Stan Lee & Spike Lee — the power of nuance in narrative

by Ismail Jooma. The term “storytelling” is an overtraded term in adland; “amplify the brand story” tends to be an obligatory addition to what is often a verbose checklist. This usually leads to the introduction of another well-worn adlandism: “insight”. This all-pervasive word has come to encapsulate the crux of whatever existential crisis clients believe our consumers might be facing.

The challenge with the ethereal nature of insight within the context of communication strategy is that it’s not commonly understood between clients, agency partners and strategists, making it easy for the brand stories we tell to be wrapped in prosaic observations masquerading as relevance. The best strategists are those who’re able to identify and then translate an insight into a narrative that’s not only relevant to the consumer but, more to the point, imbue that narrative with nuance.

Couldn’t be more different

Two such strategists are Stan Lee and Spike Lee who, apart from sharing a surname — and having them confused, albeit briefly, by a New Zealand newspaper’s 2018 obituary of Stan Lee — couldn’t be more different.

Stan Lee, born in 1922, was a white Jewish comic-book writer, editor, publisher and producer who lead the creative development at Marvel Comics for over two decades. Spike Lee, born in 1957, is an African-American writer, director, producer and actor who, from behind the camera, almost single-handedly disrupted the nature of sexual politics and the historic portrayal of African Americans in Hollywood.

One wrote stories about imaginary figures with made-up powers — superheroes — while the other tells American dark truths about real people dealing with the often-harsh reality of everyday life. What unites them is their commitment to crafting narratives that delve deeper into the human experience, going beyond the one-dimensional character portrayals prevalent within the industries they disrupted.

Black Panther

Stan Lee’s greatest contribution to modern culture wasn’t just the superheroes he helped create; it was how these creations were a way to provide commentary on social issues reflecting the moral dilemmas of society. His characters, such as the X-Men and Black Panther, were champions of equality who started out as a civil-rights metaphor but, in modern society, can just as easily be transposed to reflect equality issues within the LGBTQ community and the Black Lives Matter movement.

In an era of rising Islamophobia, Lee’s Marvel Comics created Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teen from Jersey City who breaks the stereotype of the repressed Muslim woman and headlines her own series as Ms Marvel. Marvel’s statement at the inception of this new hero further emphasised its commitment to telling more meaningful stories: “As much as Islam is a part of Kamala’s identity, this book isn’t preaching about religion or the Islamic faith in particular. It’s about what happens when you struggle with the labels imposed on you, and how that forms your sense of self.”

She’s Gotta Have It

Spike Lee’s foray into filmmaking launched his career in 1986 with the movie, She’s Gotta Have It, in which the black female protagonist can’t decide on the type of man she wants to date and so resolves to date three at the same time. The movie is widely acknowledged as giving women, and especially black women, a voice, and permission to be sexual beings without having to fit in to the traditional patriarchal narrative. The storyline remains relevant today, with Netflix having turned it into a 10-part series in 2017 and officially renewing it for a second season a year ago.

Over his 30+ year career, Spike Lee has tackled controversial issues such as urban violence, most notably in his seminal film, Do the Right Thing, which unpacks the layered tensions that unfold in a multicultural neighbourhood built on a legacy of social injustice; identity politics, through the vulnerable depiction of the historically misunderstood Malcom X; and racism, most recently in BlackKklansman, hailed for bringing wit and optimism to a difficult subject matter.

Both Lees shared a passion and a purpose to reframe the world, they gave agency to the disenfranchised through their stories and characters and, more often than not, pre-empted the cultural zeitgeist of the time by shedding light on the overlooked human element within the details of everyday life.

In an age of optimised demographic targeting and ever-increasing audience data, marketers need to hone this art of telling nuanced narratives in order for our brand stories to intersect where effectiveness and relevance meet. And, based on last week’s Oscars, where BlackKklansman walked away with best adapted screenplay and Black Panther with original score, production design and costume design, the two Lees continue to show that nuance in narrative is what matters most.

Top five lessons to be learnt from the Lees

1. It’s not about budget

She’s Gotta Have It went on to gross over US$7 000 000 at the box office, despite being shot in twelve days on a budget of US$175 000. Its success was due to its relevance of subject material and its audience, who up until then had never seen anything like it before. The movie not only broke the mould about female sexuality; it also showed America and the world that the black experience wasn’t just about slavery, racism and societal inequality.

2. Take a stand and relate it to your audience

Superhero creators have a proud history of being political. Captain America punched Hitler in the face before the US even entered the war. Black Panther was the first superhero of African descent and Jewish immigrants created Superman, a refugee. And, while other comic publishers of superhuman heroes emphasised the super, Stan Lee opted rather to focus on the human.

3. Learn from your mistakes

When Spike Lee released She’s Gotta Have it, some of the criticism of the movie came from the fact that Lee, a man, was writing from the point of view of Nola, a woman. One scene, a gratuitous rape scene, specifically received a lot of backlash, something that Lee addressed when he remade the Netflix series. He enlisted no less than five female writers from different walks of life, including a Pulitzer-Prize winner, his sister, wife and daughter, to bring an extra layer of authenticity to the work.

4. Collaborate and give credit where it is due

While Stan Lee’s contribution to popular culture has been immense, a blemish on his legacy is that co-creators such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko didn’t share in the commercial success of their work as a result of not being adequately credited for their contribution.

5. Inspire your audience to connect with each other

Perhaps, most crucially, we need to inspire people to connect with others. It’s no longer enough to talk about your brand; what matters more is that we create content and experiences worthy of being shared by our audience. Both Lees created characters and stories that inspired, entertained and, ultimately, gave a voice that extends beyond a cult following.

 

Ismail Jooma. Credit: Chris Saunders (www.chrissaunders.co)Ismail Jooma is a student of culture and creativity with a background in visual communication. He heads up strategy at VML South Africa and advocates for insight-driven work that creates cultural impact.

“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.

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Thinking B2B: B2B — from marketing to business conversations

by Warren Moss (@warrenmoss) South African B2B companies are obsessed with moving from ‘product’- to ‘solutions’-selling because they believe that B2B buyers are looking for solutions, instead of products. While this is absolutely true, the B2B companies totally overestimate their influence in the purchase journey.

Understands more

Not too long ago (not necessarily ‘pre-internet’ but ‘pre-knowledge of how to access and navigate the information on the internet’), B2B buyers relied on salespeople for education about products and solutions, positioning these B2B sales people as trusted advisors who’d inevitably win the sale because they’d taken the buyer through the entire purchase journey, from problem identification to solution provision. Today, particularly in B2B, the B2B buyer understands more about what solutions are available than ever before, meaning that both B2B sales and marketing organisations need to take a new tack — ‘solution-selling’ is dead, and ‘insights-selling’ is the key to successful partnerships.

A recent Corporate Executive Board (CEB) study of 1 400 B2B decision-makers showed that over 60% of the purchasing decision, including researching solutions, ranking options, setting requirements and benchmarking pricing, is completed before the B2B buyer has a conversation with a potential supplier. That is frightening. That means that your B2B salesperson coming in for a conversation needs to offer the buyer more value than already achieved, in order to have any chance of winning the deal — if not, they’re more an annoyance than an asset.

B2B marketers and salespeople now need to look to the future and understand the potential of a B2B buyer’s industry and company, with a focus on showing them how they can grow and win, instead of showing them how to ‘fix’ a problem they’re most likely 60% of the way to solving, themselves. B2B salespeople need to be armed with insights packaged and delivered to them by smart marketing organisations, which show the B2B buyer what their unknown needs are, rather than revisiting the known ones.

Partnership

In a solution-selling world, B2B marketers created explainer videos, brochures, sales collateral and slide decks to help sales people articulate the complexity of products to potential buyers. Now, the buyer can — and will — find that detail anywhere in the world, at the click of a button. In an insights-selling world, B2B marketers need to change their mindset to one of a partnership with salespeople, arming them with insights designed to appeal to a target group of companies with needs they may not even know they have yet.

This requires a change of mindset within the B2B marketing organization, too. The focus needs to shift away from producing ‘solutions’ collateral and move towards researching and understanding the buyer’s industry, company and what they need to do to grow their business. Modern B2B marketers need to be able to have business conversations with buyers, not just marketing conversations. Marketing and sales also have to be aligned, rather than working in support — and the only way to do that is to have joint KPIs.

B2B companies that recognise the need to evolve are brilliant candidates to target with insights-selling. Solution-selling was about going into a company and uncovering and then addressing a customer need. In insights-selling, addressing unrecognised needs opens up the list of companies that sales people can approach, because the insights they’re armed with don’t limit them to companies with a ‘problem’ that needs to be solved.

Organisation’s future

Often the most-successful client wins will come from showing clients the future of B2B marketing within their organisations, not selling them B2B agency and advisory services. Show them what the future of their organisation is, in the sales and marketing context: what they could be doing, what they should be thinking about — and how they should be doing it. Those are insights that they don’t have, because they’re focused on finding solutions to problems they have right now.

If we, as B2B marketing agencies, position ourselves as a genuine provider of insights that can help them grow their businesses, the likelihood that they’ll partner with us increases dramatically. Supported by a modern marketing team offering real insights, the modern ales person needs to be more of an intellectual and a teacher, able to have different conversations with a buyer and offering genuine value in coaching the buyer through a process they already largely have a grasp of, rather than just trying to sell them a product.

 

Warren MossWarren Moss (@warrenmoss) is the CEO and founder of Demographica, a multi-award winning full service agency that specialises in the B2B category. He is the chair of both the Direct Marketing Association of South Africa (DMASA) and the Assegai Integrated Marketing Awards (Assegais), as well as the only African to judge the B2 Awards, which recognise the top performing B2B marketers in the world. Warren contributes the monthly “Thinking B2B” column, which looks at the latest trends in B2B communications and explains why it is fundamentally different from B2C comms.

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The Power Report: Marketing, plain language & the law

by Megan Power (@Power_Report) It’s no accident that South Africa’s consumer protection legislation insists on the use of plain language. Communication lacking it is neither smart, nor fair. We communicate to share, guide, help; if one party doesn’t understand, what’s the point?

To pass muster with Section 22 of our Consumer Protection Act, business has to communicate in such a way that an ordinary person, with average literacy skills and minimal experience of the goods or services offered, will understand. Without much effort.

The US-based Center for Plain Language sums it up well: plain language is making wording, structure, and design so clear that people “can easily find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information.” How “plain” depends on the audience; what’s plain for one audience may not be for another. But it’s not just about the grammar.

Says the Center: “Plain language is more than just short words and short sentences… when you create material in plain language, you also organise it logically for the audience. You consider how well the layout of your pages or screens works for the audience. You anticipate their questions and needs.”

Communicating effectively

That last sentence (the emphasis is mine) is crucial. Communicating effectively with consumers starts with understanding their challenges. It’s the only way you can discover what your customers need to get the job done (not what you think they need) and, more importantly, how to talk to them in the language they use and understand. Sounds simple enough, but a quick look at how consumers are engaged with shows a concerning disconnect. From notices, promotional material and T&Cs to product packaging, website content and social media scripts, business communication is too often awash with jargon, acronyms and clichés.

It’s sales speak, neither relatable, useful nor relevant, and coming at a time when people demand answers and direction. As consumers, we just want to understand the proposition and the product. Tell us how this works, how it helps us, what to do when it goes wrong. It’s lean stuff, with no frills.

Medical schemes, insurance, banks and telcos are often among the worst culprits. Burdened by technical lingo and complexity, it’s second nature for them to speak in their own vocabulary, instead of a consumer’s. Even the better communicators who ditch the jargon still hang on to words none of us ever use. The reality is we don’t get into our vehicles every day; we get into our cars. We don’t peruse a document; we read it. We don’t utilise data; we use it. We don’t commence a journey; we start it. We don’t purchase bread; we buy it. And nobody terminates relationships; we simply end them.

“Inconvenience”

When my local supermarket is out of stock of my favourite coffee brand, it’s an “inconvenience”. When I’m double-billed on an account three months in a row, causing havoc with my bank balance, “inconvenience” no longer cuts it. As for companies that thank me for my patience; it’s not a virtue I possess. Rather say you’re sorry you made me wait two weeks for an answer.

Words have power and need to be chosen wisely. Some are better off not chosen at all, like the inane “Have a good day further”. Who speaks like this? I’ve seen it in emails, and it was the automated message when I got off a recent domestic flight.

It’s not easy writing plainly; anyone who’s tried will know. And it’s also not a case of dumbing down; consumers are not that easily fooled. Besides, no matter how educated consumers are, nobody wants to work hard at understanding something. Making it easier is not patronising; it’s empowering.

How they say it

The trick is to know not only what your customers say about your brand, but how they say it. Then you can talk to them in the same language. Besides traditional customer research, direct input from frontline staff is invaluable. These are the people at the coalface, who experience up close and personal what customer painpoints are, where gaps in understanding exist, and, most importantly, how these are expressed.

There are other ways in, too. You should be tracking, through call centres and on social media, how customers verbalise the obstacles and how they describe your processes. You could commission independent customer-journey audits where your communication and messaging at each stage are put to the test, from an ordinary consumer’s point of view.

It’s all about becoming your customer, in an authentic way. So, walk in their shoes for a week or so — you’ll know soon enough how they fit.

 

Megan PowerMegan Power (@Power_Report) has nearly 30 years’ experience working in South African media, including investigative journalism and news editing; she now runs Power LAB, a strategic communications and customer experience agency focusing on customer journey audits, crisis readiness and brand reputation. Megan’s consumer column, The Power Report, ran weekly in the Sunday Times for six years and has now found a new home on MarkLives.

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What’s the holy grail of marketing?

by Prakash Patel (@PrakashPatel_1) Let me start by asking what I believe is one of the most-critical questions in marketing and advertising today: If the customer is the single most-important asset to a company, who in your business knows who they are, their value and who is looking after them?

Data-driven marketing has been around since the early ’90s and been covered extensively by many data planners, myself and others for decades —when data-crunching by geeks wasn’t cool and agencies laughed at us. But it was a time when forward-thinking clients and data geeks relished the insights and understood the power of data above creativity. Yes, above creativity. Without insightful marketing, it was like sending a beautiful award-winning creative direct-mailer selling a lawnmower to someone living in a high story apartment without a garden (#TrueStory).

Brands have access to big data, from more contextual, behavioral, and profile data than ever before. Yet most brands still do not know who their customers are, let alone having a relationship with them.

But, for me, it was my introduction and foundation to marketing, and one of the most-important periods of my career. I learnt more about customers, personalisation, data manipulation, analysis, CRM, the power of hypothesis, predictive and behavior targeting and, basically. the raw simplicity of knowing who your consumer was, above being a number, an award, or now a follow, a like, or a retweet.

I believe data is vital to brands when it comes to developing personalised propositions, creating ongoing customer relationships and delivering extended customer LTV.

It was a scientific period, when analysts, mathematicians, data planners and statisticians used huge clunky systems and software like SPSS to crunch and mine data to unearth some real insights that would reveal a nugget for a more-targeted and personalised marketing campaign. A time when junk mail and spam were coined, and we did what we could to both respect our consumers we were targeting and to avoid wasting money. A time when I believe we respected our consumers and marketing more, unlike today, where we have so many options of media, platforms or media sites, yet data is still overseen, never part of the strategy or planning and tending to be an afterthought (just like digital was in the past).

I’ve created many strategic frameworks over the years but the essence, or elements, hasn’t really changed (only the technology and software). I believe brands need to be able to identify and trace their customers’ entire journey and their usage from what I call ‘cradle to grave’. See example framework below.

Prakash Patel - from cradle to grave
Click to enlarge

So, 20+years later, I’ve just read numerous articles about how important data is and so on. Seriously, there is nothing new about data. It just feels as if we’ve lost our way, as if we’ve been chasing awards above strategy and insights.

Data, the DNA and bloodline to a successful brand.

For me, the only difference, is the sheer amount of data we have access to (big or small), and the more user-friendly technology, software and tools we have to analyze data, visualise data, manage data and use data for marketing. Data was always important then, as much as it is today! But, today, no marketer has an excuse as to why they don’t have access to data, how to mine it or use it for greater personalised marketing — either online or offline.

In summary

Knowing your customer isn’t easy in any organisation, let alone in a complex organisation with multiple layers, entry points, customer contacts, data systems, social media and ongoing business and digital transformation, etc. But it is more than doable. It may not be the holy grail of marketing, but it is most definitely one of the most-valuable elements of meaningful marketing and business.

Here are my first five aspects of driving world-class data and customer management:

  1. Data integration: Having a single customer view across channels, products and functions; without a single view, the truth is lost
  2. Process integration: Ensuring that processes are set up to ensure each customer touch point, interaction and engagement is joined up, so each step leads seamlessly to the next in the eyes of the customer
  3. Communications integration: Having a single person or function responsible for coordinating all inbound and outbound communications with each customer
  4. Structure integration: Having an organisational structure that encourages all managers to look after the interests of each customer holistically
  5. Metrics integration: Having targets and systems that encourage all staff members to look after the interests of each customer and grow their value

So, in 2019 — as I have written before — invest in data-driven marketing, an old discipline that has simply been lost through either lack of knowhow or simply because we don’t care. If you do anything this year, make the data you gather count, unlock its potential and use it as the blueprint to your brand’s total customer experience.

 

Prakash PatelPrakash Patel (@PrakashPatel_1), a seasoned strategist and data-driven digital marketer, is managing director of Fogg Cape Town. Previously, he was CEO of Prezence and chief digital officer of FCB/Mesh. Prior to moving to SA, Prakash spent over 18 years at some of the world’s largest and independent data and digital agencies in the UK. Now he is trying to keep up with tomorrow today and helping brands add value in the #TraDigital era.

“Motive” is a by-invitation-only column on MarkLives.com. Contributors are picked by the editors but generally don’t form part of our regular columnist lineup, unless the topic is off-column.

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SA TV Ratings: SABC 1 — primetime top 20 for Jan 2019

by MarkLives (@marklives) The hottest primetime shows on SABC 1 in South Africa revealed: TV ratings for January 2019.

SABC 1 logoSABC 1, January 2019

Top 20 Programmes All Adults 15+
January 2019 Prime Time 5.30pm—10pm
Adults 15+ years U:35679 S:8198

Source: BRCSA January 2019

Day

Date

From

To

Station

Programme title

Genre

AR

Viewers

Share
Thur 24/01/2019 2031 2100 S1 Uzalo Dram 25.5 9 090 243 67.2
Tue 29/01/2019 1959 2029 S1 Generations the Legacy Soap 22.4 8 005 920 62
Tue 15/01/2019 1830 1859 S1 Skeem Saam Dram 17.5 6 255 692 59.5
Thur 03/01/2019 1800 1900 S1 Matric Result Announcement Class of 2018 Educ 10.7 3 809 762 38.5
Thur 24/01/2019 1900 1929 S1 Xhosa News News 10.5 3 759 654 32.6
Wed 16/01/2019 1900 1929 S1 Zulu News News 10 3 567 983 32.8
Sun 20/01/2019 1930 2000 S1 Ngempela Dram 9.1 3 259 092 30.5
Wed 23/01/2019 2100 2159 S1 Khumbul’ Ekhaya Maga 8.6 3 077 341 28.6
Sun 06/01/2019 2003 2102 S1 Diamond City Dram 8.6 3 051 423 28.1
Tue 15/01/2019 1800 1830 S1 Nyan Nyan Real 8.5 3 027 682 35.1
Tue 15/01/2019 1930 1959 S1 Selimathunzi Vari 7.9 2 828 430 24.7
Wed 16/01/2019 1930 1958 S1 Sabc/Nfvf Black Woman Year 3 – My Brothe Dram 7.8 2 785 098 25.5
Mon 21/01/2019 1929 1958 S1 Rented Family Sitc 7.8 2 768 398 24.6
Sat 19/01/2019 1929 1959 S1 Real Goboza Maga 7.7 2 761 059 27.7
Wed 23/01/2019 1929 1959 S1 Sabc/Nfvf Black Woman Year 3 – Nompilo Dram 7.6 2 696 688 23.5
Wed 02/01/2019 1800 1831 S1 Reno-Race Vari 7.3 2 615 913 31.2
Wed 09/01/2019 1930 2000 S1 Sabc/Nfvf Black Woman Year 3 – Mmino Wa Dram 7.3 2 590 871 24.9
Fri 04/01/2019 1929 2000 S1 Live Amp Musi 7.2 2 579 649 24.4
Mon 07/01/2019 1929 1958 S1 My First Docu 7.2 2 578 153 22.8
Wed 02/01/2019 1929 1958 S1 Fifi’s Beaty Spot Dram 7.1 2 540 732 23.1

In 2016, the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) changed its policy about giving away TAMS and now only monthly reports, highlighting the top 20 or 30 primetime shows on several popular channels, are available.

 

Broadcast Research Council of South AfricaThe Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (the BRC) is a non-profit, industry body that was incorporated in 2015 to cater to the audience research needs of the radio and television industry in South Africa.

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#AgencyFocus: Leratadima & the business of creating value

by Sabrina Forbes. “We’re selling to ourselves. I am the demographic,” says Buyi Mafoko, Leratadima MD and co-founder, explaining her belief that this helps the agency add a greater level of authenticity in the stories it tells for its clients — stories all with the aim of building strong brands all across Africa. Key clients include Standard Bank, BMW, and Diners Club.

“We look, speak, and think like the target audience”

Leratadima operates as not only a 100% black-owned and -managed agency but one where 70% of staff is female. Anyone in this industry should understand the purchasing power of the female consumer and while most brands in South Africa should have a strategy in place for this, many don’t. According to Mafoko, Leratadima makes it easier for brands to understand this black female consumer because the people behind the work are the exact target audience. “It helps that we look, speak, and think like the target audience,” she says. “With the now hyper-connected consumer, brands are competing with multiple head spaces. They own the internet and, because of this, they own the narrative.”

Mafoko joined Leratadima in 2011 when it was still an out-of-home agency. Her vision was to shift the agency into the full-service offering. Part of this was refining what it already did well and adding complementary services to it, in order to create the Leratadima that exists today.

Three businesses

Under the Leratadima umbrella falls three different businesses. Leratadima Marketing, the full-service advertising agency; Leratadima PrintShop, established in 2015 as a fully resourced conceptual print studio; and Leratadima Foundation, established in 2012 as an initiative to support child- and youth-headed homes in Soweto and surrounds, and currently supporting 130 households.

The print shop added a unique value proposition when it launched, giving Leratadima the opportunity to own the value chain: it is able to offer more-competitive costs and control the deliverables of an intricate process. “We print everything from client-renewal letters to wine labels to certificates; this way the integrity of our clients’ brands are housed with one agency,” says Mafoko. “I’m not in the business of billing; I am in the business of creating value.”

The foundation serves to unburden as many child-led households as possible with monthly deliveries of staple foods and toiletries. For Mafoko, it’s her business’s way of giving back to her community in a way that drives changes, instead of just throwing money at a problem.

Leratadima client work collage
Top row: BMW. Second row: Diners Club. Third row: SAB. Fourth row: Save the Children.

People-centric

The team of 20 staffers at Leratadima Marketing under Mafoko’s guiding eye are all part of the people-centric culture that agency leadership strives for. For her , there are no hierarchies and everyone in the business is given a fair chance to be involved in client strategies. “Everyone’s perspective is important for a proper strategy to come to life,” she says. With a low staff turnover and a majority of staff serving 3–6 years, she believes her people-first philosophy is working: “We take care of the people piece before the work and creativity. That will then naturally flow. The industry is already fast-paced and pressured; we might as well have fun while we do it… our people are the heartbeat of our business.”

When it comes to acquiring new business, Mafoko admits it’s been a tough hill to climb and that the agency still relies on word of mouth and referrals to bring in new clients. In 2018, it decided to take a more-proactive approach to marketing itself but still experienced the difficulties and red tape involved in the process of becoming vendors to some of South Africa’s bigger brands.

The last 2–3 years has seen a shift in client procurement processes and, while many are looking to work with more black-owned agencies, Mafoko wants the agency to be considered based on its work as creatives, not on its work as a black agency. The way she sees it, if you haven’t jumped the procurement hurdle, you can wine and dine the marketing department as much as you want, with no luck.

The next decade

Mafoko’s plan for the next decade is to build an agency with strong roots in SA and well-supported offices and locations in the greater southern Africa region first, with an aim to work in the rest of Africa.

She understands that South Africa is often the first port of call for global brands and her goal is for Leratadima to be the agency of choice to help them forge north. She believes opening offices in key locations throughout Africa will stand the agency in good stead, considering its 10-year-plan. “We can’t claim to build African brands if we don’t take the steps ourselves,” she says.

Leratadima logo
www.leratadima.co.za • Ramify

  • Office locations: Sandown & Sandton, Joburg
  • Revenue band: R30–40m
  • Staff count: 20
  • Key clients: Diners Club, Standard Bank, BMW
  • Services: Creative, strategy, campaign management, activations, production

 

Sabrina Forbes“#AgencyFocus” is an ongoing weekly series updating the market on ad agency performance, including business performance, innovation, initiatives, the work, awards and people.

Sabrina Forbes (IG) is an experienced writer covering the food, health, lifestyle, beverage, marketing and media industries. She runs her own full-stack web/app development and digital-first content creation company. For more, go to moonwrench.com. She is a contributing writer to MarkLives.com.

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Young, Gifted & Killing It: Sibu Mabena

by Veli Ngubane (@TheNduna) Multitalented Sibu Mabena (@sibumabena) holds a political science and international relations degree but made a career change and now runs a creative communications agency called Duma Collective —scriptwriting, artist and event management, influencers — and she’s only in her mid-20s!

Veli Ngubane: Tell us more about yourself: where did you grow up and what did you want to be when you were growing up?
Sibu Mabena: I grew up in Joburg and Pretoria, spending a lot of my childhood with my mom and my late teenage years with my dad. As a kid, my dream was to be a computer scientist because I had a toy laptop and was good at using it, which had me thinking computers were my destiny. I abandoned that dream when I joined an afterschool dance programme in Grade 4 and went on to join the South African Dance Team competing abroad. My first trip, to Germany, opened my eyes to entertainment and big events, which is when I decided that I want to be in entertainment. What in entertainment, I didn’t know… but in entertainment.

VN: From a hip-hop dancer in high school to running your own business, tell us about your journey?
SM: I was 16 when I started making money from dancing as a choreographer and coach. I would charge R10 an hour per child. That translated into R10 per hour x 3 hours x 24 kids per rehearsal session. At the end of the dance term, the studio owner would collect my earnings from the parents on my behalf, and hand me an envelope full of cash! I knew I was on to something when I received my first R4 500 for doing what I loved: teaching kids, and sometimes even their parents, how to dance.

During the time I was teaching, I went on to join a popular dance crew in Joburg called The Repertoires. I was exposed to the street dance world through my involvement in the crew and later went on to volunteer at a dance event called Masters of Rhythm. By volunteering, I was able to learn how to put together an urban youth event and grew my network through working behind the scenes. I was interacting with brand managers, artists, members of JOC and other dance crews. I exploited that network and connected many dots for many people ie connecting brands to artists, artists to production companies, production companies to dancers etc. I freelanced for a lot of companies as well, and eventually decided I should register a company so I can open a business account and become some type of professional. I registered my business in 2014 and the ball has been rolling at 180km/h since then.

VN: Please explain what you actually do and what an average day looks like for you [at the time of interviewing]?
SM: Our agency is a creative communications agency that services FMCG brands, artists, agencies and production companies using creative direction for live performances, influencer campaigns and management, event consulting as well as talent management and procurement as tools. No two days are the same in my world.

A Monday would be status in the office with my team at 9am; and then 10am catch up on emails; 11am status for Black Coffee’s Music Is King event which we [handled] the marketing of; 12.30pm a meeting with the Global Citizen team to align on the script which [I wrote] alongside three other people from the GC team; 3pm checked in with client at Heineken SA to align on events for the coming weekend, 4.30pm 30 back to the office to polish up my TEDXLytteltonwomen talk so that [I was] cool for my coaching session on Tuesday. Tuesday, I [had] a walkthrough at FNB stadium for Guns & Roses which [was] sponsored by Heineken SA, then an interagency meeting for another brand we work[ed] on, then a meeting about a dance workshop [we organised] then a status with client then a dance class… NO 2 DAYS ARE THE SAME!

VN: Tell us about The Duma Collective, plans for the future and how did the company come about?
SM: Mbuduma Communications was the first company I registered in 2014. It is named after my clan name: Mabena, Mbuduma, Masokasokile, Nyawo zimasweswe etc etc. I found that people found it very difficult to pronounce the name (people of colour, mostly) and figured that, from a brand-building perspective, I would do better to either change the name or register a second company with another name: enter Duma Collective, which is a derivative of Mbuduma and means thunder in Nguni or desire in the seSotho languages. Now I have Mbuduma Communications and Duma Collective. Mbuduma will be used as an investment vehicle while Duma takes over as the creative communications agency.

VN: Please would you share some of the lessons you have learnt running your own business?
SM:

  1. Work like a slave and you’ll live like a queen (aka, work hard).
  2. Don’t be insecure because that will make you scared to collaborate with people. If a client wants to work with YOU, they will work with YOU and, if they want to go elsewhere, they will go. Don’t be scared to collaborate for fear of losing clients to your collaborators.
  3. There is enough work for all of us. We don’t all have to go for the same piece of the pie.
  4. Love what you do or stop doing it.

VN: Why do you think the advertising industry is struggling with transformation and what do you think needs to be done to fast-track transformation in our industry?
SM: Reliable alternatives to what already exists are hard to come by. The industry is made up of people who like to work with tried-and-tested options and, more so, people that they know and like. If we are to transform, first we need to grow the pool of skilled and knowledgeable alternatives, not necessarily experienced, but people with the KNOW HOW and capability. The pool exists, but it is small and you see the same “transformation” candidates being rotated in the industry instead of new people coming in and the pool to choose from growing. OPEN UP THE INDUSTRY AND THEN GROW IT.

VN: What is it like to work as a female in a male-dominated industry and how do you think the industry may attract more female creatives?
SM: I don’t struggle with getting work and I’ve never struggled with holding it down in a boardroom. Where the ‘boys club’ surfaces, if I’m right, they will see that I’m right and, if not, I accept it and get the job done someone else’s way. I don’t do it kicking and screaming and wearing my emotions on my sleeve as expected, but with grace, humility and understanding. Emotional intelligence goes a long way in this industry, whether you’re male or female, and I think that’s what will keep us thriving. The industry needs to become fertile ground for females to excel and I think it is making strides in becoming that. I can only speak from my point of view/experience.

VN: What do you feel is missing in our industry today?
SM: The will to be EXCELLENT at our work. We used to have EXCELLENT work coming out of agencies. I think we are comfortable now. The energy that fuelled healthy competition between agencies is gone now. We all just do our work and keep it moving. I used to look at the FMCG marketing space and wish I could get into that space. Now that I’m in it, I ask myself, is this it??? I need to do more and create that energy and excitement I witnessed for myself, I guess.

VN: Where and when do you have your best ideas?
SM: With client in the room!

VN: What advice can you give to young women wanting to get into the business?
SM: Start today!! Right now. With whatever you have, start today. Waiting for whatever you are waiting for is only going to eat away at your opportunity to do what you want to do! Start!!!!

VN: Tell us something about yourself not generally known.
SM: I spoke fluent German as a 4/5/6 year old but I’ve forgot it all now.

VN: Brag a bit, what has been your biggest achievement so far? You worked on the Global Citizen event… did you meet Beyoncè?
SM: South African Music Awards, South African Film and Television Awards, Metro FM Awards, GLO CAF Awards 2015 and 2016 in Nigeria, MTV Base Africa Awards 2015 and 2016, Castle Lite presents JCole, Travis Scott, Axecess Jozi, SAB conference, South African Sports Awards, Comedy Central International Comedy Festival, Nickfest, Afropunk Broolyn, MTV EMAs, Miller Kendrick Lamar SA tour, Global Citizens Festival (lol [at the time of this interview I had already met her publicist and creative director]), Fill Up The Dome, Orlando Stadium and FNB Stadium, Mail & Guardian Young South Africans 200, The Plug 100…. a lot!!!

VN: What exciting projects were you working on at the time of this interview?
SM:

  • Global Citizen Festival SA — scriptwriter
  • Black Coffee’s Music Is King at The Dome — marketing manager
  • A new influencer campaign for a car brand (so exciting)
  • 2019!!!!!

VN: Please would you supply two or three pieces of work you have been involved in?
SM: dumacollective.com/news-room

 

Veli NgubaneVeli Ngubane (@TheNduna) entered the world of advertising with a passion after completing his BSocSci (law, politics and economics) at UCT and a post-graduate marketing diploma at Red & Yellow, where he’s currently advisory board chairman. He also sits on the IAB’s Transformation & Education Council, is a DMA board member and Loeries, APEX, Pendoring, Bookmarks and AdFocus. He is the group MD of AVATAR, one of the largest black-owned and managed integrated agency offering in South Africa. In his monthly column “Young, Gifted & Killing It”, he profiles award-winning, kick-ass black creative talent in South Africa.

— One subscription form, three newsletters: sign up now for the MarkLives newsletter, including Ramify headlines; The Interlocker, our new monthly comms-focused mailer; and Brands & Branding, launching soon!

#AgencyLeaders2018: Most admired brand

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today we close off our annual Agency Leaders poll with the brands South Africa’s agency execs most wanted to work on during 2018.

MarkLives logoEvery year since 2012, MarkLives has been polling South Africa’s top ad agency leaders to find out what they think of their competitors, whom they see as effective managers and great creative leaders, and where they believe their future competition is likely to come from. The first week we ran our Cape Town results, the second week our Joburg results, and last week our South African results. This week, we run our remaining categories.

The brand that agencies most want to work on in South Africa

Nando’s

Nando's logoNando’s beat Coca-Cola and VW as the brand most agencies wanted to work with during 2018. This should come as no surprise, as the brand keeps on challenging convention and starting worthwhile (and necessary) conversations, all while continuing to serve up some of the best flame-grilled peri peri chicken.

In late 2017, Nando’s produced “We can fix our s#*t” leading up to the ANC elective conference, aimed at reminding South Africans that we have the power to change the things we care about — that we’ve done it before and can do it again. “We didn’t know (but were hopeful) that the changes sparked by the change in presidency would be as accurate as we demonstrated in that commercial, and were thus understandably delighted by the positive reception to the ad,” says Doug Place, Nando’s CMO: Africa, Middle East, South Asia.

The brand struck the right chord again in late 2018 with “You people”. It built on 2017’s call-to-arms to “fix some of the sh!t things which plague our communities, most potently the idea of ‘you people’ being a major blight on our ability to get together and make a better country,” explains Place.

While Nando’s lead creative agency is M&C Saatchi Abel, the brand enjoys working with a broad network of agency partners. On what it takes to build and maintain a successful and fruitful agency/client relationship, Place believes there isn’t any one recipe for success but that, as a brand, Nando’s strives to have a strong mutual admiration for the role each of its agency partners plays. “This firm foundation allows us to fight openly and constructively, and some of the brave work we’ve made in the past few years is testimony to this,” he says.

2018 achievements for the brand include Gold at the Loeries for the #rightmyname campaign, a top 10 ranking in Kantar Millward Brown’s most-valuable South African brand (Brand Z) rankings and Gold Assegai for its customer care programme. “We’ve never had a year where we’ve been so thoroughly recognised for a body of marketing work that goes beyond just advertising; as such I am thrilled to be working with the best marketing team in the country,” says Place.

This year, the increasing role of making purchase decisions online is going to be a key focus for the brand. “We have a brand new app which we’re really proud of. It’s transactionally efficient but also has the unmistakably fun Nando’s tone. We’re delighted with VML, who produced that with us. We’re also thrilled to be able to offer free customer wifi in all our restaurants, a first for a restaurant brand of our size.”

— Profile by Sabrina Forbes.

Previously: In 2017, Coca-Cola tied with Volkswagen. In 2016, it was Nando’s and, in 2015, it was Coca-Cola. In 2014, the first time we polled this category, it was Coca-Cola, too, with FNB close behind Coke.

 

The runner-up

Volkswagen logotypeVW South Africa

Previously: There were no runners-up in 2017 and 2016. In 2015, the runner-up was Nike. In 2014, the first time we polled this category, FNB was runner-up.

 

 

The contenders

KFC logo Chicken Licken logo

KFC

Chicken Licken

 

How the poll works

In November 2018, we invited a panel of 120 agency executives — creative and management, and ranging over a wide spectrum from small- and medium-sized to network agencies — to nominate their most-admired agency and agency leaders regionally (for Johannesburg or Cape Town) and nationally (South Africa). Execs couldn’t nominate their own agencies or staff members. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives held two votes in the final poll.

Note: Runner-up(s) will only be named if they achieved a good nomination tally relative to the winner’s position. Contenders are named if they stand out significantly above other nominees but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category are discarded.

See also

 

Herman Manson 2017Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

— One subscription form, three newsletters: sign up now for the MarkLives newsletter, including Ramify headlines; The Interlocker, our new monthly comms-focused mailer; and Brands & Branding, launching soon!

Media Design: Cosmopolitan SA, Futura, iJusi, Pen, The Gentlewoman

Shane de Lange (@shanenilfunct)’s weekly analysis of media design from South Africa and around the world:

  • Iconic: Futura used the infamous Futura typeface in a handcrafted, traditional print format to deliver experimental concrete poetry to the masses
  • Independent print: iJusi celebrates all the surprising oddness and spectacular circus freakery that is the city of Durban
  • Online: Pen shows how, in a digital world, the pen is still the key to entering that unknown space where real creativity comes from
  • Commercial print: The Gentlewoman deconstructs femininity portrayed by the media, while Cosmopolitan South Africa constructs femininity using media

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

Print

Heart-Love-Polygon-Geometric-Flat-Design-Icon-Illustration by lekkyjustdoit courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos   The Gentlewoman (UK), issue #19, Spring/Summer 2019
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Cosmopolitan (South Africa), March 2019

The Gentlewoman, issue 19, Spring/Summer 2019 and Cosmopolitan SA, March 2019American conceptual artist, photographer, film director, and feminist, Cindy Sherman, graces the cover for issue #19 of The Gentlewoman. Known for her conceptual portraits, ‘proto-selfies’ if you will, which predate the notion of “the influencer” by at least 30 years, Sherman’s most-popular series is hands-down “Complete Untitled Film Stills,” comprising 70 posed, scripted, and choreographed grayscale photographs meant to subvert various female architypes that have been constructed by the media. With a thought-provoking cover portrait of Sherman (interestingly, “she”-“her”-“he”-“man” are all in that name) taken by Inez & Vinoodh, this issue showcases the process that this iconic American artist uses in order to transform into the various stereotypes that she portrays.

In stark contrast, Cosmopolitan SA takes the notion of the influencer to a superficial echelon, in the most-literal fashion, providing readers with nothing less than pure, empty image. Looking more like a clone of Seventeen magazine, one would be forgiven for being reminded of the controversial Netflix documentary “Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened”, and the lessons that should have been learned from that spectacle of society, which was almost exclusively seeded by influencers and totally detached from reality (and hyperreality). The consumption of culture at work.

 

Heart-Love-Polygon-Geometric-Flat-Design-Icon-Illustration by lekkyjustdoit courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos   iJusi (South Africa), issue #33, February 2019

iJusi, issue 33, February 2019Durban is a prolific, eclectic, highly understated and eccentric city, and it remains largely under the radar, particularly in the context of creativity. Durban’s idiosyncrasy and charm lies in that it has no clear direction or identity; it remains, in many ways, naïve and raw.

The latest edition of iJusi, issue #33, is themed “Durban — a sideways look at the city we call home”, and it contains some pretty strange stuff. Focusing on iJusi’s hometown, this issue features the new, the old, and the future of “the warmest place to be” (quoted from a Google search for Durban). All things bizarre and extraordinary about Durban are featured in this issue, mostly taken from a selection of Durban oddities and scenes collected by South African graphic designer extraordinaire, Garth Walker, over the years.

This issue is also peppered with a few contributions from other exponents and supporters of the Durban creative scene, including: Suzy Bell, Louise Duys, Arthur Gammage, Roger Jardine, Steve Kotze, Wilhelm Krüger, Travis Lyle, Ross Makepeace, Jo Rushby, Louis Trichard, Marius van Rooy, Brode Vosloo and Ian Wolstenholme.

 

Online

Heart-Love-Polygon-Geometric-Flat-Design-Icon-Illustration by lekkyjustdoit courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos   Pen (Japan), February 2019

Pen, online, February 2019Based in Tokyo, Pen Magazine International (PMI) is an online lifestyle and culture site that tells stories about the creative world inspired by contemporary Japan, a country steeped in cultural heritage and almost spiritual levels of creative output. Following its strapline, “creative stories for creative minds”, PMI focuses largely on art, design, food and travel.

PMI is a branch of Pen, which is an established, high-quality, print publication in Japan. Its name implies the art of penmanship, a discipline that seems to be losing traction in a world dominated by digital media and screen-based forms of communication.

Most creative people would tell you that the process of making begins when one puts pen to paper. Great concepts and compelling stories aren’t born from staring at a screen and expecting the software to do all the heavy-lifting for you. The tool shouldn’t dominate the message. Those who don’t agree with this statement should take some time to understand their responsibility as designers, artists, writers, and the like, and realise that they may be held accountable in some way for accelerating the consumption of culture, rather than be actively involved in the production of it.

It’s this perspective that makes PMI so pertinent, disseminating any relevant form of culture production and showing that the proverbial pen still holds real power, despite all the deviations, distractions, temptations, and imposters that new media and technologies today allow into the fray. This simple, easy-to-navigate site, thanks to some very tactful and inventive layout options, succinctly showcases those individuals who create fresh perspectives with new media and technologies while maintaining and being knowledgeable about older, more-traditional ways of seeing. Particularly, when it comes to hands-on creativity, where there is a marriage of craft and concept, recalling John Ruskin and William Morris’s writing about the qualities of the maker, whose labour is their passion and fulfilment. No drones sitting in front of screens asking the machine to be creative here.

 

Iconic

Heart-Love-Polygon-Geometric-Flat-Design-Icon-Illustration by lekkyjustdoit courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos   Futura (Germany), 1965–1968

Futura, cover and full spread, 1965 and selection 1965-1968German printer and publisher, Hansjörg Mayer, was infamous for his craft-focused, experimental publications, particularly in the context of typography. He was a prominent advocate of concrete poetry from the ’60s onwards. One of his more-noteworthy editorial endeavours was a magazine called Futura, which was focused on obscure, avant-garde concrete poetry from 1965 to 1968.

Futura was a series of conceptual broadsides published in a set of 26 issues, analogous to the number of characters in the modern Latin alphabet. The publication was named after the infamous sans-serif typeface, Futura, which was designed by Paul Renner, Edwin W Shaar, and Tommy Thompson in 1927, and remains in popular use today. Each issue could unfold, was set in Futura and dedicated to one artist per edition, who was forced to work within the restrictions of the foldable broadside format. Other than the physical constraint caused by the limitations of the format, each artist was given free rein and full creative licence. Contributors tended to be key figures from the various post-war avant-garde and conceptual art movements, often crossing international borders and treading into unnegotiated territory between different factions within the underground of the world of poetry, including Fluxus and other Neo-Dada happenings.

Noteworthy issues by experimental poets include Bob Cobbing’s “Chamber Music” (#19); Dick Higgins’ “January Fish” (#21); Hiro Kamimura’s “5 Vokaltexte” (#16); Edwin Morgan’s “Emergent Poems” (#20); Frieder Nake’s “Computer Grafik” (#13); Wolfgang Schmidt’s “576 Köpfig” (#17) and “Programmed Squares 11” (#24); and Wolf Vostell’s “De Collage Aktions Text” (#22). Informed by the early concrete poetry experiments of Stéphane Mallarmé and Guillaume Apollinaire, Futura helped pave the way for contemporary artist such as Sam Winston and South Africa’s own Willem Boshoff.

References

 

 

Shane de LangeShane de Lange (@shanenilfunct) is a designer, writer, and educator currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, working in the fields of communication design and digital media. He works from Gilgamesh, a small design studio. Connect with him on Pinterest and Instagram.

Media Design, formerly Cover Stories and MagLove, is a regular slot deconstructing media cover design, both past and present.

— One subscription form, three newsletters: sign up now for the MarkLives newsletter, including Ramify headlines; The Interlocker, our new monthly comms-focused mailer; and Brands & Branding, launching soon!

#AgencyLeaders2018: Most admired media agency

by Herman Manson (@marklives) Today we reveal, as part of our annual Agency Leaders poll, which media agency South Africa’s agency execs most admire — the last of our brand-new categories.

MarkLives logoEvery year since 2012, MarkLives has been polling South Africa’s top ad agency leaders to find out what they think of their competitors, whom they see as effective managers and great creative leaders, and where they believe their future competition is likely to come from. The first week we ran our Cape Town results, the second week our Joburg results, and last week our South African results. This week, we run our remaining categories.

The most-admired media agency

The Mediashop

The MediaShop logoTurning 30 wasn’t the only achievement for The Mediashop in 2018. For this media agency, 2018 also saw a 5% growth in revenue increase, 13 new staffers joining its team and the welcoming of MultiChoice into its client stable.

It was also the most-awarded media agency at the AMASA Awards and brought home the Media Agency of the Year and Media Agency of the Decade titles at the MOST Awards. It won a Gold Loeries Media Award and, together with M&C Saatchi, took home a Loeries Grand Prix, too

Looking back at 2018, Chris Botha, The MediaShop group MD, understands that challenges last year, such as a tough economy and constrained budgets, were the same for everyone and are continuing into the new year. “The industry will remain under pressure. The economy isn’t growing so we cannot expect spend to grow significantly either,” he says. “2018 was an exciting year where we laid the foundations for our new sister agency, Meta Media. We expanded our services for the group, including activations, research, and promotions. We are geared and ready for a great 2019 [and] as an agency we have big expectations.”

In terms of 2019 industry trends, Botha believes a deeper understanding of data and how it integrates into communication will continue to be important, as will finding better ways to connect relevantly with consumers in a meaningful way.

— Profile by Sabrina Forbes.

 

The runner-up

PHD

PHD logoPHD Media South Africa had a stellar 2018, adding Bob Martin, BIC, Best Med, Oceana Group, Pernod Ricard, Anglo American, Stadio Group, HP and Unilever to its client list. Year-in-year revenue growth stood at 7% (2018 on 2017) and the forecast for 2019 is 10%.

Staff count grew by 23% to 80 people — much of this due to staffing up following the Unilever win. 2018 was also the year that PHD saw expansion north of South Africa as it opened offices in Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Mauritius, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi to service HP, HSBC and Unilever.

“PHD continues to put our people first; our culture is central to our business,” says Anne Dearnaley, PHD South Africa MD. “Hiring the right staff, with the right approach and attitude, has been paramount to our success; this is a continual challenge but something that is critical for us to succeed. We are constantly uplifting and transforming our people. We’ve increased black representation at management level and again are proudly a level 2 BEE contributor, for four consecutive years, and have just achieved level 2 status for 2019, too.”

Dearnaley says PHD remains dedicated to creative media thinking, with a founding principle of “strategy first” embedded in all work and output. “Our philosophy is ‘Finding a Better Way’ and there is some work that we are really proud of in 2018 that highlights this way of working — the social syncing work we did with VW — this was the first time mobile-video content was sync’d with in-show moments, rather than commercial airtime, as well as the content work we did with Mafikizolo and Aquafresh,” she says. “Our work was recognized at both the AMASA Awards and the MMAs, where we won two Golds and a Silver respectively. Importantly, our new-client wins are certainly testament to our way of working, thinking and quality of output.

“We have continued to diversify our offerings and continue to grow our econometric modelling division, finally being able to answer the question of which media is working hardest to deliver ROI. We have [ran] five full models for clients in 2018, and anticipate significant growth in this area in 2019.

“Digital transformation has been central to our plans for an agency of the future; this has been both a challenge and an opportunity. Our staff are hybrids or on a journey of becoming hybrid. This has required significant investment and relooking of the agency’s structures, but the disruption has been very worthwhile.”

— Profile by Herman Manson.

Updated at 5.10pn on 28 February 2019.

 

How the poll works

In November 2018, we invited a panel of 120 agency executives — creative and management, and ranging over a wide spectrum from small- and medium-sized to network agencies — to nominate their most-admired agency and agency leaders regionally (for Johannesburg or Cape Town) and nationally (South Africa). Execs couldn’t nominate their own agencies or staff members. All the nominations were then tallied up for the final result. The editors of MarkLives held two votes in the final poll.

Note: Runner-up(s) will only be named if they achieved a good nomination tally relative to the winner’s position. Contenders are named if they stand out significantly above other nominees but weren’t able to close in on the winner’s tally. The most-admired agency of the year is disqualified from the One to Watch category; votes cast in its favour in this category are discarded.

See also

 

Herman Manson 2017Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com.

— One subscription form, three newsletters: sign up now for the MarkLives newsletter, including Ramify headlines; The Interlocker, our new monthly comms-focused mailer; and Brands & Branding, launching soon!

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