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#CustomerFirst: Is data really a currency?

keyboard-computer-empty-private courtesy of Pixabay

by Craig Hannabus (@crayg) There’s been much talk lately regarding data being a currency. It’s a concept that seems sound but I’d like to challenge it.

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What is currency?

Currency is an agreed upon value exchange. Historically, before we had currency, we traded. If I had something you wanted and you had something I wanted, we’d make a trade and then we’d both be happy. As trading progressed, we’d start to agree on base-line values. For example, maybe the thing that I want is worth two of the things you want. I’d have to pony up the additional item to get your item. As long as we both agreed, it’s still a fair trade.

With the advent of agriculture, trade became a more complex. A farmer might have something I want (food) but I might not have something he wants (some stones I found by the river). Currency is born. I trade my stones to an eclectic sculptor for a few coins. I can now use my newly acquired coins to buy food from the farmer. We can agree that currency has real-world worth, either in goods or services.

What is a service worth?

This is where things get confusing for me. If data is a currency, what’s it worth? The agreed-upon exchange that we have with platforms such as Google and Facebook is that data is worth the service they provide. Is it really, though? In 2012, Google made over US$100m a day on AdWords alone! I’m beginning to wonder if my data is worth much more than just an email address and a browser.

The term “data” itself is a bit of a misnomer. Data describes information, records and datasets. It’s cold, it’s impersonal, and it feels harmless. But what if we stopped calling it data? What if we started calling it privacy? It sounds different when you say that you’re exchanging your privacy for a service, doesn’t it? Privacy feels more personal, more valuable.

When the privacy law came into being 130 years ago, it was called “the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized men” by American lawyer and associate justice, Louis Brandeis (one of the original authors of the law).

Predicament

This puts us in a predicament. We’re sitting with something that is clearly very valuable. Yet we’re also caught in a situation where the services we’re provided with have become an integral part of our lives. Does that mean that, over time, those services have gained value? Yes, they have. The more we’ve used the services, the more valuable they’ve become. Why is that? Because we’re putting our valuable thing (our privacy) into the service. Social networks are nothing without your shared, private data.

Going back to our earlier trade analogy, what’s happening is that I’ve something you want (a service) and you’ve something I want (your privacy). The thing is, I’ve lied. I haven’t told you that I want your privacy. I’ve just offered you something ‘free of charge’. The service I’m offering is absolutely worthless, so it’s right that you should get it for nothing. However, the moment you start using it, its value increases exponentially. I’ve given you a worthless free service but you’ve given me your very valuable data. Do you feel like a sucker yet?

Fortunately, lawmakers are on our side and they’re trying to help us. There have been many privacy scandals on many fronts. Most of these privacy infringements involve Google and the GDPR (EU’s equivalent of our POPI Act), resulting in hefty, billion-dollar fines.

Is it enough?

Yet is it enough? The real question still remains unanswered. If data were traded on the stock market, how much would it be worth in real currency? We don’t know. Calling data a currency doesn’t seem like it’s very accurate. Until we agree upon its worth, let’s just call it what it is: our privacy.

EXCLUSIVE: Uyanda Manana takes over Conversation LAB

by Herman Manson (@MarkLives) Conversation LAB, the 55-person, full-service digital marketing agency with roots in Durban and London, has appointed Uyanda Manana as its new managing director. This follows a deal that also sees black shareholders take a majority (51%) stake, effective 1 August 2020.

Truly transformative

The new business structure marries black ownership and management/leadership in one, allowing it to be truly transformative, says Kevin Power, Conversation LAB group MD. Apart from Manana, other new shareholders will include Siya Ntamela, Kitty Mkhize, Kevindren Govender and Zama Mthalane.

The appointment will see Manana manage the agency out of Johannesburg, where it is looking to set up a permanent office in Soweto. It also folds BE, a small black-owned agency managed by Manana and which counts Unilever and the University of KwaZulu-Natal among its client list, and in which Conversation LAB Holdings has been a shareholder, into Conversation LAB.

Conversation Lab opened in August 2012, while BE launched three years ago. According to Power, the deal is driven out of a belief that transformation and diversity is good for the company and its clients, as well as being the right thing to do.

Black female talent

Manana graduated from the AAA School of Advertising and interned at L’Oréal before leaving for London for eight years, where she ended up at Publicis London. She came home to work on MTN for The Jupiter Drawing Room and joined Hariz ME in Dubai, where she managed the F1 account, before stints at M&C Saatchi Abel, FCB Africa and JC Decaux before joining Conversation LAB, where she led the Godrej South Africa haircare account while also managing BE. In her new role, she’ll be driving relationships, processes, new business, new talent and culture. She’s looking for black female strategy and creative talent to take up shares in the business and to help flesh out a new leadership team.

Power says he wants the agency to be seen as progressive rather than simply a BEE 1 business, of which there are many but they tend to be network owned agencies with what he considers to be little real perceived* interest in transformation and transformative leadership.

Transformation, says Manana, should focus on access to opportunity — opening doors to black talent, giving them access to the table and the opportunity to shine. “This is an exciting and tremendous opportunity for me as a black woman,” she says. “I get to lead an incredibly talented team of people across Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg in shaping our industry into something more reflective of our multicultural society. Diversity and cultural transformation is not only about access to opportunity; it’s about acceptance too. It fosters an environment that gives people the security and room to express and accept their uniqueness. It opens up paths to creativity, making our work and processes that much richer and more human.”

Clients

She says she intends to bring more large clients onboard. The current client list includes Godrej, ADvTECH (educational brands including Crawford Schools, Vega, Varsity College and more), Environ and aQuellé.

The aim of the decision to open its Jozi office in Soweto is to give “young black people real access and exposure to an industry that has been out of reach for too long, and gives us access to the kind of raw talent we’re looking for,” says Manana. It also positions the agency in the heart of “the communities we represent and talk to”.

* Story update: 2020/08/03. Statement amended as requested by the interviewee after publication.

Are South Africans satisfied with their online shopping experience?

2020 South African Digital Customer Experience Report

by Carey Finn (@carey_finn) If South African consumers are happy with their online shopping experience, they’re likely to tell their friends and family about it. But this potential brand advocacy hinges on retailers being able to provide an exceptional customer experience — something which doesn’t happen often enough.

Digital CX report

This is according to the 2020 South African Digital Customer Experience Report, the second annual collaborative research effort by marketing and advertising agency, Rogerwilco; market research provider, ovatoyou; and customer experience (CX) professional, Julia Ahlfeldt.

For Charlie Stewart, Rogerwilco CEO, the willingness of local customers to share positive online shopping experiences is the standout insight from the research. Of the 2 000 respondents, 75% indicate they would tell their friends and family, while 43% say they would share their experience on social media (an increase from 37% in 2019). In comparison, just 56% say they would share negative online shopping experiences with friends and family, and 32% would post about these experiences on social media.

“Surprised”

“This concept of advocacy is something brands have spoken about for years but I was surprised at the level to which people are willing to share news of good experiences,” says Stewart. “Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of emphasis on people’s willingness to share negative stories, and social media has become a sort of echo chamber where we only talk about the bad things, so that made [the result] particularly surprising.” He speculates that the change could be related to the covid-19 pandemic, and an increased propensity to share good news in a period that’s understood to be challenging for all. However, this would only be able to be confirmed with the 2021 report.

For brands, better advocacy hinges on being able to provide a digital experience which is smooth and pleasant. According to the report, more than R1bn in local programmatic advertising is likely being lost to fraud and service fees; redirecting this to improve the digital customer experience could be far more profitable in the long term, increasing brand loyalty. This would involve addressing pain points in the shopping journey, which commonly include slow websites or apps, a lack of customer support, inadequate product information, unreliable payment solutions, and delivery issues.

Fixes

Stewart breaks down the fixes for retailers looking to enhance their online customer experience: “There are two different elements here: the first is making sure you get your housekeeping right. Having a fast website is essential and it’s very easy, in these days of elastic cloud-hosting services and hosting optimisation products, to deliver a seamless user journey online — yet brands continue to get that wrong.” Accurate, detailed product information is just as important, he adds. “People are doing 90% of the job; they’re providing the basics but they’re not delivering the detail.”

The second element is a broader, structural one. “I think this is where there’s real complexity with ecommerce,” he says. “We still have difficulties with shipping, for example, making sure that we’re able to get products from A to B, and then there are challenges with inventory management. Although there are algorithms that should enable brands to predict with a fairly certain degree of accuracy what demand will be, which will allow them to replenish stock, we’re still not at the point where we’re able to accommodate surges, or able to accurately understand where demand is coming from.”

Mobile-first

The very first thing that a business should focus on, though?

Making its ecommerce mobile-first, says Stewart. “Across Africa as a whole, we’re seeing about 80% of ecommerce payments being handled on mobile devices. This isn’t news to anybody; we’ve been talking mobile-first for a long time. But it’s still incredibly frustrating when you get to the checkout section of a website and suddenly the screen resorts to this tiny series of boxes that you need to insert information into. That, for me, is a fundamental breaking point.”

#Transformers: Bradlee Holcomb, the change agent

by Lebogang Tshetlo & Charles Mathews. Bradlee Holcomb (@BradleeHolcomb; IG: @bradleeholcomb) is in the business of selling human hope. “Every person is unique and, when it comes to transformation from a career perspective — and my advice remains the same regardless of covid-19 — nothing has changed for me. My first point of view is that you don’t get a job; you get a career.”

Bradlee Holcomb, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, June 2019. Pic: Lebogang Tshetlo.

Sustainable vs short-termism

The career and transformation advisor maintains that careers are sustainable but jobs are short-termism: “Basically, a job is a set of descriptors or requirements that a human must do for money. My belief is that, if people get a job, they will always feel inadequate. What we need to do, as humans, is to find ourselves and find opportunities to live our purpose and meaning. We do this in careers.”

“Transformers Transform 2020” is a special series produced by MarkLives and HumanInsight and sponsored by the Association for Communication and Advertising (ACA), running Jun–Sep 2020. Together with Lebogang Tshetlo, we’ll be profiling remarkable local #Transformers every other Friday until September, featuring Tshetlo’s photography. The objective of this an independently managed, journalism-driven research project is to explore and map new paths for brands and marketers to transform, adapt and build resilience while the world adapts to covid-19 and its resultant social, political and economic toll.

Change by its very nature may be difficult, challenging and slow to effect. But Holcomb, who’s helped thousands of people create better careers for themselves, believes that, once people gain clarity of purpose and a strong forward vision, they can change successfully — if this change includes working through negative patterns or limiting frictions. “The sum total of my experience has led to this point,” says the founder of Amazing Lives Consulting & Projects (ALCP), a startup that realises human potential through personal and business transformation.

Holcomb describes a career as a vocation that encompasses one’s being, personality, and characteristics. It’s a story in which you live your best life. “A career is something that you can contribute to and learn from. It is an investment in yourself and your story. It is a journey that you take. One in which you have agency — you know why you have arrived and how you will contribute to the greater good. A job is just about income and has no relation to purpose. A career is all about purpose and creating meaning for yourself.”

“Unique value proposition”

In his work of placing people in places of work where they find meaning and flex their purpose, Holcomb helps people mature their “unique value proposition”. “Each being has a unique value proposition, which I define as something that they uniquely can contribute to this world. My belief is that human purpose is to contribute and, when matched with a person’s unique value proposition, this propels each individual’s specific purpose. I define purpose as whatever contribution people make to the greater good of the universe, humanity and their community,” he says.

“The question I get a lot is whether humans can be purposeful in a job. To this I say yes, because a job becomes a career when you realise your value to your family by supporting your family and others who need your help at this time, like your community. A career is being part of a supportive structure that takes South Africa forward,” Holcomb explains.

In the transformational coach’s world, purpose is married to meaning. “When humans have a clear purpose that is linked to meaning, nothing can sway an individual from the purpose. This is because purpose sets intent. It is the very reason we do things. As Simon Sinek says, you start with why and then get into how,” he adds.

Built on purpose

Self-described as an unshakable optimist, Sinek is a best-selling author whose work started a global movement built on purpose off the back of his book: “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action”. A global bestseller with over 1m books sold in the US alone, Sinek has been described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect” and now devotes his life to helping “advance a vision of… a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do”.

Sinek’s book investigates why some companies are hugely successful and others fail to reach their full potential, or flounder. Research by global professional services firm, Deloitte, shows that “organisations that focus beyond profit and instil a strong sense of purpose among their employees are more likely to find long-term success”.

Organisations which embrace meaning before profits deliver better results, the survey shows. “Purpose-driven companies witness higher market share gains and grow on average three times faster than their competitors, all the while achieving higher employee and customer satisfaction. Today’s consumers often identify with a brand’s purpose, seeking to connect at a deeper level even as the brand reciprocally aligns with who they are and who they want to be.”

Purpose catalyses success

According to Holcomb, what’s true of huge corporations is true of individuals. His experience with thousands of candidates shows that purpose catalyses success. “All humans feel vulnerable at times, and this has heightened during the pandemic. We are all afraid that, if we open ourselves, others won’t understand or accept us. This is particularly true of the boomer generation who were taught that emotions shouldn’t be brought to the workplace,” he says. “There is a taught culture that we don’t bring our feelings or passion to work, and so humans aren’t bringing all of themselves to work. How can you expect any human not to bring their emotions in? How do we leave part of ourselves at home to go to work?”

Bradlee Holcomb with a man and a woman at Melrose Arch, June 2019. Pic by Lebogang Tshetlo. — Pic by Lebogang Tshetlo.

For him, much of the work that needs to be done is reinforcing the self. “Everybody suffers from problems with self-worth and there are levels to this. Tackling this is about reminding yourself that you have something to contribute. It is about reminding yourself that you are worth it — that you are here to contribute and to receive.

“As a country and a continent and as a people of colour, as black people, we have not always understood our worth. Previous privileges have eradicated our own belief in ourselves. We at times can think that we don’t matter and put everyone in front of us. As black people we still somehow see white people being better than us. #BlackLivesMatter is an assertion that we deserve to be seen. We deserve not to be doubted when we take up leadership positions, or any position,” he says.

#BlackLivesMatter

Holcomb says that this country and others on the continent still need to do a lot of work regarding inclusivity and diversity. “In the US, #BlackLivesMatter has become a catalyst for huge systemic transformation — but this has come after 400 years of oppression. Yet Africa is still a few steps behind in owning that black people matter.”

When it comes to advising careerists, the purpose-driven coach says the first point is to find yourself: “Find what makes you unique. Don’t just send out hundreds of CVs, hoping that people will bite. Be strategic and have intention about the career you want to get into. Purpose comes from knowing yourself and your unique value proposition, so rather let this drive you. Once you have intention, you know the companies and individuals you are approaching have something unique that they need from you. This will give you the confidence you need to hopefully reach out and find a position where you can contribute, and build mutual meaning. To build a worthwhile life, rather than just finding money.”

#Transformers: Larry Khumalo on race, identity & lived experience

by Charlie Mathews (@CharlesLeeZA) Born and bred in a free, post-colonial Zimbabwe, during the infancy of that country’s democracy project, Larry Khumalo (@statelylarry), Havas Southern Africa head of PR, talks to MarkLives about identity, race, power, sexism and change in the marketing sector.

Personal & professional transformation

In this video interview on personal and professional transformation, Khumalo talks about:

The moral dilemma of transition and transformation being dependent on the goodness of people, and why people don’t choose to be good
What it means to live in a world where black people fear for their lives at every turn and how hard it is to come to terms with this truth
How a lot of brands are stepping and embracing diversity, but points out that some are just latching on to a moment
Why commitment to transformation is long-term and about making fundamental, structural changes
Why whiteness must “take the responsibility of defining” itself and stop being so ‘needy’
Why real structural change doesn’t readily happen. “Unless there’s money in the mix, unless there’s some money to be gained at the end of it, people in this system generally don’t have a reason to try and do anything,” Khumalo says.

Racism

A PR practitioner with over a decade of experience working in agencies and corporates, Khumalo talks frankly about how the first time he ever experienced racism was after moving to South Africa. “In Zimbabwe, you’re not black; you’re a Zimbabwean. But, moving to South Africa, I learnt that I was black and I learnt this within the first two weeks of living in the West Rand,” the communications leader and lobbyist says.

Shortly after arriving in SA, he stayed in a rented apartment west of Gauteng. “One of the tenants of that complex saw me walking to school and assumed that I was a gardener and basically asked me if I had time to come and tend to their little garden. I didn’t get it at first and I brushed it away, but I thought about it a little more and I got the fact that they thought I was a gardener because I’m black.”

“Opened my eyes”

“That thinking opened my eyes a lot,” Khumalo adds, explaining that racism was part of Zimbabwean life, but was nowhere near as blatant or aggressive as the racism he’s experienced in SA. “I think the visceral nature of it [racism] here, and how it’s just so close to the surface, is what hit me hard.”

He’s also “had a very interesting ride working in marketing here in Johannesburg.”

He asserts that the South African communications sector remains largely untransformed: “I have come to a conclusion that, I think, generally describes my full-on experience, which is that marketing, and many other sectors, are not transformed. There is a killing of black people every day. It’s just not in the visceral sense of George Floyd having a knee on his neck. But the plunder is gradual and it is violent, and it destroys black bodies in the most-fundamental of ways, on a daily basis.”

“No black voices”

Khumalo says that this “starts from something as simple as not being listened to in a boardroom all the way to having to explain to a colleague why ‘all lives matter’ is a violent statement at a time like this.”

Fronting is frequent in the industry, he says. “I always used to wonder, for instance, how do we in a majority-black country have commercials about airtime where black women are dancing for airtime, or you have black children dancing for Surf, or for pap, or for sweets? It didn’t make sense to me how, in a country on the African continent, we have advertising that essentially is derogatory to black bodies… Until I walked into brainstorming rooms, until I walked into rooms where people conceptualised and I realised, oh, okay, so there are no black voices in this space.”

Media Redefined: Aggregation alert!

by Martin MacGregor (@MartMacG) The recent MultiChoice announcement that Netflix and Amazon Prime would soon be available to DStv subscribers surprised the market. It shouldn’t have.

Fertile ground

Aggregation by definition “is the formation of a number of things into a cluster”. The cluttered media landscape of 2020 is fertile ground for more-efficient clustering.

Media has evolved to meet three audience needs: being informed, being connected and being entertained. The overwhelming amount of news (being informed) and social media platforms (being connected) and content have already driven the rise of aggregators in an attempt to try and organise the audience experience. The result is a one-location solution that makes life a whole lot easier.

In news, Feedly is my favourite for general news, particularly as it allows very sharp curation. Interest-specific platforms such as Metacritic have set the standard and are also hugely popular. In social media, there are a multitude of aggregators from Flockler to Taggbox and Tint.

Only a matter of time

So, it was only matter of time before aggregation became a thing in entertainment. Having it all in one location makes sense and the opportunity down the line to search for a movie or series in one place exciting.

The top end of the DStv subscriber base has been under pressure for a while and dropped from 1.6m to 1.5m in the year ending March 2020. April and May, with no live sport on SuperSport, must have hit it even harder.

However, it’s realistic about the limitations of growth in this market, which already has high fibre penetration and smart TV ownership. The growth is coming from openly encouraging sharing access to DStv Now with other family members and friends, even if not in the household. DStv Now adds another 1.5m unique users to the Premium offering.

The real opportunity

The real opportunity is in the Compact and Access market, where fibre and smart TVs aren’t prevalent. In this context, the MultiChoice deal with Netflix and Amazon makes a lot of sense for both parties. These markets are big and growing. The Compact market at end of March 2020 was 2.9m and the Access market 4m. For Netflix and Amazon, they know they would struggle to break into this valuable, almost 7m-large market with these physical barriers in place. For Multichoice, it wants to make sure that there’s sustainable long-term loyalty of these subscribers.

The solution will be a new decoder with a DStv, Netflix and Amazon Prime button. The details of how this will be costed haven’t been revealed yet but expect further smart pricing solutions.

Suddenly, the future of DStv isn’t precariously tied up only in sports rights but as the entertainment aggregator for more than 8m consumers. Ever since Google, it seems whoever aggregates best wins the race.

SA TV Ratings: Jun 2020 primetime — DStv, e.tv, SABC 1, SABC 2 & SABC 3

South African TV Ratings Top 20 shows 2018

by MarkLives (@marklives) The hottest primetime shows on DStv, e.tv, SABC 1, SABC 2 and SABC 3 in South Africa revealed: TV ratings for June 2020. Please be aware of this notice regarding the impact of covid-19 on the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) homepage, as well as the loadshedding and covid-19 TAMS dashboards.

DStv, Jun 2020

Top 30 Programmes All Adults 15+ & DStv Adults
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm

Source: BRCSA Jun 2020

BRCSA TV Ratings Jun 2020 primetime DStv — Click to enlarge to view clearly

e.tv, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Source: BRCSA Jun 2020

Day	Date	From	To	Station	Programme title	Genre	AR	Viewers	Share
Thu	11/06/2020	1930	1956	e.tv	Scandal	Soap	14.35	5 168 427	36.8
Tue	23/06/2020	1900	1929	e.tv	Rhythm City	Dram	11.66	4 198 768	33
Sun	28/06/2020	2000	2216	e.tv	San Andreas	Movi	10.17	3 663 267	37.5
Fri	26/06/2020	2130	2159	e.tv	Imbewu: The Seed	Dram	9.84	3 542 322	36.7
Sun	21/06/2020	2000	2155	e.tv	Hercules	Dram	9.68	3 484 951	35
Sat	13/06/2020	2000	2200	e.tv	Mama Jack	Movi	8.1	2 916 150	31.5
Sun	14/06/2020	2000	2222	e.tv	Ghost Rider	Movi	8.08	2 909 003	30.1
Sat	20/06/2020	1959	2144	e.tv	Spy Kids: All the Time in the World	Movi	7.73	2 784 291	28.3
Sun	07/06/2020	1959	2211	e.tv	2 Guns	Movi	7.22	2 600 625	25.1
Sat	27/06/2020	2000	2202	e.tv	Fantastic Four (Movie)	Movi	6.84	2 463 733	26.4
Sun	14/06/2020	1800	1858	e.tv	Family Feud South Africa	Vari	6.29	2 265 893	21.7
Sun	14/06/2020	1355	1554	e.tv	Sarafina	Movi	5.51	1 983 473	27.7
Sat	06/06/2020	2000	2145	e.tv	Captain Underpants:the First Epic Movie	Movi	5.47	1 969 999	19.4
Sun	28/06/2020	1900	1928	e.tv	News Night	News	5.07	1 827 383	15.4
Mon	01/06/2020	2155	2159	e.tv	Scoop Entertainment	Docu	4.91	1 767 019	32.3
Wed	17/06/2020	1230	1258	e.tv	Imbewu: The Seed-R	Dram	4.75	1 709 373	23.9
Sat	06/06/2020	1853	1858	e.tv	Just for Laughs Gags Filler	Sitc	4.65	1 675 160	16.2
Sat	06/06/2020	1800	1851	e.tv	Spartan Race: Ultimate Team Challenge	Real	4.64	1 672 014	15.4
Sat	06/06/2020	1930	1958	e.tv	Superstore	Dram	4.63	1 666 608	14.6
Tue	02/06/2020	2159	2227	e.tv	Checkpoint (News)	News	4.59	1 653 165	25.4

SABC 1, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Source: BRCSA Jun 2020

Day	Date	From	To	Station	Programme title	Genre	AR	Viewers	Share
Tue	23/06/2020	2031	2059	S1	Uzalo	Dram	24.27	8 739 969	66.3
Tue	02/06/2020	2000	2030	S1	Generations: The Legacy	Soap	22.37	8 057 180	56.7
Tue	02/06/2020	1830	1859	S1	Skeem Saam	Dram	21.91	7 889 755	60.3
Tue	02/06/2020	2030	2100	S1	Makoti	Dram	18.57	6 685 977	50
Mon	01/06/2020	1900	1930	S1	isiZulu News	News	14.75	5 309 970	38.6
Tue	02/06/2020	1900	1931	S1	isiXhosa News	News	14.54	5 235 657	36.8
Tue	09/06/2020	1800	1830	S1	Nyan Nyan	Real	12.37	4 455 018	39.4
Mon	01/06/2020	1930	2000	S1	Sgud’snaysi	Sitc	11.93	4 294 224	31.6
Mon	01/06/2020	1801	1829	S1	My First	Docu	10.17	3 662 258	32.1
Tue	02/06/2020	1934	1959	S1	Selimathunzi	Vari	9.17	3 301 215	24.1
Fri	05/06/2020	1931	2000	S1	Live Amp	Musi	9.11	3 279 069	25.7
Thu	04/06/2020	1930	2000	S1	Throwback Thusday	Musi	8.79	3 163 416	24.4
Wed	03/06/2020	1930	1956	S1	The Turning Son	Dram	8.64	3 109 963	25.6
Wed	03/06/2020	1800	1829	S1	Mi Kasi Su Kasi	Real	8.62	3 103 068	28
Fri	05/06/2020	1802	1827	S1	Lip Sync Battle	Vari	8.57	3 087 458	29.5
Thu	25/06/2020	1801	1830	S1	One Mic (Variety)	Vari	8.38	3 017 142	28.6
Wed	10/06/2020	1930	1957	S1	Feminine Lotus	Dram	7.97	2 868 910	22
Tue	16/06/2020	930	959	S1	Skeem Saam -R	Dram	7.95	2 862 470	46.8
Wed	24/06/2020	1930	1958	S1	Nfvf Youth Films	Dram	7.94	2 858 562	23.3
Mon	01/06/2020	1730	1800	S1	Siswati/Ndebele News	News	7.83	2 817 848	28.1

SABC 2, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Source: BRCSA Jun 2020

Day	Date	From	To	Station	Programme title	Genre	AR	Viewers	Share
Tue	02/06/2020	2100	2129	S2	Muvhango	Dram	11.22	4 039 490	35.1
Wed	17/06/2020	2000	2056	S2	Covid-19: Update From the President	News	5.93	2 133 877	16.2
Wed	17/06/2020	1759	1828	S2	7De Laan	Soap	5.05	1 817 513	16.3
Mon	01/06/2020	2130	2159	S2	Lithapo	Dram	5.01	1 802 216	19
Wed	10/06/2020	1829	1859	S2	Nuus	News	4.17	1 500 331	11.9
Thu	25/06/2020	2129	2158	S2	Bone of My Bones	Dram	3.95	1 422 171	16
Thu	11/06/2020	2055	2100	S2	Music	Musi	3.88	1 396 864	8.8
Wed	17/06/2020	2057	2100	S2	Live Lotto Draw	Vari	3.65	1 314 810	12.4
Fri	05/06/2020	2131	2159	S2	Phamokate	Dram	3.03	1 090 078	11.1
Mon	01/06/2020	2000	2029	S2	Ses/Tsw/Sep News	News	2.91	1 048 697	7.6
Thu	25/06/2020	1858	1957	S2	Noot Vir Noot	Musi	2.84	1 021 845	7.7
Sat	20/06/2020	1024	1051	S2	Muvhango -O	Dram	2.82	1 013 585	19.1
Mon	01/06/2020	2030	2101	S2	Leihlo La Sechaba	Actu	2.43	875 830	7.6
Mon	01/06/2020	1730	1759	S2	Venda/Tsonga News	News	2.33	837 189	8.4
Mon	01/06/2020	900	926	S2	The Agenda	News	2.29	825 322	15.8
Fri	05/06/2020	2200	2230	S2	Mmampodi	Dram	2.25	808 276	10.2
Wed	03/06/2020	1330	1400	S2	Lithapo -R	Dram	2.22	798 180	12.4
Tue	02/06/2020	1900	1929	S2	Geure Uit Die Vallei	Vari	2.21	795 305	5.7
Tue	02/06/2020	1929	1959	S2	Melody	Dram	2.17	781 158	5.5
Mon	01/06/2020	600	859	S2	Morning Live	News	2.14	770 098	26.6

SABC 3, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Source: BRCSA Jun 2020

Day	Date	From	To	Station	Programme title	Genre	AR	Viewers	Share
Sun	07/06/2020	1830	1928	S3	Natures Great Migrations	Docu	2.3	828 166	7.1
Sun	28/06/2020	1900	1959	S3	Animals with Cameras	Docu	2.06	742 328	6.3
Sat	06/06/2020	1800	1859	S3	Top Billing	Maga	1.53	550 751	5.1
Sat	06/06/2020	1958	2058	S3	Tropika Island of Treasure -R	Real	1.39	499 219	4.5
Sat	06/06/2020	2127	2315	S3	My Super Ex-Girlfriend	Movi	1.38	497 247	8
Mon	01/06/2020	1146	1206	S3	Judge Faith -R	Real	1.37	492 906	8.2
Thu	11/06/2020	1200	1259	S3	Airwolf	Dram	1.36	489 445	7.1
Mon	01/06/2020	1000	1146	S3	SABC News	News	1.35	486 525	8
Sun	28/06/2020	1646	1859	S3	The Emirates Fa Cup: Leicester City vs Ch	Spor	1.32	473 401	4.9
Tue	02/06/2020	1200	1255	S3	The A-Team	Dram	1.28	461 060	7.2
Wed	17/06/2020	1200	1259	S3	Knight Rider	Dram	1.22	440 429	6.3
Sun	07/06/2020	1730	1826	S3	Mela	Maga	1.21	435 802	4.5
Sat	06/06/2020	2100	2127	S3	News	News	1.19	428 398	4.4
Mon	01/06/2020	1207	1259	S3	Magnum P.I.	Dram	1.16	417 777	6.4
Sun	07/06/2020	2131	2359	S3	Man on Fire	Movi	1.13	407 109	7.9
Sun	07/06/2020	1430	1726	S3	Dil Dhadakne Do	Movi	1.12	403 366	5.4
Tue	02/06/2020	1255	1300	S3	Music	Musi	1.08	390 081	6.8
Tue	02/06/2020	1930	2024	S3	Tropika Island of Treasure	Real	1.05	377 125	2.6
Mon	01/06/2020	1300	1427	S3	On Point	News	0.99	357 209	5.4
Sun	07/06/2020	1930	2028	S3	Icons	Docu	0.96	346 071	2.9

Herding Words: One dangerous voice

unicorn-duck-bath-duck-squeak-duck by birgl courtesy of Pixabay

by Wendy Shepherd (@thewordshepherd) I had a horrible creative director when I was 30. He was famously horrible, and what made him so was his pedantic attention to minute details, his immaculate shirts — and his flawless work ethic.

He was so ironed it was impossible to imagine him getting muffin cream on his tiny little beard or disappointing his mother. I loved him, even when I left work at 8pm and he phoned me to ask why I’d gone home while my art director still laboured over an errant piece of Arial in a PowerPoint presentation. I didn’t appreciate him until about 15 years later, though, when I realised what Howard’s real game was.

He was a lot of things but he wasn’t a power freak. Even though he coiffured every tiny detail of his creative department, his voice was never the one that came out at the pitch. Somehow, he managed to run a whole department of great, strong, brave creative voices, all of whom were heard in the end product, no matter how junior they were. That was why he made passive-aggressive phone calls. That was why he often kept us grinding away into the small hours. That was why he insisted we take ownership of the brands we worked on, which, frankly, must have killed him a little bit.

Howard knew the value many voices bring to the dubious art of advertising. There’s a troubling dearth of people who do.

Brand-standing

If corporate brand managers were actually unicorns, they’d be the kind that nursery kids make — a toilet-roll horn stuck badly on a wine-tube body and then painted erratically with the gay abandon that’s only appealing when it’s not your kid bringing it home. They have amazing job titles, too. I sometimes go on LinkedIn just to find new ones — brand custodian, customer chief, brand magician, and even head unicorn. Normally, they work for a single brand, and occupy the grey territory between advertising and marketing. Nobody really knows what they do but they seem to spend a lot of time running around convincing people they’re doing it.

Technically, they’re supposed to take care of the brand, make sure it’s staying true to itself, and getting out there appropriately and in the correct language. Brands need consistency, integrity and identity but they also need flexibility. This is where the unicorn’s horn falls off.

What you get when there’s one person in charge of driving the brand voice is a one-dimensional brand. “We don’t say hi; we say hello” is all very well in the brand guidelines but, when it extends to editing everything into the narrow groove of a single voice, all of that starts to become meaningless. The brand loses integrity; it becomes hard to believe; and, worse, it becomes hard to buy into.

Unleavened copywriting

This is how to kill a copywriter: give them a job creating copy and content for a brand; let them get excited and run with it; then rewrite absolutely everything they submit except the prepositions — every single time. Not because they write abysmal copy but because you need your brand to sound exactly the same every time, and how it’s supposed to sound is like the brand manager. Coincidentally, this is also the way to kill a brand.

There’s a good reason copywriters and brand managers aren’t the same people. Copywriters are endemically flexible beings, able to bend and spin some pretty ordinary words into something remarkable. If they aren’t given the chance to do that, why hire them? If you’re going to rewrite everything yourself anyway, one of two things is happening: either you’re incapable of generating original ideas and have to rely on a thought-starter with a whole job they didn’t realise they were doing, or you’re so up yourself you can’t see the brand for the backside.

Copywriting’s already in trouble. Not giving the craft a chance to rise and breathe is bad for copywriters, and bad for your brand.

Bend it like Bernbach

Another top bloke who knew the drill was Bill Bernbach. If you’ve been around a while, you’ve probably heard of him. If not, he’s worth a trip down the Google rabbit hole.

He started DDB (Doyle Dane Bernbach) back when the Mad Men were selling more Luckys because they were toasted. He was a different animal, though. While David Ogilvy was pushing research, Bernbach was talking about creativity as the special sauce. “It’s like love — the more you analyze it, the faster it disappears,” he said. You can’t quantify it and, if you try, it slips through your fingers.

By now, we’re all weary of the “robots are going to take our jobs” refrain but we can’t ignore the truth that being that intangible version of human — a creative thinker — does set our often-depressing species apart. The problem is that creative thinking doesn’t happen because of a manifesto of brand values. Bernbach was vehemently against confined thinking. “Rules are what the artist breaks; the memorable never emerged from a formula.” Perhaps it’s time we relooked how we approach the mighty brand voice, and allowed ourselves to bend the rules.

Young people are foolish

A friend of mine owns a major PR firm. At least once a week, she complains about millennial staff members. She finds them feckless, in short, and wont to do whatever they like with little regard for the task at hand. Yet she hires them for exactly the same reason. Her company remains extremely successful in a very dire economic climate, and part of the reason is because she allows voices she doesn’t entirely trust to have a go and see what happens. It’s risky business but she stands by it, and if her ebullient clients (and they’re big clients) are anything to go by, she seems to have tapped the special sauce with this business bravery.

New people are also foolish. Like crisp new brooms, they often sweep into a creative department with bright, unjaded eyes and completely misunderstand the brands they work on for at least two months, turning out copy that’s refreshing, galvanising and not entirely shit. People like Howard would swoop on these people, promote them at once, put them in charge of the brands they got wrong, and let them fly. He was exactly the same with anyone who showed any thinking that had nothing to do with the brand formula.

Writing for a brand is a tricky gig. Perhaps that’s why brand managers get such ludicrous titles — a little attempt to elevate the job from word janitor to creative thinker. Allowing the rule-breakers to emerge above the editor’s pencil is important, though. Otherwise, a robot might as well be doing it.

Young, Gifted & Killing It: Justice Mukheli

by Veli Ngubane (@TheNduna) Artist/filmmaker/photographer Justice Mukheli (@justice_mukheli; IG: @justicemukheli) is too humble to brag about his achievements and accolades, so I will. This Bomb director has just been invited to be a Young Guns 18 judge by The One Club for Creativity, with 31 other top young creatives from around the world. This Soweto-born creative also has much to say about how the industry should nurture, grow and celebrate young black talent in the industry.

Veli Ngubane: No conversation starts these days without mentioning covid-19, so let’s start there. How have the past few months been for you and how have you reacted to the crisis?
Justice Mukheli: The past few months have been interesting because covid-19 [has] forced me to relook at my view of my own life, to relook at what is important in my daily routine, what is important in my professional life and, most importantly, what is important in my life in general. So, I find myself in a space where [have] I needed to remind myself to just breathe, to be present in each moment of my life, to be present in every interaction I have with other people, to be intentional with my actions.

VN: Now let’s get to know you better: where did you grow up and what was your journey into the creative industry?
JM: I’ll drop in Soweto — Phumzile, to be specific. I am one of four kids; my twin brother and I are in the middle. So, it is a beautiful place, especially for a curious mind like mine because there were so many interesting things [worth] interacting with, seeing, and experiencing. Among [them] was fashion; see[ing] my father and his friends and my uncles and their friends was the most-beautiful thing to witness as a kid growing up because they were so dressed up every day in their fancy Brentwood, Crockett & Jones, Dickies and more.

I grew up in a house with creatives but [my mother was] a non-conventional creative because she used to make jerseys with interesting patterns, and she used to bake cakes with innovative recipes. And my father is creative but I only experience his creative side once when I was young, I think I was six years old and my twin brother and I were listening to a jazz record with him and he made a drawing of the three of us sitting around the table listening to jazz.

I didn’t go to any art school — I didn’t even know that there were art schools when I was young until I was in late high school and I realise[d] that[’s] my interest because I was doing graffiti design, murals, portraits for people and more. And that sparked my interest to build a portfolio that later got me into advertising by chance. And I got in through Neo Mashigo, who was working at Draftfcb at the time. So, I got an internship there and that’s how my journey to what I am growing to be began.

VN: The #BlackLivesMatter movement has impacted brands. How do you think South African brands fared in reacting to the race and gender issues?
JM: To be honest, I didn’t see much engagement from the brands; maybe this is because we see what we follow. Especially now that our lives are very much on social media. So, based on who I follow, I didn’t brands engage this subject.

VN: How do we attract, grow, and keep young black talent in the creative industry?
JM: This is a good question. I think we have amazing young black creatives on the come-up but we fail them because most creatives in the position of power fear to empower the young ones, because they are afraid to lose their positions — and this is a whole other conversation — but I feel that stating this is enough for now.

So, when you ask how do we attract them, my answer is: We attract them by giving them opportunities that we fought long and hard to get to. We attract them by helping them occupy space in a way they can benefit, and this is done by equipping them with the most-important tools. These tools are: reminding them [to] be humble and let the work speak; [to] forget about the company politics and focus on refining your skills; [to] remind them that they must be patient because their time to shine will come; [to] remind them that success is not an overnight process.

I believe that, if we teach most young creative the above tools, and others I didn’t mention, the industry will grow and more black creatives will stay and also grow beautifully.

VN: Why do you think the advertising industry is struggling to transform and what do you think should be done to fast-track transformation in advertising?
JM: I think this industry needs to realise the urgency to prioritise black creatives because, in 2020, we still see commercials or rather communication that is still triggering by not representing black people the right way — we still see communication that is not respectful of our culture. This can only be corrected by the industry prioritising and [including] black creatives and let[ting] them have a voice.

VN: I’m interested in your thoughts on how black people are portrayed on TV and in adverts, and what needs to change to reflect the realities of our black communities?
JM: I think the issues are not as bad as they used to be but the most common issue is when ads make black people caricatures or exoticise black bodies.

VN: What advice would you give someone running a creative business in this time of crisis and what is this “new normal” that everyone talks about?
JM: Be open to new ways of working. The idea of offices might not be the way to go in the future.

VN: What do you feel is missing in the advertising industry today and what should the future look like in South Africa and the rest of the continent?
JM: Consideration of black creatives and giving them the opportunities to grow and occupy the position of power and decision-making, because the consumers and target audience for most brands are black people. So, creative communication should speak to consumers the way they speak.

VN: Where and when do you have your best ideas?
JM: Hahaha, damn, I’ve never thought about but I think it all happens between 2 and 4 in the morning.

VN: Tell us something about yourself not generally known?
JM: I speak 10 of South African languages. I can paint, draw and sculpt. My first passion was programming. I used to be a “street gymnast”.

VN: What exciting projects are you working on at the moment?
JM: I am finishing post on two short film music videos for the band, Urban Village. The production for Shaka Zulu is beginning and I am very excited about that. I am currently writing my [first] short film with a friend of mine.

VN: Brag a bit, don’t be shy — tell us about your career highlights so far and the awards and accolades you’re most proud of?
JM: Haha… I don’t know where to start.

VN: You wake up tomorrow and you’re the president of the country. What measures and laws would you pass to build the creative industry for future generations?
JM: I think the creative industry must be identified as an essential industry in this country and [I would] prioritise and include our industry in the development funds and more.

VN: Please would you supply two or three pieces of work you have been involved in?

Co-directed with Amy Allais:

My work as a fine art photographer: justicemukheli.com.

#NotSoOrdinary: Lessons from Euripides & conspiracy theorists

question-mark-knowledge-question by Arek Socha courtesy of Pixabay

by Taazima Kala-Essack (@taazimakala) The ancient Greek tragedian, Euripides, famously said, “Question everything.” In other words, accept nothing without due reason. Why? Well, why not?

Don’t get me wrong; I’m no conspiracy theorist but even I’d be hard pressed to admit that, with all the covid-19 conspiracy theories flying around, I don’t find myself intrigued. However, this intrigue is less about entertaining the belief that nations are enacting a game of proverbial battleship with a pandemic, or buying into the idea that the mess we find ourselves in is a wholly orchestrated one, and more about the one thing the conspiracy theorists around us do so undeniably well: question everything.

So quick

In a world that’s so obsessed with always having answers and solutions (“5 ways to enhance your relationship”, “Top tips to do better at your job” etc), why are we so quick to leap to accepting and answering when we don’t even ask the requisite questions?

I’m not about to offer up an answer to this very question, mind you. This is more about the business of asking why we don’t ask enough questions, and the inherent potential for success we overlook as a result.

Everyone can and should be a questionologist (a made-up word attributable to Warren Berger, who writes wonderfully on beautiful questions). Question everything. Why are some things still being done in the same age-old ways? Why does someone get selected for a promotion over you when you are equally qualified? Why do some people respond better to certain personalities than others? Why do we often do what’s told when we know full well there are too many puzzle pieces missing to make it worthwhile at the time? Question everything.

Inventors and scientists

All the greatest inventors and scientists, past and present, asked questions. Isaac Newton asked, ‘Why does an apple fall from a tree?’ Charles Darwin asked, ‘Why does the moon not fall into the Earth?’ Albert Einstein asked, ‘What would the universe look like if I rode through it on a beam of light?’ Again, I say, question everything.

Questioning does not come from a point of doubt or uncertainty. Far from it, for questioning the status quo may breed creativity, innovation and learning. Studies have shown that four-year-olds ask as many as 200 to 300 questions per day, and it’s through their incessant question-asking that they learn. Questioning is the art of learning.

The power of asking questions can’t be overemphasised. Quizzical, inquisitive minds do well to better understand the world and look at things just a bit differently. Brands that do the same often stand apart from others because they find new and uncharted ways within their exploration of the unknown. They question what’s out there and why. They ask the easy questions, as well as the tough ones, and they constantly seek new facets of what they’re told.

Time of great change

In this time of great change, we need to create a much more radical future and the status quo isn’t how we will achieve that.

Take mavericks such as Virgin and Red Bull, for example, which throw caution to the wind daily. They question the norm in favour of the new and the different. And look at how well this works for them! We see fun, playful, downright clever things from these brands and very seldom can anything they develop be labeled boring or “meh”. I like to think their marketing and communications teams likely comprise renegades who refuse to simply be instruction-takers, who choose to question the whys and the hows to the point where the end result is like no other. They must be a bunch of questionologists.

There’s a clear purpose, however, rather than simply asking questions for questions’ sake. “Questions are such powerful tools that they can be beneficial — perhaps particularly so — in circumstances when question asking goes against social norms,” note Alison Wood Brooks and Leslie K John in a 2018 piece for Harvard Business Review. Skillfully asking questions, the duo posit, can unlock learning and even improve interpersonal bonding or help build rapport. Further, Joan Cheverie in The Professional Development Commons even goes as far as noting: “Improved ‘questioning’ can strengthen managerial effectiveness.” Some of the best leaders today are known to be avid questioners as well as listeners.

Paradox

The clear paradox exists in that, if we do not ask the right questions, how do we arrive at the right solutions? Perhaps, just maybe, if we start to become greater questionologists, we may see a new generation of leaders, thinkers, visionaries, luminaries and more. A generation that flips everything on its head and changes the game entirely.

The key is to begin by simply asking more questions, and you will learn to ask better questions, and even the right questions. Remember your manners, your tone, and your timing. Let your questions be informed by the context, and let them provoke, inspire and, in some cases, even give shock value. Where appropriate, ask questions the other person will enjoy answering. Be consumed by the need to learn, grow, and thrive by simply allowing curiosity and a hunger for further understanding and lateral thinking.

So, thank you for the lesson, conspiracy theorists: Question everything. I certainly will and, if reading this has done anything for you, I hope it’s that it’s awakened a near insatiable curiosity within you.

What is currency?

What is a service worth?

Predicament

Is it enough?

See also

Truly transformative

Black female talent

Clients

See also

Digital CX report

“Surprised”

Fixes

Mobile-first

See also

Sustainable vs short-termism

“Unique value proposition”

Built on purpose

Purpose catalyses success

#BlackLivesMatter

See also

Personal & professional transformation

Racism

“Opened my eyes”

“No black voices”

See also

Fertile ground

Only a matter of time

The real opportunity

See also

DStv, Jun 2020

Top 30 Programmes All Adults 15+ & DStv Adults Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm

e.tv, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+ Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

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SABC 1, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+ Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

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SABC 2, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+ Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

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SABC 3, Jun 2020

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+ Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

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Top 30 Programmes All Adults 15+ & DStv Adults
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:36011 S:7832