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The Man In The Gray Flannel iPhone

by Bob Hoffman (@adcontrarian) In the 1950s there was a very popular book and movie called The Man In the Gray Flannel Suit.

It was a complicated tale, but one of the key threads was about conformity.

The icon of 1950’s conformity was the suburban male office worker, commuting by train to “the city,” trapped in an unfulfilling life of materialism, social climbing, and status anxiety.

Like all cliches, this had elements of both truth and fiction. Even though most of us weren’t there to experience it, in our mythology this caricature has served us well as a short-hand for the zeitgeist of the period.

While commuting to “the city” the other day, it occurred to me that there is a new and evolving type of male big city office worker.

I saw this person a lot last week. There was a very large tech-related convention in San Francisco and public transit was jammed with these guys. They wore clean jeans and had colorful oxford shirts with their tails out. They had expensive eye wear and messenger bags thrown over their shoulders. They were thumbing away on their iPhones which were attached to their heads via earbuds.

There is no way of knowing whether the future will be kind to these “types” or if they will become the contemporary equivalents of the “gray flannel suits” who have been universally lambasted by smug hipsters and intellectuals.

Which brings me to the point of this post. We in the trendspotting business are always ready to assert that whatever the latest mania is will have a transformative effect on society.

In fact, viewed with a sensible perspective, most of our behavior is highly regular and remarkably recursive. Sixty years later, we can still make a pretty good case for the guy commuting by train to “the city,” trapped in an unfulfilling life of materialism, social climbing, and status anxiety.

Mostly what has changed are the clothes and the gadgets.

– The Ad Contrarian is Bob Hoffman, ceo of Hoffman/Lewis advertising in San Francisco and St. Louis. Hoffman is the author of The Ad Contrarian and 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising. Reprinted from his blog The Ad Contrarian.

Ad of the Week with Oresti Patricios – Insurance advertising that doesn’t suck

MarkLives Ad of the Week with Oresti Patricios – Insurance advertising that doesn’t suck.

For the longest time in the history of advertising, insurance commercials were awful. The usual fare in this category used to include a washed-up actor (or former television news presenter) droning on about what would happen if one suddenly died and left the wife and children all alone (with the wolves knocking at the door). The punch line would be how Dead Dull Insurance Co was the answer to life, death, the universe and funeral bills.

If you weren’t being destroyed by guilt, you’d be spurred on by fear – that other classic marketing staple. These insurance adverts usually included children and the grim reaper, although Mr Reaper wasn’t always cast in a starring role. The hooded figure with the large, scary sickle was often off camera, but cast a long enough shadow to let you know he was lurking. These ads were more frightening than anything featuring Jason, Freddy or a Jesuit priest called Father Damien Karras.

Thankfully, most thankfully, insurance advertising has become a little more inventive, creative and even funny of late. Financial services companies have (at last) realised that buying insurance is a grudge purchase and that there are better ways of plying this type of product than trying to freak people out.

These days advertisers are doing all manner of things to financial cover. Like those crazy Swedish creatives who threw some cats out of a plane in the hope of selling more insurance for a company called Folksam. Well… I have to come clean here – they didn’t actually turf the felines out of an airplane, they just used super smart technology to make it look as if the kitties were sky-diving.

It will be interesting to see if Floksam release the results of the campaign, because the social media buzz and publicity for that campaign has gone through the roof. This mostly because people thought that the cats were actually sky-diving.

Insurance is a hard sell. News from Forbes magazine in the US shows that despite pouring billions into advertising, fewer consumers are motivated by ads for auto insurance and the market is stagnating there. The exception to the rule is Progressive and Geico (a Berkshire Hathaway company – you know, the massively successfully investment vehicle that Warren Buffet helped build).

Progressive and Geico has a campaign centred around a female robot called Flobot that(together with smart marketing and what must be a great product) is helping the auto insurers to grab customer share from other brands, in what is a mature market.

Back home the smartest insurance advertisers have to be that football club that do the advertising for 1^st for Women – Black River FC who seems to be scoring goal after goal for their work. Everyone keeps talking about the campaigns that the agency have been doing for Nando’s but it is the work for the agency’s other clients which show that the Jozi based crew aren’t one-client-creative-wonders.

The 1^st for Women ads are the perfect campaign for any woman who’s ever happened across Jackass on TV and rolled her eyeballs or knows from second hand experience what happens when her man mixes Mentos and coke together for the first time.

Black River FC’s campaign for 1^st for Women is to advertising what Tumi Morake is to stand-up comedy. Flipping funny and each ad just gets funnier each time you see it again, or when you experience a new variation in the campaign. It is one of those brands you watch out for because you’re expecting the ad to make you laugh.

It is incredibly difficult to do funny, particularly when it comes to advertising because the fatigue factor sets in so quickly. The 1^st for Women campaign plays off established gender stereotypes, but does so in a way that’s fresh, inventive and outrageously hilarious. Importantly the campaign is 100 per cent local.

What else is there to say but jislaaik! That football club is packed full with slim (vr)ouens.

Ad of the Week is published on MarkLives every Wednesday. See past selections here.
Oresti Patricios is the CEO of brand and reputation analysis company Ornico.

The Gate Keeper Chapter 25 (In which muscles are flexed)

by Andrew Miller TBW Smith Jones Wallace Broadbent and Ndimande is an agency in crisis. Their ‘basket of boutique services’ strategy has bombed. Only a massive new project can keep the doors open – all eyes are now on the corporate tent at Mangaung. Far in the background, an emergency replacement executive PA with decades of experience makes important decisions. Interns rise, board members take unexpected steps and things begin to change…

The great one flexes his pre-Mangaung muscle. The board hopes the right people get the right idea about management, fees and percentages…

Chapter 25

In which muscles are flexed

The fat men at EFT had signed off on the rural hip hop concept. Structures were in place. The budget was sitting in some kind of weird Escrow account. All He had to do was secure a final, conclusive nod from the big Elephant and the dominoes – budgetary, strategic, tender and otherwise – would fall.

It was, of course, not an exact science, securing the nod. Delicate phrasing was required. The proposition had to be asked and answered via the eyebrow, as did the splits and percentages on the tender side. This, He thought to himself as he warmed up on his Virgin Active bike, was His moment. It was, as they said in the classics, now or never.

He hopped off the bike, made a big show of stretching his bulging quadriceps and eyed out the four extremely fit yet rather hard edged gellas on the travelator. In earlier days, these fish would have been swimming in His waters. Now, the vision of the fresh young intern was ever in His mind’s eye. He was amazed to admit to himself that the gym girls could not compete. Most frustratingly of all, He couldn’t really even put his finger on why. The bottom line was that she was what she was, and they were what they were. That’s all there was to it.

He grabbed a few free weights and made a big show of a set of lateral extensions, pondering all the while if his lust wasn’t simply up because she refused to acknowledge his presence.

Meanwhile, at the TBWSJWBN board room things were getting heated.

“Can anyone explain to me,” Isaac Ndimande demanded, “exactly how these management fees and administration percentages will be calculated and paid out? The wording here is extremely vague. Purposefully so, I would suggest.” He glared around the room. En route, his eyes couldn’t help but notice that Tim Broadbent was actually sucking – yes sucking, and quite noisily, in fact, – on his tie.

“I think, Isaac, that at this point in TBWSJWBN’s trajectory it would behove us to be flexible in our approach to this particular portion of the project,” Nonhlanhla Mofokeng let the words slip out like lost pieces of spaghetti.

Isaac snorted derisively. “In other words we look away and pray that the bean counters get the general idea?”

The TBW Smith Jones Wallace Broadbent and Ndimande executive boardroom coughed knowingly, and with only a touch of embarrassment. Tim Broadbent continued to suck on his tie, his eyes and his mind focused through the window, on the row of commuters waiting for a taxi down below on Jan Smuts avenue.

Back at the Virgin Active Sizwe released a power roar at the conclusion of His last set of bicep curls. A few heads turned, He noted, but not those of the girls, who were lunging in a co-ordinated fashion at a piece of pink foam, earphones firmly in.

Now, with the departure for Mangaung around the corner, He was feeling in full and final form. Irresistible, in fact. If the young one were to wonder accidentally across his path sometime this morning, nothing would be able to hold Him back. He wondered suddenly what His father would say if He finally arrived home with a girl worthy of the great family legacy, with a life partner able to make up for His own miserable failures in the intellectual department. For many South Africans life as an advertising CEO would have constituted the pinnacle of success, but in His family everyone knew it was the gig of last resort. There was, He had heard a cynical uncle once say, nowhere else to put the little bugger.

“Melinda,” he barked into his headset as she picked up. “Please, I need a small revision meeting for the final prep for Mangaung. As soon as possible. Latest 11:00am.” He trotted to the showers as he spoke, jogging on the spot in front of his Platinum level locker. “Look, just make sure that intern is there, the one who came up with the whole thing. She comes from Qwa Qwa ne?” He stopped jogging and stood like a teapot while the answer came through. “Well, whatever, she’s from the rurals. She has insight and I need it. Today. Right now in fact. 11:00am.”

Mama E clicked out of the call with a calculated sigh. The executive reception area was covered in people – it wouldn’t do to spit in front of them. She focused on radiating a sense of calm, organisation and control. Then she kicked the bottom of her desk really really hard. She had always known there was something very wrong with this business.

Part 1 -25. Part 26: November 28.
Author: Andrew Miller Illustrator: Lebohang Goge

Tech Law: Changing privacy norms

by Paul Jacobson (@pauljacobson) In many respects, privacy and the social Web are antithetical notions. The social web, is by definition, requires degrees of publicity while conventional notions about privacy encourage secrecy. One of the fundamental shifts in privacy, as a concept, is what it has come to mean on the social Web. Many people, when they think about what privacy means to them, they think of privacy and secrecy and that greater privacy means less of their personal information is made available to the public on the Internet. This is not the dominant privacy model on the Web and this is, I believe, the source of considerable consternation.

Privacy online is more about having a meaningful degree of control over what personal information is disclosed, to whom that personal information is disclosed and what their personal information is used for. This is an idea known as informational self-determination and it has become the dominant privacy model on the social Web and the catalyst for much of its growth.

Opinions about what degree of privacy we have online vary in influenced largely by whether the person expressing the opinion understands privacy as a secrecy model or in terms of informational self-determination. Those who see privacy as being about secrecy have made some fairly bold assertions about the extent to which privacy even exists in the context of a global, connected and digital sharing platform where billions of people spend hours a day sharing their thoughts, their content and the daily experiences with people who, but for their published personas, would otherwise be strangers. In 1999, then CEO of Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy famously declared: “You have zero privacy anyway … Get over it.”. In 2009, when interviewed by CNBC’s Maria Martiromo, then Google CEO, Eric Schmidt stated –

If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.

Of course this created quite a storm because Google is practically the poster boy for a private Big Brother that knows everything we do only and profits from it commercially. Whether Google does this or not, is largely irrelevant. Public perception is that Google is a company to be regarded with healthy doses of scepticism even as it remains enormously popular. At the very least, Google collects a tremendous amount of data from the public Web just in the process of indexing and “organising” the Web. After all, Google’s mission statement is to do just this:

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.

When you add social services like Facebook, Twitter and, more recently, Google+ to the mix, privacy as secrecy is limited to those who have never ventured onto the Web or (and this is as important) have never had any of their personal information shared on the Web either. For the rest of us, privacy is about whether we can meaningfully manage or even have a say over what is done with our personal information.

Brian Solis recently wrote a terrific article titled “Erosion of Privacy and the Rise of Publicness” where he explores a growing shift towards greater publicity online:

Facebook and socialized media encourage participation and increasing aspects of publicness in exchange for a form of recompense. We are compelled to share information for the instant reward of reaction and linkage. These exchanges serve as currency and set the framework for a social economy where capital is earned and spent in public markets. Experts agree citing economic implications where the value of privacy and publicity have flipped.

Sam Lessin, founder of Drop.io astutely captured this socio-economical shift when he spoke at a recent gathering of technology entrepreneurs in New York, “Privacy was once free. Publicity was once ridiculously expensive. Now the opposite is true: You have to pay in a mix of cash, time, social capital, etc. if you want privacy.”

With the prevalence of freely accessible social networks, one of the new truisms of the social Web was expressed by a user known as blue_beetle in a discussion thread on MetaFilter in 2010: “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”

The dominant social networks today exist because we, as users, share a tremendous amount of our personal information using these services. This personal information includes our gender, age, location, interests, opinions, connections to each other and more. All of this information is extremely valuable to advertisers who are adapting to a very different advertising model which is more collaborative and dynamic than the more traditional (and impersonal) display and print based advertising model. On the social Web, brands can target their advertising on-the-fly and based on our particular preferences which we express every time we publish a post or update on a social service. One service which does is particularly well is Facebook which presents advertising which adapts to what are we talking about any given point in time.

Clear evidence of the shift towards a privacy model based on informational self-determination, as opposed to secrecy, is in the privacy policies governing these various services. These policies focus on variable privacy settings, where available, and the extent to which we, as users, consent to a social service collecting and making use of our personal information for various purposes. Further evidence of the shift is in services which prefer publicity to secrecy when you sign up and create your profile (Facebook is known to set profile defaults to more public settings for new users signing up for the service). This practice, coupled with most people’s relative ignorance of the law and even the privacy settings available to them on the service which they are signing up for, facilitate greater publicity than many users would otherwise opt for.

The extent to which these social services interact and interconnect with each other means that content and personal information can spread far further than the service which a user is engaged with at that particular time.

Of course a significant contributing factor is a growing willingness to share despite the privacy implications because sharing means far better interaction and more immediate benefits. As Solis pointed out –

In social networks, we are the architects of our experiences and also the personal impressions we create and display for others to interpret. I believe that the empowerment in social networking is evident in the confidence we gain from participating online and sharing personal aspects, thoughts, vulnerabilities, and knowledge. We’re inspired to amplify what we share based on the responses we engender. We receive rewards as a result of meaningful engagement, which range from comments, accolades, shares, likes, posts, bookmarks and most importantly, requests for new connections. Over time, how we participate online equates to varying levels of trust, respect, friendship, and relationships – each representative of social capital.

– Paul Jacobson is founder and director of Web•Tech•Law. Web•Tech•Law / CC BY-SA 2.5

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Weekly Top 10: Fastest rising search terms from South Africans on Google

With the help of Google Trends we are publishing the top 10 searched for phrases (minus the sexy stuff of course) by South Africans on Google over the previous seven days.

The massive fire that burned down dozens of homes at St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape made the list of fastest rising web searches several times over as did the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge which took place yesterday. The release of computer game “Call of Duty: Black Ops 2,” released on Nov. 13, also made the list.

Fast rising searches

gmail login access	Breakout
black ops 2	+300%
st francis bay	+250%
94.7 cycle challenge	+200%
st francis fire	+190%
diwali	+180%
94.7	+80%
junk mail	+50%
clicks	+40%
die burger	+40%

Top 10 search terms

1. facebook
2. youtube
3. google
4. login facebook
5. gumtree
6. gmail
7. johannesburg
8. news
9. yahoo
10. absa
11. fnb
12. games
13. game
14. love
15. standard bank
16. music
17. weather
18. whatsapp
19. news24
20. maps
21. sars
22. cars
23. twitter
24. yahoo mail
25. www.facebook.com

Top 10 search terms minus social media/mail/search

1. gumtree
2. johannesburg
3. news
4. yahoo
5. absa
6. fnb
7. games
8. game
9. love
10. standard bank

(For past data click here)

* Google Trends is intended for general analysis of volume patterns.
* When you see Breakout listed instead of an actual percentage, it means that the search term has experienced a change in growth greater than 5000%.

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TheRoom promises strategic insight on digital

A new event concept has arrived in South Africa through the efforts of Nicola Staines – a Brit with over 12 years experience in the online and marketing industries. Staines, who worked on brands such as Microsoft, Vanguard Rental, Disney and O2, is launching TheRoom into the South African market based on the successful Econsultancy Digital Cream events.

Designed to facilitate face-to-face communication between high-level executives, allowing them to interact with their peers and discuss issues and share learning relevant to their sector, TheRoom gets to picks the delegates, while sponsors pick up the tab.

The first event takes place January 29 at Waterkloof (WC) while the second takes place January 31 at Turbine Hall in Gauteng.

MarkLives: What is the aim of holding an event like TheRoom?

Nicola Staines: What I really wanted was for people in the same area of expertise to be able to get together and share their experiences. Being able to discuss openly with your peers what your issues and challenges are, as well as the potential opportunities is refreshing for people.

I went to a few of this style of event run by Econsultancy called Digital Cream and I loved them. It was the only event type I would choose to go to in the end. I was at O2 at the time, the largest telco in the UK. You would think that we should have known it all, and many delegates at the table thought the same. I was there to share but I also went to learn something from the likes of Amazon.

I was surprised to learn something from a small charity whose main engagement model was through social media, and they did it so well. I was even more surprised to share something with Amazon which they didn’t know. Who would have thought? This is the aim of TheRoom.

MarkLives: How did the concept for TheRoom come about and what format will the actual event take?

Staines: I began talking to Econsultancy two years ago about doing something in South Africa. Ultimately, and 18 months later, they decided that they did not have the bandwidth to support us in a partnership deal so allowed me to take the concept of Digital Cream away and run with it.

As I wasn’t allowed to use the name Digital Cream, my husband and I, who is my Marketing and Creative Director, created the brand TheRoom. The format allows people in the same area of expertise – and this first one is for digital people – to discuss together what’s going on in their line of work. They choose four roundtables to join, each roundtable hosts a different topic. At TheRoom in January we have ten topics so ten roundtables at each location, in the Western Cape and Johannesburg.

MarkLives: You are turning the traditional ‘delegate pays’ conference model on its head. How does that change the dynamics of the event?

Staines: It’s important that delegates don’t pay for the event because it means we can select those people we feel should be there. It makes it more exclusive but it also means that the content which comes out of it is ultimately much more useful than standard conference material. It’s more in depth, and it’s certainly more real. The delegates will talk about issues that arise in their working life; it is not a platform for organisations to put up the standard slides and present the ‘tip of the iceberg’ stuff. I think it makes the day more engaging. The content which comes out of it is also richer and this stand to benefit everyone involved.

MarkLives: How are you selecting delegates – I know you have limited seating available.

Staines: I started with the organisations. I know that there are some companies who are prolific online and they are the obvious choice, but there are also a vast number of companies out there who are not so obviously online, or who want to be online, who will benefit a great deal from the day.

Within those companies I have selected people who are responsible for digital presence, operations and marketing. The delegates range from Marketing and Brand Managers to Online Heads, and in some cases we also have Directors.

Some of the companies we have coming are Woolworths, Pick n Pay, Kalahari, Groupon, Comair, Media24, L’Oreal, ABSA, DSTV and Engen.

The delegates are senior level influencers and decision makers in their organisation. The space is indeed limited so the selection criteria is quite rigorous. We are also reviewing suppliers and agencies but as we have so many applications, preference will have to be given to client-side delegates.

MarkLives: You are planning to finance the event through sponsorships. Why would a company want to sponsor free access to The Room for delegates?

Staines: Sponsorship, or hosting as we call it, is key to the success of the event. There are really only three sides to the event; delegates, facilitators and sponsors. The circle isn’t complete without the sponsors.

The reasons they would host the event are very tangible. Clearly they will have substantial brand visibility amongst these very influential people in business, and they will be able to network with them knowing they are decision makers and influencers. As host to a roundtable a sponsor is able to send a representative to the event to sit on that roundtable during the day.

This affords the sponsor organisation the opportunity to introduce themselves and their company, but to also be as wholly involved in the discussions as the delegates are. From this they can gain market insight and information to help them extend or improve their client offering.

After the event we will produce a report from the tables’ insights which will be branded by the sponsor. With four sessions during the day and up to 30 organisations joining in the discussion, the insights will make great content, from trends to key issues and opportunities.

We will send this report out to all the delegates and the sponsor will be able to use the document to share with their clients. And of course there is the marketing before and after the event! I can’t reveal to much about our hosts, but I can say the first company to sponsor us was Adobe.

MarkLives: You are offering Econsultancy reports to delegates – where do they fit in with TheRoom?

Staines: Econsultancy want to support the TheRoom as much as they can, and a free report from them for attendees is a real benefit. This report is given to all attending delegates and is worth over R3,500. Even our sponsors will be able to take advantage of this offer. We can also offer the African market 20% off Econsultancy membership. They are definitely invested in the market and we intend to provide more from them as time goes on.

MarkLives: In terms of the range of topics up for discussion – which proved of particularly interest to potential delegates during this initial registration phase?

Staines: It’s interesting that the range has been quite close which suggests that the topics were a good choice. But there were some which stood out, in particular Analytics, Content Strategy, Social Media and Customer & User Experience.

Choosing analytics and content strategy is no surprise really, as these are areas which become ever more important to an organisation’s digital planning. Social Media is always popular, I think we all know why! TheRoom will be hosting a day on Social Media in July to really drum down in to the key topics which will come out of the discussions at January’s event. Customer & User Experience is gaining more interest now which is exciting to me, it’s a passion of mine and also a future event; TheRoom is planning to host a day on Customer Experience in June.

MarkLives: Who will be some of the facilitators at the different discussions?

Staines: We have engaged some really great people to facilitate and I am excited that they have jumped on board with no hesitation. Our list is nearly complete for the Western Cape day, including Kath Sharfman, MD of Fast & Remarkable, Jess Kuppan who owns HXN Digital, Jon Atwell from Zando, Kate Wolters of Added Value and Sarah Blake, an independent Digital and User Experience consultant. In Johannesburg we are pleased to have Amanda Sevasti from Ogilvy on board, as well as Heidi Brauer of heidibeeee and Mel Attree from Cerebra. We are talking to some other great people too. I have chosen the facilitators carefully, wanting people who are passionate about the digital space and invested in being part of something new, fresh and exciting. These are people who know their stuff and that’s important in a facilitator because they will need to direct and provide stimulus to the conversation, as well as understand capture the key issues and opportunities coming out of the conversations.

The first of TheRoom events will be held in January. To apply to attend or to become a host, contact nicola at jointheroom.co or visit www.jointheroom.co for more details.

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ABC Analysis Q3 2012: Bad news for newspapers gets worse

Last ABC Period: July 2012 to September 2012

The ABC has released circulation statistics for the period July 2012 to September 2012 (ABC Q3 2012). Here are a couple of numbers that stood out in terms of newspaper circulations.

Note: We compare the current figures with the same figures for this time last year and not with the previous quarter.

Daily newspapers

The Cape Argus lost a huge chunk of circulation falling to 33,006 from 45,128 for the corresponding period last year. The Cape Times tried to equal the nose dive falling to 34,523 from 43,274. Pretoria News fell to 19,235 from 23,148 and The Star fell to 105,686 from 136,552. Anybody still bidding for Independent News & Media South Africa? Seriously?

Daily Sun plunged to 336,319 from 374,400. Son fell to 94,610 from 103,056, Sowetan to 101,155 from 116,347. Beeld dropped to 70,070 from 76,951.

Isolezwe managed to buck the trend and climb slightly to 107,628 from 106,734.

MarkLives Big Daily Newspaper List*

1. Daily Sun 336,319
2. The Times** 138626
3. Isolezwe 107,628
4. The Star 105,686
5. Sowetan 101,155
6. Son 94,610
7. Beeld 70,070
8. The Citizen 66,116
9. Die Burger (Wes Kaap) 51,022
10. Business Day 35,828

11. Cape Times 34,523

** ABC considers The Times a hydrid (paid-for and free to subscribers of The Sunday Times) newspaper. Copy sales of 47314 indicated in ABC certificate.
* South African titles only. Must have cover price. Excludes Free papers.

Weekly & Weekend papers

On the weekend paper front Rapport fell to 220,494 from 231,911 and City Press to 135,148 from 157,306. Sunday Sun tumbled to 199,183 from 221,002 and Sunday World to 141,260 from 147,614. The Saturday Star fell to 75,682 from 97,257 (whoa!), The Sunday Tribune to 74,856 from 82,477 and The Weekend Argus to 60,201 from 70,212. Ilanga Langesonto declined to 74,350 from 85,726.

The Sunday Times showed little change at 451,676. Isolezwe ngeSonto climbed to 84,577 from 81,553.

In the weeklies Soccer Laduma was the lone shining star climbing to 360,668 from 345,088. Ilanga fell to 124,200 from 135,706.

MarkLives Big Weekend Newspaper List*

1. Sunday Times 451,676
2. Rapport 220,494
3. Sunday Sun 199,183
4. Sunday World 141,260
5. City Press 135,148
6. Isolezwe ngeSonto 84,577
7. The Saturday Star 75,682
8. Sunday Tribune 74,856
9. Ilanga Langesonto 74,350
10. Isolezwe ngoMgqibelo 73,187

MarkLives Biggest Circulation per issue Newspaper List*

1. Sunday Times 451,676
2. Soccer Laduma 360,668
3. Daily Sun 336,319
4. Rapport 220,494
5. Sunday Sun 199,183
6. Sunday World 141,260
7. The Times 138626
8. City Press 135,148
9. Ilanga 124,200
10. Isolezwe 107,628
11. The Star 105,686
12. Sowetan 101,155
13. Son 94,610
14. Isolezwe ngeSonto 84,577
15. The Saturday Star 75,682

* South African titles only. Must have cover price. Excludes Free papers.

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Magazine covers we love (this week)

MarkLives.com runs a regular slot featuring the best local and international magazine covers every week. We recognise well thought out, powerful and interesting (and hopefully all three in one) magazine covers and celebrate the mix of pragmatism, creativity and personal taste that created each of them. By media blogger MediaSlut.

INTERNATIONAL

The Traveller, November 2012

In-flight magazines are definitely no longer boring and these days are really competing with creative cover concepts! The Traveller is the in-flight magazine for easyJet and with this cover they saying that “anyone can build their own amazing trip” with their affordable flight prices. Love the concept!

El Mundo Magazine, 28 October 2012

El Mundo’s magazine just did something small with the image of Felix Baumgartner on their cover (flipped it), and now it’s something completely different than other titles that also featured Felix on the cover. I think the simplicity of it all is what gives it impact.

Donna, November 2012

I wrote a post a few weeks ago where I felt that Magazine covers could actually be pieces of art that people can actually buy and display. This is one of them, and very appropriate with Lady Gaga almost coming to South Africa, and a few groups trying to boycot her from coming.

The New York Times Style Magazine, Design & Living, Winter 2012

They’ve done similar covers before, with different types of material and objects forming and showcasing the famous ‘t’ but this one is also worth a mention because of creativity and effort that went into it all.

– The (for now anonymous) 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 South African magazines might fail, but most importantly, succeed. If you’re looking for a library about South African magazines and news, your one-stop pitstop is MediaSlut. #MagazinesForTheWin

– Find a cover we should know about? Tweet us @marklives and @mediaslut
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ABC Analysis Q3 2012: The biggest-circulating consumer magazines in SA

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Last ABC Period: July 2012 to September 2012

The ABC has released circulation statistics for the period July 2012 to September 2012 (ABC Q3 2012). Here are a couple of numbers that popped out for us. We also updated our list of the biggest circulating consumer magazines in SA!

Note: We compare the current figures with the same figures for this time last year and not with the previous quarter!

Biz and Finance

The Finweek and the Financial Mail circulation departments seems to have come to a joint decision to longer put out the exact same sales figures. Good on them. FM upped its circulation to 25,065 from 23,649 at the same period last year (total paid: 22,980) while Finweek declined to 21,978 from 25,670 (total paid: 19,359). New entrant Forbes Africa shows an ABC of 18,919 (total paid 9,688). Noseweek took a bit of a tumble to 15,886 from 18,006 – maybe it’s time to hire some fact checkers and halt the decline.

Health not looking healthy

Shape and Pols/Pulse both closed down resulting in circulation figures for the ‘Health’ niche collapsing from 174,116 to 98,912 (or more than 75 000 copies). Shape competitor Women’s Health is categorised by the ABC as falling under Woman’s Magazines. It would have added 57,270 copies to the category.

Entertainment/celeb news is bad news

heat kept its freefall going and collapsed to 28,316 from 34,592. It’s lost about half its circulation since 2005.

Huisgenoot declined to 273,772 from 289,068 (and from 281,045 in the ABC period for April 2012 to June 2012). YOU fell to 162,879 from 175,698 and Drum to 115,375 from 130,253. Bona fell to 82,855 from 90,311.

Home not where magazines are

The Home category fell to an average of 823,567 copies sold from 914,863 for the corresponding period last year. SA Garden & Home declined to 58,253 from 62,162. Sarie Kos fell to 50,996 from 60,532 and Sarie Woon to 27,783 from 34,112. But House & Leisure bucked the trend and climbed to 43,991 from 38,215. The biggest circulating magazine in this category is Tuis/Home with a circulation of 79,524.

Playboy a floppy while Kick Off scores, WTF Rolling Stone

Destiny Man climbed to 19,250 from 14,994 (total paid 14,633). FHM continued its decline to 37,444 from 46,877 – in 2005 it was selling 117,365 copies per issue!. Men’s Health fell to 64,186 from 70,575.

Playboy collapsed to 3,839 from 10,818 (and 16,299 in the 2012 Q2 reporting period -we’ve asked for comment and will publish when/if we hear anything). CAR magazine declined to 73,521 from 84,421. TopGear released a circulation figure of 37,096. Kick Off jumped to 61,140 from 45,382.SA Hunter climbed to 40,539 from 35,219. SA Sports Illustrated will be disappointed with its fall to 18,055 from 24,346.

Rolling Stone really can’t afford to not submit its second only ABC figures – but they did it anyway! Single copy sales for the Q2 reporting period came in at only 3,782 (total circ: 12,377).

Weg/Go still rules travel

The combined circulation of Weg and Go magazines fell slightly from 77,540 to 78,155. Getaway climbed slightly to 51,649. SA Country Life fell to 35,183 from 40,306.

Rooi Rose jumps back

Cosmo gained nicely to 85,212 from 81,291 in the corresponding reporting period last year (but down from 90,444 for the 2012 Q2 reporting period). Essentials stumbled to 34,780 from 41,673. Finesse dropped to 73,797 from 84,653. Glamour was down to 70,885 from 78,045. Good Housekeeping posted a circulation of 65,278 (there was no corresponding previous reporting period) which is slight down on its Q2 results of 66,486 – it did however bump up freebies from 16,451 copies to 18,516. Newly launched weekly Grazia posted an ABC of 20,745.

Kuier grew to 78,896 from 47,032 – up once again on its impressive 2012 Q2 results of 72,493. Real grew to 60,986 53,369. Marie Claire dropped more than 10 000 freebies a month to up its circulation to 41,791 from 37,157. Move fell to 125,952 from 138,157. Soul fell to 38,235 from 47,744. True Love fell to 71,126 from 81,633. Woman and Home declined to 86,153 from 91,936. Your Family seems to be going through a rough patch falling to 45,421 from 53,183. Women’s Health fell to 57,270 from 62,933.

Rooi Rose fell to 100,949 from 113,485 but still staged a recovery from its Q2 ABC of 81,555. Sarie declined to 100,855 from 114,884. Rooi Rose dropped an average of 3,614 freebies a month – Sarie 3.

The MarkLives Big Magazine list*

1. Huisgenoot 273,772 –
2. You 162,879 –
3. Move 125,952 –
4. Drum 115,375 –
5. Rooi Rose 100,949 up +7
6. Sarie 100,855 down -1
7. Ideas/Idees 89,614 down -1
8. Woman and Home 86,153 down -1
9. Cosmopolitan 85,212 –
10. People 84,323 – up +1

11. Bona 82,855 – down -5
12. Kuier 78,896
13. Weg/Go 77,540
14. Finesse 73,797
15. CAR 73,521 – down -5

Bona and CAR both fell out of our Big Magazine List (for this list we compare circulation to the previous reporting period rather than the corresponding reporting period from last year). Rooi Rose made it back into the Top 10 as did People magazine.

Our previous Big Magazine List showed 7 magazines with a circulation over 100 000, 2 with a circulation over 90 000 (but under 100k) and 1 with a circulation under 90 000. For the updated list that number declined to 6 with a circulation of over 100 000 while the remaining 4 all showed a circulation figure below 90 000.

* By total circulation. Must have a cover price. Annuals Excluded.
Movement on the Big Magazine list compared to 2012 Q2 data.

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Social Media Effect: “Barely Negligible”

by Bob Hoffman (@adcontrarian) If you’re in the business of selling stuff, according to one big-time research firm social media marketing is a waste of your time and money.

Forrester Research has released a report recently that concludes…

“Social tactics are not meaningful sales drivers. While the hype around social networks as a driver of influence in eCommerce continues to capture the attention of online executives, the truth is that social continues to struggle and registers as a barely negligible source of sales for either new or repeat buyers. In fact, fewer than 1% of transactions for both new and repeat shoppers could be traced back to trackable social links.”

Now think about this for a minute. This study is about the influence of online social media on online sales. If the influence on online sales is “barely negligible” can you imagine the influence on traditional retail sales (which account for about 94% of everything sold?) What’s below barely negligible? Strongly negligible?

The study goes on to say…

“The reality is that even the most popular social image-sharing sites (like Pinterest) have failed to move the needle with respect to sales for most retail sites.”

To tell you the truth, even I was a little shocked reading about this study. There aren’t too many people in the ad world who are more skeptical about the magical power of social media marketing than I am. But I thought the truth probably fell somewhere between “magic” and “barely negligible.”

According to a piece about this study in Marketing…

As a direct source of sales, web marketing mainstays of search and email continue to be the most fruitful…

Hmmm…seems to me I’ve read something like this somewhere before. Oh yeah, it was in The Ad Contrarian over two years ago…

“It is true that there’s data to support the effectiveness of two types of online advertising: search and email. But is that it?”

It’s starting to look more and more like the answer is… yes. That’s about it.