Willem Steenkamp, Flow Communications senior writer and editor asks if brands should stay neutral in our divided world? Whether or not a brand should take a public stance on social or political issues is no longer a simple marketing decision. It is a fundamental strategic dilemma. As our world becomes increasingly polarised, the pressure on […]
According to Natascha Torres, Head of Digital Media Strategy at iqbusiness, programmatic advertising remains one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach audiences at scale, but campaign success can sometimes appear easier to prove than it really is. Campaign dashboards often look fantastic with high reach, excellent click-through rates (CTRs) and efficient costs […]
Henri Bam, Chief Product Officer at revX, says there is a moment in almost every campaign debrief where the numbers look good and the room still feels flat. Impressions were up. Clicks were strong. Cost per lead came in under target. And yet, somewhere between the dashboard and the sales floor, the optimism quietly evaporates. […]
The rise of vibe coding has all the hallmarks of a technology gold rush. Adolf Lategan, CTO, Rogerwilco, says businesses should favour good architecture over good vibes, and discusses what the latest Drupal Advisory teaches us about building for the long-term. With AI tools now capable of generating websites and applications from a simple prompt, […]
Large language model (LLM) ChatGPT boasts that it has approximately 900-million weekly active users worldwide. If just one LLM, albeit the most popular, is boasting almost a billion users a week, it is hardly surprising that more people are starting to roll their eyes at the flood of AI-generated content everywhere. DUO Marketing + Communications […]
According to Ivan Moroke, MAA Chairperson, the debates happening across boardrooms and agency briefing rooms in South Africa right now are not new and not unique to our market. They go something like this: is marketing a science or a creative discipline; should we rely on data or on expert intuition; are we investing in […]
Bradly Howland, CEO, Alkemi Collective and President of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), says one of his team leads submitted a first draft of a client strategy document in under two hours. It was polished, well-structured, and covered all the expected ground. It was also, on closer reading, almost entirely generic. The […]
Darren Morris, CEO of Lucky Hustle, says half the room thinks AI is coming for everyone’s jobs. The other half thinks it can magically do everyone’s jobs. Both sides are missing the point: AI is not the threat; unoriginal thinking is. AI Adoption Is No Longer The Debate The South African industry is already deep […]
Jacques Burger, CEO at The Up&Up Group, says as creative industry leaders, we like to believe we are in the business of rational persuasion. We talk about being data-led, insight-driven and optimised. We measure what works and we defend what we can prove. We build cases, not just campaigns. And yet, quietly, often uncomfortably, we […]
Leslie Adams, Sales Director at Reach Africa, says Connected TV (CTV) receives just 7% of total media budgets, despite delivering a knockout punch on returns (30% higher ROI according to Analytics Partners). The question worth asking is why, because CTV is not new anymore, and the evidence is strong. Audiences have already made the move, […]