This case is cold. Very cold.

Future Publishing has launched case. (the full stop is part of the title folks). <- this is ours It’s tagged ‘the business of creativity.’<- also ours Mike Schalit seems to be the face of the business of creativity with which I can find no fault. <- yup

Future Publishing also publishes The Annual and The Journal. As titles gothumbnail_CASE case. seems like quite a leap in the imaginative prowess of the publishers. I would have bet a weeks pay on something like The Creative. Maybe the industry bodies endorsing the new title, namely the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA) and the Creative Circle, intervened.

case., <- ha-ha writes editor Jeremy Maggs (he also edits The Annual and The Journal and is arguably the country’s leading marketing and media journalist), is “dedicated to single-mindedly articulate excellence and value in advertising.” In this magazine advertising as an industry finally gets to state its case, according to Maggs, adding that the title will target cynical CEOs and brand and marketing executives.

I’m not trying to be cynical or anything but there seems to be a formula to all the articles. Short intro or headline formulating the question followed by pages and pages of creatives having their say (quoted verbatim). It’s great for the budget but where is the journalism?

Also, I have to quote the intro to the profile piece on James Cloete because, well it’s a case in point:
“‘What’s it like inside the mind of James Cloete?” The Draftfcb executive creative director throws the question I’ve just asked back at me. “It’s kind of like a big, dark cave, with a big pink-grey sponge in the middle of it – except that the walls of the cave are made of bone and the big sponge is actually a brain (of sorts).’ Flippancy aside, the big sponge has been doing some thinking – and these are the topics that have it going:” etc.

Run Mr Cynical Executive run!

Of course the advertising industry is overjoyed at finally having a publication stating its case with such intellect and flair. case. kindly included its media pack (read rate card) with the launch edition. You can score a full page colour ad for only R11,244. Pity no-one took them up on their offer. The launch issue contained no ads. Nada. Niks. Grid got the OBC but they also designed the book so it was probably a quid pro quo. Mmm earth to ad industry – I think you just shot down you case.

Kindle the big story in publishing

With 2009 coming to a very rapid end  The Digital Edge decided to take a look back into the year that was with commentry by local web celebrities. What news stories shocked them the most and what technological advances tweaked their interest in 2009? Find out in daily posts or listen to the podcast.

Elan Lohmann, GM, Avusa Media Online

TDE: As someone in the publishing industry, what trends were big in 2009?

Elan: One of the exciting things for me in 2009 was the release of the Kindle in South Africa. Beyond reading books, for me as a publisher, there have been this and a lot of other developments in this area and I believe the future lies in touch and eventually having digital paper.

On a more personal note, laptops are getting smaller and sexier. It’s really a trend I’ve noticed that high flyers have always had to have as small a notebook as possible, which is perfect on the plane, easy to carry around. I’ve noticed a trend amongst these tiny laptops and this promotes mobility. Mobility then in turn promotes a need for wireless connectivity. Skyrove has done quite well this year, there’s a bunch of other companies such as IS hotspots but you’re starting to find wireless hotspots more easily than you did before and I think in 2009 that was quite characteristics.

Other quick things were Bing being released and another big trends were a statistic I heard that fifty percent of South Africans were booking their flights online. I suppose this stands to reason as if you fly you probably have a credit card and the money to get online. However, it’s still fantastic to see people identifying online as a way to manage their lives.

Toby Shapshak: The power of cloud computing is incredible

With 2009 coming to a very rapid end The Digital Edge decided to take a look back into the year that was with commentry by local web celebrities. What news stories shocked them the most and what technological advances tweaked their interest in 2009? Find out in daily posts or listen to the podcast.

Toby Shapshak, Editor, Stuff magazine

TDE: What trends were big for you in 2009?

Shapshak: I think the biggest trend we saw was Twitter. The two things I thought we’d see were Twitter and Cloud Computing and both came through in spades. Twitter has become more of a service than an actual website. If you just look at how the revolution in Iran was possible, in this hard-line and conservative country where they were able to shut down sms but were not able to shut down Twitter and that’s fairly remarkable.

We saw Cloud Computing not come of age but come more of age. It’s a concept that has been around for a while; I used to call it “thin client computing” back in the day.

The big technology story in terms of mobile this year was Android, Google’s free operating system for mobiles and I suspect that will become one of the big players in the market not only because of it being free but because the power of cloud based computing is incredible. You no longer need a smart phone you need a dumb terminal. As long as you have a smart backend, a smart server with a thin client device you can use all that information saved up there somewhere.

TDE: What was your favourite gadget of the year

Shapshak: There’ve been quite a lot. We chose the HTC Hero as our gadget of the year. I’ve been very impressed with the iPhone 3GS, which had some great incremental updates. These updates finally bought the phone into the league of other phones. There’s a great little pen called the Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. It’s a pen with a built in camera and microphone so it records what you write on special dotted paper and can play all of that back. I think those are practical devices.

Disruptive marketing is fast becoming a thing of the past

With 2009 coming to a very rapid end  The Digital Edge decided to take a look back into the year that was with commentry by local web celebrities. What news stories shocked them the most and what technological advances tweaked their interest in 2009? Find out in daily posts or listen to the podcast.

Andrea Mitchel, DigiVox

TDE: What did you think was big in 2009?
Andrea: I think the thing that stood out for me in 2009 is the shift in attitudes towards online. This shift came from traditional agencies and brands alike. Definitely the increase in user base in South Africa has helped give more attention. The recession has also helped the digital world across the board, we’ve benefitted from the recession as brands being pressed to prove return on investment and with digital being the best way to prove this we’ve seen a definite shift towards digital.

We’ve also seen a new push towards niche targeting in the digital world, local is becoming more important with services like The Grid coming into play. This brings us into the next topic of social media, which has definitely grown, in leaps and bounds in 2009 and I think an even more exciting space to be in next year.

Mobile is also another one that made quite a push in 2009. We’ve been predicting it for years and haven’t quite got it right buy 2009 is definitely seeing a lot more attention to that channel as more information is becoming available.

A couple of the other trends were the growth of communication and how disruptive marketing is fast becoming a thing of the past. We’re realising that social influence is more respected by an audience than a distruptive means of marketing that we’re used to.

TDE: What technological advancement appealed to you the most in 2009?

Andrea: I know Twitter has been around for a while and I’ve been part of it since before 2009 and even got bored of it but as the community grew its become an integral part of my daily life. To keep up to date with the latest news, my friends and peer, I find it a very convenient way to pull all the information into one place where I can have a glance at what’s happening in all aspects. Getting information, opinions as well as thoughts and ideas in one place is very beneficial to me.

Kyk nou net

Afrikaans language TV channel KykNet is suing strip club Teazers for a billboard using the words ‘Kyk Net’. Some IP lawyers are getting away with blatant misuse of the spirit of IP law (not the kindest spirit to start off with but still) by issuing threats against businesses using generic words like ‘orange’ (as a recent ludicrous example) , or generic phrases like ‘Kyk Net,’ in their marketing material.

teazersWas it cheeky for Teazers to put up its ‘Kyk Net’ billboard right in front of the KykNet HQ? Yes it was. Would anybody confuse a strip club with a rather stale TV channel? I think not.

KykNet simply proved it has no sense of humour. But then we all knew that already.

Image source: News24.com

Violent Adventure Tours™®© – an alternative South African marketing strategy

If you’ve ever subjected yourself to one of those self-help books, or been unfortunate enough to have to take a course in marketing (yawn) you will have realised the benefit of selling on your strong points. If you’ve done both you will know it doubly.

South African talent at chasing away foreigners, stealing their possessions and then burning what’s left was again on display recently just outside of De Doorns. Since most citizens have only a vague idea of where De Doors might be situated (personally I could not be bothered to find a map book so I could direct you in even the general direction) the little flare up that displaced a couple of hundred people and deprived local farms of cheap (apparently) labour popped out of collective consciousness rather quickly.

It only really called me to pause when connected to the rather violent behaviour of a pizza delivery boy I witnessed only last week (for real people, on a Thursday late afternoon just after 7pm, at the crossing opposite the Lord Charles Hotel in Somerset West). Said individual was speeding illegally down the middle of two lanes and came to a screeching halt next to my car just as the robot flashed red. Off he jumped, dumping his pizza delivery kit (with the St Elmo’s logo emblazoned on the side) onto the road, and down the street he ran. His target – an illegal flower salesman trying to sell his wilting wares to the not so generous members of the public and standing – you guessed it – on the white line in the middle of the road. Punches flew (rather one sidedly) and he stalked off back to his bike with a final “volgende keer ry ek jou vrek!”

Since Zimbabwe seem to have emptied itself of all but the elderly, the very young and the obscenely rich, most South Africans have made some sort of peace with the large numbers of hawkers turning every stop sign into a marketplace. We act accordingly, winding up our windows, staring ahead of us and mouthing ‘fuck-off’ soon as the motorist behind us shifts his or her attention back to completing the sms they were busy typing.

But wait, says my inner marketing guru, sell the strong points. South Africa could turn its flare for violence into to its favour. We’ll be hosting the World Cup in 2010 to boot so we have a ready made market for our Violent Adventure Tours™®©. Join the locals in beating up the hungry and the weak – they probably won’t even hit back! We could introduce themed tours – why limit ourselves to beating up the displaced?

Perhaps a beat up bikers who chase hawkers down the middle of the road day. Or a piss in a cup and hand it out to thankful strangers’ day (that one is always good for a laugh and should be a massive hit on YouTube – viral marketing that won’t cost us a cent). The possibilities are endless. Beat up Jansen day. This is my car now day. Swipe your credit card day (have to think about this one – the message might be too subtle for some).

We will put yob culture to shame. Algerians, Egyptians and the Brits will flock to our country, spending pounds and dinars. We could probably become the destination of choice for citizens of the American South and the Chinese bureaucracy.

An ad campaign by Tarantino featuring Brad Pitt. With a voice over by Morgan Freeman (always). There is money to be made. And it’s in Violent Adventure Tours™®©. Let’s grab the niche before the Somalis wake up and smell the teargas.

PS: How clued up is St. Elmo’s to the digital media space? We are about to find out. I for one expect a donation to a homeless shelter of their choice and  a special promotion tying into Violent Adventure Tours™®© soon as it breaks.

Mark Reads: Fire those Brandhouse people!

Stories worth a read this morning:

Winfrey Bets on Her Future With Cable NYTimes.com
Ms. Winfrey, the billionaire queen of daytime television, is planning to announce on Friday that she will step down from her daily pulpit, “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” in two years in order to concentrate on the forthcoming cable channel that will bear her name.

The most influential South African you’ve never heard of. Yet. Thedailymaverick.co.za
He might just possibly have become the most influential South African in the world – Kumi Naidoo. Who? Until last month he was the head of Civicus, an international civil society advocacy outfit, but he has just become the head honcho of Greenpeace, the worldwide environmental campaign to protect endangered species and ward off global warming.

Brandhouse #senseofhumourfailure MandyLives.com
Mandy de Waal says fire whomever is offering Brandhouse reputation advice or PR strategy.

Malema ‘sunk to lowest ebb of racism’ BusinessDay
Young Communist League demands meeting with ANCYL president over Cronin comments

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