Shelf Life: Cadbury raises the bar for summer

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

  • Cadbury roadshow gets consumers flapping
  • Nike gets creative with students
  • Jaguar drives Tumi Morake

Chocolate millionaire

Cadbury has launched a new summer competition — Raise the Bar — which offers consumers the chance to win R1m by telling them what kind of millionaire they would be, creating talkability on social media and a traveling activation designed to get everyone participating.

The competition runs 1 February–16 April 2017 and, to build excitement, the Cadbury team has embarked on a national roadshow to give consumers a ‘mind-blowing’ experience inside Cadbury’s Wrapper Flapper, which creates a mini whirlwind filled with wrappers, some of which hold unique codes. With only 10s on the clock, speed will be rewarded and catching one of the special wrappers will result in winning airtime vouchers or up to R2 000 in cash. The Wrapper Flapper’s promotional crew will be on scene to make sure that everyone at least feels like a million bucks, even if they don’t get the cash prize.

Says Grant van Niekerk, Mondelēz South Africa category director for chocolate, “We can’t wait to be part of the fun and excitement when consumers step into the innovative Wrapper Flapper. Raising the bar in this manner is what we strive for as a brand.”

To qualify for entry into the Wrapper Flapper, consumers need to purchase one of the promotion’s qualifying Cadbury chocolate bars: Lunch Bar, Lunch Bar Dream, Lunch Bar Mansize, P.S. Milk Chocolate, P.S. Caramilk, Chomp, 5Star, Flake, Dipped Flake, Astros, Crunchie, Snacker Original or Snacker Fruit.

Cadbury’s Wrapper Flapper will be dropping in at The Zone @ Rosebank (24–26 February), Maponya Mall (3–5 March), Cape Town Station (14–18 March), Johannesburg Park Station (21–25 March) and Durban’s Berea Train Station (28 March–1 April).

za.mondelezinternational.com • Facebook • Twitter

 

Nailing it with Nike

Nike’s recent creative hub experience in Johannesburg resulted in the SA candidates developing a new tagline for the launch of the Nike Sock Dart in SA, which will launch this month on social media and in retail.

The young creatives, Siboniso Mncube, Sibangani Ncube, Sinethemba Masiku and Sipho Biyam, were handpicked through a selection process by Between10and5 and were then invited to join the Nike team for two days of interactive workshops, mentor sessions and brainstorming in January. They were given the opportunity to interact with two of South Africa’s top creative minds, Gustav Greffrath and Grant Sithole, who both shared inspiring stories from their wealth of experience in the industry.

Says Uno de Waal, managing director of Between10and5, “When we developed the idea of a creative hub, we wanted to give young creatives an opportunity to meet with the top industry leaders in the country to challenge their creative thinking. The first-ever Nike Sock Dart Creative Hub pulled together SA’s best young hungry minds and gave them an opportunity to get involved with a leading International brand and, in return, Nike was also able to tap into a pool of up-and-coming talent.”

At the final pitch, the students wowed the Nike team with their original, locally flavoured ideas and the winning team walked away with a R12 500 prize and an internship for two of the group members with creative agency, Futura.

nike.com • Facebook • Twitter
10and5.com • Facebook • Twitter

Tumi in style

Popular comedian and TV star, Tumi Morake, has been chosen as a Jaguar ambassador as she embarks on her first official SA tour, from Nelspruit to Cape Town, with her one-woman show, “Tumi or Not Tumi”.

Morake made history in 2016 by being the first female to be crowned Comic of the Year at the sixth annual Savannah Comic’s Choice Awards, and the new show follows her journey as she tries to find herself in the schizophrenia of motherhood, wifehood and South African-hood.

Eric Vorster, dealer principal at Jaguar Land Rover Menlyn, says, “I first saw Tumi performing in May 2016. Her bold and edgy character and entertaining persona resonated with me and made her the perfect candidate for a brand ambassador; she is the epitome of the Jaguar brand — a world of contemporary luxury and refined power, exciting all of your senses.”

Morake chose a red Jaguar, of course: “When I got to pick the colour, I thought that it has to be red; it has to be a colour that speaks to me, something that is out there, unique and exciting. I’m a mom, but I also don’t want to look like a boring mom.”

Beyond her comedy, the multitasking Morake has been the face of many major campaigns and 2017 brings with it the new Jaguar partnership.

jaguar.co.za • Facebook • Twitter
tumimorake.co.za • Facebook • Twitter

 

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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#AgencyLeaders2016: Most admired creative leader in Jozi

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today we reveal which creative leaders were most admired by their peers in Johannesburg during 2016!

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. Last week we announced the 2016 results from Cape Town. This week is dedicated to finding out the choice of Jozi’s industry leaders. National results will be announced next week.

The most-admired creatives in Jozi (tied)

This is the first time this category for Johannesburg returned a tie (although there have been tied runners-up).

Pepe Marais Ahmed Tilly

Pepe Marais
Chief creative officer
Joe Public United

Ahmed Tilly
Joint chief creative officer
FCB Africa
Pepe Marais, CCO at Joe Public United, retains his position as the most-admired creative leader in Joburg, an honour he also took in each of the previous three years. This year, he is joined by Ahmed Tilly, joint CCO at FCB Africa after leaving Black River FC towards the end of 2016.Marais was more than happy with the group’s creative performance: “We had another very solid creative performance at the Loeries, [placing] third as a group against the very large groups.”

More than creative rankings was the agency’s focus on its product. “As an industry, we have fallen into the trap of thinking we are a service industry when, in fact, we are a product industry,” says Marais. “I have become very conscious of how the subjective and collective management of our product has resulted in mostly wallpaper and, if you are in the business of growing clients, you should not tolerate an inch of mediocrity. This [resulted] in a very tough battle [in 2016], fighting every step of the way for creative calls and decisions to remain in the hands of the people who are trained to conceive and produce communication — the creative department.”

It didn’t result in wins on every job, says Marais, but a few facts became very evident: 1) When clients trust the creative process, it puts more pressure on the agency and, as a result, the agency takes a higher level of responsibility. 2) In every instance where clients allow for pure creative control, the work results in higher levels of effectivity, talkability and more-connecting communication.

Marais is excited about the work the agency is doing for Panado’s and its Phambile Sandile campaign for Nedbank, as well as having won the sought-after Chicken Licken account.

 On Ahmed Tilly’s appointment, Brett Morris, GCEO and GCCO of FCB Africa, says, “We’ve been lucky enough to have significant growth, particularly in Joburg, having more than doubled in size. We’re a talent business and we believe in investing in talent in order to scale the business so, with Ahmed on board, our expectation are to ensure we can continue producing iconic South African communication for our clients that adds with value, has scalability, and offers real integration.”

Previously

Marais also took top honours in 2015, 2014 and 2013. In 2012, our inaugural poll, it was Pete Case (founder of Gloo).

 

The runner-up

None awarded.

Previously

In 2015, Fran Luckin, chief creative officer at Grey Africa, was our runner-up. In 2014, tied runners-up were Mariana O’Kelly, co-ECD at Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg, and Morris, then GCEO & ECD, FCB South Africa (now FCB Africa). There wasn’t a runner up in 2013 and, in 2012 — our inaugural poll — it was Marais (see above).

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2016, Joburg’s agency leaders were invited to nominate their most-admired agency in Joburg, the most-admired creative leader in Joburg and the most-admired agency boss in Joburg. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Nobody could nominate his or her own agency or staff members, and only agencies or execs who work out of the City of Gold could be voted for. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had a single vote in the poll. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category is discarded.

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 stood out significantly above other nominees, but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally.

See previous poll results for Jozi:

 

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

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Dear Radio: Forget being hip — keep it real and simple

by Paulo Dias (@therealptp) I often wonder why we’re not comfortable in our own skin, especially in South Africa, where radio is such a relevant and important source of news and entertainment to the vast majority of our population?

It’s been that time of the year when the “Radio Trends in 2017” roadshows and articles have been in full force, a time when those of us in the radio industry scream loudly about how innovative we are, how we’re embracing technology, how we may compete with digital, how this is the year we steal TV spend.

We say fancy things such as “Well, Norway switching off FM transmitters for DAB is a game changer” and “Millenials are consuming more audio than ever” — because, you know, who are you in marketing if you’re not obsessed with millennials? And who are you in general if you’re not obsessed with Norway?

Simple premise

I worked on a radio promotional campaign towards the end of last year that really reminded me why we should be celebrating radio and not work up too much of a sweat “chasing the hip” or trying to keep up with the #joneses. The premise of the campaign was a simple one — hear a sound on air, text the station, and answer with a phrase that pays.

I have personally run that concept 1523 times; it’s a radio staple. It gets people listening longer and engaging with a client’s brand. It’s not going to win us awards or get me featured by James Cridland but it does what radio is intended for: resonating with millions of people at any given time.

What radio is in this country is an equaliser. We may sometimes get caught up in our “video on demand”, “fibre to the home”, “streaming music subscriptions” little bubble and we are spoilt by the fact that technology, the devices and the bandwidth to consume the latest news and information are easily available.

Part of the conversation

If you’re reading this, you’re at least literate in English, have some sort of smart device or computer and have access to the internet, whether at home or the office. Those circumstances give you access to entertainment from around the world and puts news at your fingertips. Those circumstances gave you the choice of streaming Donald Trump’s inauguration or following it on social media and sharing the memes as they happened. For the vast majority of this country, those circumstances don’t exist — but radio allows them to be part of the conversation. Speaking to them in their own language. Not costing anything. Not needing anything other than a simple FM radio.

The campaign I’m talking about didn’t need hashtags or trendmaps, or retweets or follows or views, it needed a simple text to a radio station that the listener trusted implicitly. Now this same campaign with the same mechanic ran across every station in the country, those with extremely connected audiences and on those with less so. But it worked universally across all.

The reason it worked is simple: radio works in South Africa when it’s real, shares our voice, doesn’t discriminate against your education level, salary, living conditions or social status, and, even better, doesn’t cost us anything.

Most-valuable advice

The most-valuable advice I was given about radio was this: “Radio is very easy: play some music, give away some prizes.”

We owe it to ourselves and to our listeners to be more complicated and adventurous than that, but let’s not forget it — because, no matter what the trends are, being real and simple will always be in fashion.

 

Paulo DiasPaulo Dias (@therealptp) is the head of creative integration at Ultimate Media. He works closely with the programming teams at leading radio stations to help implement commercial messaging into their existing formats. He contributes the regular column, “Dear Radio”, looking at the changing radio landscape in South Africa, to MarkLives.com

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Masterclass Notes: What agencies may expect from marketers in 2017

by Johanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) Six leading marketers spent three hours discussing their outlook for 2017 and what agencies may expect with about 50 agency folk from about 25 different agencies (across all disciplines) at the most-recent masterclass in Johannesburg end of January 2017.

Questions covered the following topics: the outlook for 2017 — pressure on budgets; how agencies may help marketers in these tough times — flexibility; will the tough economic landscape create more in-house agencies — a cost saving for marketers; how is marketing working with procurement, and what are the roles when dealing with agencies; media transparency and production costs — will there be more interrogation; and thoughts on digital vs traditional advertising and media — cost-saving or false saving.

Those marketers on our panel were: Cleola Kunene, JSE marketing manager; Grant van Niekerk, Mondelez marketing executive: chocolate; Belinda Godfrey, marketing executive, formerly at The Spitz Group and Edgars Group; Sipho Mdluli, DGB marketing director: spirits; Gerhard Joubert, PPS group marketing head; and Cindy-Anne Lewis, Ericsson marketing director.

The outlook for 2017

  • More consolidation of budgets
  • Working on a project-to-project basis, rather than on retainer, is becoming more common
  • More than 50% of finance companies are cutting costs this year — bound to impact on marketing
  • Marketers and agencies are working harder but with less
  • But more optimistic this year than last year — 2017 looking slightly better
  • Digital spend is increasing — may be very targeted, results are easier to measure
  • Traditional agency model is too “layered” — adds costs that are not necessary
  • Marketers see more and more promotions, and even price wars, coming — not necessarily good for the market, although great for consumers

How agencies may help marketers in these tough times?

  • Greater flexibility in terms of costing models
  • Marketers will be relying on their agencies to really partner with them
  • With marketing departments shrinking year-on-year — some are 50% smaller than three years ago — the reliance on agencies will be much greater
  • Agencies must push ideas that will promote products and sales; this is the no. 1 consideration at this time for marketers, leads and sales
  • Real measurements are essential — companies need to know where the money is being spent, and how and with what results; marketers are accountable to everyone in their organisations for the spend and performance
  • Clients can no longer accept “good enough”; campaigns need to be better and better
  • Agencies have to deliver and understand that the marketer has to deal with his/her exco colleagues
  • If agencies can ensure that campaigns are leveraged fully, via PR particularly, — this will add value at minimal cost
  • Agencies need to be “wilder”, push boundaries, take more risks
  • Collaboration among agencies is essential, and appears to be the most difficult thing to achieve. I recommend that clients take the lead in collaboration and sit in the centre of a collaborative team in order to ensure that agencies work together well — and fairly
  • Agencies need to be calmer and more mindful, slowing down in a way that will enable them to work better — less frantically
  • With companies cutting costs, company CSI initiatives are being “starved” of budget. Is this an area where agencies may help and add value?
  • Agencies to ensure that the detail of their work is being checked before it goes to client; this is a basic principle but often sadly lacking
  • Agencies to ask more questions — ask the clients to spend more time with them — this produces better results
  • Relationships happen in person, not over email

Will there be more in-house agencies as a result of the tough economic landscape/cost-savings?

  • No, say the marketers, we want to be able to hold external resources accountable — much easier than holding internal colleagues accountable
  • We want to work with best of breed, to have a choice of service providers
  • One marketer commented that DTP had been brought in-house, which saved 70% on DTP costs from their agency — so cost savings are possible and desirable in certain areas

Marketing working with procurement — roles and responsibilities?

  • Procurement is focusing on BEE among the agencies, so agencies are urged to make sure that their BEE is right — it is a business imperative
  • Procurement also focusing energy on costs and cost-saving, of course
  • Budgets are not increasing year on year; marketers are often having to start from a zero base each year — the days of the annual increase are over. Procurement clearly very involved in making sure that there are efficiencies

Media transparency and production-cost transparency

Surprisingly to me, there was no real discussion or comment around this issue.

Digital vs traditional advertising and media — is there a shift?

  • One marketer told us that 25% of their marketing spend has been allocated to digital in 2017 — a big shift from previous years
  • One of the global marketers told us that most of their budget goes to digital — very little on ATL traditional
  • Marketers want agencies to be able to bridge the offline and online communication, and should be looking at omnichannel — marketers need this advice
  • In digital, there are new acronyms every day. Most marketers are in constant contact with their digital agencies as a result of the speed and requirements

Most important to know

Finally, marketers were each asked to state the one thing that they believe it is most important for their agencies to know:

  1. See yourselves as equals
  2. Employ the best/right people
  3. Ask for time with marketers and leaders of the brands
  4. Give credibility to what you do as agencies so that it adds to the value of the marketers
  5. Don’t waste money on expensive catering — TV shoots in particular
  6. Make sure you understand the context of the client industry and how the client company makes its money.

 

Johanna McDowellJohanna McDowell (@jomcdowell) is managing director of the Independent Agency Search and Selection Company (IAS), and she is one of the few experts driving this mediation and advisory service in SA and globally. Currently she is running the IAS Marketers Masterclass, a programme consisting of masterclasses held in Cape Town and in Johannesburg. Twice a year she attends AdForum Worldwide Summits.

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#AgencyLeaders2016: Most admired ad agency boss in Jozi

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today we reveal which agency leaders were most admired by their peers in Johannesburg during 2016!

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. Last week we announced the 2016 results from Cape Town. This week is dedicated to finding out the choice of Jozi’s industry leaders. National results will be announced next week.

The most-admired agency boss in Jozi

Brett Morris October 2016 by by Jeremy Glyn.Brett Morris
Group CEO & group CCO
FCB Africa

For the third year in a row, FCB Africa’s GCEO & GCCO Brett Morris, has been voted as Joburg’s most-admired agency executive by his peers.

Morris lead the agency through an exceptional year, announcing a major empowerment deal with the non-profit Maharishi Education for Invincibility Trust (making the agency majority-black-owned); seeing the agency land the fiercely competed-for Barclays Africa Group ad account; and head-hunting Ahmed Tilly, the co-founder of Black River FC, as joint CCO alongside Jonathan Deeb. In Johannesburg, the agency doubled in size.

Asked how he would describe his leadership style, Morris says: “Anything that I can do to help people unleash the most-creative parts of themselves and achieve more than they ever imagined!”

Previously

In 2015 and 2014, it was also Morris; in 2013 and 2012, our inaugural poll, it was Gareth Leck (see below).

 

The runner-up

Gareth LeckGareth Leck
Chief executive officer
Joe Public United

Runner-up, Gareth Leck, is the CEO and co-founder of independent agency, Joe Public United. In 2016, the agency picked up business from Adcock Ingram, the sought-after Chicken Licken account, Hyundai (digital), Old Mutual iWyze, SAB and Unilever.

“Joe Public added a total of R 35m in new revenue by a process of organic growth and strong new business performance, with a pitch-win ratio of 80%,” says Leck. “The agency achieved 100% client retention and overall revenue growth of 25%.”

The agency has also reached BBBEE Level 1 status on the new MAC Charter.

Leck describes his management style as “collaborative and supportive, but firmly focused and prioritised on delivering excellent creative that will serve the growth of our clients”.

Previously

In 2015 and 2014, it was Leck, too. In 2013, it was Graham Warsop, founder and chairman of The Jupiter Drawing Room. In 2012, our inaugural poll, it was Nunu Ntshingila (then Ogilvy South Africa).

 

The contender

Zibusiso MkhwanaziZibusiso Mkhwanazi
CEO & co-founder
AVATAR

AVATAR CEO, Zibusiso Mkhwanazi, emerged as a strong contender in our Joburg agency poll. Mkhwanazi co-founded the agency with Veli Ngubane in 2012. It’s been growing rapidly, catapulting it into medium-sized agency status. In 2016, revenue growth exceeded 100% and the agency head-count now stands at 69.

In January 2017, it was announced that Mkhwanazi and Ngubane had acquired a significant minority stake in M&C Saatchi’s South African agency network. This has allowed M&C Saatchi PLC to acquire a 20% stake in AVATAR from Avatar Investment Holdings.

On his management style, Mkhwanazi says he does the things first that he wants others to do at AVATAR, including apologising first at times; he keeps people that are smarter than him in his exco team and he values their guidance at all times; and the goal for any AvaStar working at AVATAR is growth — he challenges and pushes people to grow because he expects them to do the same to clients.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2016, Joburg’s agency leaders were invited to nominate their most-admired agency in Joburg, the most-admired creative leader in Joburg and the most-admired agency boss in Joburg. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Nobody could nominate his or her own agency or staff members, and only agencies or execs who work out of the City of Gold could be voted for. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had a single vote in the poll. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category is discarded.

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 stood out significantly above other nominees, but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally.

See previous poll results for Jozi:

 

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

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

Fort expands into Nairobi; plans for Lagos in place

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Production and content agency, Fort, has announced the creation of its own African network, with a new agency in Nairobi opened today and plans for expansion into Lagos within the next six months.

Shukri Toefy
Shukri Toefy

The agency was launched in 2006 by friends, Shukri Toefy (CEO) and Amr Singh (ECD), in a bid by the two to repay their UCT student loans. Since then, the business has moved north to base itself in Johannesburg, and has worked in 17 African and Middle Eastern markets. Its core differentiator is the combination of a creative and production studio into a single unit, allowing the creative ideas, content creation and production to come from a single point of view.

To date, the agency has focused primarily on creating BTL campaigns for a range of clients, as well as production work done in association with various large agency names, such as FCB Africa and Joe Public.

Sharing the same floor space

According to Toefy, there aren’t like agencies locally and the duo had to base processes on similar shops that combine agency and production work in the US market. Singh says the agency sits film directors next to creative directors, while designers, editors and animators all work in the same space. Content strategy and production share the same floor space.

The agency employs 50 people, including 20 creatives and 15 post-production staff, and among its clients (often in association with client agencies of record) are AB InBev-SAB Miller, Nedbank, SAA, Business Connexion and ADT. Non-profits it works for include One Africa (co-founded by Bono) and the World Bank. It has worked with Universal Studios and Vuzu, plus Viacom and MTV Africa, on producing entertainment content. It is independent and 100% black-owned.

Amr Singh
Amr Singh

Toefy says the time has come for Fort to leverage its creative content/production differentiation to compete on a network level in the broader African communications market. The first leg of its expansion sees the launch of Fort East Africa in Nairobi, headed up Alison Ngibuini. Lagos, where Fort does a lot of work for Heineken, will follow in the second quarter of 2017. Down the line, he hopes to expand into Dubai as well. While strategy will most likely stay in Joburg, local offices will allow for local content production and storytelling.

#CreateMovement

To celebrate its expansion, Fort is launching a campaign urging businesses invested into Africa’s creative economy to think differently about how and where they make investments. #CreateMovement asks how much of the profits generated by Africa’s creative economy stay on the continent and how much leaves for Paris, London or New York as multi-nationals repatriate profits.

As part of its shared-prosperity model, 1% of the agency has been gifted to its sustainability fund, Hold the Fort, to invest into the community, with a heavy focus on skills development through its African talent lab. Another 10% will go into a staff in an employee share scheme. Toefy says employees and communities need to benefit directly from creative businesses and this is how his agency is stepping up to the plate. He hopes more agencies will join the campaign.

 

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

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#MagLoveTop10: Best travel magazine covers of 2016

by MediaSlut (@MediaSlut) Today, for the second time on MarkLives as part of our #MagLoveTop10, we’re looking at the Best Travel Magazine Covers of 2016, both South African and international. Being able to travel is such an inspirational privilege, and one way of getting to see the world and dream of these destinations — and, once there, helping you to find the best hidden spots — is through magazines and their covers!

Here’s the publishing schedule for 2016’s #MagLoveTop10 series:

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

View 2015’s best travel magazine covers here.

#10. Go!, October 2016

go!, October 2016

What I appreciate about this cover, other than the urge to go to Etosha, are the clean lines and symmetry of the picture. That beautiful skyline and horizon where the blue African sky meets the rough Namibian desert? Perfection. Read more here.

This is Go!’s first appearance on this list.

 

#9. The New York Times Magazine, 4 December 2016

The New York Times Magazine, 4 December 2016

Above my bed I have a big 1.5x2m canvas of the map of the world, filled with pins of my past, and future, travels. It allows me to dream and to think back on great memories when I was traveling. With the recent political climate, however, will it also be more difficult for me to travel to the US? Ian Buruma writes “for decades, The United States and Britain’s vision of democracy and freedom defined the postwar world. What will happen in an age of Donald Trump and Nigel Farage?” Only time will tell…

This is the New York Times Magazine’s second appearance on this list: in 2015, it made it to #4.

 

#8. Frieze, March 2016

Frieze, March 2016

It was the layered-block effect that originally caught my attention, and again while I compiled this list of Top 10 Travel covers! The picture of the snow-covered mountains are ‘cold’ itself, but the extra effect(s) definitely give(s) it warmth and depth. Read more here.

This is Frieze’s first appearance on this list.

 

#7. Sawubona, October 2016

Sawubona, October 2016

After reading about cormorant fishing and seeing this stunningly striking and idyllic cover, I’ve actually added seeing this dying form of fishing to my travel bucket list! Cormorant fishing traditionally happens on China’s Li River: it’s when fisherman go out with domesticated cormorants (a type of seabird) and their bamboo rafts (usually before sunrise and often in the early evenings) to go fishing (the birds dive in to catch the fish). It’s mainly done for tourist purposes now but this cover definitely inspired me, and I hope it will do the same for you… Read more here.

This is Sawubona’s first appearance on this list.

 

#6. Getaway, May 2016

Getaway, May 2016

I’ve extremely fond memories of Lesotho (I once went horse-trekking through the valleys, mountains and rivers for two days); it’s a country every South African should visit at least once in their lifetime. And this is the type of cover and cover image that play the role of the ideal tour agent or tour brochure, as it captures the beauty of the Lesotho mountains and lanscapes perfectly and makes you want to pack your bags and go! SA Airlink flies there, or you may also make a road trip of it… Read more here.

This is Getaway’s second appearance on this list: in 2015, it made it to #5.

 

#5. Escapes (South Africa), September 2016

Escapes, September 2016

Another local magazine showing the true beauty of Africa and what it has to offer. Just one look at this cover, and it’s clear why so many international tourists flock to Africa (and South Africa) — to experience this type of African magic! As a regular traveller, what frustrates me is that it’s sometime more expensive to fly to, and vacation in, one of our neighbouring African countries than it is to fly elsewhere. It’s such a pity, as these are experiences that all South Africans should be able to experience. Read more here.

This is Escapes’ first appearance on this list.

 

#4. National Geographic Traveler, February/March 2016

National Geographic Traveler (US)A, February/March 2016

It’s the creative and clever execution of all the sunbathers and their umbrellas photoshopped over “TRAVELER” that really caught my attention. At the same time, it’s the combination of colours and cover layout that makes this a worthy no. 4.

This is National Geographic Traveler’s first appearance on this list.

 

#3. World Travel, January/February 2016

World Travel, January/February 2016

Pure. Idyllic. Friendship. Dream holiday. Bliss. Perfect moment. Some words that come to mind when look at this absolute beauty! I mean, who wouldn’t want to be in that group of friends right now, rather than sitting at the office?!

This is World Travel’s first appearance on this list.

 

#2. British Airways High Life (UK), December 2016

British Airways High Life UK, December 2016

It was really a tough call between the no. 2 and .1 covers for me, as they both offer brilliant escapism and capture some beautiful moments you may only truly experience if you pack your bags and travel… Take some time and look closely at the four split covers produced for its “Possibilities Issue” and where it asks the one question that leads to many great adventures and unplanned experiences… “What if?” It should be our motto when we all travel! Not only is the photography world-class, so too are the photo-selection and the typography and final layout! A very deserving second position for these four covers.

This is High Life’s second appearance on this list: in 2015, it made it to #8.

 

#1. Condé Nast Traveler, June/July 2016

Conde Nast Traveler, June/July 2016

As mentioned previously, “escapism” comes to mind when looking at this cover, and it gives us, the reader, a small moment where we are able to see ourselves as the subject/person in the cover, and feel as if we’re (also) on holiday. Or it gives us something to work towards and plan, and that in itself is sometimes as good as a holiday. Once again, the typography and layout, combined with the photography, are what make this an amazing cover, and deserving of the no. 1 spot! Read more here.

This is Traveler’s second appearance on this list: in 2015, it made it to #7.

 

MediaSlutMagLove 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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#AgencyLeaders2016: Most digitally integrated ad agency in Cape Town

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today, we reveal which agency Cape Town’s ad execs consider to be the most digitally integrated in the city!

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. Next week, we announce the 2016 results from Johannesburg. National results will be announced in two weeks’ time.

The most digitally integrated ad agency in Cape Town

Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town. Source: Facebook.

Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town

Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town retained its undisputed crown as the most digitally integrated ad agency in Cape Town, albeit by a much narrower margin than in previous years.

Ogilvy & Mather South Africa acquired Gloo Digital Design back in late 2014 to boost digital integration. After integrating the Joburg office, focus shifted to Cape Town last year. Gloo moved into the Ogilvy Cape Town building in Woodstock to ensure the integration of teams.

“They’re in and we’re working as one team,” says Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town managing director, Luca Gallarelli. “Paula [Hulley, managing director at gloo@ogilvy], Pete [Case, chief creative officer at O&M SA] and other key staffers [who] joined our team are firmly implanted as a part of our broader team. As a building, we have a one singular management team and board of directors chaired by myself. They have brought a fresh perspective on the world firmly rooted in technology and innovation. Our growth in that space has been tremendous.”

“We’re working very closely as a team to determine new, better ways of working. In order to best harness their talent and ability requires us to be working constantly to fine-tune how we work. The converse would result in a blunting of their talent, ability, and potential contribution to our agency.”

Previously

It’s been Ogilvy & Mather Cape Town every year since our inaugural poll in 2012.

 

The runners-up (tied)

VML and Y&R Africa Group and King James Group

The VML and Y&R Africa Group and King James Group are joint runners-up this year, the first time our poll has seen any significant competition emerge for Ogilvy’s crown.

Native VML Cape Town. Source: VML website.
Y&R South Africa, NATIVE VML and Labstore South Africa recently restructured to form a single group and management structure, although all three agencies continue to operate as independent entities. “The closer alignment between the agencies now means that Y&R is able to provide digital services to all its clients (in the same way that its has been able to provide shopper-marketing expertise to existing clients through its partnership with Labstore),” says group CEO, Jason Xenopoulos. Similarly, NATIVE VML may now provide clients with a truly integrated, through-the-line service, confident that it has all the back-up necessary in terms of classical advertising and brand building.

King James Cape Town. Source: Facebook.

King James Group concluded two acquisitions in 2016: SOC, now rebranded as Punk Media in Joburg, added digital media planning, buying and analytics capability, while Flnt&Tnder, which merged into Punk Jozi in a share swop deal, provided an empowerment impetus. In the year ahead, according to James Barty, co-founder and chief executive at King James Group, digital spend will continue to grow and the group is well placed to grow in this aspect, .

Previously

There was no runner-up for 2015.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2016, Cape Town’s agency leaders were invited to nominate their most-admired agency in Cape Town, the most-admired creative leader in Cape Town and the most-admired agency boss in Cape Town. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Nobody could nominate his or her own agency or staff members, and only agencies or execs who work out of the Mother City could be voted for. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had a single vote in the poll. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category is discarded.

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 stood out significantly above other nominees, but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally.

See previous poll results for Cape Town:

 

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

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SA TV Ratings: DStv — primetime top 30 for Nov, Dec 2016

by MarkLives (@marklives) The hottest primetime television shows on DStv in South Africa revealed: TV ratings for November and December 2016.

Last year, the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) has 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.

DStv December 2016

BRCSA TV Ratings December 2016 primetime DStv

Source: BRCSA December 2016

 

DStv November 2016

BRCSA TV Ratings November 2016 primetime DStv

Source: BRCSA November 2016

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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#AgencyLeaders2016: The one to watch in Cape Town in 2017!

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today, we reveal which Cape Town agency fellow ad execs feel is the “one to watch” in 2017 — the agency from which they expect great things in the year ahead!

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. Next week, we announce the 2016 results from Johannesburg. National results will be announced in two weeks’ time.

The one to watch in Cape Town!

The VML and Y&R Africa Group

Native VML Cape Town. Source: VML website.
In mid-2016, the South African operations of the Y&R network — including advertising agency Y&R South Africa, digital agency NATIVE VML and shopper agency Labstore South Africa — were integrated under a single management team. NATIVE VML co-founder and CEO, Jason Xenopoulos, took on the role of group CEO*. The move has sparked significant interest in the industry and marks an end to the siloed approach taken by many agency networks when it comes to integrating their agency offerings.

The partnership between Y&R, Labstore and NATIVE VML is off to a fantastic start, according to Xenopoulos. “In a few short months, we [won] two major accounts as an integrated team: Edgars and Amstel.” Both were highly contested accounts.

“It is important to note that The VML and Y&R Africa Group is not a single agency. Y&R, Labstore, and NATIVE VML continue to operate as separate, individual agencies servicing their own clients, but the group structure allows us to provide an integrated service to clients who want it,” points out Xenopoulos. “Edgars and Amstel are perfect examples of this; both accounts were won by Y&R but the group’s combined offering allowed us to offer these clients a broader and more-integrated service.”

The group offering is also allowing all three agencies to extend their service offering significantly to existing clients.

“The teams are working well together and we have started to streamline the systems and processes required to operate in a truly integrated way. The biggest barrier at the moment is geography. The intention is to bring Y&R, Labstore, and NATIVE VML physically closer by co-locating the Joburg teams in one office park, but there are some basic logistical issues (such as existing leases) that need to be overcome first,” he says.

Previously

NATIVE VML (now VML South Africa) was also our one to watch for 2016. For 2015, it was Publicis Machine — for the second year in a row — as its previous incarnation, Machine, took the title for 2014.**

The runner-up

There was no runner-up for 2017, nor for 2016. For 2015, it was Saatchi & Saatchi BrandsRock and, for 2014, it was MetropolitanRepublic Cape Town.

 

How the poll works

Towards the end of 2016, Cape Town’s agency leaders were invited to nominate their most-admired agency in Cape Town, the most-admired creative leader in Cape Town and the most-admired agency boss in Cape Town. We also asked them which agency did the best at digital integration and which agency they saw as the one to watch in the future. Nobody could nominate his or her own agency or staff members, and only agencies or execs who work out of the Mother City could be voted for. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives had a single vote in the poll. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category is discarded.

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 stood out significantly above other nominees, but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally.

See previous poll results for Cape Town:

*Updated at 10:15am on 2 Feb 2017: A previous version of this story erroneously identified Graham Lang as chief creative officer of the integrated group. Both Y&R and NATIVE have separate creative leadership teams. Lang is CCO of Y&R Africa (including SA) and Ryan McManus continues to lead the NATIVE VML creative department as its national ECD.

**Updated at 10.48am on 6 February 2019.

 

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

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

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