a significant amount with multiple outputs but the required focus on deliverables and meeting these set in the time period weren’t achieved. The world of business has shifted to deliverables being at the core of planning and measurement but behaviour needs to follow — quickly!
Like there are many paths to a destination, there are multiple ways to address a task, and there are many activities and outputs required to effect a deliverable. Activities are the ‘what’ gets done and each output is a step towards achieving the deliverable. Outputs are great but the deliverable is what we deploy to customers or consumers, from products to services to promotions.
Linked to business objectives
Deliverables are linked to business objectives. Deliverables are where the rubber hits the road, often made of tangible measurable elements and the more subjective. For example, it’s not about creating a presentation in support of a brand extension; PowerPoint slides are the output. It is about a high-quality presentation with strong insights for a compelling business case that help direct the business opportunity towards optimal growth and leads to investment in the innovation project. Quality may be subjective but with the right focus the investment level that determines your success and the promise of future impact.
Many things may keep you busy and you may confuse being busy with multiple tasks with the definitiveness and impact of delivering strong outcomes. This is where all three of my examples above went wrong. Between briefs, project team meetings, agency brief or feedback sessions and developing presentations, there is significant effort and it may feel as if you’ve done lots but think about what has been achieved? How effective or impactful have your actions been on brand growth or projects being delivered to market? Writing a brief is an activity and briefing the agency is a great milestone but the deliverable is only reached when the campaign is in market and is having an impact (positive, please).
Of course, all parts of the process are important to achieve the deliverable but, when one confuses where to focus, this brings challenges. An emphasis on deliverables may focus efforts and reduce wastage in the system. When you focus on the how or amount of output (more-stuff-must-equal-more mentality *SIGH*), you may get caught in sometimes unnecessary detail and lose time. Following a process doesn’t guarantee results. Getting all to focus beyond the steps means that they can be proactive and flexible, defining alternate ways to reach the same goal and possibly be more efficient, and reaching the outcome faster. Hours are no longer a meaningful way to define output — they count effort. I try hard not to manage my teams’ or agencies’ hours, especially if what we’ve agreed on is being delivered. It is each person’s responsibility to ensure effort and hours are spent on what makes a difference.
Takes a team
Shifting people from judging their day by effort spent, or describing the how to of their tasks, will be tough. The ‘how’ or journey of each team member’s tasks is not always critical for others to understand and it doesn’t always interest the next person. Despite this, it often takes a team to achieve positive deliverables. The trick is to move team members beyond a silo approach by changing language and measurement to deliverables. Whether you’re in the agency or marketing team, you all have your challenges and a focus on only your elements and work-stages for a launch may lead to a pity-party and give you a blinkered view. Seeing your outputs within the big picture helps showcase the impact you have on the project. Most senior execs or customers don’t care why a deliverable was missed, especially if there was no prior warning. With a focus on deliverables to pull everyone together, you’re more acutely aware of your impact on the project. This should lead to more personal accountability and, most likely, to a more-innate ‘early warning system’ for potential failure to drive proactive planning or identifying an alternate route to market.
Besides the move to less of a task perspective, focusing on the common ground of the deliverable brings together the unique strengths of each team member in equal weighting. Each person may determine their tasks in light of the teams’ task. This unites teams. With the focal point clear, all steer towards a single end goal in a manner that allows the all outputs to be generated in a way that fits together more easily — a more-cohesive and co-ordinated approach.
We’re not in business to be busy; we’re in business to reach goals that build towards brand presence or growth — something that has impact. We need to stop the focus on the tasks and timelines and focus on the deliverable at the start of a project, to track progress, measurement and recognition.
Points to consider
Teams must still break deliverables into clear outputs. Having both in place ensures progress and clear accountability
Ensure people have the mandate to shift behaviour to be rooted in deliverables and not processes
Key to change language, targets and rewards systems across internal and external teams to be deliverable-focused (be specific and ensure measurability) and align fully behind this
This applies to launches, promotions, agency contracts, and team performance. Once the focus shifts, performance and impact can follow.
After 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.
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MagLove by @MediaSlut is a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week, recognising well thought-out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three-in-one) covers and celebrating the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. The anonymous (for now) blogger behind MediaSlut knows way too much for his own good about media in South Africa, magazines in particular. His mission is to show when SA magazines fail but, most importantly, also when they succeed. If you’re looking for a library about SA magazines and news, this is your one-stop pitstop.
